WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
I don't really have anything to say which should result in this being a short blog post. But, who am I kidding? I'm incapable of offering my readers a succinct post, and, as I learned in college, the less I have to say, the more I need to write.
Autumn has arrived in Shiyan. The past few days have been rainy, but promises of sunny weather have been made, and we're going to hold my Google weather forecast to its word. The rainy days are nice, but they make it hard to find any motivation to get excited about teaching. I have an oral English class this afternoon for non-English majors, and I'm currently trying to pep talk my way into getting excited about it.
Tonight I have a group of sophomore English majors coming over for our weekly discussion group. These guys are so full of energy and confidence. I don't have to worry about any lulls in the conversation with this group. They always ask so many questions and have so many stories to tell.
I think I may have mentioned a few blog posts ago that I helped the local TV station make a series of short English lessons teaching, in total, one hundred simple and useful English phrases. Well, those lessons have been airing on the Shiyan TV station for several weeks now, and I'm embarrassed to say that a LOT of people having been watching them. When I agreed to help my friend Romano out with this project, I hadn't anticipated that anyone I knew actually ever watched Shiyan TV. I was wrong. So many of my students have told me that they just happened to see me on TV. Even some of Finn's students, after looking at his October Holiday photos, recognized me in some of his pictures as the girl from TV. We ate at Happy Guy's today, and he told me he's been watching my English lessons too. He called me his English teacher. It was cute...but only because it came from Happy Guy, who is always cute. I'm actually rather embarrassed by it all.
I've been schizophrenic with my reading lately. I begin one book and then get distracted by another. I always finish every book I begin, with two exceptions (Charles Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities and Jared Diamond's Collapse - both of which still haunt me), but my inability to complete one book causes me to feel overwhelmed when I get to the point I'm at right now. I'm in the middle of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and just began A Wrinkle in Time. We're also reading Jesus for President for our book club. In addition, I'm studying Isaiah, John, and Acts. The latter three are interesting to study simultaneously. I'm constantly shifting my mind from prophecy to fulfillment, and the before, after, and present applications of it all.
Jessica and I are planning to use our Spring Festival vacation time for a couple weeks of traveling France and Spain. We have some serious money-saving to do before we go, but we've lived our time in China thus far with that old adage "Go Big or Go Home" and we're not about to stop following it now. If any of you know people we can stay with along the way, we would be indebted for your good word on our behalf. Our goal is to not stay in a hostel or hotel ONCE while we're traveling. We like a good challenge.
Love to all!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
AWKWARD TURTLE
I may just have had one of the most awkward discussion group nights in mi casa I've ever had. It all started with a simple misunderstanding. I teach two sophomore English major classes (both of which happen to be on Tuesday), and in both classes I have a girl named Becky. Because of October Holiday, I have to make up both classes and decided to meet with the students outside of class in a discussion group setting (with one of the classes) and in one-on-one meetings to discuss pronunciation (with the other). Tonight was dedicated to the one-on-one meetings, whereas, tomorrow night was allotted specifically for the discussion group. Yesterday I received a text message from Becky saying she wouldn't be able to come on the previously scheduled day for her one-on-one meeting. Later I received a text message from Becky (using a different number) asking if she could come Friday night instead. I said she could, and she replied that she and her roommates would come Friday at seven. I thought it was a little odd that she included her roommates, but I let it slide since the students usually come in packs even when only one of them is supposed to show up.
Around seven o'clock this evening as I was pouring banana bread batter into the pan, I got a phone call from Becky asking me what floor I lived on. I opened the door and before me huddled four girls from my discussion group class who weren't supposed to arrive until Saturday evening. I was a little startled, confused and dense enough to think that Becky (the one-on-one meeting student) was still wandering aimlessly about looking for my apartment. I hurriedly invited the girls in and then yelled Becky's name in the hallway to direct her to my floor. The response, "I'm Becky," came from one of the girls in my apartment, and thus the evening of awkwardness commenced.
I never again regained solid footing. Nearly as soon as I dealt with the fact that my evening would no longer be my own (discussion groups last much longer than the one-on-one meetings I had planned for the night), there was a rap at my door. I opened it, and there stood two of my one-on-one meeting students ready for their critiques. I couldn't do anything but invite them in and tell them we'd be doing their meeting discussion group style. A few minutes later, more students from the one-on-one meetings group trickled in until I had four student from one class and five students from the other. The division couldn't be any clearer either with the four girls from one class sitting on one couch, the five from the other class sitting on the other side of the room, and me smack dab in the middle. Conversation was awkward as I tried to ask each of the one-on-one students a question to which they could give an answer adequate enough for me to be able to pinpoint their personal pronunciation problems all the while including the students from the other class in the discussion. It was not going well.
Then, there was Leon. After I chatted gaily with Becky No. 2 from the discussion group class about Xinjiang Province (where she spent two years of her life and where I spent two weeks of mine), I asked Leon what he was thinking. I can always depend on Leon to add some flavor to any discussion, and he didn't hold anything back. He said, "I was just thinking how the minorities in Xinjiang have a high talent for causing problems with us." I just looked at him. Seriously? Are we going to discuss the terrorist attacks in Xinjiang Province and blame the minorities for their "high talent" in disrupting the peaceful Han existence whose existence has only been in Xinjiang in recent years? I love Leon and on any other occasion, I would be happy to discuss nearly anything with him, but this was not a particularly good time or place for politically heated topics so I segued away from Xinjiang to something else.
The one-on-one meeting students left fairly early. They were, after all, only supposed to have relinquished ten minutes of their time this evening and had already given me over an hour. So now, with one group gone, balance was restored, and I relaxed a little. Now I could grapple with what the purpose of our meeting was, and the girls, though still congregated on one couch and making my room seriously off-balanced, were freer to talk and laugh and share. These girls are new students for me, and I was enjoying getting to know them. We were just getting into a decent, comfortable exchange when one of the girls (after I asked her a "would you rather" type question) said, simply, "I'm sorry. I played badminton today, and now my hair bothers me. I think I will leave." I said, okay, and then another girl said, "I will follow." And finally the other two reluctantly joined the two leaving.
After I closed the door behind them, I stood there trying to figure out what had just taken place. I felt like I had been outside my body the entire evening watching this sad debacle, and there was no solution I could have conjured up to make things smoother or less painfully awkward. On top of all this, half of my banana bread was consumed by a group of students who could merely (and inadequately, I might add) describe it as "strange." Bu hao yisi!
I may just have had one of the most awkward discussion group nights in mi casa I've ever had. It all started with a simple misunderstanding. I teach two sophomore English major classes (both of which happen to be on Tuesday), and in both classes I have a girl named Becky. Because of October Holiday, I have to make up both classes and decided to meet with the students outside of class in a discussion group setting (with one of the classes) and in one-on-one meetings to discuss pronunciation (with the other). Tonight was dedicated to the one-on-one meetings, whereas, tomorrow night was allotted specifically for the discussion group. Yesterday I received a text message from Becky saying she wouldn't be able to come on the previously scheduled day for her one-on-one meeting. Later I received a text message from Becky (using a different number) asking if she could come Friday night instead. I said she could, and she replied that she and her roommates would come Friday at seven. I thought it was a little odd that she included her roommates, but I let it slide since the students usually come in packs even when only one of them is supposed to show up.
Around seven o'clock this evening as I was pouring banana bread batter into the pan, I got a phone call from Becky asking me what floor I lived on. I opened the door and before me huddled four girls from my discussion group class who weren't supposed to arrive until Saturday evening. I was a little startled, confused and dense enough to think that Becky (the one-on-one meeting student) was still wandering aimlessly about looking for my apartment. I hurriedly invited the girls in and then yelled Becky's name in the hallway to direct her to my floor. The response, "I'm Becky," came from one of the girls in my apartment, and thus the evening of awkwardness commenced.
I never again regained solid footing. Nearly as soon as I dealt with the fact that my evening would no longer be my own (discussion groups last much longer than the one-on-one meetings I had planned for the night), there was a rap at my door. I opened it, and there stood two of my one-on-one meeting students ready for their critiques. I couldn't do anything but invite them in and tell them we'd be doing their meeting discussion group style. A few minutes later, more students from the one-on-one meetings group trickled in until I had four student from one class and five students from the other. The division couldn't be any clearer either with the four girls from one class sitting on one couch, the five from the other class sitting on the other side of the room, and me smack dab in the middle. Conversation was awkward as I tried to ask each of the one-on-one students a question to which they could give an answer adequate enough for me to be able to pinpoint their personal pronunciation problems all the while including the students from the other class in the discussion. It was not going well.
Then, there was Leon. After I chatted gaily with Becky No. 2 from the discussion group class about Xinjiang Province (where she spent two years of her life and where I spent two weeks of mine), I asked Leon what he was thinking. I can always depend on Leon to add some flavor to any discussion, and he didn't hold anything back. He said, "I was just thinking how the minorities in Xinjiang have a high talent for causing problems with us." I just looked at him. Seriously? Are we going to discuss the terrorist attacks in Xinjiang Province and blame the minorities for their "high talent" in disrupting the peaceful Han existence whose existence has only been in Xinjiang in recent years? I love Leon and on any other occasion, I would be happy to discuss nearly anything with him, but this was not a particularly good time or place for politically heated topics so I segued away from Xinjiang to something else.
The one-on-one meeting students left fairly early. They were, after all, only supposed to have relinquished ten minutes of their time this evening and had already given me over an hour. So now, with one group gone, balance was restored, and I relaxed a little. Now I could grapple with what the purpose of our meeting was, and the girls, though still congregated on one couch and making my room seriously off-balanced, were freer to talk and laugh and share. These girls are new students for me, and I was enjoying getting to know them. We were just getting into a decent, comfortable exchange when one of the girls (after I asked her a "would you rather" type question) said, simply, "I'm sorry. I played badminton today, and now my hair bothers me. I think I will leave." I said, okay, and then another girl said, "I will follow." And finally the other two reluctantly joined the two leaving.
After I closed the door behind them, I stood there trying to figure out what had just taken place. I felt like I had been outside my body the entire evening watching this sad debacle, and there was no solution I could have conjured up to make things smoother or less painfully awkward. On top of all this, half of my banana bread was consumed by a group of students who could merely (and inadequately, I might add) describe it as "strange." Bu hao yisi!
Monday, October 06, 2008
OCTOBER HOLIDAY - BEIJING AND QINGDAO
Last week China celebrated its 59th National Day, and we took advantage of the nine days we had off to visit Beijing and Qingdao. October Holiday is one of China's two "Golden Weeks" and is characterized by an increased number of tourists jamming a traveling system that is made less accessible "just for the holiday." Beijing was listed as the top city to visit so, naturally, that was where we needed to be. I had been in China for two years already and had somehow failed to visit Beijing even once. That needed to change. So six of us Shiyaners (Jessica, John, Megan, Trent, Finn and I) left on Friday for the capital of China - along with 18 million other Chinese people. As there is no possible way to express just how smooth and fantasmagorical (thank you, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) our time in Beijing was, I'm going to just list some personal highlights. It's a crudely insufficient way to relate our experience, but it's all I can do. Greatness can never be expressed adequately with words; it must be experienced. We arrived in Beijing on Saturday morning and left there for Qingdao on Tuesday afternoon. Qingdao is a coastal city south of Beijing. It's safe to say I was more excited about Qingdao than Beijing. Qingdao has been my "white whale" for the past two years. For a brief period of Chinese history, Qingdao (Tsingtao) was ruled by Germany whose western influence can still be seen today in its architecture, atmosphere and beer. Now, for the sake of simplicity and orderliness, I've compiled the following list of "top fives" about this vacation:
TOP FIVE BEIJING EXPERIENCES
1) Camping on the Great Wall of China - After doing some research, John had discovered that it was, indeed, possible to camp on the Great Wall of China. We could either book a trip through a tour guide OR we could just bring our camping gear and avoid anyone that would kick us off the wall until closing time and camp out then. We chose option number two. The six of us ascended that iconic man-made creation Sunday afternoon, spent several hours walking from tower to tower until we reached the last one, and then waited. Turns out no guards patrolled that area (or the entire wall, it would appear) so we had no opposition to setting up our tents on tower number 19. It was the greatest experience in the history of everything (or nearly). Although the rock wall hardly made for a comfortable bed, and the temperature lowered significantly after dark making for a chilly night for those not blessed with good sleeping bags or a hot sleeping buddy, it was arguably the best camping experience of my life.
2) Summer Palace - Minus the tense 30 minutes spent searching for John (who, incidentally, blames us for the separation), the Summer Palace was surprisingly more interesting than I had anticipated. The architecture was slightly different than the typical Chinese style (though still very "Chinese"), and it was quite possible to just wander about appreciating the tranquility of being lost while simultaneously avoiding the stream of people that we were later to encounter.
3) Temple of Heaven - We, appropriately, visited the Temple of Heaven on Sunday morning. After passing through the various tourist sites within this compound and contemplating on the difference between the gods they worshipped with their animal sacrifices and the God we worship with whom we enjoy a personal relationship, we plopped down at a small, closed entryway and worshipped our awesome Father. It was beautiful.
4) Mexican Food and Old Friends - Monday evening we met Andrew and Jaime Hill, former Shiyan teachers who recently moved to Beijing, for dinner at Peter's Tex Mex. Food, good. Atmosphere, good. Old friends, GOOOOD.
5) Tiananmen Square - While I don't have much personally invested in this location, it's fame incited me to at least appreciate the history wrapped up in it. Seeing Mao's portrait and gazing out over the square left me with strange competing feelings of awe and sadness. Then again, I often experience emotional dissonance when trying to contemplate China - then and now.
TOP FIVE "BU HAO YISI" (SHAMEFUL) MOMENTS
1) Me slapping the hand of a Chinese man who dared to infringe on our attempt (successful, I might add) to acquire subway tickets.
2) John sniffing a pleasant smelling teenage girl on the subway and then discovering that she could see him doing this in the reflection of the door's windows.
3) Jessica yelling at a taxi driver for starting the meter at a base price of 10 yuan, then jumping out of the taxi, yelling some more, and ultimately storming away from the cab (only to find out later that 10 yuan is the correct base price for ALL taxis in Beijing).
4) John, Jessica and Finn secretly eating at Papa John's while Megan, Trent and I trekked through Beijing to buy bus tickets for all of us (all the while starving from having no lunch and, yet, refusing to stop and eat while the others were "waiting" for us).
5) Us telling the suspicious nark of a van driver at the Great Wall that we would, indeed, return at 6 P.M. for him to take us back to Beijing all the while planning to spend the night on the Wall and not descend until the next morning.
TOP FIVE QINGDAO EXPERIENCES
1) Qingdao Christian Church - Qingdao has several European styled churches which are always fun to see in China. This particular one is known for its bell/clock tower. We decided to tour it for seven yuan (apparently, they don't offer discounts to Christians; we tried). After visiting the auditorium and the tower, John, Megan, the Xiangfan crew who we met up with while in Qingdao (Will, Brittany, and Carie), and I sat in the little room you must pass through to reach the bell tower and sang church songs for about an hour. It was such a blessing to be able to worship our Father so conspicuously and be met by appreciation and wonder from the other Chinese tourists.
2) Laissez-faire Wandering Through Qingdao - After our whirlwind trip through Beijing, it was nice to just wander through the streets of Qingdao with no specific plan or agenda. There were times when we felt as if we had entered the heart of Europe, and there were times that we were unmistakably in China, and it was frequent that we experienced this drastic change simply by moving from one street to another.
3) Swimming in the Yellow Sea - Slightly worried after our first beach experience in Qingdao where we saw more rocks and people than sand, we did finally find a beach that really is something to write home about. The sand was unique and sparkled in the sunlight, the water was warm and inviting, and the sunbathing was a welcome sensation on my embarrassingly white skin.
4) Napoli Italian Restaurant - Possibly one of the most enjoyable eating experiences of my life, I'd like to send out a HUGE thanks to Carie's mom for treating us to some fantastic Italian food and some sweet Liza Manelli serenading.
5) Good Talks - Traveling with people I don't know well allows for interesting conversations and ample opportunities for meaningful discussions. This trip was no different. I appreciated getting to know better the people from Xiangfan AND the people from Shiyan.
TOP FIVE "SAD DAY" MOMENTS
1) I lost my camera after descending the Great Wall. I hope it serves its next owner as well as it served me.
2) Trent's cellphone was pick-pocketed at the Feeling Club. No one blames him for not noticing that one of the many hands on his person had ulterior motives.
3) Kat's cellphone sadly fell into a squatty potty never to be reclaimed. So, she did only what a person can do in such a situation: she marked her territory and went on.
4) John left his awesome Old Navy jacket in a taxi cab and another shirt elsewhere.
5) Jessica and I lost three games of spades in a row to Trent and Finn. Loss of face.
I honestly can't remember a smoother China vacation than this one. Group dynamics were amazing, even when we grew from six people in Beijing to eleven people in Qingdao. It's hard to meet the needs, desires and agendas of so many people without suppressed annoyance or even open frustration at times. But there wasn't a single incident that I'm aware of in which personalities seriously conflicted. We also had no problems securing the train and bus tickets we needed to go from place to place. This is a feat indescribable to anyone who has never traveled in China during one of the "Golden Weeks." We give total and complete praise to our Father for his hand in everything we did. We saw Him so often during this trip making things a little easier for us, and we won't cease to remember Him when we talk about our October Holiday 2008.
