Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thanks!
Thanks so much everyone who read this blog. I know you could have found so many other things to do with your time. I really appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. I felt like you all got to experience some of what I did. Thanks again :)
Back on American soil
It was easier to say goodbye than I thought it would be. The students all left soon after the closing ceremony. I was so proud of them! Last night we had a dinner with our team. It was a nice time to talk and reflect with each other about the great session.
I really am sad to leave. It seems like I have been gone longer than 9 weeks. I really do feel at home here. The concrete floor and board bed, have been my home for a while. I really hope I don’t fall right back into the American way. It will be hard to fight it, I know. At least I have all of these memories, because I went through 3 journals! I hope the change in me will be lasting.
This morning I slept in a little bit. When I woke up and went outside of my room, there was a present there waiting for me. It was a journal from one of the students. June, is not even one of my students, but I talked with her a little bit. It was a journal, a picture of her, and a letter to me. She is so sweet.
I went to the bakery by bus for the last time. It is interesting that I think I will miss the bus. Before, I hated the bus, because it’s so hectic and busy, but now all of those annoying things, I think I will strangely miss.
After the bakery I went to get my hair cut. It was a 2 hour process! First I had to wait for a little while. Then it took the guy a really long time to cut it just perfectly. Then he called another guy to straighten my hair. It’s nice be able to wear straight hair again. I was getting tired of the humidity and curly hair. Then they called another guy to do the final trim. At one point, all three of them were doing something different with my hair. I think they just wanted to touch it because it feels different than their hair. I could tell they were talking about the color of my hair. Then they whipped out this book with a bunch of different color hair samples. They put it up to my hair and chose the one that was closest to my hair. I started to laugh. Then they got embarrassed and said, “Good!” I kept checking my watch, because I was afraid I would miss my taxi. I had to run back to campus, but I caught the taxi!
The taxi ride was only supposed to cost 120 yuan, but the register said 146. Ok, I brought extra just in case. I gave the driver 150. Then he got angry and said that it cost 196 yuan. Shoot, I didn’t think I had this much. I started to panic, thinking, “What am I going to do? I don’t have enough!” I started desperately counting my ones and somehow I had enough. I have 2 yuan extra! Thank goodness, because the driver wasn’t the most gracious.
On the planes today I got to see two sunsets and one sunrise. I am living August 28th over again! So strange. I am home J It’s almost like China is a story now. It’s all in the past and a memory…
I really am sad to leave. It seems like I have been gone longer than 9 weeks. I really do feel at home here. The concrete floor and board bed, have been my home for a while. I really hope I don’t fall right back into the American way. It will be hard to fight it, I know. At least I have all of these memories, because I went through 3 journals! I hope the change in me will be lasting.
This morning I slept in a little bit. When I woke up and went outside of my room, there was a present there waiting for me. It was a journal from one of the students. June, is not even one of my students, but I talked with her a little bit. It was a journal, a picture of her, and a letter to me. She is so sweet.
I went to the bakery by bus for the last time. It is interesting that I think I will miss the bus. Before, I hated the bus, because it’s so hectic and busy, but now all of those annoying things, I think I will strangely miss.
After the bakery I went to get my hair cut. It was a 2 hour process! First I had to wait for a little while. Then it took the guy a really long time to cut it just perfectly. Then he called another guy to straighten my hair. It’s nice be able to wear straight hair again. I was getting tired of the humidity and curly hair. Then they called another guy to do the final trim. At one point, all three of them were doing something different with my hair. I think they just wanted to touch it because it feels different than their hair. I could tell they were talking about the color of my hair. Then they whipped out this book with a bunch of different color hair samples. They put it up to my hair and chose the one that was closest to my hair. I started to laugh. Then they got embarrassed and said, “Good!” I kept checking my watch, because I was afraid I would miss my taxi. I had to run back to campus, but I caught the taxi!
The taxi ride was only supposed to cost 120 yuan, but the register said 146. Ok, I brought extra just in case. I gave the driver 150. Then he got angry and said that it cost 196 yuan. Shoot, I didn’t think I had this much. I started to panic, thinking, “What am I going to do? I don’t have enough!” I started desperately counting my ones and somehow I had enough. I have 2 yuan extra! Thank goodness, because the driver wasn’t the most gracious.
On the planes today I got to see two sunsets and one sunrise. I am living August 28th over again! So strange. I am home J It’s almost like China is a story now. It’s all in the past and a memory…
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Party
Today we had a party in our class. The last few days, the students have been sneaking out to buy gifts. Thankfully they did not get caught :) Good news, the cake was ready for me when I went to pick it up! The students gave me a tea cup and a beautiful braclet. It was funny because yesterday, I was asked 3 times what my favorite color was. When I said blue, they said, "Are you sure it's not green...?" Hah, they had bought me a green bracelet. They wanted to sing me songs in Chinese. It was really special. Also, the thing I am most excited about is my new Chinese name! In China, everyone has a meaningful name. They created the name He Ting for me. It means holy and lovely! I was so honored that they would give me a beautiful name. They got a good laugh out of me trying to write it in Chinese characters! Tomorrow will be a tough day, the last day.
Each night me, Karissa, and Cherry (another student) sit out on the steps of our dorm and talk. We were sitting outside last night, it was sprinkling, and Karissa said, "I want to sit out here forever..." Finally we went to bed, because we must get up early. Last night, I thought, I am the luckiest girl in the world. I got to teach a high class, children, and a low class. It could not have been any better. I am so happy. Here there are no worries, no problems, just care free living. In a few days I will go back to school and get back to real life.
It's funny because I have been around the Chinese for so long that I catch my self using Chinglish, and bad grammar. To them we speak so simply and slowly. When I go home, people will look at me strange when I say, "Hhhiii. Mmmmyyyy nnnaaaammmmeee iiiiisssss Ssssaaarrrraaaa!"
One more day!
Each night me, Karissa, and Cherry (another student) sit out on the steps of our dorm and talk. We were sitting outside last night, it was sprinkling, and Karissa said, "I want to sit out here forever..." Finally we went to bed, because we must get up early. Last night, I thought, I am the luckiest girl in the world. I got to teach a high class, children, and a low class. It could not have been any better. I am so happy. Here there are no worries, no problems, just care free living. In a few days I will go back to school and get back to real life.
It's funny because I have been around the Chinese for so long that I catch my self using Chinglish, and bad grammar. To them we speak so simply and slowly. When I go home, people will look at me strange when I say, "Hhhiii. Mmmmyyyy nnnaaaammmmeee iiiiisssss Ssssaaarrrraaaa!"
One more day!
Monday, August 24, 2009
The lasts
As each day gets closer to the end, we all get more and more sad. Yesterday I had all of the students write a letter to me. Today they gave them to me, and they were beautiful. One lady came and sat next to me. She is very quiet, because her English is not good. She wanted to read her letter to me personally. She began to read. At the end, she said, "There is A LOT more I want to say to you, but I can't. It's too hard to find the vocabulary. I'm so sorry..." She cried. In general, the Chinese people don't show affection. They hardly ever say "I love you." To hear that from so many students really is special. I opened one letter, and the equivalent of a $100 bill fell out! The woman said she wanted to get me a gift, but she is not allowed off campus. She said, "This is the best that I can do for you right now." I know that is a lot of money for her! It's almost like the words "thank you" aren't good enough.
Four more days and I will be home! So close. I'm excited for the airport and the plane ride, even though it's 13 hours. I like to fly. I will go start packing :)
I ventured to a Bakery to buy a cake for our class party on Wednesday. It took me 20 minutes for the woman to guess what day I wanted it on! Then it took another 10 to tell her what time I would come to pick it up. Hopefully there really will be a cake for me when I go! I suppose if there is no cake, I will run to the store and we will celebrate with Hostess upcakes, with chopsticks of course :)
P.S. My favorite student's name this session is Dinosaur. Hah!...Dinosaur...You can hardly call his name seriously.
Four more days and I will be home! So close. I'm excited for the airport and the plane ride, even though it's 13 hours. I like to fly. I will go start packing :)
I ventured to a Bakery to buy a cake for our class party on Wednesday. It took me 20 minutes for the woman to guess what day I wanted it on! Then it took another 10 to tell her what time I would come to pick it up. Hopefully there really will be a cake for me when I go! I suppose if there is no cake, I will run to the store and we will celebrate with Hostess upcakes, with chopsticks of course :)
P.S. My favorite student's name this session is Dinosaur. Hah!...Dinosaur...You can hardly call his name seriously.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
One more added
I am reading the journals again, and I have some that I must share. These are their exact words.
On August 20th, Alice said, “I feel like time is driving so quickly. Now I wish it would go slower. I don’t want to come to the end.”
August 18th, Betty said, “ I will have a daughter. I have a son now. If I have two children they can play together. They will share their happy and sad things…But our Chinese are allowed have only one child every family. So this is only my dream. I think it will never come true.”
August 20th, Susan said, “ We talked a lot of things in our classroom. Sara let us disguess (discuss ) some questions. I think it is hard to say befor. I have never thought these gueses (questions). From today I know so many things about myself.”
August 17th, Carolyn wrote, “Our teacher returned last week’s journal to us. She writed down, ‘You’re doing great! You can do it!’ When I saw these I’m very happy. I know my oral English is very poor, but my teacher is very friendly to me. I can hear clearly these encourage. I will remember you told me, ‘You can do it.’”
