Open hearts

Today it finally began to rain and turn chilly again. But that's okay! My heart was happy all day.

After lunch, the student I mentioned a post or two ago, came over to start a study. Good heavens, I was nervous. I know how incoherent I can sound and how inadequate I am. The Father knows that, too, but He still chooses to use me! For that, I can only be humbled and amazed.

I had printed off a little "lesson" in English and Chinese. We looked at the word together and looked at the questions from the lesson for nearly 2 hours. My student, who is also my dear friend now, was so curious and open. She read the word in Chinese, and I read it in English. Then I would have her summarize what she had read. This quiet girl who is one of my lower students, saw the word through clear eyes and an open heart. Her observations made me stop in my tracks and say, "Wow!" I hardly had to ever say anything. The word and the questions asked just spoke for themselves. Even the mild communication difficulties we sometimes have with each other seemed to just disappear.

Toward the end, she asked me some more questions, and I got to share about my story and how I became a believer. She held onto every word. It was like there was some flicker of hope in her soul. Later she quietly said, "I'm not sure why yet, but I think He is true."

She wants to continue the study next week. I wanted for the two of us to meet with another study going on, so there would be other Chinese with us, but my student has class nearly every night, so it wouldn't work. So for now we'll continue on Saturdays, and next week I'm going to make her her first American meal!

Thanks so much for your thoughts!! There are so many possible distractions that crop up here, but it was like our time together was specially guarded by Him.

On another note, Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you have a great day, and I hope you can remember that He is the greatest Love that has ever existed!

Back in the groove

(It's such a nice day for teaching!)
(The usual crush of students going up and down the stairs at school).
(The basketball net hanging expedition, as told in the previous post).

Welcome to Friday! It was another beautiful day. A little polluted, but the temperature was nice. Since it is Friday, our team leader lets us wear jeans, which is always fun. I also wore a short sleeve shirt, since it is about 80 degrees outside. Like I mentioned in the last post, all my students still wear heavy winter clothing, despite the actual temperature. When I walked in to class this morning, two boys looked at me and said, "Whoa! What a strong girl!" No, I'm much weaker than you, I thought. Perhaps I'm a wimp, but I prefer not to die from heat stroke.

Not much else has been happening. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, of course, and it is supposed to start pouring rain for the next 10 days. We are all fine with that. China is apparently suffering from its worst drought in 50 years. Even this city, which is normally more like a swamp, is looking much more like a desert lately.

Sunny skies

What were you doing at 9 p.m. last night? Well, I don't know, but I can tell you what we were doing. Our whole team, plus an assortment of students, were balanced on desks and chairs in the total darkness on the school's basketball courts. As some sort of community service, our team leader decided we would put nets on 16+ basketball hoops on old campus.

So, in the shroud of darkness, we worked to loop the nets through tiny little holes on the rusty, net-less basketball hoops. I'll try to provide some pictures soon. But just imagine people standing on desks, sitting on someone else's shoulders, standing on chairs on top of desks, and/or standing on desks stacked sideways on top of other desks. It's China. For some reason, nobody felt unsafe. I guess teaching in shoddily-constructed buildings, and crossing traffic going 26 different directions makes you less sensitive to safety issues. But it was a lot of fun, and I think the students were surprised to see brand new red, white, and blue basketball nets mysteriously appear by this morning.

Anyway, our first week back is almost over. Every day I feel so exhausted at the end, but not in a burnt out way, which is new for me. It is a kind of exhaustion that is like, "I've tried my best and have relied on Him for this crazy/wonderful/unexpected day." After my first day of teaching again I was crying, because I didn't feel like I could do any of it. I couldn't teach, I couldn't pour love into these students, I couldn't be there for my teammates, I couldn't embrace the culture like I should. So I just gave it all to Him. I told Him that I couldn't do anything on my own. I am so inadequate, especially when I try to lean on my own abilities and strength.

That has seemed like a turning point for me of some kind. I've been more peaceful in my heart, and I don't feel so paralyzed by all the need that surrounds me. He has also given me such amazing energy to teach for several hours straight, and to be more intentional with my students.

