Home For Christmas

Well tomorrow we get on a train that will take us to the south of China, from there we will go across to Hong Kong and catch a plane back to the UK.

My younger brother Aaron and his fiancee Lois will get married on 22nd of December in Southampton, so we are really excited to get back for the wedding. After that we will spend Christmas with my Family in Southampton and then boxing day will drive up to Heysham to catch the boat to the IOM. We will then leave the IOM on 2nd January to start the long trip back to China.

It's going to be great to get the opportunity to see friends and family again, if anyone would like to meet up with us please let us know and we will try and arrange it.

Breaking the Rules

Last weekend my teacher had to travel 10 hours by train to her hometown for an exam, she did the exam and came straight back. She found out later that week that she passed the exam and so would have to go back the following weekend for a medical exam, and then the weekend after for a practical exam. She was not to chuffed by the idea of all of those hours on the train.

The funny thing was that instead of conceding the fact that she was going to have to do all that traveling she was on the phone to her Mum asking her mum to find someone that looked like her to go in for the medical on her behalf!! And this is totally normal.

The mentality out here is: It's only wrong to break the rules if you get caught.

This is why there are loads of corruption problems here, and are likely to be for a long time, it's built into the way of thinking.

TV time?

Yesterday Jenna went out to meet some Chinese friends for lunch. While they were eating one of her friends told Jenna that he has a friend who works for a TV station and that they were looking for a foreigner to appear in a TV commercial!! Of course Jenna being Jenna was more than excited about this and volunteered and came home all looking forward to it. But after she got home her friend called back and said that they were after a man, and asked if her husband would do it, to which she said yes. This sort of thing is not really my cup of tea, but I thought what the heck, it'll be a laugh.

So we went there today. They took some pictures of me and told me that they would show them to their client and they would get back to me about it. They were also interested in having Tabitha in some ads too.

Watch this space....lol......

At least they told me if they do want me they will give me a DVD with the ad on.

The heatings on....and don't we know it

Well thankfully the heating came only one day late, the administrators of our apartment complex posted the house numbers of all flats that hadn't paid on a board in the entrance to the complex. It was a wise tactic as people were soon paying up.

Now we have the opposite problem, its like a sauna in our flat, it's seems that the powers that be don't know a whole lot about moderation. The radiators are red hot 24 hours a day and so we have started opening the windows to cool things down. It's so backwards it's funny, but it certainly a nicer problem to have than being to cold.

Jenna went to have a root canal done in what's left of one of her teeth today, she was dreading it but the dentist told her that she needed some more medicine on it before she could do the root canal and so she has to wait a further 10 days. She dreads the dentist.

The Day The Heating Came On

I haven't posted for a month and now heres two in a day!

Today is the 15th of November, it's a big day here.

The majority of people in China (well in our city anyway) get their winter heating through the City heating system. The way this system works is that it gets turned on 15th November and then gets turned off on the 15th March, no matter how cold it may be outside of this window.

The change in the city has been incredible. It's like overnight a huge cloud of smog has landed. As you can see from this picture (which was taken at 1.30pm) you can't see very far, and when you go outside you can taste the coal dust on the air. I'm not usually too bothered about the smog and am not very opinionated about global warming etc but I have just found the speed with which the climate has changed to be amazing.

It has been on-and-off cold for about a month now and so we were really excited this morning for the radiators to be warm.

No such luck though, when we checked the radiators this morning they were still stone cold. It turned out that not enough people in our apartment block paid for the heating and so it won't come on until those people pay :-(

Quick Update

It's been quite a while since I have posted anything. It has been quite an up and down time. My Dad visited just after my last post, we had a really nice time although Tabitha didn't recognize him and cried a lot. We had been feeling much better about being here. And then 2 weeks ago quite a few things happened with illness, finding out that one of Jenna's relatives had passed away, loads of homework and a general lack of sleep. It all started to take it's toll on us last weekend and we were really missing home.

But thankfully our "Father" has been a great comfort and also the friends we have around us have been great too. We are feeling much better at the moment, Tabitha and Jenna have recovered from their illnesses and we have started to catch up on our sleep.

