Classes to Chinese Basketball to Kung Fu

We want to apologize for not posting anything in a while... China every-so-often likes to block web sites and ours was one that was blocked for a while. Proxy servers help but sometimes it's difficult to find one that works from link to link.

Anyway, it's glad to be back, both to school and to writing you back home. We like knowing that we're not here just for ourselves, but for a greater purpose and to be an extension of our family back home.

So from the two of us to you we say "sanks..." I mean thanks...

It's very common, or I'd say almost inevitable for a student to replace a "th" with an "s." That is one of the more difficult pronunciation problems they have as Asian speaking people. Often you will hear "sanks" or "sank you" or "somesing" and "sat."

I can't say too much about this problem for two reasons; one, I have troubles with speaking Chinese and two, when I was growing up I had to visit a speech therapist once or twice a week to help correct my "s's" and "z's." It worked I guess... Now I'm passing on the info to these students. Maybe not working as well as my speech therapist.

We were able to travel some during the winter because of the holiday. Spring festival is about as important to them than Christmas is to us, "as a whole." There are many people who celebrate Christmas, mainly for the time off though... In China it's ingrained in them as a people to stop everything they are doing for the "Chinese New Year."

So we took advantage of this time and rested, well... tried to rest. We added up the miles traveling from China to Thailand, to Malaysia and back. It feels like so long ago but last year I was able to make the trip home to see family and friends as well as celebrate Christmas with everyone close to me. This year we just stayed on this side of the world and "globe-trotted."

It was kind of like a delayed honeymoon... we spent time on the beach, went rock climbing, snorkeling and even read a few books. Yowzers! Reading is so easy when you have time to just invest all at once. I like to knock books out in one reading, the whole idea of reading a book and coming back to it is difficult. I get side-tracked way to easily.

Getting back to school was a very nice change of pace after carrying a load around on our backs for weeks... We were finally able to sleep in our own bed, take a shower in our own shower all while just "being home." I do have to say that the food was much better in a tourist country. There were many more options...

So school is back in full swing and we've been twice as busy this semester than last. Immediately upon arrival we had to get organized as a staff to perform for all of China. Or so they said... Each year there is a basketball tournament that is similar to the NCAA "March Madness" tournament. It's called C.U.B.A. (Chinese University Basketball Association). SIAS hosted one of the regional tournaments. CCTV5, or the Chinese ESPN, was here filming all of the games which meant nationwide coverage for the university. The week was fairly exciting and provided some much needed sporting events. I finally felt like I was at a "real" university, being able to attend a college sport.

Although, the one thing that was missing was the traditional atmosphere of cheering and the rustling of the fans during games. I could not believe how quiet the gym was a times. The students would only cheer when provoked by a "cheer leader." Very strange... for us as westerners.


Not only did we get to watch the games... we were requested or "told" to put a performance together. Lacy, Yelitz(Jelitza), and Kinah worked really hard and choreographed a "dance" for some of the foreigners to do. Once they finished we went to work in front of the mirrors. I def. am retiring from dance now. SIAS has provided many more opportunities than desired to perform. So now... the next step in my life, BROADWAY! just kidding...

Classes have been going well, although this is the most challenging semester thus far. The students we have this semester are not as "polished" in the English department. We're really having to dig deep to figure out how to be effective in class. It's tough... When students look at you like you're a complete moron... maybe there's a reason, no really, when students have NO IDEA what you're saying it's a struggle. So needless to say it's been a work in progress.

More recently, we went to Shaolinsi (Shao Lin Temple). It was definitely an experience to write home about. First we made the 2 hour trip by bus with about 50 other teachers and then we enjoyed a Kung Fu show and a tour of the temple. For anyone wanting to travel to China all you need to do is see one temple, they all look the same. So the temple wasn't "that" exciting.

Actually, the more we tour temples the more we cringe and yearn for awakening in this country. The amount of idolizing that happens in the temples is insane. There is NO END. There is something for everything. I mean everything.

Once we left the temple we headed to a local high school to spend time with some students. Mainly as a liaison for SIAS to market the university to these students who will graduate in a year or so. It was really fun, at first I was not too excited about going because I knew it wasn't for fun that it was mainly for SIAS. There are so many things that they make us do "because we're foreigners" and it can get old. The feeling of being used comes in to mind at times. Only respected as a foreigner... but... I did get out and spend some time because "it's not about me," although that's had to live at times, it's true.

