Living the May 12th spirit

Today's May 12th. Perhaps you might remember that one year ago today, there was a devastating earthquake in southwest China that killed around 90,000 people and left 5 million people without homes. It's was very tragic, especially for all Chinese. Chinese are some of the most patriotic/nationalistic people I've ever been around--they have immense pride in their country and people. So when something like this happened, they all felt it. They also still often talk about it.

For example, sometimes I give my students essays to write. No matter the topic, at least one student manages to talk about the "Sichuan earthquake" or the "May 12th earthquake." Their heroes nowadays are the rescuers and the PLA soldiers who dug through countless crumbled buildings by hand to find people.

They even talk about the "May 12th spirit." Every momentous event or famous person in Chinese history has some "spirit" associated with it, it seems. This particular "spirit" is rather shadowy it seems, and I can't quite peg it. But, from what I've gathered, this May 12th spirit is one of a Chinese unity, sacrificing everything for the common good, and a strong, unwavering will that can overcome even the most powerful forces of nature. It's a really interesting thing to witness, especially as sort of an "outsider" looking in.

Another "spirit" I've witnessed first-hand was a couple of months ago. March 5th of every year is "Learn from Lei Feng Day." Students still study the "Lei Feng spirit," just like every other Chinese student for the past 45 years. Lei Feng was a soldier who was the model soldier and citizen. He loved Mao and his country more than anything. He also apparently performed every duty selflessly and perfectly. Unfortunately he died when he was 21, when a telephone pole fell on him after a truck backed into it.

Anyway, not too much else has been happening. We have done some different activities in class that have helped give me more of a glimpse into the lives of my students. The past two days we have been drawing "timelines" of our lives. They are fascinating to look at and ask questions about.

I discovered that my students have a wide array of ages--some were born in 1988, while others were born in 1991 or 1992. So some students are just two years younger than I am, while some are five or six years younger. They also were born in a variety of provinces and come from a variety of classes--well-off, middle class, and quite poor.

Many of them have also suffered from some sort of catastrophe: "The big flood destroyed our home." "My dad almost died in traffic." "My parents left us to work in the factory in 1996." "I had to give up drawing, which I really loved, because I was told there is no future in it." "I almost drowned in the river, but my mother saved me." "Flames from cooking burned my eyes." Etc, etc.

Well, that's all to report for now. Teaching, living, and relationships are going well. Please continue to think of my students and for my support raising for next year!! Thanks!!

AMAZED (Mother's Day edition)

(It looks like I was photo-shopped into the picture, but I wasn't! :) Here's a few of my students who came to today's dance on old campus)

What a Saturday! What a life!

It was a sweltering hot day, but I couldn't have been more content. This afternoon my special student came over to hang out. We ended up talking for a really long time about a lot of different issues. For instance, she is worried about her parents who have to work long hours at menial jobs to pay for her tuition. Her mom just started working at a cafeteria, and her dad is a night guard at a bank. She was crying because she was so distraught that her parents must always work so hard to send her to school. She is also concerned about her parents, because they do not understand why she now believes what she believes. So it was a difficult, but good discussion.

Since we were talking for so long, we were late to the "Spring Fling" dance party Jodi, et al. planned on the old campus, but we still got to dance for a long time. About 85 of our students showed up in the killer heat to dance like crazy. We taught them some line dances, the chicken dance, the hokey pokey, etc. I tried teaching the hokey pokey, but I did a horrible job, so Jodi took over. But it was still so much fun!

After being totally exhausted my student and I continued our follow-up study. It was great, and she got to tell me how she has been able to share about him to countless students. For example, she is currently the only sister in her class, but everyone knows. There's so much more I want to tell you about. But I will say that so many students in that class are so curious about how she has changed, etc. So more students might join studies! It's so crazy and amazing. Everything else in life pales in comparison to knowing him, telling others about him, and hearing that others are also telling others about him!

Well, tomorrow is another jam-packed day. I thought I would take this occasion to wish my dear Mom a happy Mother's Day!! I love you, Mom!! This video was made especially for you!!

All's well in the 'Chang

Ah, I love warm/hot weather! This is when I thrive! All of a sudden it's a pleasant 88 degrees outside and inside. But it's even better, because the watermelon lady is back to doing what she does best--selling watermelons! Her little cart is once again stacked with slices of watermelon, and she once again is smiling brightly. I try to buy fruit from her about 5 times a week, which is good for "guanxi" (relationships).

