December 4-Beach Sunday

December 4:

As the sun was shining and there was only a slight autumn crisp in the air, Kelli and I decided to spend our Sunday afternoon at the beach. It’s sad to think that I’ve lived by a beach for four months and I’ve only been there about four times. The main reason for this visit was so that I could gather some sand for my collection back home.

We arrived at the beach as the sun began to set and the world was filled with deep golden light. A few fishermen sat in their rustic boats, silhouetted by the setting sun behind them. Children ran about the tide pools, shrieking and giggling as the cold water brushed their toes or they found a seashell or starfish. The random but majestic castle that looms over everything only added to the splendor of the picture.

Kelli and I, of course, had to take pictures.

I love the Chinese culture and history and architecture--and of course the people! I'm going to miss all of it. I have grown so much from this experience, in so many ways. I know more about myself and the world. I would have to say that my students have impacted me the most. Spending time with them, disciplining, loving, and teaching them, has taught me a lot about myself and how much I adore and want children of my own some day. Maybe it's strange but I have like a maternal connection to my students. I love them and every minute I spend with them; I have loved getting to know them and discovering their unique personalities and facts about them. Even after all the yummy food and the incredible places I've been and things I've seen (like the Great Wall), my students are what have made my experience and what I will miss the most. It breaks my heart to think that I may never see them again...

November 24-Thanksgiving in China

11/24:

Happy Thanksgiving! Of course, China doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but we Americans wanted to make it a special day. For class today, we watched a movie on the big projector screen. Well, tried to, at least. The entire morning rotation was spent trying to download Windows Media Player, only to discover that it was incompatible with whatever program the Chinese computer used; we tried streaming a video online, but it wouldn’t load; we tried putting a DVD into the computer, but it wouldn’t recognize the disc. In the end, we had the kids pull their desks to the sides of the room and scoot their chairs close together so that they could watch The Little Mermaid on Kate’s laptop.

Our afternoon rotation was only slightly better: we got Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs to load from the internet, but the sound was terrible. Then, we tried The Lion King but the torrent only allowed us to watch the first five minutes unless we paid for the rest.

I ran up to my room to get more DVDs, because Emily’s DVD of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs wasn’t loading, and while I was there, Krisan offered to let me use her speakers. She’s so sweet. Scott was eventually able to figure out how to connect Kate’s laptop to the projector and Krisan’s speakers, and we were finally able to watch The Little Mermaid. The kids seemed to enjoy the movie, though they grew bored after a while. I can relate with how a foreign movie you can’t understand can be uninteresting. We gave them Chinese Teddy Grahams as incentive to be quiet and listen to the movie.

I sat beside Aurora, and she immediately linked her arm with mine and rested her head on my shoulder. I held her hand; she is so affectionate, and my adoration of her deepened.

In between rotations, little Sarah was in the classroom, as for some reason she wasn’t required to go to exercises like the other students. I was eating an orange for my breakfast when she hurried to me and held out her small, coffee-colored hand. Of course, I had to give her a section of my orange; when I placed it on her palm, she promptly gobbled it up and grinned.

I picked her up and spun her around; she burst out in a giggle fit, hugging me tight. I sat down and placed her in my lap; she nestled into me, resting her head underneath my chin. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close. Sarah is the perfect cuddle size; it’s ridiculous how adorable that child is. If I could only take one thing home with me, it’d be her.



At lunch, which was bitter herbs, strange-tasting dumplings and tofu, Kelli told me some heartbreaking news: Maren is going home next Wednesday. Maren has been experiencing toothaches, which have resulted in migraines and puking, for the last week or so. Apparently, she had a couple cavities in her back molar that had been filled, but the filling is falling out or something like that, and it’s pinching a nerve in her gums. If she doesn’t get it fixed pronto, it could lead to very serious problems, the after effects of which could be permanent. She needs a root canal. She researched a dentist in Beijing, but the root canal treatment alone, travel expenses excluded, would be between 5500-7000 yuan ($880-1120).

We only have 3-4 weeks left in China, but Maren can’t wait that long. So, apparently, today she had Casey change her ticket from December 19 to next Wednesday (because her departure is for medical reasons, ILP covers the expenses).

