Memorial Day Weekend

We just celebrated Memorial Day weekend in China (not that the day is celebrated here in China, or that we planned a special celebration just for the day). But the celebrated nonetheless. Saturday we went to a Children’s park in town with unlimited spinny-go-pukey rides and fair games. Since Kanyon is so small, he enjoyed watching all the others ride the rides and playing with the free merry-go-round. He absolutely loved the elevated car ride. While at the park he mastered the Chinese squat as seen in the photo.

And Sunday the celebration continued with a potluck picnic at the Forestry University in Harbin. We had all the goodies from cupcakes to KFC bucket chicken and potato salad. Again the weather was great and we enjoyed baseball, football, and Frisbee (all the good ole American summer games). Kanyon was super pumped to be outside playing and running around the whole picnic. He didn’t slow down once, not for food or water or nap, only to find the next person willing to play and the newest toy. We really enjoyed the weekend outside celebrating the holiday we didn’t really plan to celebrate. It was great!

Tuesday Morning Image

China mourns the Sichuan earthquake that took so many live one year ago. Please remember those who lost homes, children, fathers, mothers, friends, and countrymen. Ask for continued healing physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

A Morning in the Park

Parks are the best place to go and check out what China is really like. Here is an example of some of the morning exercises done early each morning. Enjoy the sights and sounds.

Morning in the Park (0:39 min)

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Unexpected Conversation

I was wearing this shirt last night to English corner and it happened to prompt an unexpected conversation.

Student: "Is that your university?"

Me: "Yes. It's Texas Tech University."

Student: "Is that shirt a uniform?"

Volume 3, Issue 5

As the semester draws to a close, our thoughts are toward the future including summer plans and returning to China next year. Currently we are piecing together our summer schedule trying to arrange ways to see as many of you as possible. You have provided tremendous support and encouragement to our family and the students here in China. Please know that we appreciate each of you deeply and hope to express our appreciation to you personally this summer.

If you are not already, please prayerfully consider partnering together with the Father’s plans for this nation and joining the support team.

Inside Advanced Oral English

“So, you are an English teacher in China. What does that mean? What do you teach and how do you do it?”

I realized that many may not know what happens as an English teacher in China so I thought it would be cool to give you a peek into the classroom, from preparation to students. Advanced Oral English is a class that I could do anything with as long as the students are improving their spoken English and our organization provides a “Resource DVD” filled with curriculums from previous teachers. This semester, since my students’ English level is remarkable, I decided to challenge the students with weekly debates. Each week, the students are given a homework assignment to research information for the next week’s debate. The semester’s topics include the rising tuition costs, unemployment, gun control, examination based assessment, and internet censorship.

The class begins with a simple warm-up activity in which pairs of students talk together each giving their opinion on the topic (ex. Foreign educated Chinese have an obligation to return to their homeland upon graduation for the betterment of China) and the other student plays “Devil’s Advocate.” This activity really challenges the students to think outside the box and examine opinions contrary to their own. The class continues as we learn about the different aspects of the debate including resolutions and syllogisms (ex. Wars cause death and destruction; death and destruction are immoral; therefore, wars are immoral.) before we conclude the class with a formal debate pitting two pairs of students against each other.

We have found that by teaching the students to think critically inside the classroom, they are more likely to begin to think critically outside the classroom. The hope is that this deep thinking will eventually lead the students to question their worldview and examine/consider “the other side of the coin” including eternal matters.

72% of freshmen students responded ‘I am…none’ when asked what they believed; additionally 16% responded ‘I am atheist.’ ”
Freshmen Oral English class survey 2009

Lost in Translation

We went to Pizza Hut to fill one of M'Lynn's cravings. We tried to order a personal pan pizza for her because I was not eating and only wanted coffee. When the waiter came to our table we pointed to the personal pizza for 25 RMB and said, "We would like one of those."

"What about this one, it is bigger?" he responds as he point to the medium on the next page.

"No, we want the small one with no black olives."

"Are you sure, it is so small. The medium is much better!" he continues to press.

(While we are not sure what exactly was said, this is how the body language conversation as going at this point.)

"No, we want the small pizza. He is not eating, he is full." we manage to respond to the waiter using every last bit of language we have learned.

When the pizza arrives, it looks much larger then a personal pan pizza, but we say nothing. Then curiosity gets hold of us and we check out the receipt left at the table for the price of the pizza...66 RMB!! We had been had! Somewhere in the conversation we must have agreed to order the medium pizza or the waiter had been so convinced that we were both hungry he thought it best of order the medium.

We don't have enough language to be able to explain the whole mix up. (And our lack of language was what led to the whole confusion in the first place.) Being the true American we are, we ate the entire pizza!

Tuesday Morning Image

Almost anywhere you travel around Harbin we find vendors selling food to those passing by. The food could be meat, veggies, toufu, or any number of things but most likely it is sold fried and on a stick. We refer to this food as "street food" or sometimes "hepatitis on a stick." While we have never been sickened by any of these foods, safety and health should be lifted up. Please remember all those who are eating this food that they will remain healthy and nourished. Also remember those making their living by selling these foods.

May Holiday

With the weather being so nice and it being a holiday weekend, we hit the taxis and went down to Walking Street (Zhong Yang Da Jie), the largest shopping district in Harbin. We were not alone, we had some friends with us, and the crowds of other Chinese out enjoying the weather and holiday.

Leisurely strolling down the street was no problem. We had Kanyon leashed up with his monkey backpack and he enjoyed walking. We did have to be careful not to stop for too long or we would draw a rather large crowd. We did experience the crowds at their fullest until we stopped for a snack at a bench. For about 15 minutes we comfortably ate our banana bread muffins and drank some cold water. Then the crowds appeared with the camera phones out and ready to get the perfect picture of how they spent their holiday weekend!



Back to our feet and off we went walking again, but this time looking for some food. We could have stopped here (see below) to enjoy any number of things on a kabob but we trekked on.



Next stop was Pizza Hut where there was a 40 minute wait. So off to find another Pizza Hut we thought was near. Only one problem, there wasn't another Pizza Hut anywhere on the length of the street so we settled into "Oriental King of Dumplings" for lunch.

We could not have asked for a better time out and about enjoying the holiday weekend and the weather. We hope your weekend is just as great.

Be sure to check out more of the "Featured Photos" on the right or click the link below to see all the pics.