Today on September 22nd

Today I went to a Chinese wedding where I was billed in the program as, "Let's Play!"

I haven't performed in front of people (outside the short people I perform for 5 days a week,) since my college days. (And those days are quickly receding further and further into my past.)
It was fun.

I like energizing people.
I like energizing crowds.
(I wish I could participate in the theatre!)

Today I tried to converse with a young Chinese girl in Chinese. I like young Chinese-speakers. They keep talking, thinking you understand, realizing you don't/won't, but still trying and talking. We counted together and chatted about...milk.

Today I loved seeing the wedding ceremony. So simple! Much different than weddings in America. Much different from the weddings I have seen in China, thus far. More prayer, more Bible reading. I loved the simplicity -- of the furnishings, the clothes, and the venue. We were there to support and celebrate the union of the bride and groom. What else should matter?

My young chatting companion and one of my sister-colleagues.

Today, after the wedding, we went to eat at a restaurant. (Common for American weddings to operate in this way, but Chinese weddings are usually held in a restaurant -- sometimes the ceremony is happening while the guests sit around the not-yet-filled tables. The ceremony itself is actually much influenced by the West -- wedding dresses, rings, songs, etc.) The food was SO YUMMY!! Fried pumpkin bread -- doughnut-like. Muy delicioso. (Hao chi.)

Today I chatted with some of my national colleagues. Very nice. I loved feeling our connection -- as co-workers and sisters.

Today I walked home and smelled the "aroma" of Tianjin. Not a delight.

Today I paid 32RMB ($5.50) for a 60 fluid ounce bottle of bleach. (Last time I bought bleach at the import store I paid a similar price for double the beach. I "need" my bleach.)

Today I went to the market and bought my niu rou (beef), ji rou (chicken), almonds, flour, cai (vegetables), and shui guo (fruit) from the sellers on the street -- and the meat sitting out on the counters, with the cloth fans flying above them. (An effort to fan away the circling flies.) I spent less than $30. I still need to get yogurt and bread -- maybe some bananas, but these should last for half a week.


Now I am sitting at my computer, pondering the time, pondering the possibilities.

Today on September 16th

Today I rode a few (?) miles on my bike with a fellow teacher riding on the back.

Today I sang and worshiped with a whole bunch of internationals, covering each continent (minus Antarctica). We sang a song in Swahili. (?) The worship leader is from Sri Lanka. I've had Passover dinner with her before. --In the home of a family from South Africa, England, Taiwan, and mainland China.

Today at church, I grooved while I sang.

Today I ate a whole bunch of jiao zi (pumpkin, donkey, shrimp, curry with cow, and regular kinds too).

Today I saw the baptism of 3 foreign teenagers in a river and sang worship songs outside in the park.

Today I walked a lot and biked A LOT.

Today I participated in a surprise 50th birthday celebration of the leader of our small group. (I got to eat a piece of cheese cake.)

Today I ate some delicious kimbap (tuna) and drank a delicious mango smoothie.

Today I had interesting conversations with high schoolers, fellow teachers, and parents.

Today I put my leftover jiao zi under the car. (Stupid. Why?) When I came back, it was gone. I hope the street sweeper ate it.

I experience these things and I interact with these people and I don't want to go.

Tianjin -- view from Trash Mountain

Must I go?
Will I stay?

If I go, will I ever come back?

As I was walking today the realization struck me that if I must leave -- I may never be able to come back again.
That is a deep sorrow to my soul. Not so much because of the PLACE, but because of the PEOPLE.

The sorrow still lingers from Washington...a bit from California, and now I have China to (perhaps?) add to the list.

I tried to imprint on my mind the sights, sounds, textures, and scents of Tianjin in the throes of Fall.

Beauty can be seen here too.

Today on September 15th

http://www.kentkedl.com/?tag=staring

Today we walked down the street carrying a vacuum. As they do, people seemed interested in the foreign-made spectacle.

Today we tried to pay our phone bill, but no one was at the counter and we couldn't read the Chinese signs.


Today we won't be able to pay our phone bill. We will have to pay on another occasion, maybe with some help from a Chinese friend. (True, our friend went and paid for us after we tried a few times.)

textually.org

Today we tried to pay our cellphone bill. We tried to follow the "normal procedure," but they have changed the normal procedure. Instead of going to a person, now they have technology. We have to pay our cellphone bill at an automated machine -- in Chinese. We had to stand and wait for help. They were kind. They helped us.

Today we saw (once again) how helpless we are in this foreign land. When systems or procedures change, when people aren't sitting at their normal desks, we have no idea what is going on and there is no real way that we (by ourselves) can figure out why that person is not sitting at their desk at 2:15 in the afternoon. (It's not lunch time, but we can't read the signs -- or understand the words that would tell us what is the new procedure and how we should come back and conduct ourselves.)

Today is another day in China.

New Bundles of Kindergarten Energies

Summer has ended and the school year has begun. I just finished my third week (I think?) of teaching. This year I have 16 students. (Last year I started with 10 and ended with 8. Yeah. I scare away the children.)

Here's this year's language/culture breakdown:

3 Chinese speakers: 1 is very low in his understanding/speaking of English. The other 2 are medium in speaking/listening.
2 Japanese speakers: Both are very low – one is named YuICHIRO (I know, I heard -- he's gone to the Yankees.)
3 Native English speakers: 1 is high in reading, 1 is middle, and 1 doesn’t yet know his letter names. 1 French speaker: He is still in France and won’t be coming until September 19^th. Last year he was speaking English.When he gets here, we'll see how he's doing.
7 Korean speakers: Most of them are middle to low in their speaking abilities, though some of them can read fairly well.

My goal: SWBAT read, write and speak some (kind) sentences by the end of the year.  
We shall go forward!

Readying ourselves for the BEAR HUNT!

 

Funny side story/sneak peak into my classroom:

The other day I wanted a group of them to come to the floor with their paper and pencil. So, I picked up a pencil, “Get your PENCIL.” And I held up the paper, “And get your PAPER.” And I then began to motion to the floor, “And come SIT,” I began to sit, “on the FLOOR.” I pointed in the direction of the floor with my index finger. 

I repeated myself. “Get your PENCIL, and get your PAPER, and come SIT on the FLOOR.” 

Same words, same charades. Great efforts, yet no one came. Even the native English speakers gave me blank stares. 

“Please come, now.” I said. 

Eventually their bodies began to move in the direction of the floor.

My goal for this year was to have self-control and not sing or dance at random times during class. I was going to make them raise their hands and never speak out and we were going to have STRUCTURED stretching times rather than FREE wiggle/dancing time.

I am not sure that it even lasted two weeks.

I almost died.

They almost exploded.

I cannot deny that the “don’t smile/be silly for the first month” would have been profitable, (it definitely DID help me to clearly define times to raise hands and other expectations,) but I couldn’t last a WHOLE month. I had to hold in too much of my own energy let alone my students’ energies. I was getting annoyed and they were getting discouraged. It’s just not happily feasible for kindergarteners (or a teacher named Miss Martin) to contain their energy ALL day long. 

As a remedy to our troubles, this week I started singing and dancing at random moments and we have been having “free” wiggle/dance time once again. (No running, no flying shoes, and no yelling. Those are our guidelines.)

Our song of choice last year was “High School Musical” – per their request. This year we happened upon “Cotton-eyed Joe” and a bhangra/Bollywood song. They love it. And WOW! Are they dancers, or what?! I have never seen some of the moves these children are bustin’ out. They have skills. (I also wonder what some of them watch at home with their parents.)

When I visit the States for Christmas I will try to post some dancing videos. (I don't have patience for the uploading time here.)