It breaks my heart knowing that she’s leaving so soon, and that it may be a long time before I see her again. I know I will see her again someday, I’m just not sure when. I love that girl dearly—she’s like my other half; we’re two peas in a pod. Our styles and tastes in men may vary from each other’s opinions, but our personalities are extremely similar. It was fate that brought us together; fate was what caused ILP to reassign her from Bengbu to Weihai, fate that reassigned me from Zhongshan to Weihai. If we hadn’t been reassigned, I don’t believe we ever would have met. For all this, I am truly grateful.

I’m gonna miss that chick.



I Skyped my mom and she helped me cope a little bit. I adore that woman—one of the main reasons I am excited to go home is to see her and be able to talk to her on a regular basis. I miss my mother.

So this Thanksgiving, I am grateful for my family, especially for their support in my future plans of traveling and owning a hostel; I am grateful for wonderful friends, near and far—especially Kelli and Maren; I am grateful for the internet; I am grateful for Facebook; I am grateful for email; Skype; good food; warm blankets; sweatpants; jackets; socks; clean water; the opportunity that I have to teach beautiful Chinese children in China; for the gospel; for my scriptures; for prayer; for my testimony; for my life and life in general. I may not have everything, but I am extremely blessed.

Tonight, Scott and Kailey are preparing us a Thanksgiving feast. I am saddened by the idea of not spending this holiday with my family; I will miss them and our traditions, and the traditional feast—especially pumpkin pie. However, Scott purchased rotisserie chicken, potatoes, and other yummy stuff; Scott is an incredible cook, so this should be good. I’m excited. I’ll write about that later, once I’ve partaken of the food.



Alright, it’s later and I have more to report. All of us gathered in the common room, Kelly and her husband, Ganggang, included. Six at a time, we filed into the kitchen to load up on the food. There was mashed potatoes, chicken, rolls, salad and Ranch dressing, creamy potato soup, and vegetables. My favorites were the salad and the creamy potato soup. The salad was a real salad; big, crispy and leafy, and not bitter, unlike all the other salads I’ve had in China. All of the food was amazing, and we ate in silence because we were all focused on our food and intent on enjoying it. The chicken wasn’t the greatest however, in my opinion, because it tasted too much of China.

Once we were all together again, we went in a circle and said what we were grateful for that day. I said I was grateful for Skype, the internet, a family that supports my international dreams, and Maren. Kelli, Maren, and I choked up. I adore that girl; I will dearly miss her. I suppose I should mention that Maren received another email today and her flight has been changed to 4PM tomorrow. I feel as if a rug has been pulled from underneath me; I’m dumbfounded. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been mentally and emotionally preparing myself to say goodbye to my friends on the 19th of December, but now I suddenly have to say goodbye three weeks sooner—tomorrow, as a matter of fact. Holy eff; I don’t like this, not one bit.

This was Ganggang’s very first Thanksgiving, and he thanked us, in Chinese, for inviting him and for the wonderful food; Kelly translated. I felt honored to spend his first Thanksgiving with him. We began the meal with a prayer, and I wondered if that was allowed, though Kelly and Ganggang didn’t object.

After the meal, I was full to bursting and my ‘food baby’ was extremely prominent. I’m not sure why or how, but ever since I was born I’ve had a prominent baby belly, only now I can control when to show it. If I blow out, I look legitimately pregnant. I showed this to Kelly, and she was enthralled. We took a prego picture together, since she really is pregnant. The only thing is, she’s not very big yet—my ‘baby bump’ is much bigger than hers. I’m more pregnant than a pregnant woman!

I miss my family traditions, where we gather around the kitchen table and gorge ourselves on turkey, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy and Dad’s garlic mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. We would nap while the tryptophan ran through our systems, and then watch a movie as a family. I love Thanksgiving. Nevertheless, this Thanksgiving was a very good day; I am grateful I was able to spend it with some of my best friends.