He also paved the way for a very encouraging interaction that I can't fully explain here. In short, I went to lunch with one of my students and a few other people on my team, plus somebody else's student. I also visited my student's dormitory, which is always fun. She lives in a tiny room with 5 other girls. I was browsing through her bookshelves, when I saw a book, which turned out to be the word. She said she has been reading it, but doesn't understand it. We had a short discussion, and it turns out we are going to start studying it together this weekend. How amazing is that? He is so great. Please remember to lift up our time together, and that there wouldn't be major communication barriers, etc.

I have been hanging out with her for several months, so this is sort of what it looks like to build relationships in China. It is a very slow process, and it certainly doesn't happen over night.

In other news, it got up to almost 80 degrees here today. I wore some lightweight pants and a three-quarter sleeve shirt. Since it is still technically winter, all of our students continued to wear their wool sweaters and heavy coats. I was sweating during class, and I imagined all of them getting heat stroke. I wanted to scream at them to be sensible and to take off those horribly heavy coats. I politely suggested it, but they wouldn't budge. It seems that if it is winter in China, you dress like it is winter. The actual temperature doesn't matter. There are still so many things here I just can't wrap my head around!

Tomorrow it should be pleasant for one more day before it rains for the next week, with temperatures back in the 40s.

Sweet stuff

(Eating our favorite 3 kuai dumplings. Someday I'll work on having better posture).
(Spring cleaning in the alleys on our way to lunch. From Jodi's camera).

This week at Blue Sky, my innocent little students are learning about this crazy American holiday known as "Valentine's Day." And it has turned out to be one of the best classes ever. They hang on to my every word. I also gave them some great Valentine lingo, such as "BFF (Best Friends Forever), Sweet Stuff, Be Mine, Your Secret Admirer."

Then I passed out some nice paper and crayons for them to make their own Valentine cards for part of the class. I don't think they have ever had the opportunity to color and be creative in class. They were going wild with excitement. I told them I'd like to send them to my friends, i.e. supporters, in America. They thought that was even more exciting--that some American would be reading their thoughtful words.

Girls and boys alike spent a painstaking 25 minutes creating those works of art. They look like first-graders drew them, but I think that makes them even more special. One girl wanted to glue something to her card. I didn't have glue, but I had a cheap kind of Scotch tape in my bag, which I handed to her. The girl, "Cherry," just stared at the tape. She and her deskmate whispered about the tape and just poked at it. Then I realized they didn't know how to use tape. Who would have thought? So one of my accomplishments for the day was teaching two Chinese college girls how to use Scotch tape, which apparently hasn't made it into mainstream Chinese society.

Later today I went rollerblading, since the weather was so pleasant and I didn't have office hours. I found the source of the funeral music, which is STILL playing!! People are still sitting around mourning this woman. Instead of getting annoyed, I just felt sad. Their parting with that woman was final. Of course they'd mourn for days; they don't think they'll ever see her again.

When I got back from skating, I sat down on the ground in front of our apartment building to take off the rollerblades. The little two year old boy who lives in our same building, Yi Fan, was just standing there staring. Then he quietly walked into the doorway and brought back my shoes for me to put on. Agh, he's so cute!

For dinner, I headed to my favorite noodleshop. For four kuai (about 75 cents) I can get a big bowl of noodles, greens, and a few stringy pieces of beef. The people in the shop are so sweet, and again I reminded myself that I really have to buckle down and learn more Chinese these next few months. I'm pretty sure Chinese is easily one of the most diffucult languages on earth, but that doesn't mean I can give up.

After dinner I wandered down the street and bought a quarter of a pineapple on a stick for one kuai (15 cents). Mmmmm....

Time to go study the Word with my team!

Goal setting and one minute of fame (videos included)

Welcome to Tuesday, the second day of the semester at Blue Sky.

