After nearly two months of being illness free, I'm sick again! Life was going pretty well here lately. I was content with my classes, hanging out with tons of students, and enjoying the increasingly warmer weather. But then last night I got a high fever and felt sick to my stomach. I had a cold, wet rag on my head the I burned through just about every 10 minutes; my head was on fire.
I slept for nearly 11 hours last night, which was great. Thankfully it is Friday, so I only had class for 2 hours today. I slept until the last possible moment, and woke up feeling slightly better. Somehow I managed to drag myself to the front gate, where I found a taxi. Class was okay, although I was half-collapsed on the podium the entire time. My students were pretty angelic today, which was helpful.
Usually I stay for lunch and office hours on Friday, but I decided it would be best to come home and rest. I usually eat lunch on Fridays with my friend Reborn. I sent her a message explaining why I couldn't come today. Her message in reply read, "What's happened with u? Why are u always sick? i'm worried about u! and pray to big father. hope u better soon!"
I guess I also have thought about why I'm often sick in China. Maybe it's so I can remember Who is in control? Maybe so I'll remember to rely on Him?
Oh, and Joelle and I were indeed on Jiangxi province's TV station. It's a little hard to believe that the following clip about the Women's Day banquet was actually considered "news," especially when most of it is just about random close-ups of Joelle and me. They show us laughing, smiling, and talking about nothing of any real value. Enjoy!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
How to Buy a Chinese Newspaper
Today I was wandering around the back alleys, which is one of the my favorite past times. Everything's so earthy and colorful. Some of my favorite Chinese friends live along the alleys. I love waving at them, and then we ask each other the standard greeting in a country that has seen its share of famines in the past: "Ni chi guo le ma?" (Have you eaten?) Content that the other person has indeed eaten, we merrily part ways.
And this evening I had a different stop along my route: the newsstand. I was curious to see if Joelle and I had ended up in any of the local newspapers after yesterday's banquet. So I meandered up to the square box of a newsstand. I hoped to see one paper for Nanchang that I could buy. But I was dismayed; there were literally dozens and dozens of different newspapers to choose from. Some of the papers looked like they were from 1951. They had black-and-white pictures of soldiers or officials, and everything looked really faded. There was only one newspaper that had a colored picture on it. Some even had pictures that were sketched, not photographed.
The owner just looked at me in half curiosity, half amusement. He was probably wondering what I was looking for in his neatly stacked rows of papers. I didn't exactly want to flip through all of them, and I didn't want to say the only thing I could think of in Chinese: "Wo zhao wo." (I'm looking for me). I would sound really vain and bizarre.
In the end, I gave up, especially because I couldn't understand much of the words. And the cold wind was lashing at me, giving me wind burn. It was bitterly cold. So contrary to the title of this blog, I walked away empty handed.
Oh, and today in class we talked about jobs. When I asked about my students' parents' jobs, they also just say, "They're workers!" "Worker" is an all-encompassing term for just about every job. After I encouraged them to be more specific, I discovered that their parents had a wide-array of jobs (which were usually dangerous or extremely low-paying):
-Coal miner
-Factory worker
-Rice farmer (most of their parents fell into this category).
-Taxi driver
-Truck driver
Hopefully most of them will grow up to be teachers or translators. But I told them that there is nothing wrong with being a farmer, because a lot of them seemed ashamed. I reminded them that farmers are very important, so that we have food to eat. I think that was my Kansas background coming out in me. I have undying support for farmers worldwide.
And this evening I had a different stop along my route: the newsstand. I was curious to see if Joelle and I had ended up in any of the local newspapers after yesterday's banquet. So I meandered up to the square box of a newsstand. I hoped to see one paper for Nanchang that I could buy. But I was dismayed; there were literally dozens and dozens of different newspapers to choose from. Some of the papers looked like they were from 1951. They had black-and-white pictures of soldiers or officials, and everything looked really faded. There was only one newspaper that had a colored picture on it. Some even had pictures that were sketched, not photographed.
The owner just looked at me in half curiosity, half amusement. He was probably wondering what I was looking for in his neatly stacked rows of papers. I didn't exactly want to flip through all of them, and I didn't want to say the only thing I could think of in Chinese: "Wo zhao wo." (I'm looking for me). I would sound really vain and bizarre.
In the end, I gave up, especially because I couldn't understand much of the words. And the cold wind was lashing at me, giving me wind burn. It was bitterly cold. So contrary to the title of this blog, I walked away empty handed.
Oh, and today in class we talked about jobs. When I asked about my students' parents' jobs, they also just say, "They're workers!" "Worker" is an all-encompassing term for just about every job. After I encouraged them to be more specific, I discovered that their parents had a wide-array of jobs (which were usually dangerous or extremely low-paying):
-Coal miner
-Factory worker
-Rice farmer (most of their parents fell into this category).
-Taxi driver
-Truck driver
Hopefully most of them will grow up to be teachers or translators. But I told them that there is nothing wrong with being a farmer, because a lot of them seemed ashamed. I reminded them that farmers are very important, so that we have food to eat. I think that was my Kansas background coming out in me. I have undying support for farmers worldwide.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Being a Woman on Women's Day
Happy International Women's Day!
I don't remember ever celebrating or knowing about this holiday in America, but it seems to be extra special in China. Joelle said it's probably because most every day is a "man's day" in China.
