Sore Throat, Chr*stmas Spirit, and Sampras!!!!!

Monday, December 12th—Oh, culture shock. Sometimes it comes in big avalanches, and other times just in fun little doses. Today, for example: 1) another teacher from my school happened to be on the same bus as me, and once we spotted each other, we maintained an awkward, 90% Chinese convo for about a minute, until I exhausted my "small talk" vocabulary. 2) As anyone who's Skyped with me while I'm in my school office knows: it's COLD here! I mean, warmer than a Wisconsin winter, but still right around freezing. But my school (like many places in Wuhan) doesn't have heat, AND people insist on keeping windows WIDE OPEN throughout the day and night. Ugh...as I walk into the office each morning (wearing 3 or 4 layers of clothing) and begin the daily "battle" of closing the windows only to find them open a bit later, I long for springtime ;) 3) When the weather's frigid like this, people constantly tell me I must "take more clothes" due to the outside temperature. Now, it doesn't matter if I am already wearing twice as many clothes as the person giving the command, or if wind is blowing in through the open window...this will still be the discussion. 4) Every Monday and Tuesday when I have to stay late in the day, I get the treat of watching our school guard (a man in his 60s maybe) come into the office, open a cabinet shamelessly, and pour himself a big helping of bai jiu (Chinese liquor) in his flask. He then enjoys it while eating lunch at his post by the front door, and then lounges, napping most of the afternoon. Lemme tell ya, if I were a senior citizen in China, I'd love to be a "guard" at a kindergarten as well ;)

Such jolly greetings for a passerby on the streets of Wuhan. Too bad the cones and red tape detract a bit though!

On Monday night, a few of us foreigners went out to eat delicious dumplings with our Chinese friend Johnny before Study. Afterwards I got to bond with Mary, Esther, and Bleanda, giving them a quick tour of my bedroom, speaking in English and Chinese, and talking a bit about boys :)

Tuesday, December 13th—I woke up with a sore throat, but didn't realize how bad it was until I got to school, tried to greet people, and hardly anything came out. After attempting to teach my first class with the aid of a microphone, and failing to muster the voice to sing, I went to the school office to rest. Eventually a school leader said I could go home, without my asking (the way communication with me usually goes at my school, I'd decided not to even ask to be sent home early, but just to sit in the office). After a bit of protest from my boss, who insisted I MUST go to the hospital for injections (preferred medical treatment here), my sweet friend Joy (teacher with the best English at my school) came to my rescue. I headed home and rested all day.

There's a new kitchenware store near to our apartment, and their advertisements prove quite entertaining. I never really understand the point they are trying to make, but...they DO get our attention!

Wednesday—This morning when my alarm went off, I was conflicted as to whether to call in sick or not; I didn't feel absolutely awful, but definitely nowhere near 100%. Eventually I decided to text my boss and tell her I'd be staying home, but when I tried, I got a "fun" surprise: my phone was OUT of MONEY! Oy...well then, I had no choice but to get up, get dressed and head to school. Glad I did though-- after teaching, I had lunch with my friend Julia. She's a friendly Russian lady, about ten years older than me, married to a Chinese man. Their son is in one of my classes, and we'd chatted quite a bit in the past weeks, getting to know each other. Julia's home was absolutely breath-taking. From the outside, it looked just like a normal Chinese apartment, but when we walked inside, I couldn't contain my jaw-dropping stare. I truly meant it when I told her it was the nicest home I'd seen in Wuhan, but it's also one of the nicest I've seen anywhere! Luxurious furnishings, high-tech toys and appliances, ornate decorations, and space (3 stories, a gigantic kitchen, a porch and upstairs deck)...I was blown away! She cooked us a sort of "comfort foods from around the world" lunch: Chinese-style meat and potatoes, a Russian tuna salad, and crepes with jam. Everything was just scrumptious, and I couldn't decide what part of lunch was better--feasting on the meal or laughing and talking with Julia, and her daughter, "Sophia." A very pretty 11-year-old, Sophia was very much like her mom, incredibly kind and interesting, talkative, and fluent in English, Russian AND Chinese. Whew...talk about your inferiority complexes! We had a delightful afternoon together and it was so much fun talking about our shared experiences as foreigners here in China, while comparing Russia and America as well!

It must've been a humorous moment-- this is me with my "big class," probably trying to  get volunteers for a game or song, and about to get overtaken by eager participants!

