Story of My Journey

Selling Matchbooks for Orphans

2007-12-20T12:07:00.000+08:00

There's this little story by Hans Christian Anderson called "The Little Match Girl." In the story, this little girl needs to make a living, so she decides to sell matchbooks. However, the winter (and cold-hearted people who don't want to help) freezes her in the night.

One of my junior students Syen (he made up his English name) was inspired by this story and decided to sell matchbooks for 1 yuan a box (about 12 cents) in order to raise money for the orphanage that Syen visits with us every week. He recruited some of the foreign teachers and friends to stand on a little corner selling matchbooks for 2 and a half hours last night. Thinking it would be inside somewhere, I didn't dress appropriately for the weather conditions. :) Seth offered his guitar skills and the rest of us offered our faces and singing abilities as we sang Christmas carols on a little street corner in the dead of winter in northeast China. We think we helped Syen sell about 500-600 matchbooks! There are people in America who have tons of money and unwilling to give, but it's these students in China who don't have much at all and are willing to give what they can for the orphans. Some students bought ten boxes, not because they needed them, but because they wanted to help in the only way they knew how. I don't remember the last time I was so cold, but it helped me really empathize with people who have no home to go to this season. I appreciate Syen's heart and even though I am now fighting a cold I'm glad he invited us to do this with him.

Right now I am listening to the Christmas album of Steven Curtis Chapman called "All I Really Want for Christmas." Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife adopted three little girls from Asia (one of them from China) and the album promotes adoption (both foreign and from the States, like my dear friends the Guskes who are working on their third adoption with a little boy named Joshua). For little ones like the kids we see every week. The chorus of the main song says:

"All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in

A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win

There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need

All I really want for Christmas is a family

All I really want for Christmas is someone who'll be here

To sing me "Happy Birthday" for the next 100 years

And it's okay if they're not perfect or even if they're a little broken

That's all right, 'cause so am I

All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in

Tell me I'll never be alone, someone whose love will never end

Of all that I could ask for, well, there's just one thing I need

All I really want for Christmas is a family."

Ice Skating

2007-12-12T07:53:00.000+08:00

I saw the funniest thing the other day, at least to me. I want to give you a picture of how cold it is in these northern parts. What does one do for fun when it's this cold outside? My school doesn't have a pond, not really. So, why not convert the soccer field into an ice skating rink?!? The other day men were spraying a large hose on the soccer field and simply waited a few hours for the water to freeze. Wahlah- now you have an ice skating rink! Granted, the ice is only about an inch thick, but students by the masses rent little ice skates (with particularly long blades) and away they go! It snowed yesterday again, so yesterday the same men were shoveling the snow off their rink. Students asked if I wanted to go, but I reminded them that the last time I went ice skating I ended up in surgery with a cast up to my shoulder. But, knowing me, I just might be on this little makeshift rink in a few days' time. :)

To all my faithful blog readers

2007-11-27T12:08:00.000+08:00

To all my faithful blog readers,
I don't know who you are. I don't even know if people read these things. But, if you do and you're wondering why it's been ages since I've posted, I'm back. At least for today.
Thanksgiving was last week and it was a typical Thanksgiving time in China. Of course, nothing is ever typical here, but I think you get the point. Absent from the meal this year, however, was the bird. My team found a big turkey at an import store that we bought to freeze until Christmas. They don't quite know how they are going to fit this 20 pound thing in a toaster oven, but fear not! because Michelle is here and she's done this before! :). Turkey will be served! :)
After a Thanksgiving meal with our Siping team on Thursday, we ventured on to the big city Changchun to gather with 50 others to celebrate the holiday. The guys played football in the snow until they were completely frozen and I did some Christmas shopping with some of the women and their children. We often forget that everything in China takes twice as long to do as it would in America, so we barely made it in time for the Thanksgiving potluck meal. Following the meal was a time of singing, fellowship, and reading songs of thanksgiving from the Good Book. We were exhausted when we came back. If I had to spend Christmas away from my family, I'd spend it with these guys, my team. Some days I want to wring their necks (much like we do with the poor turkeys), but I love them. It's nice to be able to set aside this time.
Most of the time when I have more energy, I then spend this time on a poetic way of highlighting all that I am thankful for. Don't we all? Isn't that what we are supposed to do at this time of year? But, I am more and more convinced that seasons of thanksgiving should not just happen once a year. I AM thankful, but hopefully for all seasons.
Try writing down five things you are thankful for every day, based on something that happened that particular day. It's a lot easier said than done. But, try it. It is the blistery cold days when students aren't participating and the technology you need for class isn't working and teammates are driving you crazy and your plumbing isn't working and you're tired of eating noodles for dinner AGAIN and you had a really bad language day and people keep cutting in front of you at the bank and you.... (wow, I think I just described my day :)-- It is on days like these that you need to make that list the most.
I have often heard phrases like how we, as Dad's children, are "blessed to be a blessing." This week I heard a new one- that "we are blessed with a burden." Because it is only in this way that we can be Dad to these people.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-01T09:21:00.000+08:00

Happy Halloween from Team Siping and Jilin Normal University students!

Baby Boom in China?

2007-10-12T00:02:00.000+08:00

Here is an interesting article for those of you who like researching generational trends.

Baby Boom for Beijing Olympics (October 10, 2007, China Daily)
For many Chinese couples, October is the right season to conceive babies, as they hope to have an "Olympic baby" delivered at 8:08 PM, on August 8, 2008, the time when the opening ceremony will begin. While the ambitious potential parents plan to celebrate the Games with a new addition to their families, host country China is bracing itself for a baby boom. The first generation born under the one-child policy has reached the age of childbearing. And also, a mixture of traditional superstition and new trends has led to an abnormal surge in the population. The year 2000 saw over 36 million "millennium babies", nearly doubling the number in 1999 and 2001. Seven years later, the country is witnessing a new rush of baby deliveries since February 18, the beginning of the lunar New Year, the Year of the Pig. Many couples are trying to have "piggy babies" so that they will have a happy and prosperous life in the Year of golden Pig, as the animal sign coincides with gold, one of the five elements on earth. As a result, the number of newborns is expected to hit 20 million this year, according to Xinhua New Agency. And with the "Olympic baby" fever, the numbers of babies will be even higher. The baby boom has already started to put strains on schools and hospitals and later on, job markets. Experts warn irrational selective births could result in a shortage of social resources.

Surprise Encounter

2007-10-01T19:55:00.000+08:00

I had to be in Beijing this week for a meeting and ended up not being able to leave right away due to the lack of trains back to my city. We are right in the middle of China's National Holiday, which means that everyone in China is taking at least 3 days off from work to travel and many of them end up here in Beijing. Being here was all completely last minute, but four days later I'm still here in Beijing :). So, I was out and about in a popular part of the city last night doing some shopping (which I just don't do, but hey, I got time to kill :)).

Now, you might know that Beijing has over 12 million people, and with the October holiday week here, the rest of China seems to be here as well. So, it's rush hour (if China even has a rush hour) and I was waiting on the subway platform. I ignored the first train because there was no way humanly possible I could fit. I could see myself struggling with my face smooshed between a person's armpit and the window, and deciding that was not the way to go I waited for the next one. Meanwhile I am just amazed by the sheer masses in a great sea of black heads and start taking pictures of the hounds of people on the subway platform. Through my camera lens I see someone running towards me (which is odd because most people are heading away from me, like a school of fish).
I would have never guessed in a million years who it would be...

One of my best Chinese friends, Tan Chu Michael!

Michael was the very first friend I made in China and over the years we have become good friends. He makes his home in the south (Hengyang, my old city) and I was able to spend some time with him while I was visiting Hengyang this summer. Now, I have not written or talked to Michael since I left Hengyang at the end of July. I had absolutely no idea he would be in Beijing, nor he did me. But there, on the subway platform surrounded by a bajillion people, we ran into each other. How cool is that!?

On his end Michael was with a friend and his friend turned around and said, "look, there's a foreigner taking pictures of all the people in the subway." He kinda rolled his eyes and said that yeah, that's what some foreigners do, not getting too excited about yet another foreigner in Beijing, until he zones in and realizes he recognizes mentioned foreigner :)

Afterward he proceeded to yell at me for five minutes for not calling him or keeping in touch (he has tried and I have not returned his emails, I'll confess)...but, then the clincher "even Ekren (my former teammate who now lives in the far northwest of China) called me from Kashgar and you don't call me!" :) :) It was SO Michael. I saved myself by saying that if I had called he would have known I was planning to be in Beijing and the surprise encounter wouldn't have been nearly as fun.

It's amazing the people you meet along the way.

In the News

2007-09-21T09:21:00.000+08:00

In the news... (zgbriefs.com)

Counselors Practice How to Rescue Marriages (September 15, 2007, Shanghai Daily)
The growing demand for marriage counselors in Shanghai has led to the creation of a special training school for people interested in saving marriages. Those interested in improving their marriage counseling skills, or saving their own unions, may apply for a spot in the program to gain experience. The program invites young newlyweds who need advice and the counselors practice their techniques on them. Some of the consultants have no prior experience but receive training. The first marriage consulting practice and training center opened in Shanghai in July. So far, 500 people have enrolled in the program to improve their consulting skills.

China Web-user Dies After Three-day Online Binge (September 16, 2007, AFP)
A man in southern China collapsed and died after a three-day marathon online session at a cybercafe, state media reported on Monday. The web-user, estimated to be 30 years old, suddenly collapsed in front of his computer terminal in Guangdong province, and emergency personnel were unable to revive him, the Beijing News reported. "According to preliminary findings, the length of time this man spent online might have triggered heart problems," the paper quoted a local hospital emergency medic in the city of Zhongshan as saying. The paper did not provide the man's name or the online activities he was engaged in.

China’s Tallest Building Nearly Done (September 14, 2007, AP)
After a more than a decade of delays, China's tallest building is slicing through Shanghai's hazy, skyscraper-studded skyline — a new trophy built by a Japanese property tycoon. The 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center, a 1,614 foot wedge-shaped tower with a rectangular hole at the very top, was topped out on Friday as its last beam was laid amid a drizzle that obscured the building's panoramic view of endless high rises. In a city whose skyline evinces the belief "the taller the better," the building is bound to be a major tourist destination and landmark. The $1 billion Shanghai project by the developer's flagship Mori Building Co., due for completion in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is a monument to the city's ambitions to reclaim its status as a key international center.

And the most interesting...

New Words for a Rave New World (September 17, 2007, Shanghai Daily)
Rapid social change, Western pop culture and the use of English have prompted education authorities to add 171 terms to the national language registry, including those that describe mortgage slaves and loose marital arrangements. Economic reforms and soaring rates of home ownership have produced a new name for those young people struggling to pay off home loans in traditionally debt-wary China: fangnu, or "house slaves." And young, married professionals who live in separate homes to keep the romance alive and maintain their own space are being called "Semi-honey couples" (bantang fuqi), according to education officials."(The new terms) reflect the rapid cultural and social changes in recent years as well as thriving new concepts in our daily lives," said Li Yuming, the senior official at the Ministry of Education in charge of standardizing the use of modern Chinese language. The new terms were registered after two years researching more than 900 million commonly used words and phrases in Chinese, the Xinhua news agency reported, adding that they showed how pervasive Western movies and the English language had become.

What Blog?

2007-09-20T11:52:00.001+08:00

Because of the "Great China Firewall" I have difficulty accessing the blogs of friends in the States. In fact, some days make it downright impossible to read other peoples' stuff except through a proxy server. So, I lag behind. Then I forget I even have a blog until someone asks me why I haven't posted anything lately. Now I remember.

Let me just sum up recent life here in a few sentences: Students are finally coming around! Classes are actually fun this year (added powerpoint in my classes as well as trying a completely new curriculum with my sophomores). Team is good. Community is good. Our team is doing the Beth Moore study on Daniel, good stuff so far. It's hard to get started on language learning again- very hard. Still don't know my future, but who does, really? It's starting to get cold (and when it does, "warm" doesn't come again until May). I am preparing for my cultural lectures this semester on university life in America, the melting pot theory, new york city, and the effect of 9/11 on our society. I have started going to the local fellowship weekly, as well as loving on new babies and kids at the orphanage. Muslims are observing Ramadan this month and the Chinese will soon be observing Mid-Autumn Day (kind of an equivalent to America's Thanksgiving) and I'm trying to enmesh myself somehow in both (or at least learn more about it from the inside). I miss my family (especially with Dad's birthday next week). I'm looking forward to the October National Day (a week-long break). I have had several opportunities to share the story this week. Life is good.

Now, if any of my sophomore writing students had turned in a paragraph like the one above, I would have given them a very low grade (no transitions, no main topic, random and unorganized, incomplete sentences). :) :) :)

Here's a picture from our first trip back to the orphanage with students last Saturday (let's play "Where's Waldo?")...only some of the older kids are pictured here. :)

Thoughts on Team

2007-09-09T10:05:00.000+08:00

Just to assure all you faithful blog readers that Michelle has not disappeared! I usually don't go this long between entries, but this past month has been one constant transition after another. I just wrote and sent another newsletter to the press, which means I am in writing mode, so I write. There's also the point that there is so much going on that I don't know where to start or what you would be interested in. To me it just seems like a regular day in China. However, I'm realizing that the fact that I'm in China doesn't make it regular at all :).

