An American Girl in a Chinese World

Picture 3 Americans in a sea of Chinese students. That is English Corner. We use this time to help students practice English but also to build relationships and deeper conversations with them. The past few weeks have been somewhat over-whelming because of the large group of people that are coming to "see the foreigners" but tonight was so much fun! About 6 of my students, one of Jeremy's students and 2 like-minded girls were in my group tonight. We had great conversations about their families, beliefs, and what they wanted to do after graduation. Then at the end they offered to show me their dorm rooms. After telling them I would love to....they literally jumped to grab my hands and arms and all 9 giggling girls walked me across campus! I love Chinese culture when it comes to friendship. They all held my hands and wrapped their arms around me....so excited that I would come to their room. It was humbling to see their small closets, mosquito nets covering their beds, and t...

Do you like me? Did that impress you? Do you need approval from people? I have always struggled with this. In times when I feel lonely or lacking self- confidence, my reaction is to turn to people. I was reading in my study this morning about what the son of the Father was teaching about. In his teaching, he used the word poor. The meaning of poor, didn’t mean, “without money” but it meant “utter helplessness”. I wanted to share with you what Beth Moore said: “… Like beggars we go from person to person with our empty cup crying “Can’t you add anything to my life?!” They may thrown in a coin or two, But when you shake the cup the tiny echo reminds us how empty we remain. Pretty soon the Father will bring us to confront the poverty of living on the alms of others, so that we may learn to feast on him!” In reading this, I was convicted and challenged to not look to others but to the Father. My hope is that you to will join my in learning to turn our empty cups to the father and feast...

I recently re-read the story of the Ark and I remember the rainbow being a sign that there with not be a flood destroying the earth again…..but it didn’t say anything about my bathroom floor! Today was a normal Tuesday. Team meeting in the morning, made lunch, kissed Jeremy good-bye as he left for classes, and then began to clean the house and prepare to go grocery shopping. Just as I was about ready to go, I decided to check on the laundry. The washing machine is in our hallway, but we hook it up to our bathroom sink and then the water drains into a drain next to our toilet. I know, I know…it’s the dream set up. Well, to my delightful surprise, the water hose was not in the drain. In fact it was floating! In those situations, where your feet are under water in your bathroom, all you can do is laugh and hope you get everything dry and clean before the husband gets home! Lol Four towels, a broom, and few paper towels later the bathroom floor was nice and clean. When Jeremy got home, he...

I am proud to tell you that my nails….are still long and strong! One of my first blog entries was about my journey to quick the habit of biting my nails. It has been so exciting to be here and have pretty nails. I have not found one bad thing about them until….today while teaching. Yes, oh yes, the dreaded chalkboard and nails! Let me tell you that sound and the feel of that on my hands made me want to immediately bite my nails off! I trimmed my nails. Other than nails on the chalkboard, teaching has been wonderful. I get most of my lesson plans from Jeremy or other teachers that know what they are doing. However this week I decided to add a little bit of Tama to the classroom. Our lesson was about time and money. In trying to think of something we could do, I immediately thought of the show minute to win it. Oh, and that light bulb began to shine brightly! I used the game show to have to students not only do silly tasks in one minute, but also review the previous lessons. It was a hit...

When we first got married I told Jeremy that my goal was to cook such good food , that he would never want to eat out again! This was partially because we couldn’t afford to eat out, and because I wanted to learn to cook. Our 2 ½ years in Evansville I couldn’t get enough cooking, I really enjoyed trying new things, making things taste good, and getting a feel for what ingredients can be mixed with others. Now we live in China. My love for cooking never changed, but I hit a brick wall when I stepped foot on foreign soil. A lot of the ingredients that I used in the states aren’t here. If they are here, I wouldn’t know, because I can’t read Chinese. After having Chinese food every night for about a week, I began to get motivated and…got my cooking on. Cooking in China is a lot of fun! It has put a new challenge, but I have loved it! I have made so many things homemade! This takes a lot longer, but it tastes better, is healthier, and you get the satisfaction of knowing you made it! Sour c...

There was a speech competition at our university last week. It was in English and therefore they asked if Jeremy and I would want to be the judges? I then had an important decision to make, should I be Paula or Randy? I don’t have an English accent so Simon was out. I decided to go with the encouraging Paula. It was almost a 3 hour deal and by the 20th speech I was zoned out. There was one girl who kept referring to the paintings of Van Gogh, but every time she said Paintings is sounded just like “panties”!! You can imagine the judges trying to hold back their laughter on this one! Then this guy came up. I am still not sure what he was saying or if the whole thing was in English, but he was nervous and made me laugh.

Ladies and Gents, I am proud to tell you that today the grocery was a success! Grocery shopping has been a source of stress and frustration since being here. Which unfortunately leads to an empty frig. Today I knew I needed to go shopping and I was dreading it. I called Rachel, our team mate, to see if she wanted to join me and I grabbed my list and we were off. To my surprise I felt like I knew what I was doing. I knew where all the things on my list were and I brought enough bags to help me carry them home. The vegetable market came next. Now, this place is hard. No signs, no English, and definitely no awards for cleanliness or sanitary conditions. This is where the panic attacks normally begin. I walked in and all of a sudden, I remembered Chinese. I spoke a little and they understood. When they told me how much, I understood! I walked away with a full bag of fresh veggies, a clam spirit, and a rejoicing heart! Today I am praising him for my Chinese success!

