It's Chinese To Me

Enemy Territory

2009-04-25T19:33:00.002-05:00

As things are starting to slowly (or maybe quickly, actually) wind down, I want to take a moment to really, really, really thank those of you who were offering up prayers for what I've been doing here. What you have done has meant more than you could imagine. I believe that without any evidence of it, but just recently I found out that there truly is evidence of what your prayers have meant. Let me explain.

As my teammate and I are preparing to leave our city after this semester, we both had to ask the question - what next? I was pretty well set on returning home to the States. But my teammate thought that he might like to stay over here for a little while longer. Through a long list of connections, he got in touch with a guy who is kind of the regional director for an organization very similar to our own and very well respected.

My teammate went to meet with this man and discuss some opportunities for future teaching positions over here. Well, the question of, "Where have you been teaching?" came up in their conversation. When my teammate mentioned our city's name, the regional director guy kind of gasped. My teammate was confused and asked what the shock was about.

The director explained that their organization used to send teachers to our city, but they pulled out of here several years ago because this city was a disaster area, in a spiritual sense. Respectable, true believer teachers from their organization would come to our city, and within a year's time or so, most of them had some kind of major moral failure. Apparently it was mostly of a sexual nature, but it also was broader than that.

Anyway, these were true warriors - not burdened believers who had a history of this sort of thing. This happened so frequently that the organization finally canceled the program here. And this is the only city in the history of the organization that they have had to shut down for moral failures. Whoa.

Now, our organization has been in this city for a while, too. And we haven't had as many troubles as their organization did. But my teammate and I did learn of several teachers from our organization that also had significant moral failures in this city. Now, we stand on the foundation that many have built here before our arrival, but there is no doubt that this is a negatively charged city in terms of spiritual things. All the dreams, oppressive feelings, visions, etc. that I have experienced here have confirmed to me that we are in enemy territory.

But here's the thing - my teammate and I have really had great success here! No, we haven't been perfect individuals, but Grace has been poured out on us, and we have been protected from any severe moral dilemmas or errors. And why is that? Well, yes, it's partly because my teammate and I are serious about our work here, but that is just part of it. It is largely, even hugely, because you back home have been keeping us in your prayers! Do you see the majesty of it? Man, words do not do it enough justice!

I'm serious - we have been protected here because you all have been faithful to us with your prayers and petitions for us. I am eternally grateful to all of you who have bent your knees and bowed your heads time and again to bring our names before the One who has redeemed us. Truly this work here has been a partnership - not just a couple of lone rangers fighting for Truth. We could not have been so successful without all of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now my teammate and I ask you all not to grow weary of doing the good that you have been doing, but to keep up the prayers. We are here for another 2 months, and we don't want anything to wreck the good foundation that has been laid here. And once we leave, if your heart is up to the task, remember this city still. Righteousness is longing to break free here, but it is not there yet. My teammate and I can feel the birthing pains of it, but the delivery is still some time off. This city needs you - remember that these are your brothers and sisters, too. You may not know them personally, but you know them by proxy. Please don't forget them. I commit to doing the same.

Thanks again.

Negotiating

2009-04-05T08:16:00.002-05:00

Well, sorry for my long departure from blogging. I'd make excuses and whatnot if I felt it was necessary, but instead I'll just ask you to look for more details to come in my next newsletter. In the meantime, I want to mention something that we did in class just the other day.

I did something I hadn't done in a while - I created something new! Most of the time when I've been using materials for class, it's been a modification of something that I or someone else had already made. But just recently I decided to use my own creativity to do something. Rick and I have been making a lot of changes to our general routine in class this semester. And through that process, we have begun to try to ask the question - what is it that our students really need to prepare them for the journey ahead? Well, 2 things we identified were negotiation skills and long range planning.

In response to this, I used that noggin' o' mine that God so generously gave me, and made a game to test the students on both of these skills. I called it (quite simply) The Negotiation Game. The object of the game was for students to engage in trading with other students over a limited selection of raw materials. If a student collected enough materials, he or she could create a product that was more valuable than the materials themselves. And the idea was to try to make as much profit by the end of the game as possible.

The reason the game was so good was that the students really had to stop and think about their strategies. What would be the most effective way to make money in this situation? As it turned out, the students who made the most profits were not those students who created products - it was the students who traded raw materials the whole game. Many students had tunnel vision during the game - they decided which product(s) they wanted to create, and then they went on a buying spree to obtain all the raw materials they needed, paying little attention to how much they spent on each trade. Needless to say, they lost part of their profits on every trade they made.

However, the clever students realized that to make a product, you would have to lose some profits on each purchase of raw materials. But to sell raw materials meant making profits on every sale. And selling raw materials at the beginning of the game resulted in small profits, but selling them towards the end of the game, when materials were scarce, meant big profits. Rick and I were proud to see that several students made profits in excess of 25%! And they were justly rewarded - with candy!

Also, it was a great game because the students just enjoyed it. It looked like a tiny Chinese Wall Street. Ha. They were going crazy trying to purchase all their goods for the best prices. It was really a lot of fun watching the whole thing unfold.

So, sometimes being a teacher, trying to come up with creative ideas for the students, is really a pain in the neck. And this project wasn't without its painful moments, too. But, in the end, seeing the thing work out so successfully was just a great joy. I wish some of you could have been there to see it!

Any news from back home???

Traditional Chinese Medicine

2009-02-26T06:36:00.000-06:00

You know, they say you're supposed to do stupid/silly things in foreign countries, right? Well, I wouldn't say what I've done is stupid, but it might seem pretty strange back in the States. Over the past year and a half I have tried out various types of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's cheap, plentiful, and generally effective. The two drawbacks - sometimes I don't know if I trust the doctors completely because they are used to working on Chinese people, not foreigners, and it's generally pretty slow to be effective. But let's review a few of the things I've done.

The first is not so shocking and included mostly OTC herbs and suspensions that were supposed to help me recover from some sinus problems. Some of the stuff didn't taste so great (imagine old, unsweetened root beer mixed with rusted iron and dirt), but it was helpful. I had tried this kind of treatment back in 2004 during my first visit to China. It was much more shocking at that time. Now it seems pretty common. Ha. Oh, and to accompany this, I was also asked to open my windows for about 10 minutes before I went to bed to let in fresh air. At the same time, I was to put my feet in a pot of really hot water. Then I closed the windows, put on lots of clothes (they love lots of clothing in China - it's kind of like the old joke of how flight attendants use baking soda as a cure all), and then rest up. It seemed okay.

Next up were Chinese massages. Some of these have been pretty standard fare - like what you'd get in the States. But some of them have been a bit different - walking on my back, cracking my neck, burning some herbs that smelled like a cousin to marijuana, and crazy (but oh so relaxing) Chinese foot massages. These have been nicely helpful, and I'm still going through a round of these to try to help with some back muscles that just won't loosen up.

Soon to follow was acupuncture. Now, this was generally a decent experience for me. They took the needles, stuck them in where I had some hurt muscles, twisted them around a bit, left them there for a while, heated them up, and repeated. Occasionally I would bleed a little from this (the needles were not so tiny), but it was pretty mild overall. What I saw some people enduring looked much worse (e.g., a set of them in the ear - YIKES!). These helped me for the time I was using them, but my back, in particular, has still had some problems.

So, one of the most recent treatments I've tried is called Fire Pots or Capping. It's both painful and not painful. Your body adjusts to it pretty well, so it's manageable, but every now and then the doctor will put some oil on my back, put one of these jars on after that, and then run it all up and down the muscles that follow my spine. Yowser! See the picture to get an idea of what this treatment generally looks like. Ha. (Yeah, that's me in the picture).

And, most recently, I have experienced the one treatment that I hope never happens again. You know the little needles they use to poke your finger so they can test your blood sugar and whatnot? Well, the doctor had a metal mallet that looked a bit like a meat tenderizer, and in the middle of the mallet head, there was a little needle like that on there. Well, the doctor took that object and beat me with it! He used it on 4 different spots on my back and legs, and he hit me about 40-60 times per spot. That was about 200 little punctures he made in my back. Then he took those jars I just mentioned above and put them over the holes. It's a bleeding technique that supposed to help your blood flow better and to help remove toxins from the body. IT IS PAINFUL AND THEN SOME. I would not recommend it to a friend.

But so far, that is my experience with TCM. Haha, my life in China is not SO much different from my life in America, but it's little things like this that regularly remind me that I am DEFINITELY in a foreign country that has a very foreign culture compared to what I've known. Anyone else had similar experiences?

A Little Impressed

2009-01-25T06:08:00.000-06:00

You know, being in the field of work I'm in, it's not a common thing to get to splurge. First, it can be wasteful. Second, I don't make much money anyway, so it's hard to splurge. Third, in this kind of work, you can't help but feel a little guilty when you spend your money on yourself. Still, I'm just a person, and yesterday I wanted to splurge a little. So what did I do? I bought an Apple iPhone 3G.

My previous phone was beginning to give me troubles - keys not working well, text messages not received, sending text messages in triplicate without my permission...I admit, I got a little frustrated with the phone. So, far my only complaint with the iPhone is that what people have said about the battery life is true - it don't got muchuvit. Oi. But that's not why I'm writing tonight. I'm writing because I was a little impressed with this overpriced piece of machinery (note: I say it's overpriced because I bought an international version of the phone, which means it's legally unlocked for all networks, but you pay full price for the phone - no discounts or anything).

So, what did the phone do for me? It got me back home! I'm currently staying with a friend in Hong Kong (yea for long holidays for teachers!). My friend is still working at this time, even though it's so close to Chinese New Year. So, a decent amount of my time here is spent by myself, just roaming the city. Not bad, really, but I'm only decently familiar with HK.

Well, tonight I was off wandering the streets of Mong Kok on the Kowloon side, and I decided it was time for me to start heading back home. Except, I didn't exactly know where I was or how I had gotten there. Ha. I'm not the best with directions either. Many of you can testify to this. So, what did I do? I pulled out my new gadget and said, "iPhone, get me home!" It then responded with a, "Please wait while I find your location...Okay, here you are, and this is where you want to go." I followed the iPhone's commands, and now I'm safely back home in my friend's home. Amazing.

