I am thankful…

…for my students at the FOC school.  Even though my third graders drive me crazy most of the time, there are glimpses of progress.  I continue to pr-y for the six-year-old third grader that I have in my class.  Just Saturday, I noticed his motor skills were lacking tremendously.  He could not use a scissors.  But his English–reading and speaking–is phenomenal!  I still have trouble grasping how this does not transfer to his writing.  We made paper turkeys and colored cornucopias.  Under the cornucopia, each student was to list what he or she was thankful for.  One of my students said G-d and J-sus.   🙂  I couldn’t help but smile.  One of my seventh graders brings his Holy Book with him to class each week.  During our break times he reads it.  Saturday, I asked him if he had a children’s B Study that he goes to.  He told me that his parents are not Chr–tian.  Keep this young man in your pr-yers. 

…for my students at Qinghua University.  I look forward to this class each week with great anticipation!  It is hard to describe how much I love these students.  Most of them are in their late 20s or early 30s.  Last week I taught them American Football.  The other American teacher, Shane (who has the same students on opposite days), let me come to his Monday class and we team-taught them the rules of the game.  Since each class is only an hour and a half, we had both classes come to both time slots.  After we taught them the object of the game and how to play it (we kept it really basic), we gave them a 15-20 minute break before heading to the field to play.  During this break, many of the students were discussing the rules in Chinese.  I only knew this because another student told me!  Football was hilarious.  They had a hard time transferring what was on the paper to the field.  Even Shane kept telling them that it would be easier to show them than to tell them.  After a great time on the field, a few of the students invited Shane and me to have lunch with them.  This was also quite enjoyable!  After that, I went home to work on my lessons for the next day.  Two of the other teachers and I were planning to have supper together that evening so I asked them if they would mind me inviting some of my students to join us.  They both agreed to this and the texting began.  That evening we had supper with four Chinese men.  My American friends had only heard about my students before this episode.  They now understand why I have such a good time in class!  I’m starting a new B study with a few of them this week.  I have just over a month left with these students as many of them will be traveling abroad for business in the new year.  I may never see some of these people again and it makes me so, so sad. 🙁  Keep them in your Pr-yers as I use what little time I have left with them to share J-sus with them. 

…for my students at Sinopec.  These men have come a long way since I first met them in September.  Although I haven’t had a full class in a few weeks, we still have decent discussions.  Many of them miss class because they have to go back for work.  Most of them return but I think I have lost one for good.  I didn’t even get to say goodbye to him. 🙁  The past week, I only had four students.  Two were gone for work and two were sick.  A couple weeks ago they told me that they didn’t like to use the book and that they would rather have a discussion about real topics.  This is what I wanted from them since the class started!  Their English has been improving tremendously.  It is fun to hear them discuss things in English.  The other day, the discussion got heated!  They couldn’t help themselves….Chinese, Chinese, Chinese.  I tried to stop them!  🙂 

…for Mr. Wang.  He is never on time when I am supposed to meet him to get paid.  In one breath he tells me that I look like a boy.  In the next he tells me that my Qinghua students love me.  🙂  If I ever write a book, I’ll include a character like Mr. Wang in it.  He can be so endearing but also very frustrating.  He’s a walking contradiction.  But when I tell others about Mr. Wang I can’t help but smile. 🙂 

…for full-sized ovens and other cooking conveniences.  China teaches people to improvise.  We have a toaster-oven in our apartment so you can imagine how fun that was to cook a turkey.  My roommate discovered this when she was working on our turkey for Thanksgiving dinner!  It turned out great!  We had about 20 people at our apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.  We had our Thanksgiving service on Sunday morning.  The service had special music and we could smell the food cooking.  It was awesome!  A friend of mine, one of the other foreigners that I teach with at Sinopec, joined us for Thanksgiving dinner.  I think he was missing home a little. 