The school is large and IT WAS SATURDAY at 4:00 pm. Who is at school at 4:00pm ON SATURDAY??? Chinese, and other countries that will soon pass us-westerners-up in areas of education.

After the school... What else? Oh, maybe dinner in local farmers homes... How cool is that! This wasn't easy but we made it work. Because there were so many of us we had to split up and go to different homes in the same village. Of course this was planned out prior to our arrival so it was basically already organized. Oddly enough, the food was pretty good. The one thing that I liked the most was the egg and vegetable dish. This is VERY uncommon but I liked the tofu as well. gross...

Nothing is EVER surprising in China, I mean nothing... This country will cease to amaze you, whether it's the people and what they come up with or do, or just random events that take place. Most of the time and I really mean this, most of the time it's hilarious or just plain ridiculous. From the basic engineering, or "rigging" to the simple lifestyle the people live. This one, however, kind of shocked me, "kind of..." As we were eating two little children, boy & girl, about the 6-8 yrs. come walking towards us. One with a beer bottle and the other with a cup, both dinking it.


So, now we're back and time is flying. The time seems to get faster and faster each week. So fast that I often think to myself "what happened to this week?" I'm sure many of you have had this or are having this same thought. It's just unreal how fast the year has flown by. We only have a short amount of time left before we return and it is already evident to some of our students. Just today while walking home from "chrch" one of my students told me that "we have little time to know one another deeply" and he is starting to realize that we will be going down two different roads in the very near future. This is a really hard thing to accept right now because of the attachment and friendships we have cultivated. I am very excited to get home, BUT I am just as sad to have to leave. Leaving here will put us back in the job market and uncertainty of the next step and to be honest this place has provided a lot more comfort than expected before the journey began. I wasn't sure how much China I could actually handle but now it will be part of who I am, part of who Lacy and I are as a couple. We will never forget these amazing people, these amazing friends we have walked side-by-side with while residing in such a different culture. They have made the difference in our lives, and hopefully, our Gd has made a difference through us in there lives. We can only pray... Many tears of sadness, but many more filled with happiness.

Cont'd to pray... 90 more days!

Also, My parents are planning to make the journey in 12 weeks. This is pretty exciting. See you soon. (june 11th)

A crazy week of fun/students!

Well how can I say this?

This last week has been interesting, to say the least. We've gotten to hang out with students who are amazing all while having to finish up final exams and turn in grades. It's been a busy week...

I don't know where to start because it's all running together now. I'll start with finals, both Lacy and I have about 500 students between the two of us. We teach two different courses; one is Public Relations and the other is Oral English. We spread the Public Relations exam over a two week period, this week and last. The reason we did this is because we individually interviewed each student for a job. The job they were interviewing for, Chinese-English translator. So you can imagine 200-250 interviews each would take some time. Our Oral English final exams were last week and those were fairly easy in comparison, so no stress involved.

After we finished with exams we had to give final grades and enter them into excel spreadsheets calculate scores and turn them in. Sounds easy yet time consuming... not so fast! Our rosters are IN CHINESE! Nothing new to me except for the fact that they changed this years rosters and they are much more detailed. Now there are spots for so many different things; number of students who took the final, number of students who didn't take the final, number of students who averaged between 90-100%, 80-89, 79-80 etc etc. So it was a little draining having to have them translated and then getting them turned in on time.

On to the students, the most exciting part of being in China! Some of the other teachers put on a narrated Christmas program. It was basic, the passage was read aloud in Chinese and then the show began. Again, it was simple but enough to get the point across. There's not a lot of resources here to put on a big show so they used what they could and made sure the gspl was presented through this opportunity. A huge blessing...

As I have mentioned before on our blog site we meet with a group of students each Wednesday evening. This week we took advantage and discussed the Christmas story. The students love to hear about western "festivals", what they call holidays. So we read the passage from the Word and then talked about the importance of the different prophecies that had been spoken before the virgin-birth.

Speaking of ""virgin-birth," the topic of sexuality in China is one that is not brought up much. The literal translation from Chinese to English for "virgin" is "holy mother" WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? When we began to talk about the different things that were important from this passage, everything BUT the fact that Mary was a virgin was mentioned. So I said "aren't we missing something?" They said "no, we don't think so" (very innocently). So I went in to talk about the fact that Mary had never been in a relationship with Joseph. With my eyes kind of open wide and bobbing my head as if I were trying to say something "between-the-lines." The other thing that was funny was a student, one of my closest Chinese friends, Jim would say "whats a birgin, he couldn't pronounce it correctly. AND THEN... the lights came on. The shade of color on their faces went from "winter pale" to "cherry red." Probably the most I/we as a group had laughed this whole semester. They didn't know what to do or say... and it made it worse that they "knew" what it was but didn't "know" what it was, if you understand what I mean. So the shyness factor was multiplied...

