So many packages!

Happy Wednesday everybody! I'm sitting at the desk in my room watching a few colored lights blink on my very miniature CHRISTMAS TREE! Today a package from Mom came for me, and one of the things she had so lovingly packed in there was a tiny tree with battery operated lights! I'm so content and happy.

So when it was time to go home from new campus at about 4:45 today, there were four packages piled into the van. We were all so excited and we were looking at them, reading the names: "Jodi, Laura, Laura, and.... Laura!" Three packages were for me! It was so wonderful. I had to conscript some of my teammates to help me carry them up all the stairs. I think I will award them with some chocolate that arrived in my packages!

At lunch time I walked to a restaurant with two of my students. My students always insist on paying for me, even when I obviously have more money and I'm the one that's supposed to be taking them out to lunch. We sit there and argue back and forth, but they usually win. I told them if they come to old campus, where I live, I'm definitely paying. They agreed.

One of the students I ate with has very good English for being a 17 year-old freshman. She is one of the 12 finalists in a speech competition that will be held tonight. The topic is as generic as it gets in China: "love." She wanted to practice it, so she stood up in the restaurant and recited this 2 minute-long speech, emphatically declaring what she believed love meant. I really don't remember what she said, but she had wonderful expressions and good pronunciation. And what better place to give a speech than in a little Chinese restaurant?

After lunch, I went with them to visit their dorms. They are much more spartan and cramped than American dorms, but they are still a lot nicer than other dorms I've seen (or lived in) in China. There were only 4 girls in this small room, instead of 6 or 8, and they all had their own desks. They didn't have any heat, much like most of Nanchang, and mosquito netting surrounded their beds.

In class today we practiced "introducing yourself in a business setting." We talked about eye contact, good posture, and firm handshakes. It was probably one of the best lessons ever! We did a lot of role playing. I also shook everybody's hands and had them practice with each other. Most of them had dead fish handshakes, or they would continue shaking each other's hands for about 2 minutes. My students bring me so much joy in such unexpected ways!

Overall, today was much better than yesterday. I have had to talk to the Father a lot lately, and I know I am loved unconditionally! Some days I get a little discouraged that I'm not a better teacher, friend, teammate, etc. But all I have to do is try my best, love others, let the Father love me, and to live a life that reflects the truth.

Now I'm off to a team meeting. I love you all!