I was hanging out with Laurel and her cute kiddos this past week. I was playing with the kids, helping with dinner, and was apart of the bedtime routine. For those of you who know me well, know that this is a situation that brings me so much joy! The 2 and 4 year old sat on the couch while their mom read to them from their children’s truth book. The story was about Noah. I was tempted to zone out, this is a story I have heard a lot! I am thankful I did not, because the kids book worded it in a way that made me see something else. The rainbow. It was not only a beautiful creation and a promise, but it had a reason for its shape. It resembles a soldier’s bow and arrow. This was the Father saying he would not draw his bow again to destroy the earth. In fact the bow was pointing to heaven not down on earth. I found this little fact really cool. I also find it so funny that I learned something from the children’s book. Child like faith? I got excited to be willing to see things and learn th...

Papa Johns!!! Oh the joy of eating there! It was such a special treat and I loved it! I was sick after eating the entire pizza, but it was worth it! :) I love that little things like pizza, something we could eat everyday in the states, is so special to us here. The Father really does take care of us!

I have found shopping for meat a little different here. I took some video of the things you normally see in the meat section of stores!

We have a little home market near our house. It has a lot of household items and they are cheaper than you would get if you bought them from a store. We have built a relationship with one of the vendors there and normally buy all our things from her. This day we bought a few things, but we wanted you to be apart of us carrying all of it home. :)

I wanted to give you a chance to see what transportation is like for us. This is a video as we leave our school and driving back to the hotel where we live. If you don't get to car sick from the camera you can see a lot of people, bikes, and little shops along the street. That is China life! I love riding on the scooter, you never know what you will see. Its not our jeep, but its a blessing and a great way to enjoy life here!

This is our favorite restaurant! We discovered it our first week here, and keep coming back. The family is sweet and the little boy is warming up!

The time has come. We both feel good! We woke up from an amazing nights sleep and were so full of joy we didn’t know what to do with ourselves! So, of course, we played baseball! With a piece of wood and a tennis ball we hit the ball around the house for about 30 minutes! We were laughing so hard I had tears running down my face! I didn’t win, I think Jeremy beat me by 10 points, but it didn’t matter. I love those times when I look at Jeremy and have the biggest crush on him! I was so giddy and so excited to be playing baseball with him ☺ There were times I even felt embarrassed and blushed because I couldn’t hit the ball. I am very blessed to have him in my life and very blesses nothing was broken in our house!

Can I just tell you Chinese are both brilliant and crazy at the same time? Its true. This finally occurred to me the other night walking through the mall. As I was talking I was constantly being interrupted but a “squeak”. It was every 2 seconds. Squeak…..squeak…squeak!! Jeremy noticing my frustration starts to laugh knowing the source of the noise. As I glance back there is the cutest chubby cheeked, barely walking little Chinese boy. Every step this little dude took, his shoes would squeak. Its brilliant, he will never get lost. If I was his baby-sitter… he would be barefoot!

We joined a gym. This is something Jeremy always does in China and I of course wanted to join. During my time studying exercise in college, we often had to figure out the main sources for people not wanting to go to the gym. There were a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest deterrents was the fact that people might be watching you. I had gotten over the fear of going to the gym in the states. I enjoyed it when I got to go work out. Here …it is a different story. You go to the gym knowing with out a doubt your every move is being watched!! Haha Talk about intimidating. I am trying to ignore, but when you are doing abs and you have an audience…its can be a bit odd! I hope to get the courage to start joining the classes our gym offers. Although it might take some time, considering, the first class I saw on the schedule was belly dancing!

Standing in line at McDonalds, I was so excited to eat my French fries with ketchup! Here, they kindly give you two packages of ketchup on your tray. I often just stare at the two packages knowing it will only last about 10 fries, but because I don’t know the language just deal with it. This time around I was smart. I learned the Chinese word for “more”. All I had to do was point and say it, and I would be set. The food comes I point to the ketchup and say “mas por favor”. *Blank stare from the worker*….I panic I then decide to sign it to him. *confused stare* At this point all I could do is laugh and speak English. He kindly laughed with me and handed me ketchup and said in English, “Is that enough or would you like more?”

It is not very often that Jeremy and I would both agree to watch a TV show, but this quirky detective has captured our attention. On date nights we find ourselves coming home early so we can fit in a Monk episode. In one of the recent shows monk was trying to be “normal”. He had flash cards to help him with small talk and he learned the about sports and slang. It always ended where when he walked away from the people/person he was talking with, they would giggle. He would make a comment to his assistant, “That dreaded giggle, it happens every time”. For the first time, I actually understood Monk! Here it is the same way. Everywhere I walk, after you are done talking, teaching, or shopping there are always giggles. This is something that at first, was wonderful because you feel famous and pretty. But after awhile you begin to just want to fit in. Throughout the episode Monk found a group of people he worked with who accepted him and thought he was “normal”. He ate it up! Unfortunate...