The best thing about my day is how easily all these children smile.

They are so full of joy, despite the obstacles they have been born with. It's never a dull moment!
Philip and Aaron are from the same foster family, and they come in every morning for physical therapy. Aaron has a cleft lip and palate. Philip has Spinea Bifida and Hydrocephalus, with limited movement of his lower legs, and a little larger head than normal.

Both boys bring so much life and energy into the room.

Due to his cleft lip and palate, Aaron has a little "lisp" and some of his pronunciation is hard to understand. His foster mother was trying to get him to say "Ayi," meaning "auntie," which is what the kids call the women who work in the foster home. But his pronunciation was so cute, his foster mother and I started to repeat how he was pronouncing it. (Yes, even us adults like to act like kids!) He kept yelling "Ayi" at us like we were the ones who didn't know how to say it. Finally, he just ended the entire episode by laughing, shaking his head and saying, "You are crazy!"

Philip likes to look in the large mirror in the physical therapy room because he enjoys calling himself "Big Head" and laughing. He will look into the mirror and say, "Ah, I have a big head," and completely lose control in a adorable giggles. You can't help but laugh along with him, especially when he stops and looks again into the mirror with surprised eyes and a goofy face, and then cracks up again!

These children embrace their set backs with tremendous acceptance and happiness in life. They aren't ashamed to be different and approach their uniqueness with joy and humor. It's so encouraging to see how happy they are and loving they are. Just the little simple things they do can make your entire day and always bring a big smile to your face.

"Be Flexible" is advice you often get before leaving for another country.

Prior to coming to China, this was not a lesson I thought I’d need to learn. Because of the way I live my life, I already thought I was a flexible kind of guy. But here in China, these two words take on a whole new meaning. It’s like a mantra or motto that everybody just has to live by to survive. It is leagues more important than I ever could have thought.

I live with two of the students that attend the New Day Learning Center. Living with Max and Fu is always very, very interesting. Normal life becomes an adventure. Mundane tasks become life lessons.

So a couple of weeks ago, I think it was a Wednesday, I began that morning as any other - with a walk to New Day. This walk is something I have grown to love. Every day there’s something new to see. For example, on this particular morning I noticed something I’d never seen before on the stairwell just outside my apartment door – an electric switch box midway between the sixth and fifth floors. It had a little red light and a screen reading the number 30. While examining this lighted number, I thought to myself, "Hmmm interesting. I'll have to ask someone about that."

That evening as I'm hanging out with Fu and Max I say, "Hey guys, there's some weird light number on one of the electrical boxes in the hallway. The box has our number painted on it. What’s up with that?" They explain that in China, power is prepaid, and the number indicates when we are running out of units and need to get more.

"Ooooohhhh" I say with my mouth open wide. "So what do I need to do?"

"Nothing. We will tell some one in the morning," they reply.

So the week goes on, Friday morning comes, and the light number is still there – just a smaller number by now. That evening as I ascend the stairs to the apartment, I check the electricity box and see that the light numbers are gone.

"Cool, I didn't even have to think about that one. China's GREAT!"

With a grin on my face that stretches from ear to ear, I finish the last flight of stairs and open the door to my apartment.

"Hmm it’s sure dark…Fu and Max must be out."

I use the light from my cell phone to find the switch in the living room.

"Doh, the light is burned out too!"

With my path lit by screen light from my cell phone, I make it to my room. I pull that switch, and THAT light is burned out too. Now I’m starting to think that maybe the power was out for the whole apartment complex (this happens sometimes). So I start calling around to check. After talking to a lot of people, I find out that every one had power but us.

I called the guy in charge of getting us more electricity units, and he told me that he knew we didn’t have power. He said he was told two days ago by one of my housemates that we wouldn’t need power till next week. All of a sudden, it hit me that my roommates would rather have zero electricity for a few days than inconvenience somebody else.

Instead of getting frustrated, that reminder came flashing back.

Be flexible.

The next three days actually turned out to be a lot of fun. It was kind of like camping. Soon, the power was back on, and life went back to normal. We’ve all had a good laugh about it since then too. We laugh about taking cold showers all weekend and getting to do everything by “romantic” candle light.

That weekend I really learned something I thought I always knew – in a way I’ll never forget.

Be flexible.

Yesterday I experienced one of those “Smile, You’re On Candid Camera Moments,” China Edition.

I had some free time during the afternoon while the kids were napping, so I decided to do some research for my internship in the Foster Home offices. I’d been working away for about half an hour or so, when all of a sudden one of the Foster Home staff loaded a video onto his computer, turned up the volume, and everyone else in the office stood up from their desks.

They then proceeded to tell me that it was time to do their daily office exercises, and it was clear that they expected me to join them. So, I obediently rose to my feet as my heart sank to my stomach, and I began to mentally prepare myself for the embarrassing moment that was about to ensue.

You see, I have never been an especially coordinated person, and I absolutely loathed the moments in high school gym class when we were forced to do things like taebo, palates, and hip-hop dance routines. Following along to work out videos is not exactly my strong point, either. But in that moment, I found myself wishing that I hadn’t graciously declined all those times that my roommates had pleaded with me to participate in their Denise Austin exercise nights; I certainly could have used the practice for this very occasion.

The video started out easily enough, with marching in place and simple stretching exercises. However, it quickly progressed to much more complex activities that involved arms and legs swinging different directions at alternating tempos, and I quickly found myself flailing awkwardly along and wishing that I could look as graceful and refined as everyone else. Thankfully, I was located near the back of the room so I didn’t make a fool of myself in front of the entire Foster Home staff. I did my best to follow along as best as I could and to have a good attitude, because a big part of this summer is about trying new things and being willing to be slightly uncomfortable at times.

I am pleased to announce that the torture only lasted for about 10 minutes and it wasn’t as painful as I anticipated. When it was all over, everyone just calmly sat back down at their desks and got back to work as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. And as I sat back down, I made a mental note to avoid, at all costs, ever being in the Foster Home office at that time of day again.

Well, before I write I will just quickly tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Elizabeth Soderberg; I arrived in China in early February and will be leaving at the end of May. I have always wanted to work with the orphans in China and New Day has been such an amazing place to do this! Ok, here I go!

I slowly open the door and glance over the room until my eyes meet his, both of our faces immediately light up and he begins kicking his little feet in excitement! I quickly walk over to where he is laying and scoop him up into my arms. His beautiful brown eyes look up at me and incredible joy sweeps over me!

When I first came to New Day I was given the assignment to hold and be with a small ten month old baby as he recovered from pneumonia. He was very weak and could not sit up, and even had trouble holding his head up. I was with him almost six hour a day and for the first three weeks we were in an isolation room. As I spent many hours with Cameron I developed a bond and learned to love him in a very special way. I started to refer to him as my baby and would find myself missing him when I was away from him. Though there were times when the hours went by slowly the reward was worth the patience!

After the three weeks in isolation Cameron was strong enough to come back to the play room. Each morning and afternoon my job is to work with him on his sitting, tummy time, and just play with him. We have had so much fun together playing with toy, singing songs, dancing to the We Sing tape, or just observing the other babies in the room. I have watched him grow stronger and gain weight. He is now almost at the point were he can sit alone! It has been so rewarding to be able to invest my time in the life of a little orphan baby and to watch him grow and see him change! I know that the time I spent with Cameron not only helped him but has changed my life forever!