L. and I spent most of the afternoon preparing dinner. The C's came after a while, and we enjoyed an Indian dinner masterfully cooked by L. After they left around 10 pm, I took all the dishes (a lot of them) into the bathroom to wash them there. It's not as bad as it might sound, because we'd been dishwashing all along in a tiny sink tucked awkwardly in a moldy corner of our kitchen with nothing but cold water trickling out of a small faucet. It was hard on our backs, and the dishes were not being properly sanitized with only trickling cold water. But in our bathroom, with the movable sprayer, gas-heated hot water with temperatures we could control, and the ability to wash standing, sitting, or kneeling, dishwashing large loads became a LOT more comfortable, faster, and cleaner. A great idea which I wish I'd thought of earlier.
BTW, most bathrooms here aren't like in the U.S., where the bathtub/shower is separated from the rest of the bathroom and you don't dare get water outside or you ruin the linoleum. No, in our bathroom, the whole room is the shower. You can spray over the toilet, sink, etc. and the water just goes down a drain in the middle of the tile floor. The bathrooms in India are similar. Personally, I like that....very efficient. I wish I could remake our bathrooms back in the U.S. like the ones here in Asia.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
adjusting grades
L. is on her last week of class. She struggled again with discomfort last night and actually threw up a bit. It didn't take the discomfort away completely, although we did learn that toast with a little butter is something she feels ok eating. I made some spaghetti, which she managed to hang on to.
One of L's former students (K) with a current student (G), visited us to talk about G's grades. She failed because she never attended class. She produced two letters written by her and signed by school administrators essentially exempting her from attending class, which she thought woudl convince L. to give her a passing grade. L. didn't budge. She and I talked later about making sense of an educational system that bases passing on standardized tests independent of what teachers give, yet is unsure of whether teacher's grades on students is required until near the end of the semester and is unclear how important they are for graduation.
GICF recently began posting audios of its Sunday sermons. I listened to a few. Check them out when you get a chance. Stuff still gets censored on the Net here in China (e.g. blogspot.com and geocities.com), but there's a lot that doesn't that one would think would. It's tough denying the great strides China's made over the past 30 years.
One of L's former students (K) with a current student (G), visited us to talk about G's grades. She failed because she never attended class. She produced two letters written by her and signed by school administrators essentially exempting her from attending class, which she thought woudl convince L. to give her a passing grade. L. didn't budge. She and I talked later about making sense of an educational system that bases passing on standardized tests independent of what teachers give, yet is unsure of whether teacher's grades on students is required until near the end of the semester and is unclear how important they are for graduation.
GICF recently began posting audios of its Sunday sermons. I listened to a few. Check them out when you get a chance. Stuff still gets censored on the Net here in China (e.g. blogspot.com and geocities.com), but there's a lot that doesn't that one would think would. It's tough denying the great strides China's made over the past 30 years.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
worst thunderstorm yet
We stayed home the whole day grading tests and watching "The Shawshank Redemption" on DVD. It rained and stormed something fierce today. Lightning and thunder tore through above us. The power kept surging out. At times, it went out completely. At least it didn't stay out for long periods of time like last Saturday (9 hours)...only a few minutes at a time at the most. Only time I ventured out was to get dinner at the cafeteria and some bread. Huge, cold puddles blanketed the sidewalks and soaked my flip-flops, while the rain beat up my little umbrella. L. had little appetite and a lot of nausea still. We finished up all the tests.
Monday, June 20, 2005
160 beats/minute
We went back to the doc today for another checkup before we leave. The appointment went well. L. and the baby are on track. We heard the heartbeat today! Wow! 160 beats per minute, which Dr. P. said was normal.
We then went to the Brazilian BBQ for lunch. The TV's were tuned into NBA finals game 5. Spurs won a close one! Woohoo! L. and I were yelping and hi-fiving the whole time, which turned a few heads and made the waitstaff smile. No one else seemed interested in the game except us.