After dinner today, there were a bunch of students hovering around buying watermelon slices she had already cut. I handed her my one kuai as she turned around with her gigantic knife and smashed open a huge, juicy watermelon. Then she merrily handed me a gigantic slice, twice as big as the others. It's all about that guanxi!

So I happily munched on it as Jonathan and I stood talking to one our team's favorite Chinese friends. The watermelon dripped all over my feet and face, and I deposited all the millions of watermelon seeds on the pavement. Lots of students milled around, as the last glimmer of sun slipped beyond the hazy horizon. Sounds poetic, doesn't it? Well, I think this is when I'm most content--just talking to friends, gnawing on some fresh fruit in the summer heat--all without a care in the world.

Anyway, thanks so much for your thoughts! I'm back to my chipper self after finally getting some good sleep last night! Life doesn't seem so tragic and bizarre when you get sleep...

So today I was much more motivated in teaching, being with people, and studying Chinese. And the class sizes are slowly increasing again. Today I had about 35 students in class, which is encouraging.

Here's a few things happening this weekend:
-I finally get to continue the study with my special student, after a few weekends that were interrupted by visitors, random activities, or holidays. Maybe you can lift her up? Ever since she became a sister, countless distractions have been thrown at her. For example, she told me yesterday that she now has a boyfriend, who she doesn't even really like and who does not believe the same things she believes.
-Jodi has been diligently preparing for a "spring fling" dance of sorts this Saturday on old campus. We have invited our students and we will teach them some dances. Hopefully a lot of students will come, despite the heat and the fact that they will have to climb 9 stories to get there.
-We have fellowship on Sunday, and then another team in our city will be visiting our campus for some additional fun and fellowship.

Have an amazing weekend!

In the furnace

Today we are certainly still in the "furnace city." This city is living up to its nickname. It was 90 degrees today, which is pretty warm without air conditioning or air circulation of any kind. During my office hours today my feet got so swollen, that I couldn't put my shoes back on! I had to hobble around in Shannon's too-small flip-flops. However, I'd still much rather be too hot than too cold!

Not much of note has occurred during this week. I just have pretty much been trying to survive this week. Ever since I returned from the weekend in Ping Xiang, I have been sleeping horribly. Every night I haven't been able to fall asleep until 3 or 4 a.m., and then I have to wake up at 6:30 or 7 a.m.

There isn't a whole lot on my mind when I'm trying to fall asleep, but I feel like I have this sleep problem whenever something pretty momentous is happening. This seems especially true when relationships are going well, and a lot of big things are occurring in either my life, or in the lives of people I'm close to. Can you please lift this up? I'm really ineffective when I'm sleep deprived.

Anyway, there is some good news. A lot of my students who went out "recruiting" have returned to school! Out of all the students who went recruiting, only one girl was able to find any students who want to come to this university. And somehow she recruited 14 other students.

A lot of the students seem dejected that they wasted money to go home, missed a lot of classes, and then didn't find any students. Now they also have to deal with the disappointment and anger of their head teacher who is upset that they didn't find other students. But I'm thankful they have returned! :)

In other news, people continue to remark how little time left we have here before we return to America. I'm just thankful that I get to come back for yet another year of teaching and loving these students! There are still so many conversations to be had, so many lessons to teach and to learn, and so many other things yet to happen...

I will be back in America on June 30th (that's next month!) I'll be back in Kansas on July 2nd and then I'm visiting Rochester just in time for my birthday on July 17th. After Rochester, I'll be going to Virginia from July 23-27th. If you'll be in any of those places during those times, please let me know! I want to hang out with you and see you!

Thanks as always for your special thoughts and encouragement!

From Ping Xiang with love

(Ping Xiang in the corner of Jiangxi province)
(My student and her lovely parents at their restaurant).
(They made some good food in their kitchen).
(The cave we trekked through).
(Some little kiddos at an English school).
(We reached the bottom of the mountain on a motorcycle).
(The amazing countryside).


Oh, where to begin? I survived and thrived the past few days in Ping Xiang, although I'm a bit sleep deprived and overstimulated. Caution: read this blog/novel at your own risk. It's long!

Day 1:
My student "W" and I left Nanchang on the fast train, which is only a few months old. Getting on the new train was just like getting on an old train--there was the usual crush of people surging to get through the gates, while soldiers and police were trying to keep order. But the train was quite swanky. It looks like a bullet and was the nicest train or moving vehicle I've ever been in. Since the tickets were 90 kuai ($12), only the middle or upper class could afford it. So we rode at 200 km/hour in the lap of luxury (we were even served "Tibetan spring water") for a mere 2 hours, to reach the far corner of Jiangxi province.

