The Vine and Branches: OHIO!

A murmur of voices droned along in my classroom as I strained my voice trying to teach my students the 50 Nifty United States. Then in a moment of clarity in my Thursday afternoon class, the students’ voices all rang-out clear and strong “O…HI…O!” Before the singing could continue, giggles ensued after as my students recognized their struggle and accomplishment at all the same time. It literally took about a minute to get them tuned back in (well slightly tuned) and singing again. My students are all taking an exam soon on the Geography and things of that nature soon and I now know if nothing else on the exam they will know Ohio is the name of a state. I feel like the past week or so was a little like this moment in the room, going along at a paced a little faster than I can keep up with, but having moments of complete clarity and collective joy! Last weekend, I had the honor of visiting my good friend Ashly’s (Deng Xia: Said like dong she-a) home in Shijiazhuang. Just to be in a friend’s home in China excited me, but I had know idea all that was in store for the weekend! Emily and I rode the train to Shijiazhuang together and from the moment we stepped into the crowded streets of the city and spotted Ashly until the moment we stepped into the cluster, not line, of people waiting for the train to go home, her family treated us like honored guest. Some of the things we did include visiting Buddhist temples, seeing the training area for the female ping pong Olympic athletes, visiting a family manor, shopping, more shopping, climbing a mountain, walking on a road over 1000 years old, and a little more shopping. One of my favorite moments came when we were shopping with Ashly. Emily and I were looking at the jeans and Emily commented, “I don’t really like skinny jeans.” Ashly turned and looked at Emily, and with all sincerity in her eyes said, “Oh, do you wear fat jeans?” Emily then explained to Ashly we don’t have “fat jeans” as a style, but that yes, she does like the other type of jeans better. I love funny little language moments, and I know that I make them all the time as I struggle to learn and speak Chinese! Her family also did an awesome job at feeding us over the weekend. It is always fun to eat with lots of Chinese people, because as Americans here we often get in a rut of ordering the same things over and over and over again and have a hard time venturing out and trying anything new. Emily and I discovered some lovely red wine flavored pears we love. We also found some new spicy chicken that is quite delicious. One night, Ashly’s family did feel sympathy for us Westerns and decided to treat us to the Western restaurant in her town. At a Chinese meal, you order dishes for the whole table and everyone shares, so for a Western person to go to an Eastern table or vice versa it can be quite a change. I think the dinner that night was one of the largest I’ve had in China! There was salad, soup, fries, pizza, fruit, chicken, stake, and desserts…probably enough food to feed a crowded bus load in China (and that’s saying something!). Overall, the weekend was a blast both in spending time with a good friend and in learning about my Chinese brothers and sisters.
I also have shared some joy at a few other meals this week. Emily and I whipped up some chili and invited over some of the other foreign teachers to come and dine with us. It was a night of great conversation and great eating. The next night, we also had the delight of dining with fellow teachers, though not in our homes but in restaurant we call Sophie’s Palace (one of fellow teacher’s Sophie was the first to take us there). Mike and Wen Jia, along with their daughter Mckayla, are here this year to teach with us and it was delightful to get to know them a little better. It is not hard to find conversation and good company.
The team now is getting ready for some visitors from the US who are coming on the English Week here. We are hoping at the moment it will happen, because there is a lot of concern with visitors from the US and the Swine Flu. We are expecting the best though!