Last week China celebrated its 59th National Day, and we took advantage of the nine days we had off to visit Beijing and Qingdao. October Holiday is one of China's two "Golden Weeks" and is characterized by an increased number of tourists jamming a traveling system that is made less accessible "just for the holiday." Beijing was listed as the top city to visit so, naturally, that was where we needed to be. I had been in China for two years already and had somehow failed to visit Beijing even once. That needed to change. So six of us Shiyaners (Jessica, John, Megan, Trent, Finn and I) left on Friday for the capital of China - along with 18 million other Chinese people. As there is no possible way to express just how smooth and fantasmagorical (thank you, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) our time in Beijing was, I'm going to just list some personal highlights. It's a crudely insufficient way to relate our experience, but it's all I can do. Greatness can never be expressed adequately with words; it must be experienced. We arrived in Beijing on Saturday morning and left there for Qingdao on Tuesday afternoon. Qingdao is a coastal city south of Beijing. It's safe to say I was more excited about Qingdao than Beijing. Qingdao has been my "white whale" for the past two years. For a brief period of Chinese history, Qingdao (Tsingtao) was ruled by Germany whose western influence can still be seen today in its architecture, atmosphere and beer. Now, for the sake of simplicity and orderliness, I've compiled the following list of "top fives" about this vacation:
TOP FIVE BEIJING EXPERIENCES
1) Camping on the Great Wall of China - After doing some research, John had discovered that it was, indeed, possible to camp on the Great Wall of China. We could either book a trip through a tour guide OR we could just bring our camping gear and avoid anyone that would kick us off the wall until closing time and camp out then. We chose option number two. The six of us ascended that iconic man-made creation Sunday afternoon, spent several hours walking from tower to tower until we reached the last one, and then waited. Turns out no guards patrolled that area (or the entire wall, it would appear) so we had no opposition to setting up our tents on tower number 19. It was the greatest experience in the history of everything (or nearly). Although the rock wall hardly made for a comfortable bed, and the temperature lowered significantly after dark making for a chilly night for those not blessed with good sleeping bags or a hot sleeping buddy, it was arguably the best camping experience of my life.
2) Summer Palace - Minus the tense 30 minutes spent searching for John (who, incidentally, blames us for the separation), the Summer Palace was surprisingly more interesting than I had anticipated. The architecture was slightly different than the typical Chinese style (though still very "Chinese"), and it was quite possible to just wander about appreciating the tranquility of being lost while simultaneously avoiding the stream of people that we were later to encounter.
3) Temple of Heaven - We, appropriately, visited the Temple of Heaven on Sunday morning. After passing through the various tourist sites within this compound and contemplating on the difference between the gods they worshipped with their animal sacrifices and the God we worship with whom we enjoy a personal relationship, we plopped down at a small, closed entryway and worshipped our awesome Father. It was beautiful.
4) Mexican Food and Old Friends - Monday evening we met Andrew and Jaime Hill, former Shiyan teachers who recently moved to Beijing, for dinner at Peter's Tex Mex. Food, good. Atmosphere, good. Old friends, GOOOOD.
5) Tiananmen Square - While I don't have much personally invested in this location, it's fame incited me to at least appreciate the history wrapped up in it. Seeing Mao's portrait and gazing out over the square left me with strange competing feelings of awe and sadness. Then again, I often experience emotional dissonance when trying to contemplate China - then and now.
TOP FIVE "BU HAO YISI" (SHAMEFUL) MOMENTS
1) Me slapping the hand of a Chinese man who dared to infringe on our attempt (successful, I might add) to acquire subway tickets.
2) John sniffing a pleasant smelling teenage girl on the subway and then discovering that she could see him doing this in the reflection of the door's windows.
3) Jessica yelling at a taxi driver for starting the meter at a base price of 10 yuan, then jumping out of the taxi, yelling some more, and ultimately storming away from the cab (only to find out later that 10 yuan is the correct base price for ALL taxis in Beijing).
4) John, Jessica and Finn secretly eating at Papa John's while Megan, Trent and I trekked through Beijing to buy bus tickets for all of us (all the while starving from having no lunch and, yet, refusing to stop and eat while the others were "waiting" for us).
5) Us telling the suspicious nark of a van driver at the Great Wall that we would, indeed, return at 6 P.M. for him to take us back to Beijing all the while planning to spend the night on the Wall and not descend until the next morning.
TOP FIVE QINGDAO EXPERIENCES
1) Qingdao Christian Church - Qingdao has several European styled churches which are always fun to see in China. This particular one is known for its bell/clock tower. We decided to tour it for seven yuan (apparently, they don't offer discounts to Christians; we tried). After visiting the auditorium and the tower, John, Megan, the Xiangfan crew who we met up with while in Qingdao (Will, Brittany, and Carie), and I sat in the little room you must pass through to reach the bell tower and sang church songs for about an hour. It was such a blessing to be able to worship our Father so conspicuously and be met by appreciation and wonder from the other Chinese tourists.
2) Laissez-faire Wandering Through Qingdao - After our whirlwind trip through Beijing, it was nice to just wander through the streets of Qingdao with no specific plan or agenda. There were times when we felt as if we had entered the heart of Europe, and there were times that we were unmistakably in China, and it was frequent that we experienced this drastic change simply by moving from one street to another.
3) Swimming in the Yellow Sea - Slightly worried after our first beach experience in Qingdao where we saw more rocks and people than sand, we did finally find a beach that really is something to write home about. The sand was unique and sparkled in the sunlight, the water was warm and inviting, and the sunbathing was a welcome sensation on my embarrassingly white skin.
4) Napoli Italian Restaurant - Possibly one of the most enjoyable eating experiences of my life, I'd like to send out a HUGE thanks to Carie's mom for treating us to some fantastic Italian food and some sweet Liza Manelli serenading.
5) Good Talks - Traveling with people I don't know well allows for interesting conversations and ample opportunities for meaningful discussions. This trip was no different. I appreciated getting to know better the people from Xiangfan AND the people from Shiyan.
TOP FIVE "SAD DAY" MOMENTS
1) I lost my camera after descending the Great Wall. I hope it serves its next owner as well as it served me.
2) Trent's cellphone was pick-pocketed at the Feeling Club. No one blames him for not noticing that one of the many hands on his person had ulterior motives.
3) Kat's cellphone sadly fell into a squatty potty never to be reclaimed. So, she did only what a person can do in such a situation: she marked her territory and went on.
4) John left his awesome Old Navy jacket in a taxi cab and another shirt elsewhere.
5) Jessica and I lost three games of spades in a row to Trent and Finn. Loss of face.
I honestly can't remember a smoother China vacation than this one. Group dynamics were amazing, even when we grew from six people in Beijing to eleven people in Qingdao. It's hard to meet the needs, desires and agendas of so many people without suppressed annoyance or even open frustration at times. But there wasn't a single incident that I'm aware of in which personalities seriously conflicted. We also had no problems securing the train and bus tickets we needed to go from place to place. This is a feat indescribable to anyone who has never traveled in China during one of the "Golden Weeks." We give total and complete praise to our Father for his hand in everything we did. We saw Him so often during this trip making things a little easier for us, and we won't cease to remember Him when we talk about our October Holiday 2008.
Friday, September 26, 2008
"BEST DAY OF MY LIFE"
I'm an expressions copier. I always absorb other people's sayings. Some people have a knack for coming up with just the right words and just the right expressions for every occasion. I don't happen to be one of them. I have several friends who are always updating their expressions, and if I'm around them long enough, I quickly adopt their vernacular. My most recent appropriation comes courtesy of Barry. Ask him how he's doing at any given moment, and his response is always "best day of my life". It's amazing how powerfully motivational and attitude-changing that phrase can be.
The last two days have been the best days of my life. Wednesday began with an excellent study of Isaiah. Jessica, Barry and I meet three mornings a week for an enlightening and convicting discussion of what is becoming one of my favorite books (though I often find that whatever book I happen to be studying at the moment is my favorite). Isaiah's been a great study. This week each chapter we've read has been an in-your-face reminder that YHWH is YHWH and fear has no place in our lives because of that incontrovertible fact. Best day of my life!
I may have mentioned this before, but at the end of next month (in 32 days according to the city's official countdown calendar), Shiyan will be hosting the Third World Wudang Kungfu Festival (by Third World, they mean Third International). It's a big deal. Lots of people from around China and around the world will be descending on our remote city like its the Beijing of Kungfu Olympics. In preparation for so many foreigners visiting our fine city, countless numbers of students are going through rigorous training for tour guide positions. Only the students with the best English...and best looks...and decent physical health have been chosen to be translators and guides for the anticipated swarm of waiguoren (foreigners). But what, mind you, will happen when lost foreigners stumble into an average citizen's corner convenience store and no English-speaking student is to be found? It's a terrifying prospect, but one we've no need to worry about. The local TV station through government funding has created a simple English language program which began airing two days ago and will continue for several more episodes. By the end of the program's airing, the average citizen in Shiyan should be able to say 100 simple phrases such as "I'm a police officer," and "What color is your lost purse?" Peace and stability will reign in Shiyan as foreigners need not fear an inability to communicate in Chinese. The best part of all this is those Shiyaners who really follow this English language program can come away from it speaking English with a beautiful Oklahoma accent; that's right, yours truly was commissioned to read each of the 100 English sentences twice to provide a standard English pronunciation. It was a fun gig, and the TV personnel were wonderful in the filming of the series. My friend Romano works in the Advertising Department at the TV station, and he was the host of the program. He was decent enough to invite me to participate, and the rewards of that opportunity keep coming. Wednesday, after our awesome study, Romano and his colleagues invited Barry and me to join them for lunch at a special restaurant in the mountains. The restaurant is famous for serving up a whole goat barbecue style. It's rather expensive, but the restaurant is a patron of the TV station and invites them out for a meal a couple times a year. We were fortunate enough to join them on this occasion. The meat was delicious, and they served real bread which seemed to bring Barry nearly to tears. After eating what felt like pounds of meat, we were brought to a back room for a second meal of organ and blood soup. It was better than it sounds.
Wednesday only got better with a meat-induced nap, a game of volleyball, and a losing bout of poker.
Today was yet another awesome day: Isaiah study followed by the best post office experience of my life (I left the building smiling!), a delicious and recently improved (if one can improve upon perfection) crunchy taco, the first meeting of the Finer Things Club where we discussed One Hundred Years of Solitude and practiced our Spanish pronunciation of the same four names (for thirty some different characters), Muslim noodles for dinner, item after item checked off of my list of things to do, our weekly John study, China launches into space, sweet sisters (another Barry phrase!) watching Hairspray, and a full house to round out the day.
Tomorrow we leave for Beijing. It's already the best day of my life.
I'm an expressions copier. I always absorb other people's sayings. Some people have a knack for coming up with just the right words and just the right expressions for every occasion. I don't happen to be one of them. I have several friends who are always updating their expressions, and if I'm around them long enough, I quickly adopt their vernacular. My most recent appropriation comes courtesy of Barry. Ask him how he's doing at any given moment, and his response is always "best day of my life". It's amazing how powerfully motivational and attitude-changing that phrase can be.
The last two days have been the best days of my life. Wednesday began with an excellent study of Isaiah. Jessica, Barry and I meet three mornings a week for an enlightening and convicting discussion of what is becoming one of my favorite books (though I often find that whatever book I happen to be studying at the moment is my favorite). Isaiah's been a great study. This week each chapter we've read has been an in-your-face reminder that YHWH is YHWH and fear has no place in our lives because of that incontrovertible fact. Best day of my life!
I may have mentioned this before, but at the end of next month (in 32 days according to the city's official countdown calendar), Shiyan will be hosting the Third World Wudang Kungfu Festival (by Third World, they mean Third International). It's a big deal. Lots of people from around China and around the world will be descending on our remote city like its the Beijing of Kungfu Olympics. In preparation for so many foreigners visiting our fine city, countless numbers of students are going through rigorous training for tour guide positions. Only the students with the best English...and best looks...and decent physical health have been chosen to be translators and guides for the anticipated swarm of waiguoren (foreigners). But what, mind you, will happen when lost foreigners stumble into an average citizen's corner convenience store and no English-speaking student is to be found? It's a terrifying prospect, but one we've no need to worry about. The local TV station through government funding has created a simple English language program which began airing two days ago and will continue for several more episodes. By the end of the program's airing, the average citizen in Shiyan should be able to say 100 simple phrases such as "I'm a police officer," and "What color is your lost purse?" Peace and stability will reign in Shiyan as foreigners need not fear an inability to communicate in Chinese. The best part of all this is those Shiyaners who really follow this English language program can come away from it speaking English with a beautiful Oklahoma accent; that's right, yours truly was commissioned to read each of the 100 English sentences twice to provide a standard English pronunciation. It was a fun gig, and the TV personnel were wonderful in the filming of the series. My friend Romano works in the Advertising Department at the TV station, and he was the host of the program. He was decent enough to invite me to participate, and the rewards of that opportunity keep coming. Wednesday, after our awesome study, Romano and his colleagues invited Barry and me to join them for lunch at a special restaurant in the mountains. The restaurant is famous for serving up a whole goat barbecue style. It's rather expensive, but the restaurant is a patron of the TV station and invites them out for a meal a couple times a year. We were fortunate enough to join them on this occasion. The meat was delicious, and they served real bread which seemed to bring Barry nearly to tears. After eating what felt like pounds of meat, we were brought to a back room for a second meal of organ and blood soup. It was better than it sounds.
Wednesday only got better with a meat-induced nap, a game of volleyball, and a losing bout of poker.
Today was yet another awesome day: Isaiah study followed by the best post office experience of my life (I left the building smiling!), a delicious and recently improved (if one can improve upon perfection) crunchy taco, the first meeting of the Finer Things Club where we discussed One Hundred Years of Solitude and practiced our Spanish pronunciation of the same four names (for thirty some different characters), Muslim noodles for dinner, item after item checked off of my list of things to do, our weekly John study, China launches into space, sweet sisters (another Barry phrase!) watching Hairspray, and a full house to round out the day.
Tomorrow we leave for Beijing. It's already the best day of my life.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
LUCY
Our kitten hasn't eaten in eleven days (since we got her). We took her to the vet last week, and they said she had a cold. They gave us a four day supply of medicine which we force-fed her. She improved slightly but still refused to eat. This morning I took her back to the vet with the aid of Halley. She had a 41 degree temperature (105.8 degree Fahrenheit!). The vet said it was possible Lucy has some sickness which would be very expensive to treat. First, they would need to run a test to determine if she had the sickness, which I agreed to. It cost 80 yuan and took about five minutes to conclude that she has "viral gastroenteritis", also known as the stomach flu. The treatment for the stomach flu consists of taking Lucy to the vet everyday for four days to be given three shots each visit. The vet said there's only about a 30-40% chance that the treatment will be successful. If she doesn't show signs of improvement after two days, they will stop treatment, and we'll have to have Lucy put to sleep. They say it might cost about two hundred yuan (approximately $30) for the treatment and 50 yuan to have her put to sleep. I asked the vet if it were her cat, what she would do. She said most Chinese would give up and put the cat to sleep figuring that animals aren't worth the expense. Jessica and I, however, have become seriously attached to Lucy in the last eleven days so we decided rather quickly that we're going to fight the flu. Lucy had her first set of shots today. Now we play the waiting game.
Our kitten hasn't eaten in eleven days (since we got her). We took her to the vet last week, and they said she had a cold. They gave us a four day supply of medicine which we force-fed her. She improved slightly but still refused to eat. This morning I took her back to the vet with the aid of Halley. She had a 41 degree temperature (105.8 degree Fahrenheit!). The vet said it was possible Lucy has some sickness which would be very expensive to treat. First, they would need to run a test to determine if she had the sickness, which I agreed to. It cost 80 yuan and took about five minutes to conclude that she has "viral gastroenteritis", also known as the stomach flu. The treatment for the stomach flu consists of taking Lucy to the vet everyday for four days to be given three shots each visit. The vet said there's only about a 30-40% chance that the treatment will be successful. If she doesn't show signs of improvement after two days, they will stop treatment, and we'll have to have Lucy put to sleep. They say it might cost about two hundred yuan (approximately $30) for the treatment and 50 yuan to have her put to sleep. I asked the vet if it were her cat, what she would do. She said most Chinese would give up and put the cat to sleep figuring that animals aren't worth the expense. Jessica and I, however, have become seriously attached to Lucy in the last eleven days so we decided rather quickly that we're going to fight the flu. Lucy had her first set of shots today. Now we play the waiting game.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
IS THIS A GOOD ACTIVITY?
"I was just about to find another activity. That's not a good activity....That's what we were supposed to come up with. That's the language my mom used with us, you know. We're four years old - 'Come up with a good activity.' We're like sittin' in mud. 'Is this a good activity?'" - BRIAN REGAN
Yesterday eleven of my students missed class to take part in a "dizziness" test. These students will be acting as guides at the Wudang International Kung Fu Festival coming up in October. To make sure they will be able to handle the altitude of Mt. Wudang, they were tested yesterday so as to avoid a potentially embarrassing spectacle in front of countless foreigners during the festival. Actually, I don't really understand what they did yesterday (I filled in the blanks with personal assumptions as to the purpose of a so-called "dizziness" test); all I know is that eleven of my best students weren't in class. So, instead of following my lesson plans for the day with a third of my class missing, I decided to play OUTBURST with them. I gave each group a category, and they came up with ten words/phrases that fit into that category. One category was - ACTIVITIES I MIGHT DO AT PEOPLE'S PARK. The following is the list of activities the students came up with:
ACTIVITIES I MIGHT DO AT PEOPLE'S PARK
1) save the people who fall into the water
2) feed the monkeys
3) fly kates
4) go to WC
5) take photos
6) climbing
7) catching fish
8) eat
9) watching flowers
10) ??