We are so glad to be here and the Chinese people are really welcoming and friendly. I just think that sometimes all of the different things can start to add up. We wouldn't change it for anything though :-)

Bad Day

Today is what I call a "I want to go home" day. Tabitha was up at 4am, although she didn't wake me until 5.45 Jenna has been up for hours. It is freezing cold but the heating doesn't come on until 15th November no matter how cold the weather is (It seems to be the same date everywhere), we are all wrapped up in hoodies and coats. The hot water for showers that we usually only get until about 7.30 am is not working today at all and wasn't on yesterday either, apparently it will be on later tonight . And to top it all off I have this silly bandage on my left hand cos I poured boiling water over it the night before. And so far its only 7.15 am.

On the positive side at least I am here with 2 wonderful people and my Dad will be coming through Xi'an today so we will be able to spend a bit of time with him, which will be really nice.

Uh Oh......She can move

This week Tabitha has just started crawling. Now she seems to be wanting to get around everywhere. It's meant that we are having to be extra careful with leaving stuff around and covering plug sockets ect. Anyway here is a little video of her going for the camera:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xTS-RXvLUg

In other news, one of my teachers quit the school and so I should be getting a new one today, She was in class on the Friday and the following Monday we were told she was gone. Things move so fast here. Hopefully my new teacher will be as good. Jenna is really enjoying her classes (although not so much the homework) and she was really chuffed to find out that one of her teachers is in the Family.

Also we previously thought that when we go to Aaron's wedding in December that we would not be able to afford to go back to the IOM as well. However our Father has made this possible so we are so happy and are really looking forward to going and seeing family and friends.

Back at School

Health care

Dentist
Originally uploaded by Matthew Dolman

The health care system here in China is so different to what we are used to in the Isle of Man. In the picture is a dental practice on a street near our flat. All of the dental surgeries seems to have the operating chair near the window, I guess so that passers by can see the quality of the dentist. It's certainly a far cry from the private little room that I am used to and seems pretty mad but it is just a different way of thinking, which is something that we seem to come across a lot here. Although we haven't tried going to a dentist here yet, Aaron, my brother had some work done at a local dentist, and when he got it checked out by a UK dentist, he was very impressed with it.

We have had quite a few visits to the hospital since we have been here. Mainly trying to get Tabitha's injections done. We were so thankful that we were able to find a clinic in a local hospital that is run by a western charity that has really good procedures. We had heard some horror stories about the Chinese system and whether true or not we really didn't want to risk Tabitha's health. The clinic is based on the 4th floor of the hospital. There is a massive difference between what is inside the clinic for the few who they can accept(they take in a lot of orphans and help them where possible), and the rest of the hospital which most native people in the area will use. The clinic is very clean and modern, while the local people had to put up with an old, dark and basic hospital. I'm not trying to criticize China for their lower standard of health care, as I'm sure before too long theirs will be much better than in the UK. But we felt sad that we had access to such good facilities and that other people who are no worse than us had to have something much less. One time while we were in the clinic a little girl probably 11 or 12 was looking through the glass door of the clinic to try and have a look at Tabitha but wasn't aloud in. It left us asking the question, what have we done to deserve better. The truth is nothing. All we can do is thank God that we are blessed with what we have and try our very best to help others get an improved lifestyle.

Fatty

In China it is considered a good thing to be fat. I remember when we lived in Tianjin, upon going to our favorite restaurant Jenna got quite upset after the owner of the restaurants wife thought she was paying Jenna a compliment by telling her she looked fat today. I guess the thinking is if you are fat it means that you can afford the food and you are rich. A couple of days ago a guy and his son got in the elevator with me. The father said with a proud smile on his face "your fat like my son", the son smiled.

Last week I went down to the furniture market to buy a chair for Tabitha's bedroom, and I was bartering with the woman in the shop to get the price down, she wouldn't budge on the price but offered free home delivery. A few minuets later and the delivery man was at the shop, not with a car or van but with a 3 wheeler bike with a carrying box on the back(I will try and get a pic of one up). The worst part of it was that I had to sit on the box with the chair while the bike rode a couple of miles back to our apartment. I asked the guy if I was too fat but he said it was OK(I probably weigh in at about 240 pounds!). Needless to say I felt pretty bad when we were going up a slight hill at a quarter of a mile an hour and the guy was panting for breath.

