Mid-Autumn Festival

I will throw out a disclaimer right now and apologize for my awkward writing style.  I have spent the whole day with students and have been talking to them in a way that is easy to understand, thus making me sound like a 4th grader.  I may sound slightly ridiculous, but most of you know that is fairly normal.  I just find it a little ironic though: I come to China to teach Chinese students to speak better English and my English, consequently, gets worse.

Anyways, I would love to share everything that has happened, but because there is so much I will focus on what has happened most recently.  This week the school has Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off for Mid-Autumn Festival.  It is a Chinese traditional holiday centered around looking at the moon on Wednesday night and eating moon cakes knowing that everyone else in China is looking at the same moon.  Now, these moon cakes are given to, or at least eaten by,  everyone.  Even the teachers get a bag of moon cakes from the school.  You can find many interesting things when you bite into a moon cake like red bean paste, nuts and meat, and even egg yolks.  Yummm!  Well, not really, but it's very interesting to see how important they are here.  They are somewhat the equivalent to a Twinkie because of its long shelf life due mainly to the large amount of fat in each pastry as well as the preservation packets similar to those you would find in a new pair of shoes :).

So, this holiday is a big deal here and everyone celebrates and takes it seriously.  The actual holiday was last night and many of the freshmen throw a party in the lobby of their dorms.  Since I teach freshmen I thought it would be a great idea to show some support and participate.  Since Abram, my teammate, was already at one of these parties, I decided to meet up with him.  As I walk up and into the dorm I begin texting him to find out where he is.  As I look up mid-text I see half the room is looking at this random white guy who seems to be lost.  10 seconds into this relatively awkward situation I am asked by the event's emcee if I would perform a song for the group.  I try to explain that I don't know any songs.  An excuse which he does not buy.  I try to throw out many more excuse but persistence seems to be a 'virtue' every Chinese person is gifted with.  I finally consent and ask if they have any English songs on their computer.  Of course there weren't any, but not to worry.... I could sing without music..... and I was next up.  In short, I had 3 minutes to decide what song I was going to sing acapella to in front of 50 students.  It was then my turn, and Jordan took the stage.  The song of choice was my 'fall back' song"I Want It That Way" by none other than the American and Chinese sensations, "The Backstreet Boys."  As I am singing I see cell phones begin popping up taking pictures and recording the stellar performance I was putting on.  A few missed notes and a couple forgotten lines later, the performance was finished and I was given a seat of honor in front to watch the rest of the show.  The funny thing was that there were freshmen parties in multiple dormitories and my friend was in another one.  So I ended up walking into the wrong event looking for a friend who was not there, performing a song I was not prepared for, and doing all of this without knowing anybody.  I ended up making friends with the emcee and a couple other students.  In fact, they even called me today to go sing karaoke with them (a favorite Chinese pastime).  It was an unforgettable experience that I am sure will repeat itself all too soon.

Other than that, I spent my holiday looking for and buying a guitar, going to a gym off campus, and eating at an amazing "all you can eat meat" buffet.  I have had the privilege of spending a lot of time with students and have had some interesting talks with them.  Thankfully, these talks have been quite common among our teams with both students and coworkers.  I can't emphasize enough the power of pryr and the doors He is opening.  Thank you for your continued support and I hope to keep these updates coming. I will try to keep all future posts shorter and my English in a more presentable manner :).  Blessings from China!

Picture of the Post:

Ronald McDonald and his contagious personality in central Changchun

 

 

-jo

Email Update # 2 (Sent 9/4/2010)

It's hard to believe that it has been nearly a month since I left the states for this country 9 time zones away.  Time has felt quite different over here, almost like it runs on a different kind of clock.  Whatever the case, much has happened during my first month here.  3 weeks were spent at a hotel in Beijing where our team underwent training, training, and more training.  The preparation was long and arduous, but it was well put together and I believe prepared us as best as it possibly could for what lay ahead.  I can't pretend like there wasn't any fun involved either.  We all had the amazing privilege to visit the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square.  It was simply incredible to stand in so many places full of history, nearly 4,000 years to be exact.  Anyways, we have had great opportunities to visit these amazing places as well as eat very cheap in many Chinese restaurants and even have a night out on the town singing karaoke with the team.  If you would like to see any of these pictures, many are posted on my facebook and should be available to those who do not have an account.  I am looking into posting more photos onto a photo blog, but I have not got around to it yet.

There was a lot to do Beijing and many friendships were made, but at the end of it all we had to say goodbye to the other teams and head our own ways.  After a 6 hour train ride from Beijing to Changchun, we finally arrived at our school on Sunday and began unpacking and settling in to prepare for our first day of teaching on Wednesday.  It turns out that the school wanted us to begin on Monday, so after some scrambling and throwing things together we were 'ready' for Monday.  I didn't feel to nervous about it until I walked some of my friends to their classes and watched as they helplessly were led to the 'point of no return.'  My first class was in an hour and a half and I had that much time to begin planning my escape.  The time finally came for me to step into the classroom and after a couple of minutes, I realized they really weren't bloodthirsty and I began to settle into teaching mode.  I taught a total of 3 classes this week and will teach more this next week.  I made many mistakes and I will continue to do so, but I am confident He will continue to mold me into a man and teacher after His own heart.  It turns out I am teaching freshmen and will not begin teaching my official classes for another 3 weeks until my students get back from mandatory military training, but I will continue substituting for teachers and teaching my afternoon English Corners during this time.

During our time here at Hua Qiao, we have already had a lot of fun.  We went out to eat at a Korean restaurant last night with some students and then went to a coffee shop of "like-minded" people.  At lunch, we played full court basketball for an hour with some other teachers and ended up losing at the end due to poor fitness.  It won't happen again!  Supposedly we are supposed to perform some kind of song on Thursday in front of all the teachers so please remember us during that time.  I look forward to the stories that will come from that.

There is so much more I want to share, but I will have to send it out in my next email.  Please continue to 'lift up' both myself and my team in your daily conversations.  He has been so amazingly faithful and I cannot tell you how excited I am to see what He has planned for this year.  We have already had the opportunity to meet a few students and I know many more will be coming into our lives soon.  Please ask that we would love as He loves, and that He would be our priority and our focus above all else.  That we would shine so brightly that those around could not help but notice something different about us.


'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:37-38


-jo

Email Update #1 (8/25/2010)

Hey everyone!  It's most likely been a few weeks since I have talked to you, but I wanted to fill you in a little on what has been transpiring during that time.  I have been in Beijing since August 10 going through training with the rest of the China Teaching Fellowship teachers.  It has been a difficult couple weeks due to the full schedule and demanding curriculum, but I feel much more prepared.  Thankfully, it has not been all business.  We have had the privilege to visit the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, and eat some pretty amazing food.  Unfortunately, not all the food has been amazing and has done things to me that I would prefer to not repeat again.  I am enjoying getting to know all of the teachers, but I am especially grateful growing closer with the guys on my team.  We had a meeting with the president of the organization yesterday and went to dinner with him last night.  He spoke to us for a good amount of time sharing in detail what the organization is, what it stands for, and the amazing things He has done through them.  I can't tell you how refreshing it was to hear his words.  I am so encouraged and that much more ready to impact the the campus for Him.  I don't want to say much more because I have to keep it interesting in my upcoming newsletter, but I just wanted to keep you informed and thank you for your support.  Thank you again for keeping me in your conversations with Him and please continue to do so.  It is vital to His work here in China.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
-Ephesians 6:12


-jo