This list gives new meaning to a "good" activity. I think my new favorite activity will be "saving the people who fall into the water." What's YOUR good activity?
MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL
I currently have four mooncakes sitting on my kitchen table waiting for someone to consume them. It will not be me. I've tried for three years to love mooncakes - or to at least choke a whole one down. I just can't get my stomach to enjoy red bean, dried egg yolk, or strange, green pasty filling with unidentifiable nuts. I did have a fruit-filled one that was delectable. So, mooncakes - the bane of my Mid-Autumn Festival experience. All in all, though, I enjoy Mid-Autumn Festival. We have three days off for the holiday (except we don't because we never teach on Saturday and Sunday - two of the "free" days). We were blessed this weekend with visitors from Wuhan, Xiangfan and Danjiangkou. Saturday a few of us went to a reservoir nearby we just found out about - TouYan Reservoir. It has decent hiking (great scenery but not physically challenging) and plenty of places for swimming. Sunday we celebrated Zoe's 21st birthday. Monday we went to the large Yellow Dragon Reservoir that's about an hour or so from our end of town. We rented a boat, swam, ate, played games, socialized. Jessica, Barry and I swam a ways to these huge rocks where Barry led the way in jumping off of them. Not to be outdone (though we later were when Barry did a flip off of them), Jessica and I crawled shakily to the top of the rocks, regained some composure, jumped off mentally into the water and hit our heads mentally, stood shaking on the rocks awhile longer, regained composure, jumped off mentally again, froze on the rocks, then finally took the exhilarating plunge. Well, I don't know what was going through Jessica's head, but I assume her thoughts before the jump were about as schizophrenic as my own. It was great fun, and I'm so proud that Barry and Jessica are my fellow laborers and my fellow dare-devils.
Well, it's raining again. Aside from not wanting to descend the hill in the rain to acquire lunch (we're going to subsist on Jessica's stash of chicken nuggets if she isn't electrocuted by her temperamental oven first), my plans for the day lie unaffected by the weather. I have various tasks I need to complete that involve the Internet and our book of the month - One Hundred Years of Solitude - to get into. Cheers!
"I was just about to find another activity. That's not a good activity....That's what we were supposed to come up with. That's the language my mom used with us, you know. We're four years old - 'Come up with a good activity.' We're like sittin' in mud. 'Is this a good activity?'" - BRIAN REGAN
Yesterday eleven of my students missed class to take part in a "dizziness" test. These students will be acting as guides at the Wudang International Kung Fu Festival coming up in October. To make sure they will be able to handle the altitude of Mt. Wudang, they were tested yesterday so as to avoid a potentially embarrassing spectacle in front of countless foreigners during the festival. Actually, I don't really understand what they did yesterday (I filled in the blanks with personal assumptions as to the purpose of a so-called "dizziness" test); all I know is that eleven of my best students weren't in class. So, instead of following my lesson plans for the day with a third of my class missing, I decided to play OUTBURST with them. I gave each group a category, and they came up with ten words/phrases that fit into that category. One category was - ACTIVITIES I MIGHT DO AT PEOPLE'S PARK. The following is the list of activities the students came up with:
ACTIVITIES I MIGHT DO AT PEOPLE'S PARK
1) save the people who fall into the water
2) feed the monkeys
3) fly kates
4) go to WC
5) take photos
6) climbing
7) catching fish
8) eat
9) watching flowers
10) ??
This list gives new meaning to a "good" activity. I think my new favorite activity will be "saving the people who fall into the water." What's YOUR good activity?
MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL
I currently have four mooncakes sitting on my kitchen table waiting for someone to consume them. It will not be me. I've tried for three years to love mooncakes - or to at least choke a whole one down. I just can't get my stomach to enjoy red bean, dried egg yolk, or strange, green pasty filling with unidentifiable nuts. I did have a fruit-filled one that was delectable. So, mooncakes - the bane of my Mid-Autumn Festival experience. All in all, though, I enjoy Mid-Autumn Festival. We have three days off for the holiday (except we don't because we never teach on Saturday and Sunday - two of the "free" days). We were blessed this weekend with visitors from Wuhan, Xiangfan and Danjiangkou. Saturday a few of us went to a reservoir nearby we just found out about - TouYan Reservoir. It has decent hiking (great scenery but not physically challenging) and plenty of places for swimming. Sunday we celebrated Zoe's 21st birthday. Monday we went to the large Yellow Dragon Reservoir that's about an hour or so from our end of town. We rented a boat, swam, ate, played games, socialized. Jessica, Barry and I swam a ways to these huge rocks where Barry led the way in jumping off of them. Not to be outdone (though we later were when Barry did a flip off of them), Jessica and I crawled shakily to the top of the rocks, regained some composure, jumped off mentally into the water and hit our heads mentally, stood shaking on the rocks awhile longer, regained composure, jumped off mentally again, froze on the rocks, then finally took the exhilarating plunge. Well, I don't know what was going through Jessica's head, but I assume her thoughts before the jump were about as schizophrenic as my own. It was great fun, and I'm so proud that Barry and Jessica are my fellow laborers and my fellow dare-devils.
Well, it's raining again. Aside from not wanting to descend the hill in the rain to acquire lunch (we're going to subsist on Jessica's stash of chicken nuggets if she isn't electrocuted by her temperamental oven first), my plans for the day lie unaffected by the weather. I have various tasks I need to complete that involve the Internet and our book of the month - One Hundred Years of Solitude - to get into. Cheers!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE PET MARKET
Classes began for me last week. I'm teaching two sophomore English major courses and two sophomore non-English major courses. I had grandiose ideas about making lesson plans for the entire semester but was foiled again. It's my experience that planning for several classes in advance tends to blow up in my face. Yesterday, for instance, I met with my non-English majors for the first time. I had no roll sheet which is typical so I didn't really know what to expect from this class. I had planned for us to get right into the book instead of just killing time on the first day. However, I was immediately hit by fifty students, half of which had no English name and three-fourths of which had never had a foreign teacher before. It took an entire period just giving names to be able to call roll. The majority of the students can barely function in English and speak to me in Chinese seemingly unaware that I barely understand them. They clearly were not ready to begin using the book today so I changed my lesson plans and will have to re-evaluate everything I had planned for them for the rest of the semester. Ah, a day in the life of an English teacher in China.
Ever since our stay in Chengdu last year when we realized that China does, in fact, have adorable dogs, Jessica and I have been planning to adopt a puppy. We figured the beginning of this year was the time to do it so on Sunday morning we arose early and with two of my students went to the local pet market feeling hopeful and excited. After falling in love time and time again with countless puppies of every shape, size and color, we reluctantly came to the conclusion that the puppy meant for us was not to be found that day and comforted ourselves with the determined solution of returning the following week. Before we left the pet market, however, Jessica found herself drawn to several cages of kittens. Most of the kittens were lying in a depressed stupor, but one was crying and clawing madly at the cage daring to restrict its freedom. When we saw the kitten's frantic efforts to obtain its independence, we looked at each other and came to the only rational conclusion: we must set this kitty free! So we bought the kitten and brought her home with us. She has already greatly increased the warmth of our homes and seriously decreased our productivity. We named her Lucille Ball - Lucy for short - because of her red hair, incessant crying, and endearing neediness.
Today is Teacher's Day in China. Text messages have been pouring in since the first one that woke me up this morning wishing me happy everyday. I happen to have the day off which makes me especially appreciate the life of a teacher, or at least the life of this teacher. Everyone is feeling a little puny today - complete with congestion and weariness. It could be the weather changes or the life changes, but I'm blessed today to be able to rest and watch movies and read.
Classes began for me last week. I'm teaching two sophomore English major courses and two sophomore non-English major courses. I had grandiose ideas about making lesson plans for the entire semester but was foiled again. It's my experience that planning for several classes in advance tends to blow up in my face. Yesterday, for instance, I met with my non-English majors for the first time. I had no roll sheet which is typical so I didn't really know what to expect from this class. I had planned for us to get right into the book instead of just killing time on the first day. However, I was immediately hit by fifty students, half of which had no English name and three-fourths of which had never had a foreign teacher before. It took an entire period just giving names to be able to call roll. The majority of the students can barely function in English and speak to me in Chinese seemingly unaware that I barely understand them. They clearly were not ready to begin using the book today so I changed my lesson plans and will have to re-evaluate everything I had planned for them for the rest of the semester. Ah, a day in the life of an English teacher in China.
Ever since our stay in Chengdu last year when we realized that China does, in fact, have adorable dogs, Jessica and I have been planning to adopt a puppy. We figured the beginning of this year was the time to do it so on Sunday morning we arose early and with two of my students went to the local pet market feeling hopeful and excited. After falling in love time and time again with countless puppies of every shape, size and color, we reluctantly came to the conclusion that the puppy meant for us was not to be found that day and comforted ourselves with the determined solution of returning the following week. Before we left the pet market, however, Jessica found herself drawn to several cages of kittens. Most of the kittens were lying in a depressed stupor, but one was crying and clawing madly at the cage daring to restrict its freedom. When we saw the kitten's frantic efforts to obtain its independence, we looked at each other and came to the only rational conclusion: we must set this kitty free! So we bought the kitten and brought her home with us. She has already greatly increased the warmth of our homes and seriously decreased our productivity. We named her Lucille Ball - Lucy for short - because of her red hair, incessant crying, and endearing neediness.
Today is Teacher's Day in China. Text messages have been pouring in since the first one that woke me up this morning wishing me happy everyday. I happen to have the day off which makes me especially appreciate the life of a teacher, or at least the life of this teacher. Everyone is feeling a little puny today - complete with congestion and weariness. It could be the weather changes or the life changes, but I'm blessed today to be able to rest and watch movies and read.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
NOTHING SAYS "WELCOME HOME" LIKE TORRENTS OF RAIN
Minus a couple extra layers of dust and the initial bit of brown water filling my sinks from months of sedentary life in the pipes, I've returned to an apartment relatively unscathed by my absence. The trip back to my home away from home went considerably smoother than the one a few months ago - no missed flights, no extra unforeseen expenses, and no searing back pain from schlepping around three times my weight in luggage. All told, it was a good journey back.
At LAX I had a twelve hour layover which passed conveniently well through a relaxing bout of reading and catching up on my dad's blog (a novel in and of itself). A few hours before my international flight was to leave, I left the gate to find some dinner and saw walking towards me a warming image of familiarity manifested in my good friends and fellow Shiyaners, John and Megan Calvillo. I had no idea they (or the host of other new China teachers) were on our flight to Hong Kong. It was a pleasant surprise which I continued to enjoy as I met not only the newbies coming to my city but, also, several former OC students who I had known briefly while I was in college at UCO. Oklahoma is well represented in China this year.
Jessica and I parted with our old and new friends in Hong Kong where, for the sake of unconsciously making things mildly more difficult for our school, we flew to Xi'an instead of Wuhan. We were received in Xi'an by wonderful Maya and that ever-smothering cloud of smog which enjoys welcoming all foreigners each year. This was Wednesday morning and since Jessica and I had both been to Xi'an before, we forewent sightseeing, made a run to Metro to buy a few months worth of cheese, and returned to our hotel to retire early.
Thursday morning our train left for Shiyan. A side note here to encourage everyone who sees anyone ever struggling with dragging sixty five pounds of luggage (not counting that already strapped to the body) up a mountain of stairs to kindly help him or her out. It has never failed that when I find myself staring at three flights of stairs and wondering where in my small frame I will find the strength to make it to the top, an angel in a Chinese body swoops in from nowhere to aid me. If there had been a preacher at the top of those stairs, I would have married that gentlemen in a second if I could have found the energy to say "I do" or whatever the equivalent is in Chinese. And in the same way he entered our lives majestically, he left quietly, never knowing just how much appreciation was hidden behind the constraints of the "thank you's" we poured his way.
We arrived in Shiyan to a downpour of rain through which I drug my broken rolling duffle bag, soaking several books housed precariously inside it. We were picked up by a woman from our school and told that we would need to find space to fit Barry, the new teacher for our school, and his luggage. Seeing no possible way this was going to happen, Jessica and I opted to take a taxi home so Barry's first impression of our school wouldn't be one made while riding atop the van in the pouring rain (as there would have been no other place for him to fit). So we made it to our apartments Thursday evening. It is now Saturday morning (my apologies for a delayed post), and it is currently not raining - a first since we arrived.
This afternoon we have a foreigner meet and greet/planning party at the medical school, and tomorrow will be a sweet Family reunion. Things are starting off great.
Minus a couple extra layers of dust and the initial bit of brown water filling my sinks from months of sedentary life in the pipes, I've returned to an apartment relatively unscathed by my absence. The trip back to my home away from home went considerably smoother than the one a few months ago - no missed flights, no extra unforeseen expenses, and no searing back pain from schlepping around three times my weight in luggage. All told, it was a good journey back.
At LAX I had a twelve hour layover which passed conveniently well through a relaxing bout of reading and catching up on my dad's blog (a novel in and of itself). A few hours before my international flight was to leave, I left the gate to find some dinner and saw walking towards me a warming image of familiarity manifested in my good friends and fellow Shiyaners, John and Megan Calvillo. I had no idea they (or the host of other new China teachers) were on our flight to Hong Kong. It was a pleasant surprise which I continued to enjoy as I met not only the newbies coming to my city but, also, several former OC students who I had known briefly while I was in college at UCO. Oklahoma is well represented in China this year.
Jessica and I parted with our old and new friends in Hong Kong where, for the sake of unconsciously making things mildly more difficult for our school, we flew to Xi'an instead of Wuhan. We were received in Xi'an by wonderful Maya and that ever-smothering cloud of smog which enjoys welcoming all foreigners each year. This was Wednesday morning and since Jessica and I had both been to Xi'an before, we forewent sightseeing, made a run to Metro to buy a few months worth of cheese, and returned to our hotel to retire early.
Thursday morning our train left for Shiyan. A side note here to encourage everyone who sees anyone ever struggling with dragging sixty five pounds of luggage (not counting that already strapped to the body) up a mountain of stairs to kindly help him or her out. It has never failed that when I find myself staring at three flights of stairs and wondering where in my small frame I will find the strength to make it to the top, an angel in a Chinese body swoops in from nowhere to aid me. If there had been a preacher at the top of those stairs, I would have married that gentlemen in a second if I could have found the energy to say "I do" or whatever the equivalent is in Chinese. And in the same way he entered our lives majestically, he left quietly, never knowing just how much appreciation was hidden behind the constraints of the "thank you's" we poured his way.
We arrived in Shiyan to a downpour of rain through which I drug my broken rolling duffle bag, soaking several books housed precariously inside it. We were picked up by a woman from our school and told that we would need to find space to fit Barry, the new teacher for our school, and his luggage. Seeing no possible way this was going to happen, Jessica and I opted to take a taxi home so Barry's first impression of our school wouldn't be one made while riding atop the van in the pouring rain (as there would have been no other place for him to fit). So we made it to our apartments Thursday evening. It is now Saturday morning (my apologies for a delayed post), and it is currently not raining - a first since we arrived.
This afternoon we have a foreigner meet and greet/planning party at the medical school, and tomorrow will be a sweet Family reunion. Things are starting off great.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Oh, the joy of flying!
Well, I can check "missing a flight" off of my "not to do" life list. I'm sitting in the Hong Kong airport awaiting our international flight to Los Angeles a day later than intended. Since the actual flight fiasco experience is still fresh in my memory and clouding my mood, I'm going to copy and paste Brian's updated blog with his first installment chronicling the last thirty six hours. It's aptly titled:
Our naivety exposed - expecting things to go well in China
by Brian Neal
Well, it's 7am CST on July 9th. My flight from Chicago to Nashville will leave soon and should land around 9:20. You may be wondering how I'm able to blog while on an airplane. Has American Airlines suddenly become the coolest airline ever? Hardly. I'm able to blog right now because I'm sitting in the Hong Kong airport, enjoying their free WiFi internet connection. I just finished enjoying their overpriced bacon cheeseburger. Now I suppose I should tell you WHY I'm in Hong Kong when I should be practically home. It all started with a dream.
Angelyn and I always dreamed of being treated well by our school. So to pursue this dream, we pestered them until they agreed to drive us from Shiyan to the Xi'an airport. This was a big deal for us because this meant we wouldn't have to bother with buses, trains, or taxis, which would be a big deal with our luggage. China has been changing quickly. Just last year a car ride to Xi'an would have taken 12 hours. Now there's a highway scheduled to open in December that will cut that down to 3 hours (thanks to about 100 bazillion tunnels they dug straight through 350km of mountains). Now the drive is expected to take 6 to 8 hours, depending on traffic and road conditions. To make a long story short, we took the opened portion of the highway for almost an hour, off-roaded on a dirt/gravel road for two hours or so, and spent the rest of the time mostly on two-lane paved roads winding through the mountains of Shaanxi province. While the view was breathtaking and our driver was fun and friendly, the drive ended in disaster. We got to the Xi'an area around 5 (about 3 hours later than expected), and got on the expressway to head to the airport. Somehow (I still don't know how because I saw with my own eyes the signs we were following toward the airport) we ended up on the wrong side of Xi'an. By the time I figured it out and showed the driver where we were on the map (ironic that I used a Chinese map better than the Chinese driver could), we were 70 miles away from where we wanted to be. So we turned back and sped towards the airport. The driver didn't seem too concerned when we saw a sign saying we had another 30 minutes, even though our flight was scheduled to leave in 60 minutes. Plenty of time, he said. Well, we pulled off the highway at 7, found the right terminal and pulled up to the door at 7:10, jumped out, barely said thanks to the driver before running inside, and arrived just in time to get totally lost inside the Xi'an airport. We were flying to Hong Kong, so we had to go into the international terminal, which was set off from the rest of the terminal by a frosted glass wall. We couldn't figure out how to get in. People in there had us running back and forth down the terminal for 30 minutes, handing us off from one person to the next, all of whom had no idea where the international terminal was. Finally, at 7:40 (the exact time our flight was taking off) someone let me through into a roped off area so I could ask his boss. It seems he couldn't ask himself. Turns out, the guy was guarding the rope blocking us from where we needed to go to check in. And he didn't even know it. Even though I said "where is counter 52?" (because that's where we needed to check in) and it was ten feet around the corner where he could SEE IT. Airport employees are smart sometimes. So we missed the flight to Hong Kong, which means we missed the 3 flights after that.
