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!

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! :)

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.

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.

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.

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 :)

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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 :)

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.