January 20, 2008: "Baby It's Cold Outside!"

Hi!

Sometimes Brad and I have to laugh at the number of times our friends at home will ask, “So…how’s China?” The question is so broad, and the answers are even broader! We often stop and think, eventually giving a simple answer like, “It’s great!” We do hope that each of these letters answers your questions in part, and that they will birth even more questions about this broad country.

This week in China has been a quiet one. It was the students’ last week for exams, so most of them went home throughout the week as they completed their exams. Brad and I ran most days in the freezing cold (6 miles yesterday!), all of us finished turning in our grades, and we returned to our pre-holiday schedule of team dinners and student dinners. Brad and I visited a local fast food restaurant that is willing to let us show movies upstairs on their projector, and Brad had his hair cut by a silent Chinese Barber who didn’t even attempt to speak Chinese to him. The man just started cutting, and when it was over, Brad paid him five yuan (less than one U.S. dollar). ;) Mark Ashbaugh (from the Qinhuangdao group) came to spend the night on Monday, and we had a great time reconnecting with him. We gave him a tour of the campus, treated him to dinner, and Shannon made him a breakfast send-off. Mark’s visit was certainly one of the highlights of the week!

Our time with students has been so precious in these last few weeks of the semester before the winter holiday. I had the pleasure of baking three more batches of cookies with three more groups of girls. Mmm… We made oatmeal skotchies, M&M cookies, and sugar cookies. The girls are delighted with the process; most of them have never made any kind of cookies before! On Tuesday, Marian and Coral took me to the Langfang City Center and showed me around a five story shopping mall and the movie theatre next door. Despite the cold, we had a great time window shopping. Then, on Wednesday, we finished the semester with great fanfare! We invited 10 students out to karaoke at KTV---including snacks, drinks, and some crazy English teachers! We had 1 boy and 9 girls singing everything from Chinese Pop, to N’SYNC, to the Sound of Music. The students love to sing, and they put their whole hearts into it! It was a wonderful evening, and a great way to finish our first semester. The next day, most of our students went home, having completed their exams. Brad invited Forrest Gump over, and they swapped digital photos before deciding to watch “Evan Almighty” with Shannon and me. On Friday, I found Joseph in our apartment as he and Brad swapped downloaded movies on their laptops. Both guys had a great time talking movies, music, and technology with Brad.

Now, the weekend is upon us. Brad and I made our “date night” trip to Walmart, and Peter is here to visit. The kitchen is stocked with groceries for making our first attempts at bean soup and tacos…mmmm… Last night we ate homemade pizza, thanks to a delicious instant crust mix (just add water!) and pizza sauce from Kerri’s Christmas gift. Add to that fresh cut pineapple and maple-flavored bacon, and you’ve got Hawaiian Pizza! As we look forward to the upcoming week, we are excited about the arrival of Peter’s parents from Washington state. They have promised to come bearing American gifts, and in exchange the group of us will be taking them to the local sites in Beijing and Langfang. You can keep them in your thoughts as they fly here January 23, and return home on February 3. As always, thank you for your relentless support. Your constant thoughts and encouragement make our work here possible. Thank you!

Love,
Jess and Brad

Jan 6, 2008: Out With the Old & In With the New

Happy New Year!

Brad and I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year from China! Our first week of 2008 has been one of saying goodbye to the old, and welcoming in the new.

On Sunday, we had the privilege of being invited to spend the afternoon preparing meat and vegetable dumplings (jaozi) with the students. We were joined by Peter (visiting from Beijing), and Ryan (visiting from Korea). We helped to prepare, roll, and flatten the dough, slice cabbage and squeeze the water from it in cheesecloth, prepare the meat, and then fill and twist the little dumplings for cooking. It was a lot of fun to make traditional food with an entire class!

On New Year’s Eve, we celebrated by taking Newt out to dinner at one of our favorite places, Ming Tien Coffee Language. It’s a two-story coffee shop with couches, and live piano music from 7-9pm. We ate some American favorites, and snapped photos before heading home. We had already shared our resolutions on Sunday, so we celebrated with a glass of homemade eggnog, a glass of wine, and some Chinese snacks. We watched the movie “Amazing Grace” together, and called our families at home to wish them a Happy New Year, 13 hours early! At Midnight, we dropped a soccer ball, and thought of the year past and the year ahead.

