Oh, life (part 2)

I'm not even sure how to begin this post, because the story is just crazy...

So on Friday, I had a pretty leisurely day.  Depreena and I went shopping for some stuff for Sydney's birthday party, and then in the afternoon I went with Danielle to Guilin Lu, because she had told me that they had gorgeous journals there, and my journal is nearly filled (four years after Abbie gave it to me!)

All of us were pretty happily expectant about the upcoming break, which was being kicked off on Saturday by a sports meet and then Syd's birthday party in the evening.  A few of us had idly wondered to each other what would happen to the sports meet if it rained, but it had remained idle conjecture.  Perhaps they'd cancel it.  Perhaps they'd only do events that could be done in gym.  

Did I mention that it was pouring for a good chunk of Thursday and Friday?

Anyway.  So Danielle and I were at Guilin Lu when her phone rang.

Turns out that it was indeed a possibility that the sports meet would be cancelled due to adverse weather.  But as students were required to be here for that, they couldn't just let students go early.  So we'd teach our Wednesday classes instead.

The rest of Friday is kind of a blur of all of us trying to get back to the school (which was a headache, because traffic was crazy and it was cold and raining and some people in our group waited an hour for a taxi) and lesson planning (a lesson that consisted of playing English practice games, because it seemed ridiculous to try planning anything else) and I was miserable.

In Beijing we talked a lot about the gap between expectations and reality and how unhappy we are when we fall into that gap.  And I was in that gap for sure.  My attitude was terrible... and I knew it, and I asked the Father to please make me happy about teaching on Saturday morning.  And I thought about giving thanks in all circumstances and I just wanted to cry.  And I thought about how He always brings good out of everything, and I still wanted to cry.

Some days are like that in China.

So I went to bed, not knowing if I'd be teaching in the morning or not.  We didn't find out officially until about 7:19, at which point I had seen out my window that a) it was dreary and raining and b) students were heading to their class building.

For more on our infamous memos, see my teammate Depreena's post:  Memo.

So I taught two classes... one at 8 am.  Both of them were missing about half of the students, who had (sensibly) gone home or were skipping.  The first one was fine.  The second one was with one of my translation classes, which is probably my favorite class.

We had a blast.

 Shania and Jane

 listening to music and playing games before class

Summer was braiding Little Meng's hair

Ruby was checking out some pictures 

 playing I'm Going on a Picnic

Linda, who couldn't wait for class to end so she could go home

Before class and during the break we took pictures and listened to music and sang and perhaps danced a little bit, to If I Die Young and Firework and We are the Champions.  Their music mix, not mine.

In the evening, we had Sydney's epic Australia-themed party.

And today I woke up to this.

the sky is blue and it's beautiful

it made me laugh

The whole situation is still one that was kind of crazy, but it's one that I can laugh about now.  Because I was able to enjoy teaching.  And I think that the Father did bring good out of it... we had fun together, which is good for relationship building, and the first activity that we did was bucket lists.  "I've never thought about this," one of my students said.

"Which part?" I asked, since there was everything from foods I want to try to people I want to thank to how I want to be remembered.

"Any of it," she said.

Perhaps it was time for that to happen, then.

Oh, life.

6:00 -- alarm which gets postponed for half an hour.

6:30 -- alarm which means I really need to get up so that I can eat yogurt, read some from Job, check emails, make sure the things in my backpack are in order, and be at Danielle's by 7:30 so we can prep...

7:45 -- get to the classroom for the first class of the day that I'll teach.  There are almost 50 students and today Danielle is there to observe.  There are things that I wish didn't happen -- like when I totally forget an activity and so the flow of the whole lesson makes no sense.  Or all of the chatter.  There are awesome moments, like skits that make me laugh so hard I'm nearly crying.  And there are things that make me insanely happy, like my student Luther, who has decided to keep the name and is sitting near the front today.  And speaking to me in English.  And trying.  In this class I also solidify lunch plans for later in the day when I'll eat with two of my students, Cassie and Cindy.  Class starts at 8 and is done at 9:40.

10:10 -- next class, and this one (my middle one on Thursdays) goes really well.  Which is a pleasant surprise as it was not a fun class last week.  I wonder about how when I said, "Report on a news story," my students apparently heard, "Relate a ghost story or an epic-length joke," but that is the worst part of that class probably, and I can deal with that.  We can talk about who-what-where-when-why in connection with ghost stories.  It makes me laugh that the ghost stories come up in the class where I have students named Fairy and Vampire and Specter.  (The sad part is that by week 4, those names feel normal.)  And Britanny gives me a piece of White Rabbit candy, which I love.  She hurt her arm last week and we talked about it some and today she's in the front row.

noon -- lunch with Cassie and Cindy; I eat soup with noodles and eggs in it and we talk about places we want to visit and college and where we're from and what cities in China we like.  And what is important in a man and advantages to being single.  And then we part ways with wishes for everyone to have a good National Holiday (which is next week.)

