An Unexpected Opportunity to Teach English

This morning started off with a very good run, which I was thankful for. Last week was a terrible week for running and I was afraid I was starting to lose motivation. Fortunately, I think I'm back in the swing of things.

I figured the rest of the day would be a serious homework day... particularly since we have many deadlines coming up within the next two weeks. Homework did take up the majority of the day... until Ashley popped into my room to tell me that we had an opportunity to go teach English tonight.

So, five minutes later, we were on our way with our teacher to check out the English school. The Chinese English teachers there were very excited about the prospect of us joining them for class this evening and for future evenings during our time in Beijing. They requested that we bring pictures of ourselves so that they could post pictures of the "lovely foreign teachers" in the classroom.

Ashley and I hurried back to the apartment to eat dinner before giving our first English lesson. Both of us were pretty excited about the opportunity to teach. We were back at the English school within an hour of first meeting the Chinese English teachers, Nancy and Grace. Upon our arrival, we were informed that the students they had been expecting were unable to attend class for the evening. However, Nancy and Grace invited us to stay and chat with them. We were a little unprepared for the chat...

They spoke to us in Chinese very quickly and looked at us quizzically, expecting us to respond. I told them they spoke very fast. They then asked us how much Chinese we had been studying and asked us to tell them the phrases we knew. Ashley and I shifted uncomfortably, looking at one another and proceeded to make our feeble attempts:
Wo jiao Holly. (I am known as Holly)
Wo shi Meiguoren. (I am an American)
Wo shi xuesheng. (I am a student)
Wode shi san ge didi he yi ge meimei. (I have three younger brothers and one younger sister).

They corrected our tones and asked questions (in Chinese) along the way. We smiled... and they said, "What else do you know?"

I said, "Well, when we're at the market and we want to know how much something costs, we say "zhe ge, dou shou qian?"

We also talked about ordering food and received several other corrections. They asked us how long we have been in China and if we study very often. We tried to explain to them that we are taking other classes and when we don't have homework, we like to try to get out and see the city. It was a rather humbling experience, to be sure. We have so much more to learn in our study of Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese)! I would have been discouraged, except for a conversation I had with my Chinese teacher last week. She told me that we were all doing very well for beginners and that it usually takes the students that she tutors privately at least two to three months to get the tones down.

The good news is, they provided very helpful feedback with our pronunciation attempts and did offer some encouragement. They also were eager to practice their English and were very interested to know about our lives. By the time we left, they told us that they hoped we would become hao pengyou (good friends). I think we may go again on Wednesday evening if they have students.

Yu Yuan Tan Park

Today was a lovely day. After a wonderful time at BICF this morning, Katie and I prepared for an afternoon with our dear Chinese friends, Cat and Penguin (their nicknames). They decided to take us to Yu Yuan Tan Park. Our park experience was quite different from any park experience I've ever had in the U.S.:

- We paid to enter the park (it was only 5 RMB - about 75 cents)

- There were LOTS OF PEOPLE - not a quiet place to get away to relax and sit down

- They had vendors there selling hotdogs (I think), various sugary snacks, Japanese robes, fake flowers, umbrellas, etc.

At the park, we observed many families together. Peope were picnicking, riding paddle boats on the lake, blowing bubbles, taking pictures, eating, laughing, and having a nice time. It was a neat cultural experience for Katie and I. Although it was very crowded, we managed to get some great pictures. I had trouble downloading them, so there's only a few this time. The cherry blossoms are just starting to appear, so it's very beautiful this time of year. I love spring!

We really enjoyed our time with Cat and Penguin as well. After the park, we taxied back to KFC (near our apartment), had some ice cream, and taught the girls how to play Dutch Blitz.

Katie, Cat, Penguin, and me

Lots of people

hopefully more pictures later...

A Good Saturday

This morning I got to talk with my lovely familia... everyone (except Zac) was around for Josh's sweet sixteen birthday celebration. It was SOOO good to see them all and talk to them. I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone again! It's hard to believe how quickly our time is going by. I'll be back in the States in less than three weeks! Craziness!!! (I'm not quite sure I'll be ready to leave by then... although knowing that I'll be able to see everyone again is definite motivation for coming home again). I just love China!

After lunch, I ended up going to do a little bit of babysitting for a family that lives here in Beijing. Sara and Josie were there earlier and I went to try to help out. We had a set of 11 month twins and an energetic 2 year old. While we were there, I got a wonderful Chinese history lesson from their dad. (He needed help with the kids while his wife was away... thus the reason for our being there). The history lesson helped a lot with the research paper I am doing on Mao Zedong and the events surrounding the People's Republic of China in 1949. It was very helpful information... and the girls and I observed some great parenting skills in action, which was also fun. :)

Umm... I'm SO looking forward to seeing you all when I get back!!!
~Holly

Trip to Xian

We had an amazing time in Xian!