Wednesday was a difficult day, as we said goodbye to our boss, leader, and good friend. Newt left amidst a crowd of well-wishing students and faculty, to return to the U.S.A, his wife, and his obligations there. He will be sorely missed! Newt also takes home our Chinese friends Tony and Lily for a month-long visit in the U.S.A. We certainly wish we could go along as they visit family, friends, and even Disney World! I’m sure their trip will be very exciting, but you can keep them in your thoughts as they travel. Since Newt’s absence Peter has been moving his belongings from Beijing into what was Newt’s apartment, in preparation for joining us permanently at the end of January. Although we are very sad about Newt’s departure, we are also very excited that Peter is joining us!

The rest of the week has been spent quietly cleaning and enjoying the calm after the holidays. The Christmas decorations are now put away, and the apartment is clean. The computer and toilet seat have been repaired, and letters have been written to family and friends. Books have been read, final grades averaged, laps on the track run, and laundry hung. We had dinner with kids, Ladies Lunch (Shannon and me), and Date Night (Brad and me). We are trying to set up times to meet with kids as they study for and take their finals. We are also making arrangements to do some traveling during our break (Dec.29-Feb.17). Brad and I are thinking of visiting the Great Wall and other sites in Beijing, his Great-Grandfather’s grave, and maybe southern China. We are also looking forward to celebrating my birthday (Feb.5) and the Chinese New Year (Feb.7) here in China! You can be thinking of us as we try to catch kids during Finals and the break, and as we make plans to fill our free time.

Thank you again for all of your support!
Love, Jess and Brad

December 28, 2007: Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I hope that each of you had the opportunity to rejoice and share in the true meaning of Christmas this holiday season. If we had any hopes that our holidays would be less busy here in China, they quickly melted like this morning’s snowfall! Even so, it was a wonderful and memorable Christmas.

Last week was a quieter week for me. I spent the week giving exams, and meeting various people for lunch dates. Brad completed classes in some instances and gave exams in others. On Friday, Brad and I departed for Beijing on a 2:00pm train to celebrate our second wedding anniversary. We spent two nights at the Chongwenmen Hotel, where we enjoyed Western-style accommodations, treadmills in the exercise room, and the one English Channel (CCTV-9) on the television. For dinner we ate at a local Pizza buffet, and enjoyed the long-lost flavors of Hawaiian Pizza and Soft-serve Ice Cream.

Saturday was spent roaming the subways and shopping districts of Beijing. We bought lunch at a grocery store, and then headed for the Silk Market. We found a few Christmas gifts there, and then headed for the Clothing Market. On the way, we walked by the Worker’s Gymnasium and Worker’s Stadium and stopped for photos. We laughed when we saw an Outback Steakhouse, and then a Hooter’s restaurant here in Beijing. Who would have thought? We ended up eating a delicious dinner at the Outback before heading home. Sunday was spent much the same, as we snacked on our mantou (steamed bread), and walked around the Pearl Market to finish our Christmas shopping. After visiting Starbucks, we were on our way back home to our more Chinese-style of life in Langfang. It was a very relaxing weekend in all, and a great time to reconnect with one another, sharing long uninterrupted conversations over meals.

Monday was a hectic day, as we ran around finishing errands, buying groceries, purchasing gifts, wrapping gifts, and preparing food for Christmas. At 7:30pm we participated in the Christmas Program hosted by the English Department on campus. The students put on a fabulous talent show, full of music, theatre, dance, acrobatics, poetry, and humor. Over 1,000 students filled the auditorium, and many more stood in the back, the aisle, and in the lobby trying to glimpse the action on-stage. The foreign teachers were in three acts. Peter sang a song in Chinese, Shannon sang “O Holy Night” while playing her guitar, and Newt, Brad, and I sang our own version of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” which included “12 toilets flushing, 11 mantou steaming (bread), 10 plates of dumplings (jaozi), 9 popcorn popping, 8 Christmas apples, 7 chopsticks (kuazi) chopping, 6 bowls of rice (mifan), 5 laowai (foreigners), 4 chicken eggs, 3 knife-cut noodles, 2 bars of soap, and a pretty lady sitting on my knee.” We had a great time, and by the time we were done, the stage was a mess, and the audience was clapping and laughing as they sang along with us.

After the program, we headed back to our apartment for a candlelight Christmas Eve meeting. Newt led, and we all enjoyed the time of thinking about the true meaning of Christmas, and about our families and friends at home.