After five weeks in south China and four weeks helping out in Beijing, me and my team of 13 boarded the train and ventured back to Siping to begin a new semester. The first week back was devoted to team building activities and now we are in our second week of classes. I have not updated pictures on my flickr site because my camera died this summer and I'm in the process of looking for a new one :). The team picture here is from my teammate Kat :).

When I joined this team in February, I was simply doing just that- joining something that had already been established. I was just going with what was already going on and that was fine for me. Last semester was a time of transition and learning the ropes of living life in this place. Now, however, I want to help shape this team and put in my two cents worth. I want to be part of developing strategies that align with where our Father wants us to go. I've been on several very different kinds of teams and each one has had its advantages and disadvantages. There are aspects of my old teams that I really miss, and yet at the same time there are other aspects I don't miss at all. However, even with several years of experience under my belt, I know I have to approach life with a great deal of humility. Humility has never been one of my stronger virtues. :) Adding new team members in the mix calls for even more adjusting. Bless their hearts because being completely new to China has them adjusting more to life in Siping than I ever had to. Being on a large team of 13 means that everyone wants to find their place, to bring value to the larger whole. It is sometimes (okay, a lot) frustrating when somebody else has the "greater" gifts and I'm simply trying to keep up. I find myself (and I say this as a personal problem and not necessarily reflective of my team members) becoming (dare I say?) competitive in some regards and sometimes forget who we really are and Who we are representing. Who can be the best language learner or best lesson planner or best study leader or who can come up with the best thought and praise time? Who is the busiest or having the most meaningful conversations with students? We want to be the best we can be for Him, but end up stepping on each other in the process rather than building each other up. Is that really what we want to be? We really don't know what the Father is doing with us here, but that's not really our job to figure out. We need to be constantly reminded that our role is, by loving each other, to demonstrate His love to the community at large. Out of relationship with the Body comes relationship with others.

I have a great team, I really do. I have been genuinely impressed by the leadership of Jon and Rachel, our team leaders. They bring people out in a way that is honoring to our Father. Having been in leadership positions before, I know that this is not always an easy place to be. They both honor Him with their lives and love for each other and for this family here in Siping. I am incredibly blessed to work alongside them (and not just Jon and Rachel- ALL of them).

It is neat to see how various gifts on the team are played out, even in the mundane. The mundane is a glorious place to be sometimes. :). And yet, at the end of the day, we are still human and our natures take captive on what should be right and pure. Perhaps that is what makes grace all the more amazing! :)

The other night my team was listening to a teaching about our friend Joseph at the beginning of our favorite book. The speaker was emphasizing how Joseph's Father was with him even when he didn't know the story (didn't even know there WAS a story, as there was no book at the time, and his great grandfather was just an ordinary man to him who had a promise of being the father of many, but only had one son, and his own brothers were messed up people in themselves- there's a story, what story? :)). In the dark places in the dungeon, befriending the prison warden, Joseph had no clue how his life would play in the bigger story. He just acted as one confident that his Father was with him. The question the speaker continually challenged us with was, "what would somebody who is just like me with my exact circumstances do who is absolutely confident that the Father is with him?" How do my decisions and actions hang on the balance of the Great Story of which we have no specific idea about the part we are playing? :)).

At the end of the day, what brings honor to Him? At the end of the day, we are reminded that this is His team, this is His campus, and this is His story. We are humbled that we have been asked to play such a role. One day it'll make sense, but our aim is not to search for that day, but to simply BE in the here and now and hope for better things. :)

By the way, Happy Teacher's Day to all of you in China! :)

Taking care of the kiddies

2007-08-11T08:11:00.000+08:00

All present and accounted for in Beijing. I had a delightful month in my old city of Hengyang and when it was time to leave, I was ready. I was able to finally to say goodbye to that place. I cannot effectively move on to a new area until I've had closure. It really just takes time. It's time to go home to Siping, northeast China.

First stop, however, is Beijing. I have been here for almost two weeks and am loving it here. I'm helping out with new teacher orientation for my organization. While I spend a lot of time handling money and doing office work, I spend most of my days with the kids during childcare (childcare, not babysitting :) ). I am the assistant to the children's director, which means I handle most of the logistics and crisis control. It's like taking VBS and making the theme about adjusting to China. We intercede for our teammates, but often forget about what the kids are going through. They are making huge transitions, too. For the little babies we have hired aiyis (the word for aunt in Chinese-- older Chinese women who take care of children and can come to clean and cook for the family) and it is funny watching my little teammate Will (he's 1 1/2) being handed off to the care of an aiyi. The look on confusion on his face is priceless, but soon warms up to her and flashes his big smile. He doesn't seem too afraid by the masses of people who come up to him every day wanting to take his picture or touch his head. His older brother Jude (he's 5) is a little more sensitive to those kind of things. It's fun watching the little guys experience their new culture for the first time. The older kids are doing lessons and cultural activities and learning some Chinese (they are expected to perform some Chinese songs and poems at the SAFEA banquet this week- State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs- the umbrella government organization we are under, the bigwigs who have allowed us to be here). :) These kids want to make an impression :). The government officials absolutely LOVE when they do things like this. :)
The highlight of the kids' time is venturing out into the city for cultural outings (yesterday it was the Ethnic Minorities Park). I tell you, corralling a bunch of kids through the streets and taxis of Beijing, China is a quite unsettling at times (especially when these kids are somebody else's who've entrusted me with the most precious things in their lives--in a foreign country!). So far nobody has been lost or hurt, thank the Lord! At the end of the day if I get all the kids back with their parents I consider it a day well done :) ). Right now it's only 18 kids (new families), but imagine the task when all of our kids of all of our teachers come parading in next week (about 60!). Please think of these kids and that this will be a time of learning for them as they adjust to their new surroundings. Ask that they remain safe in this gigantic city.

News from China

2007-07-27T16:57:00.000+08:00

My teammate Sonny started doing this on his blog, and I thought it was a good idea for those interested in news from China. ZGBriefs is a site that consolidates various news stories from different sources each week highlighting things happening in China and then sends out a weekly email. Here are a few from these past few weeks:

Quake Leaves 18,000 Homeless in Xinjiang (July 23, 2007, Xinhua)
About 18,000 people have been left homeless after the earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale, which struck a remote county in northwest China last week. The quake, which struck Tekes County, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture in northern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, at 6:06 PM on Friday, destroyed 4,600 houses and damaged 7,800 others, affecting 27,000 people, the prefectural government said. No casualties have been reported, but more than 470 livestock sheds collapsed in the quake, killing about 400 livestock, it said. The quake has caused direct losses of 63.75 million yuan (US$8.3 million). Disaster relief materials such as tents and flour have been transported to the area. The relocated residents are being accommodated with relatives or in tents provided by the government.

China Sees Activists as Olympic Threat (July 23, 2007, AP)
China's intelligence services are gearing up for next year's Beijing Olympics, gathering information on foreigners who might mount protests and spoil the nation's moment in the spotlight. Government spy agencies and think tanks are compiling lists of potentially troublesome foreign organizations, looking beyond the human rights groups long critical of Beijing, security experts and a consultant familiar with the effort said. They include evangelical Christians eager to end China's religious restrictions, activists wanting Beijing to use its oil-buying leverage with Sudan to end the strife in Darfur and environmental campaigners angry about global warming. The effort is among the broadest intelligence-collection drives Beijing has taken against foreign activist groups, often known as non-governmental organizations, or NGOs. It aims to head off protests and other political acts during an Olympics the communist leadership hopes will boost its popularity at home and China's image abroad. "Demonstrations of all kinds are a concern, including anti-American demonstrations," said the consultant, who works for Beijing's Olympic organizers and asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media. The government, he said, is "trying to find out what kinds of NGOs will come. ... What are their plans?" While foreign governments often monitor potentially disruptive groups ahead of big events, Beijing this time is ranging farther afield, targeting groups whose activities would be considered legal in most countries. Officials in China's overseas diplomatic missions are also being tasked to gather information on groups, the consultant said. When The Associated Press reported in May on plans by U.S. and other Christian groups to proselytize at the Olympics, the press officer at China's U.N. mission contacted the AP seeking more information.

In Changing Times, Many Chinese Find Wisdom in Confucius (July 10, 2007, The Christian Science Monitor, by Peter Ford)
Come back, Confucius, all is forgiven. For nearly a century the ancient sage was confined to the intellectual doghouse in the land of his birth. Today he is fast supplanting communism as Chinese rulers, businessmen, and ordinary citizens turn back 2-1/2 millenniums to his teachings to help them cope with the economic and social changes racking their country. "The economy is developing very fast, but people feel the need for wisdom and morality," says Gu Qing, who publishes books on traditional Chinese culture. "Now we've solved the problem of filling people's stomachs, they are looking for something to fill their minds."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070710/wl_csm/oconfucius_1
------------------------------------
and a story I was VERY happy to hear about...

Starbucks Shuts Controversial Forbidden City Shop (July 14, 2007, AP)
Starbucks has closed a coffeehouse in China's former imperial palace, the company said Saturday, ending a presence that sparked protests by Chinese critics who said it damaged a key historical site. The controversy over Starbucks at Beijing's 587-year-old Forbidden City has highlighted Chinese sensitivity about cultural symbols and unease over an influx of foreign pop culture. Starbucks closed the 200-square-foot outlet Friday after Forbidden City managers decided they wanted all shops on its grounds to operate under the palace's brand name, said Eden Woon, Starbucks' vice president for Greater China. "It was a very congenial decision. We respect what they are doing," Woon said. The Starbucks opened in 2000 at the invitation of palace managers, who needed to raise money to maintain the 178-acre complex of villas and gardens. But critics said it was inappropriate. An anchor for Chinese state television led an online protest, saying the coffeehouse diminished Chinese culture.

If you want the weekly emails, go to www.zgbriefs.com

Finished at last!

2007-07-25T11:09:00.000+08:00

I am finished!!!! It's kind of a long story how it all started and how it all ended, but I now have my Master's degree in Intercultural Studies from Wheaton College Graduate School! Diploma is in the mail! My organization offers 4 graduate programs (from 3 different schools) tuition-free during our tenure teaching English in Asia. We take classes in one-month or two-week periods in the winter in Thailand, and then in the summer at the Wheaton College campus. During the semesters we do all of the reading and paper writing. I started in the winter of 2003, but soon saw that my heart was not in it and did not think I was doing it for the right reasons, so I dropped out. About two years later my new teammates (two guys) were in the program and I was already reading their books and saw that my own passions had changed. If I'm reading the books anyway, why don't I just take the classes again? So, that's what I did.

Finally came an opportunity for me to go to northwest China, and while I knew I was being called in that direction I also knew I needed to finish my degree first. It would have taken me another two years or so, so instead of doing it the normal way I fast-tracked it by spending a semester on Wheaton's campus as part of my "home leave"(which is an exception they made for me--it never hurts to ask :)). I didn't have a place to live, so this family I grew up with in Indonesia called people in their fellowship and this nice couple with two grown daughters off at college invited me to live with them- for free! My semester with the Brown family and with the Wheaton folks was amazing! I was even able to be part of a Chinese fellowship and volunteer once a week in Chicago's Chinatown tutoring English. I really began to sincerely appreciate this precious gift I had been given. While my place in the northwest was then put on hold indefinitely I know Dad used that as a way to lead me where He needed me for that semester. A lot of healing and rest and family time was able to happen! (and to think I originally went reluctantly! :) )

After that time I had one last paper to write as part of an independent study that would take the next six months. The paper only needed to be 25 pages, but it was about a subject I deeply cared about, so I put my whole heart into it and in the end (and 2400 pages of reading later) the paper was over 60 pages long! A mini book, my parents always tell me. :) And now I am finished. Woohoo!

The graduate programs my organization offers are an amazing opportunity because it is so applicable to where we are at. Thank you to the folks in the organization for giving me this opportunity and for allowing me to extend my knowledge base so that I can be better at what I am doing now! It is humbling. May it be that I use my education for the Father's glory! :)

Dancing and Swimming in the Park

2007-07-24T10:58:00.000+08:00

Following a spontaneous dinner with a close Chinese friend (Barbara) the other night, we decided to go to the local park to join in the dancing. One of the most beautiful things about China is their sense of community, and every night in the park groups of people, mostly women, will join together and dance together. It's kind of like the Chinese version of line dancing, except it's traditional Chinese music and not country music, and the steps are completely different. Okay, it's not like line dancing at all :) :) You just pick a spot and desperately try to follow along. I'm not much of a dancer, but nobody cares. To me the steps seem complicated until you get used to the pattern and the traditional dancing continues. I worked up quite a sweat to what looks on the outside like such a simple thing. And that was only after one dance! These ladies will dress up in their very best dresses and go away at it. Young and old together. It is what gives them enjoyment from an otherwise tedious day. It was an absolute delight!

