"A Report of the Browns"

Way back in October, when the leaves were still on the trees and it wasn't -6F outside, my parents came to visit. Their visit coincided with China's national holiday, so most of the time I was on break and was able to tour around Beijing, Shanghai, and Harbin with them. (Check out my photos of Beijing and Shanghai, my photos of Harbin, and my mom's photos here).

I only had one class while they were in Harbin visiting - a section of Newspaper Reading for Junior English majors and this section just happens to be 25 girls. I had them write up questions and interview my parents. Here's some snippets of student reflections after interviewing:

V wrote:
"At the first sight of the special guests, I was amazed by the atmosphere around them. What an elegant lady and what a handsome and tall sir.”

D said:
“The two special guests are Sarah’s parents. They are both very kind Americans. And the most impressive thing was that the father was very, very tall. As soon as he came into the classroom everybody in the room just cried out: “Wow, how tall he his.”

C wrote:
“The special guests impress me very much. I like them very much. They are humorous. Father is well-read, he is reading Sun Zi. Mother likes gardening. She has a big flower garden and a vegetable garden. She also admires Obama. She said she surfs the Internet to see what he is doing everyday. That’s fantastic and interesting.”

S said:
“When I talked to them I found that they were very kind and friendly. I knew that they like China and think China has a long history. And 1.3 million Chinese people impressed them very much because they went to Shanghai fro the Expo and found that there were so many people.”

Some commented on the difference between American families and Chinese families, like D:
"American parents do not expect their children too much. They leave them more personal space and freedom. They would be happy if their children choose what they want.
"American children/kids are the same as Chinese children. For example, little Sarah played with the toys, such as mummy bear, father bear and the baby bear. That is the same game. It is called Guo Jiajia or Play house."

And J:
“First, they are very friendly. They are very amiable parents, I think. Through this short interview, I find that your family is not like what I saw on the American movie. In the movie, they are very open. Whereas I think your family is traditional and it is not very different from Chinese.”

The students were really so thankful to have you visit their class, mom and dad!
P wrote:
"They are very kindly and warmly to answer any of our questions. They love their daughter very much. Their impression on China is very good, they both said China is very great country with a long history."

T wrote:
"Their way of answering question is very unique, they didn't avoid any question. They answered each question clearly and specifically. The stories they recalled about their daughter did in her childhood were very interesting."

...Thankfully none of the stories were too embarrasing!

And one student, Y, wrote a book:
"As Sarah's parents coming into the classroom we were shocked. "How tall Mr. Brown is!" Everyone murmured. After a brief introduction, the class began the "asking-answering" activity.
"From the interview - I knew that Sarah's parents cares about Sarah very much. They will never push Sarah to do anything if she doesn't want to. Also they showed their no-worry feelings for their daughter working in China because it is very safe here. As to whether they could accept a Chinese son-in-law, they say they would respect Sarah's choice. (Haha. In a class of 25 girls... it's not surprising that they'd ask about this!)
"It was very exciting to have foreign guests although sometimes we couldn't express ourselves clearly and we didn't know what exactly was appropriate. But we were thankful for having Sarah's parents in our class. We liked them as much as we like Sarah."

TWO BANANAS

A few weeks ago, I had a two banana day.

Banana number one: It was around 1 PM in the afternoon, just between lunch and class. I had to quickly go and make copies of some paperwork for the other foreign teachers, so I went to the place I usually go just a few apartment buildings away from home. I make my copies and ask "how much?" The girl hands me a banana. I push it back at her, once, twice, but finally give in. It's custom in China to first refuse a gift ... I'm still learning this one. On top of this, she didn't let me pay. Next time I go to make copies I think I'll bring oranges.

Banana number two: Later that evening I was walking out the side gate to go get dinner. I pass by one my my students and give the normal English greeting: "Hi, how are you?" To which he replies, "I just bought fruit" and hands me a banana. It all happened so sudden, I couldn't refuse. Let's just say it reminded me that I need to review greetings with this students' class.

CHANGBAI SHAN

For the Mid-Autumn Holiday (yesterday) two of my co-teachers and I took a 39-hour tour to Changbai Shan (a.k.a. Baekdu Mountain (KO) or Perpetually White Mountain (EN)) - a famous volcanic mountain that boarders North Korea.