You would think that the "Virgin Mary" story would be over right? Well it's not... We ended up laughing just as hard, yet again... Why you ask? We not only read the passages but we sang Christmas songs. "Silent Night" was one of those Christmas songs.... In one of the verses it reads "Round Young VIRGINS, Mother and Child..." I was sitting next to Jim and this was AFTER we had talked about the whole "virgin" issue and then I noticed this was in the next line... I looked at Jim as he sang the words knowing that he didn't pick up on this the 1st time. Now that he knows... it clicked and he realized he HAD BEEN SINGING about this! His face was HILARIOUS! As if he had seen a ghost. We stopped and began laughing once again...

I hope you enjoyed that story as much as I enjoyed being there with these amazing people! I just wish the humor stopped there for one night... too bad because it didn't.

We were just hanging out as we do when we finish with our discussions. We ordered pizza, ate, and talked about life. A question came up about how Lacy, Kerry and I will travel to Hong Kong on Saturday. We usually try to give them a funny answer like walk or ride a bike. This time I got my handy pocket translator out and typed in "hitchhike" It helps you to know what the tones are so you can pronounce the words correctly. This is hard enough even when you have a native Chinese speaker saying the word for you while helping you practice let alone trying to learn it from a dictionary. Anyway, I spoke the word and all the students began LAUGHING SO HARD! They told me to say it again, so I did, and again LAUGHING! Come to find out "hitchhiker" and "I need to poop" are the same word BUT DIFFERENT tones. Yeah, I said the wrong tones... laugh all you want! This is how memories are made EH?!

.represent.and.keep.it.real.

lacy:

so today was really refreshing! uplifting and amazing! i have to admit that lately, i have been struggling with spiritual apathy.... awesome time to struggle huh?? well i need to keep in mind that no one is perfect and has the capability of struggling with anything at anytime.... this morning, i just laid it down; i'm just tired of not caring cause i know thats not how G created me! So i just stopped making excuses and making everything candy-coated.... just gave Him all the dirt ive been keeping in my pockets and everywhere else that had a place! there was things i was holding onto that was preventing me from healing, and not letting G to have full control of my heart.... NO MORE! im sick of it and frankly, Rev 2:5 scared me.... put fear and reverence back into my heart.... im writing this because i want to get back to humility; i want to get back to my first deeds, which was being open bout my heart.... i used to not be afraid of what people thought of me and didnt care whether they judged me or not because i knew who was in my heart.... i dont know why or how, but i just began to care what people thought of me.... i thought i had to keep up an image of a "perfect" chrstian and be as good as i could be.... HA! thats not chrstianity at all.... being a chrstian is being real with what your about and believe; i used to say in high school: "If your a chrstian, REPRESENT and keep it REAL!" for some reason, ive forgotten that until now :) its so refreshing not tryin to put up a facade! who wants to hold a mask to their face forever???

anyways, like i said, today was refreshing! im so thankful for G's grace! and tonight during andys mens group, i went to SIAS cafe to work on school stuff, grades, and to have some papaya milk tea (oh so good!).... i was also talkin to my mom; yes i can multi-task :) and i got it all done too! anyways, there was open mic for a lil bit where some people were singing and playing the guitar; it was really cool! i didnt understand what they were saying, but it sounded really good! i recognized one chinese song.... anyways, after that the restuarant started to play chrstmas songs; and i dont mean jingle bells, rudolph the red nose reindeer, or grandma got ran over by a reindeer stuff... im talking, billy graham christmas choir belting out music! like bethlehem, angels, gloria, chrst is born stuff! my mom and i were laughing (more like "lol" on the computer) because its so ironic that they play that type of music but i cant type the words over the internet..... but i have to say tho that this place is pretty unique.... it was just nice to hear those songs since it really hasnt felt like christmas.... it does lil bit now tho cause some lights are up, but theres no promoted chrstmas concert going on or nativity scenes around.... OH! we did finally decorate our tree on friday!! it has lights and small ornaments with a red star on top! we will take a pic of it on wed when we have our truth corner... alright well im off to bed, i have a class early in the morning! the last time for that class this semester :)