A few days later this same friend invited me to go swimming with her and some others at the local park. The average Chinese person doesn't know how to swim, so they find it surprising that I learned when I was a four-year old in Indonesia (I remember those days as clear as anything). However, more and more people are learning, so these students asked me to teach them on this particular afternoon. Teaching my Chinese friends how to swim was an awesome time! After giving them a pep talk about "how you cannot be afraid of the water, the water is our friend, and that if you go under you'll still be okay"...they began to enjoy the experience. I was trying to teach them to swim backwards (I'm not a swimmer, I don't know the technical words for these things) but it was a struggle for them because they were fighting the water, afraid of going under. But, once they relaxed, they did quite well. Swimming seems like such an easy thing, don't you think? Just a little kicking and moving your arms, right? Then I began to teach it and realized to an adult who has been told you can get STDs from a swimming pool (yeah, that's what I said) and have received hyped up stories of drowning all their lives and are afraid of the water, not such an easy task. What happened to the childlike faith of a four year old? (and how applicable is that in our own LIFE walk? Point to ponder). Needless to say, it was one of the most enjoyable times for me in my whole China experience! By the end of the time, I had been out of the water for awhile, but they didn't want to leave. I thought they were going to turn into fish. Then we played in the kiddie pool and pretended to be kids again :)

The sun was so hot that I got a slight sunburn (that for me always turns into a tan), which I was very proud of and showing off to everybody. But, for the Chinese, the idea is that the whiter you are the better, so when I told them that people in America spend a long time (and sometimes a lot of money) trying to be darker they thought this very strange indeed! :)

Highlight of the Summer

2007-07-16T23:17:00.000+08:00

(note: I posted this on my Facebook page and will probably include it in an upcoming newsletter for those of you who follow either of them, so you don't have to read it three times-- just thought it was a story worth sharing :) :) )

I have been in this China land for four and a half years and I am still taking it in, some moments as if it were for the first time all over again. I am overjoyed by the beauty of the people here. Even with each passing week, it never becomes dull (and when it does, I know I need to change my attitude). Each day is a new day to experience- to laugh, to cry, to get angry, to feel peace, to be misunderstood, to communicate, to love, to share, to proclaim, to LIVE. My goal (although I often come up short, thanking Him for His grace) has always been to show what it means "to have life, and to have it abundantly". To lose everything in order to gain it all. To be pushed down in order to be lifted up. To empty ourselves in order to be filled again. Instead, many of these students and members of the community strive to live out what the world has taught them, going through each day trying to be successful, to make their parents proud, to study harder, to be "happy", and to live out their life motto: "I believe in myself." They fill their lives with all these things that cannot bring satisfaction, true peace, and true joy. They are held captive to hollow philosophy. Life to them is only about the here and now. Their goal is to "make life more beautiful" for THIS world, without any wonder in what the NEXT one can behold. They dance around trying to make their way in this world only to be gone from it without having experienced LIFE as One meant it to be lived. The burden for these people becomes almost too much to bear sometimes, but I rest each night because there is Someone who loves them more than I ever could. I have a story to share and I am eager for anybody willing to take the time to listen. And yet, I know that even if they don't, I'm still sharing it anyway. Because occassionally one person really is listening even though I don't always know it.

This weekend I had the chance to visit a close Chinese friend- someone who did listen. Someone who did hear the Story. Someone who did embrace LIFE. Every June 1st she celebrates her REAL birthday. She lives out her simple faith day by day. At first I acted as kind of a mentor to her, but in the end it was she that taught me so much.
After I moved up north, I wasn't able to see her for over a year. It didn't seem to matter because I knew our paths would cross again in a different time, in a different place. But, this weekend I made an effort to visit her hometown of Guangzhou, a vibrant city historically known as Canton, close to Hong Kong. She has since graduated from university and is making her way in the world. It's a tough world out there sometimes, especially for China. The only thing I can do is intercede for her. Yet we often forget how powerful this intercession is. Knowing that the same Someone she embraced several years ago is holding her together still.
About a month ago my team in the north embarked for America to spend the summer months. I decided for my own reasons to stay behind ("holding down the fort" so to speak :) ). I have sincerely enjoyed travelling from the north to visit old friends in my old stomping grounds of south-central China. I enjoy interacting with such precious people in my life. I love surprising the fruit ladies and the gatekeepers with my presence, able to communicate with them in Chinese much better than I could a year ago. :) :). It is my joy to chase the kids around the neighborhood and swap stories with old teacher colleagues. But in the midst of all this busyness and reunion, I longed for fellowship with brothers and sisters. I had run into two sisters at the local fellowship last Sunday, but time with them was all too brief. I longed for that Community that only this family knows. When I went to visit my Chinese sister I found the fellowship I had been asking for. It turned out to be the highlight of my summer.
We visited her home and favorite places, we took long walks (sneaking into air-conditioned places from time to time simply to escape the heat), we ate dim sum and southern cuisine, and we talked deep into the night (I felt like I was 12 years old again having slumber parties) :). I was able to meet her Community- a band of faithful people who meet together bi-weekly for encouragement, reading, and intercession (it's all legit, don't worry). I met with them two times, the first of which was more casual, and the second with the whole group on Sunday. During the first group time, they spontaneously asked me to lead the group in my thoughts on passages (I didn't see this coming and had it been in a formal venue I wouldn't have been able to- it was humbling watching these young people lean over taking in anything I had to offer, they are starving for understanding and strive to go deeper. Humbling, indeed!). This is one of the most open places in China I've been to. Sunday's fellowship was amazing- people were lifting up their hands in exaltation and singing the choruses with loud exclamation. I couldn't help the tears, nor did I want to stop them. The choir sang a song taken from Ps. 139- my life verses being parts 9 and 10 (my friend, knowing this, leaned over to me and whispered that this was great, as if they knew I was coming :) ). In CHINA! It was such a delight! Recently I've been studying heavily on reading the Chinese language. Reading Chinese characters can be challenging (that's the understatement of the year) and I feel like I'm losing some of my eyesight :), but I tell you, when you start reading the Good Book in Chinese and are able to finally sing with them from their old songbooks, it makes all those hours worth it and more. I was reading with them in their own language (and partly in mine)! Two worlds were coming together to unite as one family before One Person. I listened to some of their stories. I listened to their heart's burden and desire for their families. I listened as they spoke how the blessings of Him in Matthew 5 applied to their lives. I felt like I had come home.
While at my friend's grandmother's house (where her grandmother made a simple meal of beef and spinach, thankfully) this sister told me her grandmother's story. When her grandmother was younger her family was pretty rich. Even with 14 brothers and sisters, they never had a need. That is, until her father died. The mother couldn't raise everyone on her own, so she kept the boys and sold all the girls. Sold. For a price. Luckily, my friend's grandmother was 17 at the time and was at an age to get married. She basically found the first man she could find who would agree to her and got married. She never saw her sisters again. The man she married was an honest man who treated her well and respected her, raising two boys, though my friend didn't know if they ever found love. They were poor and she has lived in this simple wooden house ever since. I don't think my friend's grandmother ever harbored bitterness against her mother for that because that was simply the life of the times. It was hard and while it doesn't make it right, I don't think it is our place to judge. My own mother could tell you stories about this as this has become her life's passion (to research the plight of women around the world who are victim to the world system of our times and then implore people to intercede for them). This is only to say that the legacy from which my friend came was a really hard one. THIS is the story from which she came from. Her grandmother keeps a shrine in her house to which she offers incense regularly. My friend has made it clear that she will no longer offer incense, a bold step for her but one she has been respected for. The incense burning is more of a cultural thing than a religious thing, my friend says, and her grandmother does it to pay respect to her ancestors. I can't help wondering if she is thinking of her sisters as well.
My friend has shared with her family. A little more than a year after she embraced Life, she was in the hospital facing surgery to remove a stomach tumor a year and a half ago (Christmas Day), my team and I visited her every day. I think she was encouraged by our visits, but she requested that someone bring her her most treasured Book. It was really tough watching her tears and trying to answer the hard questions she faced. It broke my heart when she asked if she was being punished. It was through the Book and the reassurance of His love found in those pages that she found her peace. Over the next months she became even stronger- even when the tumor returned six months later. (today it is completely gone- Praise Him!) During those long hours at the bedside in the hospital, she was able to share with her father. And he listened. Her parents allow her to go to fellowship weekly, even asking her questions about it from time to time. We only ask that their hearts will soften and that they will experience real LIFE, too.

On the way to Guangzhou (a six hour train ride from where I'm staying for the month), I didn't have a seat. Knowing that ahead of time, I brought a little stool with me and claimed a small space between train cars (I wish I had a picture of this). I opened my book and read. Ravi Zacharias is one of my favorite speakers of all time. I went to college with his son Nathan (though, I did not know Nathan personally). He spoke at a leadership conference I attended my senior year. I was reading his autobiography entitled "Walking from East to West" (subtitled "God in the Shadows"). I did not know his story, so I did not know what to expect from such a memoir. In the middle of that train, sitting on a hard little stool next to the smokers and squatty potties (adding chickens to the scene would have made the picture complete, don't ya think?) :), I don't remember the last time I had so much joy. :) Reading Ravi's words about how our Father touched his life, taking him from a small village in south India to speaking before the United Nations assembly and other great world leaders, deeply touched my heart. Tears did not hesitate to fall. In one chapter he mentioned an extended trip to Vietnam and spoke of a dear older single lady named Helen Evans to whom he sent a Mother's Day card every year, a woman who referred to him as her son. I was amazed for this lady has played a huge role in my own life- from the time I was a three-year old in Indonesia, to supporting me (taking from her meager Social Security checks) here in China now! Testimony after testimony filled the pages, intervention of the Spirit after intervention. I realized (not for the first time) that our Dad is amazing! That word (amazing) cannot even begin to describe it. There are not enough words in any language to describe the greatness of our Father. It can only be expressed through the language of the most pure heart (the verse for sunday's fellowship in Guangzhou was "blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.").
On the way back from Guangzhou (this time in a nice seat :) ) I was reading the last few chapters of Ravi Zacharias' book when a man interrupted my thoughts. I looked up (expecting a small Chinese man) and was so startled to see a large Pakistani man with a big beard dressed in his Pakistani clothing. He nearly scared me to death with his large presence :) :). He was smiling and friendly, so I invited him to engage in conversation. In his heavy Pakistani accent he started asking me questions in which I thought at first would turn out to be a casual small talk (where all the questions are the same, and I already knew my exact answers). Instead, I was completely surprised. He asked me questions in this exact order: "Are you Englishman?" No, American. "Are you a Christian?" I paused, smiled, and said, beaming, "yes, yes I am." I never get that question from the Chinese, but this man seemed to know where we get our true identity. He was from Urumqi (the capital of Xinjiang province in far northwest China, the place I have felt a calling toward for the past year and a half-- and here we were in the far southeast, both of us far from "home"). I began to think that this was all a Godsend. :) What's really amazing is that this encounter came right after I finished reading these words in the Ravi's book where he quoted David Livingstone as saying "Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever any ties but the ties that bind me to your service and to your heart."
I only pray that this may be so. For me. For my friend in Guangzhou. For my Chinese brothers and sisters who take time to listen to the Story- those family members that are not yet, but someday. We share of which there is no greater Hope.

In Memory of Grandma Mary

2007-07-10T12:30:00.000+08:00

My great grandmother died last night. She was 94 years old. She outlived her husband (my great-grandfather) by 14 years and her son (my grandfather) by two. We were beginning to think she would outlive an entire generation. :) She lived through two World Wars, had three sons, six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren (the oldest being me at 27!). I wish I had taken more time to sit down with her and ask her to tell her stories. These are the kind of stories we need to pass on. Grandma Mary was an excellent cook with a great southern heritage. I remember as a child growing up to the smell of hotcakes and molasses in Grandma's kitchen. Peppermint candy never ran out. :) She was content to stay in her little house in the small town of Rockingham, North Carolina for decades. She was the anchor for our family for, well as long as she has created this family. They think she died simply of old age, which is a trait I hope to inherit from her. :). Maybe after looking back at her life that evening she sighed and said to herself, "I'm tired, I think I'll go to sleep now" and quietly slipped into the arms of her Lord who welcomed her by saying, "well done, good and faithful one, welcome home!". At least that's the way I like to think about her passing from this world into the next. :)
Amazing woman, really. :) Her husband was an alcoholic, not an easy life, and it became a common occurrence to haul him out of jail on Saturday nights. And then on Sunday mornings she made sure she had her three young boys at church. (please realize that I loved my great-grandfather dearly- I cried buckets of tears at his funeral when I was 11 years old- Great Grandpa embraced Forgiveness and the Faith in his later years and found real joy and peace and is probably dancing with Grandma on the golden streets today-- which is further evidence of a magnificent God). She raised her family with a clear sense of morality that is often lost on this generation. But in the end, well, to her, family was family. Not always what we would choose, but we've all we've got :). She will be remembered as one who loved her family and loved her God.
We are sad to lose such a wonderful matriarch, but are grateful that she lived such a long life and left a legacy. We are happy to know that she now has a new brand new body dancing with her Jesus in heaven. I only hope I can live up to be an ounce of the woman that she was. We love you Grandma Mary!

