Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
For the Aschers
Tonight I introduced three other English teachers to "Up the River and Down the River". It was a huge success!!!! They loved it! I lost-- what's new? It wasn't the same without the Aschers, Mel, Joy, and Henry, but it was a fun game. The legacy lives on.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Last Day of Teacher Training
It's hard to believe that I have been here in CC for two weeks now! Two weeks ago, I was up all night packing and was so exhausted as I ate my last Swedish pancakes for a long time. It seems like much longer than two weeks since I have changed worlds and learned so much. With all the reading and preparation that I did, I haven't been shocked by cultural differences. However, information alone is never enough to give you the experience of a place: its sounds, smells, and sights. My view of China has changed dramatically since before I came and is readjusting every moment. China is bigger and more complicated than I imagined. There are many extremes: rich to poor, high tech to medieval, spicy to sweet. It is also welcoming in many ways. People are so very different and think very differently, but in the end, they are just people. Friendship is just as precious, perhaps more precious.
I have benefited greatly from the training offered by veteran English teachers here. Many things I needed to be reminded of, but lots of things were new and exciting about this field. Teaching here is going to be challenging and rewarding. In the next couple of weeks, we will be practicing what we have learned in an English camp. So, I am going to have to leave this update and put my nose to the lesson planning grindstone.
Thank you so much for all of you who helped me to get here. Formal thank yous are on the way. (Tomorrow I plan to learn where the post office is.) This is an amazing privilege and opportunity, and I hope to keep you updated as much as I am able.
I have benefited greatly from the training offered by veteran English teachers here. Many things I needed to be reminded of, but lots of things were new and exciting about this field. Teaching here is going to be challenging and rewarding. In the next couple of weeks, we will be practicing what we have learned in an English camp. So, I am going to have to leave this update and put my nose to the lesson planning grindstone.
Thank you so much for all of you who helped me to get here. Formal thank yous are on the way. (Tomorrow I plan to learn where the post office is.) This is an amazing privilege and opportunity, and I hope to keep you updated as much as I am able.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Day One of Teacher Training
I find that I am continually surprised by China-- the good kind of surprised. Perhaps this will be a continual state that I will find myself in for years but maybe not. Today, I am surprised that I can blog. So for now you can receive first hand accounts of my adventures. (cue suspenseful organ music: "duh duh duh duh") Yep. I knew you were holding your breath for that news, Ann-Marie.
My brain is on information overload, still processing and trying to understand all that I have heard and seen the last few days. I will try to give a little list before I go to bed.
Things that surprise me about China (in random order, not prioritized or complete):
1. People are still thin here when the food is so amazing. Okay, I'm not too surprised by that since it is obvious that they eat in moderation and are physically working or active in their transportation. But the food is still unbelievable.
2. Sorry to mention it, Joy, but Walmart is still great, even when you have to ride two buses and a light rail to get to it. Chinese Walmart is filled with fascinating foods that I so want to try to cook. They also sell forks; something that was a big concern until I got here and have been eating with chopsticks just fine the whole time. In fact, I may spill less on my clothes in China than I did at home!
3. The students are already welcoming to me. Last night we were out to dinner with several students from surrounding universities. Already I have received a text message from one of them today. One girl took us to visit a gigantic flea market. She helped me get the right bus and then shop for tennis shoes and an umbrella. We even bargained for a cheaper price. While I know that some of them are motivated by a desire to better their English skills, they've still been so gracious and friendly to strangers.
4. This next one is not really a surprise but rather a refreshing reminder. There is a supernatural unity with brothers and sisters that overrides cultural differences, race, financial differences, and even language barriers. We are one in Him.
5. I am surprised that I have been privileged to come here to teach. While I have skills and experience that have prepared me for my tasks, I am completely unworthy to serve with the quality of people that I find on the team here. My inability to to contribute to this high calling which we are striving toward is so obvious to me each day. The only thing that keeps me from panic is the knowledge that actually they, too, are unworthy and unable and are simply recipients together with me of the gift.
I must go to bed now. My body is tired and sore and weary. It is the kind of tired and sore and weary that I know will lead to strength and callouses and endurance, if only I can push my out-of-training self past its lazy limits. My brain is weary, too. Weary with trying to comprehend and stretch and adjust. My soul is... well, my soul is deeply challenged and humbled and rejoicing in hope.
