My Birthday, with a Chinese Flair

On Saturday word got around the crew that it was my birthday.  George and Lincoln began orchestrating a dinner get together without my knowledge for the whole team Saturday night.  We went to a Chinese restaurant (imagine that) called the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant.  Really original name.  Once there the guys had used our Hotel Desk Workers to reserve a special room for the 9 of us.  In China, most of the chinese restaurants serve food ordered for the group with a lazy susan to pass it around.  So had duck, lamb, chicken, pork, beef, snow peas, broccoli, rice, dumplings, and lilies.  It was a feast with great conversation.  And two crew members had just arrived that day so we were able to catch up with them.  All the food was delicious, cooked just right, large portions and plenty for everyone.  After that was moved aside, Lincoln had managed to have a cake made with birthday candles and a song playing decoration to boot.  So I blew out my candles on my Panda Bear cake.  Then half the crew went outside for a smoke break and we realized that the decoration on the cake had a little wick to be lit.  I lit the candle and a 10 inch flame shot out of the object burning blue, over the decoration, which lowered its candle holding arms and it begun playing happy birthday.  Quite impressive.  Surprising as you can see by the look on my face.  When everybody came back in we passed around the picture we'd taken of the many firework display, fitting it happened in China, and served up the cake.  It was quite good.

What was really cool about this birthday was that the crew really acted like my family.  They gave me hugs, shook my hand, paid for my dinner (awesome) and had really gone out of their way to make me honored.  For two months we are family.  The Olympics is secondary to our experience here.  We have a great time exploring a new city together, sharing in fellowship, and building relationships.  When it all comes down to it, God definitely wired us to be in relationship and community.  Its no more apparent than to see a majority of non-believers, seek out small group fellowship talking about life and sharing life together.