It's Amazing the People You Meet Along the Way

2007-07-09T11:45:00.001+08:00

It's amazing the people you meet along the way.

As you know, I am spending the month of July in my old city of Hengyang and am loving meeting with old friends and students. It has been my joy! Perhaps the greatest moments are those that are not planned, but somehow orchestrated by Dad. :)

For example, there have been many people I have run into by complete chance, people from the past that I have grown to love and respect greatly. My very first year in China there were two American roommates in my building: Jay and James. They were from a different organization, but they were also like-minded and doing similar work as my team was doing at that particular medical school. Back in the day, Jay was a good friend in helping me through the complexities of being in China for the first time. James, a fellow history major, and I became good friends later, and we made an effort to hang out regularly especially when I moved across town to a different school the next year. I have lost contact with both of them, but that's okay. It's just what happens sometimes. I'm grateful for the role these guys played in my life. Jay and James both moved back to the States about 3 or 4 years ago.
On my second day in Hengyang I heard that both Jay and James were in town! They were both leaving the next day, so a day more or less and we would have missed each other. Funny thing was that none of us told the other that we would be in town. It just sort of happened that way! How fun! Jay has since gotten married and brought along his wife (and I LOVE her!) and we were able to catch up over chicken wings and Coke, in the middle of a back alley in Hengyang, a small town in south-central China. How cool is that!?!

Another example is when I ran into two ladies at the local fellowship on Sunday morning. These two ladies have been actively involved in the family life in this area. Last winter I had to do one of my last projects for my Wheaton masters work, and our group highlighted the history and current happenings of the family in the Hengyang area. I used these ladies' stories as a backdrop. Again, I had lost touch with them, especially the one lady who was from a different city and has since moved farther south to Shenzhen, which is close to Hong Kong. I wasn't feeling well that morning and didn't want to face the heat and go to the fellowship, but I felt like something (or Someone) was urging me, so I went. Imagine my surprise when at the end of the service I ran into these precious sisters! The one lady just happened to be in town that day visiting from Shenzhen (again, a day more or less and we would have missed each other) and it was like seeing an old friend, a kind of Chinese mentor. When you think of the family in China, these ladies fit the picture. :) I was able to tell these ladies about our research and how I was inspired by their stories. That brought so much encouragement I think! We were delighted to share with each other again!

With that said, sometimes the best things in life aren't planned- but orchestrated by Dad in such a way that brings us real joy and a reminder that His hand is in all things :). It's pretty awesome, actually :)

Old people and fans

2007-07-07T10:56:00.000+08:00

I wish I could capture on film what I saw the other day at the local Xiang Jiang grocery store. It was packed with people as it usually is and I was going along getting my receipt stamped (a security thing) and I saw a delightful sight. Now, in Hengyang it is in the upper 90's with a whole lot of humidity (I'm not a weatherman, so I can't tell you exactly how much humidity, just know that it is HOT). You walk outside and start sweating in the space of ten steps. I have noticed that Chinese people do not sweat as much as us laowai (foreigners), but even these people were sweating. People were packed into KFC simply by virtue that there was air conditioning in there :). So, I walked out the security section of the grocery store (still inside) and to my right were these fans. There were probably fifty fans turned on in order to get people to buy them. There was a long bench and there were all of these old people (maybe 80 years old and up) sitting on the bench- lined up, in their pajamas, in the middle of a grocery store, basking in the air of the fans. And they were just gabbering away as if they were lounging in a park. It wasn't like they were waiting for people, they were just sitting there taking advantage of the cool air. In their pajamas! (I had to stress that one more time). It was delightful!
If I get enough courage, I'll go back and take a picture of them :).

4th of July Party in China! (updated)

2007-07-04T23:53:00.000+08:00

I'm throwing a 4th of July party for my Chinese friends tomorrow night (cuz, technically it's still 4th of July in America). We're going to have games (a red, white, and blue costume contest to name one) and history trivia (there's the history major in me) and let off fireworks (I'll just ask the four year old down the street to help as he has probably more experience than me with fireworks as that is a common site around these here parts), teach all the patriotic songs I know and maybe I can get them do a little parade around the block (you think that might get me kicked out of the country?)...right here in China. Maybe even red and blue Koolaid! We'll even invite the Brits! :)

The big trick will be trying to put all this together without mentioning one iota of politics or the motivation behind the Declaration of Independence. Hmm...

Yeah, the more I plan this, the more I realize that I might be stepping on toes...
but, teaching American culture, why not?

Sweet! :)

Update: okay, so they weren't as excited as I was :), but they learned something! The winner of the trivia contest got a free meal at McDonalds. I even managed to sing the "Star Spangled Banner." Francis Scott Key sure wrote a hard one! :) :) They loved learning to sing "Yankee Doodle" (ask any American and I bet nobody knows the meaning of the song...so I looked it up on the internet- apparently, it was a song written by the British to make fun of the Colonial soldiers, but when America won the war they took the song and made it their own :)). Happy 4th of July everyone! :)

27 years old!

2007-06-30T14:53:00.000+08:00

Thursday (June 28) was my 27th birthday and I must tell you that this is one of the best birthdays I've had in many years. A few weeks ago, my team up north gave me an early surprise party at which I was genuinely surprised. They brought really nice gifts and provided my favorite type of cake (who could have known?) :). That was an incredibly sweet gesture! I have an awesome team!

On my actual birthday I had no idea what would happen, so I just let the day...happen :). If you want to know the highlights, read on!
That morning my parents called me and after talking with them on the phone, I went to get waffles (yes, we found waffles in China!!) at a local coffeeshop. In the coffeeshop I ate my waffles and read from a book that was sent to me ("A New Kind of C" by Brian D. McLaren). Very nice quiet time!
Later I went to the college and met a group of my favorite students of all time and had lunch with them. It's funny because these girls weren't in the same class before, but now they are all in the same class together and know each other quite well. It was totally fun...and one of the girls brought a cake (the first of four cakes I would receive that day :) ). It was such a great time with them, as if I have never left.
Following lunch (lunches in China can last until 2:00 and this one was no different :)) I walked around a lot, read a little, visited the dormitories, etc. Then all of a sudden I started feeling really down. I really have no idea, but in the middle of the basketball court I just started crying. That lasted for about 2 minutes and then I was fine. I guess I was missing my team in Siping (the north), and really missing my family, and feeling these mixed emotions about a relationship that had been broken and not having control over that situation. Five minutes later I was okay. Guess I just needed a good cry. I really don't remember the last time I cried :).
I was in good spirits by the time dinner rolled around. The custom in China is to invite all your friends to dinner and then you (the birthday person) pay for the dinner. So, while my pocket was completely empty by the end of the day, I received so much joy! It was kind of an odd group of people at dinner. In Chinese culture people also have a hard time interacting outside of the in-group. People say that this is a collectivist culture, and it is, but perhaps especially so within your in-group. I'm not saying this like it's a bad thing, just different. So, when I put a bunch of people in the same room that don't know each other very well then they don't talk. It wasn't until one group left that people began talking excitedly. Very funny. I knew that was going to happen but I didn't want anybody to feel left out from my birthday, ya know? So, after a great dinner with all my favorite dishes, the second cake of the day arrived. As we were just finishing up, three other girls came an hour late and brought the third cake. Good times :) :)

My friend Michael then made me promise to be at his school at 8:30 because he had a surprise. So, I came, a little unsure as what the rest of the evening would entail. He had called a lot of friends (Chinese friends I've come to know over the years) and was having class at his English school that night anyway. I walked in and everyone shouted "Surprise!"- It was AWESOME to see various people from the past. There was the fourth cake and some dancing performances. When he wasn't looking I smashed cake (which was really whipped cream) into Michael's face. That got quite the response! :) By the end of the evening I was caked out :)
The day ended with me heading back to the university to say goodbye to foreign teachers who were leaving the next day to go back to the States. Good things have been happening on this campus because of the light shining from them and I'm grateful for this group that has carried on in Hengyang (and to think I was so very worried about that last year at this time as I was leaving!!!). Also, a real gift was given to me when, after a year or so a broken relationship was mended and reconciliation was allowed to happen. I consider that as a birthday gift from God himself!

These past 27 years have been good. Thanks for all of you who have celebrated with me! Thanks especially to the the Giver of REAL life! I hope my life has given Him glory and honor, and where it hasn't I seek after His awesome GRACE!

Summer in China Begins

2007-06-30T14:09:00.000+08:00

I’ve never stayed in China for the summer, and I’m excited about the things that could happen as I take in and learn new things. What happens when cultures collide? It is easy to answer this question in an objective, sociological, scientific way, but being in the actual midst of it makes the experience that much more acute.

After saying goodbye to the last of my teammates (all weekend, we would all gather to say goodbye as people left for the airport in shifts- starting with 14 and then there were 11, and then there were 8, and then there were 3—we kept saying this with each group that left—we pride ourselves on being a large team), I boarded the train. A 30-hour journey would take me back to my old stomping grounds of Hengyang. I was surprised- nobody bothered me at all on the train. Traveling is wearing on anybody, but when hounds of people want to practice their English or laugh at your Chinese, or tell you you’re writing the characters wrong, or sit on the bunk next to you and simply stare at you, it can be rather stressful. However, not a single person did this! Not one! I was somewhat relieved. I got a lower bunk, which, if you’ve ever been on a sleeper train in China you know that this is nice. The train was air-conditioned and I was able to sleep for a good part, reading and studying Chinese for the rest of it. The train was supposed to roll in at 4 AM according to the schedule and I was all ready at that time, like an eager little girl ready to go to kindergarten for the first time. Then the attendant told me that we were behind and would actually not reach Hengyang until 6. My friend was already at the train station to pick me up and I had to tell the poor guy to turn around and go home.
When I stepped off the train, WHOOSH, a blast of hot humid air hit me and I struggled to take deep breaths. Whew! I had forgotten just how humid the south of China can be. And this is mild, they say! At 6 AM I was sweating like a billy goat within twenty steps. I couldn’t understand a word the taxi driver was saying to me because of his southern accent (and the fact that they don’t speak standard Mandarin because they prefer the local dialect, which I don’t speak). It is soooo good to be back! :) :) I got to the house of my Chinese friend, said my hello’s, after which my friend proceeded to tell me that he had stayed up all night to pick me up because he felt that would be easier than going to sleep and having to wake up at 3:30. Bless his heart.
I stayed with the family of this same friend for the first few days, but have since moved back into my old apartment for July, which the school has so graciously offered to me. My friend is Michael, the first person I befriended when I came to China four and a half years ago. He has since become one of my best friends. He owns an English school and I have agreed to help him out a little bit this summer. His mom is the very definition of Chinese hospitality. I can never eat enough or be cared for enough, so she thinks. Although she doesn’t speak more than a few words of English, we are able to communicate relatively well. She is my Chinese mother. :)
Funny thing was that when I got to their house, after 30 hours on a train, all I wanted to do was take a shower. However, that day they just happened to have someone do some kind of work in the kitchen which meant they had to turn off all the running water in the house. The family has a nice little invention- they use the coal stove to heat up the water in the bathroom that allows for running hot water. So, what happens when there is no running water? Just use a bucket. And that’s exactly what I did. She had some water she had been storing and with a cup and bucket I took a bath. The cold water felt really niiiiice. :)
I later went to the university where I used to teach because it was just around lunch time and students were just getting out of class. I wanted to see who I would run into. I have not seen most of these students for a year because when I was here during Chinese New Year they were home with their families. The first people I ran into, surprisingly, were the group of girls I have come to love the most (outside of our family group)! We had lunch together and I was so excited to catch up a bit with them. I taught them for two years and they always gave (still give) me such great joy.
Later that afternoon I found my old teammate Chris and helped him pack up all his belongings since he is moving to language school in the fall. So, I went on a mission. He went to class and I just went to work putting things in piles, having liberty to throw things away and trying to salvage items in the kitchen that can be passed on to the new teammates. I tell you, I’ve been doing this the last few weeks for my current teammates, and it is so much more fun when you’re doing someone else’s apartment and not your own.
I'm not going to chronicle every single thing that happens during my day because I don't want to bore you, but check back every once in awhile and I'll give you the highlights. This summer will give me a chance to relax, read books just for the fun of it, maybe study Chinese a time or two, and meet with old friends. Good times, indeed.

Ending Another Semester in China

2007-06-22T09:09:00.000+08:00

I am currently grading the last of my freshmen speeches and with that another semester in China has come to a close. Three of my teammates began the journey back to the States last night and the rest of them will venture out sometime in the next day or so. It's a little weird watching them go while I'll be staying in China for the summer. I could go on with "it's hard to believe the semester is over already," but I won't. :) It's been interesting getting used to a new area of the country at a new school, but I can now proudly say that it's not new anymore. I'm home.

For their final exam, my sophomore writing students had to create a metaphor that talked about how they see themselves as a writer. There were some interesting ones, this one in particular. I am amazed by her ability to write like this in a language that is not her own.

