Happy Teacher's Day!

Yesterday was a fun day to be a teacher in China, because it was Teacher's Day! All day long I saw students walking around both campuses, carrying carnations or gigantic fruit baskets or other odd gifts for their teachers. The Japanese foreign teacher, Takao, who shares the office with us, was given the craziest stuff. Someone gave him four knock-off Eddie Bauer shirts. He also received a huge wooden ship, gigantic origami flowers sprayed with perfume that he promptly tied in a plastic bag, because the smell was so strong, and a beautifully framed cross-stitch of cherry blossoms. I was given a bobble head cow and a very blue and feathery wind chime by my students.

I also received several emails from students, such as:

"Tomorrow is Teacher's Day . A day for you , a day for all the teachers . It's the time we give our thanks to the teachers who have worked so hard . We chinese regard the teachers as candles . Because they always care so much about the students but pay little attention to themselves just like candle burning himself and giving lights to othe people . Teachers are very great and hard . You did a lot of help to us and you will still help us in the future even though you don't teach us ,because we are friends . Please accept my benediction and regard!"

"Miss Laura Freeze
Today is Teachers' Day in China. i stand for 08BE2.Send you our everlasting feeling of gratefulness and thankfulness on this special day.We all like having you as our teacher. You have our respect and gratefulness. and i think It is the most appropriate time to show you our thanks."

Teaching is going a lot better, not just because it was Teacher's Day recently. I still see my old students, but I don't compare them with my new students. It's sort of fun and challenging to see how well I can love my new students, even or especially when they are being extra difficult. During nearly every class I have to lift my thoughts up, but that's probably how I should live all the time.

On Friday I also officially started language learning again. I'm meeting with my Chinese friend, Amy, in my office in the afternoon. So I'm still trying my best to engage the culture and people. It's just taken a week or two for me to get my feet wet again.

Now I'm off to dinner and then a game night with some students and friends! Have a marvelous, blessed weekend!

(The pictures are from teacher day, a couple of my students, and the military training at our school).

I feel that after writing in my blog all last year about China, a lot of the newness and unique little stories I'd write about aren't really new or unique anymore. I certainly haven't experienced everything, and am nowhere near a "China expert," but it seems to me that there isn't that much to write about anymore. Maybe I'm getting immune to things that would only happen in China: propaganda posters; preparations for the upcoming celebration of 60 years of communist China; being able to lift up thoughts to Him only behind closed doors... Even quirky scenes like one of the front gate guards grabbing my hand and kissing it don't seem out of the ordinary.

Anyways, I think I have my work cut out for me this year. Last year, as a whole, I had the sweetest, most loveable students. This year I have the edgier, rowdier, lower level kids. There is no way I can do this on my own.

Thankfully I'm feeling a lot better! So Jodi and I had our three Chinese friends over to eat some little pizzas we made. It was quite refreshing being with our good friends again. (See the picture).

At the same time, a boy (he looked about 16), came to look at the air-conditioning unit in my room. I haven't used it for the past several days, despite it being over 100 degrees, because it leaks bucketfuls of water. Of course when he was looking at it, it wasn't dripping any water. So he said there was nothing to fix.

Then I had moved my big bed that takes up most of my room, so he could look at the air conditioning. When I was trying to move the wooden bed back, I managed to break it. One side that holds the mattress collapsed, so now it is propped up with old books and magazines. Also during that same time, we had a couple more power outages, because there were rolling blackouts all day. So quite a bit of the evening was spent just sitting in the dark.

Today after class, I went out to eat lunch with a couple of my old students. It was wonderful seeing them again, although I've forgotten how these two girls like to talk about a lot of things I don't like to talk about it. It only took them about four minutes to inquire about my boyfriend status. Then they also commented how my "skin looks much whiter and more beautiful than last year." They also said that my clothes were "much more beautiful than last year." So, on the outside, they thought I had improved greatly over the summer.

As I walked to catch the city bus today, there was a girl walking in front of me with an umbrella, which had a picture of Mickey Mouse on it and big English words, "The Lovely Rat." So apparently Mickey Mouse is really "The Lovely Rat" in China.

That's about all I can think of for now. I hope I didn't bore you. Life is good here, and I hope yours is also.