One Month Update!

Hello everyone! It has been one month and two days since we arrived in China and it is very hard to believe. Time has been flying and we have been pretty busy getting settled in our apartment, settled at school, and figuring out things like how to buy food, go shopping, etc. We hope that things will start settling down now that we have gotten our bearings a bit.

The "LQ" (Living, Quarters) where are apt. is. Our apt. is second from the top, in one of the stacks to the right of this pic.

We are enjoying a three day weekend thanks to "Mid-Autumn Day," and boy did it come at a good time! We are taking the opportunity to rest, do some cleaning, and be ready for the second week of school with kids. Our first week with kids was fun and challenging. Stephanie has some pretty rowdy kindergartners in a few of her classes, and so this week has been one of strategizing how to get them settled and comfortable in their English class. At least the little ones (2 to 2 1/2 year olds) have stopped crying when they get to school!

The view from our apt. deck. Looking to the right

My level two students (which is a class made up of first, second, third, and fifth graders, though the majority is second graders) are pretty rowdy too but they are settling down. I just discovered the magic of using puppets to help us speak English and they are loving it. I don't think I ever thought I'd do the puppet thing.......

The view from the deck of our apt. Looking to the left.

What has been most meaningful to our transition here is the welcome we have received from the teachers and administrators at the school. In general, it can be said that the people here are so welcoming, and are very giving of their time and resources to help us foreigners. Our fellow teachers have been very patient with us as we try to work our way through the language barriers. It seems the doors are very open for Stephanie and me to get to know some of them outside of school, and we look forward to this opportunity. There is hope to set up a language partner program, which would see each English teacher pair with a Chinese teacher, with each one assisting the other in language growth. This can no doubt result in out side of school hangouts. Excited for this. The leaders of our school are also very welcoming and understanding of the transition we are going through. Incredible examples of leadership that I will remember for years to come.

Our foreign friends! L-R: Luke, Cody, Brynn, Emily, Jesse. Cody and Brynn are new teachers from Mississippi. Jesse and Emily have been in Wuhan for around 6 years and Emily teaches at the school (only until the end of Sept. though).

Stephanie cleaning the shower!

Relationship are highly valued here. It seems like where I want to have life revolve around schedules, organization, and what I can control, the reality is that life here revolves around relationships. Very cool, and challenging for me at times, but it is routine to have folks dropping their work at the opportunity to help others, for the sake of relationship. Pretty cool, and results in much reflection on my part. Again, an open door for stretching us, and building bridges relationally.



Until next time,

L and S

Some funny things...

The other day, Luke and I went to WalMart, the nearest store where you can buy anything you need! Oh WalMart. We went to buy some groceries and other random things we needed. The experience was an adventure in itself--there were ladies who worked there, following us around and trying to help us find what we needed, but then getting us and them even more confused...and then someone who speaks a bit of English would show up and try to translate a bit--we were a circus!

And then we got to the meat section, which was like no meat section I've ever seen. Whole frozen chickens (and I mean whole, beak, claws, yep) just laying in frozen cases, with no packaging. What do people do, just grab one by the leg and take it home? Ah, but that is even tame. What do we come to next, but a refrigerated case with no lid full of huge bullfrogs. Just piled in there. Oh yeah, and they were alive! EW! It was so nasty. But this just scratches the surface.

Finally we got what we needed, and I picked up some frozen rolls on our way out. There's a section of frozen rolls stuffed with things like meat, veggies, etc. And then, I found some that were plain, that I figured we could just stick in the oven and eat with some jam. One issue, was that there was no English on this package at all, but I was fairly certain of what I was getting. So anyway, we go home and decide to eat the rolls that night. I pop them in the oven, wait until they brown a little, and say, hurrah, they're done, let's eat! I grab one of them (ooh, hot!), pull it apart to spread some jam on, and what do I find, but a big pile of poo inside! Smeary, brown, gooey, poo. I shrieked in laughter at something so surprising, and then decided to inspect it. I discovered it was some sort of bean paste (like mashed beans, kind of) and it was sweet! Maybe not much better than poo. It was nasty tasting. I scooped it out and still did the jam thing, but there was still enough remnant to taste. Yes, I am still wanting to adventure with food, but next time I'm going to steer clear of the poo roll case.