我们去买东西喝看美女与野兽！

March 22, 2017
9:30 pm
Beijing, China

So I’ve been talking to people over the past few days about how long I’ve been in China. As of three days ago, I have been living in China for 5 months. That’s absolutely crazy! And it really is hard to believe. When looking back, time has gone by so quickly, although each individual day seems to go by slowly. Speaking of time, I am exceedingly happy to tell you guys that I will be having visitors coming in one month. Mom and Dad are coming to China on April 26th, and I cannot wait to see them. Only one month and three days and I will finally get to see them again! Even though time passes so quickly when looking back, it still seems like such a long time until they get here.

But enough about that, I have enough anticipation without reminding myself of it every five minutes. One of the ways Brian and I celebrated our 5 month-iversary in China was to go shopping. Ground coffee isn’t really a thing here in China, everything is whole bean and most of it is just straight espresso. One of the few places we’ve found good, ground coffee is at IKEA. Both of us ran out this week, so we needed to make a supply run. Additionally, I wanted to grab some more dishes to prepare for my parents’ arrival and a couple other necessary items. It’s so funny. Back in the US, neither Brian nor I made many trips to IKEA. It was an every-once-in-a-while thing that only occurred when you were planning to redecorate a room or buying items for a dorm room. Now, it’s just the easiest (and usually the least expensive) place to find things. We spent quite a bit of time in that mall, but we had a lot of fun, finishing up the day with a trip to Johnny Rockets.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Aside from shopping, our other celebratory action was to go see the new “Beauty and the Beast” movie with Taylor. For those of you who aren’t aware, “Beauty and the Beast” is my absolute favorite Disney movie. So, I have been looking forward to this movie forever! Like any movie that’s based on something else, there are definitely some things that I would have preferred to be different. For the most part, however, I loved it. It was so much fun to go see that I will happily spend the money to go see it again soon. Luke Evans is a great Gaston and I enjoy Dan Stevens’ portrayal of the Beast. The only character that I was not particularly impressed with was Josh Gad’s Le Fou. I know there was a lot of controversy over that character before the movie came out. I’ll tell you right now, he’s a gay character. But he’s a gay character in the way that Lumière is a straight character. Actually, even less so. It’s barely mentioned, never explicitly stated and really isn’t that big of a deal. So, please, if that’s your concern with seeing it, don’t let a little thing like that stop you from enjoying a wonderful and well-made film. No, my problem with the Le Fou character is in his role as the comic relief. His character is more awkward than funny and tends to disrupt the flow of the film. That said, there are some really funny moments in the movie and there are things that they changed which I actually enjoy more than in the original. In conclusion, go see this movie if you haven’t already. Even if you have, go back again! I’m planning to soon.

Words to Remember: Leviticus 22:1-8
Challenge: Day 10: Truthfully, I really don’t understand this passage or the point of it. I understand that Abba is Holy and that all sacrifices made unto Him should be treated with the greatest respect, but I don’t quite understand how this fits into my life. After J—us’ sacrifice for us, Abba no longer calls us to be clean when we come before Him, for J—us’ blood has already washed us clean. Take a moment and ask Abba what He wants you to see in this passage. Allow Him to open you heart and mind in a way that allows you to see Him more clearly.

Goodnight,
Kristen