Here's how the trip went:
1 hour in a taxi
2 hours waiting for the train
10 hours on an overnight train
4 hours on a tour bus
1 hour on another bus through the park
1 hour in line to wait for a jeep to the top
20 minutes (that I wish was 30 minutes) riding to the top
and finally...
40 minutes hiking & picture taking at the top of the volcano!
and then...
15 minutes (again, wish was 30 min...they drive dangerously fast) riding down
30 minutes on the bus again
30 minutes walking to the hot springs and back
30 minutes on the bus to get to the other bus
1.5 hours on the tour bus to get to lunch
45 minutes for lunch at a Korean-style restaurant
1.5 hours to the ginseng and deer antler farm & Northeast China specialty store
1.5 hours back to the Antu train station
1 hour for dinner at another Korean-style restaurant
2 hours waiting for the train
10 hours on an overnight train
10 minutes in a taxi

... but all the travel was so worth it because:

At the top of Changbai Shan, there's a crater lake, called Tian Chi "Heaven Lake," which most people don't get a chance to see since it's often covered in a thick mist. We got to see it!

It was also wonderful to get out of the city for a change!

BUTTERFLIES

At 8 AM tomorrow I'll be teaching my first class of the fall semester - a training class for teachers in English speaking and listening. I'm trying my hardest not to be nervous or intimidated ... I always have the "first day of school butterflies" when I teach that first class, but I'm afraid I'll have a few more butterflies this time since I've never taught teachers before.

Later this week, on Thursday, I'll begin another class - Newspaper Reading. Though I've never taught this course before and have a lot to plan for it, I'm a bit more confident since the students are the same students I've taught since my first fall 2 years ago!

Next week, I'll begin the third course I teach - Oral English for Ph. D. students (a general education requirement for all first year Ph. D. students).

I've never taught any of these course before and never have taught students who are older than me before, but I'm excited for the opportunities I'll have in teaching new material and new students. Opportunities for me to grow and learn more about the different generations in China, and opportunities for me to enter into a different part of Chinese society than I could back when I was only teaching undergraduates. It's going to be quite a challenge, especially with all these butterflies inside me!

TIME FOR A NEW COUNTDOWN

Well, I'm back in China! This summer really really disappeared fast. I think that was because it was broken up into such small chunks. With 4 days at home, then 3 weeks taking classes in Wheaton, IL, 2 weeks at home, 1 week in New Hampshire, a 1 night in New Haven, and 4 days at home, I'm looking forward to unpacking in Harbin for more than just a few weeks. I'll miss home, but I've also missed China, I've missed Harbin, and I've missed my school and students while I've been away.

So here's the new countdown and it's quite simple:
3 more days until I'm back in Harbin!
10 more days until I begin teaching.
And 5 weeks until my parents come to visit!

COUNTDOWN

It's finals week! Here's what's going on for me:
222 final exams given. (Only one cheater!)
132 final exams to finish grading.
108 essays to read and grade.
73 poems to read and grade.
14 lesson plans to format for a portfolio.
9 forms of paperwork to finish up.
1 last team breakfast this morning.
1 big banquet with the dean today... 30 minutes from now.
1 dinner with one of my closest Chinese friends and her roommates on Friday.
1 big party making noodles with students/friends on Saturday.
1 last Sunday at Chinese fellowship.

And only a few more days until…
I am stateside for the summer! I fly out of China on June 30th at 7 PM and will arrive in the States 2 hours after I leave.

Here’s my tentative summer schedule:
• July 4th – 24th Wheaton, Illinois: I’ll be taking my second set of classes for a Master’s in Teaching English as Second Language and Intercultural Studies.
• July 24th-Early August: In the Maryland area to visit family and friends.
• Mid August: In the New Hampshire area to visit family and friends.
• Late August: Back to Maryland for one last visit and packing.
• August 22nd: Return to China for team leader training. Next fall I’ll be stepping into the role of team leader at my university.
• August 29th: Return to Harbin for the fall semester.

I’m looking forward to getting the chance to see many of you, to share with you more about this past year, and to hear about how your year has been as well :)

See you soon!