I so happy to say, last night I received a new sister in the family of God! One of the first nights of this program, I went to this room and met a girl named Kerensa, which she pronounces Karissa She is not one of my students, but from then on, we always had some sort of connection. She is 32, and has the sweetest and funniest personality. Last night she came over and we sat outside on our dorm steps for a couple hours talking. She said, “You have such a big heart. You are the best kind of beautiful.” She asked why all of the Americans here are to kind. I told her maybe because we are Christians. She said, “When I go home, I am going to read the Bible so I can be like that too.” It’s a long story, but somehow at the end of the night, she made the decision to become a Christian. Her teacher, my roommate, came out after, and I asked KArissa to tell her teacher the good news. She smiled “I am a Ch, Chris, Christian!” She couldn’t even pronounce the word, but it was the most truly joyful moment for me. She just kept saying, “I believe. I believe.”
When I started talking to her last night, I had no idea that’s where it would end up! I was totally caught off guard. I guess that’s the difference between my timing and God’s timing. She said, “I am so full!”
At the beginning of my time here I thought I would get to share a lot about being a Christian. I realize that the opportunities are few and far between. But if she was the only one, it would be worth my time here in China. She is truly special. It makes me sad to think about her, a brand new Christian going back home. She will stuggle, I know…
My roommate left today. It was so cool to get to know her here. We don’t know everything about each other, but it didn’t matter. She was a kind of friend I’ve never had before. We went through so much together. We are the only ones who understand each other because we had the same experiences. So many memories. I will probably never see her again, but it’s ok, because we shared everything. We were much needed friends during these two months.
On August 20th, Alice said, “I feel like time is driving so quickly. Now I wish it would go slower. I don’t want to come to the end.”
August 18th, Betty said, “ I will have a daughter. I have a son now. If I have two children they can play together. They will share their happy and sad things…But our Chinese are allowed have only one child every family. So this is only my dream. I think it will never come true.”
August 20th, Susan said, “ We talked a lot of things in our classroom. Sara let us disguess (discuss ) some questions. I think it is hard to say befor. I have never thought these gueses (questions). From today I know so many things about myself.”
August 17th, Carolyn wrote, “Our teacher returned last week’s journal to us. She writed down, ‘You’re doing great! You can do it!’ When I saw these I’m very happy. I know my oral English is very poor, but my teacher is very friendly to me. I can hear clearly these encourage. I will remember you told me, ‘You can do it.’”
I so happy to say, last night I received a new sister in the family of God! One of the first nights of this program, I went to this room and met a girl named Kerensa, which she pronounces Karissa She is not one of my students, but from then on, we always had some sort of connection. She is 32, and has the sweetest and funniest personality. Last night she came over and we sat outside on our dorm steps for a couple hours talking. She said, “You have such a big heart. You are the best kind of beautiful.” She asked why all of the Americans here are to kind. I told her maybe because we are Christians. She said, “When I go home, I am going to read the Bible so I can be like that too.” It’s a long story, but somehow at the end of the night, she made the decision to become a Christian. Her teacher, my roommate, came out after, and I asked KArissa to tell her teacher the good news. She smiled “I am a Ch, Chris, Christian!” She couldn’t even pronounce the word, but it was the most truly joyful moment for me. She just kept saying, “I believe. I believe.”
When I started talking to her last night, I had no idea that’s where it would end up! I was totally caught off guard. I guess that’s the difference between my timing and God’s timing. She said, “I am so full!”
At the beginning of my time here I thought I would get to share a lot about being a Christian. I realize that the opportunities are few and far between. But if she was the only one, it would be worth my time here in China. She is truly special. It makes me sad to think about her, a brand new Christian going back home. She will stuggle, I know…
My roommate left today. It was so cool to get to know her here. We don’t know everything about each other, but it didn’t matter. She was a kind of friend I’ve never had before. We went through so much together. We are the only ones who understand each other because we had the same experiences. So many memories. I will probably never see her again, but it’s ok, because we shared everything. We were much needed friends during these two months.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Almost there
Well I'm almost a week away from the end. I think I will be ready to come home. Three of my friends are leaving this week, because they have to go home early. They have all been here for 2 months also, so it will be hard to say goodbye to them. We kind of clung to each other because we were in it for the long stretch.
Things I am excited to do at home:
-Eat American food (Chinese Cafeteria food is getting kind of old)
-See my family
-Eat deserts
-Play the piano
-Get on Facebook (since it's blocked in China)
-Sleep on my bed
There are still quite a few things on my list to do here though too. I want to get my haircut here (hopefully it turns out ok!). I went shopping today. I was really excited to get "The purpose driven Life" for my Christian student. I hope she hasn't read it yet. It's funny because I just feel like buying all of my students things, but I shouldn't because it would be expensive. I almost feel like Chinese money is play money since things are so cheap. That is a bad mindset to have! :)
A new group from Oregon came a few days ago on a trip from their church. I talked to one older man for quite a while one evening. He was telling me that he had been to China 3 times. He was talking about things here. But I did not agree with a lot of what he said. He had only stayed here for 2 weeks each time. He did not realize that it takes about a month here before you hit the wall and realize that like every country, there are some problems. I do love the people here! But, honestly, I don't think that I will be back to China. I want to explore other parts of the world. It's hard to tell my students that I won't be back, because of course they all want me to come visit their hometowns. They say, "Welcome to my hometown!" This is what we call Chinglish (a mix between Chinese and English). They mean, you are welcome in my hometown. At first when they all said this I would think it was so funny, but now it seems normal and I almost forget it's chinglish!
I suppose nothing too exciting has happened in the last few days. Hopefully I will have some more good stories as the days come to an end here. I'll write back soon!
Things I am excited to do at home:
-Eat American food (Chinese Cafeteria food is getting kind of old)
-See my family
-Eat deserts
-Play the piano
-Get on Facebook (since it's blocked in China)
-Sleep on my bed
There are still quite a few things on my list to do here though too. I want to get my haircut here (hopefully it turns out ok!). I went shopping today. I was really excited to get "The purpose driven Life" for my Christian student. I hope she hasn't read it yet. It's funny because I just feel like buying all of my students things, but I shouldn't because it would be expensive. I almost feel like Chinese money is play money since things are so cheap. That is a bad mindset to have! :)
A new group from Oregon came a few days ago on a trip from their church. I talked to one older man for quite a while one evening. He was telling me that he had been to China 3 times. He was talking about things here. But I did not agree with a lot of what he said. He had only stayed here for 2 weeks each time. He did not realize that it takes about a month here before you hit the wall and realize that like every country, there are some problems. I do love the people here! But, honestly, I don't think that I will be back to China. I want to explore other parts of the world. It's hard to tell my students that I won't be back, because of course they all want me to come visit their hometowns. They say, "Welcome to my hometown!" This is what we call Chinglish (a mix between Chinese and English). They mean, you are welcome in my hometown. At first when they all said this I would think it was so funny, but now it seems normal and I almost forget it's chinglish!
I suppose nothing too exciting has happened in the last few days. Hopefully I will have some more good stories as the days come to an end here. I'll write back soon!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Journals
This afternoon I have the day off, so I am sitting in Starbucks reading my students journals. I feel like a real teacher! I have always wanted to grade school work in a coffee shop :) It's funny because here in Starbucks there are probably more foreigners than Chinese people. I am sitting next to two Americans who are debating politics and Obama. BORING. These journals are amazing. They have such limited vocabulary, but their words are so powerful. It's funny to read the things that they say about me. It's strange that small conversations with them have such an impact. A student that I'm not particularly close with said, "You are changing me from the inside." Woah.
It's sad to think that I only have 12 more days in China. I will be ready to go home, but I feel like I have so much work to do here before I leave. I have a feeling some of it will go unfinished. Just like the kids camp, it started badly, but now it is wonderful. It's so amazing how things can change in only 6 days. They are getting braver, and they are interacting all the time now. Each one has formed close friendships in the classroom. I feel like a proud mother, as I watch them help and encourage each other. Group work is the key. They feel so much more confident when they see that the others are putting themselves out there too.
At the end of the session each one will give a speech. I told them that I would give one too, as an example. Oh boy, what did I get myself into? I don't know what to speak about yet.
I've decided when I teach in the states I will use a microphone! I have a soar throat every day from talking so much and so loudly.
It's sad to think that I only have 12 more days in China. I will be ready to go home, but I feel like I have so much work to do here before I leave. I have a feeling some of it will go unfinished. Just like the kids camp, it started badly, but now it is wonderful. It's so amazing how things can change in only 6 days. They are getting braver, and they are interacting all the time now. Each one has formed close friendships in the classroom. I feel like a proud mother, as I watch them help and encourage each other. Group work is the key. They feel so much more confident when they see that the others are putting themselves out there too.
At the end of the session each one will give a speech. I told them that I would give one too, as an example. Oh boy, what did I get myself into? I don't know what to speak about yet.
I've decided when I teach in the states I will use a microphone! I have a soar throat every day from talking so much and so loudly.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Through a window
The other night, a few of us who stayed for both session were feeling a little discouraged. I was about to go to bed, but two of them asked me if I wanted to go with them to go sing and jam out in the middle of the basketball court. So we ended up sitting out there for 2 hours justing singing praying, and enjoying the 5 Beijing stars in the sky :)(because of pollution). We were thinking, here we are sitting in China, a communist country singing worship songs and praying. We have all the freedom in the world at home, and none of us do this at home. Hmm... Then we discovered that the gates to our dorms closed at 11:00, so we had to crawl in a back window!
Yesterday I had my class cut out magazine pictures and paste them on a paper to describe themselves. Then they came to the front to tell us about their picture. One man, the lowest in our class, came to the front obviously very nervous because his english level is so low. He had glued a picture of a woman in a hospital bed, and had written the word, "HELP!" next to it. He said, "I know my english is very poor. Please help me! I need you to help!" Wow, what do you say to that!? I know he doesn't understand a lot of what I say in class, but he is the happiest guy. He is always in a good mood and always smiling. At meals he is always sitting next to an American because even though he can't understand a lot, he wants to try and listen. He thinks maybe just by listening he can get better. I have never seen students so motivated to learn. I have something (English) that they want so desperately. There is a big difference in the high and low students. I think my low students are so much more grateful and receptive to learning. Most of them this time are poor, so they are so glad for any help that they can get!
