Rainy day 99

I feel like it's been raining for 99 days straight. Actually it's only been raining for about 8 days straight.

It's Friday afternoon and I just returned from class and the supermarket. And apparently our campus has bats, but I have yet to see one. Three of my teammates have seen bats while they were walking to class or in class teaching. A couple of days ago a bat flew right at Joelle's head as she was walking down a hallway. Today there was a bat on a curtain in Jonathan's classroom, which Shannon noticed when she visited his class. She was taking a picture of it when the flash from the camera startled it. The bat flew straight for Shannon. One of Jonathan's students then decided to try to attack it with a broom (the choice weapon for battling bats and rats). The bat went crazy and flew in circles around everyone's heads while the girls screamed their heads off. Then the bat exited the room.

The day continues to be bizarre and sort of strange. I came home at 12:30 and was trying to boil water for noodles on the propane burners. Rain was leaking from the windows and ceiling onto the burners, so I decided to move the burners away from the window while the propane was on. Pretty dumb idea. The propane line or whatever got disconnected from the burners, so I watched in horror as flames engulfed the stove range and that whole area of the kitchen. The flames were growing by the second, so that part of the kitchen was truly on fire.

In emergencies I tend to freeze and just stare in shock, which I was doing. Then I decided I had to do something or the whole building was going to burn down. I thought about tossing water on the stove, but quickly realized that was an even dumber idea. Then I looked around frantically for a fire extinguisher, but of course there isn't one. Then I thought about how to call for help, but also realized I didn't know the number or any Chinese to say so. But then I did the smartest thing, which I should have done in the first place, and managed to turn off the propane tank. Duh!

The flames immediately disappeared. But now our whole place reeks of propane. Nothing was really singed, because everything looks blackened already. The only thing the flames touched were the burners and the tile and windows. My heart was racing so much and so I ate half of a chocolate bar. I decided not to make the noodles for spaghetti.

After that episode, I ventured to the supermarket, like most Friday afternoons. I thought that maybe the rain would wash everything on the streets away, but it hasn't really done that. I still had to jump around huge puddles that had collected piles of trash already.

It was pretty uneventful for a while, although the store seemed a lot more crowded than usual. People seemed extra eager to see me, even though I come every Friday. When I was leaving the supermarket, the streets were pretty empty, except for a scene playing out just a few yards in front of me, where I needed to head toward. I saw people shouting at each other and a couple people waving sticks and a big stone. I was really confused and was wondering how I'd go around them. Then a police SUV sped over and two officers jumped out. Everybody was yelling now, and I just stood a short distance away, pretending to fumble with my umbrella. We've been told not to be near scenes like that, because sometimes foreigners can be blamed or involved without even realizing it. I didn't feel like having an adventure like that. Finally, the police shoved several of the people into the car and raced away. I have no idea what had happened. I'm just glad nobody noticed me.

A few minutes ago, one of my Chinese friends came by to drop off the notebook I write Chinese lesson stuff in. I had lost it a few weeks ago. I guess I mentioned it to her a while ago that I think I had left it at English Corner outside. After that I forgot about it and started a new notebook. Then today she called me to say she had recovered it! She had tracked down the English Association chairman and he had my notebook! I really didn't care much about the little notebook, but I was amazed that the English Association people had it. I was more amazed that my friend spent all that effort getting it back. She really didn't have to go find it, but she called around until she got it back. Oh, only in China! If people say they're your friends here, they really mean it.

So now I'm sitting in the relative quiet of my apartment. We have Chinese lessons in about half an hour for 2 hours. I think this time I'll bring a pillow to sit on. Those little peg stools aren't the most fun to sit on forever. And of course I'll bring my newly rediscovered notebook...

That was my wild day and it's only half over. Thanks as always for thinking of us. I'm feeling much better, as are many of my teammates.

(The picture is a cool one Allison, a girl on the Zhengzhou team, took of us sitting on the bus. Her camera setting was just showing pink colors or something).

My 50th blog entry

Congratulations, my blog followers, this is the 50th blog post of this blog! I'm proud of you, if you've made it this far.