KICKBALL!

A few weeks back, the university asked us foreign teacher's to cover for one of the Chinese teacher's that was sick. We had to be creative to figure out how we'd cover it and still be following our contract which only allows for us to teach 16 course hours each week. We ended up splitting up the classes and each picking lessons we wanted to cover. The course? American culture!

I chose to cover families, weddings, and sports in America.

For the wedding lesson we actually had a pretend ceremony. I had the students pick cards to decide who would play what role... except I ran into a problem when it came to groom's men - as there were only 3 boys in this class of 30. One had to be the groom, one the father of the bride, and the other, the best man. Afterward we had some "wedding cake" as I explained more about weddings in America.

And for the sports lesson, what's more all-American than kickball? Well, I guess you could say baseball, but kickball's a lot easier to play and teach. A few people had trouble knowing when and where to run (or to stop after you get to home plate). After about the 3rd inning they started to get the hang of it.

MAY SNAPSHOTS

When it comes to spring in Harbin, the two most beautiful places in the whole city are 林大 (the university where I teach) and the 植物园 (the botanical gardens which happens to be right next to my university). I'm not kidding, either. Check out these pictures!

Too bad the smell-o-net (smell-o-vision over the internet) has't been invented yet...If it had, I'd capture the smell of all the lilacs around campus and post them here for you.

APRIL SNAPSHOT

This semester, I've been teaching an intercultural communication class again, this time to sophomores with English as their 2nd major. I organized another field-trip, to the Jewish museum in Harbin, like I did last semester. 25 students came! Since we took public transportation, we ended up having to take 2 buses, but everyone made it! And they all enjoyed seeing a part of the history of Harbin many did not know even existed.

Over a period of about 100 years, 20,000 Jews lived in Harbin. Most came from Russia after 1917. The last Harbin Jew died in 1985. The museum is housed in on of the two standing synagogues near the river.

"SPRINGTIME" IN HARBIN

I was loath to put on my down coat this past Monday. Something about wearing a down coat in April doesn't feel natural, but once I stepped outside into the wind and snow and pulled my hood tight over my head, I was glad I had put it on.
At least the snow wasn't sticking to the roads, my co-teacher and I noted as we walked back home from lunch.
That afternoon, I had office hours, and running a bit late, I decided to take my bike. The roads were clear, after all... But when the doorman saw I wanted to get my bike, he quickly said "It's snowing!" "I know," I replied. "You'll break your head open, the roads are slippery!" I looked out the door... "Oh!" He was right, there was 2 inches of snow on the road! I decided to walk.

That evening, after my class ended at 8 PM, two students walked me home, umbrellas in hand. By the time we reach my apartment, there was a thick layer of snow on the umbrellas.

Umbrellas in the snow ... that reminds me of a story ... I should have known that Harbin was under the White Witch's curse.

Tuesday, it kept coming. It didn't keep me from going to the pool, though, but I think trudging through drifts of snow up to my knees and walking against the wind was as much exercise as I got while swimming! I wonder how long it took for this taxi that I passed to get out...

All the locals say this snow was really abnormal - a once in 50 years kind of thing. I admit, it was bit fun to see all this snow at once, but I'm still left wondering, how much longer until Aslan comes? How much longer until Spring?

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT

It turns out that this year Easter was followed by 清明节 Tomb Sweeping Day. While riding the bus back from Easter fellowship last week, I had the opportunity to talk with a good Chinese friend about this.

It's interesting to see these two holidays back to back. On the surface, these two spring holidays seem to have something in common. They both involve something related to tombs, right? But in one, they sweep and clean off the still-full tombs. The other, we remember the empty tomb! One is full of mournful remembering, solemn processions, and the giving of paper money and food to the dead. The other is full of joy and song, feasting, and is all about the resurrection!

[On Tomb Sweeping Day in Harbin, you see carts of paper money for the dead being sold throughout the city]

[On the evening of Tomb Sweeping Day, people burn the money on street corners to remember those who have passed away. The origin behind burning money is so that those in the other world will have money to use.]