Yesterday I had my class cut out magazine pictures and paste them on a paper to describe themselves. Then they came to the front to tell us about their picture. One man, the lowest in our class, came to the front obviously very nervous because his english level is so low. He had glued a picture of a woman in a hospital bed, and had written the word, "HELP!" next to it. He said, "I know my english is very poor. Please help me! I need you to help!" Wow, what do you say to that!? I know he doesn't understand a lot of what I say in class, but he is the happiest guy. He is always in a good mood and always smiling. At meals he is always sitting next to an American because even though he can't understand a lot, he wants to try and listen. He thinks maybe just by listening he can get better. I have never seen students so motivated to learn. I have something (English) that they want so desperately. There is a big difference in the high and low students. I think my low students are so much more grateful and receptive to learning. Most of them this time are poor, so they are so glad for any help that they can get!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
I'm back!
Now I am back at the old campus. When we arrived back from the kids camp, our rooms had changed and they had moved all of our stuff. The rooms are about the same, but the building is a little worse. There is a cat with fleas in our building, and every time it rains the bottom floor floods Bummer.
It was so hard to leave the kids. It’s funny, because my first day with the kids I hated it, because all they could not even say the abcs and recite the numbers 123. I thought it would be impossible to teach them. The last day that we left, it was really tough. They cried, and I cried! It’s crazy that in only 2 weeks you can get so close to them. I think I get attached much more to the children than the adults. It is hard to explain, but I felt and gave a kind of love that I have never felt before. Why is it so much easier to love in China? I never really thought of myself as a hard-hearted person in America, but here, I am so open to loving them. My favorite student that I really got attached to was a little 9 year old boy named Jack. He was a troublemaker, but he also was really sweet. He would always call my name from across the room, “Helwo Saywah!!!” Man, how can you not melt at that!? He always shared his umbrella with me, and saved a seat for me. SO sweet! It really got to me when I left, because my thought on the way home was, these young children are so beautiful, but there is no one in their life to tell them about Jesus. They do not know any Christians. Who will tell them? I feel like I missed the opportunity, but it is so hard because they are so young to hear the gospel explained in a second language! It’s hard to know that I will never see them again in this life…and what about in heaven…? I don’t know. I must trust that God loves them much more than I do, and I hope he will send a Christian into their lives.
I have started teaching the next batch of adult students. I have the lowest level English speakers, so it is definitely a challenge! I miss the conversations I had with my last group of adults. I know it will be a good last couple of weeks, but it’s hard to stay positive when they can’t understand me. I will learn to love them in a different way.
My team is really not unified at all. The new team has such varying personalities that it is hard to connect with them. I know it will be good, but I’m a little discouraged about that also. Because the team is not bonded, I will try to spend all of my time with the students. I want to pour my all into these last couple weeks.
Rose came to church on Sunday! Wow. It turns out that she only lives one block from the church! I am still so surprised that she came. She didn’t understand a lot of the things that we do in church, but she said she really liked the music. She said, “It looks like the man leading worship is very excited!” She began crying at one point, so I know God really is working on her. She is already talking about coming back next week. Yes! We got to go out to lunch with her after to ask her what she thought. It’s cool because the first session I didn’t feel like God was doing very much. I suppose it was work all behind the scenes. In the last few weeks, it is like something is visible every day! It is so cool to watch. I feel like so much has changed in me in just the last couple of weeks. I am learning to love in a whole new way.
I am starting to wonder how the move back to America will be. Will it be hard to go back? I know it will be tough, because no one will understand. They will not understand all of the experiences that I had. I can’t really explain all that has happened during my time here in China. I am so afraid that I will forget… I can’t forget! I tried to write everything down in a journal so that I can remember everything that I experienced. Alright, class time now!
It was so hard to leave the kids. It’s funny, because my first day with the kids I hated it, because all they could not even say the abcs and recite the numbers 123. I thought it would be impossible to teach them. The last day that we left, it was really tough. They cried, and I cried! It’s crazy that in only 2 weeks you can get so close to them. I think I get attached much more to the children than the adults. It is hard to explain, but I felt and gave a kind of love that I have never felt before. Why is it so much easier to love in China? I never really thought of myself as a hard-hearted person in America, but here, I am so open to loving them. My favorite student that I really got attached to was a little 9 year old boy named Jack. He was a troublemaker, but he also was really sweet. He would always call my name from across the room, “Helwo Saywah!!!” Man, how can you not melt at that!? He always shared his umbrella with me, and saved a seat for me. SO sweet! It really got to me when I left, because my thought on the way home was, these young children are so beautiful, but there is no one in their life to tell them about Jesus. They do not know any Christians. Who will tell them? I feel like I missed the opportunity, but it is so hard because they are so young to hear the gospel explained in a second language! It’s hard to know that I will never see them again in this life…and what about in heaven…? I don’t know. I must trust that God loves them much more than I do, and I hope he will send a Christian into their lives.
I have started teaching the next batch of adult students. I have the lowest level English speakers, so it is definitely a challenge! I miss the conversations I had with my last group of adults. I know it will be a good last couple of weeks, but it’s hard to stay positive when they can’t understand me. I will learn to love them in a different way.
My team is really not unified at all. The new team has such varying personalities that it is hard to connect with them. I know it will be good, but I’m a little discouraged about that also. Because the team is not bonded, I will try to spend all of my time with the students. I want to pour my all into these last couple weeks.
Rose came to church on Sunday! Wow. It turns out that she only lives one block from the church! I am still so surprised that she came. She didn’t understand a lot of the things that we do in church, but she said she really liked the music. She said, “It looks like the man leading worship is very excited!” She began crying at one point, so I know God really is working on her. She is already talking about coming back next week. Yes! We got to go out to lunch with her after to ask her what she thought. It’s cool because the first session I didn’t feel like God was doing very much. I suppose it was work all behind the scenes. In the last few weeks, it is like something is visible every day! It is so cool to watch. I feel like so much has changed in me in just the last couple of weeks. I am learning to love in a whole new way.
I am starting to wonder how the move back to America will be. Will it be hard to go back? I know it will be tough, because no one will understand. They will not understand all of the experiences that I had. I can’t really explain all that has happened during my time here in China. I am so afraid that I will forget… I can’t forget! I tried to write everything down in a journal so that I can remember everything that I experienced. Alright, class time now!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Gospel
The coolest thing happened yesterday! I was sitting on a desk during one of our classes breaks, when Rose (my interpreter) came up to me and out of the clear blue said, “Sara, do you read the Bible?” I told her I did. She asked me if I brought the Bible with me. Shoot, I had left it at the other campus on accident. She said that she wanted to read the Bible. I told her I had an extra and that I would let her keep one if she wanted. I think tomorrow I will go to the Christian bookstore and get a Chinese/English Bible so that she will be able to understand it even more. She asked me if I really believed in God. As we were talking, the kids were wild, throwing paper airplanes and shouting, so I figured this probably wasn’t the place to bust out the gospel. I asked her if she wanted to talk about it in my room later. She said she would come at 8:30. Great! I still wasn’t convinced that she would come, because it seemed almost too easy. This is the first time that anyone has ever come up to me and asked me to share with them what I believe.
Sure enough, at 8:30 she came in. We started talking and she told me that for the past 3 years she has been searching for something. She said about once a month she goes out looking for something to believe in. She has been asking her friends for answers, but they don’t have any. She told me that she tries to fill her life with so much busyness that she has no time to think. It is when there is time to think that she feels empty. She told me that sometimes she just wants to sleep forever, but you can’t, so she goes to bars to drink. I asked her if that worked for her, and she said it does for a few days, but then she feels even worse.
She said she feels like there is no purpose in her life. She just gets up, goes to work, comes home, goes to sleep and does it all over again. She said that she needs some hope, something to believe in. It’s strange that she is so hungry for something, that last night she went to the store and bought a physics book to read. She said she just wants to read something, hoping that she will find the answer.
My roommate Natah was there at the beginning of the discussion, but then she was called away by one of the kids. That left me to share the gospel with Rose alone. I was a little scared. It’s scary to think that I am her first impression of Christianity. She had so many questions that I did not know how to answer. I tried my best, and hopefully God will use something that I said to impact her.
It’s frustrating because she kept saying, “Oh that’s wonderful…” but she didn’t seem to want it for herself. It’s like she was saying “oh that’s great for YOU.” It was a little bit hard for me to understand the way she feels. I think I understand what she meant, but it is hard to imagine that complete emptiness and purposelessness that she feels. If all of this came out of her so easily on the surface, just think what is beneath the surface!
Then today, Natah and I went the coffee shop on campus with one of the younger students. She was wearing a Buddah necklace, she we asked her if she was Buddist. That opened up a really cool conversation with her about what she believes, and what we believe. Her English is very poor, so it is really hard to communicate using words that she understands. She has an electronic dictionary, so at least one word in every sentence she looked up. It took a long time to talk. I left, but Natah is still there talking to her right now!
I was getting a little antsy, because I didn’t really see God at work in China until this week. I heard all of the cool stories about my teammates witnessing to people and sharing with them, but I really didn’t have any of my own. I was thinking, “Ok God, I’m ready. Am I doing something wrong here?” But apparently I wasn’t ready yet. I think my 4 day trip to Shenzhen opened my eyes to a lot of things. The 10 hours in the car gave me plenty of time to think about things. Maybe God needed me to go through all of that before I was ready for anything else. It’s amazing that within 2 days, we have been able to share with 2 people. God is at work! He was just working behind the scenes before.
Today, Rose came up to me and asked me what time church starts on Sunday. She will meet us there. She told me that last night she quit the communist party! When I asked why, she said she just didn’t think it was right anymore. So, now she is free to be a Christian, because if you are a communist you must be an atheist.