…efficient forms of transportation.  On the 17th I found out that my class at Sinopec on Thursday was cancelled.  I was pretty excited because that gave me two days off in a row!  On the 18th I found out that I might have to go to Hong Kong to renew my visa.  Early in the morning on the 19th I found myself on an airplane to Shenzhen (right next to Hong Kong) so that I could take care of this visa problem.  I wasn’t thrilled to go because I knew I wouldn’t be able to spend much time there.  This was the first traveling I did on my own in China.  I had help buying the plane tickets and I was given instructions for what to do when I got there.  Hmmm….  So when I landed I was supposed to find a certain bus to take me to the border so that I could go through customs into Hong Kong.  I found a bus but I wasn’t sure it was THE bus.  So I called the teacher who helped me get the plane tickets that morning and he talked to the lady by the bus for me.  She handed the phone back to me and he said, ‘do whatever she tells you to!’  That would have been great advice for someone who speaks Chinese! AHHHH!!  So, I just went with it and bought a ticket for this bus.  I was on the bus for a while and arrived at the appropriate place.  I crossed the border and then bought a subway ticket so that I could get to right place.  When I got off the subway, I wasn’t really sure where I was supposed to go.  So I called someone at ALS for directions.  I had to use a payphone because my China phone does not work in Hong Kong.  I made it to ALS where I met wonderful people who were all busy that afternoon.  So, I was given a couple maps of the city and told to have fun!  I decided to take the subway to the island and then take the ferry back.  It was really nice to be by myself all afternoon without a phone.  I’m including a few pictures from Hong Kong below.  I can’t wait to go back in February for our retreat and (since it will be perfect timing) to renew my visa once again!!  I am also thankful for the Siirilas for letting me stay at their apartment when I was there!

…for my Chinese friends: the friends that I ‘inherited’ when I got here and the new friends that I’ve made since coming.  For Jay, Ross, Maggie, Peter, and Michael from my Qinghua class.  Michael came to one study and is so excited to come to another one!  He said he’s going to bring a friend.  For Kevin who I met on the train.  He still comes to studies, though I think that he struggles understanding much of them.  I honestly never thought that I would rather spend time with my Chinese friends than my American friends.  This realization hit me a couple of weeks ago when I found myself looking first to my Chinese friends when I was making plans for supper or hanging out.  Now, I can’t wait to hang out with them again! 

…for the opportunity to share HIS GOOD NEWS with many Chinese friends.  It’s great to see people who have never heard about HIM learn of HIM for the first time.  🙂

…for friends and family back in the states who are Pr-ying for us.  I enjoy hearing about what is happening there also!  It was nice to chat with each of my family members on Thanksgiving. 

Highlights of the past two weeks:  dinner with students, Hong Kong and staying with the Siirilas, Tuesday night B study, Football with my students, and eating pumpkin pie with chopsticks! 

A view of Hong Kong Island from the ferry.

A view of a building in the financial district on the island.

The island at night. This was without a tripod. I can't wait to go back and actually have my tripod!

On the way to the airport in Hong Kong I saw this message. This was after I spoke to the driver whilst the vehicle was in motion. I was also standing forward of yellow line! Notice the driver is on the right side of the bus.

Time flies when you’re having fun!

I’m realizing how difficult it is to keep up with my writing.  I haven’t added any teaching to my schedule but I have somehow accumulated more Chinese friends.  I can’t give you chronological run-down of my weeks because so much has happened and I would probably forget some of it anyway.  So, I’ve decided to give you only the highlights.  There may quite a few ‘highlights’ so hold on tight!

I have been getting to know my Qinghua University students much better in the past weeks.  This is probably my favorite class to teach because their English level is quite high so instead of teaching them oral phrases/grammar/vocabulary/etc., I get to have discussions with them.  This is really awesome!  So far we’ve had discussions on travel, health care, the ‘global economic crisis’, and various other not-so-in-depth topics.  They have strong opinions about certain topics and it is fun to listen to them argue with each other in English! 🙂  I have 2 (sometimes 3, sometimes 4) women in my class and the rest are men.  The women rarely have much to say during discussions.  Also–an interesting thing to note–something that normally would have bothered me in the states is students who answer their cell phones and respond to text messages in class.  For some reason it doesn’t even phase me.  My opinion about this is that they are all business men/women and if they have to answer a call…so be it.  Most often, they will say, ‘sorry, excuse me’ and then leave the room if they get a call.  However, every now and then, some will crawl under the table to take a call!  Hilarious!  The first time I saw this happen I stopped talking and just stared, confused by what I was seeing.  Other students laughed and told me what the man was doing.  I don’t think he knew that he was just as distracting by crawling under the table where he could still be heard.  Oh, China! 

This particular group of students was pretty excited with the second snowfall of the season. (More on the snow later)  During the hour and a half class with them I give them a short break.  When I said, ‘let’s take a break’ one of the men said, ‘snowball fight?’  🙂  I could not resist the opportunity to pelt them with snow!  I was one of the weirder experiences that I have had in China.  We had a great time running around the classroom courtyard with snow in hand!  Not even one minute into the fight, alliances had formed.  It was a blast!  During class that day we also discussed the structure and organization of the US Government.  It was kind of fun for me to review what I knew about it and to share with them.  They knew some of what I was sharing with them but were interested in the ‘balance of power’ that exists (or at least is supposed to) in the three branches.  While discussing things like this with them it is easy to see that the Chinese people have an extreme loyalty to their own system.  Because I get into these sorts of discussions with them, I have to do some research usually.  I’m also reading more US news and will continue to Pr-y for the US.  I hope that you will do the same!