EASTER BRUNCH

I am babysitting a waffle-maker this year...so I thought I'd put it to good use this Easter:


Easter brunch with my my co-teachers, one co-teacher's dad, visiting from America, and a friend who teaches in another city in North East China:


I bought some signs of spring at the flower market nearby campus. Still waiting to actually see some green outside, though!

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT

Too Much Birthday?

This past week was week of celebrations! In my last snapshot I wrote how we had a small surprise party for one of the foreign teachers. Well, that was partially just to make her not suspect what we were really up to ...

Last Wednesday we gathered ALL her students together in a coffee shop on campus and threw a BIG surprise party for her. Since she has about 150 students, we had to have the party in 3 shifts, each group of 50 had 1 hour. Students gave performances and small gifts, sang songs, and played games. We all took lots of pictures and ate lots of birthday cake. Some of the students are also my new students this semester, so it was a good opportunity to get to know them better. (Snapshot below: The third party - English 2nd majors - who I also teach)

As if 3 birthday parties wasn't enough for one week, this past Sunday, at the local fellowship I've just started to attend this spring, the College Group had a birthday party to celebrate anyone who has a birthday between January and March. I'd been feeling a bit strange attending a "college" group seeing that I teach at a college and I'm not a student, but this Sunday, I found out that the ages of people in the college group range from 16-25...and I am not the oldest, so I realized the term "college" applies loosely. I am starting to feel more connected to the people there - the first few weeks not many people talked to me because they were afraid to speak English (they told me this), but now, they realize that I can usually follow most of the what they're saying in Chinese.

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT

Eating Pig's Head Meat:
I had a casual lunch with the head English teacher this past Wednesday. It also happened to be "Dragon Head-Raising Day," the second day of the second month after Lunar New Year. After telling me it was a holiday, she told me I should get my hair cut or get it washed at a salon. (But I washed it this morning!) Then, she explained how it's the tradition not to cut your hair from New Years until this day and how when you do it'll bring you luck. I opted out of this one, since my hair was neither long nor dirty, nor do I depend on luck. This is also the day that people traditionally eat pig's head meat. So of course, one of our dishes at lunch was a spicy cucumber and pig's head meat salad. Quite tasty! I liked it better than the pig's ears I had over Spring Festival. Sorry, I didn't take a picture of this!

And Birthday Cake, too:
And yesterday, we had a little surprise party for one of the foreign teachers.

For the party, some friends and I baked a chocolate cake. Sadly, the girls that helped me couldn't make the party and though I saved them a piece, the cake went moldy surprisingly quickly and they never got a taste of the first cake they ever made! :(


Signs of Spring:
Speaking of things going moldy, Spring is on the way! How can I tell? Well, it's coming through one of the corners of my ceiling. There was more snow than normal this year and it was an extremely cold winter (this is what the Harbin native's are saying), so a lot of people in my neighborhood who live on the top floor like me are in a similar situation. Thankfully, it's in the room that I only used for my office and I've been able to move my office stuff to the room I was using as just my bedroom. I actually like my new set-up, it's cozy and it's made me more productive! Would've thought I'd be thankful for a wet, moldy ceiling, but in more than one way, I am!

ANSWERING SOME 春节 QUESTIONS

What foods did they make for New Year?
饺子 （Jiaozi) Boiled dumplings filled with pork, mushrooms, and nuts.
They really were the best dumplings I have EVER had. We ate these New Years morning for breakfast, steaming hot, a huge bowl full. And I had an even bigger bowl of them on the morning I left, because her mom found out I liked them so much.
汤圆 （Tangyuan） Sweet rice flour dumplings filled with peanuts, sesame seeds and sugar.
Her dad made these. We ate them New Years Eve while watching the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Below is a picture of the filling before it's lightly tossed in rice flour and boiled. Yum! When I came back to Harbin, I bought some frozen ones, but they're not as good.

馒头 (Mantou) Lots of steamed buns! Whenever one of their younger relatives brought a gift (a large box of milk or breakfast biscuits or cooking oil) they'd return the gift with a large bag of steamed buns. Some of the buns had red beans in them. All of them were handmade by my friend and her mom.

