Thursday, December 9, 2010
I'm Home for Christmas
So, I realize that this update is way overdue, but I wanted to let you all know that I am currently in Georgia for Christmas. I will be here until the end of the month, so if any of you would like to chat with me while I am here feel free to call (if you need my phone number send me an email). I am currently working on a letter to update you all on the past 4 months since I last checked in, as well as what next semester holds for me, so be looking for that soon.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Awesome Training
For the much anticipated update on my week of training in Beijing........
The week was busy and the schedule was packed, but it was awesome and I am even more excited than I was before to begin teaching this program. This curriculum is being taught at several high schools and universities in Beijing, and I had the opportunity to sit in on three lectures - one at a high school and two at two different universities. The topic for the week at the high school was "Me and My Money," which focused on how to make wise decisions when it came to money. The students played a game in which they were given $10 to spend between various options. If they chose wisely then sometimes they got money back. For example, if a student chose to spend $1 on a healthy family, then they would get $3 back since they would be less likely to have to visit the Doctor for illness, etc. At the end of the lecture a panel of students (rotates each week, but students are allowed to come every week if they want) then meets with the lecturer to ask questions. And many of these questions that the students ask are difficult ones, but so good too since many times they led to other doors being opened. The topic for the week at the universities was "Stress Management" and when a fake test was given in the first 10 minutes of class as a lead in to the lecture, the girl sitting next to me actually starting sweating - which she laughed about 5 minutes later when she found out it had been a fake test. So, overall I was very impressed with the written curriculum, the teaching of the material, as well as the training that I received in preparation to teach in universities here in Xi'an.
The rest of this blog is just about the journey to Beijing as well as my one day off, as the main point of this blog was to be about training, so I hope you enjoy.
The trip started with the train ride to Beijing, which was a new adventure for me, and definitely did not disappoint with some interesting moments. My friends and I unfortunately were traveling on a busy day as the week of celebration from National Day was ending and so many people were returning home from vacation and were going by way of train. The one advantage we had was that we had purchased soft sleeper tickets, which means that you are in specific train car that has 4 beds per room (2 beds on the bottom and 2 beds above that - like what you find on a cruise ship) and we were guaranteed to get to our seats. In China people are allowed to buy standing tickets for trains, which literally means they stand or sit in the aisles for anywhere from 8-36 hours depending on the destination, and because of this sometimes people that have purchased tickets for seats cannot get to their actual seat due to so many people being in the way, and end up having to stand for that time as well. Anyways, for this trip I had the bottom bunk and was able to sleep during the night, but was awakened every hour to hour and a half with the person above me constantly jumping down on my bed to go out of the room for a smoke, bathroom break, etc. During one of those times I did get the chance to see one of China's bullet trains pass by my train in 3 seconds flat, which was pretty cool.
Once making it to Beijing my friends and I grabbed some breakfast before heading to the hotel to check in. I definitely got my workout in for the day since China is not really handicap/luggage accessible and requires you to carry your luggage up a few flights of stairs to exit the train station, as well as to get to the subway station. After checking in at the hotel, a few of us decided to go to the Water Cube Waterpark and spend the day since it was the worst pollution day ever in Beijing and being outside for too long was not the best option. The Water Cube is where the swimming, diving, water polo, and synchronized swimming events occurred for the 2008 Olympics. The actual pools where the swimming and diving events, and where Micheal Phelps won 8 gold medals, is still there, but the other half of the building was converted to an indoor waterpark. The waterpark was amazing and we apparently chose a great day to go as it was not crowded at all. I definitely tried all the slides, including one with a 40 foot drop. This slide was crazy - there is a chamber that you step into, you lean against the wall and then cross your arms and feet, the door to the chamber is then closed and locked with you inside, the lifeguard counts down from 3 and then presses a button that drops the floor beneath your feet dropping you 40 feet before being propelled back up 20 feet and then finishing into the pool. It was fun, but I only did this slide once.
Well, that's it for now.....will check in again soon with an update on the teaching.
The week was busy and the schedule was packed, but it was awesome and I am even more excited than I was before to begin teaching this program. This curriculum is being taught at several high schools and universities in Beijing, and I had the opportunity to sit in on three lectures - one at a high school and two at two different universities. The topic for the week at the high school was "Me and My Money," which focused on how to make wise decisions when it came to money. The students played a game in which they were given $10 to spend between various options. If they chose wisely then sometimes they got money back. For example, if a student chose to spend $1 on a healthy family, then they would get $3 back since they would be less likely to have to visit the Doctor for illness, etc. At the end of the lecture a panel of students (rotates each week, but students are allowed to come every week if they want) then meets with the lecturer to ask questions. And many of these questions that the students ask are difficult ones, but so good too since many times they led to other doors being opened. The topic for the week at the universities was "Stress Management" and when a fake test was given in the first 10 minutes of class as a lead in to the lecture, the girl sitting next to me actually starting sweating - which she laughed about 5 minutes later when she found out it had been a fake test. So, overall I was very impressed with the written curriculum, the teaching of the material, as well as the training that I received in preparation to teach in universities here in Xi'an.
The rest of this blog is just about the journey to Beijing as well as my one day off, as the main point of this blog was to be about training, so I hope you enjoy.
The trip started with the train ride to Beijing, which was a new adventure for me, and definitely did not disappoint with some interesting moments. My friends and I unfortunately were traveling on a busy day as the week of celebration from National Day was ending and so many people were returning home from vacation and were going by way of train. The one advantage we had was that we had purchased soft sleeper tickets, which means that you are in specific train car that has 4 beds per room (2 beds on the bottom and 2 beds above that - like what you find on a cruise ship) and we were guaranteed to get to our seats. In China people are allowed to buy standing tickets for trains, which literally means they stand or sit in the aisles for anywhere from 8-36 hours depending on the destination, and because of this sometimes people that have purchased tickets for seats cannot get to their actual seat due to so many people being in the way, and end up having to stand for that time as well. Anyways, for this trip I had the bottom bunk and was able to sleep during the night, but was awakened every hour to hour and a half with the person above me constantly jumping down on my bed to go out of the room for a smoke, bathroom break, etc. During one of those times I did get the chance to see one of China's bullet trains pass by my train in 3 seconds flat, which was pretty cool.
Once making it to Beijing my friends and I grabbed some breakfast before heading to the hotel to check in. I definitely got my workout in for the day since China is not really handicap/luggage accessible and requires you to carry your luggage up a few flights of stairs to exit the train station, as well as to get to the subway station. After checking in at the hotel, a few of us decided to go to the Water Cube Waterpark and spend the day since it was the worst pollution day ever in Beijing and being outside for too long was not the best option. The Water Cube is where the swimming, diving, water polo, and synchronized swimming events occurred for the 2008 Olympics. The actual pools where the swimming and diving events, and where Micheal Phelps won 8 gold medals, is still there, but the other half of the building was converted to an indoor waterpark. The waterpark was amazing and we apparently chose a great day to go as it was not crowded at all. I definitely tried all the slides, including one with a 40 foot drop. This slide was crazy - there is a chamber that you step into, you lean against the wall and then cross your arms and feet, the door to the chamber is then closed and locked with you inside, the lifeguard counts down from 3 and then presses a button that drops the floor beneath your feet dropping you 40 feet before being propelled back up 20 feet and then finishing into the pool. It was fun, but I only did this slide once.
Well, that's it for now.....will check in again soon with an update on the teaching.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
English Club and Beijing
Since this post is long overdue, it will be a long one. I have a lot to catch you up on, so here goes...
Friday, October 1 was China's celebration of their National Day of becoming the People's Republic of China. The celebration lasts for a week, with most people off from work and the children out of school. Even though the children are out of school from Friday October 1-8 they had to make up for those days by going to school Saturday and Sunday the week before and this coming Saturday and Sunday too. These children really do not get a break from school like we do with fall break, spring break, Christmas, etcetera since they are always having to make it up. This past week we had some beautiful sunny days with nice temperatures, so it was great to be outside.
On Saturday, October 2, I had my first day teaching English at the Little Ant Learning Club. I normally will have seven to ten students, but because of the holiday and some families traveling I only had three students on my first day. Those three students: Jay, Corina, and Arianna (their English names) were great to work with and I had so much fun. I actually was the one to give Jay his English name after his aunt asked me to come up with one for him. His aunt and cousin both had English names with a J, so that is what I came up with. In my first class I worked on shapes and direction with the kids and then we played a game to reinforce what we just learned. After teaching was over I spent some time playing games with the kids in the game room of their club. At one point Jay and I were throwing a ball back and forth, and when I would bounce the ball under my leg back to him, he would mimicking my actions and just smile and say: "This is fun." I definitely have had some frustrations with the lady in charge due to cultural differences in how they approach things, but I can honestly say that working with these kids and seeing them having fun learning English far outweighs my frustrations with everything else.
In other news - on Saturday night I leave with four friends headed to Beijing for our training with the Life Education course. We are traveling by train overnight (my first experience, which I am excited about) in soft sleepers and will arrive early Sunday morning. We will have the day to hang out on Sunday and then training begins Monday morning at 9am. Most days the training will be from 9am - 5pm, but there will be one or two days where we will have the afternoon off and will be doing training in the evenings those days by observing the Life Education course being taught in some Beijing Universities. And then Friday night my friends and I will travel back on another overnight train and arrive back Saturday morning. I will be sharing with you about training once I get back.
And just as a fun side note - I learned last week how to order in Chinese at the Subway restaurant. A new Subway was opened in my neighborhood this summer, so my tutor and I went there for lunch one day last week. When I am at the restaurant I have been able to order by pointing at the menu written in English and Chinese if there was a misunderstanding, but since they do deliver now I have the option of calling, ordering, and having them deliver if I want (I will reserve that option for a cold winter day).
Hope some of you have been able to experience the leaves beginning to change - that is definitely one thing that I do miss seeing. Much love and happiness to each of you.
Friday, October 1 was China's celebration of their National Day of becoming the People's Republic of China. The celebration lasts for a week, with most people off from work and the children out of school. Even though the children are out of school from Friday October 1-8 they had to make up for those days by going to school Saturday and Sunday the week before and this coming Saturday and Sunday too. These children really do not get a break from school like we do with fall break, spring break, Christmas, etcetera since they are always having to make it up. This past week we had some beautiful sunny days with nice temperatures, so it was great to be outside.
On Saturday, October 2, I had my first day teaching English at the Little Ant Learning Club. I normally will have seven to ten students, but because of the holiday and some families traveling I only had three students on my first day. Those three students: Jay, Corina, and Arianna (their English names) were great to work with and I had so much fun. I actually was the one to give Jay his English name after his aunt asked me to come up with one for him. His aunt and cousin both had English names with a J, so that is what I came up with. In my first class I worked on shapes and direction with the kids and then we played a game to reinforce what we just learned. After teaching was over I spent some time playing games with the kids in the game room of their club. At one point Jay and I were throwing a ball back and forth, and when I would bounce the ball under my leg back to him, he would mimicking my actions and just smile and say: "This is fun." I definitely have had some frustrations with the lady in charge due to cultural differences in how they approach things, but I can honestly say that working with these kids and seeing them having fun learning English far outweighs my frustrations with everything else.
In other news - on Saturday night I leave with four friends headed to Beijing for our training with the Life Education course. We are traveling by train overnight (my first experience, which I am excited about) in soft sleepers and will arrive early Sunday morning. We will have the day to hang out on Sunday and then training begins Monday morning at 9am. Most days the training will be from 9am - 5pm, but there will be one or two days where we will have the afternoon off and will be doing training in the evenings those days by observing the Life Education course being taught in some Beijing Universities. And then Friday night my friends and I will travel back on another overnight train and arrive back Saturday morning. I will be sharing with you about training once I get back.
And just as a fun side note - I learned last week how to order in Chinese at the Subway restaurant. A new Subway was opened in my neighborhood this summer, so my tutor and I went there for lunch one day last week. When I am at the restaurant I have been able to order by pointing at the menu written in English and Chinese if there was a misunderstanding, but since they do deliver now I have the option of calling, ordering, and having them deliver if I want (I will reserve that option for a cold winter day).
Hope some of you have been able to experience the leaves beginning to change - that is definitely one thing that I do miss seeing. Much love and happiness to each of you.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Happy Moon Cake Festival
Today marks the Chinese celebration of the mid-Autumn Festival, which includes the celebration of eating moon cakes. The festival, which is similar to our Thanksgiving and Christmas, is celebrated for a wide variety of reasons - depending on which legendary folklore you believe. Some Chinese still believe that the Festival is to celebrate a goddess, who descended to the moon and now looks down on the people bringing good luck and romance this time of year, while others believe it is just a celebration of the harvest from the year. One thing that is standard about the day is that everyone eats moon cakes in celebration of the day. There are various stories to the moon cakes as well - like during the Sung Dynasty when people were unhappy at submitting to the foreign rule, so they baked a message into each moon cake with the outline of the attack. Moon cakes are similar to a fruitcake in our culture and can be filled with a variety of things such as: bean paste, lotus seed, melon seed, minced meat and salted duck egg.
Now make sure that you don't confuse the moon cake with a moon pie, which are sold here too. They are definitely different, with very different tastes. The moon cake was not bad, but not near as good as a moon pie. Maybe part of that has to do with the fact too that I have many fond memories growing up of sitting on my grandparents porch in Georgia in the summers eating a moon pie and drinking RC Cola.
As for the rest of the happenings here in China, I have just been consistently working on my language, while also continuing to meet with my Chinese friends from last year and talking with them about various things. I have also been getting ready for my opportunity to teach English to 6-7 year old children that begins in the next week and a half, and have been preparing for my trip to Beijing for training to be able to teach The Way to Success Program.
One day last week I had a really great opportunity to work on my language when I had an issue with my bathroom light and the electricity. During the middle of the night the light fixture in the bathroom fell out of the ceiling shattering on the floor, while also causing the electrical wire to fall down 4 feet as well. The next more when I turned on the light switch on I caused the wire to pop and smoke, as well as blowing the breaker to my apartment. Having blown the breaker once before (easy to do here), I knew where to go in the hallway to reset it. My only problem now was that I figured I still had a live wire in the bathroom as well the fact that I would need a new light fixture. The maintenance men on staff here at the apartment complex will happily fix any problems that you have, including installing a new light, but you have to get the parts they will need before they will come fix the problem. So, with the help of my Chinese tutor we headed out to the store where I did the communicating to get a new light fixture, and then I went and talked to the maintenance office about sending out to someone to fix my problem. Two guys came and in no time took care of the wire as well as replaced my light fixture for me. And I was pretty excited about having done the communicating in Chinese.