Now, I know technology will keep improving, and some day this will look old school. But today is does not, and today I am a little impressed with my gadget. Thanks iPhone, for possibly being worth the investment. Apple, please don't make a new iPhone too soon again and make me feel like all my splurging today has quickly been invalidated and outdated. Ha.

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! It's the year of the bull/ox. Cow in Mandarin is pronounced "niu." This sounds a bit like "nyoo." So the trendy and oh so unfortunate thing to say is "Happy Niu Year." Oi.

Work, Toil, or Something Worse?

2009-01-05T04:41:00.000-06:00

The other night we had one of our Western Dinners with our students. During this time, we take them to a nice restaurant here and treat them to a steak dinner. It's a great thing to share with them, and watching them attempt to use a fork and knife for the first time is just funny. It's almost always a joy to see these young men and women get dressed up, learn a little western culture, and enjoy an experience that most of them have never had before. But as Rick and I were coming home from the dinner, we saw something that made our hearts kind of sink.

We got back from the dinner a little after 10pm. And as we were walking to our apartments, we saw a group of about 6-8 Chinese men, who were probably in their 40s and 50s mostly. They looked a little tired and a good bit beaten up by life. We smiled and said a polite "Ni hao," to them as we passed by. We didn't think much about it at first, but shortly afterwards, we realized that these men had been working on track and field area on our campus. "Ouch," we thought.

They work all day long, by the sunlight in the day and just by the moonlight at night. Most of them don't look clothed enough to stay warm. Most of them look like they haven't seen a good, warm meal in a long time. Yet, we pass by them wearing nice suits and ties, carrying back our leftover wine from the meal, and something just didn't set right with us. Yeah, okay, I know finances have a lot to do with the scene we saw, but I think I felt sad for a much deeper reason.

I know the ground has been cursed. I know work in this world is not fully redeemed. I know toil is something we face in this world, but I felt like what we saw was worse than that. It looked like toil, burdened by societal abuse and hopelessness, slightly warmed over by an ignorant contentment. What we saw looked much worse than just toil. It looked like hell. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Also, I talked with a student tonight who told me about how his parents have shown their love to him by providing much for him, working long hours even at the expense of their own health, and sacrificing their own needs to care for his needs. How amazing their commitment is! Still, he knows there is more to love than just this. He'd love to have a hug, a word of encouragement, or even the chance to simply feel comfortable showing love to his parents. He really hopes he can, in time, understand what love is supposed to look like, yet he doesn't really want to share his understanding with his parents because he thinks it will only make them angry and discontent. They are happy enough with their lives now - why should that balance be upset? Whispers of death filled our coffee cups and turned them cold with lies.

China, my heart breaks for you! You could teach us in America a lot about the recklessness of our self-centered nature, and I hope I never force my culture on yours, but I hope and pray that someday you can come to understand that life and love have so much more to offer than what you have seen of it so far. God willing, maybe I will have a chance to show you.

It's Christmas Time

2008-12-18T07:21:00.001-06:00

Well, it officially feels like Christmas now. I've been listening to Christmas music lately, but it just hasn't put me in a holiday mood, but that changed today. Today was a fun day.

First, this afternoon I received a package from some friends back home. It was filled with all sorts of goodies and silly things, too. Yeah, I know I probably shouldn't have opened it until Christmas, but I'll be out of town Christmas day, so I felt justified in my actions :P

Second of all, tonight we had movie night with our students, and we watched "Christmas Vacation." Although I nearly cried a time or two because the yearly tradition is that we watch this movie as a family, I loved getting to laugh with the students as they saw the movie for the first time.

It's great to see Todd and Margo making fools of themselves, the Griswold house and its 25,000 Italian imported twinkle lights, Aunt Bethany and her misplaced patriotism, Ellen's oh-so-sly (or is it not-so-sly?) flicking away of the dried out turkey, the fried pussy-cat, the dump truck driving through the nitroglycerin plant, Clark's beautiful monologue regarding his wonderful boss Mr. Shirley, cousin Eddie, cousin Eddie, and cousin Eddie. Ha! Such a good movie.

Anyway, it is still a little sad being so far away from home on Christmas for 2 years in a row now, but I'm glad the Christmas spirit has hit me. And next week we will travel to Shanghai to enjoy the holiday with other teacher friends there. We'll do a gift exchange and an amazing Christmas dinner of pizza. Ha. Should make for a good time.

Wishing you all a great Christmas season and holiday! Please drop me a line if I haven't heard from you in a while!

Retreat!

2008-12-01T17:22:00.000-06:00

It's funny, when we talk about going on a retreat, I think most people don't even consider the military/war meaning of this word. Yet, hopefully, if a spiritual retreat is done well, it should take you out of the front lines and move you back to the infirmary or something like that. Well, we just went on a retreat, though I'm still a little baffled by the whole experience. Let me try to recall without going overboard.

All of the teachers from our organization went up to Beijing to get some R & R. It was very good getting to connect with everyone again, especially since it's just a team of 2 here in my city. There were about 40+ folks at the retreat, and it is pretty amazing when you have the revelation of, "Oh, wow! I can talk at full speed and you understand me!"

However, we learned some information at this retreat that was a little unexpected. I shouldn't mention it here, but I'll say that because of this information, I now feel like it may be appropriate for me to stay for a third year here. I am prepared to do this, but it isn't exactly what I was planning. Still, I know my plans always need to be flexible, so I can flex.

But somewhere in the midst of a bunch of "foreigners" and with the strange news we got, my heart started to get a little confused. God (well, I'm assuming it was from Him) gave me some interesting visions for what's ahead in my life. I'm very excited about these visions, but there isn't much info about how or when they will come about. So, I will wait for these answers, and that's okay. But something else still isn't resolved in my heart, and I can't pinpoint it.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's that God is really asking me to have a closer walk with Him. And, to be honest, I really want that, too. At other times in my life, I'm not sure if I could say that and honestly mean it, but He is continuing to reveal Himself to me, and I just want to know and see more. But, I don't know if it's warfare or what, but I feel blocked from this closeness. My heart won't seem to quiet down, my workload doesn't ease up, I'm too often too tired, my sleep is often interrupted by the enemy, loneliness pangs sometimes disrupt my focus...etc. I don't mean to make a list of complaints or excuses. I'm just trying to process what's going on.

We're back in our city now, and already we've been hit by hard times. The students have recently given us some troubles, a couple of the foreign teachers here really seem to have some spiritual baggage with them (and a third teacher we know from before is coming next semester, too), several nights have been plagued by enemy activity...It's a war zone. God is being good to guide us through it all, but it's heavy.

Thank goodness our victory is assured in Him! And there is light breaking through. The students seem to be responding to our correction we've given them based on their bad decisions, and just the other night I had a dream of a lady I might call a priestess. She seemed full of evil intentions for our city, but I could tell that she was flustered by our presence here and by what the church is doing here. As I woke up, I saw her apparition in my room, but it faded with two loud screams being heard in the distance. I can't say I understand everything that's happening here lately, but I think that's okay. He is our God, and nothing will change that! Amen!

Work

2008-11-20T03:10:00.000-06:00

Well, I've been far too busy lately, but here's a story about something that happened in class today that I just wanted to share. I think it's kind of stream of consciousness, so hopefully it makes sense when you read it. Anyway, in the future, expect a post or two about some new thoughts that have been brewing in my head. Forecast? You will probably think I'm pretty weird by my new thoughts, but then, that's not too surprising, right? Here's today's story:

I had my "work" talk with students today. We start out with a question about "What's the history of work." Most of them talk about primitive societies. I offer that perhaps the first men and women were actually much greater than we were - so great that if we met them we might even feel like we should be worshipping them. I know that's a bit of a Christian belief, but I don't tell them that. They all seem to like this idea as a possibility and for discussion.

Then I ask them "Why do you work?" Most of them are quick to say survival and improving their quality of life. And slowly some other answers emerge, like fulfilling their self purpose and to make their lives more interesting. Then I ask them to think about what other parts there are to our lives. They say things like eating, sleeping, and relaxing. I ask them if they enjoy these things. They all say a big YES! I then ask if they enjoy work. Mixed reviews.

So, I ask them, "Why do you enjoy eating, sleeping, and relaxing?" The food tastes good and keeps them from being hungry. Sleeping keeps them from being tired, and a comfortable bed feels so nice. And relaxing helps them not to feel so many pressures and stresses in life. So, I ask them if those things are ever bad. They say of course. Sometimes food doesn't taste good, sometimes sleep is full of nightmares, and sometimes when we are relaxing we might end up fighting with our friends. I asked them if they still enjoy those things in general. Of course! So, I ask them if they think eating, sleeping and relaxing have value for their lives. They say yes.

Then I ask, "What's the value of work?" Most of them have similar answers to the last question, which is fine. So I ask them if they know what good eating, sleeping, and relaxing should look like. They say of course! I ask them how they know those things. They say they have read it in books or their parents told them or they heard it somewhere. I ask if that's enough to convince them it's true. They say that after time and experience, they see that what they've been told seems to be true. So I ask them if they know what good work looks like. Mixed responses. Although, most seem to agree that after experience, they will know what is good work.

Next I ask, "If no one told you what was good for eating, sleeping, and relaxing, how would you know what is good for you?" They again say that they could learn from experience. So I ask them about some different foods - particularly vegetables. Some of them like these vegetables; some of them do not. But we all agree that they are healthy veggies and that they are good for everyone, even if you don't like them. I asked the people who didn't like some vegetables if they eat those vegetables often. They said no. They would eat them if it was necessary, but it wouldn't be their first choice.