On the way home, we dropped some money off for a beggar whose face was nearly burned away. We've seen him several times and have given him money each time. He would blow into a harmonica, trying to play it, as a way to get people to give to him. There are a lot of disfigured beggars in GZ, but this poor chap is by far the one I have had the most sympathy for.
The rest of the evening was spent correcting tests...L. needed a lot of help since she had so many to do...
We then went to the Brazilian BBQ for lunch. The TV's were tuned into NBA finals game 5. Spurs won a close one! Woohoo! L. and I were yelping and hi-fiving the whole time, which turned a few heads and made the waitstaff smile. No one else seemed interested in the game except us.
On the way home, we dropped some money off for a beggar whose face was nearly burned away. We've seen him several times and have given him money each time. He would blow into a harmonica, trying to play it, as a way to get people to give to him. There are a lot of disfigured beggars in GZ, but this poor chap is by far the one I have had the most sympathy for.
The rest of the evening was spent correcting tests...L. needed a lot of help since she had so many to do...
Sunday, June 19, 2005
western anything
At the usual Sunday afternoon study and discussion at the 3-self church, I and a couple ladies talked about "yang2 jiao4" (Western religion, as Christianity is looked upon). They said that many locals choose to believe because it is associated with the West. They see how it has made Western society successful and so they want to emulate it. I sought to clarify whether these two ladies accepted Christ for the same reasons...they didn't seem to deny that they did, which was a bit disconcerting. It almost seemed natural to do so. Much of Western culture is referred to this way, by placing "yang2" in front of whatever Chinese wished to distinguish as something with a unique, admired Western quality, be it cars, soap, clothes, religion, etc. I asked if I was considered a "yang ren"; they said no. Their enchantment with all things foreign amazed me.
"HL" and I later got into a lively discussion about the Iraq war. We had differing viewpoints on it, but it was amicable. It was especially nice to discover how I could actually communicate with someone in Chinese about these topics. I didn't think I had it in me, vocabulary-wise. It sure beats always limiting topics to just the weather and family.
This evening was also our last men's study on the main campus. We talked about Thomas, it was a good way to end our time together. A lot of sharing took place. We took pictures and exchanged email addresses.
"HL" and I later got into a lively discussion about the Iraq war. We had differing viewpoints on it, but it was amicable. It was especially nice to discover how I could actually communicate with someone in Chinese about these topics. I didn't think I had it in me, vocabulary-wise. It sure beats always limiting topics to just the weather and family.
This evening was also our last men's study on the main campus. We talked about Thomas, it was a good way to end our time together. A lot of sharing took place. We took pictures and exchanged email addresses.
Saturday, June 18, 2005
orphanage and senior center
I went to meet "Y" at the main campus and we took the bus to an orphanage. "Y" goes to the 3-self church I've been attending. The orphanage we visited used to be a regular elementary school before the orphanage took over. The orphanage, I learned, used to be situated in the city center, but was moved when it got too crowded. "Y" thinks it's much better where it's at now, since it's cleaner, the air is fresher and there's more room.
The ride took almost an hour and it went through fairly rural territory. There weren't any bus stops in this area...you just told the driver where you wanted to get dropped off. Pickup was the same, just standing on the side of the road and waving for the bus.
The bus dropped us off right in front of the orphanage. "Y" and I were the first, but 3 other people showed up later. Other people from another group (not a fellowship) came to help towards the end. A guard let us in...the gate was kept locked otherwise.
We had 35 kids, about 2/3 of them girls. They were ages 5-7. About 1/3 of them were handicapped in some manner. About 6 of them had to be physically carried, they couldn't walk on their own. They all spoke mainly Cantonese, tho' I was able to converse a bit in Mandarin. We tried to sing a song "Y" made up, using the tune of "Father Abraham", but it didn't work well. The puzzles "Y" brought were a hit, however. They were colored drawings of Bible characters and stories. Later, we taught them another song ("We Are One In The Bond Of Love"). "Y" was careful not to sing songs that were overtly religious, as the orphanage does not allow this. The orphanage was overall fairly well-kept. The kids sleep in wooden beds, situated side by side, about 30 to a room. As we were leaving, we passed out toy fans and granola bars. I brought some candy and chips for the teachers (all female, it appears). At the end of our time there, the kids all gathered to eat lunch. It was pretty calm and quiet during lunch. The kids were quite well-mannered. The teacher would talk with the kids, asking them questions about lunch. The kids would respond back in unison. We weren't allowed to take pictures, which was understandable. The other group helping cleaned up the equipment, washed windows, and straightened out rooms while the kids ate.