All in all, we arrived at the airport 5 hours later than we were told we would arrive. We spent 400 yuan on phone calls, expensive airport hotel rooms, and expensive airport hotel ramen noodles because we had to rebook tickets and stay the night. I really don't know what to say except that it's a lot easier to enjoy speaking with airport employees when you're NOT running around with over 100 pounds of luggage flopping around you. On the upside, it seems we would have missed our other flights even if we had made it to Hong Kong because American Airlines and Dragon Air are dumb. But I'll have to blog about that another time. There's so much more to this story, you should expect at least one more installment. You won't be disappointed.
Well, I can check "missing a flight" off of my "not to do" life list. I'm sitting in the Hong Kong airport awaiting our international flight to Los Angeles a day later than intended. Since the actual flight fiasco experience is still fresh in my memory and clouding my mood, I'm going to copy and paste Brian's updated blog with his first installment chronicling the last thirty six hours. It's aptly titled:
Our naivety exposed - expecting things to go well in China
by Brian Neal
Well, it's 7am CST on July 9th. My flight from Chicago to Nashville will leave soon and should land around 9:20. You may be wondering how I'm able to blog while on an airplane. Has American Airlines suddenly become the coolest airline ever? Hardly. I'm able to blog right now because I'm sitting in the Hong Kong airport, enjoying their free WiFi internet connection. I just finished enjoying their overpriced bacon cheeseburger. Now I suppose I should tell you WHY I'm in Hong Kong when I should be practically home. It all started with a dream.
Angelyn and I always dreamed of being treated well by our school. So to pursue this dream, we pestered them until they agreed to drive us from Shiyan to the Xi'an airport. This was a big deal for us because this meant we wouldn't have to bother with buses, trains, or taxis, which would be a big deal with our luggage. China has been changing quickly. Just last year a car ride to Xi'an would have taken 12 hours. Now there's a highway scheduled to open in December that will cut that down to 3 hours (thanks to about 100 bazillion tunnels they dug straight through 350km of mountains). Now the drive is expected to take 6 to 8 hours, depending on traffic and road conditions. To make a long story short, we took the opened portion of the highway for almost an hour, off-roaded on a dirt/gravel road for two hours or so, and spent the rest of the time mostly on two-lane paved roads winding through the mountains of Shaanxi province. While the view was breathtaking and our driver was fun and friendly, the drive ended in disaster. We got to the Xi'an area around 5 (about 3 hours later than expected), and got on the expressway to head to the airport. Somehow (I still don't know how because I saw with my own eyes the signs we were following toward the airport) we ended up on the wrong side of Xi'an. By the time I figured it out and showed the driver where we were on the map (ironic that I used a Chinese map better than the Chinese driver could), we were 70 miles away from where we wanted to be. So we turned back and sped towards the airport. The driver didn't seem too concerned when we saw a sign saying we had another 30 minutes, even though our flight was scheduled to leave in 60 minutes. Plenty of time, he said. Well, we pulled off the highway at 7, found the right terminal and pulled up to the door at 7:10, jumped out, barely said thanks to the driver before running inside, and arrived just in time to get totally lost inside the Xi'an airport. We were flying to Hong Kong, so we had to go into the international terminal, which was set off from the rest of the terminal by a frosted glass wall. We couldn't figure out how to get in. People in there had us running back and forth down the terminal for 30 minutes, handing us off from one person to the next, all of whom had no idea where the international terminal was. Finally, at 7:40 (the exact time our flight was taking off) someone let me through into a roped off area so I could ask his boss. It seems he couldn't ask himself. Turns out, the guy was guarding the rope blocking us from where we needed to go to check in. And he didn't even know it. Even though I said "where is counter 52?" (because that's where we needed to check in) and it was ten feet around the corner where he could SEE IT. Airport employees are smart sometimes. So we missed the flight to Hong Kong, which means we missed the 3 flights after that.
All in all, we arrived at the airport 5 hours later than we were told we would arrive. We spent 400 yuan on phone calls, expensive airport hotel rooms, and expensive airport hotel ramen noodles because we had to rebook tickets and stay the night. I really don't know what to say except that it's a lot easier to enjoy speaking with airport employees when you're NOT running around with over 100 pounds of luggage flopping around you. On the upside, it seems we would have missed our other flights even if we had made it to Hong Kong because American Airlines and Dragon Air are dumb. But I'll have to blog about that another time. There's so much more to this story, you should expect at least one more installment. You won't be disappointed.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
FAREWELL, FRIEND!
One of my all-time favorite movies is Angel and the Badman. It's as corny as the title suggests - a John Wayne film no less. I've watched it many times since childhood which is probably why I love it so much. Anyway, in the film, John Wayne - resident badman - has been shot and subsequently rescued and cared for by a Quaker family. Upon arrival to their home, he's put in bed and though nearly unconscious, he appears restless, like there's something he's missing and needs before he can find peace. The Quaker father runs downstairs, empties John Wayne's gun, returns to his bedside and places it in his hand. John Wayne immediately relaxes and passes out. That gun was so much a part of John Wayne's life, he couldn't relax without it.
Last night for the first time in several days, I slept well. I woke up this morning well-rested and even perky. Did I mention Brian's back? After a week of playing tour guide for some first time China visitors, he made it home late Thursday night. Yesterday was a normal day - him doing his things, me doing mine, our paths crossing for meal times - nothing special. But like John Wayne's gun, Brian has become so much a part of my Shiyan life, it's difficult to feel at home without him. I can't imagine next year making cinnamon rolls without him in mind or meeting any meal time without waiting on him to finally get his shoes on so we can go. Anyway, Brian, I love you, brother.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!
We failed miserably at celebrating the Fourth of July in China. It would probably have helped had we been able to stop forgetting it was Independence Day. Here are the highlights of my first Fourth of July in China: I finished Jane Eyre (a reminder of what famous piece of literature we could have claimed as our own had we not declared our independence from using words such as "hither" and "thither") and later had a dinner of grilled fish - which did not compare in Americanicity with grilled hamburgers or hot dogs but was delicious nonetheless - watermelon, and ice cream. We ended the evening with an attempt to watch Independence Day illegally downloaded from a Chinese website, but it didn't work so we watched an episode of Monk instead and went to bed sans a grand Fourth of July Fireworks Show. But, we figure, we've seen enough fireworks daily in China since we've been here to last a lifetime of Fourth of Julys.
COMING HOME
For anyone interested, I'll be back in the great state of Oklahoma Wednesday afternoon - the 9th. See you all soon!
One of my all-time favorite movies is Angel and the Badman. It's as corny as the title suggests - a John Wayne film no less. I've watched it many times since childhood which is probably why I love it so much. Anyway, in the film, John Wayne - resident badman - has been shot and subsequently rescued and cared for by a Quaker family. Upon arrival to their home, he's put in bed and though nearly unconscious, he appears restless, like there's something he's missing and needs before he can find peace. The Quaker father runs downstairs, empties John Wayne's gun, returns to his bedside and places it in his hand. John Wayne immediately relaxes and passes out. That gun was so much a part of John Wayne's life, he couldn't relax without it.
Last night for the first time in several days, I slept well. I woke up this morning well-rested and even perky. Did I mention Brian's back? After a week of playing tour guide for some first time China visitors, he made it home late Thursday night. Yesterday was a normal day - him doing his things, me doing mine, our paths crossing for meal times - nothing special. But like John Wayne's gun, Brian has become so much a part of my Shiyan life, it's difficult to feel at home without him. I can't imagine next year making cinnamon rolls without him in mind or meeting any meal time without waiting on him to finally get his shoes on so we can go. Anyway, Brian, I love you, brother.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!
We failed miserably at celebrating the Fourth of July in China. It would probably have helped had we been able to stop forgetting it was Independence Day. Here are the highlights of my first Fourth of July in China: I finished Jane Eyre (a reminder of what famous piece of literature we could have claimed as our own had we not declared our independence from using words such as "hither" and "thither") and later had a dinner of grilled fish - which did not compare in Americanicity with grilled hamburgers or hot dogs but was delicious nonetheless - watermelon, and ice cream. We ended the evening with an attempt to watch Independence Day illegally downloaded from a Chinese website, but it didn't work so we watched an episode of Monk instead and went to bed sans a grand Fourth of July Fireworks Show. But, we figure, we've seen enough fireworks daily in China since we've been here to last a lifetime of Fourth of Julys.
COMING HOME
For anyone interested, I'll be back in the great state of Oklahoma Wednesday afternoon - the 9th. See you all soon!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
LATE NIGHT ARBITRARY NUGGETS OF GOODNESS
Tonight was interesting. I had dinner with Michael Scofield and Kevin. Both are juniors at my school, but I taught Kevin last year, and Michael Scofield comes to all my classes even though he's never been an official student of mine. One thing I love about Chinese people is the curious tidbits of information they throw out as if they're common knowledge. Tonight, for example, I learned that people with type A blood are family-oriented and willing to sacrifice their own desires for the will of their spouse. People with type B blood are more selfish and work-oriented. They're ambitious as well. Type O blood people are, obviously enough, good for everybody. So, Michael Scofield, who has type B blood, is looking for a woman who has type A blood. Apparently, that combination would make for marital bliss. Perhaps there's more to having blood tests before getting married than we originally thought!
We had dinner at McDonald's (almost never a good idea). Recently, there has appeared a small vender stand outside McDonald's that sells chicken wings on a stick. The name of the stand is BT which, as it turns out, is slang for someone who is a really, really bad person. BT has a reputation for serving some of the spiciest food you'll find - so spicy, in fact, that if you can eat three sticks, each with two chicken wings on it, you don't have to pay. They're pretty confident the spice is too powerful for anyone to handle. Having set all this up, tonight Michael Scofield challenged me to eat a stick of the super spicy chicken wings. He and Kevin ate the medium spice, but I, unable to back down from a challenge (which might possibly prove to be my downfall), ate both chicken wings without any kind of liquid relief - per condition of the challenge. It was painful. Tears were flowing. But I was victorious. My stomach, however, has been hating me since.
Tonight is the European Cup Championship game between Germany and Spain. I haven't been watching the games up to this point - mostly because of horrible timing - but I've decided to catch the final game. It shows on CCTV-5 beginning at 2:40 a.m. I'm keeping myself awake by watching movies I've never desired to watch before but all of which belong to Brian and will, therefore, no longer be available to watch in little over a week. So far I've watched The Machinist (disturbing), and I just began Enemy at the Gates.
Thursday as Brian was leaving our campus for the train station, he texted me with a message that a bunch of old people were gathering at the football field for a paddle ball performance. He thought I should check it out. I was reluctant to go out of laziness, but I finally decided make an appearance for about twenty minutes out of mere curiosity. I'm so glad I did! The city of Shiyan is a city at all because of the Dong Feng car factory. So much of the city is owned or influenced by this one company. Every year workers from various factories in town gather together for one fantastic performance. I'm not sure the reasons nor am I aware of the intricacies of what I witnessed. I do know, however, that I was moved by the sheer volume of workers on the field. Each group was dressed in colorful shirts and white pants. They stretched over the entire field and began the performance with a choreographed paddle ball routine. It was like watching a sea of colors dancing in the most fantastic rhythm I've ever seen. After the paddle ball sequence, they ran off the field (these aren't spry young things either - we're talking about workers ranging in age from their thirties to their sixties) only to be replaced rather quickly (and after a rapid wardrobe change) by a group of men and women marching in true high school band-like fashion to the beat of several different types of drums. Immediately after this routine, another group of workers clad in neon-colored shirts and space boots trampled onto the field in nothing short of a color guard performance that would shame countless junior colleges. I was entranced the entire time. I think I was mostly amazed that these folks have nothing more to gain from their hard work and effort than a few hours of performance that was hardly honored by a gloating crowd. They didn't seem to mind. The enjoyment pouring forth from their radiant faces showed that the simple act of being involved in this group, of being active, of showing unity in a completely positive manner was reward enough. I was so proud of Chinese people as I watched this performance - proud that old people aren't out of the game here, proud that people still perform for the sake of the performance and not merely for praise, and proud that unity can be expressed in such an unadulterated and fun-loving form.
Tonight was interesting. I had dinner with Michael Scofield and Kevin. Both are juniors at my school, but I taught Kevin last year, and Michael Scofield comes to all my classes even though he's never been an official student of mine. One thing I love about Chinese people is the curious tidbits of information they throw out as if they're common knowledge. Tonight, for example, I learned that people with type A blood are family-oriented and willing to sacrifice their own desires for the will of their spouse. People with type B blood are more selfish and work-oriented. They're ambitious as well. Type O blood people are, obviously enough, good for everybody. So, Michael Scofield, who has type B blood, is looking for a woman who has type A blood. Apparently, that combination would make for marital bliss. Perhaps there's more to having blood tests before getting married than we originally thought!
We had dinner at McDonald's (almost never a good idea). Recently, there has appeared a small vender stand outside McDonald's that sells chicken wings on a stick. The name of the stand is BT which, as it turns out, is slang for someone who is a really, really bad person. BT has a reputation for serving some of the spiciest food you'll find - so spicy, in fact, that if you can eat three sticks, each with two chicken wings on it, you don't have to pay. They're pretty confident the spice is too powerful for anyone to handle. Having set all this up, tonight Michael Scofield challenged me to eat a stick of the super spicy chicken wings. He and Kevin ate the medium spice, but I, unable to back down from a challenge (which might possibly prove to be my downfall), ate both chicken wings without any kind of liquid relief - per condition of the challenge. It was painful. Tears were flowing. But I was victorious. My stomach, however, has been hating me since.
Tonight is the European Cup Championship game between Germany and Spain. I haven't been watching the games up to this point - mostly because of horrible timing - but I've decided to catch the final game. It shows on CCTV-5 beginning at 2:40 a.m. I'm keeping myself awake by watching movies I've never desired to watch before but all of which belong to Brian and will, therefore, no longer be available to watch in little over a week. So far I've watched The Machinist (disturbing), and I just began Enemy at the Gates.
Thursday as Brian was leaving our campus for the train station, he texted me with a message that a bunch of old people were gathering at the football field for a paddle ball performance. He thought I should check it out. I was reluctant to go out of laziness, but I finally decided make an appearance for about twenty minutes out of mere curiosity. I'm so glad I did! The city of Shiyan is a city at all because of the Dong Feng car factory. So much of the city is owned or influenced by this one company. Every year workers from various factories in town gather together for one fantastic performance. I'm not sure the reasons nor am I aware of the intricacies of what I witnessed. I do know, however, that I was moved by the sheer volume of workers on the field. Each group was dressed in colorful shirts and white pants. They stretched over the entire field and began the performance with a choreographed paddle ball routine. It was like watching a sea of colors dancing in the most fantastic rhythm I've ever seen. After the paddle ball sequence, they ran off the field (these aren't spry young things either - we're talking about workers ranging in age from their thirties to their sixties) only to be replaced rather quickly (and after a rapid wardrobe change) by a group of men and women marching in true high school band-like fashion to the beat of several different types of drums. Immediately after this routine, another group of workers clad in neon-colored shirts and space boots trampled onto the field in nothing short of a color guard performance that would shame countless junior colleges. I was entranced the entire time. I think I was mostly amazed that these folks have nothing more to gain from their hard work and effort than a few hours of performance that was hardly honored by a gloating crowd. They didn't seem to mind. The enjoyment pouring forth from their radiant faces showed that the simple act of being involved in this group, of being active, of showing unity in a completely positive manner was reward enough. I was so proud of Chinese people as I watched this performance - proud that old people aren't out of the game here, proud that people still perform for the sake of the performance and not merely for praise, and proud that unity can be expressed in such an unadulterated and fun-loving form.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
China has made me sentimental.
Tonight Brian and I went to a Xinjiang restaurant. It's been here for as long as we have probably, but today was the first time I went. They served kabobs and noodles unlike any you will find in Han restaurants. The first bite of that lamb kabob took me right back to last August when Brian and I finally reached our resting point in Xinjiang. A lot of things have happened since last August. New friends. New family. New directions. I love the fact that we can't predict where our lives will be in ten short months.
Later this evening I was writing grades when my trusty Harding pen ran out of ink. It was given to me just over a year ago by some sweet friends who visited Shiyan for several days last June. It was supposed to be a "gift" to give to a random Chinese person. We're told to bring little gifts that are very "American" to hand out to people who have touched us while we're here. These gifts range from American coins to American flags to American pins and pens. I don't know too many people who actually give them as gifts once they arrive to China. This particular Harding pen, intended as a gift for some Chinese person who has an affinity for writing utensils, was pawned off on me, and I loved it immediately. It served me for a full year. I trashed it about an hour ago. On to new things...