Sure enough, at 8:30 she came in. We started talking and she told me that for the past 3 years she has been searching for something. She said about once a month she goes out looking for something to believe in. She has been asking her friends for answers, but they don’t have any. She told me that she tries to fill her life with so much busyness that she has no time to think. It is when there is time to think that she feels empty. She told me that sometimes she just wants to sleep forever, but you can’t, so she goes to bars to drink. I asked her if that worked for her, and she said it does for a few days, but then she feels even worse.
She said she feels like there is no purpose in her life. She just gets up, goes to work, comes home, goes to sleep and does it all over again. She said that she needs some hope, something to believe in. It’s strange that she is so hungry for something, that last night she went to the store and bought a physics book to read. She said she just wants to read something, hoping that she will find the answer.
My roommate Natah was there at the beginning of the discussion, but then she was called away by one of the kids. That left me to share the gospel with Rose alone. I was a little scared. It’s scary to think that I am her first impression of Christianity. She had so many questions that I did not know how to answer. I tried my best, and hopefully God will use something that I said to impact her.
It’s frustrating because she kept saying, “Oh that’s wonderful…” but she didn’t seem to want it for herself. It’s like she was saying “oh that’s great for YOU.” It was a little bit hard for me to understand the way she feels. I think I understand what she meant, but it is hard to imagine that complete emptiness and purposelessness that she feels. If all of this came out of her so easily on the surface, just think what is beneath the surface!
Then today, Natah and I went the coffee shop on campus with one of the younger students. She was wearing a Buddah necklace, she we asked her if she was Buddist. That opened up a really cool conversation with her about what she believes, and what we believe. Her English is very poor, so it is really hard to communicate using words that she understands. She has an electronic dictionary, so at least one word in every sentence she looked up. It took a long time to talk. I left, but Natah is still there talking to her right now!
I was getting a little antsy, because I didn’t really see God at work in China until this week. I heard all of the cool stories about my teammates witnessing to people and sharing with them, but I really didn’t have any of my own. I was thinking, “Ok God, I’m ready. Am I doing something wrong here?” But apparently I wasn’t ready yet. I think my 4 day trip to Shenzhen opened my eyes to a lot of things. The 10 hours in the car gave me plenty of time to think about things. Maybe God needed me to go through all of that before I was ready for anything else. It’s amazing that within 2 days, we have been able to share with 2 people. God is at work! He was just working behind the scenes before.
Today, Rose came up to me and asked me what time church starts on Sunday. She will meet us there. She told me that last night she quit the communist party! When I asked why, she said she just didn’t think it was right anymore. So, now she is free to be a Christian, because if you are a communist you must be an atheist.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Good and bad
The next day we drove to one of my student’s hometown. When we got there, we stayed at her sister’s family’s house and ate lunch. Then we went white water rafting! It was so fun. It’s funny because they told me we were going floating, which sounds like a lazy river and really relaxing. Then it ended up being white water rafting! So cool. I was pretty much the tourist attraction, because there are no Americans in this city. They all kept saying hello, and they wanted to take my picture with them. My friends kept saying, “Sara, you’re a star!” Hah, only in China Then later in the evening we hiked up a mountain that was lit up really cool at night.
The next day we traveled to my other student’s hometown. It was about a 2 hour drive. On the way we had some interesting conversations. They were asking me when people in America start to date. I had had this conversation with another student, so I kind of knew where it was going. I found out that it is assumed that every couple in China has sex. They were shocked to hear that some people in American wait until marriage. Then they were asking me about abortion in America. They thought it was really bad that some states don’t allow abortions. I asked in China what happens if a woman is pregnant with a second baby. The one student said matter-of-factly, “you get rid of it!” My heart sank. Wow. Man, even thinking about her saying that makes me sad. Then I got to thinking about how empty China is. Without God, they really have no purpose! It’s really quite depressing.
When we got to her hometown, we went to a tea farm. I learned how to pick tea leaves! Unfortunately I don’t like tea, but I was “forced” to drink some and say I like it It was REALLY strong. Yuck. Then we went to a limestone cave. It was really interesting and beautiful. It made me wonder why God would make something so beautiful and hide it in a cave like that. I guess maybe for His own glory, and then he was humbly excited when someone found it one day. It was awesome. Then we went to this friend’s house in the mountains. I had a fight with the mosquitoes and they won 14 bites to 0. Bummer. As we hiked a little bit of the mountain, they showed me how to cut down baby bamboo to eat. It didn’t look so delicious to me, but whatever!
At dinner, we sat in the restaurant for hours. At 9:30, they decided we should go to a hot spring. So we went, but it was about an hour away. I had fallen asleep and was ready for bed by the time we got there at 10:30. It was really cool because we swam in the mountain pools. It was all lit really pretty at night. Then we swam in a pool in a cave! It doesn’t get much cooler than that. I was a little (ok a lot) frustrated that we didn’t get to a hotel until 1:30, knowing that I had to get up early this morning to drive to the airport.
I learned a lot about patience and trust on this trip. It was frustrated because my student was the only one who spoke English, so I was at her mercy to translate some things that were said. So most of the time I had no idea where we were going or when until we were there. I’m kind of a planner, so this was tough. Also, I knew I had to be to the airport by 2:30 today, and we were 5 hours away from the airport. So last night (at 1:30 in the morning) I asked what time we would be leaving for Shenzhen. She said, “Oh, maybe about 10:30.” I knew that we needed to leave by 9:00 to get the airport on time. Time really isn’t an issue for them. I pretty much flat out said, “We need to leave by 9:00 to get there on time. I knew that we needed to leave by 9:00 to get the airport on time. Time really isn’t an issue for them. I pretty much flat out said, “We need to leave by 9:00 to get there on time. I hated telling my hosts what to do, but that would be a lot of money if I missed my flight.
So we left this morning at 9:00 and got to the airport early! Yes! But then, they thought we were too early, so we went for a LONG lunch I kept looking at my watch and she kept telling me “don’t worry about the time. It will be ok.” Ahh. It was a lesson on trust. We did get there on time.
A phrase that I will not miss in China is, “That is bad for your health.” Oh man. It seems like everything I do here is bad for my health! First, when we went rafting, she thought it was bad for my health that I didn’t take a shower immediately after. For the next 3 hours she kept asking me if I wanted to take a shower now. Umm, not really I was going to wait until night. Then yesterday at the hot spring, I took a shower after to please her. But then they had dryers for you to dry your hair. Well, if I dry my hair curly, it will turn into a fro, so I just put it in a pony tail. She looked at me and said, “Your hair is still wet!” When I told her I would just go to bed with it wet, she was shocked! She said it was bad for my health. I just smiled and said, “It’ll be ok.” She brought it up three more times on the way to the hotel and said, “I don’t know how you’re going to go to fall asleep with your wet hair!” Haha. Well, I woke up this morning alive, so I guess it is ok. I don’t want to be rude, but I also want to do things my own way sometimes.
But I should not complain, because they were wonderful hosts. I pretty much tagged along on their family vacation around their province. They paid for everything, food, hotel, activities… When I tried to give money she got mad! She said that is the Chinese way. They were so generous!
I am so glad I got to see the countryside! It was pretty much what I was expecting, but still shocking to see. That is the most poverty I had ever seen. The farmers work by hand, sometimes with a cow pulling the plow. They go barefoot and pull up the rice from the rice paddies. It’s pretty amazing that people still farm like that! The living conditions are really bad. Most of the time their house is just a shack with a grass or tin roof caving in. The view is amazing! I love to see the country because it’s so simple and beautiful. I didn’t realize how much I miss the country until I saw it. I think city life is really the same anywhere you go.
Tomorrow I will go back to teach the kids!
The next day we traveled to my other student’s hometown. It was about a 2 hour drive. On the way we had some interesting conversations. They were asking me when people in America start to date. I had had this conversation with another student, so I kind of knew where it was going. I found out that it is assumed that every couple in China has sex. They were shocked to hear that some people in American wait until marriage. Then they were asking me about abortion in America. They thought it was really bad that some states don’t allow abortions. I asked in China what happens if a woman is pregnant with a second baby. The one student said matter-of-factly, “you get rid of it!” My heart sank. Wow. Man, even thinking about her saying that makes me sad. Then I got to thinking about how empty China is. Without God, they really have no purpose! It’s really quite depressing.
When we got to her hometown, we went to a tea farm. I learned how to pick tea leaves! Unfortunately I don’t like tea, but I was “forced” to drink some and say I like it It was REALLY strong. Yuck. Then we went to a limestone cave. It was really interesting and beautiful. It made me wonder why God would make something so beautiful and hide it in a cave like that. I guess maybe for His own glory, and then he was humbly excited when someone found it one day. It was awesome. Then we went to this friend’s house in the mountains. I had a fight with the mosquitoes and they won 14 bites to 0. Bummer. As we hiked a little bit of the mountain, they showed me how to cut down baby bamboo to eat. It didn’t look so delicious to me, but whatever!
At dinner, we sat in the restaurant for hours. At 9:30, they decided we should go to a hot spring. So we went, but it was about an hour away. I had fallen asleep and was ready for bed by the time we got there at 10:30. It was really cool because we swam in the mountain pools. It was all lit really pretty at night. Then we swam in a pool in a cave! It doesn’t get much cooler than that. I was a little (ok a lot) frustrated that we didn’t get to a hotel until 1:30, knowing that I had to get up early this morning to drive to the airport.