Later in the day, I met up with Andrea...we had a good talk about the difficulties of doing "Work" here, and how it can wear on a person at times. We grabbed some Starbucks (what a blessing to have that here for an occasional taste of home) and boarded a crowded bus to visit Peter, Darin, and Jess's Study in Wuchang. The group was varied: a couple regulars with good English, a few visitors who didn't speak any (a regular translated), and Shawn, a nice friend of ours from last year, who was visiting from his home city. Study went quite well, and discussion tended to turn into small group question and answer sessions, which was led to some good talks I had with Esther and Edward. Esther asked about J*sus' appearance while here on earth, and the qualities that made him "true man." Edward is a tough one...he's such a friendly guy, but asks tons of well-thought questions, and doesn't accept an answer without arguing and challenging quite a bit. Still, I was glad to have the experience, and it was a good workout for my f@ith as well--he, Darin, and I debated whether or not humans are helpless without G*d for awhile, and I think eventually (with His help) we were able to show him how much we need our L*rd.

I think the Chinese translates to something like: "Caution, hit head."

Thursday—I woke up a little late today, and didn't have any time to put on makeup (I think for the first time ever teaching at this school). So, it was a precious moment when I walked into one of my classes, and about ten students said how pretty I looked-- and this class had never said that before. Maybe they're just into the natural look ;) But thanks, 3-year-olds, for the boost I needed, haha. It was a pretty chill afternoon...we had Hankou group devotion, I ate some leftover dumplings Johnny's mom had made for us with Andrea, and I met a nice guy from Africa on my walk over. I never know how to handle seeing another foreigner out and about...should I play it cool and ignore them, maybe just give a smile and nod of understanding as we pass each other, or greet them and start up a "What brings YOU to this crazy place" conversation? All have worked in my favor and against me at one time or another :) But in this case, my new friend Soriba spotted me, ran over to introduce himself, and talked pleasantly about how he came here to study medicine. 

My little kiddies doing their afternoon exercises. Sorry it's just a side-view (taken from my school office window); I'll try to get a front-view one in the future!

Friday—Today before my "big class" began, the students ran up to me to share plans for their coming weekend...I was pretty excited when I could understand "Mici" telling me that her big brother's getting married, and "Tina" telling me that she was going to receive a lot of...something...over the weekend. Okay, well, I've made a little progress at least ;) My afternoon was kind of yucky; I was a bit annoyed after being scolded for doing something at school that I've seen plenty of other teachers do (those things being, putting my hands in my pockets and drinking water while greeting the kiddies in the morning), I went shopping at lots of places for powdered sugar and couldn't find it, and did a lot of cleaning at our filthy home :p But the evening made it worthwhile... 

Around 5:00, I walked over to the Foreign Languages School to meet Sophia, who was bringing a bunch of her students to decorate Chr*stmas cookies. However, when I got there, she called my phone saying that they had arrived...at MY house, you know, the place I just walked from. Oy. Rather than be annoyed, I hitched a motorcycle taxi to get there more quickly, and met Sophia and five of her students, who'd been driven by their parents rather than taking the school bus (hence, the change in drop-off location). I was quickly introduced to her darling students and while we stood around waiting for three more to join us, Sophia excitedly pulled me aside to share a secret..."I REALLY want to get b@ptized!!!" This wasn't new info to me, but her enthusiasm, insistence on telling me almost immediately after I arrived, and her saying that she'd studied books Andrea and I gave her about HIM very often, made me incredibly happy.

Before the cookie-decorating, our ragtag group of 8 students, Sophia, and myself, went out to dinner. We basically had an English corner, as students took turns asking me all the standard questions "Why do you come to Wuhan?" "Do you have a boyfriend?" "Do you like Chinese food?" and I returned the favor: "Do you like Michael Jackson?" "Where do you want to travel the most?" and so on and so on and so on. There was a memorable moment though, when I asked the kids if they knew lots of Chr*stmas songs, and they ALL started singing "When Chr*stmas Comes to Town" loudly enough for the whole restaurant to hear. Funny, embarrassing, and awkward, since I think they wanted me to join in, and I don't actually know that song ;)

Since I wasn't able to find powdered sugar, the goopy frosting I made tasted delish, but didn't have ideal consistency for, you know...staying ON the cookies. Good thing they all got devoured quickly.

Once we got to the house, it was "Julie gives cookie baking lessons" time, while Sophia napped on the couch, kids got into flour fights, and lots of giggling ensued. A bit chaotic, but a true joy to watch the 12-year-olds make Chr*stmas cookies for their first time...and they helped me clean up afterward ;) When the kiddies had all gone back home, Sophia and I sat down for a good discussion and B*ble Study about b*ptism and its gifts. We answered questions about what it means for the b*liever, and she seemed to take everything to heart, asking good questions and understanding well. May HE be praised!