November 21-Just another day in Weihai

In class today, we were choosing what kind of animal we wanted to be. It was in the same class that had the kissing lesson last week, and so the topic of kissing was brought up, naturally. In the mix of things, Kylie said that “Dennis kissed a monkey!” She realized what she had said, and giggled. It was cute.
Later on, I asked her if she wanted to kiss Dennis. She declined vehemently, and then she told me, understanding full well what she was saying, that she wanted to kiss Flynn, who is in a different class. I taught Flynn’s class next, and I told him this. His eyes grew wide and he blushed (it’s especially cute when the Chinese’s dark cheeks turn pink), but said nothing. The rest of the class thought this was a riot, though, and Jack teased him incessantly.
Because of his teasing, I gently grabbed Jack’s head and gave him a good kiss on the cheek. He freaked out like it was the grossest thing ever, but barely seconds later he ran up to me, pulled on my arms until I leaned down and kissed his other cheek. What a stinker.
Cami hasn’t been coming to class very often lately; when she does, she stays for only a few minutes. Some days, she doesn’t come at all. I suppose it has made me kind of lazy in my teaching: when we do arts and crafts, there is a lot of silence as they draw or create pizzas with Play Doh. Most days, I don’t follow the lesson, I only converse with my students, like with our kissing discussions and calling each other animal names, or discussing which foods we like and don’t like. I’m not sure how Cami would feel about it, but I figure that as long as they’re speaking English, I’m on the right track. On one hand, the discipline may be lacking because they can get riled up or jump out of their seats to go tackle Kyle to the ground until he kisses Paris (been there, done that), when they know full well that the rule is to “stay in [their] seats.” Plus, they don’t get a lot of tokens because we’re not with the lesson plan.
On the other hand, it encourages spontaneous speech; it requires them to learn words they wouldn’t normally learn, like “kissing” and “monkeys like to eat bananas”; it causes them to ponder new phrases and form complicated sentences to communicate with me. Therefore, it’s probably not too bad of a teaching tactic.
After classes were over, I met with the other morning teachers (Kailey and Scott Bailey, Emily Morrison, Kate Smith, and Cami Carr) and we walked to the Muslim restaurant for Muslim Monday. I absolutely love this tradition: it allows us to get to know each other better, spend time with people we don’t usually hang out with, eat good food, and discuss life. It’s a great bonding experience.
I got a new dish, one I haven’t tried before. It’s beef with spices on rice; it tasted just like Mexican food and was amazing. It was super spicy—Mexican or Indian spicy, which is unusual for Chinese food—but it was a good, nostalgic spicy. However, my stomach wasn’t too happy with it and still isn’t. I think the spice was too much for it.
I needed toilet paper so we walked to the small Jia Jia Yue right down the street; then we bought ice cream bars from a nice lady in a hole-in-the-wall convenience store. I suppose stating that it was a hole-in-the-wall is unnecessary, since it’s China and just about every store is a hole-in-the-wall.
Wo ai Zhongguo.
Dinner was the tomato and egg dish we all love so much. Seriously, it’s so much better than any other dish at the cafeteria. The school has served it every night for dinner for about a week now; for the last few days, I’ve gone back for seconds and so now the cook knows to load me up with the delicious schlop. It was just what I needed after a long day. It makes my tummy feel so happy.

November 20-Snow!

Today, I got all cute for church in my black sheath dress, boots, and floral tights. With my pink hair and positive outlook on life, I was feeling pretty good. I planned on going to lunch like this, but then I looked out the window and guess what? It’s snowing. Well, it’s more like sleet, but apparently there was snow on the ground earlier this morning. It’s so cold, too.

Maren and I had planned on going to the beach for a model shoot and sand if it wasn’t too cold, but, of course, we had to cancel these plans. Usually, cancelled plans bother me, but today…it didn’t. I’m far too thrilled with life to mind.

My life is far too grand, too unbelievably incredible to be mine. Surely this feeling is a sign that I made the right decision to Head Teach.

November 19-Head Teaching

11/19:

I had my interview with Casey Glade this morning. It went just fine. He asked me how my group was doing, and I told him the vague truth: we’ve had some drama in our group, but most things had been worked out. He asked if there was anything else that might blow up soon. I informed Casey that I wasn’t acutely involved in any of the drama going around, and so I wasn’t sure what is going to come of it.