I learned a lot about patience and trust on this trip. It was frustrated because my student was the only one who spoke English, so I was at her mercy to translate some things that were said. So most of the time I had no idea where we were going or when until we were there. I’m kind of a planner, so this was tough. Also, I knew I had to be to the airport by 2:30 today, and we were 5 hours away from the airport. So last night (at 1:30 in the morning) I asked what time we would be leaving for Shenzhen. She said, “Oh, maybe about 10:30.” I knew that we needed to leave by 9:00 to get the airport on time. Time really isn’t an issue for them. I pretty much flat out said, “We need to leave by 9:00 to get there on time. I knew that we needed to leave by 9:00 to get the airport on time. Time really isn’t an issue for them. I pretty much flat out said, “We need to leave by 9:00 to get there on time. I hated telling my hosts what to do, but that would be a lot of money if I missed my flight.
So we left this morning at 9:00 and got to the airport early! Yes! But then, they thought we were too early, so we went for a LONG lunch I kept looking at my watch and she kept telling me “don’t worry about the time. It will be ok.” Ahh. It was a lesson on trust. We did get there on time.
A phrase that I will not miss in China is, “That is bad for your health.” Oh man. It seems like everything I do here is bad for my health! First, when we went rafting, she thought it was bad for my health that I didn’t take a shower immediately after. For the next 3 hours she kept asking me if I wanted to take a shower now. Umm, not really I was going to wait until night. Then yesterday at the hot spring, I took a shower after to please her. But then they had dryers for you to dry your hair. Well, if I dry my hair curly, it will turn into a fro, so I just put it in a pony tail. She looked at me and said, “Your hair is still wet!” When I told her I would just go to bed with it wet, she was shocked! She said it was bad for my health. I just smiled and said, “It’ll be ok.” She brought it up three more times on the way to the hotel and said, “I don’t know how you’re going to go to fall asleep with your wet hair!” Haha. Well, I woke up this morning alive, so I guess it is ok. I don’t want to be rude, but I also want to do things my own way sometimes.
But I should not complain, because they were wonderful hosts. I pretty much tagged along on their family vacation around their province. They paid for everything, food, hotel, activities… When I tried to give money she got mad! She said that is the Chinese way. They were so generous!
I am so glad I got to see the countryside! It was pretty much what I was expecting, but still shocking to see. That is the most poverty I had ever seen. The farmers work by hand, sometimes with a cow pulling the plow. They go barefoot and pull up the rice from the rice paddies. It’s pretty amazing that people still farm like that! The living conditions are really bad. Most of the time their house is just a shack with a grass or tin roof caving in. The view is amazing! I love to see the country because it’s so simple and beautiful. I didn’t realize how much I miss the country until I saw it. I think city life is really the same anywhere you go.
Tomorrow I will go back to teach the kids!
A new city
I have had quite an incredible last few days. First of all, I am in the middle of teaching middle school students for two weeks. The first few days were terrible! They barely speak any English (some not even 1,2,3 and A,B,C) so it makes it so difficult to teach them speaking only English. I am so thankful to have an interpreter in the room to translate pretty much each sentence I say! As you can imagine, it’s hard to think of things for these 9-16 year old children to do when some of them have had only 1 year of elementary English! But, by the end of the first 4 days, I loved it! Somehow we bonded through all of it, and it was really fun. They think it is so cool that their teacher lives in the dorm with them, and that I invite them to play Uno (which is a huge hit) in my room after class time. They really are having fun.
These past four days I had off, so I made a spontaneous decision to fly to Shenzhen to visit some of my students from last session! I just had the best four days! The first day, they took me to this tourist attraction called Splendid China, which are many models of the famous places in all of China. At night, there were many shows. These were so cool! They were shows where they did all of the tribal dances, and wore outfits that the Chinese people used to wear. In one of the smaller shows, they asked audience members to participate. Because I was the only white person there (I stuck out like a soar thumb) and they made me get up on stage and learn a Chinese dance in front of everyone. Mom, you feel my pain! Oh well, at least I provided them a lot of entertainment! There was also this water festival thing going on, where all of the companies in the area come together and dump water on each other after this big presentation. I’m not sure why they do this, but it was cool to watch anyway.
That night, I stayed in one of my student’s apartments. There was no air conditioning, and it is SO hot here. I thought Beijing’s 104 degrees what hot, but I now have a new definition of hot! You walk outside and you are dripping with sweat. She asked me if I wanted to take a shower. Perfect! Yes! Well, I went into her bathroom, and the shower was a bucket full of cold water! Hmmm. Ok, so I managed to somehow wash my hair in this bucket, but as I stuck my head down in the bucket, I saw a cockroach scurry across the floor! Oh man. Thank goodness there was a mosquito net around the bed (really just a board on the floor), so the cockroach couldn’t get me. What an experience. Well, I will have to write more later because my battery is about to run out. The next few days were even more exciting!
These past four days I had off, so I made a spontaneous decision to fly to Shenzhen to visit some of my students from last session! I just had the best four days! The first day, they took me to this tourist attraction called Splendid China, which are many models of the famous places in all of China. At night, there were many shows. These were so cool! They were shows where they did all of the tribal dances, and wore outfits that the Chinese people used to wear. In one of the smaller shows, they asked audience members to participate. Because I was the only white person there (I stuck out like a soar thumb) and they made me get up on stage and learn a Chinese dance in front of everyone. Mom, you feel my pain! Oh well, at least I provided them a lot of entertainment! There was also this water festival thing going on, where all of the companies in the area come together and dump water on each other after this big presentation. I’m not sure why they do this, but it was cool to watch anyway.
That night, I stayed in one of my student’s apartments. There was no air conditioning, and it is SO hot here. I thought Beijing’s 104 degrees what hot, but I now have a new definition of hot! You walk outside and you are dripping with sweat. She asked me if I wanted to take a shower. Perfect! Yes! Well, I went into her bathroom, and the shower was a bucket full of cold water! Hmmm. Ok, so I managed to somehow wash my hair in this bucket, but as I stuck my head down in the bucket, I saw a cockroach scurry across the floor! Oh man. Thank goodness there was a mosquito net around the bed (really just a board on the floor), so the cockroach couldn’t get me. What an experience. Well, I will have to write more later because my battery is about to run out. The next few days were even more exciting!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Goodbyes
Well today I had to say goodbye to the first round of students. It was much harder that I thought it would be. Yesterday night, we had a closing party. The students gave speeches to me, and they gave me gifts! The whole class went together to buy me a wall hanging with a traditional painted woman, a really expensive and fancy set of chop sticks, and dried fruit from their provinces. What a blessing! We also shared some dances at our party. I taught them an American dance called the Cupid Shuffle, and they taught me some more Chinese dances.
Today, one of the students gave her 10 minute speech. Her speech was about her time here at our program. It had pictures of the 20 day journey put to music. Recently I had been kind of discouraged, because I felt like I hadn't gotten into any really deep conversations with anyone about my faith, and I felt like I hadn't really made any impact in anyone's life yet. But today when she gave her speech, she talked about how much she has changed on the inside here at TIP (the program). I know I didn't do anything myself, but God and me working for TIP made a difference in her life. She had the whole room crying! I just wish that she knew that it was God making these changes in her life, not herself.
Sometimes it's frustrating because the students see that we are different, but they just think that we're good people. They don't know that we're different because we are Christians. When I tell them I am a Christian, they just think that that's part of my culture. They don't see how it could apply to their lives also. But...I just have to believe that God will work in all of their lives, and hopefully something they learned here, could somehow lead them to God in the future.
It's amazing that God let me be part of this. I have learned more than they have, I'm sure. It's exciting to think that I have more than a month left!
Today, one of the students gave her 10 minute speech. Her speech was about her time here at our program. It had pictures of the 20 day journey put to music. Recently I had been kind of discouraged, because I felt like I hadn't gotten into any really deep conversations with anyone about my faith, and I felt like I hadn't really made any impact in anyone's life yet. But today when she gave her speech, she talked about how much she has changed on the inside here at TIP (the program). I know I didn't do anything myself, but God and me working for TIP made a difference in her life. She had the whole room crying! I just wish that she knew that it was God making these changes in her life, not herself.
Sometimes it's frustrating because the students see that we are different, but they just think that we're good people. They don't know that we're different because we are Christians. When I tell them I am a Christian, they just think that that's part of my culture. They don't see how it could apply to their lives also. But...I just have to believe that God will work in all of their lives, and hopefully something they learned here, could somehow lead them to God in the future.
It's amazing that God let me be part of this. I have learned more than they have, I'm sure. It's exciting to think that I have more than a month left!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Delicious
I was given a chicken foot, pig's stomach, and a black egg by some of my students today. Mmmmm. I'm not exactly sure what you should say to that. I told them I would save them for when I got back to the dorm :) It's funny because they really like the word delicious. Either something is delicious or not delicious.
My teammates are about to leave :( On Saturday I move to the new campus for a few days, and then I will come back to our campus. It will be sad to say goodbye to my teammates. I am not homesick yet, but I think once they leave it will be an adjustment to get to know the new team members. I'm worried that they will have had the quarantine time to bond, and I won't know them. I don't think I'll be back on campus until the first day of classes begin, so I won't get to hang out with them ahead of time. Oh well. It will work out!
I better go because I need to buy a bus/subway pass instead of paying everytime. I am becoming a real Chinese! :)
My teammates are about to leave :( On Saturday I move to the new campus for a few days, and then I will come back to our campus. It will be sad to say goodbye to my teammates. I am not homesick yet, but I think once they leave it will be an adjustment to get to know the new team members. I'm worried that they will have had the quarantine time to bond, and I won't know them. I don't think I'll be back on campus until the first day of classes begin, so I won't get to hang out with them ahead of time. Oh well. It will work out!