1:30 -- my last class of the day.  On the way to it I finally met the neighbor who lives below me, a Japanese teacher who was an electrical engineer before he came here to teach.  This last class is the first one where I get to experience the great feeling that comes when the dean for your department casually walks in and says, "Oh, by the way, I'm going to observe your class."  ...yeah.  Anyway, it was okay... not great but... okay.  And then it was done.

3:25 -- I'm in my office, doing random stuff because my brain is mush (that's slang that we taught some students a week ago, in case you were curious).

4:25 -- I head back to the dorm and decide to check mail first.  The sky has turned dark grey.  There's no mail, but it starts pouring as I get out of the library/post-office area and head back toward my dorm/apartment.  So I take off my socks and shoes, slip across stone parts, and run through the grass.  Much the amusement of Hilary, who is watching me from her window, and of our cleaning lady, who is standing and watching me.  Then I go upstairs and talk to Hilary about the day, run back down to my apartment and change into jeans and a t-shirt and flannel.

5:00 -- meeting Grammar for dinner in the cafeteria, which turns into a long meal with conversation about everything ranging from stereotypes between Chinese and Americans to our plans for our lives to what's difficult about college to... everything.  I love cafeteria conversation.

6:45 -- raiding the resource library for some new books.  Next week is National Holiday, which means that there are no classes... which means potentially that I can sleep, get ahead on lesson planning, take a day trip to Shenyang with teammates, and get to see the girls from Harbin who are coming down.

It's about 9:00 now, and I'm falling asleep.  It's been a busy day.

And that is my life. 

Random shots of my day

 A classroom at break time.  Don't you wish US students were this awake in their 8 am classes?

Two of my students who I talked into posing.

.I said that my family (and friends) would want to see them.  :)  

Okay, so the guy behind them does not look quite so awake... 

But that is what the break in the middle of double-period classes is for.

He was being a ham and then telling me not to take his picture.  Yeah right.

For the first week, I didn't have to take anything away from him.

And I think he voluntarily spoke to me in English.

China changes every day!

More students... I actually don't remember any of their names.  Shame on me.

 Students in my Wednesday before-lunch Translation class.

I really like this class.  They're energetic and funny and cheerful.

So there are these great motivational posters all over the hallway around my office.

This one says, "Enumerating accomplishments during a performance appraisal is savvy;

dosing so during a social engagement is boorish."

Captain Jack Sparrow, anyone?

Unedited picture of campus on the walk back from my office to my dorm this afternoon.

There's guys working up on the roof.  I took a picture.

Other guys on the roof were watching me.  I waved at them.

They waved back.

This is how China is:  they watch the foreigner.  I watch them.

Usually, it's a great arrangement.  Everyone is entertained.

And this is where I am now.  On my super colorful couch.  :)

Lunch on Tuesdays

There were a lot of things that I figured I would miss about being at Geneva.  There are a lot of things that I miss.  One of these is having lunch each week with my lovely friend Laura.  We'd get together and talk, about life and classes and whatever we felt like, and it was great to watch her growing up over the years that we were at school together.  As I'm now in China, and she is studying in Ireland, obviously this tradition has ended.

What I did not guess was that the Father would provide another sister for me to eat lunch with each week.  On Tuesday of my very first week of teaching, a friend who I had met the Saturday before texted me to see if I wanted to go get lunch together.  I was excited and of course agreed.  We had lunch, and it was good -- there was the natural awkwardness that comes from language craziness, and the fact that we didn't know each other well -- but it was great.

The next week, she texted me again.

So I agreed again.

The next week, I texted her.  And she said, "Of course!"

And last night, we were texting (okay, yes, we do this in China as well as in America... of course we're not going to walk across campus to find each other!) and here's how it ended:  See you after the class at ATM.  So today she and her boyfriend and I ate lunch together.

It may seem like a small thing, but it has been a huge encouragement to me to have a Chinese friend who is not one of my students.  The fact that the Father provided someone for me to have weekly lunch dates with blows my mind.  It reminds me that He loves me an incredible amount, enough that not only am I able to be here to teach, but He does things that just make me happy.

We have fun together.  We have serious conversations.  We play around a little (just a little) with each other's languages.  She is a huge encouragement to me, and I hope that I am also able to encourage her this year.