Yesterday I know that I sounded pretty meloncholy. I think that's okay to be that way sometimes, especially if you're sick. I was feeling pretty down, and it was helpful to get rest and remember Psalm 27. (Maybe you can look it up in your spare time).

Our team continues to drag, especially with the health issue. Hopefully everyone else will begin to recover soon. I think we're in the worst part of it now, so it should get better.

Today's Thursday and it was drizzly once again. It is so strange how the dampness is beginning to permeate everything. I've had clothes hanging up to dry for about 4 days now, and they are as wet as when I first took them out of the washer! Every piece of paper I touch seems a bit soggy and limp. My hair is getting curly, which is wild. Even the keyboard I'm typing on right now seems clammy. Maybe the sun will come out and dry things up soon.

Apparently the rest of the sports meet may happen next week. So we taught classes today. All my classes were good, although the students seemed pretty tired and quiet. We talked about "sports and staying fit" and the upcoming midterm exam, which I have yet to create... I also talked for a minute about the U.S. presidential election results, which they didn't really seem to care about. That's understandable, I guess. U.S. presidents come and go, and China remains.

And then when I walked into my afternoon class, everyone gasped in admiration and said, "so beautiful!" It was like the first day of teaching again. I was confused for a minute and then I realized they were looking at the bright-colored scarf my friend had given me from India. I'm glad they appreciated it.

A couple students were sort of unruly, so I made them sit right up front, where I stood most of the time. Then one kid kept playing with his cell phone, so I took it and told him that he could get it after class. I glanced down at his phone and noticed that the background on it was a grainy picture of Hitler, of all people. It was sort of bizarre.

After class, I got to talk to the student I had mentioned in an earlier post. She is still homesick but she lights up whenever I talk to her. She came with me to English corner outside, which I've secretly nicknamed "prison," and she stood by my side smiling at me the whole time. At one point I glanced down at the ground, where I had placed my bag and saw her quietly rearranging it so it wouldn't be so near a puddle. She's very sweet and I still want to hang out with her once I recover. She is one of the students that the Father seems to be directing me toward.

Today English corner didn't seem bad at all. I think a lot of students didn't come because of the drizzle, which was nice. I was mostly surrounded by a few of my own students, so it was pleasant getting to know them better. Some of their English is so good! Sometimes my students frustrate me a lot, but most of the time I love them a lot. It's like I look at them through eyes that aren't mine. I just try to think about what the Father must see when he looks down at them, and how much He loves them.

Thanks again for your diligence in reading this blog. I hope it's doing a fine job at describing some of life here. Have a wonderful Thursday!

A drizzly day

Hello, again folks.

Today is drizzly and rainy and cold and cloudy. It is a perfectly dreary day, if I want to be sad about it. Or it is a perfectly nice cozy day, if I want to be glad about it.

Day 2 of sports meet was postponed because of the rain. Some of my students competed in day 1, as did my two teammates, Aaron and Jonathan. Aaron did well in his races, but now he is sick. As is Jonathan. As is my teammate, Rachael. As is Laura (me). Except I'm on the mend.

I guess sports meet was wild yesterday. They entered everybody in these events they had no experience in. For example, Aaron, Jonathan, our Foreign Affairs Office, and other teachers participated in the long jump. Nobody knew how to do it. They were just told to "run and jump."

Anyways, today was a rather difficult day for me and everyone. I was not really wanting to teach, and everyone wasn't feeling well. I just felt really sad all day.

There's not a whole lot to talk about. Our team has been doing really well, but now we really need some extra thoughts for our physical and spiritual well-being.

No school!

Hi, folks.

Thanks so much for your thoughts!! Yesterday I felt like death and was really down. My team took really good care of me, though, which I'm very thankful for. My teammates went out and bought me apples and a sweet potato, which I managed to eat. They also let me watch movies in their room and made sure I was comfortable with blankets and tea and the heater.