.are.you.trying.to.tell.us.something?

lacy:

right now, im laying in bed on a saturday after teaching an english prep course for the HLI test.... (students have to take it to graduate) our room is a mess :) clothes everywhere, papers and grades everywhere; its definitely the end of the semester! and it has gone by super fast, too fast i would say.... lately i have been thinking bout this past semester and how much has already gone on! and everything around me is beginning to be normal for me..... i dont think the chinese people look the same anymore; I am starting to see the differences in them. i dont even notice that people around me are speaking a different language. i dont notice their quirks anymore like i used to. i cant think of anything now, but im not grossed out or shocked. my english is almost as good as theirs, which i mean that my english is going down the drain. haha :) i dont mind wearing similar clothes week to week. its pretty much easier now to choose from clothes when you dont care and dont have much to choose from, its actually really nice :) all the noises and craziness doesnt bother me anymore; its not that it bothered me, but i was just more aware.... its amazing how a different culture becomes home quickly; at least for me. i dont think its possible to understand, unless youve experienced because theres so much involved..... thats why andy and i wish everyone from home could come here for a year to experience it; so then we wouldnt have to think so hard of how to explain! haha

anyways, we are gettin excited bout the end of this week! our last week of finals, we will finish our grades, turn em in, and head to hong kong for christmas! also, we are having our last truth corner for the semester on wed. we are going to tell them the christmas story from the book and possibly have them help us decorate our lil christmas tree since we havent done that yet.... we havent been the most motivated couple to get everythin decorated haha holidays are really different here because they are american holidays; and since friends and family arent around, it just doesnt really seem like christmas.... possibly because we arent planning with friends and family about what to do for christmas; and we havent had snow or anything close to it; its just been really really really DRY and COLD.... i have to admit that i sorta miss snow.... and thats alot for me to admit since i dispise it! but even tho snow is messy, cold, wet, and turns ugly; it makes things interesting.... you never know when youll have a snow day or when a ice storm is coming; your always watching for it :) here theres nothing.... and even if we did turn the tv on, we wouldnt be able to understand it haha we dont ever turn the tv on, which i have to admit that i kinda miss it too.... thats another thing i dispise, but i do miss just turning something on and watching whats going on in america.... pretty much im getting used to the way of life here :)

there was a christmas party tonight for all the foreign teachers; it was a white elephant gift which can either be funny or a break-out fight :) gotta love christmas! this time no fighting, but there were some good gifts that were passed around! andy stole this one gift that had oatmeal and mac 'n cheese cause i like oatmeal and he likes the cheese :) but someone stole it, so it was locked! the one i picked was a baby rattle and of course everyone was like "its a sign!" "are you tryin to tell us something?" i laughed and said "haha good one!" i think when your newly married, everyone thinks everything is a sign for babies lol it was fun hanging out with people; we also played "apples to apples" which is always a fun game cause im good at it lol i have competitive tendencies.... well that was pretty much the day! not too excitin or much to talk about.... im hopin i get my creative juices goin cause its just not happenin for me lately... till next time, we have 7 more days until we leave for break!

.thanksgiving.weekend.

lacy:

the past several days have been loaded with things to do! our thanksgiving day started with a lil bit of flag football; "turkey bowl" as they like to call it! there were 4 teams and each one was named after a recipe for thanksgiving dinner.... however, they were not normal recipes, such as, ours was called tofu turkey, blah! andy and i were on the same team :) our team got to the final, but lost it in the last seconds of the game.... it was a blast! of course, andy was all over the place and prolly had more grass on him than the field did, which he made some pretty awesome plays! for me, im not a big football player because most of the time i find myself frustrated than anythin else lol running around tryin to get open just to catch a ball, but most of the time you run around for nothing, which is the frustratin part.... all in all, it was pretty fun and chilly!

lunch started at 12, so we didnt get to shower before or there wouldnt be any food left! kinda hard to believe when there was tons of food! foods that actually looked familiar; might have tasted a lil different, but i wasnt complainin! i'm not a big turkey eater, but this turkey was AMAZIN! it was really moist and to be honest, i dont think i have had a moist turkey like that before..... maybe i was so suprised since its china and they dont really have wild turkeys floating around.... the sweet potatoes were suprisingly awesome! i dont really like them or ever eat them, but these were so sweet! it was nice eating around the table with the young married couples and kerry! there are two other young married couples that we usually hang with; steve and rachel, joel and amanda.... they are really fun! we decided at dinner that we would watch an american classic later that night; napoleon dynamite!! we all watched it over our house.....