I'm about the only foreign English teacher left in China still teaching. Or at least that's how it feels. I have class till Friday, and then I'll be finished. I'm just about caught up on grading, a feat which still impresses me. I am becoming better at giving fair grades. When I started I had a difficult time even giving 'C's to the bad students. I guess I forgot that there are a lot of students, generally the ones who deserve them, who don't get upset when they receive 'C's and even rejoice a bit that it's not worse.
I spent the weekend in Wuhan. There are a lot of stereotypes in China. Sichuan Province is known for its beautiful girls and spicy food. Beijing is such a "cultural" city. Xi'an is very beautiful. Shanghai is so modern. And Wuhan? Well, Wuhan is one of the Three Furnaces of China because it is blazing hot. Generally, I enjoy demolishing as many stereotypes as I possibly can (or to at least encourage original and/or personal opinions to surface), but I have to agree that Wuhan is a furnace. Maybe I've been away too long from those hot and muggy August summers in Oklahoma, but I'm no longer accustomed to such humidity. I don't know how people function in such heat. Regardless of this nearly suffocating experience in the Wuhan death trap, we had a great time there. I am consistently blessed by the beauty I see in other people, and there are some beautiful people working in Wuhan.
Jessica's home now. She left on Sunday. John and Megan, William and Andrew and Jaime leave this week. Darla left last week. Priscilla leaves next. Brian's leaving me for Beijing before returning to leave for the States with me. Several of our Chinese Family are about to or have already left for various reasons (or are just incredibly busy). I guess I returned home early enough last year to not be the one left behind. Note to self: it's easier to leave first...
Today was a good China day. There are some days when the very things that annoy you most of the time are humorous or quaint or even adorable. Today was one of those days.
Tonight Brian and I went to a Xinjiang restaurant. It's been here for as long as we have probably, but today was the first time I went. They served kabobs and noodles unlike any you will find in Han restaurants. The first bite of that lamb kabob took me right back to last August when Brian and I finally reached our resting point in Xinjiang. A lot of things have happened since last August. New friends. New family. New directions. I love the fact that we can't predict where our lives will be in ten short months.
Later this evening I was writing grades when my trusty Harding pen ran out of ink. It was given to me just over a year ago by some sweet friends who visited Shiyan for several days last June. It was supposed to be a "gift" to give to a random Chinese person. We're told to bring little gifts that are very "American" to hand out to people who have touched us while we're here. These gifts range from American coins to American flags to American pins and pens. I don't know too many people who actually give them as gifts once they arrive to China. This particular Harding pen, intended as a gift for some Chinese person who has an affinity for writing utensils, was pawned off on me, and I loved it immediately. It served me for a full year. I trashed it about an hour ago. On to new things...
I'm about the only foreign English teacher left in China still teaching. Or at least that's how it feels. I have class till Friday, and then I'll be finished. I'm just about caught up on grading, a feat which still impresses me. I am becoming better at giving fair grades. When I started I had a difficult time even giving 'C's to the bad students. I guess I forgot that there are a lot of students, generally the ones who deserve them, who don't get upset when they receive 'C's and even rejoice a bit that it's not worse.
I spent the weekend in Wuhan. There are a lot of stereotypes in China. Sichuan Province is known for its beautiful girls and spicy food. Beijing is such a "cultural" city. Xi'an is very beautiful. Shanghai is so modern. And Wuhan? Well, Wuhan is one of the Three Furnaces of China because it is blazing hot. Generally, I enjoy demolishing as many stereotypes as I possibly can (or to at least encourage original and/or personal opinions to surface), but I have to agree that Wuhan is a furnace. Maybe I've been away too long from those hot and muggy August summers in Oklahoma, but I'm no longer accustomed to such humidity. I don't know how people function in such heat. Regardless of this nearly suffocating experience in the Wuhan death trap, we had a great time there. I am consistently blessed by the beauty I see in other people, and there are some beautiful people working in Wuhan.
Jessica's home now. She left on Sunday. John and Megan, William and Andrew and Jaime leave this week. Darla left last week. Priscilla leaves next. Brian's leaving me for Beijing before returning to leave for the States with me. Several of our Chinese Family are about to or have already left for various reasons (or are just incredibly busy). I guess I returned home early enough last year to not be the one left behind. Note to self: it's easier to leave first...
Today was a good China day. There are some days when the very things that annoy you most of the time are humorous or quaint or even adorable. Today was one of those days.
Monday, June 09, 2008
CHANGE
I realized I have yet to mention the fairly recent installation of hot water heaters at Qi Yuan. It's maybe not the biggest thing to hit Shiyan, but it is the fruit of a long fought battle between the foreigners and the school. For years we've had to arrange our shower times around the "regularly scheduled" and generally undependable hot water availability times. What this really means is that we've had to learn to drop everything and run to the bathrooms as soon as we hear that loud, apocalyptic-sounding groan coming from the water pipes as the heat begins to flow. We've also learned to cope with missed showers (what's one more day?) and handle scalding hot water melting our skin when we do get them. Last month, though, our daily routines were forever altered when the school finally installed hot water heaters in each of our bathrooms. No more looking at our watch every five minutes when we're at someone else's school to make sure we haven't missed the hot water. No more avoiding exercising before 8 pm knowing there's no way to clean up after (well, there's always cold showers available, but, really, why put ourselves through that?). No more feeling shame when friends are unable to clean up after arriving from other cities having spent hours on nasty trains - the filth of which can only be washed away. But now our school has brought us into the modern age, and we are grateful. I say all this after my mid-day shower, a new experience for me.
While on the topic of change, Shiyan is seeing its fair share of it in recent months. I should put a disclaimer here and say that it's possible Shiyan isn't changing as much as I think. Perhaps I'm just getting to know her better. It's been almost two years since I first moved here, and before coming I was warned to not expect to find too many foreign things. It was a warranted warning since I don't consider KFC or McDonald's the western things I would choose to have readily available. Last year we trekked all over the city for butter. This year most supermarkets have it most of the time. We even discovered shortening at a local bakery which has greatly increased the number of foods from back home we can now make. This year alone we have discovered flavored coffee creamers (hazelnut, vanilla, and something else), rocky road and cookies and cream ice cream, Dr. Pepper and Cream Soda (on one occasion and never again, but I'm remaining hopeful), a wine shop with imported brands, a store that sells jeans in real people sizes, and real, fresh milk (again only on one occasion, but it's a beginning). These new finds are a far cry from the warnings we were given to bring shoe-laces with us (as Chinese people don't wear laced shoes?) and underwear and enough pants to survive a year of China wear and tear (I've had two pairs of pants die already, and two more are on their deathbeds). There are still those clutch ingredients we have yet to spot in our supermarkets which will continue to demand our periodic visits to the "big" cities to acquire them (cheese, namely, and other things we don't know we miss until we're standing in the foreign aisle at Metro entranced by such novelties as...Graham crackers and...Nutella). But, give Shiyan a couple more years; she's catching up.
I realized I have yet to mention the fairly recent installation of hot water heaters at Qi Yuan. It's maybe not the biggest thing to hit Shiyan, but it is the fruit of a long fought battle between the foreigners and the school. For years we've had to arrange our shower times around the "regularly scheduled" and generally undependable hot water availability times. What this really means is that we've had to learn to drop everything and run to the bathrooms as soon as we hear that loud, apocalyptic-sounding groan coming from the water pipes as the heat begins to flow. We've also learned to cope with missed showers (what's one more day?) and handle scalding hot water melting our skin when we do get them. Last month, though, our daily routines were forever altered when the school finally installed hot water heaters in each of our bathrooms. No more looking at our watch every five minutes when we're at someone else's school to make sure we haven't missed the hot water. No more avoiding exercising before 8 pm knowing there's no way to clean up after (well, there's always cold showers available, but, really, why put ourselves through that?). No more feeling shame when friends are unable to clean up after arriving from other cities having spent hours on nasty trains - the filth of which can only be washed away. But now our school has brought us into the modern age, and we are grateful. I say all this after my mid-day shower, a new experience for me.
While on the topic of change, Shiyan is seeing its fair share of it in recent months. I should put a disclaimer here and say that it's possible Shiyan isn't changing as much as I think. Perhaps I'm just getting to know her better. It's been almost two years since I first moved here, and before coming I was warned to not expect to find too many foreign things. It was a warranted warning since I don't consider KFC or McDonald's the western things I would choose to have readily available. Last year we trekked all over the city for butter. This year most supermarkets have it most of the time. We even discovered shortening at a local bakery which has greatly increased the number of foods from back home we can now make. This year alone we have discovered flavored coffee creamers (hazelnut, vanilla, and something else), rocky road and cookies and cream ice cream, Dr. Pepper and Cream Soda (on one occasion and never again, but I'm remaining hopeful), a wine shop with imported brands, a store that sells jeans in real people sizes, and real, fresh milk (again only on one occasion, but it's a beginning). These new finds are a far cry from the warnings we were given to bring shoe-laces with us (as Chinese people don't wear laced shoes?) and underwear and enough pants to survive a year of China wear and tear (I've had two pairs of pants die already, and two more are on their deathbeds). There are still those clutch ingredients we have yet to spot in our supermarkets which will continue to demand our periodic visits to the "big" cities to acquire them (cheese, namely, and other things we don't know we miss until we're standing in the foreign aisle at Metro entranced by such novelties as...Graham crackers and...Nutella). But, give Shiyan a couple more years; she's catching up.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A Nation in Mourning
Up till now I've avoided blogging about the 8.0 (according to the latest CCTV9 measurement report) earthquake that hit Sichuan Province last week. I figured the news agencies were all over the story, and my fellow China bloggers were keeping folks back home updated. I couldn't think of anything to add. Perhaps a product of our culture or merely a sad commentary on the times we're living in, I often find it difficult to relate to tragic events, particularly when they occur "out of sight". It really wasn't until yesterday that I began to feel the impact of what happened and what is continuing to happen. China has declared a three day mourning period which began Monday at 2:28, exactly one week to the minute that the earthquake hit. William and I were in a taxi heading back to my school from the medical college during this time. At 2:28 sirens went off, and there was a steady stream of horn honking for about a minute. Our driver along with many others pulled to the shoulder and drove the slowest I've ever seen Chinese taxi drivers drive. As we made our way down foot massage street, I was watching the faces of the Chinese shop owners and employees who had come to their doorsteps to watch the procession, and that was when the magnitude of this tragedy finally began to sink in. Anytime anything happens, it's so easy to immediately begin comparing the ways different cultures handle the same situations. National tragedies always evoke national unity (9/11, Hurricane Katrina, 5.12). This is true of both cultures I know and maybe the rest that I don't know. However, there have been some distinctly Chinese methods employed recently in the handling of the aftermath of the Beichuan Earthquake, and I thought it educational to discuss some of the most noticeable ones for those of you back home.
After the quake hit, the Chinese government and people mobilized, and in the opinion of those of us who have watched the presses for any updates, it seems their response has been quite respectable. Every department and every class at our school has rallied together to raise money and donate other supplies to take to Sichuan. Unfortunately, the earthquake caused some serious road destruction, and currently only planes have access to the hardest hit areas. Regardless, students have responded with sincerity and personal conviction to serve the people hurt in the earthquake. Each week my freshmen English majors are to turn in journal entries updating me on the month-long challenge they gave themselves. Last Friday Leon wrote the following:
I love my family. I love them. I love my classmates. I love my teachers. If they’re all right, I’m all right. I know the bad things didn’t happen first. Don’t be afraid. The earthquake comes one after one. What should we do? Can we bear it? Will we be hurt? I think this is enough. This is life. Maybe yesterday you are all right, today or tomorrow the bad things happens. All will be over. I love my family, classmates and my teachers. Are you all right? Don’t worry. Still I am and will stay with you.
Another similarity between our cultures: tangible death causes us to evaluate life. It must be terrifying to contemplate death when physical life is all there is.
The three days of mourning are interesting. First of all, entertainment is not allowed. Clubs, K-TV, and any other "entertainment" establishments have been mandatorily closed for the three days. Students are told to not engage in anything entertaining. Darla was told by a Chinese teacher not to show her previously scheduled film in class. Yesterday William and I went to play basketball at the medical school. The courts were deserted which thwarted our plans. We had anticipated joining one of the groups already playing since we didn't have a ball of our own, but there was no one to play with. We then came to my school where I have a ball we could use. My school's courts were nearly deserted, as well. There were four other boys playing basketball, and I shudder to think what might happen to them if they were caught. In addition to the no entertainment rule, all television stations are only allowed to show earthquake coverage. My television has about thirty some channels, and only three or four different reports can be seen. Tudou, a popular website that allows free movie downloads, currently has only twelve or so possible downloads - all earthquake footage. Films cannot even be searched on this website as far as we've seen. Speaking of websites, color has been removed from them for these three days of mourning. Everything is in black and white (for example, www.google.com.cn). Oh, and the Olympic torch has, of course, paused to observe this time. One of my students told me that this mandatory period of "silence" is a good method to cause people to stop and think more deeply, to take an introspective look, and to pray for those who were affected. I asked him if people would take advantage of this time. He couldn't say. For as long as human history has been chronicled and for as long as mankind continues, we will continue to mistake visible actions for invisible motives. It's not that I don't respect setting aside three days of mourning. I most certainly do! It's not even that I don't appreciate the methods implemented to bring about three days of silence. It's commendable. And the motives on the side of the government are totally honorable. I'm merely thinking about the underlying idea that people can become what they should be by placing specific requirements on them. I guess I'm really applying this situation to one more personal. There's an idea that sitting in the pew every Sunday and Wednesday makes for a good Follower. The more the outer cup is shiny, the better. Faith, Hope, Love. These aren't things that can be forced into your children, into your friends, or into your families by making certain things mandatory (whether verbally or, more commonly, through social pressure). I definitely want to avoid a soapbox. I know that you will know a tree by its fruit, but I also know that our view of fruit can be skewed sometimes. I think lemons are beautiful fruit, but I'm not such a fan of eating them. Durian, on the other hand, has a horrible wrap for its garlicky, dirty feet smell, but it's some of the tastiest fruit you will find (if you dare to try it). My point is that even if we can identify a tree by its fruit, maybe our view of the fruit itself is not truly representative of the type of tree our Father has asked us to be. So what came first, the chicken or the egg? Hmm, who really cares. The more important question for which there is an answer is what comes first, sincerity and love in one's heart or visible acts of sincerity and love? "First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean."
Gandhi once said, "Ask the poor. They'll tell you who the Disciples are." There's a certain amount of truth in that, and the implications are clear. I was just thinking about the mass amounts of aid that are being given and will continue to be given to Beichuan Earthquake survivors. These humanitarian endeavors are amazing examples of mankind's ability to empathize and serve others. Disciples are asked to do more. How are We set apart from others? The lines are blurred quite often because we confuse tangible actions with intangible qualities. Dr. Larry Crabb, author of Inside Out, wrote, "Because we refuse to apply the ointment that burns off the diseased crust (looking inside ourselves and bringing to the surface the pain that keeps us from unconditionally loving others), we settle for natural goodness, for the nice things we do that Believers and non-Believers alike are capable of choosing. We seldom experience supernatural goodness, the release of the energy of Chr*st that is deposited deeply within us through salvation." I'm so thankful for the Chinese government, the Chinese people, and the foreign governments' aid to Sichuan Province. The world knows how to meet the needs of those terribly affected by horrifically large tragedies. But its up to His Children to meet the needs of those terribly affected by the horrors we don't often see: the horrors of abandonment, abuse, animosity...Love is the fruit of the trees we've been called to be. Love motivates purely and acts sincerely. Love doesn't take time off or wait for serious tragedies to occur before acting. Love sees compassionately the needs of others here and now. Clean the inside...the rest will follow suit.
Up till now I've avoided blogging about the 8.0 (according to the latest CCTV9 measurement report) earthquake that hit Sichuan Province last week. I figured the news agencies were all over the story, and my fellow China bloggers were keeping folks back home updated. I couldn't think of anything to add. Perhaps a product of our culture or merely a sad commentary on the times we're living in, I often find it difficult to relate to tragic events, particularly when they occur "out of sight". It really wasn't until yesterday that I began to feel the impact of what happened and what is continuing to happen. China has declared a three day mourning period which began Monday at 2:28, exactly one week to the minute that the earthquake hit. William and I were in a taxi heading back to my school from the medical college during this time. At 2:28 sirens went off, and there was a steady stream of horn honking for about a minute. Our driver along with many others pulled to the shoulder and drove the slowest I've ever seen Chinese taxi drivers drive. As we made our way down foot massage street, I was watching the faces of the Chinese shop owners and employees who had come to their doorsteps to watch the procession, and that was when the magnitude of this tragedy finally began to sink in. Anytime anything happens, it's so easy to immediately begin comparing the ways different cultures handle the same situations. National tragedies always evoke national unity (9/11, Hurricane Katrina, 5.12). This is true of both cultures I know and maybe the rest that I don't know. However, there have been some distinctly Chinese methods employed recently in the handling of the aftermath of the Beichuan Earthquake, and I thought it educational to discuss some of the most noticeable ones for those of you back home.
After the quake hit, the Chinese government and people mobilized, and in the opinion of those of us who have watched the presses for any updates, it seems their response has been quite respectable. Every department and every class at our school has rallied together to raise money and donate other supplies to take to Sichuan. Unfortunately, the earthquake caused some serious road destruction, and currently only planes have access to the hardest hit areas. Regardless, students have responded with sincerity and personal conviction to serve the people hurt in the earthquake. Each week my freshmen English majors are to turn in journal entries updating me on the month-long challenge they gave themselves. Last Friday Leon wrote the following:
The Challenge of Love
I know what had happened this week. I know this week is difficult for China. I also know what has happened this year. It’s so bad. I think this year for China is a real challenge. I don’t want to see more people get hurt. Crying is not useful.I love my family. I love them. I love my classmates. I love my teachers. If they’re all right, I’m all right. I know the bad things didn’t happen first. Don’t be afraid. The earthquake comes one after one. What should we do? Can we bear it? Will we be hurt? I think this is enough. This is life. Maybe yesterday you are all right, today or tomorrow the bad things happens. All will be over. I love my family, classmates and my teachers. Are you all right? Don’t worry. Still I am and will stay with you.
