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.