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Decoration

We are just in the process of cleaning up our new apartment and painting some of the rooms. Our Fathers grace to us has been amazing. When we were looking at apartments we were looking for something cheaper, an unfurnished apartment with no elevator, but when we went to the estate agent they were basically trying to rip us off and would not let us see any of the cheap apartments, because they think that we have more money because we are white. Well the apartment we have has ended up being amazing, it is furnished, so we don't need to buy as much furniture and also the landlord offered to put air conditioning in each room, something that we had talked about being something that we would like but wouldn't be able to afford to start with. But the amazing part is that little things that we had talked about eventually wanting to get in our apartment and things we need were already there too. Things that might not mean much to other people like a piano! We had said that we would love to have one for Tabitha to be able to learn if she wanted but new it would cost a fortune and what do you know one came free with the apartment. There are other things as well, the Internet, the most important thing for us to contact home is paid for for a year!

When we were buying paint for Tabitha's room we were chatting to the couple who own the shop and they were really friendly. We found out the had a six month old daughter, we are hopefully going to meet up with them again, hopefully this will grow into being a good friendship and we can share with them. We just need to study hard as they can't speak any English.

Arrived In China

Well it's been ages since we wrote anything on this....the reason is that there has not really been anything interesting to write. We have now finally arrived in China, after nearly three days of traveling. We thought that it was going to be really hard but actually it went really well and the jet lag isn't too bad either, thanks to our Father and all who were talking to him. We met up with Aaron and was able to spend a small amount of time with his finace Lois, she seems really nice.

We went looking for appartments the day after we got here and the 3rd one we found was great and so we took it. Now it's a few weeks of getting it ready and settling in before school starts at the end of August.

It really hit us how hard it can be to live here when we first arrived. All you remember when you are back at home is the good things and not all of the bad things. But after a couple of days it's getting better and we are looking forward to the rest of our time. There should be more regular updates now so watch this space....

Last Post on the IOM

This will be our last post on the Isle of Man. I'm packing up the computer tonight and so won't be able to do any more stuff until we reach Canada. It's been a really stressful week and it was really sad to leave work on Friday (can't believe I just wrote that!). But we're almost all packed now and so hopefully tomorrow will just be a nice day with the Parker family after the dedication. We haven't put an email out for this month yet but will hopefully do it later in the week.

Blessings to all on the IOM and look forward to seeing you again in a few years.

Not long to go

Well in less than a week we will have left the Isle of Man. Things have been so hectic recently trying to get stuff together for leaving. There is still so much more that needs to be done as well. I just hope it all comes together. It's going to be such an emotional week with lots of sad goodbyes. We have lots to give thanks for though, not least of all that we have reached the minimum level of monthly support we needed to live in China. A great BIG thanks to all who have comitted to support us! and also to our Father, without you this would not be possible. Anyway I need to go to bed.

Have a nice life

PS Tabitha's dedication is on Sunday everyone is welcome!

They're Germans.....Don't Mention the War

When in work this week I caught myself giggling thinking about this hilarious scene from Fawlty Towers. I think that the people that i work with must think I'm slightly insane. Hope this makes your day a little funnier.

"I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it"

Up on the Hills

Me and Aaron went for a walk on Saturday, what a beautiful day. I'm really going to miss the hills on the island, this last year I've really got into walking a lot since doing the BELA course with Steve'O. We started at the Claddaghs and went up to Sartfell and got picked up on the mountain road by Dawn. We had a great time even if Aaron was a tad sore at the end of it! Aaron really enjoyed the high quality catering service we had for lunch Hopefully I'll be able to get out a few more times before we leave. Heres a couple of pics, more are available on our flickr.

Cursed Tapes

Ever seen cassette tape wrapped around a lamppost or spread along a bush and wondered what it is? It seems even more strange these days seeing that cassettes are hardly used anymore.

I've heard it from quite a few Family Members that one thing that satanists will do to try and put a curse on a location is to record chants on to cassette tapes and then spool the tapes around lampposts and fences nearby. I remember one year at firestarter there was some spread along a bush at the entrance. I'm still not 100% sure whether or not this is true and if it is then what kind of effect it is having. Just last week one of my friends said that he saw some on the mountain road, within a week there was a fatal crash and another very serious one not far from where the tape was. If these tapes are infact having a spiritual effect what can we do about it? Well if you see some at the side of the road just pick it up and break it in His name and then bin it. On the Isle of Man there is quite a strong occult influence even though its quite well hidden. If you speak to someone involved in the occult they will confirm this. But our prayers can make a big difference. Last year before the TT the CMA rode around the TT course praying for safety during the races, during the ride out they were not able to ride through one short stretch of road because it was closed at the time so they went around it and joined back on the course later. During the whole festival there was only one fatality on both open and closed roads (usually its between 10 and 20), and it was on the stretch of road that the CMA didn't pray on before hand. This year was one of the safest years ever. This just shows how powerful our prayers are!!