So I again ask them how they would know if work was good for them or not. They then start to recognize that maybe there are many good kinds of work out there, but not everyone is going to like every kind of work that is available. Also, they begin to see that they may not be able to know if a work is good for them until they try it. So I ask how many of them are nervous about finding a job. Everyone said yes. I asked them if there was anything they could do right now that would tell them if they would like their future job. Most of them said no or that the things they could do were pretty small. So, I asked them if being nervous would actually help them. Most of them agreed that it would not help them. And, even though they weren't completely satisfied by this, I saw many of them breathe a sigh of relief. It was as if someone gave them permission to not feel so much pressure about their futures. Pretty cool.

And we talked about several other aspects of what this would mean. Things like, if I pick a bad job, can I change it? Will I get stuck in a bad career path if I stay in a bad job for too long? Is there any way to make work more enjoyable on a regular basis? How do you add variety to a job that is boring and repetitive? Yeah, the discussion was just great. One of the best talks we've had all semester. It was really an honor to be their teacher today.

Seeking Wise Counsel

2008-10-25T08:50:00.000-05:00

The Backstory

(FYI: Some content has been modified for the Web.) For as long as I've been here, and for many years before that, our "group" here has taught a class on Sunday mornings. At times it has been very productive and beneficial. Other times, the amount of disconnect has been so poignant, it seemed almost as though a bad dream were playing in slow motion right before our eyes. Yet, we have continued to believe that this time has been fruitful. Why, just 2 weekends ago, we did a weekend-long fast. We did this to draw near to God and seek His wise counsel in many areas of our lives. That Sunday also seemed blessed by this time when we had what I think we agree to be the most meaningful lesson to date. In fact, that weekend was so meaningful in general that we are considering the idea of making a habit of doing a weekend fast every month - so long as the motivation and timing are right. Disciplines should be used by Disciples, but they are never God - just a means to draw near to Him.

The Problem

The very next weekend, we were met with one of the most disappointing Sunday classes ever. Could we have guessed this? No. We felt just as moved by the preparation for that class as we did for the class during the fast. Is there a direct correlation? Maybe a little, but we doubt that it is entirely direct. Well, tonight as we were planning, this problem seemed to weigh heavily on our minds. We took time to pray about it and ask for counsel again. We certainly received guidance, but we feel we need additional time and prayer to discern if it is Truth.

The "Proposed" Solution

We have known for a long time that we never wanted Western culture to mask Truth. We wanted Truth to overcome all earthly culture to reveal eternal culture. But we cannot fully shed our culture. Nor can we fully shed our biases. But we do have a desire to use our knowledge and experience for real growth and discipleship over here. So, what seemed very real to us as a solution tonight was for us to step down from the role of in-class leaders. Many of our Sunday morning students don't speak English well. We don't want class to be an English corner, either. We also don't want it to be two dancing foreigners on stage for their entertainment. We want real Truth to be put into context that makes sense for them. But there is a terrible lack of leadership here. So we are hoping that we can move into the role of out-of-class leaders.

The Details and Questions

In our minds (which we know is not the final word here), we are thinking that we want to ask this Organization if they could find a local teacher here who can speak both English and Chinese. We would then take the years of experience we have walking the Walk, and use our knowledge to teach the teacher. The teacher could then contextualize our ideas and biases and turn them into local, relevant language and lessons for the students. However, there are some unanswered questions. 1) Will the Organization agree to this? 2) Is there a suitable teacher to be found? 3) Is this really what we are being led to seek? 4) If this is a good move, what do we do in the interim? Fortunately, we don't have to have answers immediately, and God is largely in charge of answering these questions. But we do want to be careful with #4 in particular. So, we are trying to continue presenting Truth, while possibly steering our lessons towards a final lesson of stepping down from our roles to allow for new in-class leadership.

The Request

This will not be an easy process. Perhaps not a quick one either. It needs to be bathed in prayer and wise counsel. If you feel particularly moved by this story please 1) pray with us and/or 2) provide any counsel you feel is appropriate to offer (keeping in mind some discretion should be used in that note/email). The final request - rejoice with us! We really feel Goodness is at work in what is going on here. We want it to continue. And we long to connect in more and deeper ways with our Lord. We pray this same blessing for those of you we know are regular readers of this space. Thanks, greatly.

The Sounds of Grief

2008-10-17T03:10:00.000-05:00

I accidentally came upon part of a funeral here the other day. I didn't really recognize what it was at first. There were some really, really loud firecrackers being set off, and I figured someone had gotten married or a new company was opening, but when I saw a group of people with sad looks on their faces and all dressed in black, I knew what it was. Of course, I think black is fairly new for the Chinese and funerals. I believe white used to be traditional.

Anyway, as I walked along, I noticed something else. There was a whole line of women - maybe about 10 of them - who were wearing some kind of white coat or dress that looked intentionally plain. All of these women were wailing - not just crying - I mean there was truly a terrible sound of grief in their voices. I asked a student about this and he told me that when a person dies at too young of an age, there will be people who cry out in grief. However, if someone has died at a good age, then these women will be laughing, so as to celebrate that person's life.

I thought it was an interesting tradition, and it probably reflects some common thought among most cultures - if a person lived a good life, then their death should be a time of bittersweet enjoyment. Of course it's sad to lose them, but you know they lived their life well. But those sounds of grief stayed with me for quite a while that day. I realized how appropriate those sounds were for grieving someone who was lost to us. And it is all the more true if that person was lost from his Creator.

It is sometimes very distressing and painful to live among a people who generally don't acknowledge their Creator (or any other maker, for that matter). What do they hope in? I know in America we can believe a host of lies: our nation's strength, our finances, our comfort, etc. But China has just been ravaged by hard times in its history. How can these people be so resilient in the face of hopes that never seem to hold water?

Perhaps I speak too much. Anyway, I love what I get to do over here, and I can't wait to see more and more Chinese waking up to real truth. Perhaps then even the cries for those who are lost at too young an age can still be tempered with the hopefulness of eternity.

Restlessness Part 2

2008-10-04T11:45:00.000-05:00

Well, it's about 1:00 AM here, and I find myself unable to sleep again. But I'm happy to report that this restlessness has not been the norm in the recent past. Although, it hasn't been completely unfamiliar to me either. Let me catch you up a bit on some of what has been happening with this.

After my first round of restless nights, I began seeking some spiritual answers to what was going on. So, at night I would take some time to rebuke any unclean spirits that may have been in my apartment. Not much change. Then Rick and I took some olive oil that he had, asked God's blessing on it, and we anointed the walls, floor and ceiling of my bedroom. I began to notice a difference after this. Most nights since then have been pretty pleasant dreams.

Let me say, though, that this is all unfamiliar territory to me. I'm not sure what anointing is supposed to look like. I'm not sure what is the extent of its blessing power. I'm not sure what are the right steps to use for it. Did we make some mistakes? Possibly. But considering how well my sleep has been in the recent past, I feel like we must be at least partially on the right path to understanding things in a deeper sense. You see, Rick and I are doing our best to grow our faith by entering into some uncomfortable parts of serving Him. Particularly, we are trying things we have not previously done in our walks, but perhaps we have heard that these have been effective in other parts of Christendom.

Of course, our efforts are not without difficulties. Two nights after the anointing, I awoke in the early morning in a cold sweat, feeling a heaviness very close to me. So close, I would say it was laying beside me on the other side of the bed. In fact, I could basically sense that it was there. As I looked at the empty side of my bed, a nasty voice growled at me. Without much thought, and with a lot of disgust, I growled back at it. Ha. I didn't notice the humor of the situation at first, but later I had a good chuckle. Anyway, I was angry because things were going so well after the anointing process that I really felt the enemy had no grounds to be back in my apartment. So, I rebuked him and told him that by Christ's authority he had to leave. And it seems he did, as I was able to finish the rest of my sleep without interruption.

Next up on our list, Rick and I are planning to do a fast this next weekend. We have both felt God pushing us to trust Him more by giving up our realm of control and letting Him lead a lot of what is happening. Seems like a wise thing, albeit a scary thing. But we both agreed that if we are going to seek His face with such abandon, we both need to draw closer to Him now. Thus, a fast seems like a good thing. This will be a dietary fast combined with a restriction of computer access. I'm not sure where it will lead, but I'm excited to see His faithfulness to us in a deeper way. Please pray for us to be held up and drawn near to our Lord during this next weekend. And please pray for rest!

Hope you all are well.

Restlessness

2008-09-22T17:46:00.000-05:00

Well, it's a short post this time. I'm tired, and I can't fall asleep at night, which only makes it worse. In brief, I had a very nice birthday - 4 days of celebrating (whoa...too much). Thanks for the many Facebook messages, emails, etc. I will get around to most of those, but it will take me a while. I've had all of about 30 minutes of free time since last Monday. I forgot how busy these first couple of weeks are. But this weekend will begin the National Holiday, which means I'll have a week off. Rick and I will travel to Tianjin, so I once again won't have much time to catch up with folks, but I'll do my best to find some time in there. Just forgive me. More free time is coming - I promise :)

Main thought/request - I really am having trouble sleeping. presently, out of the last 7 nights, 5 of them have involved long, long periods of trying to fall asleep, followed by waking up time after time during the night. Today the sleep deprivation really hit me. Even as I'm typing, my eyes are glazing over and my head starts to nod. Please keep me in your prayers. I'm not sure if this is a physical thing only or if there is also a spiritual aspect to it, but it does make my work pretty difficult.

The only side benefit - I do get some pretty strange dreams. Last night in my dream, a friend and I were deciding what we would do in the future, and we decided that we would form a band called Melvin de Celica, and our first hit song would be the sequel to Baby Got Back - aptly named Baby Got Back (Again). However, before we could carry out this most noble of plans, we came across a group of animals we were not familiar with. They were a blend of chicken and flamingo, and they were infused with a touch of jive. They also could talk, and their leaders were named Lamont and Cointreau. They seemed to think my friend and I were a threat to them, so they all started yelling at L & C that something needed to be done. So some of them came over to us, knocked us down and started pecking at us. But before they could do much damage, they had to have a dance break. Some crazy funk/jive music started playing, and all their necks and knees started a-boogey-in'. It was really quite bizarre and entertaining. But I woke up again before I could see the outcome.