As a writer I am like a camera. Everything is in the lens of the camera (just like my eyes). After looking around, I will decide what to shoot, that is, choose the material I would like to talk about. The next step is to press the shutter- using my pen to describe it.
As for the same object, shooting with a camera in different positions, you can have the distinct pictures due to angle. It is the same with me. As every coin has two sides, I can point to some characteristics, maybe its excellence or defects, to reveal the thing in my point of view.
When taking a photo, the scenery nearby is rather clear whereas the sight far away looks a little vague, that depends on the lens of the camera. This point also applies to me. Take a cursory glance to the minor things, just describe them roughly while to the primary ones, I’ll portray them in detail, showing every aspect of them.
Someone has said, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” But as a good writer, I am a high-performance camera. I am able to reveal certain people, certain events vividly and intelligibly, just like a colorful picture. (Helen)

And so it ends.

A Plethora of Weekend Activities

2007-06-12T12:10:00.001+08:00

WOW! This was a weekend FULL of activities. Pictures are taken by my teammates Katherine and Sarah, enjoy!

These are two pictures taken by teammate Katherine on our latest trip to the orphanage on Saturday afternoon. The one with us sitting on the floor needs some explanation. The babies were all screaming their heads off, except for this one little guy who looked so perplexed at the chaos around him, to which I had a "conversation" with him asking him what we should do about this situation. Precious :) :)

On Saturday night our team was asked to do a performance for the graduating seniors' party. The students usually love physical humor, so we tried doing that. I was a tree- Robb would pick my fruit, Jonny would tell him to eat it, Sonny would tell him not to eat it, Robb eats it and falls down, at which Doctor David and Nurse Sarah come and declares him dead and everyone's sad. Seth is the director and he yells "cut" at the end of each performance and tells us to do it as fast as we can, then as slow as we can, and then as sad as we can, and finally in Chinese (students LOVED this part). Don't know if the students actually liked it, but we certainly had a blast! Other performances included beautiful minority dancing, a fashion show, singing, break dancing, and a special dance number by the teachers of the department who apparently like to do the same thing every year :) (for which there really were no words)

Finally on Sunday afternoon was Josiah's 6th birthday party. We all dressed up as superheros (I was "Xiang Fei"- a Chinese princess that could turn into a dragon). I was asked to do the games, so for the first game I had Josiah follow a massive spiderweb set up in my apartment (following the red string under chairs and around pictures and in the refrigerator, etc.) to a prize at the end. Then I asked Seth "MetroMan" and Jason "Hawaiian Ninja" to be villains, at which Josiah and little Sarah threw water balloons at them and then spray them with silly string (the web, of course), and finally tie them up in a chair with TP. :) The last game was quieter with "pin Spiderman on the web." We had such a great time, and the "villains" were such great sports.

Monday was back to classes to give out part one of final exams.

This is my life. Pretty cool! :) :) :)

(note: China has blocked this blog website for now, so while I can post, I cannot see my actual blog. so, if pictures are out of order then I hope it makes some sense :) )

Never too old

2007-06-07T13:05:00.001+08:00

I was taking a walk in the park the other day when I saw to my amazement an old Chinese grandpa and his friend (another grandpa) on rollerblades! Not rollerskates, but rollerblades! Quite fast, too! Every few minutes they would stop and chat together under the shaded tree trying to catch their breath. Proves you're never too old for anything :)

Unreached, But Not Forgotten

2007-06-03T15:18:00.000+08:00

I am posting two pictures here taken by my teammate Sarah. These little guys live at the orphanage I have started visiting every Saturday. Orphans are often termed "forgotten ones." My belief is that these guys are loved and not forgotten. I believe that our Dad desires to call them His own! What a joy to spend time with them every week throwing the football, chasing them, and tickling them into oblivion!

Today I decided to join teammates Sarah and Robb for a homework grading party at the one local quasi-Western restaurant in town. When I came home I found a bouquet of flowers at my door! No note attached, so I don't know who sent them. How delightful! It was nice because it had some of my favorite flowers. It meant so much! I keep thinking that they were delivered to the wrong door :)

WOW, this week has taken quite a toll on me emotionally! Good things and not-so-good things, I feel like I'm on a bit of a rollercoaster. I've had AWESOME conversations this week with students and friends and I am amazed by being in community in this place. Hard things, too, have come that have caused me to search for answers about real Life. My world no longer exists in strictly black and white issues anymore. That's what happens when you collide with a new culture and you process things in a way you never have before. If you're interested in the details, just drop me a line, but just know for now that our Dad is still good!

Good news to all of you keeping up to date! Many know of my desire to be out in northWEST China and the difficulties of getting out there. Just recently a door has been open and that is reason for much rejoicing!!! I've been doing somersaults all weekend! I will still stay here in the northEAST for at least next year, but a team has now been placed in the northWEST! :) Before it becomes officially official, one more large red stamp needs to go down, so keep interceding! :) One note of concern, however, is that since a few doors have been open there's been a lot of darker issues from the other side, from someone who is clearly not happy with the turn of events. Specifically, there have been medical issues with two people (friends of mine) currently serving there or planning to go there in the fall (one was flown to Hong Kong for symptoms of rheumatic fever, and the other has had episodes of severe fatigue and weakness in a diabetic-type condition that is new for him). Also, there are long-term people (having had a presence of more than 20 years) being "invited" to leave, among other things. We have an Adversary who clearly wants claim over what he thinks should be his territory. But, we are claiming the region for our Dad! Ask that strongholds be dealt with and that His purposes reign supreme! :). As part of my final project for my masters work, I just finished a 60-page paper highlighting the story of the people in the northWEST, and pointing out ways to reach their hearts. Their story is long and complicated, but not so different from those from the acts of the first century. We go to tell them of the awesome Hope inside!
Unreached, but not forgotten. :)

Seed Planting

2007-05-28T20:33:00.000+08:00

Tonight I gave a cultural lecture entitled "The Influence of Worldviews on Culture." The room was completely packed out for reasons unbeknowest to me. For an hour I talked about the five major worldviews (naturalism, pantheism, theism, polytheism, postmodernism), the influence of the theistic worldview specifically on the American culture, and demonstrated how questions of worldview change people and invite dialogue. Over and over again I asked the students to think about what they believed and WHY. I would ask questions like, "what do you believe about life, death, the nature of man, values, and reality?" "Where do those beliefs come from?" "Have you ever talked to someone with a different worldview from your own?"

My favorite part of the lecture was when I took the map of the world and turned it upside down on the powerpoint slide (called the "Van der Griten Projection"). The shock and gasps from students indicated that I got exactly the reaction that I was aiming for. :) :) I said, "is this an accurate picture of the world?" "No!!! That's just wrong!!" IS IT? According to the map China is no longer the "Middle Kingdom", America is on the bottom, Europe is tiny, and the especially large African continent holds the power. I smiled :) By the end of the lecture I think they understood the point (even though to them the map was still very strange, indeed).

What do we believe in? What shapes our worldview? At one point in the lecture I was able to give my own personal story (a kind of broad testimony with no specifics, if you will, as much as will be allowed here) about discovering my own worldview in Africa during an especially hard time in my life when I was the same age as those students in that room tonight. I emphasized that I was not rejecting my parents or my culture or my country, but rather I was asking myself important life questions about what I believed in order to make it real for me. In the end I found that most of my beliefs really are the same as my parents and some of my culture, but I had to ask the difficult questions in order to discover that. Asking those questions was really hard, I explained, like getting down in the dirt. In the end I was able to discover meaning and purpose in my life. While I did not explain this specifically, my theistic worldview is the only view that I feel gives purpose to my life. Since being in China I have opened my mind to different points of view and am learning things from people here just as I did in Africa. My view of the world is changing, but I believe in it all the more because its mine.

Did they understand all this? Probably not, but I think they understood the main idea. During the question-answer time one guy asked a difficult question about postmodernism (how do you narrow down postmodernism into three sentences at a language level of a first grader?). The question was significant because the topic was briefly mentioned at one point in the whole hour, which means that they were listening, or trying to. In the end, it doesn't really matter. I have to believe that it was all done for the honor of my DAD. Will they go out and talk to people of different worldviews and ask important life questions for themselves as I challenged them to do? I don't know. I just know I had to be faithful with the opportunity I had been given.

One of the girls (a Family friend) came up to me later and said that in China the mindset is so deep and is so hard to move from. She said that nobody in China has ever asked themselves these kinds of questions before. "We don't know why we exist or what happens when we die because we've never asked those questions before." I was amazed and thought to myself, "there's no time like the present."

Through all this I realized that I am a seed planter. Always have been. It's what I do best. I grumble that I'm not part of the "greater" work (as I seemed to be in my other city), but it's not really about me is it? :) This is a lesson I have to learn over and over and over again. It's not about me, it's all about Him. I got to share part of my story tonight and what could be greater than that? Will worldviews shatter tonight? Probably not. But, does Dad have a way of being honored through this? Does Dad have a way of bringing people to Himself? You better believe it!

What is love?

2007-05-22T12:03:00.000+08:00

This week in my sophomore oral classes we are discussing the movie "Remember the Titans" and focusing on overcoming prejudice and working together as a team, without putting issues of race, ethnicity, and other differences between us. Next Monday I will be doing a lecture for the English department on the influence of worldview on culture, examining how open dialogue with people of different worldviews fosters real communication and better love for each other. It dares us to ask important life questions and see if our own worldview can answer these. In some of my research for class and the lecture, I came across this quote by Frederich Buechner:

"The love of equals is a human thing- of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles.
The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing- the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.
The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing- to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints.
And then there is love for the enemy- love for one who does not love you, but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured’s love for the torturer. This is God’s love. It conquers the world."

Think about such things.

City-Wide Blackout

2007-05-15T12:32:00.000+08:00

On Saturday there was a city-wide blackout. The great thing, though, was that they had announced it several days previously so that we would be prepared for it, which was nice of them. I'm not sure exactly why they turned the power off, but they did. It was scheduled to be off from 6 AM to 7 PM. You never think about how much you use electricity until you don't have it anymore :). No refrigerator, no internet, no listening to music, no working on the computer at all for lesson planning or paper writing or anything like that (my battery had also died), no watching TV, no hot water, no microwave or oven. It forces you to just STOP and simply BE.

I learned something from this experience. Things like blackouts bring people closer together. The sun was setting and it was getting dark outside. I opened my door to the hallway to get the last few glimmers of light I could for the time being and some of my neighbors were out in the hallway. We are always coming and going so often that I haven't had a chance to meet them (plus, on my floor it is run like a hotel, so it's never really consistent with the same people). They came into my apartment and were perplexed by my voluminous display of candles throughout my house (I guess they're content with the dark, but all of them were drawn by my candles). I gave them banana bread I had stored away, but was embarrassed that I didn't have anything to drink to offer. They didn't care (the banana bread was a winner, though!). Nobody spoke English and that day was not one of my better Chinese language days because I hadn't opened a book in a week, but we fumbled our way through conversation. It was just a delightful time getting to know my Chinese neighbors.

7:00 came, no power. 8:00 came, still no power. Now it's just dark :). Our team meets weekly for about an hour or two on Saturday nights for a special thought and studying time. Usually we sing and then play a message, but with no electricity all we could do was sing until the power came back on. So, by candlelight Seth led us with his guitar and we sang and gave honor to the Light of the World. We sang a lot of songs about His power and about being a light shining in a dark place. It seemed appropriate, somehow. 9:00 came, still no power. Seth is still strumming away (his poor fingers). 10:00, still no power. Okay, do we keep on singing and playing? We talk, we sing some more. We simply enjoy each other. We usually watch a lot of movies together, but it was nice to simply BE with each other. 11:00, still no power. :) Finally, the lights came on at about 11:15 and we had a good celebration after that.

So, if this is what a blackout does for people, maybe we should ask for them more often :) A single candle in a dark place draws people together- reminds us of our greater task, doesn't it?

The Newest Team Addition!

2007-05-13T01:18:00.000+08:00

While we were celebrating Seth's birthday last night, we in Siping also welcomed our newest team member!

Teammates Jonny and Rachel are the proud parents of :

Samantha Grace Wu
born in Beijing, May 11, 2007

8:12 PM, 6 pounds and 8 ounces, 19 inches long!

Welcome to the world, little one! We've been waiting for you for a long time!

Birthday Time!

2007-05-11T10:30:00.000+08:00

Everyone give a "shout-out" to my teammate, Seth! Today is his 26th birthday! "So tonight we gonna, we gonna...Tonight we gonna party like it's 1999" in Siping! Happy Birthday, friend!

Fire Drills

2007-05-04T10:12:00.000+08:00

I live in a pretty nice building with all the other foreign teachers on campus. Honestly, I miss living in the same neighborhood as my fellow teachers and Chinese colleagues as I did in my old school. This building I live in now is less than two years old and is equipped with an elevator (!), hot water, large rooms, television, a heater and air conditioner, big comfy chairs, and a fantastic view. Who needs to cook when there's a little restaurant downstairs? Trust me- I've got it made here. I'm not going to lie to you about that. I feel rather guilty, actually. Aren't I supposed to be eking out a living in attempts to reach the Chinese people by sacrificing all that is important to me (or at least be willing to)? Poor, poor Michelle making the ultimate sacrifice by living with bare necessitiese and venturing out for lost souls? No, I would hardly classify my condition as such. But since this is what I've been given I want to best use my space for His purposes. So, I take the five talents He's given me and be faithful with that.