It has begun to get cooler here recently and I am enjoying the nice change. I hope this finds you well and that you are enjoying the change in seasons too.
Now make sure that you don't confuse the moon cake with a moon pie, which are sold here too. They are definitely different, with very different tastes. The moon cake was not bad, but not near as good as a moon pie. Maybe part of that has to do with the fact too that I have many fond memories growing up of sitting on my grandparents porch in Georgia in the summers eating a moon pie and drinking RC Cola.
As for the rest of the happenings here in China, I have just been consistently working on my language, while also continuing to meet with my Chinese friends from last year and talking with them about various things. I have also been getting ready for my opportunity to teach English to 6-7 year old children that begins in the next week and a half, and have been preparing for my trip to Beijing for training to be able to teach The Way to Success Program.
One day last week I had a really great opportunity to work on my language when I had an issue with my bathroom light and the electricity. During the middle of the night the light fixture in the bathroom fell out of the ceiling shattering on the floor, while also causing the electrical wire to fall down 4 feet as well. The next more when I turned on the light switch on I caused the wire to pop and smoke, as well as blowing the breaker to my apartment. Having blown the breaker once before (easy to do here), I knew where to go in the hallway to reset it. My only problem now was that I figured I still had a live wire in the bathroom as well the fact that I would need a new light fixture. The maintenance men on staff here at the apartment complex will happily fix any problems that you have, including installing a new light, but you have to get the parts they will need before they will come fix the problem. So, with the help of my Chinese tutor we headed out to the store where I did the communicating to get a new light fixture, and then I went and talked to the maintenance office about sending out to someone to fix my problem. Two guys came and in no time took care of the wire as well as replaced my light fixture for me. And I was pretty excited about having done the communicating in Chinese.
It has begun to get cooler here recently and I am enjoying the nice change. I hope this finds you well and that you are enjoying the change in seasons too.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Settling Back In
I am back in Xi'an and settling back in to everyday life, as well as getting into a routine of what this year will look like.
Studying Chinese: Instead of going to a university this year, I have 2 tutors who will continue teaching me Mandarin. Rebekah (a teacher from my school last year, and one of the ladies I met without throughout the year), will tutor me 3 days a week for 2 hours each session. Victoria (who was one of my teachers last year), will tutor me 1 day a week for 2 hours, and will be focused more on speaking conversational Chinese during that time.
Teaching: So, I recently met with two teachers from the preschool to discuss logistics of teaching English at their school. Originally I was asked to teach 4-6 year olds, but due to an increase in other foreigner teachers coming to help, they now need me to teach 6-7 year olds instead. I will begin teaching either the last Saturday of September or the first Saturday of October, depending on when the school decides is the best day to start the new class. I will teach 1 class every Saturday for 90 minutes, and I have a book that I must use.
Training for The Way to Success Program: So, my friends and I, who will be working with The Way to Success program (the University program of the summer camp I worked in July) will be headed to Beijing for training for a week in October. We are scheduled to have training the week of October 11-15, and then hopefully can begin teaching in the Universities here offering the program as soon as we get back from training. This teaching is a volunteer position, but that allows for great relationships to be formed and extended beyond the classroom. Plus, I just think this is a great program that teaches students to live a life of integrity and with great character, so that is why I feel strongly about being involved with it.
Other: I did arrive back into Xi'an to find the main road that runs in front of the west gate to my apartment complex completely torn up and with barriers everywhere. The city is installing new water pipes and doing some work in preparation for the new subway line while they have the road torn up. It will be great when it is done, but has been quite the obstacle in trying to get from one place to another. You can't just cross the street to get somewhere, but rather have to go up your side of the street for a few blocks, cross the road, then go back down the other side 4-5 blocks to where you are going, and do it all over again when coming home. The plus side is that it helps with my exercise regimen!
Until next time, blessings for you.
P.S. On my way back to China from the States I had a chance to watch the new Karate Kid movie on the plane. If you were looking to get a better idea of what China is like as far as culture, experiences, and differences (ex: having to use a card for electricity), then this movie does a great job of showing it.
Studying Chinese: Instead of going to a university this year, I have 2 tutors who will continue teaching me Mandarin. Rebekah (a teacher from my school last year, and one of the ladies I met without throughout the year), will tutor me 3 days a week for 2 hours each session. Victoria (who was one of my teachers last year), will tutor me 1 day a week for 2 hours, and will be focused more on speaking conversational Chinese during that time.
Teaching: So, I recently met with two teachers from the preschool to discuss logistics of teaching English at their school. Originally I was asked to teach 4-6 year olds, but due to an increase in other foreigner teachers coming to help, they now need me to teach 6-7 year olds instead. I will begin teaching either the last Saturday of September or the first Saturday of October, depending on when the school decides is the best day to start the new class. I will teach 1 class every Saturday for 90 minutes, and I have a book that I must use.
Training for The Way to Success Program: So, my friends and I, who will be working with The Way to Success program (the University program of the summer camp I worked in July) will be headed to Beijing for training for a week in October. We are scheduled to have training the week of October 11-15, and then hopefully can begin teaching in the Universities here offering the program as soon as we get back from training. This teaching is a volunteer position, but that allows for great relationships to be formed and extended beyond the classroom. Plus, I just think this is a great program that teaches students to live a life of integrity and with great character, so that is why I feel strongly about being involved with it.
Other: I did arrive back into Xi'an to find the main road that runs in front of the west gate to my apartment complex completely torn up and with barriers everywhere. The city is installing new water pipes and doing some work in preparation for the new subway line while they have the road torn up. It will be great when it is done, but has been quite the obstacle in trying to get from one place to another. You can't just cross the street to get somewhere, but rather have to go up your side of the street for a few blocks, cross the road, then go back down the other side 4-5 blocks to where you are going, and do it all over again when coming home. The plus side is that it helps with my exercise regimen!
Until next time, blessings for you.
P.S. On my way back to China from the States I had a chance to watch the new Karate Kid movie on the plane. If you were looking to get a better idea of what China is like as far as culture, experiences, and differences (ex: having to use a card for electricity), then this movie does a great job of showing it.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sunshine Camp
It has been almost a month since I got back from Qujing where I worked at the Sunshine International Camp and I am excited to finally be telling you about my experience.
There are normally two camps (high school track and university track) being run simultaneously, but the numbers were lower this summer, so the two camps were combined into one. While the numbers were lower, there were still about 200 campers. My life group, as it is called, was made up of myself, a Chinese co-coach (English name: Champion), 5 Chinese girls (English names: Lucy, Candy, Shell, Rolina, and Alissa), 2 Chinese guys (English names: Bo and William), and 2 American guys (Blake and Carlton). The two American guys were 16 years old and the rest of the life group were between the ages of 20-23. I feel like we had a really great group that meshed really well together.
The days were long - starting at 8am and finishing at 10:30pm everyday, but it was so worth the long days for the experience I had as well as the experience the campers had too. Each morning included either a guest speaker or workshops with the topic focused on leadership and integrity followed by discussion in our life groups. The afternoons were either team building activities or the occasional lecture from a guest professional. And the evenings were more time spent in our life groups where some really exciting conversations would happen. I had three of my life group girls assigned to my room where some amazing conversations about my Friend took place. I had the ability to be open with them and really share my heart and help them in the process as they were trying to sort through some questions that they had and wanted to be answered. Another one of my life group girls, who was assigned to the room across the hall, also talked to me about wanting to know more about my Friend and how he was different from everybody else, so that was awesome.
I definitely loved working at this camp and am looking forward to working at the camp again next summer. I also enjoyed the mass amount of text messages I received the next few days after camp was over from my life group campers.
I have posted pictures from camp for you to look at. Hope you enjoy.
There are normally two camps (high school track and university track) being run simultaneously, but the numbers were lower this summer, so the two camps were combined into one. While the numbers were lower, there were still about 200 campers. My life group, as it is called, was made up of myself, a Chinese co-coach (English name: Champion), 5 Chinese girls (English names: Lucy, Candy, Shell, Rolina, and Alissa), 2 Chinese guys (English names: Bo and William), and 2 American guys (Blake and Carlton). The two American guys were 16 years old and the rest of the life group were between the ages of 20-23. I feel like we had a really great group that meshed really well together.
The days were long - starting at 8am and finishing at 10:30pm everyday, but it was so worth the long days for the experience I had as well as the experience the campers had too. Each morning included either a guest speaker or workshops with the topic focused on leadership and integrity followed by discussion in our life groups. The afternoons were either team building activities or the occasional lecture from a guest professional. And the evenings were more time spent in our life groups where some really exciting conversations would happen. I had three of my life group girls assigned to my room where some amazing conversations about my Friend took place. I had the ability to be open with them and really share my heart and help them in the process as they were trying to sort through some questions that they had and wanted to be answered. Another one of my life group girls, who was assigned to the room across the hall, also talked to me about wanting to know more about my Friend and how he was different from everybody else, so that was awesome.
I definitely loved working at this camp and am looking forward to working at the camp again next summer. I also enjoyed the mass amount of text messages I received the next few days after camp was over from my life group campers.
I have posted pictures from camp for you to look at. Hope you enjoy.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Leaving for Camp
Hey everyone! In about 3 1/2 hours I am headed out to Kunming to work at the Sunshine International Camp. As I mentioned in my previous blog, this is a brief description of the camp from their website: "Sunshine International Camps provide students from the English speaking world and China an opportunity to engage in a highly interactive, cross-cultural character and leadership development experience. This camp will give students confidence and the skills to succeed as leaders of integrity in today’s globalized world. The world needs leaders of integrity! Sunshine International Camps provide an exciting, high impact learning experience that will train students in excellence and integrity in every area of life."
While at camp I will be a coach of a small group of between 5-10 ladies (half foreigners and half Chinese), and I will also have a Chinese co-coach. The camp is all done in English, but there are Chinese coaches to do translation for those who have a low level understanding of English and need a little help. I am excited about the next 12 days, but to be honest don't really know what to expect other than I will be tired - I hear it's non-stop from 8am-11pm everyday. I am just being open to whatever lies in store for me, and for the opportunity to build some great relationships with these students.
As a side note, I will not have internet access for the next 12 days, so the next blog will not be until I get back and right before I head to the States.
Speaking of the States, I will be there in just a few weeks. My family has been blessed with some amazing friends who have been generous and given me a plane ticket to come home this summer. I will fly into Atlanta on July 30 and be in town for just 48 hours before driving to Florida with my parents. I will then be in Cape Coral for about 2 1/2 weeks before heading to Hawaii with my parents for 2 weeks (thanks to mom for getting us tickets with our skymiles). And then I will fly back to China from Hawaii on September 2. For those of you in Georgia, I am sorry that I will not see you on this trip, but am working on trying to come home again at Christmas, which will be spent in Georgia. I will also be sending you an email before I come home with some phone numbers that you can reach me at if you are interested in talking to me while I am stateside.
Well, I will close for now, but will be back with an update in 2 weeks. Hope each of you are doing well and enjoying the summer months. Grace to each of you.
While at camp I will be a coach of a small group of between 5-10 ladies (half foreigners and half Chinese), and I will also have a Chinese co-coach. The camp is all done in English, but there are Chinese coaches to do translation for those who have a low level understanding of English and need a little help. I am excited about the next 12 days, but to be honest don't really know what to expect other than I will be tired - I hear it's non-stop from 8am-11pm everyday. I am just being open to whatever lies in store for me, and for the opportunity to build some great relationships with these students.
As a side note, I will not have internet access for the next 12 days, so the next blog will not be until I get back and right before I head to the States.
Speaking of the States, I will be there in just a few weeks. My family has been blessed with some amazing friends who have been generous and given me a plane ticket to come home this summer. I will fly into Atlanta on July 30 and be in town for just 48 hours before driving to Florida with my parents. I will then be in Cape Coral for about 2 1/2 weeks before heading to Hawaii with my parents for 2 weeks (thanks to mom for getting us tickets with our skymiles). And then I will fly back to China from Hawaii on September 2. For those of you in Georgia, I am sorry that I will not see you on this trip, but am working on trying to come home again at Christmas, which will be spent in Georgia. I will also be sending you an email before I come home with some phone numbers that you can reach me at if you are interested in talking to me while I am stateside.
Well, I will close for now, but will be back with an update in 2 weeks. Hope each of you are doing well and enjoying the summer months. Grace to each of you.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Being a Tourist in The City I Live In
Often it is easy to distinguish when someone is a tourist in town because you see them with a camera taking pictures everywhere they go. Well, here in China, I feel like the Chinese are more tourists than even the foreigners. So, on days that I do actually take my camera out to take pictures in town, I feel like I fit right in.
Natasha has been here for a week now, and we have been busy doing a lot of things. We went to the police station to register her (which is required of any non-Chinese that stay with you in your home) and found it to be a much simpler process than when I registered the Manns - guess I got all the kinks out of the way the first time around. In the past week we have been to the Dayanta (also known as the Big Goose Pagoda), Castle Play Place, had a water fight with friends for the 4th of July, been to the Terracotta Warriors, Zhong Lou (aka the Bell Tower), Gu Lou (aka the Drum Tower), Hui Ming Jie (aka Muslim market), and biked 8.5 miles around the city wall. Biking on the city wall was an amazing thing - I just would not recommend doing it during a hot day in the summer.
So, next week I will be heading to Kunming to volunteer at a camp for High School and College students (Chinese and Other Nationalities) for 10 days. Here is a brief description of the camp from their website: "Sunshine International Camps provide students from the English speaking world and China an opportunity to engage in a highly interactive, cross-cultural character and leadership development experience. This camp will give students confidence and the skills to succeed as leaders of integrity in today’s globalized world. The world needs leaders of integrity! Sunshine International Camps provide an exciting, high impact learning experience that will train students in excellence and integrity in every area of life." I am pretty excited about this opportunity and look forward to sharing with you in two weeks my experience at camp.