I better go because I need to buy a bus/subway pass instead of paying everytime. I am becoming a real Chinese! :)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Miscellaneous
It’s funny because I can’t picture my students speaking Chinese. To me, they’ve always spoken English. And, they have a Chinese name that I don’t know. They are not just Chinese students to me anymore, they are my friends. We have spent a lot of time together, and it will be sad to see them go. I wonder if I will love the next batch of students as much as I do these…
On Sunday we went to the same church. I think the Haidian church is one of my favorite parts of China. It’s so strange to me that I can be only one of 25 white people in a room of 500 Chinese, and feel so at home. They have such a good community at this church. It really is quite amazing. I hope that one day I will be able to be part of a church with this mindset.
It has been exactly one month since I have had American food, watched TV, slept on a mattress etc, and I can honestly say I don’t miss most things. Ok well maybe the American food But I don’t miss TV at all, and I’m so tired every night that I don’t care that I’m sleeping on a board. It is really refreshing to live so simply, because I’ve realized how much I don’t need to be happy. A simple life is much easier. Yesterday one of my students asked me why I change my outfit everyday. I told her that we do that in America. The Chinese wear the same outfit for at least 5 days in a row. I’m not sure why they do this, because they wash their clothes every night. It’s funny because since there are no dryers, they hang ALL of their clothes outside. They have absolutely no shame about hanging their underwear out for the world to see! It makes me laugh. But it is nice to be somewhere where you can look horrible, and they still think you’re beautiful! They don’t care about clothes. To them, the brighter and more patterns in one outfit the better! Haha. I suppose my clothes are a bit boring to them.
I discovered something sad the other day. I was visiting one of my students the other night, and we were talking about the one child policy. I asked her if she would like to have more children. She gave me a strange look and said, “No! We have a metaphor for this in China. When you open up your hand, all of your fingers are different lengths. When you have more that one child, like the fingers, not all are equal. You will love one more than the others.” Interesting. I think this is what the government tells the people in order to keep them satisfied with the one child policy.
It’s also sad how much the government shelters the people. I was wondering why I hadn’t heard anymore information about the riots. I thought I was just in my own little world because we are so busy with our program. But I learned that the Chinese people don’t even know what’s going on. There is no CNN or BBC or any unbiased news in China. All they see is what the government lets them see. I guess it is kind of like propaganda because they want the people to think that everything is good and that they have it all under control. So I think Americans know more about what happens in China than the Chinese people do.
On Sunday we went to the same church. I think the Haidian church is one of my favorite parts of China. It’s so strange to me that I can be only one of 25 white people in a room of 500 Chinese, and feel so at home. They have such a good community at this church. It really is quite amazing. I hope that one day I will be able to be part of a church with this mindset.
It has been exactly one month since I have had American food, watched TV, slept on a mattress etc, and I can honestly say I don’t miss most things. Ok well maybe the American food But I don’t miss TV at all, and I’m so tired every night that I don’t care that I’m sleeping on a board. It is really refreshing to live so simply, because I’ve realized how much I don’t need to be happy. A simple life is much easier. Yesterday one of my students asked me why I change my outfit everyday. I told her that we do that in America. The Chinese wear the same outfit for at least 5 days in a row. I’m not sure why they do this, because they wash their clothes every night. It’s funny because since there are no dryers, they hang ALL of their clothes outside. They have absolutely no shame about hanging their underwear out for the world to see! It makes me laugh. But it is nice to be somewhere where you can look horrible, and they still think you’re beautiful! They don’t care about clothes. To them, the brighter and more patterns in one outfit the better! Haha. I suppose my clothes are a bit boring to them.
I discovered something sad the other day. I was visiting one of my students the other night, and we were talking about the one child policy. I asked her if she would like to have more children. She gave me a strange look and said, “No! We have a metaphor for this in China. When you open up your hand, all of your fingers are different lengths. When you have more that one child, like the fingers, not all are equal. You will love one more than the others.” Interesting. I think this is what the government tells the people in order to keep them satisfied with the one child policy.
It’s also sad how much the government shelters the people. I was wondering why I hadn’t heard anymore information about the riots. I thought I was just in my own little world because we are so busy with our program. But I learned that the Chinese people don’t even know what’s going on. There is no CNN or BBC or any unbiased news in China. All they see is what the government lets them see. I guess it is kind of like propaganda because they want the people to think that everything is good and that they have it all under control. So I think Americans know more about what happens in China than the Chinese people do.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Tibetan Dance
Last night at dinner a girl next to me asked me about the love chapter in 1 Corinithians 4. She had heard the passage that morning in the motivational time, but she didn't know where to find it. She said that she liked it so much that she tried to remember all of the words, but she forgot some. She asked if I would be able to help her find the words. During training we were given a Chinese/English Bible as a souvenier. I told her I would go get it. When I brought it back, she was so interested in what it had to say. She was thrilled when I asked her if she wanted to keep it. She said, "I will read every word very carefully!" She's not a Christian, but maybe if she reads the Bible she will have more questions. God can use small things just as easily as he uses big ones.
After all of the evening activities were over, I was standing outside and I heard singing and laughing coming from the basketball court. There were about 20 students singing and dancing in a circle. It was the coolest thing. All of these students were from the Tibetan region, and they were doing a traditional Tibetan dance! I tried to get it on video, but it was too dark. They asked me if I wanted to learn. Why not! How often in your life do you get to do a tribal dance? I'm sure a young white girl looked pretty funny attempting this Chinese dance. It was fun! They said that at home, their whole village gathers in a circle and dances around the fire on special occassions. Pretty cool.
After all of the evening activities were over, I was standing outside and I heard singing and laughing coming from the basketball court. There were about 20 students singing and dancing in a circle. It was the coolest thing. All of these students were from the Tibetan region, and they were doing a traditional Tibetan dance! I tried to get it on video, but it was too dark. They asked me if I wanted to learn. Why not! How often in your life do you get to do a tribal dance? I'm sure a young white girl looked pretty funny attempting this Chinese dance. It was fun! They said that at home, their whole village gathers in a circle and dances around the fire on special occassions. Pretty cool.
The new campus!
Starting July 25th, I will be teaching middle school students for 2 weeks at a different campus. I will be doing this with 3 other teachers from my team. We took a tour of the campus yesterday and were amazed! This new campus is 100 times better than the campus that we are on right now! The classrooms are small, but they said if the weather is nice, we will even be able to hold class outside in the courtyard area! The cafeteria is more like a banquet hall, and the dorms are like hotels! They even have a balcony. I will get spoiled with this for 2 weeks, and then have to go back to the old campus :) Me and another girl decided to stay on this campus for the 2 weeks, so we will have to move some of our stuff. The two boys decided to just commute back and forth every day, since it is not so far. I asked to live on this new campus because I want to spend as much time with the students as I can. I think spending time with them out of class time is so important, because then they can see that we are people too, not just teachers. We are not sure of the English levels of the students yet, since they come from all over China. I hope that we are going to be able to carry on conversation with them.
Teaching English here has been really good for my patience. You have to choose your words so carefully, and speak so slowly, that you must limit what you say. I find myself accidentally talking to my teammates very slowly! :) It's interesting to have to explain so many new words to the students. It's hard to explain some words, because we've used them for so long that we can't really break it down. Each day, the students use a computer program to listen and record themselves in order to improve their pronunciation. The program teaches them many idioms. So the students go around saying, "It's raining cats and dogs outside," or "thanks a million," or "I love you to death." It's pretty funny. They are learning some words that we don't even use. Some of them also have British accents. So cute! It's funny that even though they are all older than me, they almost feel like children. I hope it's not demeaning to them that a younger person is teaching them. After all, they are all teachers. One student told me, "You may be young, but you know English, and English is power." Hmmm.
Teaching English here has been really good for my patience. You have to choose your words so carefully, and speak so slowly, that you must limit what you say. I find myself accidentally talking to my teammates very slowly! :) It's interesting to have to explain so many new words to the students. It's hard to explain some words, because we've used them for so long that we can't really break it down. Each day, the students use a computer program to listen and record themselves in order to improve their pronunciation. The program teaches them many idioms. So the students go around saying, "It's raining cats and dogs outside," or "thanks a million," or "I love you to death." It's pretty funny. They are learning some words that we don't even use. Some of them also have British accents. So cute! It's funny that even though they are all older than me, they almost feel like children. I hope it's not demeaning to them that a younger person is teaching them. After all, they are all teachers. One student told me, "You may be young, but you know English, and English is power." Hmmm.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Funny!!
Well, my students are working on a song to sing for the talent show. They picked "Hey Jude" by the Beatles. But, I must say that Chinese people have very little pitch...or rhythm for that matter. Actually none at all! So, they want me to sing with them, but I'm giggling and cringing while singing, because it is so bad! So funny though! As long as they are having fun, I am happy.
They discovered my blonde arm hair yesterday and thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Asians have hardly any arm hair, so they were pretty excited about mine. Hah :) They find the strangest things interesting!
We have these meal card things for the cafeteria. Mine was on my nametag around my neck so I wouldn't loose it. Well, I accidentally dropped it in the toilet today :( So....now I must borrow someone else's to eat. I laughed. The toilets here are pretty much a pit, so there was no chance of getting it back. Oh well!
I am really tired lately. I think I just need some alone time, but that is kind of impossible here. I feel just kind of emotionally drained. I am getting as much rest as I can, and I am still trying to give my best. The weekend will come soon, and then I can rest.
Yesterday I ate a total of 3 ice cream bars and 3 peaches. The students just kept bringing me things. It's rude to say no, so I just kept eating! Somehow I need to figure out a good, kind way to say no. I can't be eating 3 ice creams a day! Alright, that's it for now :)
They discovered my blonde arm hair yesterday and thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Asians have hardly any arm hair, so they were pretty excited about mine. Hah :) They find the strangest things interesting!
We have these meal card things for the cafeteria. Mine was on my nametag around my neck so I wouldn't loose it. Well, I accidentally dropped it in the toilet today :( So....now I must borrow someone else's to eat. I laughed. The toilets here are pretty much a pit, so there was no chance of getting it back. Oh well!