Another similarity between our cultures: tangible death causes us to evaluate life. It must be terrifying to contemplate death when physical life is all there is.
The three days of mourning are interesting. First of all, entertainment is not allowed. Clubs, K-TV, and any other "entertainment" establishments have been mandatorily closed for the three days. Students are told to not engage in anything entertaining. Darla was told by a Chinese teacher not to show her previously scheduled film in class. Yesterday William and I went to play basketball at the medical school. The courts were deserted which thwarted our plans. We had anticipated joining one of the groups already playing since we didn't have a ball of our own, but there was no one to play with. We then came to my school where I have a ball we could use. My school's courts were nearly deserted, as well. There were four other boys playing basketball, and I shudder to think what might happen to them if they were caught. In addition to the no entertainment rule, all television stations are only allowed to show earthquake coverage. My television has about thirty some channels, and only three or four different reports can be seen. Tudou, a popular website that allows free movie downloads, currently has only twelve or so possible downloads - all earthquake footage. Films cannot even be searched on this website as far as we've seen. Speaking of websites, color has been removed from them for these three days of mourning. Everything is in black and white (for example, www.google.com.cn). Oh, and the Olympic torch has, of course, paused to observe this time. One of my students told me that this mandatory period of "silence" is a good method to cause people to stop and think more deeply, to take an introspective look, and to pray for those who were affected. I asked him if people would take advantage of this time. He couldn't say. For as long as human history has been chronicled and for as long as mankind continues, we will continue to mistake visible actions for invisible motives. It's not that I don't respect setting aside three days of mourning. I most certainly do! It's not even that I don't appreciate the methods implemented to bring about three days of silence. It's commendable. And the motives on the side of the government are totally honorable. I'm merely thinking about the underlying idea that people can become what they should be by placing specific requirements on them. I guess I'm really applying this situation to one more personal. There's an idea that sitting in the pew every Sunday and Wednesday makes for a good Follower. The more the outer cup is shiny, the better. Faith, Hope, Love. These aren't things that can be forced into your children, into your friends, or into your families by making certain things mandatory (whether verbally or, more commonly, through social pressure). I definitely want to avoid a soapbox. I know that you will know a tree by its fruit, but I also know that our view of fruit can be skewed sometimes. I think lemons are beautiful fruit, but I'm not such a fan of eating them. Durian, on the other hand, has a horrible wrap for its garlicky, dirty feet smell, but it's some of the tastiest fruit you will find (if you dare to try it). My point is that even if we can identify a tree by its fruit, maybe our view of the fruit itself is not truly representative of the type of tree our Father has asked us to be. So what came first, the chicken or the egg? Hmm, who really cares. The more important question for which there is an answer is what comes first, sincerity and love in one's heart or visible acts of sincerity and love? "First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean."
Gandhi once said, "Ask the poor. They'll tell you who the Disciples are." There's a certain amount of truth in that, and the implications are clear. I was just thinking about the mass amounts of aid that are being given and will continue to be given to Beichuan Earthquake survivors. These humanitarian endeavors are amazing examples of mankind's ability to empathize and serve others. Disciples are asked to do more. How are We set apart from others? The lines are blurred quite often because we confuse tangible actions with intangible qualities. Dr. Larry Crabb, author of Inside Out, wrote, "Because we refuse to apply the ointment that burns off the diseased crust (looking inside ourselves and bringing to the surface the pain that keeps us from unconditionally loving others), we settle for natural goodness, for the nice things we do that Believers and non-Believers alike are capable of choosing. We seldom experience supernatural goodness, the release of the energy of Chr*st that is deposited deeply within us through salvation." I'm so thankful for the Chinese government, the Chinese people, and the foreign governments' aid to Sichuan Province. The world knows how to meet the needs of those terribly affected by horrifically large tragedies. But its up to His Children to meet the needs of those terribly affected by the horrors we don't often see: the horrors of abandonment, abuse, animosity...Love is the fruit of the trees we've been called to be. Love motivates purely and acts sincerely. Love doesn't take time off or wait for serious tragedies to occur before acting. Love sees compassionately the needs of others here and now. Clean the inside...the rest will follow suit.
Monday, May 12, 2008
LEADING WITH A DISCLAIMER
The sheer length of time since my last update should guarantee at least one or two interesting anecdotes. Sadly, it doesn’t. But I’ve promised to update my faithful readers (or reader, maybe) and attempt to pull something together.
Teaching is bittersweet at the moment. I have one class that I’m really enjoying. Around Easter we watched the film The Ultimate Gift. It’s a cute, Hallmark-quality film about a spoiled young man who is offered the opportunity to receive a series of “gifts” that lead up to an unknown “ultimate” gift. The series of gifts included learning such important lessons as the values of work, money, family, friends, learning, gratitude, dreams, one day, and a couple others. I had planned to show the video, discuss what I consider to be the ultimate gift by doing a cultural talk on Easter, and then move on. However, in light of my students’ overwhelming appreciation for the film, I decided to give them an assignment that would require a bit of work on their part. I asked them to choose one of the “gifts” they feel they personally need to learn and challenge themselves for one month to learn it. For example, if they need to learn the value of money, they might choose to live on a limited amount of money for the whole month or to use their money to help others who are in financial straits. Each week they have to write a journal entry detailing the progress of their challenge, and at the end of the month, they will be presenting the lessons they learned from their challenge. While a large majority is taking the easiest approach possible to this project, the few who are taking it seriously are blowing my mind with the challenges they’ve given themselves and the work they’re putting into meeting the challenges. Here are some highlights:
1) Percy – No doubt the least liked boy in class because of the frank and rather rude comments he makes quite often (which he calls “honesty”), Percy chose the gift of friendship and has challenged himself by first cleaning up his personal appearance (Previously he never thought it important to impress his classmates so he grew his hair long and attempted a disturbingly stringy mustache. This, coupled with his infrequent showers, more than put off his classmates. Since the challenge, he has shaved, cut his hair and cleaned up his appearance.) He is also putting forth more of an effort to be friendly, helpful, and less judgmental of his classmates.
2) Felisha – Felisha is a quiet girl who has chosen to challenge herself to pass her P.E. class. As simple as it sounds, this challenge is huge for her. Not only was she not blessed with any athletic prowess, but the P.E. course they have this semester includes running hurdles, laps, and doing various jumping events. Felisha has challenged herself to run more (even though she hates it) and practice each activity more often and more devotedly. She’s already made huge progress. Before the challenge she couldn’t run one lap around the track; now she can run four!
3) Zita – Zita is a very closed off girl. She seldom talks in class, and I’ve only seen her smile once or twice. She’s the only girl who hasn’t taken the opportunity to come to my apartment for a visit (surprising only because everyone else jumps at the chance). Anyway, she has chosen to challenge herself to learn the gift of family. She has a very poor relationship with her father as a result of some negative experiences in childhood. This month she has challenged herself to confront her father and to begin to rebuild their relationship.
I’m excited to listen to their presentations coming up. My other classes are less than exciting. My non-English major classes last only seven weeks, two of which fall on holidays so we don’t meet. It’s hard to get anything done in five weeks. Plus, this semester my students hardly understand any English so having a productive class is like pulling teeth.
EARTHQUAKE
By now most of you have probably heard of the earthquake that hit central China Monday afternoon. We did indeed feel it in Shiyan. Jessica and I were in her apartment killing time before heading to class when things in her living room began to sway. It was a different feeling than the last earthquake we felt a month ago. This one lasted much longer but seemed to be more fluid in its movement than the last one, which seemed to be rather abrasive. I’ve been reading the news, and this earthquake was quite destructive. I haven’t heard the extent of the damage, but many lives have been affected.
The sheer length of time since my last update should guarantee at least one or two interesting anecdotes. Sadly, it doesn’t. But I’ve promised to update my faithful readers (or reader, maybe) and attempt to pull something together.
Teaching is bittersweet at the moment. I have one class that I’m really enjoying. Around Easter we watched the film The Ultimate Gift. It’s a cute, Hallmark-quality film about a spoiled young man who is offered the opportunity to receive a series of “gifts” that lead up to an unknown “ultimate” gift. The series of gifts included learning such important lessons as the values of work, money, family, friends, learning, gratitude, dreams, one day, and a couple others. I had planned to show the video, discuss what I consider to be the ultimate gift by doing a cultural talk on Easter, and then move on. However, in light of my students’ overwhelming appreciation for the film, I decided to give them an assignment that would require a bit of work on their part. I asked them to choose one of the “gifts” they feel they personally need to learn and challenge themselves for one month to learn it. For example, if they need to learn the value of money, they might choose to live on a limited amount of money for the whole month or to use their money to help others who are in financial straits. Each week they have to write a journal entry detailing the progress of their challenge, and at the end of the month, they will be presenting the lessons they learned from their challenge. While a large majority is taking the easiest approach possible to this project, the few who are taking it seriously are blowing my mind with the challenges they’ve given themselves and the work they’re putting into meeting the challenges. Here are some highlights:
1) Percy – No doubt the least liked boy in class because of the frank and rather rude comments he makes quite often (which he calls “honesty”), Percy chose the gift of friendship and has challenged himself by first cleaning up his personal appearance (Previously he never thought it important to impress his classmates so he grew his hair long and attempted a disturbingly stringy mustache. This, coupled with his infrequent showers, more than put off his classmates. Since the challenge, he has shaved, cut his hair and cleaned up his appearance.) He is also putting forth more of an effort to be friendly, helpful, and less judgmental of his classmates.
2) Felisha – Felisha is a quiet girl who has chosen to challenge herself to pass her P.E. class. As simple as it sounds, this challenge is huge for her. Not only was she not blessed with any athletic prowess, but the P.E. course they have this semester includes running hurdles, laps, and doing various jumping events. Felisha has challenged herself to run more (even though she hates it) and practice each activity more often and more devotedly. She’s already made huge progress. Before the challenge she couldn’t run one lap around the track; now she can run four!
3) Zita – Zita is a very closed off girl. She seldom talks in class, and I’ve only seen her smile once or twice. She’s the only girl who hasn’t taken the opportunity to come to my apartment for a visit (surprising only because everyone else jumps at the chance). Anyway, she has chosen to challenge herself to learn the gift of family. She has a very poor relationship with her father as a result of some negative experiences in childhood. This month she has challenged herself to confront her father and to begin to rebuild their relationship.
I’m excited to listen to their presentations coming up. My other classes are less than exciting. My non-English major classes last only seven weeks, two of which fall on holidays so we don’t meet. It’s hard to get anything done in five weeks. Plus, this semester my students hardly understand any English so having a productive class is like pulling teeth.
EARTHQUAKE
By now most of you have probably heard of the earthquake that hit central China Monday afternoon. We did indeed feel it in Shiyan. Jessica and I were in her apartment killing time before heading to class when things in her living room began to sway. It was a different feeling than the last earthquake we felt a month ago. This one lasted much longer but seemed to be more fluid in its movement than the last one, which seemed to be rather abrasive. I’ve been reading the news, and this earthquake was quite destructive. I haven’t heard the extent of the damage, but many lives have been affected.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
SHANGHAI FAMILY REUNION
Jessica's putting me to shame by the amount of times she's blogged this month so I'm going to try to catch up.
Halley, a sister and third year student from my school, and I took a quick, five day trip to Shanghai last week. My oldest brother and his wife (Ashley and Jamie) were given an incredible opportunity to spend five days in Shanghai so Halley and I booked train and plane tickets there and back (excitement abounds here in Shiyan since the new advent of this incredible Internet based computer system which now allows us to book return tickets from the comfort of our own city rather than the archaic system of depending on friends or friends' friends who live in the particular city we need to return from to secure tickets for us). We left late Wednesday night after a torturous English corner experience and arrived in Wuhan with a pleasantly long layover in Hankou where we enjoyed an afternoon with Danielle and her friend Sunny.
Thursday night we arrived in Shanghai and made our way to a "hotel". I had looked for hostels semi-close to where Ashley and Jamie would be staying, and the cheapest one I found was 70 yuan a night. Halley, however, found a Chinese hotel especially suited for students on a tight budget. It wasn't really a hotel but a large apartment in which beds were rented out to travelers or new residents for a mere 17 yuan a night. It was a fairly nice place to stay, but neither Halley nor I felt comfortable taking showers there. Is it a bad sign when I can go five days without showering and hardly feel bothered by it? In China it's important to wash your feet before you go to bed so I made sure to comply to this cultural standard.
Friday Halley and I met up with Ashley and Jamie, and we spent the day walking and walking and walking some more. I have to be terribly honest and admit that Shanghai is not the most exciting city in China nor is it laid out well for tourists. However, I did really enjoy the architecture in the Yu Yuan Old Town, the parks which were quite lovely, and the famous Shanghai skyline that most definitely does not disappoint, particularly at night.
Saturday Ashley and Jamie did some souvenir shopping while Halley and I met her cousin and went to Fudang University. I didn't have anything of particular interest I wished to see, and Halley was quite excited about visiting this university which, to her, was the equivalent of touring Harvard. Later we met up with an old friend who has been working in Shanghai for a year. Janis tried to show us around a little but ended up proving that more often than not it's the locals who know the least about their city. Let me take this opportunity to segue into my challenge to anyone who is reading this: take time to discover the interesting things surrounding you!
Sunday Ashley and Jamie went to the Botanical Gardens which were quite a ways from where we were staying so Halley, Janis and I opted to visit Century Park. We spent the morning meandering about and even took an hour to ride a three person bike which was an interesting experience. Later that afternoon we were able to catch up with Ashley and Jamie and meet with the Family which was a totally rewarding way to spend a couple hours.
Halley and I left Sunday night after one last dinner hoorah with my family. Even though the Shanghai lifestyle pales in comparison to my Shiyan lifestyle, I was really glad to share a few China experiences with my brother and sister-in-law. I was especially grateful they could meet Halley and Janis because when all is said and done, China is best represented by its people, not its developed cities, not its pollution or crowds or even food (though the food does make for an enjoyable China experience), but by those individuals who represent the reason why I've chosen to come back yet another year.
Traveling with Halley was a great adventure in and of itself. She's so pure-hearted and good-natured. This trip represented a plethora of firsts for her: her first time to go to Wuhan, her first plane ride, her first time in Shanghai, her first subway ride, her first cappuccino, her first time to have a hard sleeper bed on the train, her first time to pray in English. She helped me remember the beauty of finding enjoyment in simple experiences.
Jessica's putting me to shame by the amount of times she's blogged this month so I'm going to try to catch up.
Halley, a sister and third year student from my school, and I took a quick, five day trip to Shanghai last week. My oldest brother and his wife (Ashley and Jamie) were given an incredible opportunity to spend five days in Shanghai so Halley and I booked train and plane tickets there and back (excitement abounds here in Shiyan since the new advent of this incredible Internet based computer system which now allows us to book return tickets from the comfort of our own city rather than the archaic system of depending on friends or friends' friends who live in the particular city we need to return from to secure tickets for us). We left late Wednesday night after a torturous English corner experience and arrived in Wuhan with a pleasantly long layover in Hankou where we enjoyed an afternoon with Danielle and her friend Sunny.
Thursday night we arrived in Shanghai and made our way to a "hotel". I had looked for hostels semi-close to where Ashley and Jamie would be staying, and the cheapest one I found was 70 yuan a night. Halley, however, found a Chinese hotel especially suited for students on a tight budget. It wasn't really a hotel but a large apartment in which beds were rented out to travelers or new residents for a mere 17 yuan a night. It was a fairly nice place to stay, but neither Halley nor I felt comfortable taking showers there. Is it a bad sign when I can go five days without showering and hardly feel bothered by it? In China it's important to wash your feet before you go to bed so I made sure to comply to this cultural standard.
Friday Halley and I met up with Ashley and Jamie, and we spent the day walking and walking and walking some more. I have to be terribly honest and admit that Shanghai is not the most exciting city in China nor is it laid out well for tourists. However, I did really enjoy the architecture in the Yu Yuan Old Town, the parks which were quite lovely, and the famous Shanghai skyline that most definitely does not disappoint, particularly at night.
Saturday Ashley and Jamie did some souvenir shopping while Halley and I met her cousin and went to Fudang University. I didn't have anything of particular interest I wished to see, and Halley was quite excited about visiting this university which, to her, was the equivalent of touring Harvard. Later we met up with an old friend who has been working in Shanghai for a year. Janis tried to show us around a little but ended up proving that more often than not it's the locals who know the least about their city. Let me take this opportunity to segue into my challenge to anyone who is reading this: take time to discover the interesting things surrounding you!
Sunday Ashley and Jamie went to the Botanical Gardens which were quite a ways from where we were staying so Halley, Janis and I opted to visit Century Park. We spent the morning meandering about and even took an hour to ride a three person bike which was an interesting experience. Later that afternoon we were able to catch up with Ashley and Jamie and meet with the Family which was a totally rewarding way to spend a couple hours.