Also, for those of you who maybe have not heard yet, I will be stateside for a few weeks in August as well. I will be sending an email soon with more details, as well as including them in my next blog. I am looking forward to getting to see so many of you so soon.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Natasha has been here for a week now, and we have been busy doing a lot of things. We went to the police station to register her (which is required of any non-Chinese that stay with you in your home) and found it to be a much simpler process than when I registered the Manns - guess I got all the kinks out of the way the first time around. In the past week we have been to the Dayanta (also known as the Big Goose Pagoda), Castle Play Place, had a water fight with friends for the 4th of July, been to the Terracotta Warriors, Zhong Lou (aka the Bell Tower), Gu Lou (aka the Drum Tower), Hui Ming Jie (aka Muslim market), and biked 8.5 miles around the city wall. Biking on the city wall was an amazing thing - I just would not recommend doing it during a hot day in the summer.
So, next week I will be heading to Kunming to volunteer at a camp for High School and College students (Chinese and Other Nationalities) for 10 days. Here is a brief description of the camp from their website: "Sunshine International Camps provide students from the English speaking world and China an opportunity to engage in a highly interactive, cross-cultural character and leadership development experience. This camp will give students confidence and the skills to succeed as leaders of integrity in today’s globalized world. The world needs leaders of integrity! Sunshine International Camps provide an exciting, high impact learning experience that will train students in excellence and integrity in every area of life." I am pretty excited about this opportunity and look forward to sharing with you in two weeks my experience at camp.
Also, for those of you who maybe have not heard yet, I will be stateside for a few weeks in August as well. I will be sending an email soon with more details, as well as including them in my next blog. I am looking forward to getting to see so many of you so soon.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
My Visitors
Hey! So, again I apologize for the delay between recent posts. I have allowed the past few weeks to get away from me. I am happy to be back with this blog, though.
So, like I mentioned in my last blog, I had some very special guests come visit me here in Xi'an, and who were so gracious and brought me some goodies from the States, including mac & cheese and toothpaste (toothpaste here is really gross and leaves an aftertaste).
The Manns, whom I have known my entire life, arrived on Tuesday, June 15 and stayed with me until their departure on the evening of Friday, June 18. They arrived in the middle of Dragon Boat Festival (would take too long to explain this festival, but you can google it and there are some great websites with information), so they were able to experience the mass of people out and about during that time. We spent the first day hanging out in my apartment catching up and then went out to dinner and to walk around the neighborhood. The next day we headed out early to register them at the police station (required of anyone that is not staying at a hotel - they do it for you at hotels) before heading to the Bell Tower, Drum Tower, and the Muslim market. After a day of exploring these places we met up with my China family and all went to a restaurant for Beijing Roast Duck, which is a special treat that we reserve for guests and celebrations. The following day I had arranged for a Chinese friend, who has a van, to take us to the Terracotta Warriors. I think the Manns enjoyed the time with my Chinese friend, and he even convinced us to go see the Banpo Museum on our way home. We concluded the evening at one of my favorite restaurants here, Colabos, and it was delicious. On the final day we went to the Big Goose Pagoda, also known as the Dayanta. The Dayanta is one of the oldest monuments in Xi'an and the courtyard surrounding it includes a temple and many classrooms for Buddhist children to study. We were also able to enjoy lunch together before the Manns had to leave for the airport. I definitely enjoyed their visit, and have posted some pictures of the places that we visited while they were here.
Well, to be honest I never thought I would have visitors here in China, as I realize that it is not an easy trip to make or feasible for many people for that matter, so to have my first set of visitors was awesome. And, as it turns out, I will have another visitor, who is arriving tomorrow! Natasha and I did two schools together in Denver and were also on the team that went to Colombia together during the first school. Natasha is going to be working with the same company that I am working with, but just in Hong Kong starting on July 14, so she is coming to visit and stay with me until that time. Her visit is perfect timing as my last day of class is tomorrow.
Speaking of class.....sometimes it is hard to believe that I have studied for two full semesters now. I definitely can see great improvement in some areas, and other areas that I still need to work on more this summer. I am pleased however with my progress and am happy to report that I have completed 2 full books and 1/3 of the 3rd book for Chinese Made Easier.
Well, I know this has become a long post, so I will close here for now. I will be back soon to fill you in on the camp that I will be working at for 10 days in July, as well as when I will be stateside later this summer.
Hoping you all are staying cool!
So, like I mentioned in my last blog, I had some very special guests come visit me here in Xi'an, and who were so gracious and brought me some goodies from the States, including mac & cheese and toothpaste (toothpaste here is really gross and leaves an aftertaste).
The Manns, whom I have known my entire life, arrived on Tuesday, June 15 and stayed with me until their departure on the evening of Friday, June 18. They arrived in the middle of Dragon Boat Festival (would take too long to explain this festival, but you can google it and there are some great websites with information), so they were able to experience the mass of people out and about during that time. We spent the first day hanging out in my apartment catching up and then went out to dinner and to walk around the neighborhood. The next day we headed out early to register them at the police station (required of anyone that is not staying at a hotel - they do it for you at hotels) before heading to the Bell Tower, Drum Tower, and the Muslim market. After a day of exploring these places we met up with my China family and all went to a restaurant for Beijing Roast Duck, which is a special treat that we reserve for guests and celebrations. The following day I had arranged for a Chinese friend, who has a van, to take us to the Terracotta Warriors. I think the Manns enjoyed the time with my Chinese friend, and he even convinced us to go see the Banpo Museum on our way home. We concluded the evening at one of my favorite restaurants here, Colabos, and it was delicious. On the final day we went to the Big Goose Pagoda, also known as the Dayanta. The Dayanta is one of the oldest monuments in Xi'an and the courtyard surrounding it includes a temple and many classrooms for Buddhist children to study. We were also able to enjoy lunch together before the Manns had to leave for the airport. I definitely enjoyed their visit, and have posted some pictures of the places that we visited while they were here.
Well, to be honest I never thought I would have visitors here in China, as I realize that it is not an easy trip to make or feasible for many people for that matter, so to have my first set of visitors was awesome. And, as it turns out, I will have another visitor, who is arriving tomorrow! Natasha and I did two schools together in Denver and were also on the team that went to Colombia together during the first school. Natasha is going to be working with the same company that I am working with, but just in Hong Kong starting on July 14, so she is coming to visit and stay with me until that time. Her visit is perfect timing as my last day of class is tomorrow.
Speaking of class.....sometimes it is hard to believe that I have studied for two full semesters now. I definitely can see great improvement in some areas, and other areas that I still need to work on more this summer. I am pleased however with my progress and am happy to report that I have completed 2 full books and 1/3 of the 3rd book for Chinese Made Easier.
Well, I know this has become a long post, so I will close here for now. I will be back soon to fill you in on the camp that I will be working at for 10 days in July, as well as when I will be stateside later this summer.
Hoping you all are staying cool!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
My 31st Birthday
Hey! Sorry for the absence of a blog last week - it seems like the past two weeks meshed together somewhere in my mind. I have provided you with plenty of pictures though, to make up for it. You will find three albums of pictures from these past two weeks - my University campus, a night at the Dayanta / park, and my birthday celebrations.
Well, this weekend, on June 12, I turned 31. Since my birthday and my sister-in-law's (Jennie) birthday are both in June, for many years I used to celebrate with my family when we were all together during the 4th of July holiday. Once my nephews entered the picture and we started spending Memorial Day weekend together as well, my mom posed the idea of two separate birthday celebrations for Jennie and I. Jennie and I did not care one way or another, but my nephew Ethan promptly told Grandma that we needed two parties and two cakes (smart kid since he wanted cake). So, the next year began the celebration of my birthday over Memorial Day weekend and Jennie's during the 4th of July. Well, this year I was not with my family to celebrate my birthday, but my mom has said that this summer when I am stateside that we will still have a cake (I know Ethan will be excited). Even though I was not with my stateside family and friends for my birthday, I still had a great two days of celebration with my family and friends here in China.
On Saturday, my teacher and two other teachers from school came over to my house where we had dinner, a Chinese cake, and watched some movies. And of course there was a dance party as well. It was a great night just hanging out with them.
On Sunday afternoon my friends took me to a new play place here in Xi'an, and it is amazing. This place has everything imaginable for kids and is even equipped for adults to play with the kids too. In my opinion it is better than Chuck E. Cheese! And of course any chance that I get to be a big kid makes me happy, so I loved the two hours we spent there. (I uploaded some pictures of the play place, with more to come later, but still feel like it doesn't do justice to this place). After the play place we went to Papa John's for dinner, and then to Baskin Robbins. I couldn't have asked for a better day!
Well, this week will be busy as well as I have some special guests here with me for the next few days. The Manns, who are like a second set of parents for me, are here for a few days. They have spent the past few days in Beijing, and arrived here in Xi'an this afternoon. I am having so much fun with them already and am looking forward to the next few days showing them my city. I will update you later this week about their visit.
Hope that you all are enjoying summer, but staying cool at the same time. Many blessings to each of you.
Well, this weekend, on June 12, I turned 31. Since my birthday and my sister-in-law's (Jennie) birthday are both in June, for many years I used to celebrate with my family when we were all together during the 4th of July holiday. Once my nephews entered the picture and we started spending Memorial Day weekend together as well, my mom posed the idea of two separate birthday celebrations for Jennie and I. Jennie and I did not care one way or another, but my nephew Ethan promptly told Grandma that we needed two parties and two cakes (smart kid since he wanted cake). So, the next year began the celebration of my birthday over Memorial Day weekend and Jennie's during the 4th of July. Well, this year I was not with my family to celebrate my birthday, but my mom has said that this summer when I am stateside that we will still have a cake (I know Ethan will be excited). Even though I was not with my stateside family and friends for my birthday, I still had a great two days of celebration with my family and friends here in China.
On Saturday, my teacher and two other teachers from school came over to my house where we had dinner, a Chinese cake, and watched some movies. And of course there was a dance party as well. It was a great night just hanging out with them.
On Sunday afternoon my friends took me to a new play place here in Xi'an, and it is amazing. This place has everything imaginable for kids and is even equipped for adults to play with the kids too. In my opinion it is better than Chuck E. Cheese! And of course any chance that I get to be a big kid makes me happy, so I loved the two hours we spent there. (I uploaded some pictures of the play place, with more to come later, but still feel like it doesn't do justice to this place). After the play place we went to Papa John's for dinner, and then to Baskin Robbins. I couldn't have asked for a better day!
Well, this week will be busy as well as I have some special guests here with me for the next few days. The Manns, who are like a second set of parents for me, are here for a few days. They have spent the past few days in Beijing, and arrived here in Xi'an this afternoon. I am having so much fun with them already and am looking forward to the next few days showing them my city. I will update you later this week about their visit.
Hope that you all are enjoying summer, but staying cool at the same time. Many blessings to each of you.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Testing the Principles
Hey! So, last week I mentioned that I began reading a book, "The Power of Full Engagement" that a friend loaned to me. Well, this week I have had the opportunity to test out some of the principles from the book regarding my emotional and mental dimensions that were being challenged.
My teacher does a great job of working on my tones to make sure that I am speaking them correctly, but she does not always listen to me when I try to talk to her about my roadblocks in learning Mandarin. It has only happened a few times, but there have been a couple of classes where I have needed to take a break from practicing tones and work on something else as to not want to scream and walk out of class because I was frustrated. For me personally I always do better if I step away from a frustrating situation for a little bit, and then come back to it a little later on. Unfortunately, this week when one of those times occurred, instead of taking a brief break from tones, my teacher felt the need to keep pushing me and was literally in my face trying to correct my tones. I literally shut down at that point. My teacher finally realized that she was not challenging me to be better at that point, but was literally overdoing it. So, after taking a little break I went back to learning, but with something new instead.
That night I sat thinking if I could have done something to better communicate with my teacher, if I could have prepared myself better to have not gotten so emotional to the point of shutting down in class, and how I could mentally take this experience and not let it keep me from wanting to work on tones in future classes. So, I thought about some of the principles that I had just read about, and these were the ones that resonated with me the most. Like with training muscles physically - you have to stress them to the point of discomfort, but if you stress them too much or over train them, then injury can occur. The same is true emotionally - you need to be stressed emotionally so that you are challenged, but stressed too much and it becomes negativity. And mentally - the need to be stressed in order to focus attention, but over-stressed and it leads to burnout. So, my teacher and I talked about these things the next class and things were much better.
I realized that while I felt like I had been doing a good job of communicating with my teacher, that I needed to be doing it on a more consistent basis. I also realized that I needed to listen to her input as well in regards to ways of learning Mandarin easier rather than only using my methods. And of course, when needed there are a few pieces of fitness equipment in a nearby classroom that I can always go use during the class break since that makes me happy. Honestly, I feel like class was even better at the end of the week after all of this transpired.
Well, hoping you all are well and enjoying Memorial Day weekend.
P.S. I do not have pictures of the campus for you since it rained all week last week, and I was not able to take pictures. This week's weather is projected to be nicer, so hoping to have those this week instead.
My teacher does a great job of working on my tones to make sure that I am speaking them correctly, but she does not always listen to me when I try to talk to her about my roadblocks in learning Mandarin. It has only happened a few times, but there have been a couple of classes where I have needed to take a break from practicing tones and work on something else as to not want to scream and walk out of class because I was frustrated. For me personally I always do better if I step away from a frustrating situation for a little bit, and then come back to it a little later on. Unfortunately, this week when one of those times occurred, instead of taking a brief break from tones, my teacher felt the need to keep pushing me and was literally in my face trying to correct my tones. I literally shut down at that point. My teacher finally realized that she was not challenging me to be better at that point, but was literally overdoing it. So, after taking a little break I went back to learning, but with something new instead.