Now I have to get ready to teach. Hope you enjoyed the story. I'll be back soon, hopefully.

Year 2: Here We Go!

2008-09-15T04:17:00.000-05:00

Well, Year 2 is officially underway. I've been back in China for 2 weeks now, and we've finished one week of classes. Everything seems to be running smoothly and it looks like we've got a good set of students again. See the pics:

Class A

Class B

I'm going to try to keep this blog a little better updated this year. Hopefully a post for each week. Don't hold me to that, though. Ha! You know I'm not good with keeping those kinds of deadlines. Oi.

Anyway, as I'm getting started with classes, I wanted to offer everyone a chance to help me out. I made new lesson plans this summer, and I can tell that they will be a great improvement this year over the last. However, the plans are largely contingent on the students being willing to discuss some topics in detail. And, I know that sometimes the students get a little tired. I mean, we have them in class for 3.5 hours each day, and they are constantly speaking in a foreign language...could you imagine signing up for a class like that? Yikes!

So, my request is this - do any of you have some creative ideas of classroom activities we could do for anywhere from 5-45 minutes? They might be things to spark creativity, or maybe to help them relax for a moment, or to help re-energize them after some discussions. If any of you have some ideas, please feel free to share. I want my class to stay fresh and intriguing each day, and that's difficult to do! So, any help you might offer would be great!

A final note: last year, when I was going downtown one day on the bus, a man started asking me some questions in English about who I was and what I was doing in China. I've had several experiences like this in the past, but this one seemed a little different than the others - something in my spirit said to take note of this. Well, I gave him my email address that day, and he contacted me later, but all last year we just couldn't get our schedules to work out for another chance to talk (maybe this sounds strange, but it's pretty common in a small city like ours).

Over the summer, I said that once I got back, my teaching partner (Rick) and I wanted to get together with him and his family. Today it finally worked out, and boy am I glad of it. Turns out he believes in some great Truth, although the rest of his family does not. And, you can probably imagine, this causes tension in his life. Honestly, I don't know where this friendship will go in the future, but I feel like things were definitely orchestrated for this cross-cultural connection to take place. Anyway, it might be something for a moment of praise or a moment of requesting if any of you think about it!

Now I have to scoot - time for dinner and then we're having students over! Keep in touch.

I Love the South

2008-08-15T21:00:00.000-05:00

So, I was at the doctor's office to get my back checked out today, and there are several black women in there with different kinds of problems. And you know how many of them are - very friendly and talkative (I'm appreciatin', not hatin').

Well, one lady starts telling me all the things she's been going through, and she said that she knew something was wrong with her knee. So she went to the doctor, and..."He told me I was gunna need surgery. And I knew it. It was just inedible."

HA!

Of course, that was supposed to be "inevitable," in case it doesn't translate in written words as well. Oh man, I had to work so hard not to just bust a gut laughing when she said that. Good times, huh?

As a side note, it seems nothing is wrong with my back. Just once again I've been told I must stretch more. Ugh. But I guess it's better than the alternative.

Things Remembered/Things Missed

2008-06-27T10:33:00.000-05:00

As I am now at the last few days of my first year here, I being to realize that things have gone so quickly. I can hardly believe that I've now taught 96 students about business and life, as well as many others who have come to our non-class activities. But a year really has gone by, and now I reflect on some things I will remember and some things I will miss.

Being called Mr. Rose and/or Mr. Loss
Eating "gai jiao fan" everyday for about $.50 (GJF is a mix of veggies, sometimes some meat or an egg, and spices all cooked together and served over rice - about the Chinese equivalent of a sandwich)
Getting text messages from students that don't always make sense (e.g. "Mr. Ross! Happy Father's Day!")
Waking up to either 1) students playing basketball at 6am, even when the sun isn't shining or 2) one of the roosters living here (note: I do live ON a college campus - not on a farm...ha)
Seeing how many ways people can say and/or pronounce Rick's last name "Bagley." For example, Bailey, Badley, Bargley, Barly, Bargley, Bagerly
The Water Man - We have to get bottled water here b/c it's not always healthy coming from the tap, so we order big bottles of water for our apartments. I use a lot of water, and the water man is not so close to us. So I devised a system where I would have 2 bottles at my place at all times, so when I ran out of one, I could have a backup ready until I got to the water man again. Well, it took me about 2 months to convince the water man that there was a reason for me to have that second bottle. But after enough gestures and repeated bad Chinese, he finally agreed to it. Ha. I guess I'm not very Chinese about my use of water...
Coffee breaks - there are so many stories here. My students know I love coffee because I drink it almost everyday, and I talk about it often. Coffee to me represents friendships and relaxation. I don't drink coffee to wake up - I drink it because it enriches my enjoyment of the time when I'm drinking it. Anyway, I'll share a couple of coffee stories.
I brought a French press over here to help make my coffee, but I've never liked the cleanup, and the capacity is small on mine. So I decided to look for a coffee maker. I found one, but it was also too small and didn't come with a filter. So I asked my parents to mail me one. I was so excited the day it arrived. I carefully plugged it into my voltage converter, and set up the first trial run. I turned it on, and it made those wonderful siphoning noises. Until it blew up. Apparently the voltage converter didn't work. And now, neither did my coffee maker. I was devastated. Long story short...I found a new one after about another 2 weeks of searching. It has worked ever since, and it is great. Thank you coffee.
The other coffee story - Region Coffee. It's our local coffee shop. We actually have a decent amount of shops here, but this is the only one that's close to us. It's a big shop - probably holds about 200 people if it needs to, but usually there are not more than 20 people there. It has been a great location to enjoy time with students and also the other foreign teachers here. They have a great coffee there called Charcoal Coffee. The first time I had it, I said, "Wow, you can really taste the charcoal flavor in there, and there's also a hint of chocolate in it." Peter and Glenn (the two non-ESEC teachers) both laughed. I asked why, only to find out that Peter had said almost the exact same thing the first time he had some. I knew Peter and I could be good friends at this time. And I'm sad to say he will be going back home at the end of this year, not to return next year. Hopefully the new foreign teacher will also be a coffee drinker.
Good ole Chinglish phrases like, "Mr. Ross, my friend would like to touch you." In Chinese this would mean they just wanted to get to know me and ask me my opinion on things. Ha.
The wonderful "Ahhh"s and "Wowww"s the students would do. All in perfect unison. "Hey kids, look at this!" "Wowww!" So great.
Crossing the street. Riding in taxis. Listening to the symphony of car horns and watching the amazingly choreographed dance that is Chinese traffic.
My guys' group. Four of my students from first semester meet once every week to just enjoy our friendships. We always plan something fun to do, and I also try to challenge them with some life questions. A real joy.
The roommates. Six girls (5 of them were our students) who are all roommates and are greatly entertaining. They love to ask questions about, well, mostly love. But they also really like asking about life. We don't see them quite as often as we did last semester, but we are thinking next year we want to change that. They are really quality young ladies.
Chinese t-shirts. So many of them have English writing on them, but I just don't know what phrases like "Rahant ratwre (heart)" really mean. Do you?
Dou bing. Yum. My favorite food. It's it little like Frito's, but soooo much better. And it's a local specialty!
Coming up with new ideas for ESEC. It seems every week I had a new idea about how I wanted to change my teaching style. And, generally, the students enjoyed it. It kept things fresh and new. Sometimes it was confusing, but most of the time, we all felt the time spent was well worth it. And this summer Rick and I will be devoting some serious time to revamping things again for next year. The school is really taking recognition of what we've been up to lately, and we can tell good things are in the works.
And finally, prayer time. Rick and I still get up every morning for a time of prayer together. It is so beneficial to the rest of our day. And I know God is moving in our lives and all around us because of it. I hope you all can experience some of this in your walks too!

There are so many other stories I could mention, but these are just some basics. I'll be home from about July 2 until August 30. Some of that time will be in Oxford, and some will be in Dallas. Feel free to come visit if you can!

There's a war going on out there...

2008-05-30T22:00:00.000-05:00

Well, despite all the emails sitting in my inbox, papers to be graded sitting on my desk, and students at my door waiting to play Wii, tennis, badminton, pool, ping pong, etc., I’m taking a moment to write something here. It’s been too long anyway.

I want to write something that is possibly controversial for some of you, but I think it’s important. It’s about warfare. But not man vs. man. It’s of the spirit nature. Now, I don’t know where all of you stand on this issue, but I wish you could be personally privy to some of the things I have experienced here, so that you might better understand what is at work against us (and against all of us – even in America). Let me briefly recount to you some of the things that have happened here.

Several nights I have been awakened by 1) a terrible feeling of fear and heaviness all around me, 2) a sensation of being strangled by an invisible source, or 3) strange noises moving around our building that did not obviously come from anything I know that exists around our building.

One night I went to bed and saw 4 pairs of green eyes staring at me from my ceiling. I rebuked them, but in the morning, there were still 2 pairs of eyes remaining. Another night, I went to sleep peacefully, but when I awoke the next morning, I saw a face in my ceiling staring down at me. When I noticed it, it bared its teeth at me and then disappeared.

Once when there were a few of us (brothers and sisters) together, we were walking across campus, and we noticed a snake slithering along the ground. We stopped for a moment because it surprised us all. It stopped too, looked up at us for a moment, and then went along its way again. I asked my students, and they said they have never seen or heard of there being any snakes on our campus.

Recently, I decided, for a strange set of reasons, to show the movie “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” to my students. If you have seen the movie, you know that at 3am, lots of strange things happen. Well, the night before I was to show the movie, both Rick and I were awakened right at about 3am. I had, thankfully, put up my new mosquito net that night, but still I was awakened by the sound of mosquitoes at my ear. I thought this seemed strange. So I unzipped my net, turned on the light, zipped the net again, and I was really frightened to see mosquitoes all around my net, trying their best to break into the small holes. Thankfully they were unsuccessful, but I was still very unsettled. The next morning all the mosquitoes had gone, and I check all my windows and doors to find that they were sealed. Rick, on the other hand, was awakened by a bad nightmare that left him feeling disoriented, in pain, and a bit in fear. I had not told Rick that I would be showing the movie, so he was very surprised to hear this story.