About a week and a half ago, I had lunch with two of my Qinghua students, Maggie and Jay, at a hot pot place.  For those who don’t know hot pot, allow me to describe.  Hot pot is basically a pot filled with a soup base (spicy, regular, curry, etc.).  Then you choose a type of raw meat and veggies to cook in your pot.  This was an enjoyable experience with my two students.  The only thing I would have had different about it would be to sit around a table instead of at a bar-like counter to eat.  The set-up we had was not conducive to discussion.  Next time, we will go somewhere where we can visit.  They both agreed with me when I suggested this. 

This past Sunday evening, Maggie invited me to go shopping with her.  We met at a large shopping place, wandered around for a while and then decided to get some supper together.  A friend/colleague of hers had sent her a message asking about supper.  She asked if I minded if he ate with us.  Of course, I didn’t and she and I proceeded to make our way to the restaurant.  Little did I know that we were going quite a distance.  All she told me was that we were going to the BeiDa East Gate. (Peking University)  I thought that the restaurant was near the university.  Nope.  We were getting on the subway to travel a little ways away.  We met her friend and then went into a buffet-style restaurant that was pretty expensive.  I do not know how much it was exactly because her friend paid at the door and wouldn’t let us pay.  Almost every type of sea food was available, unlimited drinks including coffee/tea/water/juice/beer/wine, and also many types of insects. 🙂  They offered me a silkworm but I politely declined because I have a hard time eating something that is looking at me.  During supper, Maggie asked me if I like KTV.  KTV is basically karaoke in your own private room.  I told her, ‘yeah!’  Mistake!  She said that we would do that next.  Hmmm… so we ended the evening with three people–two Zhongguoren 中国人 and one Meiguoren 美国人–singing random songs in our native languages and not really understanding what the other was singing.  Also one of my weirder China experiences!

I’ve been spending much of my ‘free time’ meeting with new friends for lunch or supper.  I met my friend Kevin for supper about a week ago to help him with his English homework.  He has a teacher from New York and is teaching him some not-so-appropriate phrases.  When I read some of his dialogues I explained to him that much of what he was learning wasn’t a polite way to speak to people.  I’m thankful that Kevin is still coming to one of our evening B studies.  His English is getting better but still leaves much to be desired.  I don’t know if he goes to the study because I go with him or if he would continue without me.  Pr-y for him also!  Just last night he and I and another friend went to see a movie.  It was an enjoyable time! 

My Sinopec men are also improving tremendously.  When I first started teaching them, their English wasn’t so great.  It is fun to see this happen.  Two days ago they asked me if we could do less of the book and more discussion.  Of course I said yes because I also hate the textbook.  This is what I wanted from the beginning.  I’m excited that they feel confident to discuss topics in English.  I asked them what we should discuss on Tuesday and they told me Education.  🙂  I’m glad they picked something I have a background in.  We’ll see how it goes!  They also enjoyed the snofall and created a snowman/woman/???  on the roof where they take their breaks.  This snowman is indescribable so I will include a picture.  We named it a snowta because ‘ta’ is the word for he AND she in Chinese!  🙂  There was also a cigarette in the snowta’s mouth and so when I asked them if I could take a picture of them with it one of them said we had to light the cigarette!  (also very China!)

We have had snow three times already.  I’m a little disappointed that the government feels the need to cause it to snow.  I was kind of hoping to get away from it.  It makes it really difficult to bike.  This past Monday, I was feeling a little lazy and decided to leave my bike at a subway stop close to my University and take the subway home.  The next morning I was so glad that I had done this because I would have been late for class.  It took me 45 minutes to travel what normally takes me about 15.  Thankfully I am a perpetually early person because I arrived only two minutes early for class (instead of my usual 20-30).  I may have to buy boots.

The past week we were blessed to have our fearless leader visit us in Beijing!  It was so nice to have him here so that we could express our concerns and just chat about life.  I didn’t realize how sad I would be to see him go. 🙁

I’m currently compiling a list of things I never thought I would do/say/feel/experience while I was in China.  It’s kind of entertaining to look at things in a different way.  Some are serious and other are just really funny.  I hope to share this with you in the near future! 

