Living the true hug way

Wow, I feel so raw and strange. I never thought it would be so difficult to say good-bye to millions of Chinese friends. Today (Saturday) I had my last meals and class with students. For the last time, I took the crowded 220 bus on the dusty, bumpy roads to new campus. It was bittersweet. Then Jodi and I ate with her students/my old students, Nicl, Henry, and Brian. They are such wonderful, smart people. Henry and Brian gave us both some calligraphy they had done.

It was difficult saying goodbye to my last class of students. They have become so dear to me. I've done my best to encourage them, but often they are the ones who encourage me. I will miss all 190 of them so much! (Plus the other 100 or so other students I had last year). I've been giving them all hugs as we have parted ways, because I had taught them how to hug. How to hug was apparently the most important thing one particular student learned in my class: "Miss Laura teaches us about hug problem. We have a kinds of hug ways, she teaches us true hug way." I am leaving them with great, life-long skills!

After saying goodbye to my life at new campus, I walked with some of my students to their apartment 40 minutes away. We were basically in the countryside. Besides the heat, and the length of the walk, I enjoyed the scenery a lot. The city noises and sights faded away. People fishing and farming appeared suddenly, and it was a lot quieter and greener. While there were some new apartments, like where my students live, there was still a definite village and countryside feeling.

We went to their apartment, where the students sleep two to a bed. The apartment, however, was very nice by Chinese standards. We just stopped by to see it, and then trudged the long way back to the main road. I got all of them on the correct bus to go to old campus with me. They were so surprised that Miss Laura knows her way around Nanchang after 2 years, even though it seems like a piece of cake to me now. Sometimes they are surprised that I can use chopsticks. Apparently they assume their foreign teacher lacks brains and common sense! :)

Then I treated them to some dinner near old campus. I was about crying at this point, probably because I was tired and overwhelmed. I also felt homesick. This is my home, and I feel like in just a few days my life is going to be turned upside down. I'm not sure if I'm ready!

Here are some more cute words my students wrote in their free writes on the last day of class:

"I feel Lauar was so brave. I'm so proud of you."

"My sister have a baby in her body. So I go there to help her."

"Thank you for your care about my hands." (A long time ago I had given her gloves, because her hands were scabbed over with chilblains).

"The future resembles the brocade."

"I will eager beaver in the future. I love my classmates. I love Miss Laura."

"Miss Laura, if you get married, would you put your pictures on the Internet in your email? I really want to see the happiness moment when you are dressing the weeding cloth."

"In your class I learned about braving with anything. You often gave me many choices to practise my English."

"You always tell us should be creative, and it helps streatch our thought and explore our intelligence, I will remember it and try my best exert it. Thank you for broaden our minds!"


Henry and Brian and their calligraphy gifts.


My students and a housewarming gift I gave them, which my Mom had made.


View from the window of my students' apartment.


Stairwell shot.

Raining in my heart

It's been a rough and emotional couple of days, saying farewells to a couple of my classes. I still have more classes on Friday and Saturday to complete. One of the most difficult moments was Wednesday when I had to say good-bye to Business English Class 3, which I have taught for the past 2 years. Last year, I dreaded going to that class, because I feel like we didn't connect, and they didn't care. I guess the Father knew that I wasn't finished with that class, because I was given that class once again this year, as well as 3 other new classes.

This year I looked forward to their class. The Father really taught me how to love them and care for them and encourage them. I didn't give up on them. And they turned out to be the most spiritually interested class out of all of them. I grew very close to several of them, like Angel, Rain, Talent, and Jackson.

During class they did a "free write" where they could write about whatever they wanted. A lot of them wrote about their feelings at not having me as a teacher anymore. They wrote some really sweet things:

The most important thing in your class I have learned is how to love others.

We are so lucky that we can be your students. I'm so grateful that you can teach the [Word]. In [the Word], I have learned so many things that I don't know ever before.

The important thing I learned is don't be selfish. You should contribute your love to everywhere.

I will always remember the colourful two years you give me.

You are a special teacher in my life. You are in my brain forever!

You taught me to be a person.

