It's 3:00 AM Thursday morning and I find myself wide awake. We left LA at 6:30 AM yesterday morning and arrived at Midway at 12:30 PM. My sister Lois picked us up from the airport and we got to Morris a little after 2:00 only to find a dear friend putting the finishing touches on a welcome home banner. She and others from our small group Bible study had pooled their resources and stocked our refrigerator with goodies that should last us a bit. We appreciate their kindnesses so much.
Jet lag is interesting. I'm so very tired but sleep will not come. I did doze off early last night but awoke confused as to where I was. Hopefully this is a temporary thing and I will soon get back on schedule.
As we unpacked our suitcases yesterday we unpacked so many memories. All of our students gave us gifts so that "We will never forget them." Little did they know we didn't need gifts to remember them. "Becky's" sense of humor, "Jane's" sweet nature, "Sara's" intrigue of American culture, "Mary's" quiet ways, "Lily's" obsession with her mirror...all of these things are now a part of me. I think of these people often and wonder how their day is going. Most of them are already back teaching at their schools, trying some new techniques learned from their month-long study with us. We gave them small gifts from us as well in hopes that they too will never forget us. I hope we will not be forgotten.
I know our task this summer was to share some teaching techniques with teachers from China to try out in their classroom. I sometimes wonder who learned more...them or me.
Rollin and I would love to return in the future. We would love to connect with the ones we met this summer and meet some new ones. We don't know what the future holds but we do know the One who holds the future.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
We're back on US soil. We left our hotel at 5:00 AM on August 5 but our plane was delayed so we waited on the plane for about 2 hours before they finally took off. We were going to be late getting to our connecting flight in Hong Kong but they held it as our plane had 50 of their passengers waiting to board it. We took off only 1 hour late and arrived in Los Angeles at 12:00 noon on August 5. Now, most people would assume the process only took about 7 hours but factor in the time change and crossing the international date line and it was actually about 22 hours. We're setting up shop at Noah and Bailey's for a few days while we try to find our wits and then will be heading back to Morris on Wednesday very early in the morning.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Yesterday was a day of highs and lows. The morning began at 8:30 with our commencement service for our Chinese teachers. It was full of pomp and circumstance as most Chinese things are. Each class was required to perform something in English. There were songs, raps and even a debate about whether parents or grandparents should raise the young children. The North American teachers performed the Michael W. Smith song "Friends" and then acted out Shel Silverstein's Giving Tree (Rollin acting as the tree and I was the girl). The head of Heilongjiang Provincial Education Dept. thanked everyone, our team leader spoke and then it was over (2 hours later). Hugs and tears flowed as we said our good-byes to our Chinese teachers. Neither of us do well with good-byes so that was a tough time.
In the afternoon "Anna" came to pick us up to go her parent's house. Anna was the lady I spoke about earlier who had known us when we lived in China before. She is a high energy young lady to begin with, but all the excitement had her floating as we made our way across town. Her parents greeted us with more enthusiasm than I had EVER been greeted in any home anywhere. Anna has a rather sad story. She is presently a single mother raising her 12 year old boy. Her husband was abusive so they divorced when her son was only 1 year old. She now feels she has no chance to find anyone who may love her as she has a son. When a son gets married it is the parent's responsibility to provide housing and a car for the new couple. She said no man would want to assume that responsibility so she is not a good candidate.
Her mother also had a sad story to share. She was a math professor at the university. One of her students did not want to complete his work but wanted her to give him a passing score him anyway. He came to her mother's home with a mutual friend to negotiate the "deal". Anna's mother refused to do this and later that evening the young man came and threw something (we're not sure exactly what it was) that burned her face, arms and hands. Her face is disfigured and her hands are greatly disfigured. She even lost one finger through it all. She has the most radiant smile shining through that face, though.
Anna's family remembered our family quite well. I gave them a picture of our family as a gift and they immediately placed it in a prominent spot in their common room. We ate a simple lunch with them, sang songs together and then left hoping to see them again sometime in the future.