My brain is on information overload, still processing and trying to understand all that I have heard and seen the last few days. I will try to give a little list before I go to bed.
Things that surprise me about China (in random order, not prioritized or complete):
1. People are still thin here when the food is so amazing. Okay, I'm not too surprised by that since it is obvious that they eat in moderation and are physically working or active in their transportation. But the food is still unbelievable.
2. Sorry to mention it, Joy, but Walmart is still great, even when you have to ride two buses and a light rail to get to it. Chinese Walmart is filled with fascinating foods that I so want to try to cook. They also sell forks; something that was a big concern until I got here and have been eating with chopsticks just fine the whole time. In fact, I may spill less on my clothes in China than I did at home!
3. The students are already welcoming to me. Last night we were out to dinner with several students from surrounding universities. Already I have received a text message from one of them today. One girl took us to visit a gigantic flea market. She helped me get the right bus and then shop for tennis shoes and an umbrella. We even bargained for a cheaper price. While I know that some of them are motivated by a desire to better their English skills, they've still been so gracious and friendly to strangers.
4. This next one is not really a surprise but rather a refreshing reminder. There is a supernatural unity with brothers and sisters that overrides cultural differences, race, financial differences, and even language barriers. We are one in Him.
5. I am surprised that I have been privileged to come here to teach. While I have skills and experience that have prepared me for my tasks, I am completely unworthy to serve with the quality of people that I find on the team here. My inability to to contribute to this high calling which we are striving toward is so obvious to me each day. The only thing that keeps me from panic is the knowledge that actually they, too, are unworthy and unable and are simply recipients together with me of the gift.
I must go to bed now. My body is tired and sore and weary. It is the kind of tired and sore and weary that I know will lead to strength and callouses and endurance, if only I can push my out-of-training self past its lazy limits. My brain is weary, too. Weary with trying to comprehend and stretch and adjust. My soul is... well, my soul is deeply challenged and humbled and rejoicing in hope.
Friday, July 11, 2008
I'm here!
As exhausted as I am, I'm kind of numb to the emotions of it all, but I am so thankful to have made it safely here. All of my luggage survived as well. The Korean based airline that I used was very efficient. Their employees were gracious, and they served actual meals on the plane! (United only gave a little bag of pretzels.) It was a bit odd to have a choice of omelet or octopus for breakfast, but I'm sure the omelet was as good as that octopus! (Just kidding.) Coming into the country was easy. A smiling face in the crowd of one of our group leaders was here to meet me at the airport. I've been thinking that my Northland background will stand me in good stead in the cold winters, but today I felt like I'd arrived in Chattanooga. The weather was hot and muggy so that my hair began to afro immediately. I'm staying with another teacher for the first month in her room/ studio apartment. The great news is that this is the campus where I'll be teaching so I'll be living in this building permanently-- only in my own room. The building is simple but very nice.
I've already tasted my first local meal around the corner from the campus where we are staying. The restaurant would be described as a "hole in the wall" here, but I the people were friendly, the dishes were clean, and the food was amazing. My mom would be shocked to see me eating dishes with things such as tofu and eggplant in them, but I've never had tofu and eggplant that tasted yummy before! Things are definitely different here, and I've only begun to experience it. I'm so glad to be here, though, and for all the provision that has been made along the way. I know it's only 7 pm here, but I'm going to bed very soon.
Love to you all,
Karyn
I've already tasted my first local meal around the corner from the campus where we are staying. The restaurant would be described as a "hole in the wall" here, but I the people were friendly, the dishes were clean, and the food was amazing. My mom would be shocked to see me eating dishes with things such as tofu and eggplant in them, but I've never had tofu and eggplant that tasted yummy before! Things are definitely different here, and I've only begun to experience it. I'm so glad to be here, though, and for all the provision that has been made along the way. I know it's only 7 pm here, but I'm going to bed very soon.
Love to you all,
Karyn
Thursday, July 03, 2008
"That's Friendship"
I went over to work this afternoon for the last time before I head to China. I picked up my check and went around saying final goodbyes. Most of my co-workers and I had already said goodbye at other times, and many of the residents had already talked to me at an open house my last week of work. But several residents have become special friends, and it was important to take a few minutes with each one.