I am really tired lately. I think I just need some alone time, but that is kind of impossible here. I feel just kind of emotionally drained. I am getting as much rest as I can, and I am still trying to give my best. The weekend will come soon, and then I can rest.
Yesterday I ate a total of 3 ice cream bars and 3 peaches. The students just kept bringing me things. It's rude to say no, so I just kept eating! Somehow I need to figure out a good, kind way to say no. I can't be eating 3 ice creams a day! Alright, that's it for now :)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
It's All in a Days work:)
Hello! Not much is new around here, that's why I haven't written in a few days. This past weekend, we had off, so I got to go with others to do some sightseeing. We went to the Forbidden City, Tian'amen Square, and the Temple of Heaven. The Forbidden City was the place were all of the Chinese royals used to live, and so it was forbidden to the common people. Tian'amen Square is the place of the massacre in 1989. Thousands of university students protested here because they didn't like the new communist ways. The communists didn't like their protests, and therefore killed them all. It's pretty hard to believe that things like that really happen. And we went to the Temple of Heaven. I'm actually still not sure what that is! :)
Yesterday, one of my students asked me if I was a Christian! She asked me, "What do you think about when you pray before a meal?" I was able to share a little bit about what I believe. Surprisingly, she already knew much of it, because their English teachers in elementary school teach them some of the Christian ideas to learn about culture. She was actually very interested. I asked her if she knew anyone that was a Christian, and she said no. Wow! She had never even heard of anyone in China being a Christian.
They are all about happiness here. Everything they do, they want to be happy. Something cute they say is, "We wish you happy everyday." Everything is also about comfort. They all say that they want to have a happy, comfortable life for their children. I'm learning more and more how different the culture and mindset of the Chinese are.
Yesterday, one of my students asked me if I was a Christian! She asked me, "What do you think about when you pray before a meal?" I was able to share a little bit about what I believe. Surprisingly, she already knew much of it, because their English teachers in elementary school teach them some of the Christian ideas to learn about culture. She was actually very interested. I asked her if she knew anyone that was a Christian, and she said no. Wow! She had never even heard of anyone in China being a Christian.
They are all about happiness here. Everything they do, they want to be happy. Something cute they say is, "We wish you happy everyday." Everything is also about comfort. They all say that they want to have a happy, comfortable life for their children. I'm learning more and more how different the culture and mindset of the Chinese are.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Visiting
Yesterday when I sat down for dinner, I bowed my head to pray before I ate. Chinese students don’t really ever do this, so they noticed right away what I was doing. After I began eating, the girl across from me said, “Sara, are you a Christian?” On the very first day, she asked me if I was a Christian! How cool. Then yesterday at dinner while I was praying, another girl said to her friend, “She’s praying…” Neither one of the students really said much after these comments, but I hope that they will ask me later.
I love what I am doing! Is it possible to love my students in just 2 days? Last night I went over to the students’ dorm to visit some of my students. I was walking down the hall trying to find a room, when one of my students from behind me said, “Sara, are you looking for me!?” Well, I wasn’t really, but I pretended like I was. She took me into her room, and I sat and talked with her and her roommates for a whole hour! It’s so funny how girls are the same in any country. We just sat and laughed and laughed about silly things. It’s cool that when you are with people all day long, you can get to know them in just a few days. They gave me a peach, washed it and peeled it for me. When I finally left, they gave me two more peaches, one for me and one for my roommate. In class today I was given another. I now have a pile of peaches on my desk! It’s almost hard to receive a gift from them, when I know that they have so little.
I know they bought the fruit for themselves, yet they are giving them to me. They are so giving!
This trip so far is way more that I thought it was going to be! The students make everything worth it.
I love what I am doing! Is it possible to love my students in just 2 days? Last night I went over to the students’ dorm to visit some of my students. I was walking down the hall trying to find a room, when one of my students from behind me said, “Sara, are you looking for me!?” Well, I wasn’t really, but I pretended like I was. She took me into her room, and I sat and talked with her and her roommates for a whole hour! It’s so funny how girls are the same in any country. We just sat and laughed and laughed about silly things. It’s cool that when you are with people all day long, you can get to know them in just a few days. They gave me a peach, washed it and peeled it for me. When I finally left, they gave me two more peaches, one for me and one for my roommate. In class today I was given another. I now have a pile of peaches on my desk! It’s almost hard to receive a gift from them, when I know that they have so little.
I know they bought the fruit for themselves, yet they are giving them to me. They are so giving!
This trip so far is way more that I thought it was going to be! The students make everything worth it.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Blog on Hold!
China has blocked all internet use because of the riots in western China. Sara is far away from the violence. She is in a safe area. She is still able to call home. Please pray for her safety.
Paula (Sara's Mom)
Paula (Sara's Mom)
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The First Day
The students are here! They arrived yesterday, so we greeted them, helped them move in, and interviewed them to place them in classes according to their English speaking level. They are such sweet people. They really want to talk to us all the time. They say really funny things in what we call Chinglish (Chinese and English put together). Yesterday, when one of the ladies asked me about my curly hair, she said, "How do you make your hair?"! I have no worries about blending in, I am about a head or more taller than them. They want to tell all the American girls how beautiful they are. So far, the average guess of how old I am is 17! I guess I look young to them. Then...they always want me to guess how old they are. That's just asking for trouble :) Before they come to our program, they must have already chosen an English name. It can be really funny to hear the names that they've chosen. They don't really seem to care if it's a name or not, they just look through the dictionary and pick a word that they like. Here are some of the names I have heard: Desk, Chairman, Champion, Okay, Lucky, Peace...and then there are those who make up their own, like Donolamden. So funny! Last night I went to their dorms to chat with them before bed. They are so receptive. When you go to their room they want to feed you, and have you sit down and talk. One lady had asked me about my family. I told her about my family, and she said, "You seem very happy." I asked her if she was happy, and she said, "Well, not really. I have a typical Chinese family." She said her husband works all the time.
One more funny thing is that I was eating yogurt for breakfast yesterday, and a Chinese girl I was eating with said that I should eat yogurt everyday because it will make my face very beautiful. I couldn't help but laugh about that one!
Today I will meet my class! My teaching partner has an infection, and had to go to the hospital yesterday, so I'm not sure if she will be well enough to teach with me today.
Yesterday I heard that there were some riots in China, but they were not in Beijing, and were far away. It was something about a minority group in the west protesting. I am not sure, but we are not supposed to talk to students about it because it could be a touchy subject.
One more funny thing is that I was eating yogurt for breakfast yesterday, and a Chinese girl I was eating with said that I should eat yogurt everyday because it will make my face very beautiful. I couldn't help but laugh about that one!
Today I will meet my class! My teaching partner has an infection, and had to go to the hospital yesterday, so I'm not sure if she will be well enough to teach with me today.
Yesterday I heard that there were some riots in China, but they were not in Beijing, and were far away. It was something about a minority group in the west protesting. I am not sure, but we are not supposed to talk to students about it because it could be a touchy subject.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Church and the Silk Market
This morning we went to a church in downtown Beijing. Before church we went to a Bakery near it. I got some chocolate mousse thing that was really good. The church was huge! It was so crowded. I was really surprised that they sang the same songs that we sing at home. The service was really cool, and the people were so welcoming. What's cool to me, is that there are no denominations in China. Because the number of Christians is so small, they all ban together to form the Christian church in China. They are fighting other persecution, there is no need to worry about the small denominational issues.
After church we went to this place called the silk market. This was definitely a unique experience. The subway is like nothing I have ever seen before! I have never been shoved into such a small space with so many people before. There is absolutely no personal space in China. It would be so easy to get pick-pocketed, because everyone is pushed up against everyone else. The silk market is this 4 story building full of everything you could ever imagine! It's kind of like a flea market, but with nice stuff. I am learning to become a master barterer! :) It really makes you tired at the end of the day, because it takes so long to talk them into an agreeable price. You have to work hard for what you want. Everything is so incredibly cheap here. I got a dress shirt for $5 American Dollars. A meal at a restaurant is $1-2 American Dollars! I kind of bought a lot at the market, because it's all so cheap. I have no idea how I'm going to fit things into my suitcase! Anyway, at this market, there are back to back shops/stands, where they yell at you to come into their store. If you ignore them, they pull you in to look at their merchandise. Crazy! It took us 2 1/2 hours to maneuver through the subway system to get back to campus. Beijing is such a big place. Someone told me today that the city is the size of the whole state of New York! Wow.
After church we went to this place called the silk market. This was definitely a unique experience. The subway is like nothing I have ever seen before! I have never been shoved into such a small space with so many people before. There is absolutely no personal space in China. It would be so easy to get pick-pocketed, because everyone is pushed up against everyone else. The silk market is this 4 story building full of everything you could ever imagine! It's kind of like a flea market, but with nice stuff. I am learning to become a master barterer! :) It really makes you tired at the end of the day, because it takes so long to talk them into an agreeable price. You have to work hard for what you want. Everything is so incredibly cheap here. I got a dress shirt for $5 American Dollars. A meal at a restaurant is $1-2 American Dollars! I kind of bought a lot at the market, because it's all so cheap. I have no idea how I'm going to fit things into my suitcase! Anyway, at this market, there are back to back shops/stands, where they yell at you to come into their store. If you ignore them, they pull you in to look at their merchandise. Crazy! It took us 2 1/2 hours to maneuver through the subway system to get back to campus. Beijing is such a big place. Someone told me today that the city is the size of the whole state of New York! Wow.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Olympic Training!