before we watched the movie, andy and i took like a 4 hour nap while "watchin" seasons of seinfield.... we were both injured during our games; it was pretty funny :) we were just layin there helpless and sore! we had made plans for dinner to go out wit eminem and joyce (students of andys last year); kerry went wit us too and we went to ghetto hotpot once again! for someone who doesnt like hotpot, andy likes to go there a lot.... that was a fun time to spend with them; they are so nice and real good friends!

thanksgiving was really great! althought, we definitely missed everyone back at home! we hope that everyone had an awesome time with family and friends! we were able to talk to most of our family over skype, which was really nice; but not as good as being able to be there.... we love everyone and we wish you an early christmas!! dont get hurt out there buying them gifts!! :)

Luoyang.....

This past Saturday we went on an educational trip to an ancient city about 3 hours from where we live. We went with the resident historian here at SIAS. His name is Gary Todd, he is from Illinois and has taught at both U of I champagne and SIU-Carbondale. His goal is to improve both academia in China as well as learn as much Chinese history as one could possibly know. He is like-minded and could basically tell you anything you wanted to know about chrch history, Bro Rick you'd be impressed... He's usually the guy we go to if we have a question about something in politics, history, etc. He always has an answer and most of the time it comes with an adamant response. He takes it pretty seriously but. he's still a lot of fun! He is the guy who is hard to get to know unless you open the conversation or initiate the relationship. On a typical day, like any historian, you can go to his room and find him reading a book.




Here recently he came upon some ancient coins from about 2000 years ago. I think he dug them up at a dig site somewhere close or received them from someone. Along with the coins he collects artifacts and antiques from the different dynasty's of China. He's got daggers, coins, writings, and many others. He loves to show them to people who are interested so if you ever stop by his room... ask him about them. He lives directly under us in the apartment building so it's a convenient trip down the stairs to talk with him.

Anyway here are some pics from our trip and his web site so you can read more about the histroy of the city we live in and surrounding cities...

http://www.garyleetodd.com/

.bathroom.tailor.propane.tears.english.

lacy:

today was pretty eventful; spending some time with students and friends :) we both had two classes.... which by the way one of my classes was pretty funny! in my sophomore oral english class, we played charades; i gave them phrases that are commonly said... like goodbye, hello, i cant hear you, i need to go to the bathroom, etc.... because when you go to a different country not knowing the language, you find it yourself playing a lot of charades! one of my students ended up with the "i need to go to the bathroom" phrase.... well the way he acted it out was hilarious! he held himself like a 5 year old would if they had to go to the bathroom; then he pretended to open a door and he squatted down! the whole class was laughin! i was laughing because i hate squatties; i dont like goin to the bathroom in a chinese toilet.... i hold it till i find a western toilet :) if i absolutely have to, i will; which so far has only been on a train.... but peter is the one who acted it out and he has pretty good english and is always funny.... its one of my favorite classes!

anyways, i went to the tailor with a student of andy's, jodie.... shes really cool and very good at english! shes a senior and plans to further her study in england, which i think she'll be great there! she had a coat made the same place i did, so i went with her.... the tailor there is hilarious! the way her voice sounds and the way she talks; she always sounds angry and like she is arguing with everyone, but shes not! haha its kinda like if you were to start yelling in an angry voice about how its such a nice day today lol jodie and i just laugh; its almost as if the tailor puts on a show because we are laughing :) sunday night she is taking me to a restuarant with spicy noodles, so thatll be interestin! at the same time, andy was goin on a hike with a student, jim, around the wooded area of the campus.... he said him and jim had a really cool conversation; ill let him tell you more about that since it was his experience :) which i have to say that he has been doing awesome with the "trooth corner"! he has been doing really well tryin to explain truth to the students; because some students are better with english than others, so he has to make sure everyone understands and not just a few.... it is really awesome when you see their face light up because they understand; like a light bulb just went on! one thing i wish we had was a "bble" that was half english and half pin yin.... meaning that the chinese language is not in characters, but written how their words are pronounced; i have been really tryin to learn more of the language.... i can hear and understand certain words in a conversation, but i cant really make out what is actually said; i am getting a lot better and its gets more and more exciting! it would just be cool to be able to read a verse in chinese, but since i do not know characters, that is hard to do lol anyways, all i want to say is that i am proud of andy and please continue to think specifically for this corner because their minds and hearts are thinking!

