Team Hengyang Scavenger Hunt

This year, we have 2 new teachers and 5 returning teachers on our team. So far, the enthusiasm and cooperation levels on the team are high. Last week we did 5 days of team building, plus a morning of lesson planning, as an intro to our year in Hengyang. One of the days, we did a Scavenger Hunt of things around town. The old teachers enjoyed showing the new teachers around, and I think everyone learned a lot. Here are some pictures of our day together.

apology

This post is meant to serve as an apology to my very sparce blog entries. As an explanation, when i finally have time to sit down and write an entry, i simply can't think of anything to write about! Part of my problem is that i don't know exactly who i'm writing to, and don't really know what types of things my reader would enjoy reading about. sometimes i read my friends' blogs and enjoy them immensely. This should encourage my writing, but somehow it doesn't. anyway, my apologies for not writing very much. Maybe that will change this year, and maybe it won't. Suggestions for topics would be welcome anytime, however. Please enjoy the pictures i just posted on Facebook of Team the Hengyang Scavenger Hunt.

late night ponderings

Every now and then, I lay awake at night and think about the important people in my life. I wonder if my life seems worthwhile to them, and what they think about the choices i have made. Last night after one such quandry, i realized that my focus had shifted from how it should be. The only One worth pleasing is already pleased with me, i was relieved to remember. Then I remembered 1 Cor 9:24, and reflected, am I "running in such a way as to get the prize"? At the end of my life I want to hear my heavenly Father say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Am I making use of the resources He has given me in a way that makes Him proud? I sure hope so- His opinion of how I make choices is becoming increasingly important to me. That's why I need Your help in making them, Abba!

6 weeks left

I am notorious for counting down till major, or minor, events. Now we have 6 more weeks till exams are over, and i've already begun reflecting on the semester. Part of the reason the semester has gone by so fast is the fact that Mom, Jim, and McDowell came for a visit a few weeks ago. It was a good visit: We packed in Hong Kong, Hengyang, Yangshuo, and Macau all into 8 days. We took planes, trains, automobiles, and even boats. I THINK my family liked China, for the most part, but you'd have to ask them for their genuine response. I planned for them to be in Hengyang only 1 day, which turned out to be enough because of the lack of English spoken in the shops. Jim expressed his frustration at not even being able to communicate with the shopkeeper enough to be able to buy a drink. I suppose not being able to communicate does present its problems, which is why we quickly moved on to Yangshuo and Hong Kong, where most everyone can speak at least a little English. Yangshuo was beautiful, and we enjoyed a delightful bike ride in the countryside with mountain terrain views. We also took the boat ride down the Li River, which was gorgeous, too. Our last day together was in Macau, where we hiked to the highest point in the city, went to the (fascinating) History Museum, and yes we did stroll through the Lisboa and Wynn casinos. Good trip.
So now our students are watching The Blind Side and putting together skits for class this week. Among others, I know that one of the highlights of these final few weeks of the semester will be spending time with Tina, one of my more outspoken freshmen, and another sister, who is very enthusiastic about influencing Tina. The three of us have studied together once so far, and will continue to do so weekly. I just love our time together.
I hope I can put less energy into counting down and more energy into making the most of these final weeks!

Don't sing when it's that time of the month.

I got a funny email from my friend Brooke, who lives in Beijing, the other day. She wrote the following story about a conversation she had with her Chinese friend:

"I made tacos and it was the first time she'd eaten anything like that. When she realized we weren't going to cook the lettuce and vegetables, she told me she was having her period, so she couldn't eat cold food. I hadn't heard of that before, so thus began a discussion about our cultures' period dos and don'ts. We microwaved her taco, so she wouldn't mess up her body's balance with cold food. She also needed hot water, which is common for most Chinese people. I told her my mother always puts ice in her water and she said, "Even during her period?" and I said yes. "Really? And she's okay?" Yes again! (you're okay, right, Mom? : ) ). My friend brought some jiaozi (like potstickers) for us to eat too and we each ate a whole, raw clove of garlic with it for our women's health.

Later, we were reading the Book and she showed me that she brought her Chinese fellowship song book. I couldn't read the Chinese, and I asked her to sing one for me. She furrowed her brows and whispered, "Do you think I'll be okay?" "What?" , I asked. "Women are never supposed to sing when they have their period.", she said, "That's not the same in America either?" "Nope!," I said, "I sing all the time!" Apparently, it's really bad for your throat to sing while on your period. Her teachers all throughout school always told her that. After we discussed other things (mostly involving staying warm during your period), she said, "So, American women just do whatever they want during that time of the month?" "Basically", I said. I wasn't sure whether to be proud of our freedoms or ashamed that we apparently take such poor care of our fragile bodies. All this is to say, we didn't sing tonight. : )

As she got ready to leave, I told her I'd make spaghetti for her next week. Then I remembered she once told me she doesn't like tomatoes. So, I said I wouldn't make it after all. She said, "Oh! I like to-may-toes. I don't like to-mah-toes." Seriously, ladies, I had the humorous privilege of saying...."To-may-to, to-mah-to. They're the same thing." (like the song...let's call the whole thing off!)."

As my mother pointed out, Brooke's friend is probably telling all of her Chinese friends how weird we are, too!

Tomb Sweeping Festival

Today is Tomb Sweeping Festival in China. That means that families go to their ancestors' graves and honor them by giving food, burning candles, and burning paper money. My students also say that they pray to the ancestors for good luck and good grades. It's a little like the Day of the Dead in Mexico, according to my mother, except in Mexico there's also music and dancing. Isn't it ironic that while Mainlanders celebrate Tomb Sweeping Festival today (we get Monday off), people in Hong Kong get a 5 day holiday for Easter! Two TOTALLY different faiths, operating in the same country next to each other. Oh, that more people in all places would know the resurrection power of Jesus...

different culture norms

I knew it. I had always observed that Chinese men were different from American men in several ways, but yesterday's class confirmed my thoughts completely: Chinese men are generally more effeminate by Western standards than American men. Put another way, Chinese men value different things than American men.
We started class with a friendly discussion of students' hometown, school, and family life. Then we started talking about the differences between Chinese men and women. This came up because of some exerpts in their textbook from the pop psych book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, by Dr. John Gray. The students were asked to comment on whether they identified with the descriptions of life on Venus or Mars. According to this book, life for men on Mars involves doing things to prove themselves and develop their power and skills. Life for women on Venus, on the other hand, involves valuing love, communication, beauty, and developing harmony in relationships. Despite the fact that all of my Oral English classes are 94% female, the males in the class are a very vocal minority. Interestingly, the men in my class strongly identified with life on Venus (the women planet) along with all the women. Many of the students, males and females both, objected to the value of attaining power on any level for any human, and strongly related to developing harmony in relationships for both men and women. I knew this to be a cultural value for my Chinese students, and wasn't particularly surprised when Marvin, the most vocal of the students, finally concluded that "American men must be different from Chinese men" because of the ideas expressed in the article about men being preoccupied with things that can help them achieve power and results. Granted, Dr. Gray's ideas are highly controversial even on an American college campus. But I would have been hard-pressed to find anyone to have an inkling of agreement with Dr. Gray on his opinions about life on Mars for men. Once again, I felt like I was on a different planet than all of them anyway.