That night I sat thinking if I could have done something to better communicate with my teacher, if I could have prepared myself better to have not gotten so emotional to the point of shutting down in class, and how I could mentally take this experience and not let it keep me from wanting to work on tones in future classes. So, I thought about some of the principles that I had just read about, and these were the ones that resonated with me the most. Like with training muscles physically - you have to stress them to the point of discomfort, but if you stress them too much or over train them, then injury can occur. The same is true emotionally - you need to be stressed emotionally so that you are challenged, but stressed too much and it becomes negativity. And mentally - the need to be stressed in order to focus attention, but over-stressed and it leads to burnout. So, my teacher and I talked about these things the next class and things were much better.
I realized that while I felt like I had been doing a good job of communicating with my teacher, that I needed to be doing it on a more consistent basis. I also realized that I needed to listen to her input as well in regards to ways of learning Mandarin easier rather than only using my methods. And of course, when needed there are a few pieces of fitness equipment in a nearby classroom that I can always go use during the class break since that makes me happy. Honestly, I feel like class was even better at the end of the week after all of this transpired.
Well, hoping you all are well and enjoying Memorial Day weekend.
P.S. I do not have pictures of the campus for you since it rained all week last week, and I was not able to take pictures. This week's weather is projected to be nicer, so hoping to have those this week instead.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Summer Already?
Wow, as an adult I finally understand the statement "time flies." Sometimes it seems like yesterday that I arrived here in China, but actually I have now been here for 9 months, and it is already summer too.
Classes are continuing to go well too, and I am enjoying the spring flowers that have been planted throughout the campus. I am hoping to take some pictures of the campus this week so you can see where I attend classes. Speaking of classes - last week I began book 3 (out of 5) of Chinese Made Easier. I most likely will only get through 1/3 to 1/2 of the book by time the semester is over; however, I still feel like that is great progress and is continuing to add to my knowledge of Chinese. My goal for my second year here is to finish books 3 -5 of Chinese Made Easier.
I have not given you an update on myself lately, so here it is: I am doing really well. I am healthy and have not had any more issues with my asthma, and only a mild case of allergies last week as it was changing from cooler weather to hot weather. I can honestly say too that I have not experienced any days yet where I "dislike being here or wanting to be back in America." I know that those are normal emotions that people go through when living in foreign countries, but so far I have not had that moment yet. I have had a few moments of being tired of being blatantly stared at, and being asked for the 100th time if I want to buy this specific soap after saying 'no' several times, but that's been about it. Since certain stores require their employees to try to get you to buy specific products, they literally will follow you down aisles pointing out everything that they think you should buy (which is actually the cheapest costing products, not the most expensive), so I have just learned to avoid those stores on days that I am feeling overwhelmed by people trying to persuade me on what to buy.
Two weeks ago I also begun reading a book called 'The Power of Full Engagement' that I borrowed from a friend. So far I am really enjoying it, and it has been going along with what I have been thinking about lately. I was talking one day about the six dimensions of wellness (physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, social, and environmental) and how sometimes it can be hard to balance all of those dimensions, especially if you are not doing well in one of the areas, then it will affect at least one, or all, of the other areas. This book is about giving principles that help to balance those dimensions and how to be energized in each of those areas rather than being drained. I will let you know what I thought of the whole book when I finish reading it.
Classes are continuing to go well too, and I am enjoying the spring flowers that have been planted throughout the campus. I am hoping to take some pictures of the campus this week so you can see where I attend classes. Speaking of classes - last week I began book 3 (out of 5) of Chinese Made Easier. I most likely will only get through 1/3 to 1/2 of the book by time the semester is over; however, I still feel like that is great progress and is continuing to add to my knowledge of Chinese. My goal for my second year here is to finish books 3 -5 of Chinese Made Easier.
I have not given you an update on myself lately, so here it is: I am doing really well. I am healthy and have not had any more issues with my asthma, and only a mild case of allergies last week as it was changing from cooler weather to hot weather. I can honestly say too that I have not experienced any days yet where I "dislike being here or wanting to be back in America." I know that those are normal emotions that people go through when living in foreign countries, but so far I have not had that moment yet. I have had a few moments of being tired of being blatantly stared at, and being asked for the 100th time if I want to buy this specific soap after saying 'no' several times, but that's been about it. Since certain stores require their employees to try to get you to buy specific products, they literally will follow you down aisles pointing out everything that they think you should buy (which is actually the cheapest costing products, not the most expensive), so I have just learned to avoid those stores on days that I am feeling overwhelmed by people trying to persuade me on what to buy.
Two weeks ago I also begun reading a book called 'The Power of Full Engagement' that I borrowed from a friend. So far I am really enjoying it, and it has been going along with what I have been thinking about lately. I was talking one day about the six dimensions of wellness (physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, social, and environmental) and how sometimes it can be hard to balance all of those dimensions, especially if you are not doing well in one of the areas, then it will affect at least one, or all, of the other areas. This book is about giving principles that help to balance those dimensions and how to be energized in each of those areas rather than being drained. I will let you know what I thought of the whole book when I finish reading it.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Pingliang
Hey everyone! Well, I had a great time last weekend in Pingliang, and have posted some pictures as well in case you have some time to check them out. The town is primarily 40% Muslim villagers, and has less people than Xi'an (however that is still 200,000 people).
The bus ride to Pingliang was quite the adventure as we apparently had chosen the non-express bus when we purchased our tickets. The bus ride added an extra hour to our trip, and included stops in every village on the way to pick up as many as people as we could fit in the bus. It is illegal to stop to pick up people that did not originally start on the bus in Xi'an; however, bus drivers that drive the back roads through the villages instead of taking the highway, see it as their way to make some extra money. So, it was definitely an interesting experience along the way.
Once we arrived in town we went to a local restaurant for some dishes of mutton, eggplant, and vegetables before heading out to explore the city. We did a little walking through the city's main street and back alleys and just enjoyed seeing the people out and about for the day. Of course I got many stares as well since I was one of a few foreigners in that town. That night for dinner we went to eat hot pot at the best hot pot restaurant, and luckily it was not dog hot pot. In all seriousness, in smaller towns dog is served as a main dish. There is a new law that has been passed that severely fines people that are caught serving dog, but it may take awhile to change people serving dog in small towns such as this one. Thankfully my friend does not eat dog meat and knows which places serve it and which ones don't, so we did not eat at any of the ones that did. We finished off the evening with an old movie that our Chinese teachers picked out called "Love Potion Number 9." If you don't remember it, it is one of the very first movies that Sandra Bullock filmed.
Sunday was another great day as we went down to the biggest park in town. This park has walking trails, a lake, and a small amusement park area as well. Again we had a lot of fun walking around and seeing people out at the park with their families for the day. We also did one round of bumper cars and had every Chinese person in the area watching us, but we had so much fun. After leaving the park we stopped in a few stores to visit some of the vendors that my friend has become friends with. For lunch that day we ate noodles with beef and vegetables, and for dinner we had ribs, all of which were really good.
On Monday morning my friend had to go to work, as her town decided to take Friday off for Labor Day (in China it is always on May 1) instead of Monday, so we were able to join her for one of her classes and meet her students before leaving town. My friend teaches at a vocational school that has a contract to allow my friend and the other foreigners there to teach an American curriculum all in English to these students. They are taught math, science, geography, computer skills, etcetera, but all in English. My friend on this particular day was teaching a phonics class when we observed. The students did very well and I was really impressed with this school and how they incorporate learning English with learning other subjects too. And after a lunch of dumplings with all the teachers from the school, my Chinese teacher and I headed back to Xi'an - this time on the express bus.
I had a great weekend and enjoyed my visit to Pingliang. Just like each of the states are different in America, cities here are quite different and I enjoy being able to see those differences. One thing I especially enjoyed seeing on this trip was the mountains. I have always loved the beach and the mountains, so I was very happy to see three different mountains in Pingliang.
Well, I will close for now, but hoping that you all are doing well and enjoying the warmer weather.
The bus ride to Pingliang was quite the adventure as we apparently had chosen the non-express bus when we purchased our tickets. The bus ride added an extra hour to our trip, and included stops in every village on the way to pick up as many as people as we could fit in the bus. It is illegal to stop to pick up people that did not originally start on the bus in Xi'an; however, bus drivers that drive the back roads through the villages instead of taking the highway, see it as their way to make some extra money. So, it was definitely an interesting experience along the way.
Once we arrived in town we went to a local restaurant for some dishes of mutton, eggplant, and vegetables before heading out to explore the city. We did a little walking through the city's main street and back alleys and just enjoyed seeing the people out and about for the day. Of course I got many stares as well since I was one of a few foreigners in that town. That night for dinner we went to eat hot pot at the best hot pot restaurant, and luckily it was not dog hot pot. In all seriousness, in smaller towns dog is served as a main dish. There is a new law that has been passed that severely fines people that are caught serving dog, but it may take awhile to change people serving dog in small towns such as this one. Thankfully my friend does not eat dog meat and knows which places serve it and which ones don't, so we did not eat at any of the ones that did. We finished off the evening with an old movie that our Chinese teachers picked out called "Love Potion Number 9." If you don't remember it, it is one of the very first movies that Sandra Bullock filmed.
Sunday was another great day as we went down to the biggest park in town. This park has walking trails, a lake, and a small amusement park area as well. Again we had a lot of fun walking around and seeing people out at the park with their families for the day. We also did one round of bumper cars and had every Chinese person in the area watching us, but we had so much fun. After leaving the park we stopped in a few stores to visit some of the vendors that my friend has become friends with. For lunch that day we ate noodles with beef and vegetables, and for dinner we had ribs, all of which were really good.
On Monday morning my friend had to go to work, as her town decided to take Friday off for Labor Day (in China it is always on May 1) instead of Monday, so we were able to join her for one of her classes and meet her students before leaving town. My friend teaches at a vocational school that has a contract to allow my friend and the other foreigners there to teach an American curriculum all in English to these students. They are taught math, science, geography, computer skills, etcetera, but all in English. My friend on this particular day was teaching a phonics class when we observed. The students did very well and I was really impressed with this school and how they incorporate learning English with learning other subjects too. And after a lunch of dumplings with all the teachers from the school, my Chinese teacher and I headed back to Xi'an - this time on the express bus.
I had a great weekend and enjoyed my visit to Pingliang. Just like each of the states are different in America, cities here are quite different and I enjoy being able to see those differences. One thing I especially enjoyed seeing on this trip was the mountains. I have always loved the beach and the mountains, so I was very happy to see three different mountains in Pingliang.
Well, I will close for now, but hoping that you all are doing well and enjoying the warmer weather.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Taking a Trip
Hey! Just wanted to post a quick blog now and I will be posting a longer blog on Monday. In seven hours I am leaving with two teachers from school for a weekend trip to Pingliang to visit my friend that lives there. My friend just left at the beginning of this week to head back for teaching, and I had no intention of visiting her this soon after she left; however, based on both of our schedules the next possible time to go besides this weekend would have been October. And Monday here in China is their Labor Day, so I have the day off from class. I am looking forward to this 2 day visit as my friend's city is mostly villagers and the entire city only has 10 foreigners. I will also be taking lots of pictures to share with you as well. So, until Monday...
Friday, April 23, 2010
New Chinese Friends and Recent Activities
Hey! So, I know it has been a little longer than normal since my last blog post, so for that reason this week I have written two blogs - this one and the one after this titled: 'Such Different Worlds.' Hope you enjoy reading them both.
So, I am writing this blog after a very fun evening with four of the teachers from school, the school director, and my Western friend from Pingliang (mentioned in a previous blog). My friend from Pingliang is leaving next week to return to her town to finish the school year teaching English, so I decided to have her over for dinner and to surprise her by inviting the staff from school to come too. She was definitely surprised and the night continued to get even better after that. I had prepared Mexican food (chips and salsa, chicken fajitas, refried beans, and watermelon) and there was not any food left. After dinner we chatted, watched the movie Hitch (complete with popcorn and M&Ms), and had an impromptu Cha-Cha dance party.
Well, in the past two weeks I have also met a few new Chinese people that I am excited to be able to spend time getting to know. The first person I met is Katie (her English name) and she works at a market in the downtown area. She was a broadcast journalism major so her English is excellent. Katie has asked me to come visit her at her store and has even offered to let me practice my Chinese with her. The second person that I met was Albert (his English name) at the gym one night. The second time that I saw Albert at the gym he asked me if I would be willing to play ping-pong with him since no one wanted to play. I was happy to oblige and I have to say that I kept the game pretty close. Ok, I know what you all are thinking - the Chinese are great at badminton and ping-pong, so how could you have possibly kept it close - let me live in dream world for a minute, ok? :) I am sure that Albert was being a gentleman and not making me look bad, but I had fun playing and talking with him during that time. Albert also knows a fellow classmate of mine (a guy) who has been helping him and going through the Book with him. And the third person I met only gave me her Chinese name, so I will let you know her English name when I find that out. I met her at McDonalds one night and she struck up a conversation with me. She is currently a senior at a nearby university and is hoping to attend a Master's program at a University in the States in the next year or two. She asked me if I would be willing to meet with her once a week, so of course I said yes. I am really excited about my new friends and will you updated on what transpires with these relationships.
Well, that is about it from here for now, but don't forget to check out the second blog for today. Hope that you enjoy your weekend and that your days are blessed.
So, I am writing this blog after a very fun evening with four of the teachers from school, the school director, and my Western friend from Pingliang (mentioned in a previous blog). My friend from Pingliang is leaving next week to return to her town to finish the school year teaching English, so I decided to have her over for dinner and to surprise her by inviting the staff from school to come too. She was definitely surprised and the night continued to get even better after that. I had prepared Mexican food (chips and salsa, chicken fajitas, refried beans, and watermelon) and there was not any food left. After dinner we chatted, watched the movie Hitch (complete with popcorn and M&Ms), and had an impromptu Cha-Cha dance party.