This week I also showed to the movie to my other class of students. I wanted to find a Chinese version of the movie because some of the students from last week complained that it was difficult to follow all of the big English words in there. I had seen the movie at a store downtown before, so I went to find it. Alas, it was sold out. I went to 3 other stores with a student looking for it. Two of them did not have it. At the last store, we told them the name of the movie, and they said they had it, but when they looked for it, it was gone. Strange timing for it to be sold out everywhere, since this is not exactly a blockbuster movie here in China...

And most recently, Rick, my teaching partner, has found out that he has a bunch of kidney stones in him, including one rather large one that doesn’t want to pass. The doctors say he is okay, but he needs to get some treatment done to break up the stones. If he does this now, he will be out for a full week of class. If he waits, he can finish class, but he has to endure the pain until he can get treatment. We’re not sure yet how we want to address this, but we could certainly use your prayers.

Now, are all of these signs of warfare? Maybe, maybe not. But, nonetheless, it awakens us to the reality that we are not “home” yet. We are living in a fallen world that is passing away. And it makes us realize we have a job to do here. I hope you all back in America can be encouraged to do your part, too! The harvest is here – let’s claim the fruits of the labors of the past and the labors of the present!

The Mood of Things

2008-04-29T05:36:00.000-05:00

Okay, I won't comment much on this. I'll just give a brief introduction. This is an email I recently received from one of my students. And, honestly, it is one of many similar ones, though the wording is a little clearer in this one. You guys! There is a change in the air here. The old traditional ideas are being questioned. I believe this is because 1) there have been many great prayers to help open things up 2) my teaching partner and I are really working hard to see the banner of His glory raised high for all to see and enjoy and 3) (most importantly) the Spirit is ready to move!

PLEASE: Keep praying for what is happening here. The harvest is plentiful. We need more harvesters - both on site and at home, in prayer. Please, please, please, commit time to this if it is in your heart to do so. Eternity hangs in the balance, and I want to tip the scales in a good way.

Here's the email (only very slightly modified to help correct some of the Chinglish):

I would like to share some of my feelings with you. I want to say I really have had a lot of fun in your class. I enjoy it very much. I have made so many new friends. All of them are so kind.

For you and Mr. B, you both motivate us, and you want to make us more active, even more than before. Thank you, my friend.

It doesn’t feel like it’s been 2 months since we came into this class, does it? More than half of this semester has gone. I feel kind of scared. I love this semester far more than any other semesters! But I will not have a semester like this any more in college.

During this 2 month period, I have noticed that my life has seemed to be a little flat. It might make me feel comfortable. But now I realize that is not good for me. I should do something different. I want to challenge myself, though it may make me kind of uncomfortable.

I hope I will not regret anything at the end of this semester. I think it will be the most exciting and valuable time during my whole college life. I want to find a new life of richer detail, both wider and wilder. I don’t want to miss any more. I want to be present and conscious and aware. I hope I can find the way to be that kind of person.

(Wow.)

Pause

2008-04-18T10:54:00.000-05:00

Nothing has changed since my last post. I still really love what I do. But, I tell you what, I am emotionally, spiritually, and physically drained. This week I realized something a little sad about my time here: about 90% of my life here is "work." I do find time to enjoy some casual meals, some good time for sports, an occasional moment for video games, and a coffee break or two. But aside from this pretty much everything else is work. I prepare things for class: lessons, tests, activities, grading, stories, etc. I meet with students, and although this can be great fun, it is often very complex and focused on "deep" things. Even going to church here is work, not rest and refreshment.

This week, has been a really tough one. Between the things going on in a land that may or may not be a part of China, the trouble with the Olympics, and all the difficulties with France, the students have a lot of questions. I'm not really allowed to give answers, which I'm honestly thankful for. I don't want that responsibility. I don't know the answers. But I do encourage the students to think about things with their own minds. Rather than turning to hatred and bitterness at the world, is there a better way that we can approach this situation? I end up playing a lot of Devil's advocate, and it really gets the students thinking. I'm grateful for that. But truth is a double edged sword it seems...

I'm not much of a fan of Sean Penn's work, but I did end up enjoying the movie Into the Wild. Much of the movie seems lost and misdirected, but the ending pulls it all together, I think, in a very real and natural way. Well, maybe for a guy. Maybe it is not a girl's movie. But the boy in the movie basically says that he would rather reject all comfort and security for the truth. And his journey into the wild is a journey seeking truth. Tonight I told a student that I would be willing to lose a friendship because of truth. Truth, it seems, forces you to decide. You can sit on the fence for a little while, but when you are faced with truth, you can't stay indifferent forever. And if someone chose to reject me because of truth, then I would be willing to accept that because that's just how important truth is to me. I think I'm being dangerous but not reckless with this notion, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, in reflecting on the week, I think I may notice several students and possibly even a friend who have turned off their hearts to me because of truth. Oh, and it hurts so deeply inside me. I want everyone to like me. I want everyone to meet me in this journey of truth. Or if they don't exactly meet me, then we should at least challenge each other. But it seems some people don't want to be challenged. I acknowledge that sometimes I ask "why" and "how" a bit more than many of these students can handle. I have to be careful. But it is never in the casual moments of thinking and pondering that people get offended. It's in the moments where I feel "under orders" that people "join" me or refuse me.

Being here really awakens me to knowing that we are in a constant war. This world is not peaceful. Peace in this world is almost illusory. America will have judgment to reckon with, I believe, for all the false peace we have created around ourselves. We have convinced ourselves that this life is simple and peaceful and kind. And the people of China want so much to have that kind of life, too. But, I'm afraid we won't ever really achieve that in this life. And even if we can achieve it for ourselves, I'm not sure we should hold onto it too strongly because so much of the world is constantly at "war," and the world needs people to stand up and fight for the souls of men and women.

Ah, maybe I'm rambling a bit now. I don't know how to express everything. In fact, I'm tired of expressing so many things. Life is good, and yet it is so painful and tiring. Especially when the fellowship here is so limited. I'm wonderfully thankful for my teammate who encourages me, and I him. But, even so, we are both tired. The war is constant, and rest is seldom found. So, I ask all of you who are supporters, to please commit to prayer. Please, please, please pray for Rick and me. Please pray for this part of the world. Please pray for our students and our school and our city and our friends and the administrators and leaders here. I'm am horribly ashamed to say that I did not always pray when I would get newsletters from friends who were "fighting" in this war. And I know not everyone who reads this will actually commit to prayer for what I asked. But I ask it all the same. Because we need it.

The dark covering over this area is beautiful and wonderfully crafted. It is enticing and comfortable. It provides for enough of your fears that you don't have to worry. It answers enough of your questions that you needn't think too much about life. Oh, it is wickedly evil, and it kills me to see such amazingly kind people subject to such lies that they don't even know they are believing. The ones that I have spoken with about truth...I know I offer them something good. And some of them are seeing how the wool has been pulled over their eyes. But many are scared. When the tough questions get asked to them, and they can't run from them, they go crazy. They do everything they can to hide. They reject me. But more importantly, they reject truth. And truth doesn't always even mean "Truth." Just true ideas. All I can do is 1) remember where I have come from - it is the same as those here 2) remember I am not proved good or evil by how much the people here like me 3) live by faith and not by sight and 4) pray, pray, pray.

It is late. I am tired. My joy is in the Lord. And my sorrow is in Him, too. The seeds that are being thrown, may they land in fertile soil. And may my great sins be greatly forgiven that all can see my foolishness, my forgiveness, and most importantly, the one who has forgiven me.

Ratatouille

2008-03-29T10:33:00.000-05:00

I watched this movie again today, and I still am impressed by it for several reasons. First, I love food. And I really love cheese, ha! And since I don’t get much cheese here in China, it’s nice to remember how wonderful the stuff can be. Also, I like a good red wine. And whenever Anton Ego has poured himself a good ol’ glass of the stuff, well, it makes me think of good times back in Dallas, enjoying a glass or two with good friends. How can I not enjoy that? There are too many “good” things there for me not to thoroughly enjoy it all.

And, despite the fact that the movie does get some things wrong, I also like it because it really gets some things right, too. If you haven’t seen the movie, I’d recommend it. I won’t give away all the plotlines, but one of the main themes explored in the movie is the importance of being yourself and not being ashamed of that and also not trying to become someone else to please everyone else. It’s a simple concept in words, but I think we all know it’s easier said than done.

One of the things Rick and I stress a lot with our students (and anyone who will listen) is to encourage people to be themselves. Since I teach marketing, sometimes I talk about it from a “perfect market economy” perspective. That being a market where everyone produces to their maximum extent, where they have their best competitive advantage. If this were to happen, products would be made with best quality, most efficiency, and lowest cost. Of course, we don’t see this happen in the real world because there are too many barriers to that kind of perfection, not to mention the fact that some people/nations do not have any competitive advantages in any market. But the concept is still helpful.

You see (if you don’t already see), it seems to me that when a person lives powerfully in the midst of their “competitive advantage,” sparks start flying and amazing things show up. Those things may be amazingly good or amazingly evil, but they are amazing nonetheless. And for me, those things have been amazingly good lately because I think I’m starting to really understand my competitive advantage to a greater degree. And it’s great.

In fact, I was just telling my teammate tonight that I’m happy. And not just happy – daily happy. With the exception of my childhood and maybe the last 4 months in Dallas when I didn’t have a job and had time to just explore, create, rest and relax, most all of my young adult and adult life has been “just so-so” as the Chinese would say. I had happy moments, good feelings, and a general sense of well being and purpose. But, all-in-all, life was a pretty dull, unimaginative, and colorless experience for me. People, friends, family, and faith were the only color I had. But my day-to-day life was rather blasé. I’m happy to say that has not been the case since coming to China.

Now, each day is not a perfect experience. I have not entered the land of milk and honey. I haven’t found heaven on earth. My heart and soul still long for eternity. But when I wake up here, I’m glad about it. Really. Darn. Glad.