Larry is one of my favorite people. I think that I have blogged about him before, perhaps. Five years ago when we met, he was a "volunteer" at the Alzheimer's Center because he was just in the very early stages. He taught me many things about how to run an activity group and how to work with people with dementia. As his Alzheimer's has progressed and changes have occurred in his life, he's taught me other things. Things about love and courage and faithfulness. We have prayed and cried together through some major life changes. It was very hard for us to say goodbye today. He hugged me so tightly that I thought I might break. "I will miss you so much," he said. "But I am so glad for you. This is a good thing that you are doing."
"I will miss you, too," I said back to him. "Don't worry. Before you know it, time will fly by and then I'll be back again for a visit." We smiled at each other through our tears. We both know that in the world of Alzheimer's where he lives, things work differently. When I return, he will have changed. Things will never be the same again.
I walked over to another resident to hug her. A nearby resident assistant patted his shoulder. "Don't cry," she said.
Larry pointed at me. "Do you know what that is?" he asked her. "Do you?" She just looked at him blankly. "That's friendship," he said. "That's friendship."
Friendship is so random sometimes and so precious all of the time. Today I said goodbye to people who are aware and alert, like Roy and Izzy and Ruth and Katie. They will pray for me and miss me and communicate to me while I am gone. But some of my best friends there do not even know my name anymore. Today when I visited though, they looked at my face and smiled. Their eyes lit up with joy. One little ancient Italian lady hugged me and kissed me right on the mouth. "I have missed you," she said. "You didn't come to see me. I must pray for you every day in China." And then she said, "What is your name?"
"You're a good girl," Francis told me for the thousandth time.
I was leaving when I saw Olive. "Hi, Olive," I said after she had gotten a good look at me.
"You look different," she said.
"I cut my hair," I told her, surprised that she would realize anything.
"I don't see the hair," Olive told me. "Just your face."
"How is your day going?"
"Things are different all the time," she told me sadly. And her eyes filled with tears and she put her hands on my arm. "I'm so glad it's you."
Larry is one of my favorite people. I think that I have blogged about him before, perhaps. Five years ago when we met, he was a "volunteer" at the Alzheimer's Center because he was just in the very early stages. He taught me many things about how to run an activity group and how to work with people with dementia. As his Alzheimer's has progressed and changes have occurred in his life, he's taught me other things. Things about love and courage and faithfulness. We have prayed and cried together through some major life changes. It was very hard for us to say goodbye today. He hugged me so tightly that I thought I might break. "I will miss you so much," he said. "But I am so glad for you. This is a good thing that you are doing."
"I will miss you, too," I said back to him. "Don't worry. Before you know it, time will fly by and then I'll be back again for a visit." We smiled at each other through our tears. We both know that in the world of Alzheimer's where he lives, things work differently. When I return, he will have changed. Things will never be the same again.
I walked over to another resident to hug her. A nearby resident assistant patted his shoulder. "Don't cry," she said.
Larry pointed at me. "Do you know what that is?" he asked her. "Do you?" She just looked at him blankly. "That's friendship," he said. "That's friendship."
Friendship is so random sometimes and so precious all of the time. Today I said goodbye to people who are aware and alert, like Roy and Izzy and Ruth and Katie. They will pray for me and miss me and communicate to me while I am gone. But some of my best friends there do not even know my name anymore. Today when I visited though, they looked at my face and smiled. Their eyes lit up with joy. One little ancient Italian lady hugged me and kissed me right on the mouth. "I have missed you," she said. "You didn't come to see me. I must pray for you every day in China." And then she said, "What is your name?"
"You're a good girl," Francis told me for the thousandth time.
I was leaving when I saw Olive. "Hi, Olive," I said after she had gotten a good look at me.
"You look different," she said.
"I cut my hair," I told her, surprised that she would realize anything.
"I don't see the hair," Olive told me. "Just your face."
"How is your day going?"
"Things are different all the time," she told me sadly. And her eyes filled with tears and she put her hands on my arm. "I'm so glad it's you."
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Apples of Gold
Yes, I know it's shocking! Karyn is blogging twice in one day after months of neglecting her blog. Don't get too used to that. It may be a little tricky in the future.
I'm taking a break from sorting through all my worldly belongings, an amazing amount of stuff for one "poor" person. There are three piles (and several sub-piles): stuff to get rid of, stuff to store, stuff to take to China. I'm trying to make the first pile the largest. The Karyn Store is officially open in the empty bedroom that was Joy's. Everything is free while supplies last. First come, first serve. After a day, all unclaimed stuff will be heading to Good Will. Joy already has a whole bunch of stuff from The Karyn Store in a layaway pile.