well later tonight, we had about 14 of andy's students from last year come over; it was a packed house! we fit them all in our little living room; it was awesome! we just showed em pics of our wedding and some of our trips in china.... they didnt stay that long, but at the end they took tons of pics! seriously, i was blind for a while afterwards from all the flash! they all wanted to get a pic with me and andy; my eyes were killing! :) but it was a good time to meet his students from last year!

after they left, we went to ghetto hotpot for a late dinner.... we took a student named george and our friend kerry who is a teacher here; it was a good time! hotpot is hard for me to describe; andy is better at describing things.... in the middle of the table, there is a huge bowl over a propane fire with water and some spices all heated and constantly boiling..... then you can add different things in there like lamb meat, potato noodles, noodles (they have awesome noodles), cabbage, tofu, sliced potatos, etc.... then you can just wait till its boiled in the water and use your chopsticks to fish it out! you can dip it in either garlic sauce or this peanut sauce.... if you like spicy and some people do not like spicy, they have a divider that divides the bowl into two parts and you can have different flavors..... their spicy is RIDICULOUS! i like spicy, but they have so much ginger in it that it makes your face turn red! no joke! our friend george was eatin it up! i have tried some before thinkin it would be good, but it was unbearable! my tongue was on fire! and after i said that, george said his face was on fire, haha.... he is a sophomore and his english is very good; i would think he was a senior! we hang out with him quite a lot; hes always around peter hall hanging out with the foreigners.... kerry had some of the spiciness and had to back out haha; george kept telling him to come back! it was funny cause kerry was tearing up! it was a pretty good day!

earlier i had text some of my students; girls that i hang out with the most.... sarah, raina, sandra, janey, angel; these girls helped me with double dutch for culture week! they are awesome and so crazy! i always have fun with them.... its hard to find students here that speak good english and understand the kind of humor i have, but these gurls have a similar humor as i do so we click very well! it can be frustrating sometimes always trying to explain and define your words; thats why its refreshing to hang out with these girls because they are very good with their english.... i asked them to come to power hour with me this sunday and 2 of them will go with me; im not sure about one.... raina and i are going for a walk tomorrow around downtown because she wanted to tell me about her job interview last weekend; she said it was funny and had to tell me, so i will ask her if she will go with me then.... keep these girls in mind; its crazy that it has only been almost 3 months and i have become very close to some students! ill have to get pictures with them soon, so i can put em up here :)

Crab Rangoon!

Hey Everyone!

Tonight we had a group of students over for an English Corner! We had a great discussion... and we made Crab Rangoon! I thought I'd show them some American Chinese food... I wasn't sure I would be able to achieve China Buffet status, but we were successful.

Here's what we do. Each Wednesday evening we have students over, invite only, so we're able to discern the one's who are searching or just genuine friends of ours. We have snacks, brief conversation about our days/lives and then we test them to see if they remember one anothers name.

In the Chinese culture it's normal to never talk to a stranger. It's hard to go outside of your circle of friends because of trust or the simple fear of getting to know someone new. The culture is based on relationships and this isn't so obvious to the normal onlooker but, once you cultivate a few relationships you understand deeper. If you are a friend, you are a friend for life. There are two circles or levels of relationships one; is that of being an acquaintance and two; that of deeper friendship or family. If you are on the outer circle then you can count on not receiving much in terms of closeness but, if you are on the inner circle then you would receive the shirt off of someones back if you ever were in need, literally, not figuratively. I've seen so many acts of charity between friends. Some students go so far as purchase computers for each other. This happens all the way to the point of cheating on exams. If a student has not studied then their friend doesn't want to see them fail so they will help that friend pass by allowing them to cheat. It happens in America we just seem to know how to cheat in a more sophisticated way.

Anyway, sorry for rambling... I'm doing my best to give you a window into the culture. Back to testing them on each others names. We just want them to start feeling comfortable with others around them hoping they will build friendships outside of their dorm rooms. There are definitely the exceptions to the rule but, that's the norm.

Tonight we began by having everyone arrive at 730pm. Once everyone arrived we started by telling them what Crab Rangoon was and then showed them the ingredients. They began laughing at me because that's basically what we do all the time, laugh together. they call me crazy because I am always doing something different and trying to show them so many stupid things we westerners do, like make Crab Rangoon in China! Or, buy 20 snickers bars for our visitors (those who came last week all got a snickers bar, they're kind of pricey for the students to buy). Again... rambling... Once we got the stuff all mixed we put it into the wanton rappers (in Chinese HUN DUN PI..."who'n-do'n-pee"). then put them in the oil to fry.

