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