Next stop was an elderly assisted-living facility. Once there, several elderly women came out to meet us. They were quite kind and friendly. Like the orphanage children, they all spoke mainly Cantonese. This is a Christian facility, started by the Shamian Christ Church. It is named after the physician (and apostle) Luke. Most of its residents are in the family. The facility was quite clean and modern. We met one man who was 104 years old. One wheelchair-bound woman could sing some songs in English. I chatted with a couple of the women, with help from one of the members of our group. One woman kept asking me questions, some off-the-wall. It was kind of cute. They also asked whether I followed Christ, which I answered affirmatively, an answer they appreciated hearing.
We later visited a seminary library on the same campus. It had very old books, most written in either Chinese or English. There were shelves of commentaries and Biblical encyclopedias. We also visited the Dongpin church and took some pictures there. The Luke Elderly Facility, Dongping church, seminary, and dorm are all located next to each other. They are considered part of the same campus. They've been there since 2002.
During our entire time out (which was several hours longer than I expected), I kept in touch with L. to let her know what we were doing. She had been enduring an entire day without power, which had gone out at 9:30 am and didn’t come back on until past 6 pm! Poor sweetie! So much for grading those finals!
The ride took almost an hour and it went through fairly rural territory. There weren't any bus stops in this area...you just told the driver where you wanted to get dropped off. Pickup was the same, just standing on the side of the road and waving for the bus.
The bus dropped us off right in front of the orphanage. "Y" and I were the first, but 3 other people showed up later. Other people from another group (not a fellowship) came to help towards the end. A guard let us in...the gate was kept locked otherwise.
We had 35 kids, about 2/3 of them girls. They were ages 5-7. About 1/3 of them were handicapped in some manner. About 6 of them had to be physically carried, they couldn't walk on their own. They all spoke mainly Cantonese, tho' I was able to converse a bit in Mandarin. We tried to sing a song "Y" made up, using the tune of "Father Abraham", but it didn't work well. The puzzles "Y" brought were a hit, however. They were colored drawings of Bible characters and stories. Later, we taught them another song ("We Are One In The Bond Of Love"). "Y" was careful not to sing songs that were overtly religious, as the orphanage does not allow this. The orphanage was overall fairly well-kept. The kids sleep in wooden beds, situated side by side, about 30 to a room. As we were leaving, we passed out toy fans and granola bars. I brought some candy and chips for the teachers (all female, it appears). At the end of our time there, the kids all gathered to eat lunch. It was pretty calm and quiet during lunch. The kids were quite well-mannered. The teacher would talk with the kids, asking them questions about lunch. The kids would respond back in unison. We weren't allowed to take pictures, which was understandable. The other group helping cleaned up the equipment, washed windows, and straightened out rooms while the kids ate.
Next stop was an elderly assisted-living facility. Once there, several elderly women came out to meet us. They were quite kind and friendly. Like the orphanage children, they all spoke mainly Cantonese. This is a Christian facility, started by the Shamian Christ Church. It is named after the physician (and apostle) Luke. Most of its residents are in the family. The facility was quite clean and modern. We met one man who was 104 years old. One wheelchair-bound woman could sing some songs in English. I chatted with a couple of the women, with help from one of the members of our group. One woman kept asking me questions, some off-the-wall. It was kind of cute. They also asked whether I followed Christ, which I answered affirmatively, an answer they appreciated hearing.