Well, in the past two weeks I have also met a few new Chinese people that I am excited to be able to spend time getting to know. The first person I met is Katie (her English name) and she works at a market in the downtown area. She was a broadcast journalism major so her English is excellent. Katie has asked me to come visit her at her store and has even offered to let me practice my Chinese with her. The second person that I met was Albert (his English name) at the gym one night. The second time that I saw Albert at the gym he asked me if I would be willing to play ping-pong with him since no one wanted to play. I was happy to oblige and I have to say that I kept the game pretty close. Ok, I know what you all are thinking - the Chinese are great at badminton and ping-pong, so how could you have possibly kept it close - let me live in dream world for a minute, ok? :) I am sure that Albert was being a gentleman and not making me look bad, but I had fun playing and talking with him during that time. Albert also knows a fellow classmate of mine (a guy) who has been helping him and going through the Book with him. And the third person I met only gave me her Chinese name, so I will let you know her English name when I find that out. I met her at McDonalds one night and she struck up a conversation with me. She is currently a senior at a nearby university and is hoping to attend a Master's program at a University in the States in the next year or two. She asked me if I would be willing to meet with her once a week, so of course I said yes. I am really excited about my new friends and will you updated on what transpires with these relationships.
Well, that is about it from here for now, but don't forget to check out the second blog for today. Hope that you enjoy your weekend and that your days are blessed.
Such Different Worlds
I told you in my last blog that I would update you on some more cultural things that I am learning from being here, so I wanted to take this time to do that. Here they are:
* Due to the vast amounts of studying by the Chinese (from a previous blog you might remember how much time is spent studying), they are very smart, but you still find that some of them do not know how to "think outside the box", form their own opinions, or even to have dreams / aspirations. Here is an example: I met a Chinese college student one day a few weeks back and as we were talking he mentioned that he had an interest in coming to America to visit. I asked him where he thought he would visit if he came to America, and he said probably Oregon since he knew a friend there. As the conversation continued I gave him the scenario that if money was not a problem, where besides Oregon would he like to visit. His response was that he could not go anywhere else in America because he didn't have money and that he was only allowed to visit his friend in Oregon. I took a different approach and asked if he ever dreamed of going anywhere else in America besides Oregon and his response again was that he could only go visit his friend in Oregon. I realize that sometimes there is a need to be literal and realistic about things, but sometimes I feel like when I ask questions like I did of this guy, that they are like robots spitting out answers, and especially if you ever ask the question of who is their hero, you are quick to hear the answer: Mao.
* Tomb Sweeping Day - on Monday, April 5 (the day after Easter for us) there is a tradition here that about half the Chinese still celebrate. The day involves going to the graves of the families' deceased members and "sweeping the evil spirits away, placing a feast of food next to the grave, and burning fake money so that the deceased will have food, money, and happiness in the afterlife." I am thankful for the people that do not celebrate this tradition, but really feel burdened for those that still do.
* It is not an uncommon sight to see dogs riding on the back of their owner's bicycles. They usually sit on a little flat platform mounted above the tire. It is also not an uncommon sight to see little children going to the bathroom on the street.
* You do not wear seat belts here since in cars and taxis they are covered up by the seat covers or have been removed. You can wear a seat belt in the front seat of a taxi, though the driver usually tells you several times that the seat belt is dirty or that you do not need it. Babies and children do not ride in car seats here either as they are very expensive and therefore the Chinese choose not to buy them, so instead the children are held, and usually in the front seat of the car.
* Many Chinese believe that because people sweat that every place you sit needs to be covered up, so it is not uncommon to find covers over couches and plastic still wrapped around chair backs and seat bottoms.
I hope that you find these insights into culture here helpful. It has been and continues to be an eye-opening experience for me, but one that I am thankful for.
* Due to the vast amounts of studying by the Chinese (from a previous blog you might remember how much time is spent studying), they are very smart, but you still find that some of them do not know how to "think outside the box", form their own opinions, or even to have dreams / aspirations. Here is an example: I met a Chinese college student one day a few weeks back and as we were talking he mentioned that he had an interest in coming to America to visit. I asked him where he thought he would visit if he came to America, and he said probably Oregon since he knew a friend there. As the conversation continued I gave him the scenario that if money was not a problem, where besides Oregon would he like to visit. His response was that he could not go anywhere else in America because he didn't have money and that he was only allowed to visit his friend in Oregon. I took a different approach and asked if he ever dreamed of going anywhere else in America besides Oregon and his response again was that he could only go visit his friend in Oregon. I realize that sometimes there is a need to be literal and realistic about things, but sometimes I feel like when I ask questions like I did of this guy, that they are like robots spitting out answers, and especially if you ever ask the question of who is their hero, you are quick to hear the answer: Mao.
* Tomb Sweeping Day - on Monday, April 5 (the day after Easter for us) there is a tradition here that about half the Chinese still celebrate. The day involves going to the graves of the families' deceased members and "sweeping the evil spirits away, placing a feast of food next to the grave, and burning fake money so that the deceased will have food, money, and happiness in the afterlife." I am thankful for the people that do not celebrate this tradition, but really feel burdened for those that still do.
* It is not an uncommon sight to see dogs riding on the back of their owner's bicycles. They usually sit on a little flat platform mounted above the tire. It is also not an uncommon sight to see little children going to the bathroom on the street.
* You do not wear seat belts here since in cars and taxis they are covered up by the seat covers or have been removed. You can wear a seat belt in the front seat of a taxi, though the driver usually tells you several times that the seat belt is dirty or that you do not need it. Babies and children do not ride in car seats here either as they are very expensive and therefore the Chinese choose not to buy them, so instead the children are held, and usually in the front seat of the car.
* Many Chinese believe that because people sweat that every place you sit needs to be covered up, so it is not uncommon to find covers over couches and plastic still wrapped around chair backs and seat bottoms.
I hope that you find these insights into culture here helpful. It has been and continues to be an eye-opening experience for me, but one that I am thankful for.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Getting Better and Better
This week has definitely been much better than last week. I am so grateful as my friend was able to fix my computer. It took him 8 hours and he had to delete the hard drive and start over, but I have all my programs like Skype loaded again, and my computer works great.
This week I had the opportunity to meet and briefly chat with the author of my Chinese textbook. Martin Symonds is a British man who wrote the five textbooks of Chinese Made Easier as well as a few other books that are intermediate to advanced level Chinese. A few months out of the year Martin travels throughout China to all the universities that use his textbooks to have an opportunity to speak with students regarding his curriculum. I enjoyed my meeting with Martin and appreciated the feedback that he gave to help me improve my learning of Chinese.
Speaking of improving my learning of Chinese......earlier this week both of my teachers meet to discuss the best plan of action to make my Chinese the best that it can be. Both of my teachers agreed with Martin that the area I need some more practice is with grammar. Most people would be able to understand what I am saying with the grammar patterns that I have been using; however, it is best to correct my mistakes with grammar now rather than later. I will be finishing book 2 in class this week, and then before starting book 3, my teachers want me to spend a week to two weeks doing exercises to improve my grammar.
I have some more cultural differences that I would like to share with you next time. Until then, hoping that you are well and that you may be filled with joyous moments and peaceful days.
This week I had the opportunity to meet and briefly chat with the author of my Chinese textbook. Martin Symonds is a British man who wrote the five textbooks of Chinese Made Easier as well as a few other books that are intermediate to advanced level Chinese. A few months out of the year Martin travels throughout China to all the universities that use his textbooks to have an opportunity to speak with students regarding his curriculum. I enjoyed my meeting with Martin and appreciated the feedback that he gave to help me improve my learning of Chinese.
Speaking of improving my learning of Chinese......earlier this week both of my teachers meet to discuss the best plan of action to make my Chinese the best that it can be. Both of my teachers agreed with Martin that the area I need some more practice is with grammar. Most people would be able to understand what I am saying with the grammar patterns that I have been using; however, it is best to correct my mistakes with grammar now rather than later. I will be finishing book 2 in class this week, and then before starting book 3, my teachers want me to spend a week to two weeks doing exercises to improve my grammar.
I have some more cultural differences that I would like to share with you next time. Until then, hoping that you are well and that you may be filled with joyous moments and peaceful days.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
I first want to say 'Happy Easter!' As I reflect today on the meaning of Easter, I know am extremely thankful and blessed for my life and for where I am. I will share with you in a little bit about how I spent my Easter.
Well, it has definitely been a long week filled with the 'good, bad, and the ugly.' Overall things really are good, and I am still loving being here, but I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say that this week was an emotional roller coaster. I will start with the 'ugly' things of the week and end on a 'good' note.
So, the 'ugly' has been that my computer has either gotten a virus or is one step away from crashing. The first two days of the week it worked like normal, and then by Wednesday my laptop started removing a few programs such as Skype, and will not allow me to download new versions. The positive is that I can use my laptop to check email and update my blog by running it in a temporary mode, but I basically lose anything I try to save to the computer. I have a friend that said he is willing to look at it and see if he can fix it for me, and if not, then I will be waiting until this summer to get it fixed in the States. And luckily, it is still under warranty too.
Now for the 'bad' of the week. The week started out on Monday with me having an asthma attack, which I have not had in awhile, and required the use of all three of my inhalers. Unfortunately I did not make it to class that day as it happened a few hours before class and the air that day was very polluted - not the best idea to go out in when you are having trouble breathing. And apparently I was not done for the week since on Wednesday I chipped off part of a bottom molar while eating a piece of bread (I mean all those years I was told not to chew ice because it could do this, but instead it is a piece of bread? Just have to laugh). Unless something changes and I start to have problems, I plan on waiting until this summer in the States to get this fixed too - dentists here don't use anything to numb before procedures and many places still use formaldehyde for fillings (I am pretty sure the latter is forbidden in the States nowadays). Right now the inside of the tooth is not exposed and I don't feel like I am jeopardizing anything by waiting, so in the meantime I am just keeping an eye on it. Oh, and on Friday a group of us went out for dinner and we all ate cow tongue - definitely did not know it at the time. We were at a Korean restaurant and did not order it, but it was accidentally placed with the other meats we ordered, and after eating a few pieces we asked what it was since it tasted different than the rest. All I can say is green tea really does help with digestion of weird foods.
Now, for the 'good' of the week and the things that make it all worth it. On Tuesday this week I attended a Chinese corner where I had the opportunity outside of class to practice Chinese, and I actually felt comfortable in using my Chinese in a discussion. And on Thursday night I went out to dinner with one of my teachers. We had a great time and I enjoyed hearing her heart on what she feels her 'work' is to look like in the next few years. One thing that she desires is to be a mother and to have 4 children (2 of her own and 2 adopted); however, in order for that to happen she would have to move to another country and get married or marry a foreigner. When I stop to think about it, it seems like a simple thing to want to be a mother and to have children of your own or to adopt, but when you have a government that dictates you can only have 1, and you feel the passion has been put in you to be a mother, than it has got to be a challenge, but one I feel my teacher will overcome.
And finally, to conclude my week: Easter Sunday. Twice a year (for Christmas and Easter) here there is a service called citywide. All the foreigners living in the city gather at a hotel meeting room that is centrally located for everyone (about 40 minutes away for me) and have a time of fellowship and celebrating. There were about 225 people there and this morning reminded me of what many of you were experiencing at home on this day - including many people even wearing spring colors. It was also a perfect day weather wise with a temperature of 75 degrees and the sun shining. I am thankful for the sacrifice, rising, and eternal reward.
I hope that you all have a blessed week.
Well, it has definitely been a long week filled with the 'good, bad, and the ugly.' Overall things really are good, and I am still loving being here, but I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say that this week was an emotional roller coaster. I will start with the 'ugly' things of the week and end on a 'good' note.
So, the 'ugly' has been that my computer has either gotten a virus or is one step away from crashing. The first two days of the week it worked like normal, and then by Wednesday my laptop started removing a few programs such as Skype, and will not allow me to download new versions. The positive is that I can use my laptop to check email and update my blog by running it in a temporary mode, but I basically lose anything I try to save to the computer. I have a friend that said he is willing to look at it and see if he can fix it for me, and if not, then I will be waiting until this summer to get it fixed in the States. And luckily, it is still under warranty too.
Now for the 'bad' of the week. The week started out on Monday with me having an asthma attack, which I have not had in awhile, and required the use of all three of my inhalers. Unfortunately I did not make it to class that day as it happened a few hours before class and the air that day was very polluted - not the best idea to go out in when you are having trouble breathing. And apparently I was not done for the week since on Wednesday I chipped off part of a bottom molar while eating a piece of bread (I mean all those years I was told not to chew ice because it could do this, but instead it is a piece of bread? Just have to laugh). Unless something changes and I start to have problems, I plan on waiting until this summer in the States to get this fixed too - dentists here don't use anything to numb before procedures and many places still use formaldehyde for fillings (I am pretty sure the latter is forbidden in the States nowadays). Right now the inside of the tooth is not exposed and I don't feel like I am jeopardizing anything by waiting, so in the meantime I am just keeping an eye on it. Oh, and on Friday a group of us went out for dinner and we all ate cow tongue - definitely did not know it at the time. We were at a Korean restaurant and did not order it, but it was accidentally placed with the other meats we ordered, and after eating a few pieces we asked what it was since it tasted different than the rest. All I can say is green tea really does help with digestion of weird foods.
Now, for the 'good' of the week and the things that make it all worth it. On Tuesday this week I attended a Chinese corner where I had the opportunity outside of class to practice Chinese, and I actually felt comfortable in using my Chinese in a discussion. And on Thursday night I went out to dinner with one of my teachers. We had a great time and I enjoyed hearing her heart on what she feels her 'work' is to look like in the next few years. One thing that she desires is to be a mother and to have 4 children (2 of her own and 2 adopted); however, in order for that to happen she would have to move to another country and get married or marry a foreigner. When I stop to think about it, it seems like a simple thing to want to be a mother and to have children of your own or to adopt, but when you have a government that dictates you can only have 1, and you feel the passion has been put in you to be a mother, than it has got to be a challenge, but one I feel my teacher will overcome.
And finally, to conclude my week: Easter Sunday. Twice a year (for Christmas and Easter) here there is a service called citywide. All the foreigners living in the city gather at a hotel meeting room that is centrally located for everyone (about 40 minutes away for me) and have a time of fellowship and celebrating. There were about 225 people there and this morning reminded me of what many of you were experiencing at home on this day - including many people even wearing spring colors. It was also a perfect day weather wise with a temperature of 75 degrees and the sun shining. I am thankful for the sacrifice, rising, and eternal reward.
I hope that you all have a blessed week.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Busy Two Weeks
Hey! Sorry for the delay in posting a blog. It has been a busy two weeks as well as having intermittent problems with Internet service here.