I went to bed at about 9:15, feeling so weak I could barely stand up. My head was burning up with a fever, and my whole body ached like I had been hit by a car. I took some flu medicine and slept for 11 hours straight. When I woke up this morning, I felt about 90 percent better! My fever and aches are gone. I just still feel weak.

Life in China doesn't really stop or slow down for you if you are ill. I was still going to have to teach somehow today, but there was a miracle. Sports meet, which had been cancelled over the weekend because of rain, was rescheduled for today! That means all classes are postponed for all the students to participate. I didn't have to attend it, because I'm sick and the school didn't enter me in any random races to compete. Only Jonathan and Aaron on our team have to compete. The school entered them in a few track races or something. We'll have to make up all the classes in the evenings sometime soon, but right now I'm so thankful I can rest and recover.

I know I didn't write a whole lot about our experience in Zhengzhou. We visited a team there, which is with the program our organization wants us to transition into next year if we want. I'm seriously considering that program, although I'm not making any decisions yet.

On yet another note, I have booked my travel to Thailand in January for our organization's annual conference. A couple of my teammates and I will be flying from Nanchang to Kunming, China to Chiang Mai, Thailand on Thai Air. We're leaving January 22nd and returning February 5th. Before that, we can travel around China if we want, since the Spring Festival holiday begins sometime in early January. My team and I will probably travel south to a beautiful city, Xiamen, because everyone seems to have friends there. A couple other people want to travel to Hong Kong or Korea. I don't think I'll travel a whole lot, because there's not enough money for that. I'm also going to Thailand early, because dentist and doctor appointments are really cheap and pretty high-quality.

Okay, time to get my granola that is baking in my tiny toaster oven. I love you all! I hope you have a blessed day!

(A few pictures from Zhengzhou: downtown; our team plus the Zhengzhou team; a man who had his baby balance on his hand- he wasn't holding on to her; train; a fancy bowling alley we went to).

To and from Zhengzhou

It is the middle of the afternoon and I'm sitting in Jodi's apartment with a heating blanket on my lap. Our heater is broken in our apartment and nobody's arrived to fix it. I do have a heater in my bedroom, thankfully.

We left for Zhengzhou on Thursday night. We rode on the hard seats for nearly 11 hours. I didn't fall asleep once. We got to Zhengzhou and met another team which hosted us for the weekend. They were all pretty nice. There was even a girl who is from Hutchinson! So we got to swap a lot of Kansas stories.

I can't remember what all we did. It was okay, though. I didn't ever sleep much I remember. On Saturday we helped out with the team's "fall festival" for 600 students. It was fun interacting with the students, but it lasted from 8 a.m. to 5:30.

On Sunday morning we went to fellowship in downtown Zhengzhou, which is a beautiful, green city of about 7 million people. Then their team took us to a pizza place where I ate a cheese pizza. My stomach was not happy, because I'm not used to pizza or cheese anymore. Then that day I started to feel really feverish and had a sore throat.

We left on the train to Nanchang Sunday night and thankfully I had a soft sleeper, although it was a top bunk. We took the slow train--13 hours. It was the loudest, slowest train ever. It stopped at night about every 20 t0 30 minutes and would shudder and lurch the whole time. At about 6 a.m, my stomach and head felt like it was going to explode. I jumped from the swaying bunk and ran to the squatty potties, but they were all occupied. People love to spend half an hour in the bathroom--I'm serious. There was a woman and a little boy standing at the sinks in the hallway and all of a sudden I threw up right behind them in the trash can. They went about their business as I was sick, probably trying to save me face. I felt rotten.

Our train didn't arrive until about 10:15 a.m., and I hadn't eaten anything for a long time, because I couldn't. Then my fever got worse and my whole body ached. I haven't felt that bad for many years.

This afternoon I managed to eat a little bit, but I slept mostly. Tomorrow is Tuesday and I'm supposed to teach my two morning classes, plus make up the classes we missed on Friday and today. The school's sports meet was supposed to be this weekend, but it was cancelled because of rain. Maybe, just maybe, they might hold it tomorrow throught Friday if it doesn't rain. I hope it doesn't rain, because I don't think I could survive teaching or standing in those cold classrooms.