W and I just looked at the vast countryside and mountains outside the window for the entire time. Everything was so green and beautiful. People were stooped over in the rice paddies with water sloshing around their ankles. Some men guided their water buffalo through the fields, tilling the soil. These scene was repeated outside our window the entire trip. Occasionally the farmers would peer up from their work to gaze at this shiny, new train. They probably imagined a different world--one that was out of their reach. I looked at the pampered little Chinese children inside the train and then at the barefoot, dirty children outside in the rice paddies. How can some parts of China be so modern, and others still so ancient and poor?

We arrived in Ping Xiang, a sizeable city surrounded only by countryside. W's very enthusiastic 21 year-old cousin, "Kathy," greeted us outside the train gate, just busting with excitement. Kathy was a very special person, who was kind and spoke some English, but a bit spoiled, immature, flaky, and showy with her money (like always wearing faux fur collars). Next to Kathy stood her 30 year-old fiancee, who is decidely middle class. He has a very good job, and shuttled us around in his nice, new Buick for most of the weekend. To have a car is something amazing in China, but to have a Buick with tinted windows means you've made it in the world.

We were immediately driven to W's parents' restaurant in the middle of the pretty city. A small crowd of about 15 or 20 people was standing in front of the restaurant for this occasion--to welcome the foreigner. We were whisked into a room in the restaurant, where I was surrounded by many uncles, cousins, parents, brothers, aunts, etc. They all were so excited and just smiled and smiled and smiled. We were served many courses of special meats, a big fish with its head, eel or snake or something, and plenty of vegetables. It was a very grand party, and they made sure to stuff me. I felt very welcomed.

At about 8 p.m. Kathy and her fiancee drove us to the big revolutionary square to see the sights. I think every city in Jiangxi has a huge square dedicated to the revolution. We then commenced to play bumper cars, and even danced. There were hundreds of couples dancing national dances in the square for exercise. After that we had to go shopping until 11 p.m. Kathy looked at every possible shiny, sparkly item in the world, and bought plenty. I certainly wasn't as eager about shopping, and I think she was disappointed. All foreigners like shopping, right? And later, Kathy's friend told me how surprised she was that I didn't talk about myself all the time. All foreigners like talking about themselves, right?

Anyway, then they drove us to Kathy's parents' (W's aunt and uncle's) apartment, where we stayed. It was large and new for China, and decorated in plenty of frills and sparkly things. There was a squatty potty AND a Western toilet in the one bathroom. There was also a Buddha statue in the living room, which the aunt offered food sacrifices (packaged Chinese food) and incense to every day.

Day 2:
After breakfast we drove in the Buick to the countryside and mountains. We passed plenty of rice paddies and water buffalo. We also passed plenty of people trudging alongside the road balancing heavy loads on the end of pole across their shoulders, and some amazingly old-looking people trudging uphill with just a walking stick and patched clothes and a pack on their backs. Who knew where they were going, or how long until they reached their destination. Maybe they had been trying to reach their destination their whole lives.

We arrived at a cave where people say a dragon died a long time ago. So for the next 3 hours and 5,000 meters we trekked up through this cave, but didn't spot a dragon. Most of the cave was very narrow and maybe only 5 feet in height. I spent most of the time bent in half. There were a lot of colorful lights every once and a while, but then I think they ran out of lights. So it got steadily darker and more intense, with bats flying around and water dripping on us.

I don't exactly enjoy caves or small spaces for extended periods of time, but somehow I didn't go insane. I just thought to Him in my head pretty constantly and tried to encourage my cave-hiking buddies. Once and a while we would come upon other people trudging through the cave also. A suprising number of them were little old men who were smoking whole packs of cigarettes.

Toward the end of the cave there was an open space with a gigantic Buddha statue. Incense was burning, and some people were paying their respects in this eerily dark place. Even a little boy was bowing and I felt very sad at that moment. I wondered if anyone had told them the Good News, or if they would ever get to hear it. The motionless, idle stone statue didn't have anything to offer.

We finally reached the end of the cave, which came out at the top of a mountain. Somehow we had to get back down the mountain. After walking around plenty of rice paddies and cows, some men on motorcycles said they could take us down the mountain for 10 kuai. So we all smashed on the motorcycles and I sat behind a driver and my student.

Our driver commenced to speed down the incredibly windy, narrow mountain road at a million kilometers per hour. He zig-zagged around other motorcycles, people hiking, and even farm animals. Who needs helmets or slow driving speeds? I thought I'd fly off the back and plunge into the valley at every bump and turn and abrupt stop. It was one of the few times I thought for sure I'd die, but I didn't. Even though it was terrifying, it was also one of the most exciting moments--feeling like you might die, but knowing you'll have a great story if you survive.