And I could write a book from there, but I’ll spare ya. Just wanted to share the good news of the day. Write me if you want to know more about any of this. Thanks, Ratatouille, for a good story. And thanks to the One who is behind the ultimate story.

P.S. I had to laugh when I first wrote this post. I had written so many disclaimers, apologies, conditionals, etc. that you almost couldn’t get the meaning of it. Seems I needed a dose of my own beliefs. I know not everyone will understand or agree with my thoughts exactly, and that’s okay. This is where I’m at today, and I’m okay with that.

Travels...Or Where I've Been for the Last Month+

2008-02-14T22:53:00.000-06:00

So, yeah, I've been gone a while now. But here's a brief update of what's been going on!

After classes ended early in January, my first trip of the break was to Japan. While in Japan, I traveled with my friend Trey, who thankfully did almost all of the planning for the trip (thanks, Trey). We went to Nara, Kyoto, and Tokyo. In Nara we got to see the largest wooden building in the world, some tame deer, and they even burned a very large hill while we were there. I was a little sad that the hill burning was not so exciting, and it was very cold while that was going on, so we didn't stay to watch the full thing burn. Ha. But it was a nice small city in Japan. Kind of reminded me of one of my hometowns in America, actually.

Kyoto was the city of old Japan. We saw so many old temples and buildings in this city! Some of them were truly beautiful, particularly one building that was completely covered in gold. The way the sun was shining on it was just amazing. And we stayed in a Ryokan while we were there. This is a traditional style Japanese building. We slept on mats on the floor, and there were rice paper doors, and everything was on the ground basically. It was a very nice experience. The people there brought us a special tea every day we came back home, and they even had a large bath that we got to enjoy a couple of nights. Japanese people apparently really enjoy a good bath. I'm not sure it was my favorite, but it wasn't too bad either.

Then came Tokyo. I loved Tokyo. It was so expensive there, but I really enjoyed being there. I tell you honestly that I love being in China, but there is a part of me that hopes that someday I get to live in Tokyo, too (don't worry Mom...I'm not signing away my life just yet :)! The people there were generally so friendly, the city was so clean, the buildings were often very beautiful, the people all looked and acted in such interesting ways...I mean, I really fell in love with the place. It's the best large city I think I've ever met. I think I liked it even more than New York City, but maybe I don't know enough to truly say that. Anyway, I think my favorite area there was the Ginza area. It seemed like you really had to have a lot of money to live there, but everyone looked so professional there. I don't exactly know how to describe it, except to say that it felt strong and powerful, and at the same time humble and ready to welcome you. Ha, maybe I am wrong, but that's how I felt there. All in all, though, I thought Japan was a wonderful place to visit. I'm really glad I went.

After Japan, I flew back to Shanghai and stayed there for a week. I got to spend time with other ESEC teachers, and I also got to spend some time with their students that I had met this past semester. It was really a great time to relax and just enjoy some casual friendships. I also got to do a little shopping while I was there. It was amazing to me that, even though Shanghai is a very Western city in China, the prices there are SO much cheaper than the prices we saw in Japan. Japan is really a very expensive country, with the exception of a few things here and there.

Then I was back in Bengbu for about a week before I went to Hong Kong. I also loved getting to go there. I got to see my old friend from work, Patrick. I got to celebrate the Chinese New Year with his family. That was great fun. It's such a fun time of year for the Chinese, it seems. All the family gets together, and, well, it reminded me a lot of being back home with my family for things like Christmas. So, I was really honored to get to share that time with their family. Another ESEC teacher, Drew, joined me in a very, very small hotel room there. But we managed okay, and we got to see many of the good things around Hong Kong. We even went to the Ocean Park there, which is a combination of an amusement park and an aquarium. And two days after the New Year, we went up to Victoria Peak, and we got to see all of the fireworks in the harbor from up there. I took some video of it, and it's just amazing. So many fireworks. But I had to leave Hong Kong, too. So now I'm back in Bengbu. I'm working on all my lesson plans for next semester. There's still a lot of work to do, but I think it's worth it.

Well, that's my travel story. If you want to see some of the pictures from the trips, you can go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jcross81

Favorite Quotes 3

2008-01-10T08:59:00.000-06:00

Sorry, I will have have to delay the Christmas gifts pictures a little longer. I can't access my blog directly, so I'm having to have a friend post this for me, and posting the pictures is a little time consuming, given that I'm about to leave the country, headed for Japan. Woo hoo! It's the end of the semester (sad), but it's the beginning of my 6 week vacation (yea!). So, I'll leave you with another set of quotes from students while I'm abroad.

"To be friend, I trust it is in the near future. Now I am talking about you with my roommates. Frankly speaking I like you."
-A new friendship that has recently developed thanks to Office Hours!

"Hearing your words, I am very happy from my heart. Excited and moved, I can't find any words to express my feelings. No words can do that, so being active to treasure the friendship between us is the best way, also the only way to describe my emotion."
-Really, some great friendships have developed during this semester.

"Meeting you is the most meaningful thing of my college life."
-This was from my "didi" or younger brother. A guy I also met from office hours. He is not really part of my family, but I think our friendship was meant to be, beyond my own intentions. For those of you who know my meaning, I think you also know my request to you about this friendship. It's a good one.

"Merry Christmas, John! May you have a nice Christmas, and grace and blessoing from Jesus is upon you!"
-Hard to be upset with that kind of wish on Christmas day in China!

"Hey, Merry Christmas! Cheerful everyday! Haha :)"
-Ha. The phrase "happy everyday" is a common one around here. Love that Chinglish!

"Merry Christmas! Wish you happy everyday!"
-I wasn't kidding! I could share MANY of these with you, but I'll stop with this one.

"Much joy to you in the coming year. May the warmest wishes, happy thoughts and friendly greetings come at Christmas and stay with you all through the year!"
-Really excellent English skills in this message. We don't get many of these, so I thought it was worth sharing.

"Season's Greetings to my teacher and friend, Mr. Ross. May you and your family have the best Christmas Eve ever. May happiness follow wherever you go, and at the same time, don't forget to hang up the sock tonight :)"
-Hahaha. Something just seems a bit kinky about that last part.

"Mary Christmas!"
-Can't see the line, can you Russ? Haha, name that movie!

"Happy christrancs eve! Happy christrancs day!"
-And a happy newtancs yearcs, too!

"Hot shit, Merry Xmas! Haha, hope it would snow tonight!"
-Hahaha. Some students know some American slang. And it's always interesting to see how it gets used...

"Thank you for joining us tonight. We all really had a good time. And we all regretted for not inviting you for dinner at the beginning of the semester, when we thought we are all shy."
-It's been cool to see that all throughout the semester, new students have suddenly decided to be a little bold and really try to be good friends with us. I think these friendships will carry over into next semester.

"Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be no; whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot; we will weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not. Don't let this gloomy weather influence your mood!"
-This one's for my mom. She worries about whether there will be weather a lot.

"HARRY New Year!"
-Hermione and Ron send their regrets.

"These ideas will not cost us much money. We can offer some newspaper, magazines and drinking in the rest room, so if they don't play the game during the rest time, they can enjoy themselves with the drinking and other."

-Of course, to be a proper company, drinking in the restroom isn't allowed before noon! Haha, this was actually part of a students answer on a test. Gotta love it!

And that's it for now :) Hope you all are enjoying the New Year! By the way, have you heard that I'm an UNCLE???!!! Little Eli Ross was born on 1/7/08, and it sounds like he and Mom and Dad are all doing very well. Congratulations Don and Courtney!

Coming Soon!

2007-12-31T15:51:00.000-06:00

I got some interesting gifts for Christmas, but I just got my camera back from a friend. So I'll try to take pictures and put them up here soon. Ha!

Favorite Quotes 2

2007-11-25T09:41:00.001-06:00

Back for Round 2 of my Favorite Quotes! I'll offer some explanations on some of these to help you understand the context. I think it will add a bit. Nonetheless, a good mix of funny and sappy quotes again :)

-----

If A is 1, B is 2, C is 3...Z is 26, then L+O+V+E = 54 and F+R+I+E+N+D+S+H+I+P = 108. Friendship is twice as strong as love. Thanks for your friendship!
-Thanksgiving wishes from a student

I open my wallet, find no money. I open my pocket, find no coin. I open my life, find you, then I know how rich I am. Forever my friend. Thank you!
-More Thanksgiving wishes (and no, my students aren't so clever as to come up with all these things...they are basically text message forwards, but they are nice, nonetheless)

In this world we are always losing something. When we lose these things we feel very sad. But we had better not lose these two things - the last bus going home and the woman you love deepest.
-A note from a girl student. Ha! If you asked her, though, she would have no idea of the possible implications of such a message.

What's wrong with you?
-A student said this to me to basically ask what had happened to me on a bad day. What he meant to convey was simply, "What's wrong?" But what was implied was, "Hey Crazy, are you mentally ill?" Ha. A simple misuse of a basic phrase, but it was funny.

Mr. Ross, it will be much cold tomorrow, so wear more cloths:-)
-From a boy student. God love 'em. I have more mothers in China than I ever dreamed possible in America. Even the boys tell me to watch out for "weather." That one's just for you , Mom.

Once there was a hero, his sword was cold, his heart was cold, and his hands were cold, too. Therefore, he died because he was so cold. That informs you that it is cold now. Wear more clothes!
-From a girl student. Sometimes it's pretty funny.

I'd like you to meet my friend. His English name is Condom.
-Sure enough, the boy's nickname in Chinese translates literally to condom. So he thought it was cool and picked it to be his English name. Yikes!

I was worried that you would feel disappointed with me because I am not really brave enough to pursue a big goal. And I think that it isn't really a rational affection. However, I just be turned into such a traditional girl and cannot get rid of this belief. I appreciate you very much for understanding. You are really generous to respect the idea that is opposite yours.
-A little difficult to read, but a very kind note from a student after we talked about goals in life. This student might like to be an artist of some sort, but it is not a stable career and cannot often pay for family needs. When we discussed the importance of doing work that is important to you, she really wanted to change her mind about her goals in life, but she could not. I told her I really respected her strong affection for her family, and I think doing so made a much bigger difference than trying to convince her otherwise. I think some good things were at work in this conversation, though many of the subtleties are not included here.

