I hope everyone's holidays went well.  We had a quiet one as usual. Elaine and I did get together with our Chinese friends that attend the English Club for a Dumpling Party. It was a good time and the Dumplings were delicious.  One of the friends is from the Northeast of China where Dumpling making is famous and made a very tasty one. Elaine got the recipe. We also had a very nice local tea. 

During the making of the Dumplings, we got into a conversation of "What is a Christian?" and "What is the difference of the Protestant and Catholic Church?" All the woman there were Christian and none of the men, except of course, me. One man told of a friend who converted to Catholicism.  Which led us into the discussion of "What is the difference of Priest and Pastor?" and briefly "What was the Reformation?" In Chinese, Priest is "Holy Father" and Pastor is "Shepherd." Protestant in Chinese is "Christ Religion" while Catholicism is "Heavenly Lord Religion." Some basic definitions if anyone is interested.

It is too bad all the photos taken by Phone did not come through.

Nina's Nose: A good friend of ours, who is a faithful attendee of the English Club called Elaine a couple of weeks back to tell her how she walked into a door and cut off her nose. Her husband closed the door to the kitchen the night before to help keep the apartment warmer and she forgot all about it in the morning. So they rushed off to get sewed back on. Poor thing. This event got us talking about all sort of topics at the latest English Club gatherings. For instance, China Quality, Insurance, Liability...

Lilly: Lilly was our first Chinese teacher here in Kunming. In 2006 she moved to Sweden to work on her Master's in Linguistics. She is now teaching Chinese at a University there. Well, she returned to Kunming to be with her mom and deal with the funeral for her father. Her father died in October but she could not return until the semester was over. We spent a couple of hours with her over lunch last Christmas Eve.

Eagle Scout Award: Colman is scheduled to have his Eagle Scout Award ceremony on February 8th. It was suppose to be in December but he was 2 weeks short of fulfilling a leadership position. He has now completed everything.

Taking all the Time and Money: As most of you know, the Government has upgraded the Representative Office to an Enterprise.  This means, the Government can now impose taxes.  So, I had to pay a fine for not paying taxes for the past 10 years. Strange, that I had to for I was not required to at the time, but I am just a little fish and just must do what I am told. Fortunately, Fred, my helper, negotiated the fine from $1500 to $450. On top of this, I have had to go through 2 audits. One for 2009 and 2010 and every year subsequent. Each Audit costs $300.  They also requested that I set up a company account and Bank Book. Actually, I had one already, but it was in my name and not the company.  So, all this means a lot of running around, waiting in various offices, closing and opening accounts, changing names, showing my face to accountants, bankers and getting lectures from them and the Head of the National Tax Office on how to maneuver, so everyone looks good!  

Hopefully, all this leg work will pay off.  I do know the 2 who want to take it over appreciate it.

Strange Weird Time: Most of you know that we plan to take a furlough in the States for about 6 months, time enough for the kids to finish school and get their drivers licenses. At this point in time it looks as if Elaine and the kids will be home in early April, while Doug hangs around in China for a month longer. Hopefully, we will be clear as to where we will return to in Asia. Although, Thailand is on the top of our list, circumstances may pull us back into China, but out of Yunnan. Whichever it will be we are excited and thankful that God is in control and we rest in the fact that He knows even if we don't. Do continue to pray for clear understanding and discernment in the future.

Thanks for thinking of us!

Doug, Elaine, Clara and Colman Culver