But, that's all a different topic of discussion. A subject for another day.

Here I want to talk about something really exciting! The other day the building manager gave me a key to the fire escape!! This building also has a fire escape! I live on the sixth floor, so that would come in handy if there were ever, indeed, a fire. The other day I heard what I thought were sirens and I immediately thought, "Oooh! It's a fire drill! We're going to practice!" I went to get my key to the fire escape at the end of my hall, peeked out my room, but nobody was racing to the escape door. Then I realized it was just the menacing sound of my water pipes. And I suddenly got the giggles-- did I really think China would have fire drills!?! I'm always on the "always be prepared" side and safety precautions so prevalent in our American society, that I just figured it would fit everywhere. Yet, in China, things just happen. I don't wear seatbelts here, nor do we "practice" for fire drills. If there were a fire in my building would we even know what to do? I bet you a bunch of money that my Korean neighbors next door haven't even thought about it for a second. Besides, I'm always losing my keys anyway, so then where would we be? When I told this to my teammate he said, "don't worry, Michelle, if you lose your fire escape key, you just come on downstairs to the third floor and we'll let you out!" Whew! Good to know, thanks Jonny!

I am reminded of one of my first years in China when my apartment building caught on fire. We were out of town, but the neighbors didn't know this. Outside the door of my apartment was a large electrical box in the stairwell leading to the outside. Apparently there was something akin to tornado weather that day and the electrical box sparked and then...well, it blew up. The stairwell erupted into flames and the poor neighbors kept banging on my door making sure I'd get out. I wasn't home. But if I had been... No, I will not think of that. I got home that weekend and saw that while the stairwell was absolutely charred my actual apartment was okay- there was soot everywhere. I mean, everywhere! I had no electricity for several days, so I camped out in my teammates' apartment down the street for the next week. :)

It was fine, it was dealt with, the soot eventually (many weeks and many scrubbings later) went away. We were okay. Hee hee- fire drills! Who needs fire drills? :)

this is a picture of the electrical box two feet from my door. Blew up. To prove I didn't make this story up!

Comic Strips 101

2007-04-27T20:29:00.000+08:00

What do you teach your writing students when you've already taught them everything you know? Such is the dilemma that my writing group has this week. The sophomores here are in the second half of their fourth semester in writing. When the foreign teachers were given these students as first-semester freshmen they thought that it would be just for one semester. Because of that, that first semester saw the teachers cramming everything we could about writing in 16 weeks. However, one semester turned into two and two semesters into four, and we're thinking, "okay, guys, what's next?". :) We don't possibly have anything left to teach about Western writing! They've learned about 5-paragraph essays and thesis statements and argumentative essays and newspapers and movie reviews and poetry and creative stories... We've beat the thing to death. :) So, that leaves us with what? What can we possibly teach them in the six weeks left in the semester?

Comic strips.

Two weeks of planning and several hours later, Robb, Jonny and I have a lesson plan that has students understanding the how-to of comic strips and drawing cartoons and trying to make them funny. Actually, at this point we'll take any kind of story. The funny part is a bonus. They don't have to be funny, but the students get extra points if they are funny.
Ah, but there's the clincher. Funny takes on a whole new meaning when you're in a different land such as this one. Especially a land such as this one.

If you can explain a Far Side comic or even Calvin and Hobbes to a Chinese student AND get them laughing at the end, then you get a special prize. Then you should write a book about your special technique because none of us has been able to do it--ever. You can get in all the details and idioms and cultural reasons of a Far Side comic, but the more we try to explain it, the less funny it gets. :) :) Meanwhile you're trying to explain why saying "bought the farm" when someone dies is funny and all they can think about is that these insensitive Americans love laughing at death. :) On the other end I have seen comedy shows here on TV- the Chinese are laughing their heads off and I just don't get it. What's funny to us is not funny to them, and what's funny to them is not funny to us (except they love slapstick comedy from certain movies, like Mrs. Doubtfire). So, how is this going to work? We'll let you know.

Right now we're just aiming for them to put a story like the Three Little Pigs into a comic strip. Next week we'll do claymations (just kidding...sort of) :)

Meanwhile Jonny is running around with Disney singing "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf?"

We're changing lives in here China :) :)

I Sound Like a Cave Man

2007-04-22T12:59:00.000+08:00

I sound like cavemen when speaking Chinese. Seriously, ya'll. I have studied this language hours and hours on end and I still sound like a cave man. It's incredibly depressing. This is by no means a reflection on the Chinese langugage itself, but a rather a reflection on my limited abilities in speaking!!!! I have so much head knowledge of the language and can get into a long explanation of sentence structure and character meanings, but sometimes simple everyday tasks baffle me, especially when looking for peculiar objects.
So, I go to Zhong Xing today (a local warehouse kind of place filled with merchandise you have to bargain your way through) and was made aware of this all the more. Number one, while many people love the whole bargaining-in-a-foreign-language experience, I simply dread it and avoid it by all possible means.
I needed a pie pan. When it comes to buying a pie pan for my apple pies, it's a whole new ball game. I do a lot of pointing at pictures and charades, which may or may not go over very well. It took me twenty minutes to explain that I wanted a pie pan. I explained it like this in Chinese (after she didn't understand what apple pie was): "I have apples that I want to bake and to do so I have to put it in an oven on a specific plate- do you have the plate?" Actually, if you want what it sounded like in direct Chinese: "apples, round plate, bake, put in, oven, turn on, sweet apples, eat; plate, have-don't have?" She goes to the back and gets me a plate with pictures of apples on it. No. Well, at least she understood the apples and plate part of it. So, I go to the next lady and go through the whole exchange again. Finally I start looking through the shelves myself and found what I was looking for! I say, "this! this!" (as if I'd just discovered gold) OH (says something frustratingly in Chinese I don't understand, but I just smile and nod). "How much?" "45 kuai (5 dollars)". "4.5 or 45?" "45" "45! Much expensive!" I say (again, direct translation of my limited abilities): "store, over there, yesterday, price said 15 kuai" and then she proceeded to tell me that this was a "special" plate. Of course it is. I tried arguing with her that it was the exact same as the other one ("this one, that one, the same"), but after several rounds of this I was so exasperated that I walked out without a pie plate. That's a lot of energy to walk home empty handed.
And then there was the time that I needed to find a shower curtain for my...um, shower. Now, granted, most Chinese bathrooms do not consist of a bathtub so shower curtains are not needed. And my little pocket dictionary does not have the word for "shower curtain". Well, I guess this one is going to be interesting. So, when I go to the curtain ladies I ask them "curtain, bathroom, have-don't have?" Why do you need a curtain for your bathroom? "curtain, get wet, okay" Huh? "curtain, bathroom, water, okay" (all done while acting out a shower hose). Again, "curtain, water." I say character for shower, write down character for shower, they laugh at the way I write mentioned character, they argue with each other over which character it is and which tone is the correct one used, I show them the character in the dictionary, character is too small for them to read, can't find their glasses...AHHH!. Again, "curtain, shower, water, have-don't have?" (as if repeating it five times will make it all the more clearer) Oh oh! She goes and gets a curtain with pictures of umbrellas and rain. NO. At this point all the curtain ladies are involved in a conversation arguing over what I'm referrring to, as if I'm not there anymore. Finally, one lady understands! Yes! Yes! We're jumping up and down because we FINALLY understood each other. I say, "have-don't have?" Don't have.
Yeah, okay.
Today I needed whiteboard markers. If my little pocket dictionary didn't have the word "shower curtain" in it, do you think it'd have "whiteboard"? Surprisingly that didn't take very long. It sounded like "pen, white, classroom, not chalk." Whew! Got that one.
Sometimes when we are given the wrong thing after ordering at KFC, we'll take it back and point at the object, say "this thing, not good. Want other." Then they jabber on in a much more developed language we cannot understand and we just *sigh.*
Granted, it's not always like this. Some days I get into really great conversations with the vendors or restaurant owners, and especially with people on the train. The other day my taxi driver, after finding out I am American, jabbered on about how much he hates America :) and I was able to engage him in a rather interesting (though limited) debate. So, why is it on some days I can't find a shower curtain or order the correct size of french fries at KFC?
Eventually the cavemen graduated and discovered fire and the wheel--I have to believe that day is coming for me, too.

Loose Bunnies

2007-04-21T16:32:00.000+08:00

My college roommate, Suzanne, posted this on her web blog and I'm still laughing. I thought I'd share it with all my peeps too :) :) [thanks, Suz!]

She writes, "on Monday a truck carrying rabbits crashed on Hungary's busiest highway, letting 5,000 bunnies loose all over the road. The highway was closed for hours while police tried to capture the animals. (Insert your own amusing mental video clip here.)"

:) :)

Mourning with America

2007-04-18T12:31:00.000+08:00

I don't know how to capture in words the sorrow I am feeling as I am reading the stories of the events of Monday's shooting at Virginia Tech that claimed the lives of 33 people. I began to cry as I listened to President Bush's speech at the convocation, and they just flowed as I read the biographies of the victims. One of them, an old lecturer from Israel, survived the Holocaust only to be gunned down by a student in his classroom in America 60 years later. Others were at the top of their classes, lovable people. One was a student from Peru who decided to come to America shortly after 9/11 and had dreams of changing the world. We in China are deeply saddened by this tragedy. It is times like this when I feel so far removed from all of you in America. I remember at about this time last spring Taylor University, my alma mater, learned of the tragedy that claimed five of its lives. I remember the campus coming together like a family during that time, something that is needed all the more now. I am not going to try to offer pat answers or implore people to find forgiveness or get into the social ramifications of such a tragedy. Now is not the time for such things. Now is the time to mourn. We have to trust that God will help us make sense of all this...not today and not tomorrow, but someday. My prayer goes out to the victims' families and friends, including that of the gunman because they just lost a son, too. May the God of all Comfort touch you.

Sunday is really Monday

2007-04-17T16:05:00.000+08:00

I don't think I'm going to win popularity points this week with my students. But, alas, this is where the personal and the professional separate themselves :) In addition to their infamous T.E.M. 4 exam (Test of English Majors) they have to take this weekend--a nasty little sucker that I'm not even sure I could pass-- I'm also giving them MIDTERMS next week. I used to hate teachers like me.
The May Holiday (a week-long Labor Day "vacation" when you actually have to make up the classes you've been given a vacation from) is coming up, which throws everyone's syllabus and lesson plans into awry, especially when they do not know the actual days of the holiday will be. We Americans like to be prepared, right, especially when it comes to vacation plans? Such is our downfall. The holiday is the first week of May, but we end up having to make up classes on the Saturday and Sunday before (or after) the first week (in addition to the regular week)- and what if the first day of May falls on a Tuesday? What then? Are my Monday freshmen going to be behind my Tuesday freshmen, or if I give my midterm to my Tuesday sophomores on the make up day, what's going to happen with my Thursday sophomores? And do we make up Tuesday and Wednesday classes or only Thursday and Friday classes? Do we have to teach Friday classes on the Sunday before or after the holiday? Yeah, now you get the confusion. The other day we were told that we had to tell the school our plans and itinerary for May holiday by the end of the week (which would have been the 16th) and then proceeded to tell us in the same announcement that the school would decide the dates of the holiday on the 20th. So...?