Christmas Day was probably one of the busiest Christmases I have ever celebrated. That is probably because I was involved in the food preparation for the first time! On Monday night I was up late preparing for breakfast, and on Tuesday it seemed I rarely left the kitchen. It was a good day though. We began with breakfast a 9:00am in Newt’s apartment. Tony, Lily, and Michelle joined Peter, Shannon, Newt, Brad, and me for the morning’s festivities. We ate egg casserole, apple muffins, orange slices, scrambled eggs, and cinnamon buns. Newt spoke about the true meaning of Christmas and then we exchanged gifts. We each bought a small gift for everyone, and a large gift for one person. It was fun to see what everyone received, and even more fun to play with the gifts! We took lots of photos of our China family, and of our festive Christmas tree.

I took a nap after breakfast, and then prepared for dinner. For dinner we had duck, chicken, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, raw vegetables with ranch dressing, broccoli casserole, jello topped with apples, and homemade biscuits. We ate dinner by candlelight, and talked about the joys of the day. After dinner, we washed up and prepared for dessert, and then Tony and Brad watched “The Prestige” on the television. For dessert we went to Shannon’s apartment for pumpkin pies, mint brownies, Christmas cake, and no-bake cookies. Then we used Skype to talk to our friends in Qinhuangdao and wish them a merry Christmas. It was funny to hear how they had celebrated their holiday here in China, and how they’d figured out how to make homemade egg-nog! The evening ended back in our own apartments as we all called family and friends back home. It was good to hear their voices on this special day.

The days since Christmas have been very quiet by comparison, and I think we were all content to get some rest afterward! The apartment is clean now, the gifts put away, and most of the leftovers eaten. We continue to receive packages from home each day (3 packages in 3 days!) with fun Christmas gifts inside. This morning I had the wonderful opportunity to give two seminars about Christmas in the United States, including its origins and traditions. So it was a great opportunity to share about the reason for the season. Tonight, I also have the opportunity to share another favorite story with our Chinese friends, as I show “It’s A Wonderful Life” to my students. I enjoy these times of sharing with my students, and hope that you will be thinking of them and the conversations that may stem from these times.

As we close out the year 2007, thank you again for all of your support and encouragement. You are our greatest blessings at Christmas time, and our lives and work her would not be possible without you. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Love,
Jessie and Brad

December 16th, 2007 Shake -n-Bake!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Langfang, China is full of the holiday spirit as we prepare to celebrate a Christmas to remember! The main highlight of this week for me has been the baking. On Saturday, Marian and Flora helped me to bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies in our little kitchen. This first adventure was a great success, so on Sunday, Zeny and Skye helped me to bake Chocolate Chip Cookies. Yesterday, Cassie and Melinda joined me for a third attempt, this time with Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies.

All of the girls had a great time running up and down the stairs delivering hot cookies to Newt, Shannon, and Peter. They explained that they had never baked cookies before, and certainly not American cookies. They were quite mystified by the entire process, including the measuring of ingredients, translating the English directions, eating cookie batter, and using the oven. Their looks of wonder and delight in these discoveries were priceless. They loved eating the warm cookies fresh from the oven, and I sent each pair home with two dozen cookies, and later heard many thanks from grateful roommates! It was a learning experience for me too, as I learned to share kitchen responsibilities, to offer them HOT water (the Chinese preference) to drink instead of cold water, and to answer many questions about books, movies, photographs, kitchen tools, mistletoe, Christmas trees, and more!

Aside from baking, Brad invited Joseph over to talk movies, and found greater access to recent American movies through this new friend. Joseph is a student who lives next door to Shannon, and he does a great job of taking care of his American teacher friends. I also invited Vivian to go shopping with me, and we managed to purchase a Christmas tree, tinsel, and a few ornaments at Walmart. She even brought along her camera to snap photos of our Christmas adventure! Then on Saturday, I had a great time knitting with Maria and Wendy. I’m afraid that I found that I am not very talented at this particular form of knitting, as I had to begin again at least 10 times! I dropped a stitch (or more) on almost every line. Brad was quick to remind me that my success (or lack of) in knitting was not the goal of my time, but spending time with the girls was my goal. He also told me that my continuing frustrations were grounds for spending more time with them! I’m glad I have Brad to keep me looking at the glass as half full. ;)

Friday night was a new adventure for all of us, as Brad organized our first-ever American Dancing Night on the Western Campus. It was so much fun! We taught over 300 shy freshmen to dance the Hokey Pokey, Chicken Dance, Virginia Reel, Electric Slide, and Shout! Then we taught them to sing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and “Silent Night.” Wayne (Dean of the English Department) came along for the 30-minute van ride and prepared the sound system for us. He said that such dancing was very rare on this isolated campus, and even more rare in their rigorous high schools. We definitely felt like movie stars as student after student clamored for a photograph with us, and a few words of thanks. They obviously had a wonderful evening learning the American dances and spending time with the foreign teachers. Brad has done a great job of initiating evening events for this special campus, and hopes to continue them next semester as he and Peter will be doing most of their teaching there.

