Shengdan kuai le (merry Christmas) and Xinnian kaui le (happy New
Year) from Harbin! In January my contract with the university and my
"year" (322 days) in northeast Asia will be complete. These days everyone
is looking forward to the long vacation around the traditional lunar New
Year's Day, which I think is January 21st this year. That is the most
important holiday of the year, but no one minds celebrating the New Year
twice. In fact, I have just finished listening to President Hu's holiday
greetings on central television.
Winter set in about mid-November, and the temperature hasn't been
above 32°F since then. Harbin is known to reach very cold temperatures
frequently, even -40°F, but this December has been mild. Although it
often was about 0°F, it has often been warmer, too. Since the weather is
so consistent, Harbin is a great place for ice lanterns and ice
sculptures. I will see these things on Friday, January 2nd, so if you
don't see the picture above, check again after the 2nd. I just couldn't
resist the chance to send my New Year's greetings in advance, because my
teacher-inspired scheme to send everyone a Christmas postcard has failed
(she claims there are beautiful postcards with winter scenes at the post
office store, but I was unable to find them).
My classes and exams are now finished, and I am relieved. You see,
two of my classes actually asked me to offer an extra exam! They are
preparing for the important exam that will allow them to study in Britain,
and since my exams closely follow the format of the speaking portion of
that exam, they wanted more chances to practice for the interview with me.
Plus, I decided that it would be very sensible to have a Christmas party
with each of my seven classes, including the movie A Charlie Brown
Christmas. The result was mayhem! I am grateful for the help of Phil,
Bethany, and Matt N. so that I could show the movie.
You know it is impossible for me to concentrate exclusively on
teaching. There was another rock concert on November 29, so I had to
attend! The quality of all the bands had improved, and my favorite was the
group that wore the gray coveralls, although several groups were almost as
good. On December 19, I went to a new cafe to hear Joel (an American) play
some songs (in English). Then on Christmas Day and the 27th, I attended
services that were full of skits, dancing, and singing. So it is easy to
be entertained even when you can't understand the language.
At the Dongfu office, the culture nights have been increasing in
popularity. We were overcrowded with nearly 90 in attendance for the
Thanksgiving culture night. Next, we had some friends help us with a
culture night about Scotland, so I learned to bake shortbread. For
Christmas, we tried to avoid the crowding problem by presenting the
culture night at a university first, and once again at the office, but we
still had 80 people. It's so nice to see people who are enthusiastic about
studying English, because it helps us to be more enthusiastic about
teaching it.
This year of teaching has been a big challenge for me. To be
honest, as I look back on this experience as it draws to a close, I could
have done a lot of things better. I could have studied harder, taught
better, prayed more, been more aggressive about forming friendships and
trying to do difficult tasks, and been less aggressive in defense of my
American ideas about personal rights and politeness. But when we learn to
walk, and we fall down, we must let Dad pick us up off the floor for
another try!
So, I'm trying again. In February I'll begin working part-time for
Dongfu again as an English teacher, plus some office work. I will also
attempt to take a language class at Hei Da (intensive reading, which for
some reason really means grammar). This will be a six-month trial, after
which we will evaluate the productiveness of that setup. There are still a
lot of work permit, visa, housing and financial issues to be ironed out. I
hope you are in support of my idea. Your feedback is always welcome.
Dongfu company has many difficulties to overcome, so please remember all
of the company members.
Supposedly tickets have been purchased, and I will be flying home
on January 12th! I'm excited about this vacation, and I want to have a
chance to visit everyone before February 15th. Well, perhaps Calgary,
Denver, and Florida are out of my reach, but hopefully I can visit the
majority of my family and friends. Since my vacation falls at a time when
you are NOT on vacation, I expect you to get in touch with me about a time
when you are free to meet me. See you soon!