We later visited a seminary library on the same campus. It had very old books, most written in either Chinese or English. There were shelves of commentaries and Biblical encyclopedias. We also visited the Dongpin church and took some pictures there. The Luke Elderly Facility, Dongping church, seminary, and dorm are all located next to each other. They are considered part of the same campus. They've been there since 2002.
During our entire time out (which was several hours longer than I expected), I kept in touch with L. to let her know what we were doing. She had been enduring an entire day without power, which had gone out at 9:30 am and didn’t come back on until past 6 pm! Poor sweetie! So much for grading those finals!
Thursday, June 16, 2005
cancelled concert
It started raining pretty hard this afternoon, and didn't quit until the middle of the night. It was apparent that the concert we'd been practising for, would be cancelled. After checking about the concert (which the music teacher said would be postponed), I decided to hop over to the supermarket for some groceries. L. was upset that it took me more than 2 hours to get back home. She thought I was only going for some Big Macs and it'd be only an hour or so. What makes L. anxious is that if something had happened to me out here, she wouldn't know where or how to find out about me. I felt bad. I'll have to remind myself to give her notice of where I'm at.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Finals
L: This week was finals week...i had informed them last week and hoped that it would help them study. However, instead of the usual 20 that show up in each class...practically all 45-50 came...which means more grading for me. It really doesn't matter, since they're going to fail anyway, but still...it really bugs me that they think they can come for the final and pass. I had to run to the copy room and ask for more finals, since i'm almost out of the ones i asked for. I am not a happy camper! I really don't want to grade all these tests...poor S, he has to deal with me in this mood.
S: I went to meet "V" to practice for the performance tomorrow. After practicing, we talked about XM, music, faith, and learning Marxism. Intrigued, I asked him about his courses. "V" is an English major. His major consists of 13 courses. All but one are English-related. The only one is that is not is Marxism. Every student has to take this class. Most of what is taught is already known to some degree by the students, since it's a philosophy they grow up with. When asked about it, "V" says that theoretically, a student can refrain from all classes, homework, and mid-terms....if they do well on the end-of-year examinations, the "gao1 kao3" (from elementary on through college) --- they could technically get their degree or certificate to move on to the next level. XM is not an "open college" that's open to just everyone. You have to have a score of somewhere around 400 on the entrance exam. You just have to score higher to get into other colleges. GW is something like 600. Zhong Da is like 700. And so on.
S: I went to meet "V" to practice for the performance tomorrow. After practicing, we talked about XM, music, faith, and learning Marxism. Intrigued, I asked him about his courses. "V" is an English major. His major consists of 13 courses. All but one are English-related. The only one is that is not is Marxism. Every student has to take this class. Most of what is taught is already known to some degree by the students, since it's a philosophy they grow up with. When asked about it, "V" says that theoretically, a student can refrain from all classes, homework, and mid-terms....if they do well on the end-of-year examinations, the "gao1 kao3" (from elementary on through college) --- they could technically get their degree or certificate to move on to the next level. XM is not an "open college" that's open to just everyone. You have to have a score of somewhere around 400 on the entrance exam. You just have to score higher to get into other colleges. GW is something like 600. Zhong Da is like 700. And so on.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
procedures...procedures...procedures...
Another hot and muggy day. :-P Hard to believe that just 3 months ago, we were all shivering and packing our beds with hot-water bottles!
I was on my way to the Garden Hotel to cash some travelers' checks and buy our plane tickets. The bus on the way there had some air-conditioning problems that the driver felt the need to stop and try to fix for about every 15 minutes. Should've known better than to jump on a bus spewing brown water out of one of its side panelings...
After picking up a number at the bank, I found the travel agency, where I signed an invoice confirming our reservations. Then I headed back to the bank, but the waiting line was still as long as when I'd left. I went back to the agency to borrow the phone and call L., then went back to wait until my number was called. Turned out I needed the receipts for the travelers's checks, which I didn't bring! Argh! They didn't request this the last couple tiems we'd changed travelers' checks. But I didn't argue...just went back home to collect the receipts.