So, I leave you with a list of my favorite highlights of the past couple of weeks:  Snowball fight with grown men who run like little girls when you come after them with a snowball, being asked by Kevin, “so J-s-s is G-d?”,  Girls’ night with Shannon at KTV!, 7th grade class every week, finally giving someone a ride on my bike!  I am so inexpressibly blessed!  Feel free to visit at anytime so you can have a small taste of what I get to experience! 

Below is a picture of the ‘snowta’ with six of my eight students.  Have an awesome week in HIS Grace.

I couldn't resist taking this picture! They were such good sports! From L-R: Simon, Tommy, David, Bruce, Tom, Kobe.

I just found out that the crazy snowfall was artificially induced!  Really…

Click on this site:

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/afp/20091101/tap-china-weather-beijing-snow-8d4ea94.html

Enjoy!

November came and along with it came the snow!  Apparently, it does not snow like this in Beijing, ever.  This is what the veteren teachers keep telling me.  I woke up Sunday morning to a snowstorm.  I guess I should be happy because it made me feel very much at home on my birthday!  Actually, I woke up Sunday morning at 6:30 when I got a phone call from Meiguo!  My sister called me for my birthday and my niece and nephew sang to me. 🙂 🙂  It was very sweet!  The day was a great one in general.  We had our Reformation festival service with special music (flute, trumpet and guitar along with the regular piano).  After the service, we had a potluck, China style.  Actually, most of the food was of the American variety.  All of the food was delicious!

This week was a pretty great week.  Other than the usual class routine, my week was pretty uneventful.  It started to get really cold in Beijing.  Coats, sweatshirts, gloves and hats started to make appearances.  I was thinking just the other day about how happy I was not to be in Wisconsin or Wyoming where it was cold or snowy.  Then, BAM! Beijing is hit with cold and eventually snow.  It really wasn’t a lot of snow.  Everyone just kept commenting on how bad the snow was. 

Tuesday night study was interesting and fun.  We only had three people come but we had some good discussions.  I hope that more people will come to this one because I think it would be better to have a larger group for the discussion.

I led B study on Wednesday night.  It was a song study and we looked at a hymn that talked about being declared ‘not guilty.’  (390)  It was a great hymn but I think that next time I will choose something that lends itself to more discussion.  There was definitely a lot to talk about, but for some reason, no one would discuss.   After our study we had compline at our usual place and it was a really great night.  It is hard to describe to someone who wasn’t there so you’ll just have to take my word for it. 

Thursday was a good day.  I met Kevin for supper along with another one of the teachers.  We had fun going over the English phrases that he had learned during the day.  Sometimes I wonder what his teachers are teaching him!  He brought his guitar this time so that he could help accompany the song study.  I went with him to the apartment and then left to go to Greek class.  I think I caught him by surprise when I left because he sort of looked sad (like a helpless bird) when I walked out.  🙁  I want him to keep coming to the study even when I am not there. 

Yes, you ‘heard’ me correctly when I said Greek class.  It is pretty funny that I’m taking Greek class in China.  Shouldn’t I be taking Chinese class?  I hope to take a Chinese class also, but Greek is being taught by another one of the teachers and it was really easy to ‘sign-up for.’  🙂  The problem is that I cannot go to song study with Kevin.  I left Greek a little early so that I could go back to the apartment and then walk with Kevin to the subway.  When I got to the apartment, the study was still going so I popped in to one of the other apartments for a bit so they could finish up.  I eventually went back up to the apartment to sing through their song one last time with them.  After the study was over, Kevin played a song for us and sang. It was AWESOME!  I have a video recording of one of the songs but the file is way to big to post on the blog.  Again, you’ll just have to take my word for it!  After that, Kevin and I walked to the subway. On our way there, we got ice cream together at a little convenience store. 

On Friday morning, I met Mr. Wang so that he could pay me.  We were supposed to meet at his office at the Forestry University, but there was some confusion and ended up meeting at KFC.  This has been our meeting place every time he has paid us.  It seems a little sketchy but I just kind of go with it.  He is usually late but this time he got there before we did.  After that, I met two of my students for lunch on the Qinghua campus.  That was quite enjoyable.  One of them speaks English quite well and is really easy to talk to.  He understands sarcasm also which makes it even more fun!  We then rode around the campus on our bikes for a little bit and then I left when they had to go back to class.  I hope to do this again sometime! 

I’ve included a couple pictures from the snowfall.  I went to the park on Sunday afternoon to get some snow shots.  Enjoy!

We went to the park in the afternoon after most of the snow had melted.

This one is especially beautiful. It reminds me of Christmas for some reason.

An attempt at being creative

Mmmmm.....it was really beautiful there!