Miss Laura, though you stare at me now, you'll see a girl you can't tell whether she is happy, sad or not. In fact she is depressed, it's raining in her heart, in her classmate's hearts. Whatever happened, please don't forget in China you own a special wealth--a group of sincere, lovely guys, they love you!

I wish time could stop running at this moment because Miss Laura will leave for American, and we may say goodbye and can't see each other forever. We love you so much.

Weep, weep. I actually did weep in class. Well, I didn't exactly weep, but I shed a few tears and could barely talk towards the end of class. I didn't think I would cry, because I'm not a very outwardly emotional person, but it was bound to happen. At the end of class I said I wanted to encourage them with a few last words. I told them how proud of them I am, how they helped me feel at home in China, and all the wonderful memories we've shared. I also told them that I know they can be successful, even though they live in a very challenging place and time.

At this point, I couldn't talk very much, because I had tears swimming in my eyes. Then I got even more teary-eyed when I looked at several of my students who were also red-eyed and crying. Jackson piped up, "Don't be sad, Miss Laura!" I said that I wasn't sad; just so happy to have known and taught them. Later Talent said he was "crying in his mind." :)

Some of them gave me really precious gifts that I will treasure forever. Angel quietly gave me a blue wood and paper fan, which is so pretty. After class Talent said he didn't have anything amazing to give me, but had something that was so special to him, and he wanted me to have it, because it was from his heart. He gave me a little "lucky" golden card that was very simple and communist-y. It had a portrait of Mao Zedong etched on the front. He had bought it two years ago on his first train ride to Nanchang to attend college at Blue Sky, and has kept it ever since. I was so deeply touched.

How can I leave my little baby students? Hopefully it's not good-bye--just see you later!


Students diligently working on their "free writes."


Cheerful Jackson always sits in the front.


Students working under the watchful gaze of Mao.


Some of my dear students.


One class gave me a giant t-shirt, which they all signed.

Final sprint

Where, oh, where has my life gone? Gone...gone...gone!! But not in vain. Two years have passed since I first settled into the China life, and I haven't regretted it, unless I was sick or something. Some days I feel like living here is so tedious, but I think it's in the daily living when we grow the most and when the Father also refines us the most. It's not really the big, crazy events that end up defining us or the legacy we have on others.

This past weekend was packed full, but really blessed as we say goodbyes and gallop through our final days in Nanchang. Some of the activities included going downtown with friends, and having our usual sister study of the Word. My favorite part was the farewell dinner and party Jodi and I held for about 10 of our closest friends. We cooked them dinner, which they devoured, and then we chatted and played card games. We also had some spiritual conversations, which I am always eager to engage in.

Some of my friends/students told me about jobs they have had or will have. I don't know if I'll ever be able to buy anything in America again, knowing that my baby students labored under crazy conditions for these items we buy. Here are two examples:

My student Talent told me about a summer job he had two years ago at a factory which manufactures clothes for export to America. His job all summer, every day, was to push around a clothes cart with small and medium sized shirts. He would put the small shirts in the "small" bin, and the "medium" shirts in the medium bin. He had to work for 16 hours a day (yes, 16!), 6 days a week, for 2 kuai an hour (about 30 cents).

My former student Karen will be working this summer in slightly better conditions at a factory which manufactures doors for export to America. Her job will be to place peepholes in doors, all day, every day. She will be working for 11 hours a day, 6 days a week for 7 kuai an hour (about $1).

I just hope that my extremely hard-working and intelligent friends can have better futures than that! And I hope that they all can one day trust in the Father, who fulfills all their needs.


Family picture with our friends and students.


Playing Nertz with our friends.


Got a picture with my favorite trash scavenger friend!


An alley picture with Nicl and Reborn.


Zongzi for sale on the street in time for Dragon Boat Festival next week.

Savoring the China life

12 days until America...

I'm still trying to savor everything around me; realizing that I probably won't see it again. Even if I do happen to return to Nanchang in the future, it won't be the same as what I experience now. For example, we are seeing an alarming influx of foreigners in our area. I used to be able to go months without spotting a foreigner on our side of town. Now it is only weeks. It's an epidemic.