I am going to bed now, and I hope in my dream there is also a magical world. Of course, the handsome boy is most important, haha! Good dream!
-Ha. A girl wrote this after watching Spirited Away. Very funny.

Oh, Mr. Ross, my dear friend, I want to thank you! Thank you for giving me a chance to tell you a beautiful story in English! Before that I never thought I can do that, but you...yes, you...let me finish it. I am so happy. I want to tell you that I had a teacher I never forgot because she encouraged me to sing a song in public, and from then on I am not afraid to sing in public and I love singing. I miss her very much. Today you encouraged me to speak English and I tried to do it, and I know it is very bad, but I think I am not afraid to speak English from now on. I will keep working on my English, so I too am also a dangerous man!
-One of the students who now comes to Office Hours. The dangerous man part is in reference to a T.E. Lawrence quote that we shared with them all. Thanks, Jason.

Sincerely thank you. I will never refuse my friend's sincere words. Please trust me that my most value is friendship. We will talk more later.
-A note from a student after a disagreement of ideas. The student told me about some decisions he wanted to make, and I told him that I thought they were not good decisions. He didn't know how to handle the situation, so I told him that it was not my desire to tell him how to live his life - just to try to save him from some bad situations in the future. He really appreciated my sincerity, and I think he will make some wise decisions in the future now. So, I'm happy.

Haha, yesterday is so exciting that I dreamed Bruce Lee taught me how to fly. It sounds fun!
-So, I've started taking Kung Fu lessons, and my teacher (a student) is really excited about getting to teach a foreigner. It's a little scary at times, but it's really funny too.

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Okay, I thought I would just save these as a draft and wait for more quotes, but it's a good time for a post, and with my comments this is pretty long. So enjoy!

A Lament

2007-11-25T09:35:00.000-06:00

Time. How is there never enough time here? I really don't understand it. But for me to keep my sanity about me, there is just never enough time to take care of all my school responsibilities, student responsibilities, rest, and still find time to email, blog, upload pictures, etc.

Oh, it's sad. Maybe you will not think so, but I certainly do. You see, there are really some great stories I would love to share on here. Some of them I'd share just to let you know what's going on with me. But some I'd like to share because they might offer some insights into life and people that you might not get in America. Poignant and pertinant, I think, especially among the church.

But, time. Time is not enough. I truly pray this will change next semester, as I will be basically repeating the work of this semester at that time. But I will have new students. We will see what life has in store.

Until then, know that things are going well. So well, in fact, that I lament the fact that I don't have time to tell you all the stories I have to share. Don't let that discourage you from telling me what's new with you, though. Even if I can't respond to you immediately, I still want to know, and I'll do my best to respond eventually :)

Favorite Quotes 1

2007-10-30T06:53:00.000-05:00

I'm calling this Favorite Quotes "1" because I'm hoping that there will be other posts like this in the future. These quotes all came from my students. Some are funny; others very kind, and maybe a little sappy. I've only made some very minor changes to them so they can be read a little better. But some of the Chinglish I left behind for realism. I hope you enjoy. I know I have.

"Mr. Ross, you are a good teacher. You are doing a great job, and I'm very glad to be your student."

"Thank you for the way you treat us. You give me confidence many times, and I have learned a lot from you. You are a good teacher and friend, and you mean a lot to us. Keep on, Mr. Ross, we love you!"

"The radio station manager came by tonight and said you have a very sexy voice."

"Through this week's study and communication, we've seen that you are a good teacher and friend of us. You are enthusiastic, patient and friendly, sometimes like a cordial, big boy!"

"If you found yourself in a dark room, the walls around you are red and blood comes from everywhere, don't be scared - you are in my heart."

"Sometimes I feel you are not a foreigner but a Chinese friend. I am very happy to be your student."

"Mr. Ross, I think it is amazing. I can understand you so well. When you speak English, it's like you do not have an accent. When you speak Chinese, I almost think you are Chinese."

"Thank your teaching! It is very wonderful. In your class, I'm not afraid to make mistakes. So I dare to answer questions and speak English loudly."

"You have dreams and enthusiasm, unlike most professors in our college. You are a good teacher. I just want you to know that you are doing well and encourage you. I appreciate this kind of person such as you and wish you to be happy. It's true, not flattery."

"Mr. Ross, your Chinese is so standard - it is amazing! I think you have a great endowment for learning languages!"

Hahaha. I loved that last one. Really funny. And it's not too hard to see why this could build up a person's ego pretty quickly. Fortunately, I am aware that there are a lot of "kindnesses" shared in Chinese culture. So, not every compliment I receive is genuine, but even if only half of them are true, it's still pretty great.

But, it's great that, in being here, even though I have a chance to think, "Oh man, I must be the greatest thing since sliced bread," I know why I'm here. I know who brought me here and what purpose I'm here to achieve. And I know the glory is all His. So, thanks, Lord, for being who you are. I'm glad to be one of your students, too :)

A Newsletter's A Coming!

2007-10-21T03:13:00.000-05:00

Well, hello, folks!

This will be brief, as I am still pressed for time, but I wanted to finally write something here again. It has been a busy stretch of time, as most of my stretches of time here have been. That's not a bad thing because it keeps me from being bored, but it also doesn't seem like a real reflection of life and goodness. So, I am hoping that after our retreat to Xi'an in a little over a week, I can try to be a little ahead of schedule and not have to go so day-to-day to make things work for me.

Coming to you soon will be my first newsletter. It is brief, as it's hard to say a lot in only one sheet of paper, but it gives a nice update of some things. I hope you'll enjoy it. In the meantime, I thought I'd write to say how my new teaching method is going.

This last week, I decided to change my teaching method a bit. Previously, I lectured directly on the textbook material, but I incorporated many games and challenging activities to get the students to think of the material in new ways. I wanted to see how well they could work with foreign ideas (many Chinese students do not spend much time working on problem solving skills). So, with this new approach, I have placed a lot of the learning responsibility back on the students.

Now, for each new concept we come across in our text, I decide if the concept adds value to their knowledge of understanding business, and potentially life as well. If I deem it worthy of discussion, then I have the students discuss the topic in one of several ways. Sometimes it involves acting out different situations. Sometimes they have to be the "teacher" for a little while and prepare a small discussion for the other students. Sometimes I have them take opposing sides of an argument and make them defend their side. Sometimes I have one team present an idea, and other teams can agree or disagree with their ideas. All-in-all, it really provides for some very intriguing discussions. You can truly see how their thought processes are different from our own, as they do not often go about problem solving in the way we do. It's very intriguing. And I'll be interested to see how this continues to go after more weeks of this approach.

But for now I must go play tennis with some students. But keep me accountable. I have 24 tests to finish grading before tomorrow, on top of my usual Sunday activities. Ah! Always so busy. But having a great time, too. How are you?

Tired, But Encouraged

2007-09-12T00:16:00.000-05:00

Well, week 2 of teach is now well underway. Here are some things I've learned:

1) Teaching is TIRING
2) Lesson planning in TIRING
3) Coffee is GOOD :D
4) Watching students' eyes open brightly with understanding is REWARDING
5) It really pays off to be a CREATIVE teacher (thanks, Mom, for all your good ideas and inspiration)
6) All work and no play really is a BAD IDEA
7) Prayer is PIVOTAL to every aspect of our lives
8) It is not fun having a cough that will not GO AWAY
9) No matter how slowly you speak, some things just do not translate across CULTURES
10) YELLING is not a good motivator, but honest, sober DISCIPLINE accomplishes a lot

Class A, also known as "Full House" (after a Korean show, not poker or the American show), has been a great class for me. I have posted some pictures on my picture site if you'd like to see them. They are very animated, friendly, and they also seem to be very intelligent. I'm almost a little sad that at the end of this week, I will go to teach Class B, aka "Fantastic 24." But I'm excited about their class, too, as Rick (my teammate) tells me that they are a good and well behaved bunch.

Teaching is an interesting sort of occupation. It really does require you to pour yourself quite a bit in order to be effective and capable of gaining trust, respect, and favor in your students' eyes. But making that effort really seems worth it. It is a pretty great feeling to share a complex concept with the students and see them be able to grasp it and then perfectly complete an exercise that utilizes the skills just taught. I just hope they retain this stuff as well as they learn it initially!

But, all the many great things aside, I am still very tired. There is still so much preparation involved in each day's activities. I think this will get easier as I go, but I know that this entire first semester will just be tough. And I have had a nagging cough through it all. I don't know why it isn't going away either. Very annoying, for sure.

Anyway, I have passed on my afternoon nap today (they are almost a requirement for sanity) to write this because I realize I haven't given many updates lately. So, even though it isn't the best of my writings or stories, I hope you'll know it means a lot for this to be here. And perhaps when there is another block of free time, I can write about some of the fun things I've done here!

Everybody take care of themselves, let me know how you're doing, and continue praying diligently for all things and all the saints!

Prayer and Some Arrival Details

2007-09-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

For those interested in the prayer article, click on the "Detour" sign above, or just click here! I can't guarantee its complete validity, but I can say that Rick and I have at least seen some of the sermon's principles at work here, so we are encouraged to continue praying daily. Here is the original blog post below.

Whew! A lot has happened since our arrival. I wish I could explain to you everything that has been going on, but for time and other considerations I will not. But suffice it to say, it has been an amazing time, full of many good things and anticipation for many more.

Some news items: We did arrive safely. I suffered from what I think was bronchitis combined with the flu for about 5 days. I'm still not completely over it, but for all practical purposes, I'd say I'm well again. I have been getting to know the lay of the land, some of the students from previous years, some friends of our program, and the other foreign teachers here. I may not get to mention them in great detail, but Peter and Glenn are the two other foreign teachers who live in our building. Peter is from Sweden, but he has spent many years in America as well (and even New Zealand, so we had some fun stories to share). Glenn is from England, and his love for soccer runs deep and true. Both of these guys are great fun, and I am thankful to have them here in addition to my teammate Rick.