New Years Eve Dinner was big spread of about 7 or 8 dishes including: pigs ear, preserved yellow eggs, pork with garlic scapes, pickled lotus root, potato and tomato stir fry, another pork dish. In addition to the dishes we also had two kinds of "main food“ 主食 steamed buns and rice porridge. There's also a fish on the table in this picture, but it disappeared when we actually sat down to eat.


What did her parents think of you? Did they speak any English?
It's hard to know what her parent's thought of me because not only did they not speak a word of English, but their native dialect of Chinese was mostly unintelligible to me. Most of the time in Harbin, I can understand 60-80% of what's being said around me (depending of if I know the context), but down in that area of Henan I could only get about 10-40%. I did learn a few words like "le" is "er" for "two" and well, that's all I remember. Both of her parents were really patient with me, though, and before I left I was able to have conversations with each of them without assistance from my friend. I hope they liked me!

What kinds of things did you do there?
New Years Eve was spent as most of China spends it: watching fireworks be set off on the street (her dad set off firecrackers and then the neighbors/relatives had some real big fireworks) and watching the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. (My favorite part was the funny sketch about college graduates selling potatoes...I hope this is not the future for my students).

New Years Day my friend, her parents and I took at trip to a local Buddhist mountain and climbed to the top with hordes of people. I never expected to see a temple so packed in this country. Her mother went into each pavilion to burn incense or offer something while the rest of us waited outside and took pictures.


The other days I spent there were passed going around her hometown, visiting her relative's houses, a bamboo garden, and the downtown shopping area. And one day my friend and I went to a larger city about 30 minutes away to visit the Henan Jiaozuo Film and Television City where they film those TV series like "Three Kingdoms" or other period pieces.

All in all, we really didn't "do" much, but it was really relaxing just to sit next to the coal stove, eat sunflower seeds, chat, and observe life in "small town" China.

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT

What's New?

New foreign teacher! Last fall we were supposed to have 4 foreign English teachers, but one of the teachers had to leave suddenly for personal reasons just before the semester started, so we were down to 3. It was hard being one of only 3 teachers last semester. We we all a lot busier, and, it seemed like whenever the three of us wanted to get together just for fun, one of us was busy. We're back up to four teachers this semester, and after just a month, I can already sense a difference. Things are much improved!

Here we all are in front of the airport:

New course! This semester I'm teaching "Appreciation of British and American Poetry" to junior English majors. It's quite the challenge for me since not only am I planning most of the lessons on my own, but the last time I took an English poetry class was senior year of high school.


The lunch rush from the biggest classroom building:

New students! And because I'm teaching this new course, I have all new students. I'm sad not to be teaching the sophomore English majors, who I've taught for three semesters in a row, but there was not way to work the schedule where I could do both, and the head Chinese teacher in the English department asked me to teach poetry. I also am teaching "Intercultural Communication" to sophomore English 2nd majors (also new students for me, but not a new course - I taught it last semester for the first time to senior English majors.)

MORE ABOUT 春节

I’d read about in books
the kitchen god hanging over the one coal stove,
the village that is home to five generations of the same family,
the dense population of Henan that makes the countryside seem like a city,
I'd never seen this China.

I’d heard people talk of
the Shanxi and Henan dialects that my untrained ears can’t understand,
the constant roar or fireworks throughout the night and early morning,
the squeeeeel pop pop pop of children playing with firecrackers in the street,
I'd never seen this 中国。

I’d felt the cold of China’s Siberia yet
I wear all the warm clothes, the same clothes every day, under my down coat,
I borrow my friend’s warmest shoes and wear the same two pairs of wool socks,
I lean closely against the radiator in the evenings and go to bed early so I can bury myself under two heavy comforters,
I 没 seen this 中国。

I’d smelt my share of smells in this part of the world but
the incense at the packed temple on New Years day overwhelmed,
the odor from out back was thankfully too cold to reek too bad,
the dingy gray air filled with coal dust that turned your nose black,
我没 seen this 中国。

I’d eaten these Chinese specialties before, but oh!
delicious dumplings and sweet glutious rice balls from scratch on New Years,
endless plates of sunflower seeds - snacks at each relative's house,
that huge bowl of dumplings on the morning I left made me full for a whole day,
我没看过中国。

Google Translation: I have not seen China.