In my attempt to be ruthless in eliminating stuff from my life, I just finished going through an entire box of papers. I mean, who needs a bunch of old letters and cards anyway? After half an hour, it's obvious: I do. What a blessing to skim through that box! It was like the story of my life there in that box: my life as it has been influenced by hundreds of caring people.
What a hodge-podge and what a treasure! There were birthday cards, valentine cards, graduation cards, and cards for no occasion at all. Notes from teachers, school friends, my parents, college friends. Hilarious letters and really sad letters. So many people I can thank for giving of themselves to me.
I had a birthday card in there for every year while I was growing up from Pastor Roth. There wasn't just a signature, either, but a long note encouraging me each year. "I rejoice to see you following God." "Don't be tempted to become bitter about this situation." "God is our refuge." His were always words that were pointing me to Christ and showing me love and concern.
There are countless letters in that box from my mother. A tiny note of thanks from when I was a little girl and had helped her with something. Long letters while I was away at college. "I cry to think of you being so lonely there, but this is part of God's plan for you. Do not give up." "Always follow Him."
A few precious letters show the amazing person that was my grandma. "I try to grow old gracefully, but then my stubbornness just comes through!" My sisters wrote me the times that I was away from them. "We were talking at youth group about people doing funny things and I told them that you snore but you won't admit it." One very special note is from my daddy who wrote how proud he was of me after I sang in church as a young girl. Notes from my cousins and aunts are special. My "cousin" Phil must win some type of hilarious award because the letter from him at age 13 is so funny! "Guess what we're doing today. Picking beans. It is so booooring!" "Remember how Uncle Earl mows?"
Many of the letters are from friends. I've been overwhelming blessed with fantastic friends. There's a birthday card from my first best friend Andy when I turned four. Maybe his mom wrote it. Through elementary school, high school, and college, I had friends that wrote notes to me in good times and in bad times, encouraging me and loving me. Pleasant has written me letters since third grade. "Love your sis." From when she was first married and her car kept breaking down: "I told Joey that I need a new car and also a cell phone for safety and he said he'd get me a gun. I don't know what good that will do unless I want to start hijacking people on the way to work." If I start listing, I'll miss somebody, but it seems we've all come full circle since now I get facebook messages from many of the people whose notes are in that box.
Lots of the letters carry foreign stamps. Missionaries from Brazil wrote to a little five year old who wanted to be a missionary. Friends have written from Romania, Mexico, Japan, Venezuela, Germany, and Belgium.
I'm humbled by finding the letter box. Who am I to have been blessed by God in this way? Who am I that all of these people would reach out to me and love me and point me to Christ? I'm challenged, too. Who is reading my words? The investment of a few moments of my time to write an encouraging note could an eternal reward.
Perhaps someday my children or nephews or niece will look through that box in wonder, cards and letters having been lost in the electronic marvels of IM and facebook and email. Or maybe they'll just be confused as to why I couldn't throw out all my junk but had to save a bunch of words. Those words changed me. They represent people who are a part of me through their involvement in my life. And I am so very thankful.
I'm taking a break from sorting through all my worldly belongings, an amazing amount of stuff for one "poor" person. There are three piles (and several sub-piles): stuff to get rid of, stuff to store, stuff to take to China. I'm trying to make the first pile the largest. The Karyn Store is officially open in the empty bedroom that was Joy's. Everything is free while supplies last. First come, first serve. After a day, all unclaimed stuff will be heading to Good Will. Joy already has a whole bunch of stuff from The Karyn Store in a layaway pile.
In my attempt to be ruthless in eliminating stuff from my life, I just finished going through an entire box of papers. I mean, who needs a bunch of old letters and cards anyway? After half an hour, it's obvious: I do. What a blessing to skim through that box! It was like the story of my life there in that box: my life as it has been influenced by hundreds of caring people.
What a hodge-podge and what a treasure! There were birthday cards, valentine cards, graduation cards, and cards for no occasion at all. Notes from teachers, school friends, my parents, college friends. Hilarious letters and really sad letters. So many people I can thank for giving of themselves to me.
I had a birthday card in there for every year while I was growing up from Pastor Roth. There wasn't just a signature, either, but a long note encouraging me each year. "I rejoice to see you following God." "Don't be tempted to become bitter about this situation." "God is our refuge." His were always words that were pointing me to Christ and showing me love and concern.