Halley and I left Sunday night after one last dinner hoorah with my family. Even though the Shanghai lifestyle pales in comparison to my Shiyan lifestyle, I was really glad to share a few China experiences with my brother and sister-in-law. I was especially grateful they could meet Halley and Janis because when all is said and done, China is best represented by its people, not its developed cities, not its pollution or crowds or even food (though the food does make for an enjoyable China experience), but by those individuals who represent the reason why I've chosen to come back yet another year.
Traveling with Halley was a great adventure in and of itself. She's so pure-hearted and good-natured. This trip represented a plethora of firsts for her: her first time to go to Wuhan, her first plane ride, her first time in Shanghai, her first subway ride, her first cappuccino, her first time to have a hard sleeper bed on the train, her first time to pray in English. She helped me remember the beauty of finding enjoyment in simple experiences.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
THOUGHTS ON MEAGERNESS
One month. One hundred and sixty nine yuan. Here’s what I learned:
1) We can cook Chinese food affordably. Jessica can make awesome fried rice. Brian does a delicious tofu and onion dish, and I feel pretty confident I can do a reasonable job of scraping together some basic ingredients to make almost anything edible.
2) One finds surprising rewards in taking time to walk someplace instead of taking the bus or driving. Saving time by faster transportation isn’t always the better choice. Walking is good for the spirit. A slow pace is good for the soul.
3) Money can never buy a true family or faithful companionship. I feel so grateful for spending this time with Jessica and Brian who were a daily encouragement and devoted companions. And, though Darla lives on the other side of town, just knowing she was participating in this experience with us was a blessing.
4) I think I’ve realized what I appreciate most about having a sufficient amount of money to cover my daily needs; having money is convenient. Honestly, I’ve never been a big spender. I seldom buy things, and so I really thought being “meager” wouldn’t be a far stretch from the way I generally live each month. But I learned that the most significance I place on money is in terms of convenience: grabbing food to eat at a restaurant is far more convenient than buying vegetables (meat is too expensive!) down the hill, trucking back up to the apartment, cooking, and finally cleaning up afterwards. Making decisions to go into town involve more planning to ensure enough time has been allocated for walking there and back. Visiting friends who live far away becomes much more difficult. Making plans with others involves considering how much money I have to spend and what kind of bind a certain activity might put me in later. Ah, convenience. Sadly, I realized that poor people are also an inconvenience on others. Those without money are not able to participate in the types of activities we generally take for granted: eating out, watching TV, using the Internet, basic traveling, etc. We’ve realized that friendships are more difficult to continue when the relationship does not share a similar financial status. This month we’ve felt a significant decline in the amount of e-mails from back home. While it can be argued that those back home knew our Internet usage would be meager and, therefore, decided it must be pointless to keep us updated on their lives, I think it is important to note that we seldom keep relationships with people from whom we do not receive equal effort and involvement. How many relationships do we actually have in which we are giving more than we are receiving or investing more than the other party (and all the while not complaining about this discrepancy)? So this made me think. Why do we not help feed the hungry or give money to the poor? Is it because we don’t care? Is it because we don’t love? I think, actually, we do care and we do love. Much of the reason for not helping those in poverty comes from the fact that it’s inconvenient. Poverty does not come and find us in our pleasant housing and comfortable neighborhoods. Poverty can’t knock on our doors; it’s too busy just trying to survive. We must meet poverty where it is. We, who have the blessing of financial convenience, must inconvenience ourselves to find the poor, to help them where they are. After a month of being conscious of the small amount of money I have to spend, of the limitations I have on everything I do, and of the inconveniences that come with penny pinching, I am convinced that those living in poverty do not have a responsibility to find us before we should feel compelled to help them. We have a responsibility to find them. And, I think we’ll find the more we help others, the less we’ll think about ourselves and the less we’ll consider serving an inconvenience. I hope!
One month. One hundred and sixty nine yuan. Here’s what I learned:
1) We can cook Chinese food affordably. Jessica can make awesome fried rice. Brian does a delicious tofu and onion dish, and I feel pretty confident I can do a reasonable job of scraping together some basic ingredients to make almost anything edible.
2) One finds surprising rewards in taking time to walk someplace instead of taking the bus or driving. Saving time by faster transportation isn’t always the better choice. Walking is good for the spirit. A slow pace is good for the soul.
3) Money can never buy a true family or faithful companionship. I feel so grateful for spending this time with Jessica and Brian who were a daily encouragement and devoted companions. And, though Darla lives on the other side of town, just knowing she was participating in this experience with us was a blessing.
4) I think I’ve realized what I appreciate most about having a sufficient amount of money to cover my daily needs; having money is convenient. Honestly, I’ve never been a big spender. I seldom buy things, and so I really thought being “meager” wouldn’t be a far stretch from the way I generally live each month. But I learned that the most significance I place on money is in terms of convenience: grabbing food to eat at a restaurant is far more convenient than buying vegetables (meat is too expensive!) down the hill, trucking back up to the apartment, cooking, and finally cleaning up afterwards. Making decisions to go into town involve more planning to ensure enough time has been allocated for walking there and back. Visiting friends who live far away becomes much more difficult. Making plans with others involves considering how much money I have to spend and what kind of bind a certain activity might put me in later. Ah, convenience. Sadly, I realized that poor people are also an inconvenience on others. Those without money are not able to participate in the types of activities we generally take for granted: eating out, watching TV, using the Internet, basic traveling, etc. We’ve realized that friendships are more difficult to continue when the relationship does not share a similar financial status. This month we’ve felt a significant decline in the amount of e-mails from back home. While it can be argued that those back home knew our Internet usage would be meager and, therefore, decided it must be pointless to keep us updated on their lives, I think it is important to note that we seldom keep relationships with people from whom we do not receive equal effort and involvement. How many relationships do we actually have in which we are giving more than we are receiving or investing more than the other party (and all the while not complaining about this discrepancy)? So this made me think. Why do we not help feed the hungry or give money to the poor? Is it because we don’t care? Is it because we don’t love? I think, actually, we do care and we do love. Much of the reason for not helping those in poverty comes from the fact that it’s inconvenient. Poverty does not come and find us in our pleasant housing and comfortable neighborhoods. Poverty can’t knock on our doors; it’s too busy just trying to survive. We must meet poverty where it is. We, who have the blessing of financial convenience, must inconvenience ourselves to find the poor, to help them where they are. After a month of being conscious of the small amount of money I have to spend, of the limitations I have on everything I do, and of the inconveniences that come with penny pinching, I am convinced that those living in poverty do not have a responsibility to find us before we should feel compelled to help them. We have a responsibility to find them. And, I think we’ll find the more we help others, the less we’ll think about ourselves and the less we’ll consider serving an inconvenience. I hope!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
A COUPLE FIRSTS
Completely blank. That’s what happens to me when I sit down to blog at a reasonable hour with little to no demands on my time. Midnight is when I find my true inspiration – a fact that plagued me with little sleep during my college years. But it’s nine thirty, I just finished my one hour English lecture (supposed to be two) and my one hour interrogation from fifty some curious students, and I have nothing else to do…so I’m blogging.
Well, Meager March has turned into a month of firsts for me (not intentionally, but well executed nonetheless during a month that could easily have proven to be very boring). The first “first” is that I was electrocuted. I’ve never been electrocuted before – even that time when I touched the “electric” fence while at Cullman, Alabama just to see what it was like. Maybe the electricity was off or maybe we were lied to about it to prevent us from crossing the fence that lead to pastureland filled with terrifying and mean-hearted cows. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I had just washed my hands and had only pat-dried them (which means they were still wet). I then noticed the blow drier was still plugged in, a pet peeve of mine – when things are not put up after being used. So I unplugged it; only, the adapter didn’t come out with the plug, and my wet fingers clumsily touched the prongs that were still barely inserted into the adapter. I got quite a jolt. It was exhilarating, but I wouldn’t recommend it. My hand was a bit shaky after that for a few minutes.
The second, more exciting “first” came Monday night at 11:24 pm. I generally fall asleep before eleven, but this night I found myself tirelessly thinking in bed when suddenly it began to shake. Then I noticed the whole room felt like it was moving. It didn’t last long, and I immediately thought that the Germans above me were causing the racket (a justifiable thought because they’re quite loud actually – often jumping up and down and running and moving furniture late into the night). But then I thought it might have been an earthquake. I’ve never been in an earthquake before so I couldn’t really be sure. I fell asleep contemplating the cause of the shaking but was awoken at midnight by a phone call from Michael Scofield (from China not Prison Break) who asked if I’d felt the earthquake and said a lot of students had congregated outside. He was just checking on me, and given the inherited and fake cheery voice I put on for people who wake me up (so as not to let on that they have just interrupted my slumber), I think he felt assured of my peace of mind of having survived this harrowing experience. I mean, how many people live through earthquakes that measure a whopping 4.3 on the Richter scale and occur 30 miles from one’s location?
I’ve decided to go back to the States for a few weeks this summer. I had originally intended to stay in China during the summer and make my annual trip home during the winter break next year. However, I think it’s best I go home for a few weeks, and since I’ve made that decision, I’m increasingly looking forward to spending time with my family and friends.
My oldest brother and his wife are hoping to visit Shanghai for a few days next week, and I’m planning to take a couple days off from work to meet them there. This semester many of the Shiyan foreigners’ families have come for visits, and it’s such a blessing for all of us.
Well, in an effort to quit babbling while the quitting’s good, I’m signing off for now. Love much!
Completely blank. That’s what happens to me when I sit down to blog at a reasonable hour with little to no demands on my time. Midnight is when I find my true inspiration – a fact that plagued me with little sleep during my college years. But it’s nine thirty, I just finished my one hour English lecture (supposed to be two) and my one hour interrogation from fifty some curious students, and I have nothing else to do…so I’m blogging.
Well, Meager March has turned into a month of firsts for me (not intentionally, but well executed nonetheless during a month that could easily have proven to be very boring). The first “first” is that I was electrocuted. I’ve never been electrocuted before – even that time when I touched the “electric” fence while at Cullman, Alabama just to see what it was like. Maybe the electricity was off or maybe we were lied to about it to prevent us from crossing the fence that lead to pastureland filled with terrifying and mean-hearted cows. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I had just washed my hands and had only pat-dried them (which means they were still wet). I then noticed the blow drier was still plugged in, a pet peeve of mine – when things are not put up after being used. So I unplugged it; only, the adapter didn’t come out with the plug, and my wet fingers clumsily touched the prongs that were still barely inserted into the adapter. I got quite a jolt. It was exhilarating, but I wouldn’t recommend it. My hand was a bit shaky after that for a few minutes.
The second, more exciting “first” came Monday night at 11:24 pm. I generally fall asleep before eleven, but this night I found myself tirelessly thinking in bed when suddenly it began to shake. Then I noticed the whole room felt like it was moving. It didn’t last long, and I immediately thought that the Germans above me were causing the racket (a justifiable thought because they’re quite loud actually – often jumping up and down and running and moving furniture late into the night). But then I thought it might have been an earthquake. I’ve never been in an earthquake before so I couldn’t really be sure. I fell asleep contemplating the cause of the shaking but was awoken at midnight by a phone call from Michael Scofield (from China not Prison Break) who asked if I’d felt the earthquake and said a lot of students had congregated outside. He was just checking on me, and given the inherited and fake cheery voice I put on for people who wake me up (so as not to let on that they have just interrupted my slumber), I think he felt assured of my peace of mind of having survived this harrowing experience. I mean, how many people live through earthquakes that measure a whopping 4.3 on the Richter scale and occur 30 miles from one’s location?
I’ve decided to go back to the States for a few weeks this summer. I had originally intended to stay in China during the summer and make my annual trip home during the winter break next year. However, I think it’s best I go home for a few weeks, and since I’ve made that decision, I’m increasingly looking forward to spending time with my family and friends.
My oldest brother and his wife are hoping to visit Shanghai for a few days next week, and I’m planning to take a couple days off from work to meet them there. This semester many of the Shiyan foreigners’ families have come for visits, and it’s such a blessing for all of us.
Well, in an effort to quit babbling while the quitting’s good, I’m signing off for now. Love much!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Mid-March Update
It’s been a busy month. I’ll try to keep this update concise, but I can already tell it’s going to end up grotesquely long. My apologies!
This semester we’ve each been given a heavy load of classes, most of mine yet to begin. I’m teaching a freshmen English majors’ course which meets twice a week. It’s the one class I really look forward to teaching; the other classes are necessary annoyances filled (for the most part) with too many students unmotivated to do the work it takes to learn English well and yet expecting me to work miracles. But I love my majors. We’ve been spending a lot of time together outside of class, and that’s made a huge difference in class. Barriers set up by the student/teacher relationship tend to be torn down after an afternoon of volleyball and basketball or an evening of horrific, personal animal attack accounts (one girl’s brother was bitten in the head by a pig, had to have six stitches and still doesn’t grow hair on his head in that spot. Stop laughing, Jessica!). In a couple of weeks, I begin another English majors’ class (sophomores this time), which will be followed a few weeks later with four new, seven week long classes.
Meager March is going well. The most drastic changes in our daily lives have involved meal times. We’ve cooked at home a lot and seem to be continuously eating leftovers. There are days when we’re totally meager and days where we cheat a bit (eating some things we’ve stored in our pantry) and days where we’re totally blessed by the kindness of others. (William took us out to dinner at Happy Guy’s this evening since his mom’s in town visiting for a few days.) We’re walking a lot more, choosing a brisk hour and a half walk to the medical school over a forty minute, one kuai bus ride. The exercise has been great for us. We’ve also toned down our Internet usage. Apparently, all my friends and family back home have toned down their e-mail sending to me during this time too because I barely have anything to respond to when I do check my e-mail once a week. (Yes, that’s a plug for all those who read this to send me messages even if I don’t check my e-mail everyday. I still need to hear from y’all!) We seldom watch movies now also which has forced us to find alternative methods of entertainment (sadly, this often results in Jessica, Brian and me just staring at each other and contemplating things like who is the worse person, the one who laughs when the word “paralyzed” is mentioned or the one who laughs when the phrase “do your duty” is spoken; in other words, is it better to be heartless or brainless?). Actually, we’ve been pretty productive or constructive or whatever you want to call it. I’ve read several books during the time we might normally watch a movie, we’ve been spending more time studying together, and I think we have done a better job preparing for class and building relationships with our students this semester as well. So what’s the most difficult part of Meager March? I’d say ignoring the local folks (Happy Guy, the fruit ladies, the street rice people, and juice lady) because we can’t afford their products right now. We feel guilty abandoning them. Also, I’m tired of washing dishes. With our eating at home everyday, I feel like I’m constantly doing dishes (minus the times Brian or Jess help out). But the family dining style of sitting around the table in the evening eating while discussing our day has been a total bonus.
Meager March challenges have been mostly successful thus far. Jessica and I were able to get five of Brian’s students to dress up like the Beijing Olympic mascots, write a poem about him, and present it all to him on his birthday last week. It was awesome, and I must say, Jess and I hit that challenge out of the park with flying colors. (Since I moved to China, I tend to mix metaphors. It’s a growing problem.) Actually, the only challenge I’m personally failing at the moment is the memorization of the book of Philippians. I still have two weeks to memorize it, but I was supposed to be doing a chapter a week and I don’t even have the first chapter memorized yet. There’s time, though.
Today was an especially sunny and warm day. Jessica and I walked to Box Coffee to ask the owners if they would grind some out of date whole bean Starbucks coffee Brian’s had since last year. The owners were really cool about it, and Jessica and I were able to chat a bit with them in Chinese about coffee and, well, coffee I think was the main topic of conversation, but it was interesting anyway. They didn’t charge us anything for the grinding of two pounds of coffee beans. We gave them a bag of coffee that was way out of date, and given their connoisseur-like knowledge of coffee, it was probably slightly offensive to offer them year old coffee, but they were gracious, and the four of us shared a cup of an uncommonly strong medium roast that should have been consumed a long time ago. Come April I’ll be setting up camp in that coffee shop and pumping myself full of caffeine in an effort to gear up from what will prove to be an energy expending month – Active April.
We’ve begun meeting all day on Sundays. We have our Meeting in the morning, enjoy lunch together, and then spend the afternoon playing sports outside or playing games inside (depending on the weather). We then cook dinner, which is always a huge affair. Usually the Chinese family members make dishes and the foreigners add a soup or something else that’s not too difficult to make. We have some amazing cooks in our Family. After dinner we have another study or discussion or singing before dispersing around nine o’clock. It’s an incredibly long and totally rewarding way to spend our Sundays, and I’ve certainly felt blessed by taking a whole day to encourage and be encouraged by the brothers and sisters.
A couple weeks ago on one such Sunday afternoon, we were playing volleyball when I turned around to see a small brown and very well groomed dog doing a front paw stand while urinating, back legs kicked high in the air, on a rock. I yelled out in my surprise, but when the others turned around to see what I was staring at, the dog had dropped back down to four legs, appearing totally normal. I tried to explain what I saw, but, of course, no one believed me. Today, however, I was totally vindicated. As Jessica, Brian and I were walking down the hill to Happy Guy’s, we saw (all of us) the same dog urinating on a dumpster or wall or something with its hind legs kicked high in the air. It’s an amazing feat of acrobatics, and while I don’t blame the others for having not believed my account of this the first time, I feel totally pleased that my story was corroborated by yet another fortuitous encounter with this dog.