MORE ABOUT 春节

Before last month,
I'd never been to Henan Province 河南
I'd never been to China's countryside 农村
I'd never been to a Chinese person's home 家
I’d never been in China for Spring Festival 春节.

So, when my friend invited me to spend 春节 at her 家 in the 农村 of 河南
I said, Sure!

春节

新年快乐！Happy New Year! You might think it’s a bit late to wish this, but think again. This year, Chinese New Year, which is based on the lunar calendar, fell on February 14th. ... Oh wait, that was about a month ago. I guess I am a bit late in posting, but I'll tell you about it anyways.

New Years is more than a day in China – it’s a full-blown festival – in fact, they call it 春节 Spring Festival. You’re probably wondering why they use the word spring? Well, think of it like Groundhog Day where the groundhog doesn't see his shadow since after Spring Festival, 春天来了！ Spring is coming! The doorman who works in my apartment building said exactly when I returned to Harbin on the 17th.

Most students or anyone who’s talked to a Westerner know nothing about Groundhog Day... but they do know that the best holiday to compare Spring Festival to in America is Christmas. Getting out of school, huge travel headaches, visiting family, way too much food, decorations that have a lot of red and sparkles - you’d have to agree, they do have some things in common. The red and sparkles of 春节 Spring Festival, however, are much much noisier.

Taken from my 6th floor apartment balcony in Harbin on 元宵节 Lantern Festival, the last day of Spring Festival when supposedly everyone uses up all the fireworks they haven't set off over the past 15 days. How come I've still heard some this past week?

KRABI, THAILAND

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

JANUARY 9 SNAPSHOT

The fall semester is over! Most of the students have gone home, all
the exams are graded, all the paperwork is done (thankfully! this
week was a bit full because of all this), and tomorrow morning I also
leave campus. I can't believe how fast this semester has gone by.

After 3 flights tomorrow I'll arrive in Chiang Mai, Thailand where
I'll be taking classes for 2 weeks for my graduate degree in Teaching
English as a Second Language and Intercultural Studies through
Wheaton College. Classes start on Monday! A few days after classes
finish, I'll attend my company's annual conference. I'm really looking
forward to the warm weather, sunshine, and also the time to reflect
on this past semester and be renewed before the next one starts.

Next time I write it won't be -15 (F) outside, but hopefully
something more like 70 or 80 (F)!

DECEMBER SNAPSHOT: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I'm almost caught up! Here's are some of my pre-Christmas thoughts:

I can hardly believe it's Christmas already! This past month has really flown by. I give my last exam today, yes, on Christmas Eve (but in the morning). And then aside from grading and paperwork next week, the semester will be finished.

But, the semester isn't over yet! There's about one week until students go home for their holiday.

The other teachers and I have planned to do a lot today (Christmas Eve) - host an Christmas Office Party for our colleagues in the English Department, deliver cookies to people on campus to spread the Christmas cheer, and have some student friends over for a party. And later this weekend, I'll have my 80 sophomore's over for Christmas Parties (in groups of 20 ... I hope they all fit!).

Amidst all this busyness that comes at the end of the semester and with planning many activities I am trying to remind myself that Christmas isn't about what we do for or give to other people, it's really about something that was given to us.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty G, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isa. 9:6)

Wishing You A Very Merry Christmas!

Snapshot: Becky and I and some of the Office hour regulars after decorating a Christmas tree we found hidden in the back corner our office. How come I'm the only one with antlers?!?

NOVERMBER SNAPSHOT

For most of this semester, the other foreign teachers and I have not been able to have large groups of students (large = more than 4) over to our apartments because of H1N1 precautions. We were thankful that we were able to have some students over because we heard from many teachers at other schools not allowing any students to visit them at all this fall!

This week, however, I am having a special class for my students in my Intercultural Communication class. I've invited some of my international friends from India, the Philippines, Kenya, and Canada to come and be interviewed by the students this Monday (it just finished as I'm writing this), Wednesday and Thursday. AND, I have the "go ahead" to have it at my apartment! ... at least I think I do.)

