August 9, 2007

Hello!

I hope everything is going well for all of you. Know that your yarping and encouragement means so much, we couldn't do it without you over here! The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy! We finished English House and I feel confident that I will be able to keep in touch with my roommates throughout the next semester. We finished up our English Conversation classes, and I feel a sense of accomplishment that I actually taught a class! I really can do it...haha. What Dad wants us to do, he enables us to do. And I'm so glad!

Another thing I finished up was my Vision English class. I was sad to finish that one but I am excited because I was able to form some relationships that I definitely think will carry over. On Monday of the last week, we went out to dinner with our group (one of the other summer volunteers and I shared a group) and ate this dish that is very popular around here--cold noodles, in some sort of spicy soup. It was interesting...especially since by the end of it, most of the students were saying "that's really spicy!" (And you know that if the native people think it is spicy, then it is really intense...) Afterwards we went for dessert and went to Rainbow Bridge, which is like a little carnival. It has several rides you can go on, and we went on one of those ships that swings back and forth. It's right next to the river, and it's Chinese, and I was a little concerned, but our motto over here has become T I C--This is China! So I just went on and had a good time, and trusted my safety to Dad! haha. I will attach a picture of the group.

It was strange saying goodbye to the other volunteers that we have worked pretty closely with, since we are not leaving! However, we did have a goodbye time in that we left for a few days. As soon as English house was over, we went to Beijing for a few days with our supervisor and her nephew and another teacher. On Saturday we went and visited the Summer Palace, which was really beautiful! Sunday we picked up my dad from the airport and went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, which was absolutely huge and we only had an hour to go through. Monday we went to the Great Wall! That was pretty amazing... it's sad though, because I can't imagine how many people died building that wall. I can't even really imagine how some of them lived, seeing as it was so far up in the mountains and so dangerous. Beijing was very polluted, too; we didn't see the sun for the three days we were there! I don't think I would like to stay there for an extended period of time.

Anyway, now we are back in Yanji and taking my dad around the school and the city to show him where we are living and working! Last night we went and had a birthday dinner for me and I got to have my Korean sweet and sour chicken a and an amazing oreo coffee shake from this little coffee shop run by m's here. We've also gotten to see a few presentations of the school and what it's all about, so he will know more when he gets back.

Something I have been thinking about a lot lately is how different the people are here, and yet how the same. We are all human beings, we are all alike in so many ways. However, they have a different way of thinking. Their government has been different from ours for a very long time, and although it would be easy to say "well that's only a political thing" it really is amazing how that part of society influences a person's worldview. There are funny stories we can tell about English House that show what a community spirit they have here. Our friend Jonny needed a new pillow because his was apparently a combination of four lumps that, if you got them to stick together all night, would give you a decent night's sleep. Now Jonny talked about getting this pillow for about two weeks before he actually did. Finally we went into town and wandered around for a couple of hours trying to find a place that sold pillows, and when finding one, figured out how to get the pillow and everything. So Jonny had his pillow, and had a great night's sleep that night. However, the next afternoon he walked into his room to find his roommate sleeping on his new pillow, on his bed. (Maybe this story isn't as funny when I type it out, but Jeanna and I were laughing at this point...) It was hilarious because they don't even think about that kind of thing here. That guy had a top bunk so when he wanted to sleep during the day and he was too lazy to climb to his bunk, he just dropped on the nearest one. And then Jonny got a new pillow and it gave this guy a more enjoyable nap experience! Haha and this is when our motto, TIC, comes into play. There isn't really a sense of "this is my pillow and that is yours". People don't think twice about lending or borrowing things, because they don't really belong to anyone; they're everyone's! And like Jonny said, if there was anything he needed to use that belonged to his roommate, his roommate wouldn't hesitate in giving it to him. It's interesting because it makes me think about how different it is at home, and how annoyed I would be if I came in and my roommate was sleeping on my bed... because they have their own bed. Why do they need to sleep on mine? But it's not like that over here... sharing is a part of life, and it puts a new perspective on individualism!

So perhaps that is the end of my philosophizing for this issue! I'm excited about what Dad is doing here and how he is giving us opportunities to talk to people about our f**th. It seems like Jeanna has had more opportunities to talk to people that don't know him yet, and I have had more opportunities to encourage brothers and sisters that have shared with me about themselves. I think Dad has many purposes for our being here!

Thanks again for yarping, and I'll talk to you later :)

In him, Joanna

P.S. I attached a picture of a fun time I had baking a cake and rice krispie treats with my roommates (they had never done that before and were ecstatic... and then it came time to eat the cake and they said "It's too sweet!')