Not much else happened the rest of the day, but W and I went back to her family's restaurant for dinner. She and I sat at a huge 1o person table by ourselves, and her parents brought us 7 or 8 dishes of amazing food, which we could barely make a dent in.

Day 3:
On Saturday, W and I walked to a neighborhood where her cousin Kathy owns her own English school. Don't ask me how or why this 21 year-old with and lower English than my students and not much common sense is able to have her own little English school. So for about 6 hours I got to "talk" to the 80 students at the school.

Most of the students were 7-12 years old. Many of them screamed when they saw me. Others clutched their hearts and gasped. Plenty more hid under their desks. I felt like a really big monster. But after awhile they warmed up to me, and I asked them questions and helped them play games. I felt also felt like Santa Claus, because Kathy wanted every kid to have his/her own picture with me. I was wondering in my head if I could get paid for this.

Later W and I finally got to visit her home. It is an old 3- story building near the outskirts of town. Her grandfather, who had fought in the "war to protect North Korea from the Americans," had built the house many years ago. Her grandmother and some other random elderly people live in two big rooms on the first floor. Her grandma was probably about 4'8" and had been a teacher. She was so kind and had insisted that other old people without families stay with them. So I also saw some old people in ancient beds. They didn't look very alive.

We looked at the rest of the house, which workers were fixing up. It was more like a concrete building than a home, but W is very fond of the place. We also peered into one room which wasn't being repaired. It smelled of incense, and had several shrines of Buddha in it. There were also black-and-white photos of deceased relatives, and a very old bust of Chairman Mao. W told me this was her grandma's "room" to talk to Buddha. I didn't say anything, but inside I felt very heavy with the thought that her grandma was talking hours a day to something or someone who didn't exist and could never have any answers.

As we were going back down the narrow steps, W's father in Chinese asked W what I believed in. She said very matter-of-factly that I believed in [the Son]. Speaking of beliefs, W and I had the opportunity to talk about some life issues on several occasions. Her family is definetely Buddhist, but we got to share with each other about what we believe and why. W is a very independent and rather difficult person to love, but I feel that this adventure helped her open up more, and we got to know each other a lot better.

Day 4:
It was with a really heavy heart that we left Ping Xiang early this morning. I had to say goodbye to her huge, dear family over a steaming bowl of pork noodles at 6 a.m. They overwhelmed me with their hospitality, kindness, and generousity. They fed me so many meals, never let me pay for anything, put their lives on hold for several days, and even gave me presents.

I gave them some little gifts from Kansas and tried out my paltry Chinese communication skills, but it paled in comparison to all the meals, tour guiding, 2 hand-knit sweaters, fancy thermos, and memories they gave me. They pulled out all the stops, and I was really honored. I could never repay them, but they don't want me to. They just loved me, I loved them, and I got to practice my patience and speaking Chinese more than I ever have this whole time I've been in China.

So W and I waved goodbye as we left Ping Xiang on the oldest train in China, probably. We rode hard seat for 5 hours back to Nanchang. The train was incredibly dingy and uncomfortable, but I felt more at ease traveling this way like the majority of Chinese than on the fancy fast train. At one stop, dozens of other people got onto our car. They only had standing tickets, because they either couldn't afford the seats (22 kuai/3 dollars) or all the seats were sold out because of the holiday.

We trudged and chugged all the way back to Nanchang on our nicely out-dated, authentically communist train. We passed all the same fields and mountains we had seen just a few days before from a different vantage point and maybe from a different perspective. Is that cheesy? Maybe. But I do feel like I had grown and changed in the past few days. I think He gave me patience and grace to love and be loved by these people in a way I didn't think was possible.

The End.

(Here's a video of the train ride today and before the train got crowded).

Leaving on a jet train...

Hi, my faithful readers!

Somehow the end of April has arrived. That means the very, very short "May holiday" is just around the corner. It is the Chinese version of Labor Day, meaning a good chunk of the country's people, or 1/5th of the world's population, will be traveling. It should be fun and chaotic! :) I think I would be a little disappointed if it weren't fun and chaotic.

I only have class Thursday morning, and we don't have classes this Friday, May 1st. So my student and I will be leaving for her hometown, Ping Xiang, which is in western Jiangxi province.

This is the information I've accumulated from the Internet about this destination:

-"Coal center of southern China."
-"Industrial center of Jiangxi province."
-nestled in a "remote, mountainous region on the border with Jiangxi and Hunan provinces."