Earlier today I went to talk to Mr. Wang, our landlord, to ask him if I could have these 8 students and guests over for a class, but I found that Mr. Wang wasn't there. The door guard told me that Mr. Wang was in the hospital, and would be out in a week. I'm not sure exactly about the reason, but from what I understood, I think he's had a small stroke. The door guard then went on to say that it would be perfectly fine if I had a class over, as long as they leave by 10! They left at 8, so I think it was okay.




(Since I'm posting this a few months later I thought I should tell you that Mr. Wang is okay and seems completely recovered and that it was really okay to have the students over, in fact I had a lot of students over at the end of December ... which I'll tell you about in another post).

NOVERMBER SNAPSHOT

This semester I've been teaching one class to senior English majors called "Intercultural Communication." We've been discussing the ways we can define cultures (for example: individualist or collectivist, internal locus of control or external locus of control) based off of the book Figuring Foreigners Out. We're also comparing various worldviews such as Animism, Judaism, Hinduism, Confucianism, and we have four more to go, Daoism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.

Harbin is a unique place in China in that you can find traces of almost all these worldviews. So, as an extension for this class I've been organizing field trips to related locations. The first trip was to Harbin's Jewish History and Culture Museum, housed in an old synagogue. The second was just last Friday; three students and I went to Harbin's Confucian Temple and Museum. I was sort of surprised to find out that none of them had ever been to a temple, even for a field trip. Actually none of them had gone on a field trip before, except for one student from Gansu Province said her middle school class would have a picnic at the great wall each year, but she didn't consider that much of a field trip, especially since they went every year.

Though not many students have come on these optional field trips, they've been worthwhile since those that come are genuinely interested in learning more. It's also been fun to get to know these three students better. They act different outside the classroom and (usually) are less afraid to speak English. I also get a chance to practice some Chinese this way, too!

At the Confucian Temple Museum there was a sign said that if you could lift the gate bar over your head you'd pass your exams. Looks like one girl isn't going to pass... just kidding. She's really a good student.

OCTOBER SNAPSHOT

I went to an internationals picnic on one of the last warm days in Harbin.

Countries represented here: America, Canada, China, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, and others I know that I'm missing.

It was at the at the Botanical Gardens, which apparently is one of the best places to go for taking wedding photos. We must have seen about 30 brides! There's at least 2 in this picture.

OCTOBER SNAPSHOT: WISHING CHINA A HAPPY 60TH!

Yesterday was China's National Day! I spent the morning watching
Beijing's 2 and a half hour military parade on television with 5 of
my students. Then, in the evening I got a call from another
student, "There's something really interesting on TV, you should
watch it!" and so I did. It was even more spectacular than that
morning's show. I hope you've gotten to see clips of it in the US
news. (If you didn't see it check out this time-lapse video). China sure knows how to hold a party.

They don't pull out all the stops like this every year, just every
10 or so. I asked my students how this year's compared to 10 year's ago,
and they told me how in 1999 it was more "serious" and this year's
was much more "colorful" because things are more open. And, as
another student added, "Zhang Yimou (a famous movie director, and the
guy who directed the Olympic Opening ceremonies) is a genius."

It was hard to know what to make of such an impressive performance
put on by tens of thousands of people in the world's largest
square ... but it helped to watch it at a local coffee shop with students and hear their
comments:



"So handsome/smart!" they remarked, regarding the soldiers.
"Oh, they're all beautiful girls" one boy said, regarding the women
in uniform.
"Oh, he's so old! He must be so tired!" they said jokingly, regarding
one of the retired leaders.
"They all must be so tired! They've had to stand for hours without
moving."
"Do you have parades like this in America?" ("Never with this many
people," I replied.)
"I have a friend in Beijing who's in it and they had to get up at 1AM
to prepare."
"Ooo! Look! there's my province's float!" said a girl from Yunan, in
China's Southwest.
"Hehehe!" I was surprised at all the laughter from the students, but
again, it was a celebration!

Who knows what the next 60 years will bring, but hopefully there will
be even more reasons to celebrate.

SEPTEMBER SNAPSHOT

Military training for the freshmen has finished. They begin their first classes tomorrow. This means that we will not have the monotonous soundtrack of "yi - er - san - si" and military march songs echoing throughout campus! Though, many of the freshmen will continue to wear their military fatigues for a few weeks. (Your guess is as good as mine.)