I often feel like I witness incredible things in China that are unexplainable in the very least and unbelievable to anyone not privy to the evidence I have stowed away in my memory. A couple days ago, for instance, I was standing on the street waiting for my dinner date when I saw a totally adorable one-year-old kid being carried by his dad up the hill. When they passed me, I smiled at the baby who winked at me and nodded his head. For about fifteen feet, the baby kept winking and nodding his head at me, even returning my wave, until they disappeared behind a building. It was like watching those talking baby movies where computer generation is clearly responsible for the facial expressions on the babies’ faces; only this kid was real, not digitally touched up, just incredibly expressive. Jessica refuses to believe me. “I think you thought you saw the baby wink,” she says. I’m not too worried about proving myself, though. Eventually, we’ll run into the boy wonder again on the street, and as the baby winks at us over and over again, I’ll remember the dog and how the truth always surfaces, no matter how absurd.
Did you know that Beijing can control the weather? Well, not totally, but they spend lots of money on something called “cloud seeding”. Basically, when there are clouds that might cause rain at some point in the future (most likely at an inconvenient time like during the Olympics or before other big events), some folks load rocket launchers with silver iodide and shoot it up into the clouds. The silver iodide concentrates moisture and causes the rain to come down sooner than it would otherwise. Interesting stuff that’s considered unbelievable by some…
Oh, another little tidbit of trivia I’ll add before going to bed: one of my students told me that Shiyan was listed as the third most pleasant Chinese city to live in. For one reason, it’s really safe. I don’t know the other “official” reasons, although I certainly have my personal reasons for why it should be considered the first most pleasant city to live in, but then, I haven’t been to every other city in China so I’m sure I’m a bit biased. At any rate, I thought Mom would be glad to hear that Shiyan is considered both a safe and pleasant place to live.
Grace and peace to you all.
It’s been a busy month. I’ll try to keep this update concise, but I can already tell it’s going to end up grotesquely long. My apologies!
This semester we’ve each been given a heavy load of classes, most of mine yet to begin. I’m teaching a freshmen English majors’ course which meets twice a week. It’s the one class I really look forward to teaching; the other classes are necessary annoyances filled (for the most part) with too many students unmotivated to do the work it takes to learn English well and yet expecting me to work miracles. But I love my majors. We’ve been spending a lot of time together outside of class, and that’s made a huge difference in class. Barriers set up by the student/teacher relationship tend to be torn down after an afternoon of volleyball and basketball or an evening of horrific, personal animal attack accounts (one girl’s brother was bitten in the head by a pig, had to have six stitches and still doesn’t grow hair on his head in that spot. Stop laughing, Jessica!). In a couple of weeks, I begin another English majors’ class (sophomores this time), which will be followed a few weeks later with four new, seven week long classes.
Meager March is going well. The most drastic changes in our daily lives have involved meal times. We’ve cooked at home a lot and seem to be continuously eating leftovers. There are days when we’re totally meager and days where we cheat a bit (eating some things we’ve stored in our pantry) and days where we’re totally blessed by the kindness of others. (William took us out to dinner at Happy Guy’s this evening since his mom’s in town visiting for a few days.) We’re walking a lot more, choosing a brisk hour and a half walk to the medical school over a forty minute, one kuai bus ride. The exercise has been great for us. We’ve also toned down our Internet usage. Apparently, all my friends and family back home have toned down their e-mail sending to me during this time too because I barely have anything to respond to when I do check my e-mail once a week. (Yes, that’s a plug for all those who read this to send me messages even if I don’t check my e-mail everyday. I still need to hear from y’all!) We seldom watch movies now also which has forced us to find alternative methods of entertainment (sadly, this often results in Jessica, Brian and me just staring at each other and contemplating things like who is the worse person, the one who laughs when the word “paralyzed” is mentioned or the one who laughs when the phrase “do your duty” is spoken; in other words, is it better to be heartless or brainless?). Actually, we’ve been pretty productive or constructive or whatever you want to call it. I’ve read several books during the time we might normally watch a movie, we’ve been spending more time studying together, and I think we have done a better job preparing for class and building relationships with our students this semester as well. So what’s the most difficult part of Meager March? I’d say ignoring the local folks (Happy Guy, the fruit ladies, the street rice people, and juice lady) because we can’t afford their products right now. We feel guilty abandoning them. Also, I’m tired of washing dishes. With our eating at home everyday, I feel like I’m constantly doing dishes (minus the times Brian or Jess help out). But the family dining style of sitting around the table in the evening eating while discussing our day has been a total bonus.
Meager March challenges have been mostly successful thus far. Jessica and I were able to get five of Brian’s students to dress up like the Beijing Olympic mascots, write a poem about him, and present it all to him on his birthday last week. It was awesome, and I must say, Jess and I hit that challenge out of the park with flying colors. (Since I moved to China, I tend to mix metaphors. It’s a growing problem.) Actually, the only challenge I’m personally failing at the moment is the memorization of the book of Philippians. I still have two weeks to memorize it, but I was supposed to be doing a chapter a week and I don’t even have the first chapter memorized yet. There’s time, though.
Today was an especially sunny and warm day. Jessica and I walked to Box Coffee to ask the owners if they would grind some out of date whole bean Starbucks coffee Brian’s had since last year. The owners were really cool about it, and Jessica and I were able to chat a bit with them in Chinese about coffee and, well, coffee I think was the main topic of conversation, but it was interesting anyway. They didn’t charge us anything for the grinding of two pounds of coffee beans. We gave them a bag of coffee that was way out of date, and given their connoisseur-like knowledge of coffee, it was probably slightly offensive to offer them year old coffee, but they were gracious, and the four of us shared a cup of an uncommonly strong medium roast that should have been consumed a long time ago. Come April I’ll be setting up camp in that coffee shop and pumping myself full of caffeine in an effort to gear up from what will prove to be an energy expending month – Active April.
We’ve begun meeting all day on Sundays. We have our Meeting in the morning, enjoy lunch together, and then spend the afternoon playing sports outside or playing games inside (depending on the weather). We then cook dinner, which is always a huge affair. Usually the Chinese family members make dishes and the foreigners add a soup or something else that’s not too difficult to make. We have some amazing cooks in our Family. After dinner we have another study or discussion or singing before dispersing around nine o’clock. It’s an incredibly long and totally rewarding way to spend our Sundays, and I’ve certainly felt blessed by taking a whole day to encourage and be encouraged by the brothers and sisters.
A couple weeks ago on one such Sunday afternoon, we were playing volleyball when I turned around to see a small brown and very well groomed dog doing a front paw stand while urinating, back legs kicked high in the air, on a rock. I yelled out in my surprise, but when the others turned around to see what I was staring at, the dog had dropped back down to four legs, appearing totally normal. I tried to explain what I saw, but, of course, no one believed me. Today, however, I was totally vindicated. As Jessica, Brian and I were walking down the hill to Happy Guy’s, we saw (all of us) the same dog urinating on a dumpster or wall or something with its hind legs kicked high in the air. It’s an amazing feat of acrobatics, and while I don’t blame the others for having not believed my account of this the first time, I feel totally pleased that my story was corroborated by yet another fortuitous encounter with this dog.
I often feel like I witness incredible things in China that are unexplainable in the very least and unbelievable to anyone not privy to the evidence I have stowed away in my memory. A couple days ago, for instance, I was standing on the street waiting for my dinner date when I saw a totally adorable one-year-old kid being carried by his dad up the hill. When they passed me, I smiled at the baby who winked at me and nodded his head. For about fifteen feet, the baby kept winking and nodding his head at me, even returning my wave, until they disappeared behind a building. It was like watching those talking baby movies where computer generation is clearly responsible for the facial expressions on the babies’ faces; only this kid was real, not digitally touched up, just incredibly expressive. Jessica refuses to believe me. “I think you thought you saw the baby wink,” she says. I’m not too worried about proving myself, though. Eventually, we’ll run into the boy wonder again on the street, and as the baby winks at us over and over again, I’ll remember the dog and how the truth always surfaces, no matter how absurd.
Did you know that Beijing can control the weather? Well, not totally, but they spend lots of money on something called “cloud seeding”. Basically, when there are clouds that might cause rain at some point in the future (most likely at an inconvenient time like during the Olympics or before other big events), some folks load rocket launchers with silver iodide and shoot it up into the clouds. The silver iodide concentrates moisture and causes the rain to come down sooner than it would otherwise. Interesting stuff that’s considered unbelievable by some…
Oh, another little tidbit of trivia I’ll add before going to bed: one of my students told me that Shiyan was listed as the third most pleasant Chinese city to live in. For one reason, it’s really safe. I don’t know the other “official” reasons, although I certainly have my personal reasons for why it should be considered the first most pleasant city to live in, but then, I haven’t been to every other city in China so I’m sure I’m a bit biased. At any rate, I thought Mom would be glad to hear that Shiyan is considered both a safe and pleasant place to live.
Grace and peace to you all.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
MEAGER MARCH
Last semester I was doing some research into the beggar/homeless situation in China and found an article entitled "China extends cost of living benefits to homeless, beggars". According to this article from August 2007, the government will offer a basic living allowance to those begging because of poverty. The basic living allowance for those living in urban areas has been set at 169.6 yuan ($23.75). So, if someone living in a city makes, say, 100 yuan each month, the government will give that person an additional 69.6 yuan to reach the aforementioned basic living allowance. I was both immediately struck and convicted by this insanely small amount of money the government has stated to be sufficient for basic living costs. This article was the inspiration for what has become known as "Meager March". Originally the idea was to challenge ourselves to live only on 169.6 yuan for the entire month. However, the specifics of Meager March are very much hazy as a whole because there's no right or wrong way to participate. The most important thing is for the people who participate to discover their own purpose, their own motivation, and their own need for becoming involved. One of my personal motivations for participating in Meager March comes from a realization that I am so abundantly blessed, I've lost touch with an understanding of what it is like to not merely be without things like luxuries but to be especially concerned that even basic necessities might be inaccessible. One of my purposes for participating is to rediscover forms of entertainment that cost nothing but are productive, meaningful and challenging. The great thing about Meager March is that I'm likely to be challenged and convicted in ways I can't even conceive now.
However, Meager March is an imperfect challenge for a variety of reasons. First, we don't pay for our apartments, electricity, water, television, Internet, and phone. If we were in poverty, we wouldn't have these "perks" and 169.6 yuan would be, in my opinion, wholly inadequate to cover all the basic costs one would encounter daily, monthly, etc. In light of this (and to fulfill one of my purposes for Meager March), I will be charging myself for Internet usage (an undebatable luxury) the amount it would cost to use the Internet at an Internet bar. What this really means is I will seldom be using the Internet because I won't be able to afford it. Although there's some debate as to whether the TV should be off-limits during Meager March, I, personally, will be abstaining from or charging myself for television viewing. I also plan to be more conservation friendly by using less electricity and less water. I hope to become more conscious of the actions I take and the decisions I make. Realistically, though, I do realize that I'm still blessed during March with things like a warm apartment and hot running water that I wouldn't have on the government mandated basic living allowance.
That said, 169.6 yuan is still a small amount of money, and there are several things we will be changing about our daily lifestyles to accommodate this decrease in funds. For example, the majority of our monthly expenses probably goes towards food. We eat out for nearly every meal (which is still very economical since food is so affordable here), but for the next month we will be pulling our community funds to purchase cheap vegetables and other foods to cook things like porridge at home. Another very small yet, for the month of March, significant cost is bus fair. It takes only one yuan to ride the bus, but that's two yuan round trip which adds up quickly. Therefore, we will be walking a lot more.
The second reason Meager March is an imperfect challenge is because we have responsibilities here that cannot and should not be ignored. For example, I often use the Internet to prepare for classes. Previously, I mentioned I will charge myself for Internet usage, but that only applies to personal entertainment and unnecessary activity. I consider using the Internet for school something unavoidable and quite necessary so I will not be charging myself for time spent in class preparation. We are also here working for a specific purpose which involves a lot of relationship building. If there is a need to spend money to further the work here, then we will not hesitate to spend liberally.
Meager March has evolved into a beautiful event with participants from other cities in China creating their own purpose for and method of becoming involved. I've heard that some friends in Wuhan have modified Meager March: for every yuan they spend on themselves, they will spend the same amount on others. I love this idea!
A MONTH OF CHALLENGES
We've also decided to make March a month of challenges (as much in an effort to create some entertainment outside of costly activities as to get us outdoors and active so as to avoid "cabin fever"). Here's what we have so far:
Brian to Jessica and me: Coax five students from one of his classes to dress up like the five Beijing Olympic Mascots and sing "Happy Birthday" to him on his birthday - March 11th.
Brian to me: Get two people to buy him the two remaining Beijing Olympic Mascot keychains he hasn't acquired merely by hinting he would like to have them (no asking, begging, or bullying shall be allowed in this challenge).
Me to Brian: It's a secret, but it involves Jessica's class.
Me to Jessica: No make-up for the whole month!! (Except for class)
Amanda to Me: Once a week, send a text message to a friend expressing the way I feel about him/her with lyrics from a song.
Me to Amanda: Choose four things she does everyday and fast from each one for an entire week, beginning with one the first week, and changing to another the second week and so on. For example, she might fast from listening to music the first week. The second week she might fast from eating sugar. Etc.
So my challenge to YOU is to find a way to challenge yourself during March. It's a great way to grow personally and a fun way to step out of the humdrum doldrums that we so easily fall into.
Take luck! I'll be back for Active April...
Last semester I was doing some research into the beggar/homeless situation in China and found an article entitled "China extends cost of living benefits to homeless, beggars". According to this article from August 2007, the government will offer a basic living allowance to those begging because of poverty. The basic living allowance for those living in urban areas has been set at 169.6 yuan ($23.75). So, if someone living in a city makes, say, 100 yuan each month, the government will give that person an additional 69.6 yuan to reach the aforementioned basic living allowance. I was both immediately struck and convicted by this insanely small amount of money the government has stated to be sufficient for basic living costs. This article was the inspiration for what has become known as "Meager March". Originally the idea was to challenge ourselves to live only on 169.6 yuan for the entire month. However, the specifics of Meager March are very much hazy as a whole because there's no right or wrong way to participate. The most important thing is for the people who participate to discover their own purpose, their own motivation, and their own need for becoming involved. One of my personal motivations for participating in Meager March comes from a realization that I am so abundantly blessed, I've lost touch with an understanding of what it is like to not merely be without things like luxuries but to be especially concerned that even basic necessities might be inaccessible. One of my purposes for participating is to rediscover forms of entertainment that cost nothing but are productive, meaningful and challenging. The great thing about Meager March is that I'm likely to be challenged and convicted in ways I can't even conceive now.
However, Meager March is an imperfect challenge for a variety of reasons. First, we don't pay for our apartments, electricity, water, television, Internet, and phone. If we were in poverty, we wouldn't have these "perks" and 169.6 yuan would be, in my opinion, wholly inadequate to cover all the basic costs one would encounter daily, monthly, etc. In light of this (and to fulfill one of my purposes for Meager March), I will be charging myself for Internet usage (an undebatable luxury) the amount it would cost to use the Internet at an Internet bar. What this really means is I will seldom be using the Internet because I won't be able to afford it. Although there's some debate as to whether the TV should be off-limits during Meager March, I, personally, will be abstaining from or charging myself for television viewing. I also plan to be more conservation friendly by using less electricity and less water. I hope to become more conscious of the actions I take and the decisions I make. Realistically, though, I do realize that I'm still blessed during March with things like a warm apartment and hot running water that I wouldn't have on the government mandated basic living allowance.
That said, 169.6 yuan is still a small amount of money, and there are several things we will be changing about our daily lifestyles to accommodate this decrease in funds. For example, the majority of our monthly expenses probably goes towards food. We eat out for nearly every meal (which is still very economical since food is so affordable here), but for the next month we will be pulling our community funds to purchase cheap vegetables and other foods to cook things like porridge at home. Another very small yet, for the month of March, significant cost is bus fair. It takes only one yuan to ride the bus, but that's two yuan round trip which adds up quickly. Therefore, we will be walking a lot more.
The second reason Meager March is an imperfect challenge is because we have responsibilities here that cannot and should not be ignored. For example, I often use the Internet to prepare for classes. Previously, I mentioned I will charge myself for Internet usage, but that only applies to personal entertainment and unnecessary activity. I consider using the Internet for school something unavoidable and quite necessary so I will not be charging myself for time spent in class preparation. We are also here working for a specific purpose which involves a lot of relationship building. If there is a need to spend money to further the work here, then we will not hesitate to spend liberally.
Meager March has evolved into a beautiful event with participants from other cities in China creating their own purpose for and method of becoming involved. I've heard that some friends in Wuhan have modified Meager March: for every yuan they spend on themselves, they will spend the same amount on others. I love this idea!
A MONTH OF CHALLENGES
We've also decided to make March a month of challenges (as much in an effort to create some entertainment outside of costly activities as to get us outdoors and active so as to avoid "cabin fever"). Here's what we have so far:
Brian to Jessica and me: Coax five students from one of his classes to dress up like the five Beijing Olympic Mascots and sing "Happy Birthday" to him on his birthday - March 11th.
Brian to me: Get two people to buy him the two remaining Beijing Olympic Mascot keychains he hasn't acquired merely by hinting he would like to have them (no asking, begging, or bullying shall be allowed in this challenge).
Me to Brian: It's a secret, but it involves Jessica's class.
Me to Jessica: No make-up for the whole month!! (Except for class)
Amanda to Me: Once a week, send a text message to a friend expressing the way I feel about him/her with lyrics from a song.
Me to Amanda: Choose four things she does everyday and fast from each one for an entire week, beginning with one the first week, and changing to another the second week and so on. For example, she might fast from listening to music the first week. The second week she might fast from eating sugar. Etc.
So my challenge to YOU is to find a way to challenge yourself during March. It's a great way to grow personally and a fun way to step out of the humdrum doldrums that we so easily fall into.
Take luck! I'll be back for Active April...
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