I hope Nanchang and China in general never loses its innocence and quirkiness. Yesterday I was walking around a little park with one of my students, Debbie. We were meandering along, when she suddenly came to a halt, and quickly covered her eyes with her hands. I looked all around us, feeling very perplexed. In answer to my questioning look, she pointed a finger to a couple in front of who were walking and hugging each other. She whispered, "We can't walk that way. I'm so embarrassed."

I assured her that THEY were the ones who should be embarrassed, and they certainly weren't going to ruin our walk in the park. I just told her not to look, and we kept walking.

This week I noted other strange things in my classes and around town; things that have become quite normal:

Like my student fainting at the podium during her final exam speech, because of her "stomach pain," and all the girls who carried her out of the room; how I gnaw on chicken and duck bones for lunch in the cafeteria nearly every day; how I actually enjoy gnawing on chicken and duck bones; how we spit the bones on the table; how I fit so well in the crowded 220 bus; how I never have to worry about violent criminals; how one student sits in the front of my class and always peels a random giant piece of fruit with a rather large knife; how my favorite old man in our neighborhood will pause as he's digging through trash cans to smile his toothless grin at me; how we have to walk around the children going to the bathroom on the side of the street; how we use umbrellas when it is sunny outside; how we are always mindful of wearing modest clothes; how we can't say whatever is on our mind whenever we want about politics or spiritual matters; how the Chinese language has seeped into my brain; how we haul our 5 gallon drinking water up four flights of stairs once a week; how firecrackers don't make me jump anymore; how my students shout in unison, "GOOD MORNING, MISS LAURA!!" at the beginning of class...

And the list goes on! Thanks for thinking of me. I'm really starting to feel a great sense of loss. For better or worse, this has been my home, and it will be difficult not returning.


When you look up, sometimes you can see a beautiful, flowering magnolia!


Baking apple bread while communicating only in Chinese with our friends, Hannah and Lisa.


A creepy doll Jodi and I were given as a present from our Chinese friends.

Pest control

Greetings from Nanchang, which is experiencing beautiful, non life-threatening weather. It is neither too scalding hot nor too freezing cold. It's just right, and I'm so thankful! We are now only affected by things like mold and clouds of dust, dirt, and smog that we can't control. Some days I'm glad that I'm leaving when I am! I'm just tired of coughing for the past 2 years.

Anyways, it's hard to believe that it's June! Exactly 2 weeks until I leave for Shanghai, and then to America the day after that. So now we just have 2 weeks of classes and final exams left.

I'm trying to soak in the cuteness/preciousness/bizarreness of my students while I can. Today, for example, there was a dying roach on the floor of the classroom. Later, I noticed that it was gone--and it was sitting on my student Vika's desk! I couldn't hide my horror very well. It was hilarious and terrible at the same time. She was happily sitting there, while a roach wiggled its legs right on her desk.

It was even crazier, because Vika had put the bug on her desk herself. She felt sorry for it. Noticing my shock, she wrapped it in a tissue and set it back on the floor. Another student jokingly told her, "respect your pet!" Later I noticed that she made a little box out of paper, placed the roach inside, and then set it on the windowsill.

I was also amazed at how calm and normal this seemed to everyone. One student said that they have so many roaches, mice, and mosquitoes in their dormitories that the insects are "like their friends." He said this only half jokingly.

I'm also getting to soak in speaking a lot of Chinese. Last blog post I mentioned how Jodi and I ate hot pot downtown with our Chinese friends who only speak Chinese. Tonight we're having those same two girls over to bake apple bread with us.

And yesterday the Father provided an awesome opportunity for Jodi and me to tag team a spiritual conversation in Chinese with one of our sweet friends Mikey, who also really only speaks Chinese. I was reading an Anne of Green Gables book in the office, of all things, and he asked me what kinds of books I like to read. I couldn't say "fiction" in Chinese, but I could say the "Word" in Chinese. Thus, Jodi, Mikey, and I discussed the Word, the Father, and the Son--all in Chinese for a long time. It was so amazing, and by far the best Chinese conversation I've ever been a part of! It only took nearly 2 years for it to happen...But I'm sure it was His perfect timing.

