Comments

I have had a couple people tell me they have been commenting on my blog and they are reading! I have also had a couple people tell me they can't figure out how to leave a message. That is exciting, but...the comments aren't showing up. It's not that I need to see your comments, (although they are uplifting and encouraging.) If you are wanting to leave a comment and it's not working, here's a crash course.

• What you have to do is go to the bottom where it says "Post a Comment" (I know, I know, that's obvious). Then you select a profile where it says "Comment as:". If you do not have a profile, you can comment anonymously...just please sign your name at the bottom. :)

NOW THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART! DO NOT STOP READING! :) :)

Ahem...now, what you do next does not require anything but patience and the ability to read. And I know you all can do that. :)

• So, after you have made your comment, you need to click "Post Comment" and then you just wait. (This is where the patience comes in.) It will renew the page and either bring you to the top of my blog or just leave you where you were at the bottom. Now you will see a portion of the page that says "Preview" with your comment in view. Below that will be a portion that will say "Word Verification". All you need to do is copy the word or words in the space provided. Then click the button that says "Post Comment."
  
  

• Now, with my blog you will not see your comment immediately because I have chosen to screen my comments. After you have waited patiently it will say, "Your comment will be visible after approval." Some people's problem's might be with their computer or internet. Sometimes, you might have too many "Cookies" and that is why you cannot leave a comment. If you so choose, you can get rid of those and then you will be able to comment!

Whew! That was a lot! I hope you found this blog helpful...if not, leave a comment--HA! No, just send me an email @ (julianeinchina@gmail.com) Or you can send me a message on Facebook! If you can comment, try to leave a comment on this blog so I know you can! I love you all and thanks for thinking of me in China! Thanks for reading!

KTV

If you don't know what it is, you're in for a treat! Some of my students from last semester invited Stan and I to go to KTV with them. This is Karaoke- Chinese style! They do it way different in China, let me tell ya. In stead of getting up in front of a lot of people, you go to KTV and rent a room for you and your friends. I asked Jane, one of my students who invited us, how long we will be at KTV. She said, "We usually stay about 4 hours." 4 hours. 4 HOURS! I laughed when I saw her reply (via text). So we made the trip on the bus downtown to KTV. The one they took us to was suitable for us because they had a lot of English songs from which to choose!

We walked in and it looked like a 5 star hotel lobby! Of course all the people standing at the front desk were staring at Stan and I as we walked in, well, because we are foreigners. Here is a picture of the lobby and some fun we had while waiting to get a room.

So the girl at the desk gets us signed in and walks us to our room. This is us on the way to our room. Notice how colorful it is with the neon lights! And look at the walls how they have stuff jutting out!

And this is our room! Stan is sing-sing-singin! That's Jane sitting next to Stan. Sorry it's kinda blurry, the lighting was weird in there.


They had a buffet room, included in the cost of the room. This is what they got for the Americans to eat. Steak and ice cream. haha :)


This is Yuki singing and that's Vivian beside her! That's how it's done...you just sit on the couch and sing your song!



Me and Jane :)
This is Jane singing what I like to call "The Ukelele Song" simply because it's a bunch of Chinese words I don't know and the girl is playing a ukelele. :)




This is Paul singing a song called "Julia" but he kept saying "Juliane" and they all thought it was hilarious! Well, it was. haha!




This is Roy and Jane singing "Dimples". It's pretty popular because I hear it everywhere I go!




Here's the whole gang! We had a blast together!
Even though we had planned on staying 4 hours, we were dissapointed to find out that you can only rent a room for 3 hours on the weekends because it is soooo busy! We still had fun!

We have had a lot more contact with our students this semester than last and we are feeling really productive. HE is doing a lot and we are happy to see the effects of it. We have eaten lunch with some students this week and are making more friends. Our hope is that these friendships do not just make it to friendship, that they become something more. Be thinking about that please. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and videos! Thanks for reading, and don't forget to think about me in China! I love you all!

Teaching re-cap

This week I did the Proverb that says, "A gentle answer will calm a person's anger, but an unkind answer will cause more anger." I think it went over well because they all understand getting angry with someone. Everyone does. I talked about how me and my sisters would fight when we were little and scream at each other: an unkind answer. After I asked their opinion of the proverb, if they agreed or disagreed, all said they agreed with this wise saying.

After some discussion, I had them get into their "family groups" and come up with a skit. (I taught them the word "skit".) I told them to act out what they learned in a storyline. They were so funny. First of all, they get a kick out of acting like someone else. I mean, it's like the funniest thing in the world for a girl to act as a guy. So, it was fun to watch them have a good time and learn something important too! I wish I had some video of it, but they just get so nervous if I start to video them and then they don't do as well.