Rick and I begin our teaching tomorrow morning. Wow. That really blows my mind. Day 1 should be pretty easy, I think, but it has a lot of formalities involved as well. Let's all hope that I am truly prepared to meet the challenges ahead of me (and the same for Rick!). I know this year will not be a cakewalk. I know some wrenches are going to be thrown our way. But I cannot deny that our time here has been met with so much blessing already that it's hard to believe that there are not big things in store for the year ahead.

Now, for your homework assignment. I have placed a link on the picture at the top of this post. It is to a sermon that Rick and I have come across (actually, one of Rick's friend heard this pastor speaking and wanted to know more, so this is a taste of what was out there). I know many of you come from many different backgrounds and beliefs, but I want each of you to read this sermon and give it some deep consideration. I cannot vouch with full validity of the things discussed in this sermon. They challenge my mind and world views quite a bit, but I tell you with all honesty - Rick and I have been living like what is in there is true, while asking for correction if it is not, and thus far, we have not been disappointed in the results. So much so that I think you would be remiss to dismiss this information without first giving it a try yourself. Perhaps with a friend - it is easier to stay vitalized with someone sharing the burden. But I want you all to try this, and tell me if the flames are not felt in your life and in the lives of the people you meet.

Now I have to go to bed. Blessings to you all. Your lives have enriched mine, and I am thankful for that.

Some Good News

2007-08-16T16:03:00.001-05:00

Well, there are still a lot of unanswered questions here as training begins to wind down, but I have had some good news come my way lately. We had to turn in all of our lesson plans yesterday. Thank goodness that is done! Well, at least for now. They will need to be tweaked in country, but I finished the full year's worth of classes. As an added bonus, my instructors told me they were very pleased with my lesson plans and thought they would serve me well.

My other piece of good news is that it seems God has already been faithful in transforming me into the teacher I need to be. Just recently we had another practice teaching session, and it seems I've come a long way since our first practice teaching session. My nerves calmed down a good bit, my examples were relevant, easy to understand, and were conducive to discussion among the students. I still need to slow down my speech pattern a bit, and I will need to be diligent about repeating information several times over to make sure the students know all the words I'm using and understand the concepts I'm talking about before I go onto the next idea. But, according to my instructors, I'm really quite ready to go teach abroad! Thank you, Lord, for being so swift in revealing your goodness in me!

We are beginning to wind things down here, and the thought of going abroad is just now starting to sink in. Wow! It's a little intimidating, honestly. Comfort zone, get ready to be blasted away. But, man, God's faithfulness to me has been so abundantly present to me during this time of training, there's no way I can be fearful about what's ahead. Obviously He has already had His hand on me, blessing my steps and me with constant outpourings of His goodness and glory. And for those of you who know me well, you know that I am not the most optimistic, happy-go-lucky person in my times of reflection - so for me to be this pleased with my circumstances is a true testament to the fact that God has gone over and above to meet me in this time.

Alas, training isn't over yet, and I have another class to attend RIGHT NOW. Ah! Hope you're all doing well. Write me when you can. I'll do my best to return the courtesy :)

Week 3 - Closed for Repairs

2007-08-12T16:12:00.001-05:00

Are we there yet? No! In fact, I have 1 more entire week devoted to lesson planning before I get to rest. And by rest, I mean get on a 10+ hour plane ride, have a little more orientation, and then get on a 10 hour train ride. Woo hoo! Hahaha. Nah, it's not that bad, really.

In all honesty, I am pretty tired of making, refining, refining, and refining lesson plans. But, as always, I know there is a lot of value in getting these things mapped out before I depart. This week was also a little more difficult because I have actually gotten sick. I am definitely trying to get in rest where I can, but there isn't always a lot to be had. I am eating well and taking my vitamins, but I guess with allergy problems and sleep deprivation, I could only expect to go so long before I was hit with something. Let's hope it passes quickly.

The friendships that I've been building here have been great. God has truly brought together some great people with great visions to this place. The only disappointing thing about it is that, after we all get on our planes, I won't see any of them again (except for my teammate) until our first retreat, 90 days into our time abroad. But for now, they are here, and I am truly enjoying my time with them.

What else? I am reminded of how much I really, really love having a world filled with music. When you find yourself going from class to class all day long with few breaks in between, there isn't a lot of time to hear and sing along to some good melodies. I guess one of the good things about lesson planning time is that I can generally put on my headphones and enjoy some tunes for a while. It's great to see how much peace and enjoyment I get from these times. I hope God will always keep a good song in my heart or in my ears, as it is something that instantly reveals His goodness to me.

For those of you who can, I would love prayer for a strong finish. This upcoming week is our last one here, and things must be wrapped up before I go. So, as I continue to get well, I hope that God will bless me with increasing mental vigor to really come up with some great lesson plans to share with my students. I think I will enjoy the challenges of teaching, but I will definitely need some divine guidance to help me become the teacher I need to be.

How are things in your world? Let me hear from you if you have time!

Training, Week 2 - Preparations

2007-08-07T00:29:00.001-05:00

Week 2 is down, and I'm already in the midst of the excitement of week 3. And while the weight of the world seems to be resting on my every lesson plan, the image that keeps coming to mind is a scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I believe Pippin is talking with Gandalf as they look over the Pelennor Fields. I can't remember the exact line, but Pippin basically says that it's almost harder being on the edge of an inevitable battle than being in the midst of it. This is about how I feel.

I have never really been one who cared a lot for the necessary steps of preparation. Whenever I'd buy a new game, I'd want to start playing it immediately with no regard for reading the instructions. Same situation with things that require assembly or time to put in order. Maybe this is just part of being a guy, but I'd much rather head straight into the battle to see what I'm up against than to have to spend excessive amounts of time dealing with the "theory" of the battle, prior to engaging in it. But it seems I have much to learn from this time of being patient, being molded, and finally (hopefully) being transformed into a real, honest-to-goodness overseas business teacher.

I am thankful that, at this place, there is much encouragement and plenty of affirmation among all the critiques. They do not bloat our egos, but they do not crush our souls either - a fine balance, indeed. And I am thankful to see that, even though my teammate and I are very different people, it seems we actually do work pretty well together. I'm sure we'll face many hardships once we're abroad, but it's great to see true community here, and I hope I will remember it in the hard times ahead.

Thanks to all of you who have been sending me some really, truly wonderful notes of encouragement, in addition to keeping me up to date of what all is happening in your lives. I will do my best to respond to each of you personally as time is available.

But for now, I am still finding out just how important sleep is. Don't worry, Mom, I'm not sick - but I would greatly appreciate any of you who might offer prayers for continued health. Some days I feel a good bit sluggish, and it becomes hard to give 100% to all the tasks of the day. But the crazy thing is - I actually WANT to give 100% to them all - how often does that happen?!?!?! Okay, well, maybe a few exercises I'm not too thrilled about, but you get the picture.

Love you all. Get some rest for me, too :)

Teaching...Knowing really is only HALF the battle

2007-08-03T00:02:00.000-05:00

Today I had my first trial run as a business teacher. My instructor encouraged me by telling me in confidence that he wished he had 20 of me to send to China. However, that kindness aside, the other comments from him and the rest of my reviewers were overwhelmingly that my teaching style is best suited to American students, not Chinese ones. I am realizing that I’m going to have to be retrained in my presentation skills. And, while I know that over time these things will gradually be worked out in me, I figured I would post some prayer requests on here that you might consider offering for me in the meantime. I would truly love if God’s heart was moved to see my instincts supernaturally changed. Here are the areas where it seems I need the most change/prayer:

Use shorter sentences
Use smaller, less complex words
Use more relevant examples from Chinese culture
Wait for more responses from students, despite their silence
Incorporate less complex logic into conveying ideas
Learn to use the chalkboard as often as possible

I realize that there may be many good things for the Lord to show me through this transformation process. So, I will certainly be patient as my instincts are changed. But, as quickly as I can progress through this process and not miss the critical lessons He has in store for me, I would ask Him to bless me with an expedited path to proficiency as a Chinese teacher. I hope, if you remember me before Him, you might ask for similar things, or feel free to offer your own insights.

Training, Week 1

2007-07-29T19:03:00.000-05:00

Well the first full week of training has completed, and it has been a doozy! I've had all sorts of new ideas, policies, and classroom information thrown at me. But wait, it gets better next week! Hahaha, that's actually a bit sarcastic. Our schedule this week has gone from 6am (when I get up to run or read) until 9:30 or 10pm, with very few breaks in between. Next week we will keep the same schedule, but over the course of the next 2 weeks, I'm supposed to come up with lesson plans for EVERY CLASS I'LL BE TEACHING FOR THE NEXT YEAR! Yikes! Needless to say, that's a hefty task, especially since I've never taught before, and some of this business information will be unfamiliar to me.

But, all that acknowledged, I'm really excited about it all. I'll be teaching two classes - Marketing and Operations. My teammate will be teaching Management and Finance. I think that plays pretty well to our individual strengths, which is very helpful. Now let's just hope I can survive through this next phase so I can actually get to teach the courses abroad!

There are many things I could complaign about - many comforts that I have already had to leave behind to come just to LA - but, really, it all pales in comparison to the amazing things going on inside of me and in the folks at training. I'm not going to be making much money this year, and I may be losing valuable years of experience in the workforce, but I can't think of a place I'd rather be right now than here, in the midst of all this craziness. I'm very optimistic about this year - struggles, hardships and all! Now, y'all just be sure to remind me I said this when in 2-3 months I'm all upset at my circumstances :)

So, how are things for you? A lot of you great folks have taken a moment to say hello, and I sure have loved it. Since I don't have a lot of time, I may not write back the greatest responses to any emails, but I sure would love to hear from anyone who'd like to say hello.

Missing you all, but thankful to be a part of a great vision...