And despite these wonderful conversations, parts of me will also be happy to leave. I hope it's alright to admit it, but I'm excited about grad school. And I'm excited not to be stared at anymore! :) Today I was buying a watermelon on the back street. A guy was so shocked to see me that he literally stood in the middle of the street and screamed! His jaw was also just about scraping the pavement. It's hard to remind myself that nothing's wrong with me. I'm starting to wonder, though...

Wrapping up May

Life has suddenly sped up very quickly. Some days seem to drag on forever, especially the super rainy ones, but somehow it is hard to believe that I'll be leaving China in a mere 18 days. How are you supposed to wrap up the past 2 years of life in an entirely different country/planet in about 2 weeks?

Everyone and everything is growing dearer to me as the days wind down. This week I had a lot of meals and time to hang out with my friends. On Wednesday Jodi and I headed downtown to eat "hot pot" with "Lisa" and "Hannah," two sweet Chinese girls whose family owns the bustling Nanchang noodle restaurant in our neighborhood. We hung out with them for nearly 3 hours and talked the entire time in Chinese! They don't speak any English. I was so surprised at how well we all communicated. That has been my dream to carry on conversations with Chinese people, ever since I got here. That's just one of the many opportunities I've had this semester to be in situations where speaking Chinese was vital for an extended period of time. Thanks, Father, for helping me!!

I've also had a lot of other meals and conversations with some of my close Chinese friends. One of my friends and I talked about, in depth, what it's like to really be a Chinese believer in China these days. Ask me this summer, if you'd like to know more! It's certainly different than during her parents' and grandparents' generations. Her grandparents spent months in prison for their beliefs.
Thanks as always for your thoughts! I'd like to continue to spend good quality time with my friends, while preparing myself for life back in the U.S.

Lastly, I thought I'd provide you with a link to an interesting article, "16 Items They Only Sell at Chinese Walmarts." I'll give you a few of my favorite items, but you can click on the article to read more about each item and see interesting pictures. :)

1.) Crocodiles
2.) Bulk Rice
3.) Turtles
4.) Rib cages
5.) Assorted Dried Reptiles
6.) Frogs
7.) A large selection of chopsticks
8.) Beef Granules
9.) Dried ducks
10.) Pig Faces

So not only will I miss my Chinese friends and the culture, but I'll also miss the crazy Walmarts!


Eating hotpot with Chinese friends.


With Jodi, Lisa, and Hannah. I'm the giant white person, in case you couldn't tell. :)


Our friends Wendy and Karen. This is how they ride their bike to class. Pretty talented, huh?


Fresh, fresh meat for sale at the local supermarket.

Marching on

Hello, America!

It's a brand new, sunshiny day in Nanchang. Things are finally drying up after torrential rains and plenty of flooding. Some of my friends who teach on the other side of Nanchang said people were wading in water past their waists! And there was a landslide just south of our city, which derailed a train and killed about 20 people...

Did you ever think that Americans were patriotic? Times that by about 25, and that's China's patriotism. Sometimes I'm amazed by how much they love their country. One of my classes sang the Chinese national anthem for me, and the words are quite...moving. Here's an English translation of their anthem, in case you were curious: So imagine lots of students singing it with a lot of fervor and passion.

Arise! All who refuse to be slaves!
Let our flesh and blood forge into our new Great Wall!
As the Chinese nation faces its greatest peril,
All forcefully expend their last cries.
Arise! Arise! Arise!
Our million hearts beat as one,
Brave the enemy's fire, March on!
Brave the enemy's fire, March on!
March on! March on! On!

And on that note, I thought I'd talk about how we are marching on in the face of an imminent departure from China. I only have 3 weeks until I fly to Shanghai and then on to America, a land which is becoming increasingly unfamiliar to me. I'm afraid I'll arrive in America and I won't remember how to speak, I'll drop food all over the table, and I'll answer every question quite indirectly in a very China-y way...

But I'm also excited! I'm anticipating a harmonious and happy future, to borrow the words of my students. Actually, I don't really know what the future holds, but I know it's all in His hands!

And we march on...