Anyways, today was the 100th anniversary since it began, ironically, to give the women the right to vote. In China men and women can't vote. So I'm not quite sure what we're celebrating here then.
Joelle and I were the only ones without Monday morning class, so we were basically required to go to a banquet organized by the province's "Women's Federation." Since it sounded so official and communist, I was very excited. Banquets are also good times to sit leisurely and eat a lot of fancy food. And it was held at the ritzy "Jiangxi Hotel," which is right next to where we have fellowship at the other "Jiangxi Hotel." It's a little confusing.
There were probably a couple hundred women there, with a bunch of reporters and a handful of foreign women mixed in. Most of the other several foreigners were from our fellowship. It's a small world for us in Nanchang. One of our friends, Connie, even gave a speech, and lots of cameras were in her face.
Cameras were also in our faces as we sat at the round banquet tables, listening to long speeches all in Chinese, and watching very flashy performances. Joelle and I happen to be particularly pale, which is the most beautiful trait you can have in China. So there were photographers literally snapping pictures right in our face whenever we smiled, moved, blinked, or sipped some tea. It was a little exhausting after three hours. It's interesting being a celebrity for no real reason.
At one point one of the Jiangxi TV stations pulled Joelle and me out in the hall to "interview" us on camera. Right then I realized I was wearing the exact same outfit as my CCTV debut last year in front of tens of millions of people. Do you think anyone realized that? ;)
The reporter first asked me a question in unintelligible English, with a mix of Chinese, as the cameraman and his bright light beamed right at me. They asked me the most boring, unoriginal question ever: "How do you like Jiangxi?" But I had to ask her to repeat the question about three times.
In my mind I was thinking, "Nobody really likes Jiangxi." But of course I couldn't say that to my host province. So I came up with an equally boring, unoriginal answer: "Um, Jiangxi is great! The people are so friendly." (In actuality, Jiangxi is famous for being poor and not very cool. The people are also renowned for being unfriendly.) So I was an unintentional liar on television. I'm not cut out for this business.
Joelle, on the other hand, gave a very poignant answer. She said something along the lines of this: "At first it was difficult coming here. But it has become my home and I think of the people as my family." Gosh, why couldn't I have said something halfway-clever? Oh, well.
And after this amazing banquet, we returned to school. I at least had a pretty decent story to tell my students and to post on my blog. :)
(With Joelle and a Chinese English teacher from our school. I don't know why I look so fake and waxy).
(A woman who received a medal for her "contributions to a village.")
(Our friend Connie from fellowship giving a speech).
(Here's a sampling of some singing we got to listen to. Warning: Turn your volume down! It's extremely loud!)
I don't remember ever celebrating or knowing about this holiday in America, but it seems to be extra special in China. Joelle said it's probably because most every day is a "man's day" in China.
Anyways, today was the 100th anniversary since it began, ironically, to give the women the right to vote. In China men and women can't vote. So I'm not quite sure what we're celebrating here then.
Joelle and I were the only ones without Monday morning class, so we were basically required to go to a banquet organized by the province's "Women's Federation." Since it sounded so official and communist, I was very excited. Banquets are also good times to sit leisurely and eat a lot of fancy food. And it was held at the ritzy "Jiangxi Hotel," which is right next to where we have fellowship at the other "Jiangxi Hotel." It's a little confusing.
There were probably a couple hundred women there, with a bunch of reporters and a handful of foreign women mixed in. Most of the other several foreigners were from our fellowship. It's a small world for us in Nanchang. One of our friends, Connie, even gave a speech, and lots of cameras were in her face.
Cameras were also in our faces as we sat at the round banquet tables, listening to long speeches all in Chinese, and watching very flashy performances. Joelle and I happen to be particularly pale, which is the most beautiful trait you can have in China. So there were photographers literally snapping pictures right in our face whenever we smiled, moved, blinked, or sipped some tea. It was a little exhausting after three hours. It's interesting being a celebrity for no real reason.
At one point one of the Jiangxi TV stations pulled Joelle and me out in the hall to "interview" us on camera. Right then I realized I was wearing the exact same outfit as my CCTV debut last year in front of tens of millions of people. Do you think anyone realized that? ;)
The reporter first asked me a question in unintelligible English, with a mix of Chinese, as the cameraman and his bright light beamed right at me. They asked me the most boring, unoriginal question ever: "How do you like Jiangxi?" But I had to ask her to repeat the question about three times.
In my mind I was thinking, "Nobody really likes Jiangxi." But of course I couldn't say that to my host province. So I came up with an equally boring, unoriginal answer: "Um, Jiangxi is great! The people are so friendly." (In actuality, Jiangxi is famous for being poor and not very cool. The people are also renowned for being unfriendly.) So I was an unintentional liar on television. I'm not cut out for this business.
Joelle, on the other hand, gave a very poignant answer. She said something along the lines of this: "At first it was difficult coming here. But it has become my home and I think of the people as my family." Gosh, why couldn't I have said something halfway-clever? Oh, well.
And after this amazing banquet, we returned to school. I at least had a pretty decent story to tell my students and to post on my blog. :)
(With Joelle and a Chinese English teacher from our school. I don't know why I look so fake and waxy).
(A woman who received a medal for her "contributions to a village.")
(Our friend Connie from fellowship giving a speech).
(Here's a sampling of some singing we got to listen to. Warning: Turn your volume down! It's extremely loud!)
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