As this week marks the end of many classes, and finals continue for the next few weeks, we continue to covet your thoughts. You can be thinking of our times with students, that they will rich times, full of great discussions. You can hope that our creativity with students will be endless as we discover more ways to enjoy their company and companionship. Please think of our many conversations, both now and in the near future. Please be thinking of the team times—that they will be rich in love and encouragement. Thank you for supporting us, in all your hopes and thoughts.

Love always,
Jess (and Brad)

December 6: Happy Holidays!

Hello and Happy Holidays!

Brad and I are currently preparing for celebrating the Christmas and New Year's holidays for the first time in China! We hope that you are each enjoying the season, the snow, and most of all--the real reason for celebrating.

The past two weeks have been full for me as I have joined in Brad in his running routines. Believe me, waking up at 5 am on Thursdays and Fridays to run in the pitch black darkness is not an easy task! Brad still runs twice as fast as me, so I'm not keeping up by any means, but I think Brad appreciates the company. :) We have also been keeping busy with the upcoming Finals, as we write tests, schedule oral English interviews, grade papers, finish classes, and file grades. Finals will continue from mid-December until early January as classes end at different times.

Our routine of meeting with kids continues as usual! The team had our usual "big family dinner" on both Thursdays, hosting about two guests per leader. It's a great time of sharing toasts, delicious dishes, customs, and stories about ourselves. Vicki and I visited the seamstress together last week, and Vivian (a sophomore) and I visited the Kodak store twice together to develop photos. I used the photos to decorate the hallway in our home, so that we can share you with our friends here! Brad arranged a soccer match with some of the boys, during which I watched and chatted with a freshman named Vivian. On Tuesday I judged a debate competition and was asked to give a short speech to the group (about 150 people) when they were finished! I was very nervous, but it all went well. Yesterday I also had the opportunity to go out for lunch with Vicki for a delicious lunch (fish, corn biscuits, noodles, broccoli, carrots, and cucumbers), and we had a great time talking.

Brad and I have also had a lot of fun this week sharing "our story" with my students. The unit in our textbook was on marriage, so I spent the first half of classes showing digital slides of our wedding and sharing our love story. Then Brad showed up for the second half of my classes for a delightful question-and-answer session. The college kids really enjoy talking about relationships, so they told me that it was a wonderful presentation. It was great for Brad and I, as we were able to voice many aspects of our relationship, including our common musical interests, and love for our father. We hope that our presentation may provide fertile ground for many future conversations.

In the meantime, we have been preparing for Christmas. Claire has returned home, and again it is just the team here in Langfang. We are hanging decorations, Christmas shopping, baking, and sharing Christmas with our students. Please continue to think about us and our work here. We long to be with you during the Christmas season, but we know that we are here for a purpose as well. Thank you for your support and encouragement as you think of us daily.

Love,
Jess (and Brad)

November 23: Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is the day after Thanksgiving, but looking at the clock I realize that it is still Thanksgiving in the homes of most of our loved ones. I hope that the day has been full of joy as you give thanks for the blessings of the year.

Our last week was full of the adventures of spending time connecting with kids. Brad had the boys over to play Settlers, and we hosted two English corners. The kids requested slide shows, so Brad shared some of our stories, and Shannon shared her sister’s love story. Newt followed up with a message of love and relationships. On Wednesday night I saw Brad off at the train station. I spent the week eating a lot of Chinese lunches and dinners with the girls. I finally took a student (and Shannon and Maple joined us too) along so that I could buy a comforter big enough for Brad and I. We’ve been sleeping under separate twin-sized comforters (on one bed) since we got here! Shannon and I graded papers together, I played volleyball with seven girls, and two students showed me how to prepare frozen jiaouzi (Chinese dumplings). A week later they also showed me where to find the “sweet bread” on campus. The kids are always so helpful!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and it was such a sweet time for us to be together. Shannon and Peter brought bread, cream corn, biscuits, no-bake-cookies, and ginger snaps. Claire brought gravy, chocolate truffles, cranberry sauce, stuffing, pumpkin pies, and cranberry pumpkin bread. Brad boiled the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans. Newt purchased the chicken and I provided the green bean casserole, sweet potato souffle, and mashed potatoes. Tony and Lily provided the fruit, corn-on-the-cob, shrimp, and wine. It was a feast! And I’m probably missing something too! We ate until we couldn’t eat anymore. There were a lot of leftovers too! Mmmm… After dinner we shared our thanks for our blessings, tossing a small football from person to person as we took our turn to share. Then Newt led us in the Supper. We talked and sang together, then served one another. It was a wonderful time of joy and thankfulness, shared by all.