Last evening was our closing banquet with the provincial authorities. We were taken to an extremely nice Russian restaurant in another part of town. We used FORKS, KNIVES and SPOONS for the first time in about 5 weeks. The food was delicious and the surroundings made us feel like we were not in China at all.
Today we leave for Beijing where we will spend two nights before beginning our trek home on Sunday. We'll be spending a few nights in Fullerton, CA with Noah and Bailey before heading back to Illinois. We're going to miss it here but we are anxious to get back and see everyone in Illinois (and Ohio). :)
In the afternoon "Anna" came to pick us up to go her parent's house. Anna was the lady I spoke about earlier who had known us when we lived in China before. She is a high energy young lady to begin with, but all the excitement had her floating as we made our way across town. Her parents greeted us with more enthusiasm than I had EVER been greeted in any home anywhere. Anna has a rather sad story. She is presently a single mother raising her 12 year old boy. Her husband was abusive so they divorced when her son was only 1 year old. She now feels she has no chance to find anyone who may love her as she has a son. When a son gets married it is the parent's responsibility to provide housing and a car for the new couple. She said no man would want to assume that responsibility so she is not a good candidate.
Her mother also had a sad story to share. She was a math professor at the university. One of her students did not want to complete his work but wanted her to give him a passing score him anyway. He came to her mother's home with a mutual friend to negotiate the "deal". Anna's mother refused to do this and later that evening the young man came and threw something (we're not sure exactly what it was) that burned her face, arms and hands. Her face is disfigured and her hands are greatly disfigured. She even lost one finger through it all. She has the most radiant smile shining through that face, though.
Anna's family remembered our family quite well. I gave them a picture of our family as a gift and they immediately placed it in a prominent spot in their common room. We ate a simple lunch with them, sang songs together and then left hoping to see them again sometime in the future.
Last evening was our closing banquet with the provincial authorities. We were taken to an extremely nice Russian restaurant in another part of town. We used FORKS, KNIVES and SPOONS for the first time in about 5 weeks. The food was delicious and the surroundings made us feel like we were not in China at all.
Today we leave for Beijing where we will spend two nights before beginning our trek home on Sunday. We'll be spending a few nights in Fullerton, CA with Noah and Bailey before heading back to Illinois. We're going to miss it here but we are anxious to get back and see everyone in Illinois (and Ohio). :)
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Flashmob
Here is a video of our "flashmob" that we performed. I've also included the text that Frank (our Chinese helper) sent with it. I love the phrase that we really attract lots of people's eyeballs. Chinglish is so much fun!
To the trainees from the 19th training program,
Spend two minutes watching your performance in the Sun Island
Park. We really attract lots of people's eyeballs and many of them took
photos or videos of us.
http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/
To the trainees from the 19th training program,
Spend two minutes watching your performance in the Sun Island
Park. We really attract lots of people's eyeballs and many of them took
photos or videos of us.
http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas!!
Yes, you heard right and no, we have not lost our minds. Tonight the North American teachers celebrated Christmas with our students so they could see and hear all about our Christmas. It was complete with Santa Claus, candy and the true Christmas story. We ended the evening with everyone singing "Silent Night" while candles were being lit. It was a very special time for all of us.....Chinese and North Americans alike.
Following the Christmas celebration I asked my students to do me a favor. Last Sunday I had bought some children's Bible story books for our grandsons. They are in both English and Chinese but I thought it would be fun for the boys (especially Jonah since he is studying Mandarin in school) to hear the Chinese version as well. We set my students up with the computer and videoed them reading the book. One of my students has her daughter here with her and she read "The Prodigal Son" for us.....only seven years old. It was precious. They enjoyed doing me that favor and then we allowed them to take something from our desk that we would NOT be taking back with us to America. There was some Off insect repellant, laundry soap, sewing kit, markers, hand lotion, beach ball, etc. They were thrilled with each and every thing regardless of its value.
Yes, you heard right and no, we have not lost our minds. Tonight the North American teachers celebrated Christmas with our students so they could see and hear all about our Christmas. It was complete with Santa Claus, candy and the true Christmas story. We ended the evening with everyone singing "Silent Night" while candles were being lit. It was a very special time for all of us.....Chinese and North Americans alike.