So far I've taught four classes, so I've seen all 190 of my students again. I was really looking forward to seeing them again, and I guess I still am. For some reason I just thought they'd be slightly more enthusiastic. But, alas, they are slightly depressed. Apparently Blue Sky starts much earlier than the majority of other universities in China. So all of their friends are still in their hometowns having fun. And they didn't get to celebrate the end of Spring Festival with their families, which is marked by "Lantern Festival." Lantern Festival was yesterday, meaning everyone in China burnt tall candles and shot off gigantic fireworks.

Anyway, I'm getting back into the teaching mode. Right now I'm just working on reviving their rusty minds, since they didn't speak a word of English over the past 5 weeks. We discussed our Spring Festival holidays. I also had them write out specific goals for their semester. Again I was reminded that they are Chinese students. They have pretty lofty goals, most of which they are determined to meet no matter what. In China, things that seem impossible really aren't. Their favorite saying is "Where there is a will, there is a way." That's right. The Chinese have a very strong collective will, which is probably how they built up the world's strongest economy, had the Olympics, built the Three Gorges Dam, etc.

Here are some examples of their goals:

"I want to learn 100 new words. I must get up earlier every morning and I must learn it every day before sleep. I believe if I do like this, I can achieve it."

"Goal no. 2: Be an outstanding cadre in our class. Goal no. 3: Let my physique strengthen."
(I just like that he used the word "cadre.")

"Work harder than before, stick on."

"Getting up at 6:30 in the morning, going to bed at 12:00 at the midnight."

"I want to play basketball more perfect than before."

Oh, these dear, sweet kids. How could you not love them?

Well, I have to browse through some more goals written on their crinkly papers. Meanwhile, that music I mentioned last post is playing again today. Since we discovered the blasting music is to commemorate someone who died in the neighborhood, it isn't much fun to listen to anymore.

Oh, and we got a copy of our "one minute of fame" on Chinese television. I've uploaded it for your entertainment. They made us do such over-the-top things. Like we are singing "Happy New Year to You" to the tune of "Happy Birthday" around a cake the media provided. We're wearing clothes they provided. We're putting up decorations they provided, etc. etc. And watch carefully, I'm dancing in there! I bet my old ballet teacher, June, wouldn't have guessed I'd have an audience of millions! :) Enjoy!

Dawn of a glorious day

It is a wonderful Sunday. The temperature is supposed to be in the mid-60s throughout next week, until it will abruptly plummet back into the 30s. So we are enjoying it while we can!

Tomorrow we begin teaching again. Most of the students have not returned from their break. The campus is still fairly empty. So we are speculating about what the campus will look like later today, when supposedly 50,000 students will return at once. That's like the size of a small city migrating en masse. It should be fun to watch!

This morning we met in our team leader's apartment downstairs for a time of fellowship. Just like what usually happens when we try to meet together in His name, there is always some distraction. It is most often in the form of soldiers drilling or music blaring on the loudspeakers outside. Today it is just the music.

It seems to me that they put on a scratchy record entitled, "Best Communist Hits of 1952" and keep replaying it over and over. And there's no hiding from it, not even in your bedroom with your own music playing. The video I've added is just a snippet of the music from my window on the 5th floor, and that's when it was playing more quietly. The same song has been playing for the past four hours. Enjoy!

When we wandered into the neighborhoods to eat dumplings for lunch, we passed a shop that had been cleared out. The same song was playing from the shop. Inside there was a gigantic black-and-white portrait of an old woman hanging on the back wall. Huge black bows and bunting hung everywhere. Incense was burning, and people sat by the door in the narrow alley. They looked like they were mourning. I think we had stumbled upon a funeral or something. So now I still have no idea why that music was playing everywhere we went. You couldn't escape from it.

After lunch Rachael and I put on our rollerblades to skate around campus, because we desperately needed to exercise in this wonderful weather. With Rachael I was a little bit more adventuresome. So we skated out of the back gate past the smiling guards, and into the alleys. There is a relatively smooth, open street right behind the campus that is also well shaded. So we skated up and down that for a long time.