Saturday—Today was our big FoC Chr*stmas Party, but I felt awful when I woke up in the morning. Thankfully, Kelsey motivated me to get outside with her...we did some shopping (bought matching Chr*stmas sweaters, haha), and got ready for the day, then took the long (and trafficky) bus ride to Jess and Nicole's apartments.

Choir of ch*rch regulars singing classic Chr*stmas hymns in Chinese.

We traveled to the reception hall we'd reserved for the big party, anticipating about 200 guests from B*ble Studies, ch*rch, and just people we know who we wanted to share the true meaning of the holiday with. Snacks were laid out on tables, there was free time early in the evening to mingle, play a game, and take photos, and then the programs began. Brian and Ivy (our Chinese friend, a university English teacher, who helps us out in so many ways) hosted the night, various groups sang, played instruments, and most importantly, read the Chr*stmas Story from the B*ble.

Bleanda, Mary, and I (the two sweet and stylish ladies have come to our study quite a bit 1st semester).

My old friend Sharon made it to the party (first time I'd seen her all year), as well as my friend Jess, and Kristine (it was her first time coming here as well, and it was a struggle trying to meet up with her and describe the location...thankfully some nice ladies outside helped me talk on the phone to her). :) My friend Jess enjoyed the B*ble readings, we looked through a devotion booklet prepared as a gift for our friends, practicing our English and Chinese, and discussing basics of Scr*pture. After the performances ended,there was more time for meeting new friends and reuniting with old ones. Most of the FoC girls spent the night at Nicole's place, where we geeked out over a showing of Breaking Dawn :D

At the end of the night, Jess told me that he'd like to study the B*ble with our group...what a blessing!!!

Sunday—In between ch*rch services today, I met "Harry," a young man new to our group...he was very friendly and asked lots of good questions, including "Why did G*d let Adam and Eve sin in the garden?" That'll wake you up in the morning ;) Andrea and I headed to Hanyang in the late afternoon, to meet up with Brian, and our Chinese friends Jonathan Li and Dr. Luke...who'd secured us tickets to see an exhibition tennis match featuring...Pete Sampras!!!!!

After enjoying a Subway supper, Jonathan Li drove us to the arena. A Chinese tennis star, "Li Na," originally from Wuhan, recently was the first Asian ever to win the championship at some tennis match (I am a failure for not knowing this, I realize). So she'd become a hero for the city, and they hosted "Li Na and Friends," the "friends" being Pete Sampras, Carlos Moya (from Spain) and Sabine Lisicki (Germany).

As the pics show, we were VERY close to the action...Dr. Luke has a brother who works with major sporting events in Wuhan, making our awesome seats possible! As the pics also may show, tennis isn't super-huge in China, so there were lots of empty seats :p But that didn't change our excitement when we walked in, realized our seats were about 3 rows from the front, and saw Pete Sampras RIGHT in front of us!!!

The thrill upon first seeing Pete was pretty intense, and we wanted to shout out to him lots of times, but  were too shy.  The first match featured Sampras against Moya, who was quite beautiful (one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful," to be more specific) :)

The second match was mixed doubles...one of my favorite moments of the night happened  during warm-ups: The rap music that started blaring from the loudspeakers was horrendous...the "f- word" and the "n- word" were thrown around left and right, but I guess since most of the crowd was Chinese, those who played the music didn't notice, or didn't think the crowd would notice. But Sampras sure did: a few seconds into the song he threw up his hands, dropped his racket, and looked to the ceiling with an incredulous "What the heck?" face? And THEN, he looked at Brian, Andrea, and I...and we all laughed, a lot.

My second highlight of the evening was when Andrea and I got on the stadium's jumbotron!!! My first time ever :D At first we waved and smiled a little, but after a couple seconds decided to bust out same dance moves, thinking no one at the place knew us anyway. Well, about 30 seconds later, one of my former students texted me, saying "I am also here." He tracked us down later, laughed at our dancing, and said he couldn't wait to tell his classmates about it. Oh man. Someone on the street the next day asked Andrea if she was on the jumbotron, and a few days later, another of my former students commented that she'd seen me on T.V. during the match!!! Thankfully though, they didn't show us dancing on T.V. ;)

What a crazy, memorable week it was!!!