The Train Ride

Our 13 hr. overnight train ride ended up being much better than we thought it would be. The bathrooms weren't nearly as terrible as we were expecting and it was really fun. The berths were set up with three beds stacked on either side. The bunks were small, complete with the typical hard Chinese 2" mattresses. We played Euchre and took silly pictures before turning in for the night. Suprisingly, I slept pretty well on the way there. (The train ride back wasn't quite as smooth, but I made it just fine). We slept in our regular clothes - since there wasn't really any room to change. By the time we woke up, it was time to quickly gather our things and hop off.

Train Station

Our berth...

Playing the "Surprise" game... someone says a word right before the picture is taken and our faces have to exhibit our emotions associated with the word/phrase. Definitely fun times. I don't remember what the word was for this one... but they were some fun faces.

Terra-Cotta Warriors

Apparently, the emperor of the Qin dynasty believed in the afterlife. He had over 7,000 Terra-cotta warriors made to be buried with him in his tomb - that way he would be protected in the afterlife. (He sounded a little narcissistic to me...) The Terra-Cotta warriors were constructed around 200 BC (I think... don't remember for sure). Later on, the tomb was invaded and several of the warriors were destroyed (as you'll see in the pictures). The warriors were not re-discovered until the 1970s/1980s... about 2,000 years later.

Beautiful scenery in the park...

Terra Cotta warriors...

Sporting our Bethel pride...

The broken warriors

Xian at Night

Our evening in Xian was wonderful. We did some shopping in the market and met some kids selling roses. We ended up having dinner with them at McDonalds and had some great conversations. I learned a lot about Chinese culture through our time in Xian. I look forward to sharing many stories when I get home...

Xian City Wall

Thursday morning, we rode tandem bikes on the Xian wall (different from the Great Wall). It was so much fun! The Xian wall surrounds the city... we biked for a good hour at least. Although our bike chain fell off twice, Katie and I managed just fine and had a lovely time together.

Group photo

Forest of the Stone Tablets

The Forest of the Stone Tablets contained several historical documents etched in stone. While we were there, we found some interesting tablets concerning the religious history of China. The tablets are displayed in a beautiful garden.... as you can see.

Chinese calligraphy is so beautiful... I wish I could read it. Maybe someday...

To Xi'an

Tonight we will be going to Xi'an by train. Apparently, it takes 12-13 hrs. to get to Xi'an by train from Beijing. So, we've got quite a night ahead of us. We plan to spend all day Wednesday and Thursday there and will return home Friday morning. I will take lots of pictures and tell you what I learn about the famous Terra Cotta Warriors.

Easter Weekend = Amazingness!

This weekend has pretty much been the sweetest weekend we've had in China yet!

Saturday:
We were invited by a Chinese school to visit some English classes and share our Easter traditions with them. So, we threw a drama together, sang a few songs, and shared a few personal stories. We visited four classes throughout the afternoon. At the end of each class, students asked us questions about our culture and we exchanged email addresses with a few of them. It was SO exciting.

When we got back, almost all the girls crowded around Rachel's laptop to watch 27 Dresses. It was a very cute chick flick.

Sunday:
This morning we had quite an adventure on the way to church... half of our group left without us and we weren't quite sure how to get there. After taking a couple of wrong buses and talking to a very nice English-speaking Chinese man, we managed to get on the right bus and found our way there. We only missed half of the service. After church, we went to lunch at a Brazilian barbeque place, which was pretty interesting.

This afternoon, we had our Easter basket exchange. All of the girls in our apartment drew names and made an Easter baskets for each other. It was kind of like a secret santa/secret sis thing. Very fun. I got lots of chocolate... and coffee... and pink stuff. Good times for sure.

Tonight, Katie and I met with our Chinese friends, Cat and Penguin for dinner. We met them a couple of weeks ago at the party we had for Chinese students. They took us to a dumplings restaurant - which was a new experience and SO good! We had great conversations... it was even better than Katie and I could have hoped. After dinner, they took us to their university and gave us a tour of their campus. We finished our night with sundaes at KFC. It was marvelous. We made plans to get together next week... they are going to show us more of Beijing and they want us to teach them how to make chocolate chip cookies. Katie and I had such a great time.

Note: Easter has been more meaningful to me this year than ever before. I'm so thankful...

The Forbidden City

On Wednesday, we went to the Forbidden City, where the emperors used to live.


Picture of Mao Zedong... the Communist leader that led to the founding of China in 1949.


Nice Chinese architecture.


We're in China!

Supposedly, this is one of the "scenes" from Mulan.

One of the many thrones for the emperor in the Forbidden City.

The garden in the back of the Forbidden City.

Spring is sprung!