The students thought they were very good( in Chinese TAI HAO CHE... tie-how-cher). They said they were different but approved... mission accomplished!

So now onto the discussion... We talked about relativitism, what's right, what's wrong, and who decides? On the board I drew stick figures in different colors representing different people and different thoughts. "Mr. Green killed Mr. Red because he wanted to... who is right? you'd think the answer would be simple. Nope... "It's okay, as long as he did it for fun." and "It's okay, he didn't know what he was doing." and "Maybe Mr. Red did something to make Mr. Green Kill him?" I thought to myself at that point "I have a lot to accomplish here tonight!"

So we continued, it didn't get a whole lot better but it did progress and we did have good points to discuss. We read the 10 laws that are the standard, and I said "If truth exists, then it is the same for everyone, it isn't different for different cultures or different people." not only do I struggle with the language barrier but also with a people who's moral compass is not exactly the greatest. I love the people so much and I want you to know that they are wonderful people. It's more that there isn't really a standard of morality. So pry for this area especially with the group members.

After all the discussion we wound down and just hung out for about 15 minutes. We talked about usually life things. We planned for the next few days and even possibly planned a trip to a students home. We'll keep you posted.

I want to end with something a student said right before he left this evening. "It's comfortable here, I like coming to your house and spending time with you and your wife. I feel very welcomed." --Casey

And another student said during the cooking time. "You two are so happy, you are always filled with happiness. We love spending time with you."--Joyce

Children...

Like I said... we are really wanting to put more into this site so you can see deeper into the culture and into our lives. Unlike Lacy, I hate to write things, I hate to express my inner feelings. All this on top of knowing that one; my grammar is pretty poor and two; I am not sure I can truly express how I feel through words on a web page.

I mentioned before that it was an exceptionally emotional time when Bro' Andre and Bill Simmons were here. This was because they actually got to see us here as well as seeing the culture for what it is. So they understand deeper than those of you who have not been here. the only chance most of you will ever have to experience China is through Lacy and me. So that is why I am wanting to break the silence! I want to do all that I can to break down barriers, walls of any sort and misunderstandings between the East and the West. So here goes my first feeble attempt.

This past weekend we were able to go with a small group of teachers to an orphanage in a town about one hour away. The town's name is Xin Mi ( pronounced "Seen Me"). We took a small bus that we rented and took gifts along with us. We took things they needed such as bathing supplies, fruit, milk, games/toys etc. A care package was prepared individually for each student and then given to them upon arrival. They were so happy to see us. On our way we received a phone call from one of the Chinese workers as the orphanage who asked us where we were. We were about 15 minutes away and he said that the kids were anxiously awaiting our arrival. And... that they were. They were all crowding the gate with smiles and cheers when we arrived. It was similar to a Christmas morning in America, yet these students love to play with us individually.

When we go we usually take about 20-25 plus a few Chinese students who can help translate if needed. The school/orphanage is an exception to the rule when you think of the traditional orphanage. The care the children receive is phenomenal, really... They have both Chinese women and men who deeply care for them. It was refreshing to see the love being shown to them compared to the daily lifestyle and hardness we tend to see. The orphanage was started 10 years ago or so by an American woman (who kind of looks as if she could be Mrs. Meggos's sister). She's from Kansas so she must have a good heart, right!

I say this place is phenomenal not only because the care they receive but, because they are being taught trooth. According to the "standard" they are being treated extra special and are genuinely cared for. Each child has a heart of gold and that golden heart is filled with a man who will always give them the strength they need in life. When I look at these children I hurt because I know they don't have parents and they have been deserted. Then I really look at them and honestly I could never tell that they are orphans. I can't say enough about the care they receive. It's truly a blessing to be able to love on these kids.

So what do we do when we go, you ask? As you see in pictures we play with them, we love them and just give ourselves to them for an afternoon. Because there are so many of them and not enough workers to have one-on-one attention daily we help by giving them that one-on-one or one-on-two attention they need. Last year I was able to go and spent time with two boys Donnie and Charlie. I always think of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" for some reason... I just wish I could be his "Golden Ticket" to a family... Tonya Duke maybe?????? I don't know, I just wish I could bring him home with me. this year I asked Charlie if he remembered me, but because his English is as good as my Chinese we weren't able to have a deep conversation. I asked him this "Ni jide wo ma?" (pronounced "Knee gee duh woe mah") Ni=you, jide=remember, Wo=me/I, Ma=question form.