Life's like a jump rope (and other musings of a very new teacher)

Back when Jo and I lived with the Wrights, between our junior and senior years of college, we taught Sukey the chorus of Jump Rope by Blue October.

Up, down

Up, down

Life's like a jump rope.

That is often what my life currently feels like. It's not too hard to figure out where it comes from... not having much experience. I just taught my nineteenth lesson.

Nineteen is not very many.

Here's what that translates to: Every single class still has a major impact on how I see myself as a teacher, how I see my students, and how I see teaching. I have a serious lack of perspective. I mean, honestly, if I have five lessons that don't go well, that's over 25% of the lessons I've ever taught.

Last week was rough. Two of my eight classes went really well. One or two were hovering between bleh and disastrous. The rest were okay, but not good enough for me to really be happy with them.

When that kind of week happens, it's really easy for me to start thinking, Wow, I am the world's worst teacher; what on earth was I thinking coming to China? It's really hard for me to tell myself, Okay, so this lesson didn't go well. The next one can be better.

The benefit of having such a narrow perspective is that when something goes well, I'm delighted. If an activity – or better yet, an entire class – goes fairly smoothly and results in more laughter than wanting to cry and my students speak English, I'm on cloud nine.

Still, I'm really looking forward to having more experience and being more settled as a teacher.

Most of the time, in all honesty, I really love teaching. I loved facilitating the ropes course when I worked at camp, and teaching is not all that different in some ways – I challenge my students, give them some guidance, and then watch them go and make connections.

I love the feeling of beginning to really get students' names with their faces and a feel for some of their personalities.

I love being in China, and I love the team that I'm part of (and also the A team). I love how I am constantly being challenged to grow in a myriad of ways. I also love the weather. I'm pretty sure we've had more sun here in the month that we've been in Changchun than I would have seen in the entire fall semester at Geneva. (If any of you want to come visit, I do have a couch.)

But sometimes I'd rather have working water, or dining halls where sandwiches are a default. Sometimes I desperately miss people in America.

So life does feel a jump rope.

I'm glad that life being like a jump rope isn't the final answer; I'm glad that He has plans.

    O LORD, you are my God;
        I will exalt You; I will praise Your name,
    for You have done wonderful things,
        plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
(Isaiah 25:1)

Comprehension Check

This past week, six of my classes had a quiz with three questions related to friendship.  Some of the answers are really insightful.

Some of them make me want to smack my head against something.  

So, for your reading enjoyment, here's the cream of the crop.  

Question:  Sometimes people in the East and people in the West have different ideas of friendship.  What is one difference?

The west people use a fork to eat.

The east people eat with chopsticks.

In the East, when you tell your friends a good story. You can't say. You are a dog.  In this east. this words are not friendly 

(I am pretty sure he must have been thinking along the lines of Yo whaddup dawg...)

In East, if someone is your dude, you can do as much as you can when he have some troubles.  In West, it depends how close to you.

the East friendship like water: quite

the West friendship like fire: enthusiam

Question:  If I say that someone is my friend "through thick and thin", what does that mean?

I think its means the people can make me happy at my sad time, point my weakness and help me to improve.

Thick means good friend.

Thin means bad friend.

your friend bad times or good times

another is your friend advantage or not.

a friend in deed is a friend in need.

The person is slim and healthy.

Your friend isn't very fat and isn't very thin.  She or he have a medium contour of body.

He is hungry.

When we are in trouble, we can help each other.

When we make a mistake, we can punished together.

We can do everything together.  even if the things is bad.

Random other answers

friend like shadow, no matter what happens, he or she always be with you.

sky (given as an adjective to describe a friend... it is entirely possible that one of her friend's has Sky as an English name, but I don't know.)

a good friend like a apple when we are hungry.

The Evolution of a Name: In Three Acts*

I.

On the first day of class, I tell all of my students what they should call me.  I write this on the board.  The next week, I repeat this, and hand it out in their syllabus.

This is what I tell them:  Miss Keeler.

II.

Sometimes students text me.  Texting  is the preferred method of communication in this country; China is very advanced in the cellphone part of its telecom infrastructure.

This is how those texts can be expected to begin:  Keeler!

III.

My students are friendly.  They say hi to me on campus (and then look surprised when I answer them in English.)

This is what it sounds like:  Killer!

 ~~~

I am, perhaps irrationally, hoping that there will be an epilogue.  Wherein I will be called Miss Keeler. 

~~~

*There are some students who call me Miss, so this story may be slightly out of proportion... but as my teammates can attest, it would only be slightly so.

~~~

It makes me laugh.