My Chinese classes continue to challenge me, and require between 2-3 hours of study each day to keep up (though I am sure most Chinese would say that is still not enough time spent on studying - more about that in a few minutes). I do feel like I am still progressing with my language comprehension, though there are days that I feel like my brain is mush when class is over. At least once a week I, along with my Western friend (mentioned in last week's blog) and our teachers go to lunch after class, where my friend and I are challenged to use our Chinese to order or to ask for something. It has been good practice, but I still struggle with the Chinese concept of getting the waitress/waiter's attention to ask for something, such as the bill. In the States when you are trying to get the waitress/waiter's attention, you either make eye contact to signal that you need something, or subtly use another method. Well, here in China when you want something you literally yell for the waiter to come to your table. I feel like it sounds like you are mad at the waitress/waiter and that you are demanding that you are the only customer needing something. It may be silly, but I try to wait until the waitress/waiter comes by the table and then I ask for whatever I need. In my opinion they are still a person who deserves to be treated with respect and courtesy.
Ok, so to get to the Chinese concept of studying. Since being here, I have noticed many nights that children are out on the playground in my neighborhood playing at 9 and 10pm. I was a little baffled by this, as obviously in the States children play during daylight hours, so I asked my teacher about it. She proceeded to tell me about the typical amounts of studying for different age groups of children - I thought that you might be interested too, so here is a run down.
My Chinese classes continue to challenge me, and require between 2-3 hours of study each day to keep up (though I am sure most Chinese would say that is still not enough time spent on studying - more about that in a few minutes). I do feel like I am still progressing with my language comprehension, though there are days that I feel like my brain is mush when class is over. At least once a week I, along with my Western friend (mentioned in last week's blog) and our teachers go to lunch after class, where my friend and I are challenged to use our Chinese to order or to ask for something. It has been good practice, but I still struggle with the Chinese concept of getting the waitress/waiter's attention to ask for something, such as the bill. In the States when you are trying to get the waitress/waiter's attention, you either make eye contact to signal that you need something, or subtly use another method. Well, here in China when you want something you literally yell for the waiter to come to your table. I feel like it sounds like you are mad at the waitress/waiter and that you are demanding that you are the only customer needing something. It may be silly, but I try to wait until the waitress/waiter comes by the table and then I ask for whatever I need. In my opinion they are still a person who deserves to be treated with respect and courtesy.
Ok, so to get to the Chinese concept of studying. Since being here, I have noticed many nights that children are out on the playground in my neighborhood playing at 9 and 10pm. I was a little baffled by this, as obviously in the States children play during daylight hours, so I asked my teacher about it. She proceeded to tell me about the typical amounts of studying for different age groups of children - I thought that you might be interested too, so here is a run down.
- A 4 year old child typically has 2 tutors to teach them each week for a few hours a day.
- A 6-11 year old child studies from the time they get home from school until 9 or 10pm, plays outside for 30 minutes to an hour and then goes to bed. Sometimes the child even studies in the morning before going to school.
- A 12-13 year old child studies from the time they get home from school until midnight and then goes to bed. Sometimes the child even studies in the morning before going to school.
- A 14-18 year old child studies from the time they get home from school until midnight or 1am and then goes to bed. Sometimes the child even studies in the morning before going to school as well as during the nap time in the middle of the school day.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Cruise Control is Off
So, I have now had six days of classes, and I can tell you that we are not cruising anymore, but rather are speeding down the highway of learning Mandarin. When classes resumed last Monday I was informed by both my teachers that they would no longer use any English in class unless a new concept was being introduced. So, you can imagine how much I am being challenged with listening to Chinese being spoken, as well as having to speak it in return to answer a question. I was slightly overwhelmed the first class trying to recall everything that I have learned so far, but as time is progressing I feel like some of my language is finally coming together nicely. I even surprised myself today with a really long response to a question in Chinese. I guess all the studying over the holiday is finally starting to pay off.
For other news....I met a new Western friend last week at club (Sunday fellowship) and we immediately hit it off. She is from a village town called Pingliang where she has been an English teacher for 2 and 1/2 years. Thanks to a volunteer English teacher coming to Pingliang, my friend has finally had the opportunity to come to Xi'an begin to learn the language. While she is only here for a few months (she has to go back to Pingliang to finish the school year teaching), I am still excited to be able to hang out with her from time to time, and to have another single person to talk to who is experiencing the same things I am experiencing.
Also, my new friend is studying at my school as well, so she and I have had a few opportunities to spend some time with our Chinese teachers outside of class. One day we took our teachers and another teacher out to lunch, which was a lot of fun. And last Friday night, one of the teachers invited my friend and I to KTV (karaoke television) since I had not the privilege of experiencing it yet. The Chinese are fascinated with KTV and many people go every weekend. KTV was quite entertaining to say the least. You are given a private room that includes 2 microphones, a TV, couch, and a control panel. The control panel allows you to choose songs in about 6 different languages, and while the words are displayed on the screen to sing along to, there are also music videos playing in the background, which in my opinion were the best part of the night. Some music videos are the actual videos made with the song being sung, and other videos include a Chinese person singing the song and Chinese dancers in the background - which is funny when you are singing a Barbara Streisand song.
One thing that I have really learned in the past 7 months is that everything here in China is about guanxi (means relationship). The Chinese hold to the concept that they don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. On Saturday, as I was at my school for the grand opening of our second classroom facilities, I realized that my guanxi the past 7 months has been with my teachers as well as the other teachers at my school. All of my teachers are a part of the family, but many of them have only been in the family for a short time and still have so many questions. Many of them were supported when they joined the family, but then the support stopped immediately after that. I have been grateful that I have been allowed the opportunity to come alongside and be that support for them now because ultimately when I leave China one day, it will be my teachers that are still here supporting others in the family.
Well, I will close for now, but I hope that you all are now enjoying the longer days of sunshine since daylight savings time has come and gone. I am sure you would all love to have that extra hour of sleep back though. I am just glad to be back to exactly 12 hours difference in time between here and there, since that extra hour really made a difference some days. I'll be checking in again soon, until then have a great week.
For other news....I met a new Western friend last week at club (Sunday fellowship) and we immediately hit it off. She is from a village town called Pingliang where she has been an English teacher for 2 and 1/2 years. Thanks to a volunteer English teacher coming to Pingliang, my friend has finally had the opportunity to come to Xi'an begin to learn the language. While she is only here for a few months (she has to go back to Pingliang to finish the school year teaching), I am still excited to be able to hang out with her from time to time, and to have another single person to talk to who is experiencing the same things I am experiencing.
Also, my new friend is studying at my school as well, so she and I have had a few opportunities to spend some time with our Chinese teachers outside of class. One day we took our teachers and another teacher out to lunch, which was a lot of fun. And last Friday night, one of the teachers invited my friend and I to KTV (karaoke television) since I had not the privilege of experiencing it yet. The Chinese are fascinated with KTV and many people go every weekend. KTV was quite entertaining to say the least. You are given a private room that includes 2 microphones, a TV, couch, and a control panel. The control panel allows you to choose songs in about 6 different languages, and while the words are displayed on the screen to sing along to, there are also music videos playing in the background, which in my opinion were the best part of the night. Some music videos are the actual videos made with the song being sung, and other videos include a Chinese person singing the song and Chinese dancers in the background - which is funny when you are singing a Barbara Streisand song.
One thing that I have really learned in the past 7 months is that everything here in China is about guanxi (means relationship). The Chinese hold to the concept that they don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. On Saturday, as I was at my school for the grand opening of our second classroom facilities, I realized that my guanxi the past 7 months has been with my teachers as well as the other teachers at my school. All of my teachers are a part of the family, but many of them have only been in the family for a short time and still have so many questions. Many of them were supported when they joined the family, but then the support stopped immediately after that. I have been grateful that I have been allowed the opportunity to come alongside and be that support for them now because ultimately when I leave China one day, it will be my teachers that are still here supporting others in the family.
Well, I will close for now, but I hope that you all are now enjoying the longer days of sunshine since daylight savings time has come and gone. I am sure you would all love to have that extra hour of sleep back though. I am just glad to be back to exactly 12 hours difference in time between here and there, since that extra hour really made a difference some days. I'll be checking in again soon, until then have a great week.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Back to School
The Chinese New Year celebrations are over, and I am glad to be getting back to some sense of normalcy. It was a good break spent in fellowship with friends, but at the same time was somewhat boring with many places (other than some grocery stores) closed for the entire month. The upside to the 'downtime' was that I was able to do a lot of studying. I spent 3-4 hours per day studying by reviewing all vocabulary (from definition to correct tones), to answering all the sentence translations at the end of each chapter. The real test of how much I have learned will be determined tomorrow when classes resume.
Speaking of classes, mine will be a little different this semester. Instead of continuing with 2-to-1 like I was doing last semester, I will now be doing 1-to-1. My friend, whom I was taking classes with last semester, is farther ahead of me and it had become apparent that she felt like class was moving too fast for me to keep up with her pace of learning, and I felt like I was slowing her down. (Side note: my friend has lived here in China for 2 years, and had begun language before, but being a mother had to put language on the back burner for a short time, but by starting over with me it helped her to eventually remember things that she had learned from living here 2 years.) So, we both decided that this semester would be a great opportunity for me to do 1-to-1 in order to progress my language, but at a pace that I will continue to retain the information. I do know one thing, it will be a challenge since I don't have anyone else to rely on to help out when I don't understand, but I also know it will force me to 'step it up a notch' in my learning too. One thing that I am excited about is that I will still have two teachers this semester as well. I will have one of my teachers from last semester again, and the other teacher will be the one that went with me to help on my teaching trip to the village. I really like all the teachers from our school, and would be happy to have any of them, but feel that I have begun to build relationships with these two, so am excited to continue that this semester. I will keep you posted on how my first week in 1-to-1 goes.
Speaking of classes, mine will be a little different this semester. Instead of continuing with 2-to-1 like I was doing last semester, I will now be doing 1-to-1. My friend, whom I was taking classes with last semester, is farther ahead of me and it had become apparent that she felt like class was moving too fast for me to keep up with her pace of learning, and I felt like I was slowing her down. (Side note: my friend has lived here in China for 2 years, and had begun language before, but being a mother had to put language on the back burner for a short time, but by starting over with me it helped her to eventually remember things that she had learned from living here 2 years.) So, we both decided that this semester would be a great opportunity for me to do 1-to-1 in order to progress my language, but at a pace that I will continue to retain the information. I do know one thing, it will be a challenge since I don't have anyone else to rely on to help out when I don't understand, but I also know it will force me to 'step it up a notch' in my learning too. One thing that I am excited about is that I will still have two teachers this semester as well. I will have one of my teachers from last semester again, and the other teacher will be the one that went with me to help on my teaching trip to the village. I really like all the teachers from our school, and would be happy to have any of them, but feel that I have begun to build relationships with these two, so am excited to continue that this semester. I will keep you posted on how my first week in 1-to-1 goes.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Look at More Cultural Differences
It has been awhile since I have shared about some cultural differences I am learning about, so I figured this blog would be the perfect time to do that.
Before I get to that though, just wanted to let you know that I have posted some new pictures of my apartment now that I have gotten really settled in and moved things around to my liking. As a reminder I rented a furnished apartment, so the only thing I had to purchase was an oven (a picture is included and probably not what you are visualizing), bedding, and towels. And the quilt on my bed is the one my aunt made me and gave me at Christmas. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
For more things I am learning about the Chinese way of life.
* The Chinese celebrate Mother's Day, but not Father's Day. The viewpoint on this is that mothers are the nurturing and caring ones, while the fathers are strict disciplinarians.
* I have also learned that if a Chinese woman becomes pregnant with twins that she may keep both children - this is in regards to the one child policy.
* If you ever end up in a taxi with someone who speaks a little English, or even with a slight understanding of Chinese, you will always be asked these questions:
Well, I hope that you all have a wonderful week, and that the weather is starting to move into nice spring like weather for you. Our weather has begun to be in the mid 60's to low 70's the past few days, with some rain mixed in for a week. Until next time...
Before I get to that though, just wanted to let you know that I have posted some new pictures of my apartment now that I have gotten really settled in and moved things around to my liking. As a reminder I rented a furnished apartment, so the only thing I had to purchase was an oven (a picture is included and probably not what you are visualizing), bedding, and towels. And the quilt on my bed is the one my aunt made me and gave me at Christmas. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
For more things I am learning about the Chinese way of life.
* The Chinese celebrate Mother's Day, but not Father's Day. The viewpoint on this is that mothers are the nurturing and caring ones, while the fathers are strict disciplinarians.
* I have also learned that if a Chinese woman becomes pregnant with twins that she may keep both children - this is in regards to the one child policy.
* If you ever end up in a taxi with someone who speaks a little English, or even with a slight understanding of Chinese, you will always be asked these questions:
- Are you a teacher or student?
- Are you single or married? If single, then you are asked: Do you have a boyfriend? Would you date or marry a Chinese boy?
- How long are you here for?
- On those same lines, it is considered polite to leave a small amount of food at the end of the meal. Failing to order enough food is considered a huge faux pas for a Chinese host and an empty bowl will be taken as a sign that you haven't had your fill, leading to either loss of face, or several more dishes being ordered.
- It is considered bad luck to stick your chopsticks upright in your dishes, but especially the rice bowl.
Well, I hope that you all have a wonderful week, and that the weather is starting to move into nice spring like weather for you. Our weather has begun to be in the mid 60's to low 70's the past few days, with some rain mixed in for a week. Until next time...
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Fireworks and a Surprise Visit
Welcome to the year of the Tiger. The official kick-off of the Chinese New Year has come and gone and definitely did not disappoint. 
The night started with snow falling that was just enough to cover the ground to make things look beautiful with the city all lit up. Shortly before midnight a fog moved in making it somewhat difficult to see beyond about 50 feet in front of you, but that did not stop anyone from celebrating. People began coming outside in droves at that time and started the mass display of fireworks. Just to let you know, everyone here is a "professional" when it comes to shooting off fireworks. I am talking about fireworks that we would see being shot off by trained professionals at our celebrations were being lit and shot off by children and adults, and usually only 10 feet from buildings. It is rather scary and intriguing to say the least. You also have to watch for children who think it is funny to light firecrackers and throw them at your feet. It is somewhat hard to describe the chaos and fascination that occurs on this evening, so I put together a short video to give you a glimpse (which still does not do justice to this night). Also, just to let you know fireworks were being shot off 30 feet from me in every direction, but I was just filming those in front of me, so if you hear popping sounds when you don't see the flashes, it may be from ones behind me or to my left or right.