After about an hour, L. and I took the shuttle to the main campus and then a taxi back to the hotel with the bank. We finally got the money exchanged, after what seemed a while as the bank staff were figuring out what to do with the travelers’ checks, then went back to the travel agency to pick up the tickets.
After a Starbucks break, we took a taxi to the "Lemon House Vietnamese Cuisine". The dinner was fantastic...probably the best-tasting meal I've had in GZ...and priced reasonably to boot! We even had leftovers, which made L. happy. She had been looking forward to eating here for a couple weeks...and for good reason.
I was on my way to the Garden Hotel to cash some travelers' checks and buy our plane tickets. The bus on the way there had some air-conditioning problems that the driver felt the need to stop and try to fix for about every 15 minutes. Should've known better than to jump on a bus spewing brown water out of one of its side panelings...
After picking up a number at the bank, I found the travel agency, where I signed an invoice confirming our reservations. Then I headed back to the bank, but the waiting line was still as long as when I'd left. I went back to the agency to borrow the phone and call L., then went back to wait until my number was called. Turned out I needed the receipts for the travelers's checks, which I didn't bring! Argh! They didn't request this the last couple tiems we'd changed travelers' checks. But I didn't argue...just went back home to collect the receipts.
After about an hour, L. and I took the shuttle to the main campus and then a taxi back to the hotel with the bank. We finally got the money exchanged, after what seemed a while as the bank staff were figuring out what to do with the travelers’ checks, then went back to the travel agency to pick up the tickets.
After a Starbucks break, we took a taxi to the "Lemon House Vietnamese Cuisine". The dinner was fantastic...probably the best-tasting meal I've had in GZ...and priced reasonably to boot! We even had leftovers, which made L. happy. She had been looking forward to eating here for a couple weeks...and for good reason.
Monday, June 13, 2005
Practise
We stayed home for most of the day, watching the Spurs and Pistons play during the morning. It was live, but the commentary was all in Chinese. Only later did we find that it was also being broadcast on a HK channel...in English! Arrgh! Spurs won big, BTW. Go Spurs!
L. and I worked together to get her class grades entered into the "grades calculator" spreadsheet I made for her last year. Later, one of her former students stopped by for help with her resume. I went to practise for the "concert" on the 16th with "V". A couple of "V's" friends came by to listen, including "O", who will be the other MC, along with "V". We talked about how our part of the program and more ideas for songs. "O" would like to add another song, more upbeat, possibly something the group can sing along with. I suggested "Do-Re-Mi", which they thought would be fun.
Somehow, we all got to talking about my faith. They asked if I was a Christian. It came about because of the choice of my solo "Great Is Thy Faithfulness". "V" said he'd like to know more about the book and hopes that I would tell him more. He also hopes that I can teach him some piano. "O", upon learning that L. was pregnant and about our initial/current anxieties, asked as Christians whether we would ever consider abortion. I told her that we wouldn't, considering that it is the taking of a life. Interesting that she would be tuned to the issue in such a way.
L. and I worked together to get her class grades entered into the "grades calculator" spreadsheet I made for her last year. Later, one of her former students stopped by for help with her resume. I went to practise for the "concert" on the 16th with "V". A couple of "V's" friends came by to listen, including "O", who will be the other MC, along with "V". We talked about how our part of the program and more ideas for songs. "O" would like to add another song, more upbeat, possibly something the group can sing along with. I suggested "Do-Re-Mi", which they thought would be fun.
Somehow, we all got to talking about my faith. They asked if I was a Christian. It came about because of the choice of my solo "Great Is Thy Faithfulness". "V" said he'd like to know more about the book and hopes that I would tell him more. He also hopes that I can teach him some piano. "O", upon learning that L. was pregnant and about our initial/current anxieties, asked as Christians whether we would ever consider abortion. I told her that we wouldn't, considering that it is the taking of a life. Interesting that she would be tuned to the issue in such a way.
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