When I'm feeling better, I'll try to fill you in on the fun parts of our trip. Right now it hurts even just to type. Will you please lift me up? Thanks so much...

The rail to Zhengzhou

Hi, folks!

English corner was cancelled today, so I got to come home by 4:30! It was a pretty good day. I taught two classes. It rained a bit and it was the most overcast, dreary day possible.

I noticed one thing today. In the jam-packed halls and stairs everybody will be moving like a mob, running into each other. However, I noticed that nobody ever touches me, even when I am in the thickest crowd. I thought that was curious. People will be so crammed together but everyone goes out of their way not to touch or run into me...

This morning I got a package! Mr. Li, our driver, gave it to me. Mom had mailed it Oct. 4 and it arrived today! Better late than never! After coming back home, I tore into it. I've never been so excited to get a package.

In my afternoon class, there was a girl I noticed who was crying really quietly. I didn't say anything until everybody was doing group work very loudly. She wasn't participating at all. I bent down by her seat and asked if she was okay because she looked sad. She said she was indeed very sad. I told her that if she wanted to talk after class, I would love that. So after class, she quietly hung around until all the students left. It was really great getting to chat with her. She says she is extremely homesick, because she never gets to go home. Her hometown is in Xinjiang, which is the most extreme western province of China. It probably takes 3 or 4 days by train to get there. After we talked I gave her a big hug and said we'll have to hang out really soon.

Okay, now I have to take a shower and finish some laundry up before we leave in a couple of hours for the long train ride on hard seats to Zhengzhou. I'll tell you all about it when I return! Thanks for your thoughts!

Mid-week again!

Hello, my dear folks.

It is Wednesday evening and it's been a pretty relaxed day. Last night was relaxing, too. I have started making laps around the campus at night, to lessen the attention, and I walked for about 35 minutes. This morning I went to new campus like usual. I had office hours and then taught a class. I got plenty of sleep, but for some reason I was disoriented today. My contacts also hurt a lot, so that didn't help.

Class was fine. It was a good lesson and the students were participating well. At the beginning of class, there was an audience at the back of the room. Students who aren't supposed to be in my class will try to sit in the back every day. Once and a while I'll let a random kid or two sit in my class, if they look serious and know English. Today there were about 8 boys and they all sat there with faces like they were going to watch a show. I was thinking, "Nope, not today. I'm not your entertainment." So I walked to the back and said, "I'm sorry, you can't stay. You aren't in this class." A couple kids understood and ran sheepishly out of the classroom. The rest obviously didn't speak English, which made their being in the class even more pointless. Some of my students told them to get out in Chinese. Some days I can stand gawkers and curious people, but some days I can't--like today.

In the middle of the class, I was talking about adjectives to describe food. They always only want to use the word "delicious," so I was trying to expand their vocabulary. A bee or something must have flown in through the open windows and landed on my arm. For some reason I freaked out, although I haven't all the other several times a bee or bug has been on me while I was teaching. Without thinking, I screamed a deathly scream and swatted at my arm. Then I realized what I was doing and started laughing really hard. My whole class was laughing for about 5 minutes, too. I certainly over-reacted when I screamed, but I didn't mean to. At least we all got a good laugh from it.

At noon, I rode the bus back to old campus. Our afternoon classes were postponed until next week, because they are rehearsing their dances for the four day-long "sports meet" this weekend. I ate a steaming sweet potato I bought on the street and then I walked to the supermarket to buy a mop. The pollution has been extra terrible today. It is extremely hazy and windy. The sky and air is a mix of gray and yellow. I even got grit in my eyes and nose when I was walking, and everything smells like smoke.

However, then I had a nice afternoon checking my email, scouring the nasty kitchen, and packing my knapsack for our trip to Zhengzhou. I am really excited about our trip tomorrow night, because we are visiting another team. They are in the 2 year program, which I'm considering joining next year. So I sort of want to see more of what they do.

If I don't write on the blog again until next week, I love you all! We will be getting back to Nanchang on the train early Monday morning.