Just tell me where I need to be and where. After the chaos of traveling during the last holiday, I'm going to stay put and finish that LAST Wheaton paper. (I'll tell you by the end of the week if it actually happens)

Oh and we just received the plan: Friday is Friday, Saturday is Friday, Sunday is Monday, Monday is Monday and Tuesday-Tuesday is the holiday. Or is it Monday? Oh yeah, that makes so much better sense!??
And I smile :) :) Welcome to my world. :) :) :)

I Am Officially Accident-Prone

2007-04-13T22:54:00.000+08:00

Yeah, I am officially accident-prone. This is Michelle, the girl who was so dainty and careful and didn't like to get sand on her hands when she was little. But, then she started playing in the mud, climbing trees, and getting scrapes on her knees (I didn't mean for that to rhyme-- really). That is all a normal part of childhood. Then she went to college- did okay there. Well, except for when she blew out three tires on her car in one week (once in a formal dress at midnight in the middle of nowhere in rural Indiana, the other time in Sunday dress). But, we've all heard that story--so many times, in fact. (STOP telling the story, Michelle). We've also all heard the story of when Michelle was broomballing (playing ice hockey with tennis shoes and brooms) and ended up being the only person that night seriously injured (they were all injured) with torn ligaments in her wrist and a cast up to her shoulder six months and two screws later. We've also all heard the story of when Michelle was the only one from her horsemanship class who was thrown from her horse the first time she got on and ended up with a broken nose (she likes to say "thrown" because that puts the blame on the horse, but for anyone who was actually there they'd say that Michelle just simply fell off "Keeper"-- and she did have to keep the darn horse for ten more weeks to pass the class so that she could graduate...grrr). And some of us have heard the story of Michelle being the only person to get wedged in a cave in China (both ends of the boat were open), but when Michelle got stuck she was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place for many minutes. Or on the same trip Michelle (after the boat had sunk and Michelle being the only one bitten by a strange creature in the water) being the only one who fell down a rock something or rather, granting scars she still shows off from time to time. Then there are adventures on trains, planes, and three-person bikes. We've all heard these stories before, that just grow old with Michelle telling them. [I just now realized I've been talking about myself in the third person- weird]
But all those stories are normal "ouch" stories that anybody can experience (okay, so not everybody flies from a horse with a broken nose). Those aren't the stories I'm referring to here. It's the stories of falling off podiums--regularly--running into corners, and falling down stairs--regularly. In China we stand on these six-inch platforms and I can't tell you how many times I've tripped off the thing and into a student's lap. (yeah, you're laughing now! you try it, buddy). And I fall down stairs...whole flights of them. I don't just skip a step or stumble, I go all the way down. Most of the time it involves sledding on my knees. The first time was in my English building in front of half a dozen students after I tripped over the cuff of my pants that were getting too big. My teammate just laughed when I came into the office with torn pants and gashes on my knee (I'm still bitter :) ) I fell down the stairs in the dormitory and in someone's home. This last time (yes, just a few days ago) I tripped going up the stairs and then ended up going down, too! This time I had a thermos of hot hot hot (did I mention it was hot?) water in my hands and it burst all over me! Luckily I was the only one around to get burned and suffer gashes and bruises that deserve honorary mention. But, then again, those stories are just klutzy. I always write home about it with the simple words "I fell down the stairs again." And people just roll their eyes and laugh on the inside.
Now, however, I can be sure to say that I am officially accident-prone. Why? The other day I was sitting quietly in the front row listening to a cultural lecture given by my teammate, David. He was talking about Easter and trying to get the students excited about the subject. You want to win points with the students? Then, bring them candy. So, David took a handful of candy, told the students to watch their heads, and then threw the candy up in the air-hard and with some force- so that the candy could reach the back of the lecture room as well. The candy went flying and one piece slammed into my mouth. Not just hit my lip, slammed into my mouth. Not Sonny's mouth. Not the student next to me's mouth. My mouth. My lip was bleeding, guys, and I could feel it swelling up right there. Bleeding! From Easter candy!!! I've been nursing a swollen lip for a week now. I only wish I were exagerrating.
Oh, and the next day, I fell off the podium again. :)

She Said YES!!!

2007-04-07T09:56:00.000+08:00

My brother proposed to his girlfriend last night! And she said YES! Richey had been planning this thing for months. I got to see the ring when I was home for Christmas and it is BEAUTIFUL! Ashley is beautiful, too :)

Want to hear the story? If you're a girl I know that's a really stupid question because of course you want to hear the story!!! And guys, you really really want to hear the story too, but you don't want to admit it. :) :). Well, both of our families have been friends for years-- our dads even went to high school together back in the day. It just took a little more time for Richey and Ashley to get together because she is a few years younger and during summers in North Carolina as kids our paths never crossed. Richey and Ashley met, ironically, at my grandfather's funeral in the summer of 2005. :) :) At the wake (which was more of a celebration of his life than anything- I've never seen my grandmother have so much fun catching up with people from years past) people were going through the line and here comes Ashley and her twin brother, Tray. Richey was immediately taken with how beautiful she looked and in attempt at conversation Ashley asked Richey if he was still in high school and Richey just looked at her dumbfounded and said, "I'm 23!" :) :) And so it began. Of course, he had to wait for her to break up with her boyfriend first :) :). When it happened, our dad really pushed Richey to ask this girl out before it was too late. Richey, however, wanted to give her time. :) :) :) He was uncharacteristically shy. He'd gotten his heart broken a few times before. They were friends first and then started dating the next spring. Richey has made a lot of dumb decisions in his life (we all have), but the best decision he ever made was Ashley. He is a better person because of her. So, needless to say, we REALLY like Ashley.

So, this Easter weekend both of our families took a vacation to Atlantic Beach, NC together (with the exception of me and her twin brother, Tray). The bummer part was that the temperature dropped this weekend to the 30s instead of the usual 70s, but, they'd just have to work around that. Richey and Ashley spent the whole day together and in the evening they took a walk on the beach at sunset. When they got back to the nicely decorated dock there was a large candle burning (it took my family half an hour to light the thing because the wind kept blowing it out! stubborn candle!) and my brother sang a song that he wrote for her, then asked her to marry him! When he called me here in China-- I was so excited last night that I couldn't sleep-- I asked him if she said yes. Richey says, "Yes she said YES!" (Of course!). Earlier that day he had to blow her off because she was getting suspicious about his fishy behavior and told her it just wasn't happening this weekend, which made her mad :) :) :). He felt bad, but it worked for the time being. :) :) At dinner she was cutting mangoes and Richey kept murmuring, "please don't cut that finger, please don't cut that finger." :) :) :) And the best part-- they got the whole thing on video!

My younger brother is getting married! I am so excited about knowing Ashley as my future sister-in-law! Wedding date will probably be set in the Spring of 2008. :)

Celebrating New Life

2007-04-06T08:16:00.000+08:00

Sometimes you just want to pull the covers over your head and skip the whole day, especially when you've had a whole bunch of "bad language days" in a row and what we refer to as "bad China days." But, then there's days like today- days when my classes are active and excited about being here. Days when students' laughter floats around the classroom. Days when the sweet lady at the market welcomes you with a huge smile. Days when my freshmen come over and dye Easter eggs (see above) and hear the Story for the first time. This is my fifth year doing the Easter thing in China and I tell you, the wonder of the opportunity never grows old.

Yesterday (April 5) was also Qing Ming Jie (Ching Ming Jee-ay), otherwise known in English as "Tomb Sweeping Day". It's a day set aside by China to go and visit the graves of ancestors, bring offerings to them, burn paper money (the traditional belief is that when you die your soul is in some kind of purgatory and this helps pay for time there and also assists the ancestors in the afterlife in order to bring blessing to you and your family) Sometimes instead of going to the graves, they light fires outside their homes. I saw the most interesting sight the other day, something I've only seen in the North. At each intersection in town you can see about half a dozen people or so lighting small fires and burning paper money for the ancestors (apparently, if you light fires at any kind of crossroads it enables the spirits to go anywhere). It really is a time to remember and commemorate those who have died.
Being that Easter and Qing Ming Jie fall on the same week this year, in my classes I asked my students to compare Easter with Qing Ming Jie...to see that while both deal with death, and both commemorate someone important to us who died, there is talk of New Life at Easter. While we reflect on death on Friday, we can rejoice because there is Hope on Sunday.
Tonight, please say a word for us here- the weekend is packed full of activities and opportunities to Share this Hope inside.

CNN Sheep Story

2007-04-04T14:52:00.000+08:00

My teammates found this article on CNN and I just laughed and laughed. For those of you who don't know, Apex is the next town over from Cary (my hometown in North Carolina). My brother works in Apex. Hee Hee!!! :) (I mean, poor sheep!)
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/03/27/sheep.house.ap/index.html

Lost in China's Masses

2007-04-03T22:38:00.000+08:00

I found an interesting article here. A man on a train journey is reflecting about getting lost in China's masses.

Check out this article on MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17468464/

Mr. Egg

2007-04-01T17:17:00.000+08:00

This is Mr. Egg. During a quick trip to Changchun, the capital of the province (the farthest north I've ever been--ever!), I was searching for any kind of Easter eggs for festivities this week and I happened upon this! It's like an egg-shaped Chia pet! Basically, you take a spoon and crack its head open, water it, and in a few days a bean will sprout!

These are the English directions on the box exactly as it is written:

1. Strick the top of the egg with a spoon.

2. Water the bean of lay it in a bowl, let the bean drik enough water.

3. During the time of germinate, please keep it moisture. Irrigate every two or threedays, do not irrigate every day.

4. About six-nine days, the bean will germinate please give it enough sunshine and water.

5. The bean has grew up please move it to tub.

Notice: Suit for the children who above 8 year old. Don't take the seeds, soil, fertilizer as food. [thanks for the warning, makers of Mr. Egg!!]

Come back and watch Mr. Egg grow!

In Kitty Heaven

2007-03-30T09:58:00.000+08:00

This is Curiosity, my cat. We call her Curio for short (which in the dictionary means "piece of work" and that she is). She is twenty years old and I didn't think cats could live that long! My mom didn't want to break the news by email, so she called me from the States this week to tell me that my cat had gone to kitty heaven. It was such a sad day! For all of you who don't like cats I know you're thinking, "she's just a cat." But, not this one. This one was special.

When I was seven or eight years old we lived in Pennsylvania and my kitten had died, probably because I forgot to feed it one night (at least that's what I thought, and I felt so guilty thinking that the poor kitten's death was on my head). So, that week when my Sunday School teacher asked if there were any prayer requests I told my class about the loss of my kitten. The Sunday School teacher was so touched that she later told my mom that they had some extra cats and could give us one to replace the kitten. They already had a name for her (which is where Curiosity comes from) and she was a year old, but she was mine. Nineteen years later she was still mine. I hope someday I can find my old Sunday School teacher again and thank her for such a precious gift! For the last five summers before venturing off to college or China I would say goodbye to that cat, thinking it would surely be the last time. But, no, no. This time I didn't say goodbye, just cuddled her and told her I might see her soon, even though in my heart I knew it would be the last.

Curio and I had a special bond and for years I was the only one she would come to. In her old age, though, she became more affectionate with others. We were so surprised one day when she crawled into my dad's lap because he was the last person who tried to win her affections (he's still bitter about her peeing on his couch back when she was a young'un, and rightly so). For years she would sleep next to me at night. But, her haven was the outdoors. In her later years she didn't have claws or teeth but she still managed to bring "gifts" to the door in the form of mice, moles, and rabbits. She would beam as if she were so proud. One time she got stuck in the street sewer when we were in New York and it took several hours trying to get her out. After some of the fights she got with other animals and the fact she lived so long brought new meaning to a cat's nine lives.

Curio lived a good life and she lived it well. She was quite the world traveler as she moved with us from Pennsylvania to New York to Georgia to California to North Carolina. She traveled on two cross-country airplanes and she hated cars. She had two litters of kittens and outlived four dogs. At the end she couldn't hear, which means she thought you couldn't hear either and would meow as loudly as she possibly could. You could hear her meow crescendo from across the house. Dad used to make fun of her, but she didn't care. She didn't like the dogs either and instead of them chasing her, she would chase the dogs. They just wanted to be friends and didn't understand her desire for space. Of course, if a dog's nose was constantly up my butt I'd want some space too!

My grandma always tells me that when you get a pet, you get them for life. It's not something you can just change your mind about six months later. Twenty years is a long life. If it wasn't for my mama's constant care, she would have been dead a long time ago. After the vets put her to sleep they all signed a sympathy card, which was touching. She's in happier places now :)
Curio lives on in our hearts. Such a sentimental and cheesy thing to say, I know, but she was family. This is my tribute to her.

Of the Chinese New Year, Evil Spirits, and Good Luck

2007-03-28T22:39:00.000+08:00

For today’s journal assignment I had students write about this topic: “During Spring Festival (the 15-day celebration of the Chinese New Year) there are a lot of traditions that talk of good luck, fortune, and happiness. Why are these things so important to the Chinese people?” I got a whole range of answers, and while most didn’t answer the actual question I was pleased to see how they took it to explain some of their traditions. For example, if someone dies, not only does it bring bad luck for the year, but there is a three-year mourning period in which the three Spring Festivals following you are not supposed to put the red banners on the door as is the custom (if you do put up banners, they will be white, to show everyone that they are still in the mourning period). Most of them referred to the way firecrackers were set off in the old days to drive away the evil spirits (they kept saying "the old days," but how much is this still a belief in modern China, I wonder?). There was one particular evil monster they were told about as children, named Nian, and the firecrackers were meant to scare him away. Not only is red the color of happiness, it also helps scare evil spirits away as they are afraid of the color. Evil spirits apparently are also afraid of lights, which is why on New Years Eve the family turns on all the lights in the house. They also take time to clean the whole house on the eve of the New Year, as this wipes out the bad luck from the previous year. They place coins in dumplings and whoever gets the dumpling with the coin gets good luck for the year, as do they if you eat a chicken foot. The word for "fish" and "surplus" have the same pronunciation, so they place two fish in the middle of the table and have the saying that “every year we have fish (surplus)” to mean that every year they are prosperous and have good luck When asked WHY they do these things, the students simply said that it’s what the generation before did. One girl talked about how it is what the ancestors passed on, and being that ancestors are so important in Chinese culture this does make sense.

