Teaching Re-cap!

A couple weeks ago I showed "The Blindside" in my classes. Last week we finished the movie and I had them get into groups and discuss some questions. The main question I wanted them to answer was, "If you were in the Touhy family's position, do you think you would do the same thing for Michael? Why or why not?" I had the students write down their individual answers and hand them in to me. I would say, more than half of the students said they would do the same thing as the Touhy family did. Here are some of their answers.


Yes I will…

"We should take pleasure in serving others."

"No matter how serious the racial discrimination was, the woman just did what the intuition led her to do. She expressed freedom, independent, good faith, and also broke up the shackles of traditional thought."

"Yes, I will help him. Today you help him, maybe someday you will turn to him for help." This one is interesting, because a friendship in the Chinese culture has an element of 'You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.' I know this is evident in the American culture, but it's not really something you would showcase as one of your characteristics. In the Chinese culture, it's just part of a friendship.

"I think love should be shared as long as we have this kind of ability. We think helping people will not only bring happiness to everyone, but it also makes my heart full of love by watching others happiness. We are moved by Leigh Anne and her whole family’s unselfish actions. It breaks up our normal notion about the wealthy people."

"Of course we will, although he is black, his heart is sunshine. He is upward. Not only brings us happiness also let us grow."

One girl said all of these wonderful things about Michael’s character and how good of a person he is... then added this at the end, “The last, I think Mike is very big, so he can protect me. Haha…” Haha! She wrote that on her homework! “Haha…” That cracked me up!

"If I have enough money, I can." This was part of a lot of the answers and just simple as that. The money part concerned a lot of the students, and they didn't think they could help in any way with out money.

“I think love is human smoothes the scar.” Just read that a couple of times and you can figure out what he was trying to say. The most ironic thing about this is the student who wrote this is named Blade Master.


No I won’t…

"To me, he is a stranger who I know little about. I am uncertain if he is really in trouble."

"Bringing up a black isn’t a simple thing…my other kids could not accept this big man. Their life wouldn’t be harmonious."

"I already have two children, I don’t need another child."

"As our traditional culture, it’s very hard to us to accept a man who is so different from us. Especially we consider Michael’s size and strength, he’s a bear of a man. He might hurt my children."

"He looks like a big monster. Maybe if I was Leigh Anne, I will not adopt Michael. Perhaps I will give him some money. Love is broad and selfless, maybe I should learn from Leigh Anne."

I'm just gonna leave it at that. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! I love you all!

Vera

Many people in China believe God is a tyrant or a dictator. He tells us what to do and if we fail, he will be angry with us. God is the ruler, and we do what he says to do.

“I don’t understand why American’s believe in the Bible and in God. I have a friend, who told me that God is the truth, but in my mind truth is reality and I can’t see God so I can’t believe in Him. I studied about religions in school. In my book, there is logic, but in the Bible there is not logic. So I want to know why do so many Americans believe in God, if they cannot see him?”

This question was asked of me earlier this week by Vera, a girl who is a “free thinker” in China. Vera is one of our good friends who works at Starbucks and we get to have many thought provoking conversations with her.

I thought for a moment and answered this question, “I believe in God because I have faith in Him. From what I understand about the Bible, God is so much like a father who loves me and cares about me. He wants the best for me. I am who I am because I know he loves me.” She said, “So you believe God because He knows your life, but he doesn’t change your life?” I said, “Oh no, He changes my life all the time. Some bad things happen in my life, and also some good things. When bad things happen, maybe I will be sad right then, but I know God is working in my life and some good can come from a bad situation.”

Vera said, “Oh I think I can understand. Like, if you break your arm then you will be very sad and hurt. But then after you break your arm your friends and family care for you. And you realize you have so many people who love and care for you in your life.” I said, “That’s exactly what I mean. If something like that happens, I am so thankful to God for those things and people.”

She said, “Many people who believe in Buddha believe in him because they want to get more things. So if you believe in Buddha, you will get good things and he will solve your problems. So is it the same as you believe in God?”

“I believe in God because I have faith in Him. Yes, he blesses me with things, but that is not the reason I believe in him. God wants to have a relationship with me.” I asked, “If every time I saw you, I asked for your help and always needed something from you, do you think we would have a good relationship?” She shook her head no. I said, “It is much like that with God. He wants us to have that loving relationship with Him. So many times I just talk to Him about what is going on in my life. And I grow closer to Him.”

“If I am not a Christian, can I read the Bible?”

“Yes! Anyone can read the Bible.”

“So when I read the Bible, will God be angry because I am not a Christian?”

“Ohhhhh, no… He will be happy! He will be so happy because you are learning about Him!”