Charlie shook his head and smiled and gave me a hug, amazing! At first it was difficult to recognize him because I hadn't been there in a year and he had grown up a little. funny how boys grow up in a year. Now he has braces, along with so many other children at the orphanage. Like I said... thy receive super care! Most students don't have the resources or opportunity to have braces in order to improve their teeth. A lot of children will grow up with a few extra teeth that we would have pulled in order to straighten our mouths out. The simple things we never think about or just take for granted because it's an everyday thing.

I said I spent time with two children last year Donnie and Charlie... Well this year Donnie spent time with another teacher who is new and I had an opportunity to get to know another boy, Zack, who's English is pretty good. Not spectacular but better than average.... He was funny because he walked with me everywhere I went. He gave me his name tag and said I could have his name and he wanted my name. Whenever we would walk up to someone else he would introduce himself like this "Ni hao, wo de mingzi Andy, Wo shi er shi ba la" in English... "Hello, my name is Andy and I am 28" so then I would say "Wo de mingzi Duan Zhi Heng" in English... Hello, my name is Duan Zhi Heng (or I would say Zack).

The whole day we spent time playing basketball, or for those who know, we played "knock-out", Chinese Duck-Duck-Goose, ping pong, badminton, and/or hacky sack. It was really fun and a change of pace for us.

Finally, When we were saying our goodbyes, Zack looked at me and said "we are forever friends" and I responded "I love you...." We are planning a trip to go back again sometime in December.

Pry for a girl who is in their care who was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and put on a lot of hard Rx's. She was taken to another Dr. and he is taking her off of those Rx's slowly to keep her from experiencing a lot of shock or withdrawals. She went for 3 days with no food, water, or sleep... causing her to hallucinate. Therefore the Dr's thought she had schizophrenia...

.a.cleaner.and.a.cooker.

lacy:
ok so i'll admit that i have been horrible at keeping up with this; i am going to try and write in this thing at least 4 times a week... that might be expecting too much of me and i apologize in advanced if i mess up! i really do love writing and blogging; i just dont know what it is that makes me stare blankly at the screen wondering where do i start....

anyways, saturday we did this really fun thing called a progressive house warming party; similar to a progressive dinner only it was more like progressive snacks and drinks (drinks meaning hot cocoa and the sort). this was a way for us teachers to get more acquainted with eachother and check out eachothers' places.... alot of people opened up their home including me and andy; it was a blast! if you dont know, we live in sort of like an apartment dorm hall; its called peter hall.... so i cleaned all day and andy headed out to zhengzhou to get some supplies for what he was going to make for that night; he made what he calls amazing meltbombs! he got the recipe from a friend and you take crushed oreos mixed with cream cheese into a ball then dipped in melted dove chocolate, and you chill them till the chocolate gets hard.... they are the most amazing things! i was pretty proud of him :) i would say that as a team; i clean and he cooks.... i love to clean and he loves to cook! (side note to my mom: see i told you that if i pryed for a husband that cooks, jay will provide; i wasnt worried)

well i cleaned everything cause im a clean freak like that :) im the kind of clean freak where if i clean the shower, i wish that it wouldnt have to be used for a couple of days so it keeps looking awesome.... the reason why i say that is our shower has clear walls around it and it so clear when its clean, i love it! when it gets used, you can see the soap scum and the water spots.... agh, i wish i had a squeegie to just clean it everytime i take a shower haha ok i know a lil ridiculous, but those are my thoughts.... of course, i am laid back about being clean; but when i get to cleaning, i am hardcore! andy is pretty similar; hes laid back but he likes to keep things clean.... although, he is horrible at throwing wrappers away; ill find them randomly somewhere but thats ok cause hes much better bout it now :)

well we had a lot of people come in and out of our place, which they enjoyed the coziness of our home and the amazin chocolate goodness of andys creations.... it was really fun hosting and showing off our place! i took some pics of our apartment, so you can see where we are living....

FRONT DOOR
OUR OFFICE

3 TURTLES/3 GOLDFISH
OUR SINK
OUR SHOWER/WATER HEATER

OUR LIL KITCHEN

OUR LIVING ROOM

OUR LIVING ROOM
DOORWAY TO KITCHEN/DOORWAY TO BEDROOM

OUR BEDROOM