I'll let them explain it to you:

“Our country has a long history, about 5000 years. So, we have lots of valuable customs. We treasure our customs because our ancestor have passed them from one generation to another. We must keep it as the most important thing and give it to our posterity. In fact, our traditions have great happiness. A group of people sits around the table and talk about our family from long ago. We consider our tradition as our habit. Every year we hold the same festival until now, maybe for thousands of years. Our ancestors had generated it to us. We should treasure it.” (Amy)

“Spring Festival is the most important festival to the Chinese. It is not a tradition just because it was Chinese life. In the old times, China had very many people, you know. We didn't have as much ability as modern people. So, every day was very hard. Because there were so many people we did not have enough clothes, food, and so on. People had to save a lot of food or other good things for the winter. In the winter, many people will die. Old people didn’t know why, so, they think there was a monster called “Nian”. In order to dodge the monster we should put red banners on our doors, and in order to scare it we should light the fireworks. For next year we will eat dumplings- they look very much like money. So, we have these kinds of traditions. In order to live.” (Martin)

"During the Spring Festival, most people would wear their new and beautiful clothes- it symbolizes a new beginning in the new year, leaving the old and unhappy thing behind. In ancient times there is a ghost called “Sui” He always affected people’s lives and did harm against people. Then the manager who charges the sky (?) gives money to the people in order to get rid of the ghost. Then that traditional custom passed down called “Ya sui qian” by descendants. It means "pass the ghost". So, many people woud give and receive money during the Spring Festival. "(Sonya)

So much talk of red banners on the doorpost and the passing of the ghost reminds me a lot of Moses' charge to the ancient Israelis on the eve of the last plague, and the forecast of the future lamb that would bring a real New Beginning.

Kashgar Comes to Siping

2007-03-27T16:41:00.000+08:00

Who would have thought? Kashgar, a small town on the very edge of northwest China, a hop skip and jump from the "Stan" countries (Pakistan, Kazakhstan, etc.)...and Siping, a small town on the edge of northeast China just a few hours from North Korea. Together in one place. :)

The other night I ran into my friend Jason going to dinner with some Chinese teachers and I joined them, knowing they were going to a Muslim restaurant. Most Muslim restaurants in China are noodle places run by the Hui people, another minority Muslim group in China. So, this is what I was expecting. Instead they took me to a Xinjiang restaurant! I walked into the restaurant and was overjoyed to see familiar atlas silk (see above) on the walls and familiar replicas of Uighur instruments from Xinjiang. Not only this, but the owner told us that he and his family are from Kashgar!! There is a woman there about my age, maybe a little bit older, along with a little boy, a mother, and a few men. We ordered way too much food and they probably already think that we Westerners eat too much, but that was mostly because I kept messing up the order and rather than taking back the food because I didn't want them "losing face" I kept adding to it. Oh well. It's fun to look at a menu and say to the waiter, "you choose! what's good here?" My favorite plate is called "Da Pan Ji" (translated literally to mean big plate of chicken) and Nan bread. I hope to make this a weekly visit to begin forming relationships and maybe get help with some Uighur language skills.

On the other side of things, while some of us were in Tonghua this weekend (a small town literally 30 miles from North Korea where some of our friends live), we chanced upon a rather large mosque. The men cooking barbecue in front of the mosque were wearing the familiar doppas (caps) and were from Xinjiang. Of course I just had to go talk to them. They were a little hesistant talking to a woman, and I wouldn't have tried if the other American guys weren't there with me. One of my American friends with us was trying to buy this chewy kind of candy from the one of the Xinjiang men. He thought he heard 2.5 kuai (about 30 cents) per jin (half a kilogram), but when he went to pay for the 2 jin he ordered the man told him it was 60 kuai!!! (almost eight dollars!) When my friend tried to explain that he had misunderstood him and couldn't get the man to come down, the man got so mad that he grabbed him by the shirt and looked like he was about to punch him in the face. That was the end of that visit as we all tried to slowly meander out of the situation. The man saw us later that day and was glaring at us. It was an honest misunderstanding on the part of my American friend, but was also deceitful on the part of the man- eight dollars for candy, are you crazy?

So, we get the best of both worlds.

Sheep Butts!!!

2007-03-25T18:36:00.000+08:00

"If Your House Was on Fire..."

2007-03-22T19:38:00.000+08:00

I want to let you hear from one of my students named Syen (he picked his own "English" name, can you tell?). For the journal free-write of the week my writing students were asked to imagine that their house was on fire and they could only save three things. All of the students had the same answers and said they would save their photos, money, cell phones, etc. or they would explain steps they would take to get out of the fire (China's version of "stop, drop, and roll."). And then there was Syen's:

"If one day I wake up in the middle of the night and my house was on fire, first thing I'll take with me is my clothes. The reason is that I don't want to be naked outside at all. If I naked run out the house, I must be snapped on the front page! The second thing I'll take is my cell phone. I have to text somebody or call someone for help by my cell phone. Also, it's very hard for me without cell phone. My girlfriend is waiting my messages. The third thing is my homework for Miss Sessoms. Though it was a fire accident I don't wanna lose my points! If there was a fire, I'm very glad my dog has already died for many years ago. If it was still alive, because it's crazy, it must will be burnt. I can not take it with me as one of the three things."

:) :) :) :) :)

Hengyang Favorites

2007-03-19T17:54:00.000+08:00

I think I dug myself into a hole. So, to remedy that I want to highlight:

“Reasons why, even though I am loving it in Siping,

my heart is still in Hengyang.” :)

Familiar locals: corner store guy, regular restaurants “out back”, the fruit lady, gatekeeper in his pajamas, giggling motorcycle taxi drivers at the bus stop, shoe shine ladies, copy people, Muslim noodle, the electricians (why do we need a committee of 6 to fix my sink?), the man who brings us our cooking gas (one time disappeared with the gas tank and didn’t come back for a month!), should I go on?
Mrs. Kuang. She was our waiban (foreign affairs office) and was like a grandmother to us. She has been working with foreign teachers for twenty years before she retired last year! While at home last term I was able to interview a woman who had been a teacher at our school in 1986! We found that while a lot has changed in Hengyang over the space of 20 years, we were able to share delightful stories about this precious woman.

The students. Oh, the students. There was one particular class (class 6!) that came over quite regularly- cooking, playing games, cooking, watching movies, cooking. Cooking parties usually lasted for at least four hours! :) :) My time with them was precious! One night one of the girls was having a birthday party in my apartment and her brother got locked in my bathroom because the lock had jammed. Forty-five minutes later we had exhausted all efforts and my teammate ended up hacking down the door with a butcher cleaver. :) She kept saying this was a birthday she’d never forget. :)
The Elephants Upstairs. This is what I used to call my two guy teammates who lived on the floor above me. Whenever students were over it sounded like there were large elephants upstairs. I loved that sound because it meant the presence of people having a good time. One time one of the guys who lived directly above me was teaching the students the tango or some cha-cha-cha in his apartment- "party through the roof" takes literal meaning here :). I miss the sound of the elephants.
Learning about true community. I have a real family there and leaving them was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Ever. It has been a joy walking with them in their journeys and learning from their questions and insights into Life. They know who they are.
The fact that they don’t speak standard Chinese and glory in their own Hengyang dialect (this may seem like a contradiction from why I like Siping, but you will discover that China is a land of paradox). Deep hearted laughs when we attempt to say a few words in their heart language make it so much fun! I laugh because on a bus, anywhere, everyone is yelling (yes, yelling) into their phones because they can’t hear each other…and neither can they understand each other because every other phrase is yelled “Huh? Huh? Shenme? (what?). Ah, the character of that place!

The eight-year-old boys who come marching up the stairwell and banging on Ekren’s door as loud as they can to ask if he would come play baseball with them. I love arguing (quite logically, I might add) with one of the boys about silly things :)

Team dinner nights- during my second year in Hengyang we started team nights that became like a potluck. Not much organization, so sometimes we’d end up with some of the most random combinations, or all five of us would come with dessert. :) :) The next year we got things together and had some of the best dinners ever- all the more true when you’re attempting to make western food in China, especially with ovens the size of toasters :) . Sometimes you have to be creative. :)
The food. Before I came to China I never ate spicy food, now I find myself missing Hunan’s famous spicy cuisine. I miss the guys on the team having a contest as to who can withstand the most spicy in hot pot restaurants.
The fact that there is NO central heating. I do not say this lightly. Because it causes one to reflect on what’s REALLY important. When we are stripped to the bare necessities what are the things that really matter? It means you have to sit closer together to stay warm, it means you always have people in your home because the more people the warmer, both in body and in heart. It allows you to truly empathize and brings solidarity. It is why I really appreciate something simple like the heat that much more. While I enjoy the “luxury” of the north (even though it’s bitterly cold outside until May), I would love to brave the southern winters again :)

While my heart is in Hengyang, I’m also learning to love Siping, and anticipating life in Xinjiang if that’s where I am to be…and I’m realizing that I don’t have to define favorites or choose one place over another- each has unique characteristics that cause me to love the whole of China that much more. :)

Top Ten Reasons Why Siping is the Place to Be

2007-03-17T19:18:00.000+08:00

Let's try this one more time. :) I have a webblog now (a few weeks ago I began one and then China conveniently blocked the whole website-- figures :) ), so if you want to hear China stories in a more up-to-date version, feel free to read and leave comments here. I affectionately call this site The Story of My Journey.

Top ten reasons why Siping is the place to be :
10. It’s never boring in ol’ Siping. With a large team of 10 adults (plus one honorary member) and three children, there’s always stuff going on- hanging out with the guys at Korean barbecue or Chinese hot pot, or studying with the girls, or watching movies with the gang like “Akeelah and the Bee” (a must-see for all you feel-good movie fans- this spelling stuff is hard!), or watching Sonny and Robb play Scrabble with more intensity than I’ve ever seen… :). This week we began placing our bets on March Madness, which, according to Seth is the best sports team event ever and according to Sarah is just dumb. We have made our predictions and placed our bet (an entire $1.25, ya'll!!) and after the first round I am winning! Sorry, Duke.
9. Creativity of the students. Especially in their writing. I am teaching Creative Writing this year (Hooray!). Teaching paragraph formation and how to write research papers can be boring (yes, we all had to go through that back in the day) and mafan 麻烦(troublesome), but creative writing, now that’s something to write about… :). Stay tuned for some of their published entries!
8. When it snows here the “man power” comes out. Even horses help. Everyone just grabs a shovel and starts clearing the highway. There are no snow plows here. Not in “dry” Siping. Spare shovel, anyone? Now the snow is melting and we have rivers (yes, rivers) of mud here :).
7. They speak standard Chinese here (meaning their Mandarin is easiest to understand). Apparently, the most standard speakers in all of China! I can actually understand what the screaming fight at the market is about! Still can’t understand most of what people are saying, but “Hakuna Matata!” Instead of learning a local dialect (because there’s not really one), I can concentrate on Mandarin—with added Norwegian, Russian, Korean, and Japanese words (for my colleagues). :)
6. Benefits: Fridays off from teaching! (and Saturday and Sundays too), we have a maid who cleans our floors and brings hot water to our door every morning, and we are treated very well by the waiban 外办 (foreign affairs office). The other day he (the waiban) stood with me at the police station for 2 hours (!) helping me get my resident permit! They would say it is just their job, but it’s so much more than that! Also, you can take a taxi anywhere in the city for only 5 kuai!!! (60 cents)
5. Probably the nicest train station I’ve seen in China! I nearly fell over when I saw that at the train station they made people stand in line single file when waiting to get their tickets checked! People just don’t do that in China (which isn’t bad cuz they’re cool about it). Now they have “voluntary stand-in-line day” on the eleventh of each month. They even have mascots in Beijing that run around saying “stand in line, stand in line” to encourage preparation for when all the laowai 老外 (foreigners) come to town for the Olympics. Which I think is funny :)
4. Lesson planning together. Even after four years of teaching, I still don’t know what I’m doing. At all. We have little groups. For example, those who teach Creative Writing meet in a group, plan together, delegate responsibilities (one person makes the worksheet, another makes all the copies, etc.) and are all on the same page. At first I though this would kill my individuality, but no, no. It just allows for me to be a better teacher.
3. The endless supply of things, like from Mary Poppins: Seth’s endless supply of coffee and energy, and Jonny’s and Sonny’s (you’d think their names would rhyme, but they don’t—funny thing about English) endless supply of funnyness on situations, as well as Josiah's endless request for "funny stories" (he's 5 and apparently our stories aren't funny enough).
2. Playing “Twister” with the Chinese students was one of the most delightful things I’ve ever done! Hee hee! Left hand green, ya’ll!

And the #1 reason why Siping is "da bomb!"--
There’s central heating!!! Oh, you have no idea! No more writing on the board with gloves, no more heated blankets at night, no more torturous trips between the bedroom and the hot shower, no more five layers, no more hot chocolate (okay, we have to keep the hot chocolate because it's chocolate!), no more dropping chopsticks because our numb fingers cant' get around them, no more...well, until April when the central guy who controls the central heat turns it off. Snowing? No matter, heat goes off in April. Blazing hot in October? No matter, heat comes on. I'm not one to understand it, but I'm warm now :) :) :).
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Haven’t had a chance to meet many students yet, but when relationships begin to happen, I know that they will be at the top of this list. They always are.