There are countless letters in that box from my mother. A tiny note of thanks from when I was a little girl and had helped her with something. Long letters while I was away at college. "I cry to think of you being so lonely there, but this is part of God's plan for you. Do not give up." "Always follow Him."
A few precious letters show the amazing person that was my grandma. "I try to grow old gracefully, but then my stubbornness just comes through!" My sisters wrote me the times that I was away from them. "We were talking at youth group about people doing funny things and I told them that you snore but you won't admit it." One very special note is from my daddy who wrote how proud he was of me after I sang in church as a young girl. Notes from my cousins and aunts are special. My "cousin" Phil must win some type of hilarious award because the letter from him at age 13 is so funny! "Guess what we're doing today. Picking beans. It is so booooring!" "Remember how Uncle Earl mows?"
Many of the letters are from friends. I've been overwhelming blessed with fantastic friends. There's a birthday card from my first best friend Andy when I turned four. Maybe his mom wrote it. Through elementary school, high school, and college, I had friends that wrote notes to me in good times and in bad times, encouraging me and loving me. Pleasant has written me letters since third grade. "Love your sis." From when she was first married and her car kept breaking down: "I told Joey that I need a new car and also a cell phone for safety and he said he'd get me a gun. I don't know what good that will do unless I want to start hijacking people on the way to work." If I start listing, I'll miss somebody, but it seems we've all come full circle since now I get facebook messages from many of the people whose notes are in that box.
Lots of the letters carry foreign stamps. Missionaries from Brazil wrote to a little five year old who wanted to be a missionary. Friends have written from Romania, Mexico, Japan, Venezuela, Germany, and Belgium.
I'm humbled by finding the letter box. Who am I to have been blessed by God in this way? Who am I that all of these people would reach out to me and love me and point me to Christ? I'm challenged, too. Who is reading my words? The investment of a few moments of my time to write an encouraging note could an eternal reward.
Perhaps someday my children or nephews or niece will look through that box in wonder, cards and letters having been lost in the electronic marvels of IM and facebook and email. Or maybe they'll just be confused as to why I couldn't throw out all my junk but had to save a bunch of words. Those words changed me. They represent people who are a part of me through their involvement in my life. And I am so very thankful.
Singing Along
I'm heading to China in 6 days, and I'm overwhelmed. Probably I'm supposed to be. I'm finding myself needy: emotionally, spiritually, physically. I'm finding myself doubting, trusting, crying, praying. Up and down my emotions go like a see-saw. My heart is aching from leaving my family and church family and yet every day I am longing more for these people that I only know through email and phone calls, these new coworkers and friends.
I'm already insufficient. I'm still so sinful. I thought I was unattached to possessions and yet my heart hurts, almost literally, to leave even a black and white neurotic border collie and a bunch of old books. This morning all I could think as I woke up was, "What a mess!" and I wasn't referring to my room, rather to my heart.
Notice the self-focus that keeps pulling me away. Away from the reason, the focus, the joy, the planner, the Comforter: away from Him. This morning I went out to the Cooks at 6:30 a.m. to feed the cats. What a blessing! Loaded with coffee, ipod, and the Book, I drove away into the country. I sat on their front porch and listened to birds and watched the flowers and talked to, meditated upon, and worshiped Him. And repented. Again. Still.
On the way home I sang along with Caedmon's Call, rejoicing in grace, in mercy, in the cross.
Awake My Soul
Thousand Miles
Mystery of Mercy
Romans 7:18-25
I'm already insufficient. I'm still so sinful. I thought I was unattached to possessions and yet my heart hurts, almost literally, to leave even a black and white neurotic border collie and a bunch of old books. This morning all I could think as I woke up was, "What a mess!" and I wasn't referring to my room, rather to my heart.
Notice the self-focus that keeps pulling me away. Away from the reason, the focus, the joy, the planner, the Comforter: away from Him. This morning I went out to the Cooks at 6:30 a.m. to feed the cats. What a blessing! Loaded with coffee, ipod, and the Book, I drove away into the country. I sat on their front porch and listened to birds and watched the flowers and talked to, meditated upon, and worshiped Him. And repented. Again. Still.
On the way home I sang along with Caedmon's Call, rejoicing in grace, in mercy, in the cross.
Awake My Soul
Thousand Miles
Mystery of Mercy
Romans 7:18-25
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