I'm getting really excited, but I'm a little apprehensive, too. The student I'm going with is sometimes what we refer to as "EGR", or an "extra grace required" person. I enjoy being with her a lot, but I think she can be insecure and driven by perfection... Wait, that sounds like me! :)

It seems that we know each other really well by now, but it is still super challenging to have meaningful conversations. She is a pretty smart girl, so she thinks about everything so practically and logically and scientifically that it is hard to discuss any "deeper" issues.

Anyway, I feel that she tries very hard to be perfect at everything--class, friendships, and even in hosting the foreign teacher in her little remote, mountainous hometown. Please, please, please, think of us! Any kind of thoughts about anything you can think of would be appreciated!

Well, there's not much else to report about right now. Today we were discussing the Korean War for a minute in class. My students referred to it as the "war against the Americans." I guess it is called that because China was helping out on the side of North Korea. But I still thought, "Hmmm...that's peculiar." Anyway, we are all staying fairly healthy and happy. Studies are going well... and we have just 2 more months until we return to AMERICA!!

I probably won't post anything else on this blog until I return to Nanchang on Sunday. Hopefully I'll have plenty of stories about good conversations, dinners with the village chief, etc. ;)

Look for the good

(My favorite cafeteria in China at its least busy time. This picture is from last week, but I ate there again today).


Happy end-of-April greetings!

Your Monday is probably just beginning, but my Monday is nearing its close. It was a rather uneventful day, but still blessed in little ways.

My first class this morning had a paltry 18 students--from a peak of 45 students. They have all left for recruiting. The class went well, though, because it was more laid-back and they had more opportunities to speak. I also let them sit down when they talk (usually students here stand up whenever they answer a question or speak).

Then at lunch I went with two students to the student cafeteria--one of my favorite haunts on campus. The food isn't really that good, but for some reason I get a lot of energy when I walk into the very crowded and chaotic place. And we don't have to spend 30 minutes trying to decide what to order.

I ate with Karen and Sarah. Karen is Wendy's roommate. Wendy is the girl whose hometown I'm visiting for the short May holiday. Karen told me how excited Wendy is to have me come. Apparently when I told Wendy I could visit with her for four days, Wendy spent the entire day talking about it with her friends. She also called her parents... and her grandparents, brother, aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends. She told them about my visit, and that they should "prepare."

Oh, my goodness. I don't know what that means. Later my team and I were laughing that the whole town will probably turn out for the occasion. We envisioned a parade, people dancing, and banners declaring, "We warmly welcome you, white tofu-skinned woman!" It will be an adventure, I'm pretty sure.

Then my two sweet, well-meaning students once again declared how they are concerned about my marriage. People, why must we discuss this every day? I'm not exactly dead and buried yet. They insist I must find a nice Chinese man to marry. Today they suggested that I marry a "professor." I think most of my 190 students are much more concerned about my lack of a boyfriend than I am. Actually, I'm not concerned at all.

In other news, there were a mere 14 students in my second class this afternoon. These seem to be the ones who have held out against the head teacher, and somehow haven't left for recruiting. So I tried to make the class as meaningful as possible for them.

We talked about advertising, and they did mini-commercials for different products. My favorite was probably for toothpaste. Apparently there is a famous toothpaste in China, "Hei Ren," which translates into "Black man" toothpaste, that the students included in their commercials. I've seen rows of toothpaste boxes in the supermarket with a picture of a really crazy picture of a very dark black man with a top hat and gleaming white teeth, smiling cheesily. But I had no idea that the toothpaste was actually called "Black man." Wow, you learn something new every day here.

Then after classes today Shannon and I wanted to take a bread van back to old campus instead of cramming onto the city bus. We sat in the bread van waiting for the driver to find more passengers. We sat there and had to listen to his chit-chat, which were are getting to understand more. He went on a long description of how our noses are such much different and bigger than Chinese people. He pointed to his nose, our nose, his nose, our nose, and so on and so forth. We were like, "okay, dude, we get it." Actually one of the sort of outdated phrases for foreigners in China is "da bizi," which is "big nose." Then my roommate went to get a hair wash at the hair salon we sometimes go to. One of the guys there inquired about my whereabouts to her. He asked, "Where is the tall girl with the tall nose?"

Anyway, I think I've exhausted most of the stories from today. Enjoy your day! I leave you with a sentence from a book I'm reading. It helps me in adapting to this culture, which can still be very strange and different: "Look for the good and the beautiful, and when you see it you will see [His] grace." Words to live by in China...