“Really? Ok…so…I can read some bibles… Maybe I can read with some people who know a lot of the Bible. But (long pause) I am afraid their minds will have some influence on me.”

“Yeah, I think you are a very smart girl and you like to think for yourself.”

“But maybe I don’t understand some things about the culture, so maybe I need to ask some questions to some people.”

“You know, I have some questions about the Bible even though I am a Christian. But I still have faith in God. I don’t doubt Him. But when I do have a question, maybe I will ask Stan or one of my friends and then we will study it together. No one knows all of the answers; we just study together to try to find the best answer. Vera, I want you to feel comfortable to come ask me a question, but I also want you to know I don’t have all the answers.”

“Ok, so maybe next time I read the Bible, I can ask you some questions.”

Then Stan explained how we like to discover what the Bible says together and how we all learn from each other. Because Vera expressed concern about being influenced by others, she seemed to appreciate this style of bible learning. Then Stan briefly discussed that reading is not the only thing he does as a Christian, but he enjoys doing what he has learned.

“So sharing with each other and you can be smarter and happy!”

Our friend, Milissa was involved in the conversation, but came in a little late. Many times when Vera didn’t understand my English, Milissa would act as a translator to Vera, adding to the conversation.

I mentioned at the beginning Vera holding a recipe book she was going to read. We had a long conversation about God and the Bible, and she never opened that recipe book. She came up after her shift was over and left when we left. She’s seeking.

Requests: Pray God gives us the wisdom to help her discover Him for herself.
Pray she is a person of peace. (Don’t know what a Person of Peace is? Find it here in Stan’s blog titled “Any Comments? Part 2/2”.)
Pray that we will not influence her, but that He will influence her through the Word.
Pray that Milissa and Vera will share this with friends, family, and co-workers.

Teaching Re-cap!

This week in my class I played the ABC game with my students. If you don’t know what that is, I’m sorry, you didn’t have a good childhood. ☺ just kidding… I wrote the ABC’s up on the board and had one student throw the ball at the board to choose a random latter. Then the students each said one word, following the alphabet, to make a sentence. I left out the letters X and Z because there are so few words they know that start with X and Z. I made it a tad easier on them… I wanted them to focus on getting the right form of word. This activity was good for them to practice grammar. It really challenged them! I have included some of the ones we did this week. Each class started with a different letter and not with A. Also, some of the classes got to do another one with groups, (that’s why some of them aren’t in an alphabetical sequence.)

Some of these are not very good, but I included all of these because there is something funny in each one! Tell me which one is your favorite! ☺

I just kissed lots more nuts. Our party quit recently. Saturday Tom used vegetables. When your Aunt borrows caps directly, every friend goes home immediately. Jack killed Lilly’s mother natively on purpose, quietly. Recently speaking tenderly.

Kings live more nervously on purpose. Queens run slowly, then uncles view wonderful yellow apples. Bikes circle damaged eggs finally. Girls hug ibex. Jumping kind land may need occupations possibly. Quality raises success.

Afternoon! Before classrooms draw eager flowers, good hats ignore jackets. Kevin loves money, not only pounds. Questions remember students. Teachers undertake vacations. Wonderful years ask Bella colorfully dressed. Every Friday, girls highlight important jobs kindly.

Tea usually values wonderful yummy ants. Boys come down eventually for girls. Hate in jackets keep labels. Meanwhile, nationally organized parties quickly recycle. Orange plants quickly result some truth.

First, girls have ideals. Jenny kept literature. Michael noticed old paper. Questions reflect simple topics. University volunteers want yellow apples. Boys can do every funny game. However, I just know Linda. Michael nods occasionally. Peter questions reasonably. Eventually friends get high international jobs.

Asked my students if they knew what it meant if their friends get high. They nodded with deadpan faces, and went on to the next person. I thought since they did not laugh, that they truly did not know what it meant. So I asked again, “Are you sure you know what it means?”

“Yes. To feel happy.”

“No, it means—“

“Have too much alcohol?”

“No, it means to use drugs too much.”

Just so you know, the possession, usage, and exchange of drugs is completely illegal in China. The punishment is serious… really serious, so this is nothing to be spoken about lightly. When I said what it meant, their eyes got big and they immediately wanted to recant. But as you can see, they made it work without it having anything to do with drugs. I found it funny, but I don’t know if they did. ☺

It was a fun week of classes and next we are watching a movie, “The Blindside” and then having a discussion about it the next week. There are good opportunities for good discussion about good things! If you have suggestions about discussion, that would be helpful! If you haven’t seen the movie, you should! Ok, that’s all I have for today. Thanks for reading, I love you all!