Although the streets weren't crowded yet, there were still plenty of pedestrians. One man pedaling his bicycle cart nearly crashed into a tree watching us skate. Then we ventured more into the other alleys. For the most part, I was just trying not to skate into the trash or off the street, so I wasn't paying any attention to people. Once and a while, though, I looked up to see little children laughing and elderly people staring in shock at us. All the while, we skated to that mystery music, like our own soundtrack.

Tomorrow I begin teaching again! I think I'm ready! Will you please keep us in your thoughts? I want the next five months to really count for Him.

P.S. A student said they saw my team and me on CCTV (China's national state-run television channel) "celebrating the New Year." That is like being on CNN, but in a country with 1.3 billion people. I'll be signing autographs later. ;)

Back in the 'Chang

(Pictures: A gigantic portrait of the King and Queen of Thailand, who are very much revered in that country; one of the many Buddhist temples, or wats, in Chiang Mai; Buddhist monks are almost as prevalent as tourists on the streets of Thailand).


I'm typing this after sweeping up plaster in our apartment. We were gone to Thailand for only two weeks, but I guess Chinese apartments like to fall apart on you whether you're there or not. Plaster likes to fall from the kitchen ceiling and the living room wall.

Ah, it's nice to be back in China. Or is it? I can't decide yet. But perhaps I'll fill you in some more on my travels to Thailand.

There's not a whole lot to say, but our organization's conference in Chiang Mai was pretty restful and refreshing. We had some more teacher training, but we probably had even more time for fellowship. It was so amazing to be back with so many believers, all lifting their voices and thoughts to the Father. There were also challenging speakers, and they just reiterated what the Father says in the Word, but still stuff I need to hear. And we heard more about all the amazing work happening for Him around Asia!

Chiang Mai was a beautiful city nestled in the mountains. The weather was consistently sunny and warm, with a temperature around 85 degrees. There were tons of little markets to browse around, and lots of fresh, tasty food to eat. I felt healthier than I've felt since coming to Asia.

And Thailand is the best model of tourism I've ever seen. Most of the Thais speak some English, and everyone was so friendly, helpful, and hospitable. The city was fairly clean, and there were probably more foreigners than Thais. That meant I could relax. I wasn't exotic in Thailand, like I am in the middle of China.

But Chiang Mai also certainly had a dark side that permeated the place. There are dozens of old and new temples, and Buddhist monks were everywhere. Most every restaurant and home also had little wats, where the Thais placed incense and food sacrifices every morning. They prayed to countless gods without any expectation or hope for answers.

Prostitution was also prevalent, much like the rest of Thailand. There were plenty of creepy old Western men with young Thai girlfriends. When you walked by them, the men and women all had haunted looks on their faces.

Anyway, we finally returned to Nanchang yesterday, after three flights. It sort of felt like we were returning home. Everything was so much dirtier and chaotic from the moment we stepped off the plane. Motorbike alarms were going off, fireworks were blasting on the streets, and taxi horns were blaring incessantly.

Mr. Li from the foreign affairs office of our university was there to greet us and take us back to the campus. We piled into the van, and we immediately all felt car sick as he and everybody else on the streets barreled down the road. At one point, I saw a big bump in the road that looked like a pointed mountain. We didn't slow down. Instead, we flew about 10 feet in the air. Jodi smashed her head on the ceiling, and I was surprised there were any wheels left on the car.

We were exhausted, but we headed to dinner at one of our favorite little hole-in-the-wall restaurants. We were sitting and eating practically inside the open door-way. We tried chatting, but gave up when huge fireworks were being set off for 15 minutes from the rooftop right there.

Then this afternoon, three of us ventured downtown to the bank and post office. I tried to mail some postcards to supporters I had bought in Thailand. I thought I could just buy a simple postcard stamp for 20 of them. But, of course, nothing is that simple in China! How could I have forgotten? :) The woman at the desk took out a variety of stamps. Each postcard required four to six gigantic stamps. And, like usual, I had to roll tons of gloppy glue on the back of each stamp and meticulously place them on the tiny postcards. Somewhere under all those stamps are postcards, I assure you, although you may not be able to read anything I've written...

Oh, China. I've missed you.