Anyone else had any experience of this?

Fight Club Part 1

Yesterday I watched the start of the film “Fight Club” and although it's not for the faint hearted surprisingly I got a couple of really profound lessons from it. I recorded it off BBC3 the other night and didn't even get to the actual fight club starting because the recording was interrupted halfway through....doh. Anyway here's what I got.

Ed Norton's character is a guy with a well paid job and totally obsessed with materialism and getting items that define him as a person (mostly IKEA furniture). Yet although he has loads of nice stuff it doesn't satisfy him, as a result he suffers from insomnia. It's amazing how easy it is for us to get caught up in the same traps, even believers. So often in western culture we get so obsessed with the vain things in life, and think that the smallest things are so important. I'm as guilty as anyone, having to take time to think about which colour paper clips I am going to use when I pass my work over to the next guy at work. The same attitude stretches to us wanting more luxury accessories to make our life better. I remember hearing about these things called eye-trek glasses, they were basically a virtual reality headset which you could play PS2 games on. As soon as I heard about them I had to get them, I was longing after them for months and then when Jenna and I sold something we split the money and I got the glasses straight off. When they arrived I was so excited and played them for ages, soon I realised that they weren't as great as I thought they would be and after a while I didn't bother to use them any more, now I'm trying to sell them to another sucker. We can often act as though these material things matter so much, that they will in some way bring a new level of satisfaction. Maybe it's a new house, a new car, a new HD 42” LCD TV with surrondsound, a new hairstyle or a holiday somewhere exotic. The truth is that it all turns to ash in our mouths, while it might be nice for the moment it always leaves us wanting something better. What happens when we live the materialistic life is we get similar to Ed Norton's character in the movie, he had insomnia which he describes as being “never really awake, but never really asleep”. When you live totally for material possessions you are “ never really alive, but never really dead”. There is only one way which we can be satisfied: by giving everything to the Lord. It seems crazy to our modern greedy way of thinking but He is the only one who can make us happy and satisfy the deepest hunger. Maybe we should try doing what we often sing in the famous hymn:

“All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood”

Otherwise in the words of Tyler Durden "The things you own end up owning you"

Anyway Tabitha has woken up and needs a nappy change and some milk, more later....

Doh......

Ashley just pointed out that the cards say Pary instead of Pray. Trust me, anyway let us know if you want any.

Mooooooo

We've just had these really cool Moo cards made. Basically they are little picture cards with reminders to lift us up while we are in China and links on how to get in touch with us. They come in 5 flavours:

1. Tabitha
2. Tabitha Snoozing
3. Jenna
4. Matt and the browner
   
5. All 3 of us

If you would like some of these let us know and we will get some to you somehow. There is no measuring how important your "convos with Dad" will be for us while we are there, we really appreciate all of them.

Aaron Returning Home

My brother Aaron has found out this week that he needs to have some urgent surgery on his leg. He has a problem with his hip and if it is not fixed as soon as possible it could mean he would need a hip replacement down the line. As I post this he is on his way back to the Isle of Man from China, so he can look into getting this surgery. It's great in some ways as it means he will be able to meet Tabitha and also my mum who is over at the moment will be staying longer too. But it's not great that he needs to have surgery and it would be great if you could all pray that he would have supernatural peace about all that needs to be done in the coming months.

DJ Ray Von of the Phoenix Club, Bolton

This is so funny, it's like when I used to be in the schooner.

Tabitha Wisdom Dolman

Tabitha was born on Saturday 10th February at 1.51 am, weighing in at 8lb 10oz. We're so chuffed that she is finally here after being 2 weeks overdue. We came home on Sunday, it's been hard work and we have hardly had any sleep this week but we are starting to finally get into a pattern. It's been great as Matt's parents have been here and been able to spend some time with her. So far mostly all she does is sleep, poo, cry and look around, it must be so wiered having all these new faces and places to look at. Anyway she is beautiful and we just thank God for her and pray that he will look after her.

Our new Diary

Well this is our first post on our new blog. Although we are sending out a newsletter each month, we thought we would set this up as a way for people to find out whats going on day to day. We will try and update it at least a few times a month.

When we are in China you should be able to see how we are getting on with the culture and the language as well hear about the various people that we meet.

If you would like to start receiving our newsletter please drop us an email at matthew -- at-- thedolmans.org

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