As I was writing this letter, my family called from their Thanksgiving festivities. It reminded me again of how grateful we are for the love and support of our family and friends. Thank you again for your thoughts, your words, your gifts, and your service. You make our work here possible. Thank you…for everything.

Always,
Jess

November 8: A Brush with Fame

Hi!

These past 2 weeks have been full of new experiences in Chinese culture. Our weekdays have been full of time spent with kids. I had lunch with Vicki on Monday, and she brought me a lovely pair of black and white gloves as a gift. Later in the week she took me to her dormitory room, showed me around their building, and took me out to lunch at the cafeteria. Vivian and Polaris also took me out for lunch to a favorite local restaurant. Joseph and Matthew came over for tea to welcome us, apologizing for their bad manners in not visiting sooner. We even had a random man from India (Hasin) stop by at 9:30 pm last night to meet the “laowai” (foreigners) and speak English with us.

Visiting the college dormitories was an eye-opening experience. I was amazed to find eight girls sharing a single bedroom. There are 34 rooms to a floor, and only two bathrooms for all of them. Yes, that is 272 girls on a floor using 2 bathrooms. The building does not have hot water, so the girls must walk to an outdoor hot water spigot to get water. There are no showers in the building, so they must walk to a nearby shower house, where they pay for their shower on a card. They have no washing machines or dryers. They have no microwaves, or any way to warm up food, and the only phones provided by the college are outside on a wooden shelf. They wash their clothes by hand in the sink, and they hang their clothes to try on their balcony. There are no desks, drawers, or closets. Everything they own must fit on their bed or in a little locker beside their bed. It is no wonder that they often wear the same clothes for days at a time!

Newt returned from the second week of English Week in Qinhuangdao, and no sooner had he returned, then the rest of us left for Christmas shopping in Beijing. Our first stop was Starbucks, which Brad has been craving for some time! On Saturday, we had a great time exploring the antique market, eating “bowza” (it’s kind of like a Hot Pocket) and noodles, and bartering at the Pearl Market.

On Sunday, Peter took us to meet with our Extended Family for the first time since we have been in China. It was so good to sing and talk with so many Brothers and Sisters! We even met a guy from Lancaster, Pennsylvania! Afterward, Peter took us to “Peter’s,” a Cracker Barrel-style restaurant where we ate Hawaiian Pizza and Mexican food. Brad got a German Chocolate milkshake and I got a Mint Oreo milkshake. Mmmm…. Judging by the décor, the place was owed by a Brother as well. Then Peter took us to the International grocery store called “Jenny Lou’s” where we found chocolate chips, baking powder, baking soda, cereal, and a colander! We were delighted with our finds.

As we were about to leave the grocery store, we noticed one shopper in particular. He reminded us of a Chinese actor that we had seen in a Chinese movie during our drive from Qinhuangdao to Beijing during the National Holiday. The movie is similar to the American film “Click” in which Adam Sandler’s character is given a magic remote control to control the events of his life. In the Chinese version, the man is unhappy with his wife and his life, and is given a magic cell phone that allows him to experience life with many other girlfriends, until he eventually realizes that every woman has her imperfections.

Anyhow, we debated whether he really was this well-known Chinese actor. As we stood there, two Chinese girls walked up to him (and thanks to Peter’s translation) we understood that they were asking him if he was in the movies. He said that he was. Peter decided to be brave, so with camera and Brad in tow, he walked up to the man (whom we now know to be Xu Zheng) and asked him if he might take a photo. So Peter and Brad posed with him, and smiled for a photo. Peter said later that he wasn’t sure if he smiled, because he was shaking so much! After some discussion, we decided that he must have been shopping at Jenny Lou’s to avoid Chinese fans who would recognize him immediately. Who would have thought that we would encounter the star of the only Chinese movie we have seen? Needless to say, our students are very impressed, and eager to see the photograph to prove our adventure.

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for thinking of us. We love hearing from you!
Love,
Jessie and Brad