So, this afternoon I had a great surprise. I received a phone call from a friend whom I did a school with in Colorado, as well as someone who was on my team when I went to Colombia. She informed me that she was in Xi'an for a few days with a group of friends preparing to head to a remote village, and was wondering if we could meet for coffee. After my initial shock that I heard her correctly, I told her that I would meet her in an hour at Starbucks. We hung out for 4 hours and had a great time sharing about what has been happening in our lives the past year since we left to go our separate ways from Colorado. I truly am beginning to believe that it is a small world after all!
Wishing you a week filled with joy and little surprises to brighten your days!
The night started with snow falling that was just enough to cover the ground to make things look beautiful with the city all lit up. Shortly before midnight a fog moved in making it somewhat difficult to see beyond about 50 feet in front of you, but that did not stop anyone from celebrating. People began coming outside in droves at that time and started the mass display of fireworks. Just to let you know, everyone here is a "professional" when it comes to shooting off fireworks. I am talking about fireworks that we would see being shot off by trained professionals at our celebrations were being lit and shot off by children and adults, and usually only 10 feet from buildings. It is rather scary and intriguing to say the least. You also have to watch for children who think it is funny to light firecrackers and throw them at your feet. It is somewhat hard to describe the chaos and fascination that occurs on this evening, so I put together a short video to give you a glimpse (which still does not do justice to this night). Also, just to let you know fireworks were being shot off 30 feet from me in every direction, but I was just filming those in front of me, so if you hear popping sounds when you don't see the flashes, it may be from ones behind me or to my left or right.
So, this afternoon I had a great surprise. I received a phone call from a friend whom I did a school with in Colorado, as well as someone who was on my team when I went to Colombia. She informed me that she was in Xi'an for a few days with a group of friends preparing to head to a remote village, and was wondering if we could meet for coffee. After my initial shock that I heard her correctly, I told her that I would meet her in an hour at Starbucks. We hung out for 4 hours and had a great time sharing about what has been happening in our lives the past year since we left to go our separate ways from Colorado. I truly am beginning to believe that it is a small world after all!
Wishing you a week filled with joy and little surprises to brighten your days!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Chun Jie
Well, Chun Jie (pronounced cha-wun g-uh), otherwise known as the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival, officially kick off with New Year's Eve tomorrow evening. This week has bit a little bit different in that the city seems much quieter and less congested with so many people heading to the villages, but yet at the same time stores have been extremely packed as people stock up on food for the holiday. During the holiday everything (restaurants, banks, stores) are all closed for at least three days, but many places are closed for up to two weeks. Due to that fact everyone has been at the grocery store stocking up to have enough food. The crowds at the stores are similar to what we see in the States when people are shopping for Christmas, yet here people literally load up pick-up trucks, vans from floor to ceiling, and even full buses worth of food in preparation for this holiday. It has definitely been a sight to see.
Here is a little history / insight into this holiday. Chun Jie, which is literally translated as 'Spring Festival' is a fifteen day period that starts off the lunar year. Due to the fact that the holiday follows the lunar calendar, Chun Jie begins on a different day every year, but still falls sometime between January 21st and February 20th. The ten days prior to Chun Jie, the family does a thorough house cleaning, known as 'Sweeping of the Grounds'. The family also places Spring Couplets (red scrolls with short poems written in Classic Chinese using black ink) on the walls or the sides of the gateways of the door to the home to signify good wishes for the coming year. They also place a paper-cut picture with the Chinese character 'Fu' on the center of the door to signify luck, or that fortune has arrived. Also during this time enough food must be purchased and is to include: fish, meat, roasted nuts and seeds, fruits, and candies. New clothes are also to be purchased, especially for the children.
On New Year's Eve members of the family gather for dinner, which is typically a very large and traditional meal. Then at midnight it is a custom in the Northern parts of China to eat a jiaozi (pronounced g-ow-za), otherwise known as a dumpling, and then to set off fireworks. Many families then stay up the whole night either watching traditional shows on TV, playing mahjong (kinda similar to dominoes), or talking.
New Year's Day is also celebrated with family, and with the tradition of the elders giving red packets with money inside to any children that have not graduated from college yet. The day after New Year's is spent visiting family and friends and typically includes a large feast as well. And finally Chun Jie concludes on the 15th day of the New Year with the 'Lantern Festival'. The Lantern Festival is the night of the first full moon of the lunar year and is celebrated with lanterns being hung everywhere, and representing many various beliefs including celebration of the Chinese zodiac signs.
As I have learned about culture and Chun Jie these past few months, I have a better understanding as to why there are so many barriers about important life decisions among the people here. Not that I believe that all traditions are bad, but when you truly begin to see how deeply rooted some are in things that are false, it takes on a new perspective. I know for me I have a renewed focus of thoughts for the people here now.
I am hoping to have some good pictures to share with you next week from the never-ending celebration of fireworks. I have been told to be prepared for the first five days especially that some places experience them 24 hours a day.
Here is a little history / insight into this holiday. Chun Jie, which is literally translated as 'Spring Festival' is a fifteen day period that starts off the lunar year. Due to the fact that the holiday follows the lunar calendar, Chun Jie begins on a different day every year, but still falls sometime between January 21st and February 20th. The ten days prior to Chun Jie, the family does a thorough house cleaning, known as 'Sweeping of the Grounds'. The family also places Spring Couplets (red scrolls with short poems written in Classic Chinese using black ink) on the walls or the sides of the gateways of the door to the home to signify good wishes for the coming year. They also place a paper-cut picture with the Chinese character 'Fu' on the center of the door to signify luck, or that fortune has arrived. Also during this time enough food must be purchased and is to include: fish, meat, roasted nuts and seeds, fruits, and candies. New clothes are also to be purchased, especially for the children.
On New Year's Eve members of the family gather for dinner, which is typically a very large and traditional meal. Then at midnight it is a custom in the Northern parts of China to eat a jiaozi (pronounced g-ow-za), otherwise known as a dumpling, and then to set off fireworks. Many families then stay up the whole night either watching traditional shows on TV, playing mahjong (kinda similar to dominoes), or talking.
New Year's Day is also celebrated with family, and with the tradition of the elders giving red packets with money inside to any children that have not graduated from college yet. The day after New Year's is spent visiting family and friends and typically includes a large feast as well. And finally Chun Jie concludes on the 15th day of the New Year with the 'Lantern Festival'. The Lantern Festival is the night of the first full moon of the lunar year and is celebrated with lanterns being hung everywhere, and representing many various beliefs including celebration of the Chinese zodiac signs.
As I have learned about culture and Chun Jie these past few months, I have a better understanding as to why there are so many barriers about important life decisions among the people here. Not that I believe that all traditions are bad, but when you truly begin to see how deeply rooted some are in things that are false, it takes on a new perspective. I know for me I have a renewed focus of thoughts for the people here now.
I am hoping to have some good pictures to share with you next week from the never-ending celebration of fireworks. I have been told to be prepared for the first five days especially that some places experience them 24 hours a day.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
A Mountain of Snow Fun
So, the past week flew by and was pretty uneventful, but I did get a lot of studying done. As part of my studying I have decided to start over with book 1 and review all the vocabulary again and then to translate all the sentences at the end of each chapter. I am then going to have a tutor look over and correct my work to help me see where I am making mistakes. Once I am finished with book 1 I will move on to book 2 and do the same. I feel like the reviewing is definitely helping me to improve with my language.
Yesterday my friends and I decided to spend our weekly time together to do something different, so we spent the day at a mountain skiing, snowboarding, and tubing. I just went tubing since skiing and I have never really gotten along (always some injury occurs). And while I successfully made it without an injury by choosing to not ski, one of my friends was not so lucky and broke his wrist the last hour. Unfortunately for him it wasn't even his fault as a Chinese person crashed into him and landed on his arm. So, out came my athletic training education and first aid skills. My conclusion was a fracture to his wrist, so using some cardboard and socks I created a splint for his arm, and then made a sling with some scarves. He went to the hospital as soon as we got back into town and it was confirmed that he had a green-stick fracture to the ulna and minor fractures to two carpal bones. So he got a cast, and is doing well. Despite the injury everyone had a blast. The mountain that we went to provides free transportation to the ski place and back home again, so the whole day only cost us each between $9-24 ($9 for tubing, and $15 for skiing/snowboarding rental). I honestly can say I do not know anywhere else that I could have an entire day of fun in the snow for under $10. I posted a few pictures of the mountain in case you were interested.
I am closing here for now, but the countdown until Chinese New Year is now 10 days!!
Yesterday my friends and I decided to spend our weekly time together to do something different, so we spent the day at a mountain skiing, snowboarding, and tubing. I just went tubing since skiing and I have never really gotten along (always some injury occurs). And while I successfully made it without an injury by choosing to not ski, one of my friends was not so lucky and broke his wrist the last hour. Unfortunately for him it wasn't even his fault as a Chinese person crashed into him and landed on his arm. So, out came my athletic training education and first aid skills. My conclusion was a fracture to his wrist, so using some cardboard and socks I created a splint for his arm, and then made a sling with some scarves. He went to the hospital as soon as we got back into town and it was confirmed that he had a green-stick fracture to the ulna and minor fractures to two carpal bones. So he got a cast, and is doing well. Despite the injury everyone had a blast. The mountain that we went to provides free transportation to the ski place and back home again, so the whole day only cost us each between $9-24 ($9 for tubing, and $15 for skiing/snowboarding rental). I honestly can say I do not know anywhere else that I could have an entire day of fun in the snow for under $10. I posted a few pictures of the mountain in case you were interested.
I am closing here for now, but the countdown until Chinese New Year is now 10 days!!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Part 2 of Village Teaching and an Update
Hey again! Well, last week I filled you in on my opportunity to teach in a village in Hanzhong. Well, a few days after writing my blog about it, I received an email from a student that I wanted to share with you. I left her name out for various reasons, but did copy the email just like I received it.
'Dear Ms.Andrea,
Hello! Do you still remember me? On last Friday in Chenggu, you attended an English class, I'm that girl who was wearing a blue coat sitting near the door, and after the class, I asked you for giving me your E-mail. That English class made an impression on me, you are friendly, extroversion and easy-going, you know, there is seldom such teacher like you here, teachers and students ofen have a generation gap, so I spent a happy time with you thai night. What makes me more excited is the song happy birthday to you. Do you know, it was my 17-year-old birthday, I couldn't express my feeling that time, maybe it's beyond words.
I hope you can visit Chenggu next time, maybe I can talk with you more fluently, do you think so? Best whishes to you.
ps.This is my first time to write an e-mail in English, if I have made any mistakes, please tell me, I will be thanksfull.'
To explain the Happy Birthday comment - the last five minutes of class I gave the students the opportunity to ask me questions. I was asked to say something in Chinese and to sing a song in Chinese. I have not learned any Chinese songs yet, but remembered that I taught myself Happy Birthday in Chinese to sing to my mom for her birthday, so that is what I sang, with a little help from the students. When I received the email I was genuinely touched because I really did not feel that I had made a difference at all in my teaching that weekend. I also received additional positive feedback this week when Ryan (my school Director) returned from a weekend trip to Hanzhong where the teachers and students there asked him if I could come back again. So, I will most likely be teaching again sometime in April or May in Hanzhong.
Ok, time for an update. Well, around here everyone is gearing up for the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival, which all begins in 17 days. It promises to be a month of celebration unlike any other I am told. I will keep you all informed as the holiday gets closer.
Due to the upcoming holiday I am off from class for the next 5 weeks. Many people, including my teachers go back to the homes of their families in the village to spend the holidays with them. So, classes take a winter break during that time (I choose not to come back to the States during this time because it is not the most feasible for my parents with it being tax season). I have been studying vocabulary and reviewing grammar a lot this week, but am still considering getting a tutor during the next month. One of my friends here has a tutor who is looking for work during the holiday, so I may see about meeting with her a few days a week to keep my language skills up to par. On a side note, a friend and I were talking about my language progression today and I told her that I want to be that person that goes from A to Z with Mandarin, but that I know that is not going to happen. She agreed that this language is not as easy to master as Spanish or some other languages, but that I was still further along in 5 months than she was after a year. So I was definitely encouraged by that.
In other news, tonight I apparently became an aunt to a 2 year old Chinese girl named Annie. At about 8pm I had a knock on the door and when I opened the door a lady whom I met a few days earlier on the elevator (she caught me off guard by speaking English to me) and her daughter were standing there. She introduced me to her daughter as auntie - I don't really think that is a Chinese thing, but thought it was kind of funny. Long story short, Linda is my neighbor and a long-time friend of my landlord. My landlord and his wife were trying to get a hold of me the other day (which we finally connected), but in the meantime they were worried that something might be wrong, so they asked Linda to check on me and see if she could help with anything. So, Linda and Annie came by to do just that and we had a good 10 minute visit. I am really going to enjoy seeing more of them. Annie has been learning English from the Lighthouse Center, which is the building where my school is run from, so she was practicing her English with me tonight. Maybe I should just start hanging out with Annie - she can teach me Chinese and I can teach her English! Anyways, it was a nice surprise to meet a neighbor that can speak English and is so willing to help.
Alright, this has probably been long enough for you to read, so I will close here for now. Again I hope you all are well.
'Dear Ms.Andrea,
Hello! Do you still remember me? On last Friday in Chenggu, you attended an English class, I'm that girl who was wearing a blue coat sitting near the door, and after the class, I asked you for giving me your E-mail. That English class made an impression on me, you are friendly, extroversion and easy-going, you know, there is seldom such teacher like you here, teachers and students ofen have a generation gap, so I spent a happy time with you thai night. What makes me more excited is the song happy birthday to you. Do you know, it was my 17-year-old birthday, I couldn't express my feeling that time, maybe it's beyond words.