Following the Christmas celebration I asked my students to do me a favor. Last Sunday I had bought some children's Bible story books for our grandsons. They are in both English and Chinese but I thought it would be fun for the boys (especially Jonah since he is studying Mandarin in school) to hear the Chinese version as well. We set my students up with the computer and videoed them reading the book. One of my students has her daughter here with her and she read "The Prodigal Son" for us.....only seven years old. It was precious. They enjoyed doing me that favor and then we allowed them to take something from our desk that we would NOT be taking back with us to America. There was some Off insect repellant, laundry soap, sewing kit, markers, hand lotion, beach ball, etc. They were thrilled with each and every thing regardless of its value.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Another miracle!
We didn't expect to post another blog so soon but we experienced another miracle tonight!
The teachers from our former university had invited us out to eat with them. We knew three of our former colleagues would be in attendance but weren't for sure who else might be involved. Others from the present English department we didn't know began to arrive and finally a younger teacher came. She introduced her English name as Anna and a light went off in my head (that doesn't happen that often anymore). I asked her if she had grown up in the area and I could see a light go on in HER head. Anna was the young lady who played with Sarah and Noah (but especially with Noah) when we lived in Harbin. She was 17 at the time but quite short so it turned out that her bike fit Noah perfectly. She would often let him ride it. She claimed that Sarah and Noah were her first English teachers so she credits them with her excellent pronunciation. :)
Plans are underway to spend a few hours in her home later this week before we leave. She said her mother remembered our family well and she wants us to meet her before we leave Harbin.
We have been so blessed with unexpected reunions this summer. This was the icing on the cake!!
The teachers from our former university had invited us out to eat with them. We knew three of our former colleagues would be in attendance but weren't for sure who else might be involved. Others from the present English department we didn't know began to arrive and finally a younger teacher came. She introduced her English name as Anna and a light went off in my head (that doesn't happen that often anymore). I asked her if she had grown up in the area and I could see a light go on in HER head. Anna was the young lady who played with Sarah and Noah (but especially with Noah) when we lived in Harbin. She was 17 at the time but quite short so it turned out that her bike fit Noah perfectly. She would often let him ride it. She claimed that Sarah and Noah were her first English teachers so she credits them with her excellent pronunciation. :)
Plans are underway to spend a few hours in her home later this week before we leave. She said her mother remembered our family well and she wants us to meet her before we leave Harbin.
We have been so blessed with unexpected reunions this summer. This was the icing on the cake!!
Nearly done
We are on the downward slide with our time here. We have just two more units to teach before our students give us their final presentations. There are closing ceremonies, closing banquets and closing hugs and tears as we part ways. We've all been exchanging emails and learning Skype so that we can continue to communicate with each other in the future. We have become close to our students and are not looking forward to those farewell moments.
We attended the English speaking church this morning once again. The message was good and we were joined by several of our students. Following the service we headed off in the rain to yet another shopping excursion. They want us to find the very special items for our family and friends back home. Because Harbin is so close to Russia (and hence they get a lot of Russian vacationers), there are more Russian type souvenirs than Chinese. We're hoping that our day in Beijing on our way home may have some things to help us finish our list.
We are looking forward to our own bed (Chinese beds are VERY hard), showers that don't flood the entire bathroom (we'll tell you about that when we see you), something other than delicious Chinese food (not complaining....it's all good but would enjoy some variety) and most importantly our friends and family whom we haven't seen for a while.
We attended the English speaking church this morning once again. The message was good and we were joined by several of our students. Following the service we headed off in the rain to yet another shopping excursion. They want us to find the very special items for our family and friends back home. Because Harbin is so close to Russia (and hence they get a lot of Russian vacationers), there are more Russian type souvenirs than Chinese. We're hoping that our day in Beijing on our way home may have some things to help us finish our list.
We are looking forward to our own bed (Chinese beds are VERY hard), showers that don't flood the entire bathroom (we'll tell you about that when we see you), something other than delicious Chinese food (not complaining....it's all good but would enjoy some variety) and most importantly our friends and family whom we haven't seen for a while.
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