One funny story from this week: After the Proverb skits, I taught them how to play Charades. I told them this game was for them to work on their pronunciation, and they needed to pronounce everything correctly for their team to score a point. The phrase I gave the team mates was "Climbing the mountain." Now, Chinese people have trouble with the "th" sound. They mispronounce it almost every time because the Chinese language does not have this sound.

So, when a girl from Team 2 shouted "I know it, teacher! Climbing za mountain!"
I said, "No, you are close."
She replied, "Climbing a mountain!"
I said, "No, you are not as close as you were before!"
*Confusion sets in...and then as she rolls her eyes and laughs, says, "Ok, ok teacher. Climbing THE mountain!!"

It might be one of those things where you had to be there...but it sure was funny! Ha! thanks for reading my blog! We have had a wonderful weekend with some students, so look forward to some blogs about that! And Lee, my Chinglish pictures collection is growing, so be looking forward to that! I love you all and don't forget to think about me in China!

We got a Package!!

Yes! We got a package!! Thank you to all of you who helped put the package together! We love it! I can't put enough of these ! in here!!!! :) Today Vincent, our Waiban told us we had a package because our mail doesn't come to our apartment. We were really excited! Stan went to get it while I was coming back from class. When he came back, we opened it and found this!!

We actually opened it upside down. haha!

Here are all the goodies!


These are all the sweet cards we got from lots of people back home. It was so nice!

We decided to decorate our not-so-colorful apartment! Now it IS colorful! Yay!!

We love you guys so much and you mean a lot to us! We can't say it enough! We really appreciate what you did! These were our smiling faces when we received it!

We love you all and don't forget to think of us in China!

Teaching re-cap...Finally!

Hello all! I didn't do a teaching re-cap blog last week because...well, I didn't feel like it. ha! I've got my schedule all figured out and things are running smoothly! This semester, I have decided to be a bit more bold with His teachings, while I am teaching English. Stan and I decided to talk about a wise saying, a Proverb, each day in class. Last week, I wrote the wise saying on the board and had them act it out in groups. They had so much fun with it! I plan to do that every once in a while, because it hits home with them better. This weeks wise saying was,

"Don't answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are."

Some of my students did not understand this and we talked about it for a while after explaining my understanding of it. I had each student write down this wise saying in their own words and then tell me about a time it happened to them, if it applies. Two student's answers stuck out to me the most. Here are their examples of a time it happened to them.

"Example: On the street, the light turns to red. But there are no cars running in front of us. Two men near me discussed whether to cross the street or not. Then they cross the road and accident happened. So if you are a fool, you will follow them, and if you obey the rule, you are the clever."

The reason this one stuck out to me, is because this happens a lot here. People just don't obey the traffic rules and people get hurt. I would never think to associate this Proverb with traffic laws, but he did. Here is the other one.

"When someone talk about me behind mine back, I just give them a smile." That makes me smile. This girl is so sweet, and I do not know any of my students that well this semester, but I plan to make friends with this girl. Her name is Andy. Keep her heart in mind.

Well, that about does it for me! I am ready to start our third week of classes and excited to tell you about it at the end of the week! Don't forget to think about me in China! Thank you for reading, I love you all!

Why was I surprised?

If you did not know, my Thursday's are full! I barely have enough time to eat lunch and it's right back to class. For dinner, I have enough time to take a 30 minute nap, go find some dinner and it's class time again! I am not complaining. I mean, my Thursday's being so full is the reason I have a 4-day weekend!! But it does make for an uncomfortable entire day with achy feet, back, head, and mind! So I was not looking forward to it at all. In fact, I almost cried when I saw my schedule. Literally. I was sitting in the back of a cab with Stan right after we got our schedules, and I almost started crying.

Last night, (Wednesday) I was kicking myself for getting so upset about it. I pulled myself together and had a talk with the Father. I asked him to help me have a good attitude about my schedule and to help me have a good day tomorrow. Well, I did. Imagine that. Frustrating things happened that only happen in a classroom in China, but I didn't get frustrated. Those things didn't ruin my day. I got such encouraging text messages from my friend's in China. (Thanks, by the way) I was surprised I had such a good day when I was on my feet the entire day, save 3 or 4 hours, over explaining everything and exhausting myself with little to eat. Why was I surprised? Ask and ye shall receive, right? Right, but I was surprised. I was studying in the great book of James. In the first chapter, he tells us that when troubles come our way, we need to stick it out! If we stick it out and let things happen, we become more mature and grow. I learned something this week. I had fun today, and I will remember this verse every Thursday. That's just a start! Thanks for reading and don't forget to think about me in China! I love you all!