I hope you can visit Chenggu next time, maybe I can talk with you more fluently, do you think so? Best whishes to you.
ps.This is my first time to write an e-mail in English, if I have made any mistakes, please tell me, I will be thanksfull.'
To explain the Happy Birthday comment - the last five minutes of class I gave the students the opportunity to ask me questions. I was asked to say something in Chinese and to sing a song in Chinese. I have not learned any Chinese songs yet, but remembered that I taught myself Happy Birthday in Chinese to sing to my mom for her birthday, so that is what I sang, with a little help from the students. When I received the email I was genuinely touched because I really did not feel that I had made a difference at all in my teaching that weekend. I also received additional positive feedback this week when Ryan (my school Director) returned from a weekend trip to Hanzhong where the teachers and students there asked him if I could come back again. So, I will most likely be teaching again sometime in April or May in Hanzhong.
Ok, time for an update. Well, around here everyone is gearing up for the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival, which all begins in 17 days. It promises to be a month of celebration unlike any other I am told. I will keep you all informed as the holiday gets closer.
Due to the upcoming holiday I am off from class for the next 5 weeks. Many people, including my teachers go back to the homes of their families in the village to spend the holidays with them. So, classes take a winter break during that time (I choose not to come back to the States during this time because it is not the most feasible for my parents with it being tax season). I have been studying vocabulary and reviewing grammar a lot this week, but am still considering getting a tutor during the next month. One of my friends here has a tutor who is looking for work during the holiday, so I may see about meeting with her a few days a week to keep my language skills up to par. On a side note, a friend and I were talking about my language progression today and I told her that I want to be that person that goes from A to Z with Mandarin, but that I know that is not going to happen. She agreed that this language is not as easy to master as Spanish or some other languages, but that I was still further along in 5 months than she was after a year. So I was definitely encouraged by that.
In other news, tonight I apparently became an aunt to a 2 year old Chinese girl named Annie. At about 8pm I had a knock on the door and when I opened the door a lady whom I met a few days earlier on the elevator (she caught me off guard by speaking English to me) and her daughter were standing there. She introduced me to her daughter as auntie - I don't really think that is a Chinese thing, but thought it was kind of funny. Long story short, Linda is my neighbor and a long-time friend of my landlord. My landlord and his wife were trying to get a hold of me the other day (which we finally connected), but in the meantime they were worried that something might be wrong, so they asked Linda to check on me and see if she could help with anything. So, Linda and Annie came by to do just that and we had a good 10 minute visit. I am really going to enjoy seeing more of them. Annie has been learning English from the Lighthouse Center, which is the building where my school is run from, so she was practicing her English with me tonight. Maybe I should just start hanging out with Annie - she can teach me Chinese and I can teach her English! Anyways, it was a nice surprise to meet a neighbor that can speak English and is so willing to help.
Alright, this has probably been long enough for you to read, so I will close here for now. Again I hope you all are well.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Teaching in a Village
Hey everyone! I had an exciting adventure over the weekend that I wanted to share with you. I taught English to students (elementary - high school) in a village in the city of Hanzhong. My school Director, Ryan, is from Hanzhong and from time to time arranges for a native English speaker to visit his hometown to teach the students there (Hanzhong is primarily a poor city and most people are farmers). Ryan decided to send one of my school teachers with me for logistical purposes and for any help that I may need, so Victoria and I went on this trip together. The schedule was to teach middle / high schoolers Friday night from 6-8pm and then on Saturday teach elementary school kids from 8-10am and more middle / high schoolers from 10am-12pm.
Victoria and I left on Friday at 2:30pm on the bus, which was to be a 3 hour trip, but due to some traffic jam somewhere we arrived at 7:45pm instead of 5:30pm. We immediately went to the school where I instead taught from 8-10pm (the Chinese are very serious about school and are there until that time anyways). I had 38 students for the night. After teaching we went to a little restaurant for dinner where my host teacher ordered me a pork sandwich and a bowl of noodles. The sandwich was really good, but the noodles were really spicy, and I don't do spicy very often. We then checked into the hotel at 11:30pm and were pretty much asleep by 12:15am.
On Saturday we were picked up at 7:30am and taken to a little restaurant for breakfast, which was porridge (it is some bean flavored soup that looks like milk), more spicy noodles, and a pastry. I enjoyed the pastry, was not crazy about more spicy noodles, especially for breakfast, and only enjoyed the porridge somewhat because it helped with my mouth that was on fire. I then taught the two classes (28 students for the first class and 25 students for the second) before our host and a group of the teachers and three students took us to lunch. We went to the best restuarant there for Chinese hot pot. Hot pot is best described as a beef bouillon base with a few carrots and celery for flavor that is in a huge pot in the center of the table. A fire under the pot is started and the base begins to boil. You then add anything you want to add to it and let it cook. Once things are cooked you take the meat, vegetables, or noodles out with your chopsticks and place it on your plate to eat. Then later you laddle out the soup part into a bowl to drink. I have to admit I ate things that I would not normally eat and things that I dislike, but I did it to be culturally sensitive and to not offend my hosts and their delicacies (I had to eat tofu - sorry for those of you who like it, but it is really bad, as well as mushrooms and mushroom noodles - yes, my parents laughed about this since they have tried for years to get me to eat mushrooms). Typically the Chinese custom is to serve your guest every time they need food - so the host would get food every few minutes and put it on your plate until you were done eating. If you were being treated like family, as I was on this day, then you serve yourself. I am not up to par with my chopstick skills, so not only did my friends and I get a good laugh out of it, but I ended up being served in the long run because of it.
Victoria and I left at 2:30pm for another 3 hour bus ride, but were delayed an hour on the way home for a traffic jam at the same place, but just on the other side of the highway. I had a good time and enjoyed seeing a different part of China. I have posted some pictures from this weekend for you to see including highway signs - some are "normal" and some are just funny due to Chinese-English translation.
Here are a few random observations from the weekend:
* I had my travel size hairspray confiscated at the bus station in Xi'an for fear that it could be a bomb; yet anyone was allowed to carry lighters, water bottles and jugs of liquids through without screening (I did get my hairspray back when we came back the next day, but just thought it was a little interesting since you didn't really know what was in those containers of liquids)
* After every meal in Hanzhong I was given a piece of Doublemint gum to chew. Apparently that is what you do after a meal
* I got to watch the same movie on my bus rides, which was about Chinese poker - couldn't understand a word of it, but the Chinese on the bus loved it and laughed a lot during the movie
* The mountains of Hanzhong are beautiful and the air there is clearer allowing you to really see them
Hope you enjoyed hearing about my adventure over the weekend. This week I have been working on language and trying to get over this sinus infection that wants to stick around. Looking forward to checking in again soon.
Victoria and I left on Friday at 2:30pm on the bus, which was to be a 3 hour trip, but due to some traffic jam somewhere we arrived at 7:45pm instead of 5:30pm. We immediately went to the school where I instead taught from 8-10pm (the Chinese are very serious about school and are there until that time anyways). I had 38 students for the night. After teaching we went to a little restaurant for dinner where my host teacher ordered me a pork sandwich and a bowl of noodles. The sandwich was really good, but the noodles were really spicy, and I don't do spicy very often. We then checked into the hotel at 11:30pm and were pretty much asleep by 12:15am.
On Saturday we were picked up at 7:30am and taken to a little restaurant for breakfast, which was porridge (it is some bean flavored soup that looks like milk), more spicy noodles, and a pastry. I enjoyed the pastry, was not crazy about more spicy noodles, especially for breakfast, and only enjoyed the porridge somewhat because it helped with my mouth that was on fire. I then taught the two classes (28 students for the first class and 25 students for the second) before our host and a group of the teachers and three students took us to lunch. We went to the best restuarant there for Chinese hot pot. Hot pot is best described as a beef bouillon base with a few carrots and celery for flavor that is in a huge pot in the center of the table. A fire under the pot is started and the base begins to boil. You then add anything you want to add to it and let it cook. Once things are cooked you take the meat, vegetables, or noodles out with your chopsticks and place it on your plate to eat. Then later you laddle out the soup part into a bowl to drink. I have to admit I ate things that I would not normally eat and things that I dislike, but I did it to be culturally sensitive and to not offend my hosts and their delicacies (I had to eat tofu - sorry for those of you who like it, but it is really bad, as well as mushrooms and mushroom noodles - yes, my parents laughed about this since they have tried for years to get me to eat mushrooms). Typically the Chinese custom is to serve your guest every time they need food - so the host would get food every few minutes and put it on your plate until you were done eating. If you were being treated like family, as I was on this day, then you serve yourself. I am not up to par with my chopstick skills, so not only did my friends and I get a good laugh out of it, but I ended up being served in the long run because of it.
Victoria and I left at 2:30pm for another 3 hour bus ride, but were delayed an hour on the way home for a traffic jam at the same place, but just on the other side of the highway. I had a good time and enjoyed seeing a different part of China. I have posted some pictures from this weekend for you to see including highway signs - some are "normal" and some are just funny due to Chinese-English translation.
Here are a few random observations from the weekend:
* I had my travel size hairspray confiscated at the bus station in Xi'an for fear that it could be a bomb; yet anyone was allowed to carry lighters, water bottles and jugs of liquids through without screening (I did get my hairspray back when we came back the next day, but just thought it was a little interesting since you didn't really know what was in those containers of liquids)
* After every meal in Hanzhong I was given a piece of Doublemint gum to chew. Apparently that is what you do after a meal
* I got to watch the same movie on my bus rides, which was about Chinese poker - couldn't understand a word of it, but the Chinese on the bus loved it and laughed a lot during the movie
* The mountains of Hanzhong are beautiful and the air there is clearer allowing you to really see them
Hope you enjoyed hearing about my adventure over the weekend. This week I have been working on language and trying to get over this sinus infection that wants to stick around. Looking forward to checking in again soon.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
New Perspective
Hey! Well, I definitely enjoyed my time in the States, but had to get back into the swing of things once I returned since I still had classes to attend. Monday's class went well since I was able to retain the new chapter that I studied over the weekend, but by Tuesday I had quickly regressed in that knowledge. I did have to remind myself that I did not study the three weeks I missed of class either. My teachers said that they were still impressed with my progress to this point and to keep practicing my tones and vocabulary and it will all come naturally soon enough.
I am going to shift the focus of my blog for a minute and share with you something that I have been pondering this weekend. I don't claim to have this all figured out or that I am even right in this matter - it is just what's on my heart that I would love to share with you. I would also welcome any thoughts or feedback that you may have on the matter.
I have been thinking about disappointment and how in life we all experience it in some form or fashion. Whether it is being disappointed in someone or in a situation, it is a natural part of life. In my process of thinking I started to wonder what life would be like if I viewed disappointment in a different way - if I gave a new definition to disappointment. Various dictionaries define "disappointment" as: dashing one's hopes, to be frustrated, to being defeated or a failure. What if instead the word was broken into two parts: 'dis' and 'appointment.' 'Dis' used as a prefix would mean: not, undo, or free from. And 'appointment' would mean: the act of selecting or designating someone to a position.
What if instead of viewing "disappointment" when a friend chooses to walk out of my life as being someone who is defeated, I instead viewed it as an opportunity of 'free form' for another person to be 'appointed to that position' in that season of my life? In place of being disappointed in people and choosing to close myself off to the world, what if I allowed room for others to become my friends? Would it change my perspective of disappointment and maybe even theirs?
What if instead of viewing "disappointment" when the hope I had of teaching English to Chinese Olympic athletes gets put on hold, and instead viewed it as an opportunity to 'undo' the obstacles standing in my way of 'appointing me to learn another language' so that lives can be changed? Would it change my perspective of disappointment?
And my answer to all of those questions is: YES! My perspective has changed and been opened up to a new realm of possibilities. I have realized that a lot of this journey is about learning more about who I am becoming and allowing myself to be appointed to the positions that were chosen for me by Someone who knows me better than I know myself. It is about allowing my life to be re-defined in order to allow for greater growth.
Thank you for continuing to read my blog as you allowed me the opportunity to express my thoughts there for a moment. I wish you all a continued happy and healthy new year!
I am going to shift the focus of my blog for a minute and share with you something that I have been pondering this weekend. I don't claim to have this all figured out or that I am even right in this matter - it is just what's on my heart that I would love to share with you. I would also welcome any thoughts or feedback that you may have on the matter.
I have been thinking about disappointment and how in life we all experience it in some form or fashion. Whether it is being disappointed in someone or in a situation, it is a natural part of life. In my process of thinking I started to wonder what life would be like if I viewed disappointment in a different way - if I gave a new definition to disappointment. Various dictionaries define "disappointment" as: dashing one's hopes, to be frustrated, to being defeated or a failure. What if instead the word was broken into two parts: 'dis' and 'appointment.' 'Dis' used as a prefix would mean: not, undo, or free from. And 'appointment' would mean: the act of selecting or designating someone to a position.
What if instead of viewing "disappointment" when a friend chooses to walk out of my life as being someone who is defeated, I instead viewed it as an opportunity of 'free form' for another person to be 'appointed to that position' in that season of my life? In place of being disappointed in people and choosing to close myself off to the world, what if I allowed room for others to become my friends? Would it change my perspective of disappointment and maybe even theirs?
What if instead of viewing "disappointment" when the hope I had of teaching English to Chinese Olympic athletes gets put on hold, and instead viewed it as an opportunity to 'undo' the obstacles standing in my way of 'appointing me to learn another language' so that lives can be changed? Would it change my perspective of disappointment?
And my answer to all of those questions is: YES! My perspective has changed and been opened up to a new realm of possibilities. I have realized that a lot of this journey is about learning more about who I am becoming and allowing myself to be appointed to the positions that were chosen for me by Someone who knows me better than I know myself. It is about allowing my life to be re-defined in order to allow for greater growth.
Thank you for continuing to read my blog as you allowed me the opportunity to express my thoughts there for a moment. I wish you all a continued happy and healthy new year!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Back in Xi'an
It's me again! Just wanted to let you all know that I am back in Xi'an. I will be updating again in a few days, but in the meantime wanted you to all know that I safely made it back. Hope you all are enjoying the holiday weekend.
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