Sometimes I talk to Myself

No really I do, I talk to myself...even when Stan IS here. Sometimes I think, "Did I say that out loud?" Haha, it's quite funny. Anyway, I'm saying all that because yesterday was not the best day in the world. I've been going through a bit of culture shock, and it started a little bit before Stan left for America. You have your good days and bad days, but I've been in a little bit of a funk. Ive just been excited to get home, frustrated with my classes, and over all been going through a bit of withdrawal from the culture. To make it a bit worse, I made a girl cry in one of my classes yesterday. Not joking at all. It was a misunderstanding.

Many times if you directly ask one of my students a question, a lot of silence follows either because they are thinking, don't know what to say, or don't know how to say it. But the silence is what kills me because all they have to say is "I don't know" or "Let me think" (and they know how to say these things). But with the culture, they aren't going to say that because they don't want to be wrong. So, this sweet girl in my class was thinking about something. I asked her to choose between two things. Silence. I asked her again. Silence. Loooooong pauses. She was being very very quiet and looked so nervous, so I made an executive decision for the class because I didn't want to continue to embarrass her. (This was an activity where things needed to happen in a sequence and a decision needed to be made.) I made the decision and asked the girl if that was okay. She just looked down and I thought I saw her crying. I quickly moved on (saying anything further would have totally humiliated her in front of the class even more than she was) and finished class some time later. After class I asked her if I had upset her. She said she thought by my making the decision for her, I thought she was wrong. (please know that she was being very respectful in saying this. I asked her to tell me what was wrong. She was hesitant, but told me.) I told her I was so sorry I had upset her and that was the last thing I wanted to do. I was drained after that because it upset me too. But I still had to teach another class. Whew! I got through the day, but I was still in a bit of a funk. As I was getting ready for my afternoon class, I was talking to myself. I was saying, "I have kinda been hating China right now." (I use that term, not to mean I hate it, but that I am having a rough time in the culture and being away from home.) "I don't really want to go out of the apartment. It's raining and I want to do exactly what a rebellious teenager would do: Rebel. Not go to class. Call in sick and sit in the room, watching a meaningless TV series." BUT, I went to class anyway.

Thankfully during this class, I was able to get my point across to the students and it was a successful class. I left the classroom feeling good, not frustrated, and more in tune with my students. Now every class is different, but it was a nice pick me up! Okay, I say I talk to myself, but it's really like I'm telling these things to God. It was a breath of fresh air to have a good interaction with my students! :) I'm thankful for that! I like to look at things like this as Him helping me and letting me know that I am here for a reason and He needs me to do what he has asked me to do. When you have feelings of culture shock, it's really easy to retreat and withdrawal from everything around you. (for me anyway) So, I lost focus for a little bit, but I think I've regained it. Thanks for all your thoughts! I love you all!

This Past Week

This past week, I have been alone in the house, yes but I still have friends around me so that's great! I miss Stan and I'm excited for him to be back, but I also know he needs to be there, so it's ok! By the way, if you haven't read his most recent blog post, please click here! This past week I talked about the upcoming holiday with my students, "Qing Ming" or in English "Tomb Sweeping Day". I learned something new about the Chinese culture. On this holiday they take fake money to burn, flowers to lay on the graves of their ancestors, and clean it up a little. The new thing I learned about was the death experience itself. In China, if you live in the city, (and the cities are BIG here! Texas ain't got nothin on China!) Anyway, if you live in the city you MUST be cremated. The MUST is because you have no choice. There simply isn't enough in the ground to bury people. To have a cemetery. I mean, I guess if you want your relatives buried under building with no grave site, you can not cremate them. (I hope you know I'm joking.) So, they cremate them, but they put the ashes in a box (most likely a small coffin) and then bury that! So it takes up much less room. Interesting, huh? As I was explaining what the word cremating meant in English to my students, they told me the Chinese word. It just translates as "burned". They don't use any other more polite words to say it. They just say "burned". I told my students that was maybe the impolite way to say it, so I taught them the word "cremated".

I also explained that some people who get cremated like to have their ashes put in an urn, (and explained what an urn was) and maybe have the urn in a special place in the house. As I explained this, every class would look at me with disgust, trying to hide it on their faces as to not be rude. I finished explaining it by saying, "Some people think it's gross, so they don't do that." Then they all laughed. In China, if you live in the country side, you have all the room in the world! So you can be buried full body in the ground. All this was very interesting to me. I am learning more and more about the funeral customs (but that's for another blog entirely). I hope you enjoyed this bit of information as much as I did (as morbid as it may seem!) :) Thanks for reading! I hope you read Stan's blog post! I love you all!