Today I went running with one of the other girls and guess what we stumbled upon... Well, we saw this really pretty campus, so we decided to run through it. We first saw many teams all training for something. Then we started to wonder, because each team had on jerseys that said China on the back. Then we saw a huge building that said Olympic Training College! We were on the campus where all the Olympians train! It was so cool. There was a lot of military training going on there too. All of these reasons were why the people were up so early training for their sports. So, me and my friend went on the Olympic training track and ran a lap with the trainees! I'm sure that they were wondering what we were doing there, but the gates were open, so we went in!
Happy Fourth of July! I guess it doesn't really mean much in China. We are really doing anything to celebrate it. No fireworks here.
I am getting much better at using chop sticks! We eat with them at every meal, so you kind of have to learn to use them. No forks in China. I've been trying pretty interesting foods. There are a lot of really cool drinks. My favorite drink in the cafeteria is Sour Apple pop. I ate duck the other day. That was pretty good.
That's it for now :)
Happy Fourth of July! I guess it doesn't really mean much in China. We are really doing anything to celebrate it. No fireworks here.
I am getting much better at using chop sticks! We eat with them at every meal, so you kind of have to learn to use them. No forks in China. I've been trying pretty interesting foods. There are a lot of really cool drinks. My favorite drink in the cafeteria is Sour Apple pop. I ate duck the other day. That was pretty good.
That's it for now :)
Friday, July 3, 2009
The Great Wall
The other day we went to the Great Wall of China. That is my first check off the list of the 7 wonders of the world. It was very cool. It really didn’t look much like the pictures that I’d seen on the internet, although it was beautiful. It was a perfect day, not too hot and not too sunny. We hiked up to the highest point in that section. The wall is broken down in many parts. The whole wall is 3000 miles! There are only a few parts of it that are preserved enough to hike on. It’s hard to believe that the soldiers actually climbed up the wall everyday. It was pretty tough! I learned that it was built to keep out the Mongols, although it didn’t exactly work. They mostly used it to warn the city that an attack was coming. The first parts of the wall were built before Jesus was born!
I got my assignments today on what I am going to be doing when the students come. First, I will eat breakfast with the students, then I go to class. I am an assistant teacher, because they wanted one older teacher with one younger teacher. In the afternoon, I will be teaching the music club. I am really excited about this, because me and another guy get to teach the Chinese about the different styles/ genres of music, such as jazz, blues, hip hop, country etc. Also we teach them some of the classics, like YMCA, Chicken dance and others. It will be pretty fun.
I got my assignments today on what I am going to be doing when the students come. First, I will eat breakfast with the students, then I go to class. I am an assistant teacher, because they wanted one older teacher with one younger teacher. In the afternoon, I will be teaching the music club. I am really excited about this, because me and another guy get to teach the Chinese about the different styles/ genres of music, such as jazz, blues, hip hop, country etc. Also we teach them some of the classics, like YMCA, Chicken dance and others. It will be pretty fun.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Out on the Town!
Today is our first day out of quarantine. I am sitting in an internet cafe in downtown Beijing. Being in the city is a WHOLE different experience. It is crazy! It is really fun trying to maneuver around without knowing Chinese. I am trying to use many of the phrases that we've learned, but most of the time they just laugh at me :) I was walking through the city a few minutes ago with a group, and a man came up to me and said in his broken English, "Excuse me..." and then he turned to his friend and they walked off snickering and looking back at me. They try to practice their English any time that they get a chance. I am amazed that there are many of the same stores and brand names in China as in America. In the city, it is very civilized, but where we are staying, right on the outskirts of the city, I am amazed at all of the trash and dirt everywhere. I would like to see the country, because I hear that it is like nothing we have ever seen. The ladies here all walk around with umbrellas, because to them, the whiter skin is more beautiful. Too bad I wasn't born here! ;) I'd be all set. On our campus and the surrounding area, everywhere I go I am stared at because of my blonde and curly hair (I am wearing it curly because it is so humid). It is very hot here. Not many places are air conditioned. Tomorrow we will go to the Great Wall! That will be fun :)
I will be using the following email address while in China : sarahornback@gmail.com
I will be using the following email address while in China : sarahornback@gmail.com
Monday, June 29, 2009
Free at last!
The internet situation is a little frustrating. The connection is bad, so right now we can only use one computer for all 40 of us. They are trying to hook up a system in which 6 people will be able to get on at once. On Chinese internet, there are only two american sites that you can get on, gmail and google. So I had to create a gmail account. Today we practice teaching to each other. Things are going well. Tomorrow ends our quarintine, so a lot of us are going to go running in the morning into the city. On Wednesday we get to go site seeing for the first time!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
A Day of Rest
Today was Sunday. Because we are in quarantine for another few days, we were not able to go to a church. Thankfully, we have a pastor on the trip! We made our own little church service. I am amazed at the variety of people on the team. The balance of young and old people is great! We are really learning so much from each other. It’s funny how easily they mix in with the young folks. It’s cool to think that in some cases there can be even 50 years difference between us (the oldest lady is 74!) and still have meaningful and deep conversations with each other about life, goals, experiences, and relationships. It seems like every meal, I get to talk to someone different about their life. Everyone here is so interested in really getting to know you, not just “surfacy” things. Today the pastor in our group baptized one of our team in a shower! How cool! One of the Chinese staff talked to him a lot today and he made the decision.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The same God!
Today I became fluent in Chinese Mandarin. Hah, yeah right! We learned 10 phrases in Chinese, although it is almost impossible to make their sounds, so I will probably never be understood. It’s funny because each phrase means something different if you use a different tone. Today I learned the word “ma” can mean 5 different things, including horse, mom, etc. I am getting so excited to teach. Today we learned about lesson planning. It turns out that all of the lesson plans are written for us, it is just up to us how we want to implement them in our classrooms. I am still not sure how the classrooms work. I think there may be two teachers to each room. They talked about how eager the Chinese students are to learn. They will be very motivated and will love Americans. Yesterday we talked about some of the misconceptions about what Chinese people think about Americans. Apparently they all think that we are white with blonde hair and blue eyes. There are a few Asian-Americans on my team that are Americans, and they will not believe that these people are actually Americans. They also think that all Americans are rich, fat, and loud. Boy, what a reputation! The food is getting much better. There is a little more than just rice and noodles now. The food is very flavorful. Tonight we had an awesome worship time! Man, it’s so cool to sing songs with some of the Chinese staff. We are half way around the world, singing to the same God! Very cool. I am having SUCH a good time. This is going to be such a good summer ?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Arrived!
I have safely arrived in Beijing. After a 13 hour flight, I was pretty exhausted. There were two doctors who came onto the plane after we arrived to take our temperature. When we got off the plane, we had to go through 3 checkpoints to make sure that we did not have the swine flu. China is completely obsessed with the swine flu virus. All Americans are quarantined for 7 days upon arrival. One of the boys on my team did get the virus, so he was taken straight from the plane to the hospital. There were 5 others on my trip who rode in the plane with him, so they were all taken to isolation with a hotel for 7 days. So my whole team can only stay in two hallways for the next 7 days in order to stay 5 feet away from Chinese people. We had to wear masks, but they recently told us that we could take them off. We are just doing training right now. My group seems very good. I am already making friends and getting to know all sorts of people. The living conditions are pretty primitive, but it is kind of fun. I will write back later when I get more time.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Getting Close!
Well it's just about 10 days until I leave for Beijing now! I am getting VERY excited. There was a change in campuses earlier in the month due to construction. Now I will be at Yuan Ming Yuan campus, right in Beijing the whole time. It will be more fun and populated being in the big city. They say there will be more things for us to do. But...I guess the conditions are a bit worse. There are concrete floors, not much furniture, and no western style toilets. This actually makes me kind of excited. It will definitely be an adventure! Next time I write I will be in China!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
What will I be doing?
This summer I am going to Chang Ping, China, which is an hour outside of Beijing. I will be living on the campus of Peking University and teaching college students English. The whole thought is a bit scary to me, considering I don't know anyone else going, I'll be half way around the world, and teaching students my same age. But...I am really excited at the same time. Supposedly the students already know English, but they have never heard a native speak before. My job is to give them conversational practice. So basically, I get to hang out with Chinese students all summer. The students come for three weeks, and stay over night in the dorms. I will have an American roommate, but we will be in the same dorms as the students. We also get to eat all of our meals with them.
The best part is, I am going with a Christian organization. Most Chinese are atheists, and only a very small percentage of the people are Christian. I will likely be the only Christian most of them have ever met! What an opportunity! Through teaching them about our culture, and our holidays, I will hopefully get to share the gospel with them. I pray that somehow they will see something different in me before I even tell them I'm a Christian. I hope that they will ask me questions, and then I'll get to explain why I believe what I believe. I really think that this will be the best summer I've ever had.
I have never been out of the country for this long (a little over 2 months), so I'm sure it will be streching and challenging. I hope that the adjustment will be easy, and that I will get right into the swing of things in Chinese life.
Also, all of the lesson planning is kind of left up to me. I am trying to think up as many creative ideas as I can, to keep them interested. I want it to be a classroom where they learn English, but also about life.
I leave June 22, and come back August 28. The time is coming quicker than I realize!
The best part is, I am going with a Christian organization. Most Chinese are atheists, and only a very small percentage of the people are Christian. I will likely be the only Christian most of them have ever met! What an opportunity! Through teaching them about our culture, and our holidays, I will hopefully get to share the gospel with them. I pray that somehow they will see something different in me before I even tell them I'm a Christian. I hope that they will ask me questions, and then I'll get to explain why I believe what I believe. I really think that this will be the best summer I've ever had.
I have never been out of the country for this long (a little over 2 months), so I'm sure it will be streching and challenging. I hope that the adjustment will be easy, and that I will get right into the swing of things in Chinese life.
Also, all of the lesson planning is kind of left up to me. I am trying to think up as many creative ideas as I can, to keep them interested. I want it to be a classroom where they learn English, but also about life.
I leave June 22, and come back August 28. The time is coming quicker than I realize!
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