He asked me how I liked my experience in China, and I raved about it. I admitted that there have been some challenges, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. I love the culture and the people and my students—I went on and on about my students. (I really like China lately, so it was an opportune time to discuss it with the director of ILP.) Casey seemed impressed and asked me whether I was considering working with ILP again; I told him that I was definitely considering the possibility but I wasn’t sure when it would actually happen.

After my interview, we had a group meeting where Casey answered our questions and talked about ILP and all that it has to offer. I found out that ILP has summer camps in Ukraine and in the States, the latter of which works with transfer students from China, Ukraine and Russia. There is no cost for these programs except for travel expenses to the program—like flights to Ukraine. It sounds interesting, since it’s less teaching and more activities with the kids, like boating, hiking, camping, Disneyland, etc. Plus, teachers get paid for their services.

Casey talked about head teaching and how ILP is always looking for more. It caused me to seriously consider and question my reasoning behind not wanting to return with ILP. A head teacher’s program fee is waived, plus they live on a stipend of $1,200. As I’ve researched other international opportunities, none is so…obviously reasonable. I found that orphanage in India that’s free to volunteer at but you still have to pay to get there—and international flights are absurdly expensive, probably close to the usual ILP program fee.

Returning with ILP as a Head Teacher sounds and feels right. I decided to think on it.

For lunch, Maren, Kailey, Scott and I got Muslim food—delicious! Kailey and Scott are so funny and sweet; I adore them. They’re such a cute couple.

Maren and I left to catch a bus to the Weihai Frame, which is a gigantic statue of two hands holding a frame. It’s to remind people to recall and ponder the spirit of the sea, as well as the past, present, and future of Weihai. The Frame is just one of many sculptures along the coast of Half Moon Bay; Maren and I enjoyed exploring the immaculately-kept pathways and gardens that followed the coastline. It was obvious by the landscaping and fancy lantern posts that this area is a popular tourist area. The chilly sea breeze was strong, freezing us to our cores and numbing our noses and fingers, but the sun was out and it was a clear day. Weihai is very beautiful on clear, sunny days. We even found a lighthouse we want to explore when we have more time.

We caught a taxi that took us to the wholesale market (I copied the characters from a paper Kelly had provided us—I can write in Chinese!), where we shopped for a few hours. I went back to my favorite shop—the one where I bought my traditional Chinese dress (pinyin: cheongsam)—with awesome traditional Chinese items, most of which seem homemade.

The store had huge scroll paintings for inexpensive, too, and if I have enough money once I return from Jinan I will buy one for myself. I needed to save what money I had brought with me that day for my next adventure.

Maren accompanied me to the hairdresser to get more pink in my hair. My streaks had faded quite a bit and I wanted bright pink streaks. I wanted my streaks to be a bit wider, too.

Those hairdressers love us. One of the females actually had a pink streak in her hair, which I’m sure was inspired by all the Americans wanting pink in their hair. We all tried to communicate, which was difficult but we somehow managed. They loved Maren’s camera and iPod. I was able to tell them that we returned to the States on the nineteenth (shi jio) of December (shi er yue); I was so proud of myself. I had my notebook with various words in it, and they took it and leafed through it. They found where I had written and rewritten my Chinese name, Rui Ting/ and told me it was beautiful. When I went to pay, I was told it was 60 yuan, but the flamer hairdresser (my favorite guy) told me it was only 50 because I was his friend. What a sweetheart!

The pink is awesome, and super bright. I’m not sure if it will fade as I wash it more, but right now it’s very bright pink. If I part my hair like I usually do, it’s more peek-a-boo coloring; I also discovered that if I part my hair on the other side, the pink goes all over and it’s very obvious. It’s super cool! I’m not sure how prospective employers will like it, but I love it. It’s not a reflection of my rebelliousness—it’s just fun and fashionable, I think.

While Maren and I had the whole day together, we had plenty of time to talk and discuss life and head teaching. I decided it’s what I want to do. I talked to Marie (I like her more than Cami) and she’s excited for me and pleased to hear my plans. I asked her about Ukraine, where she had her first teaching experience, and where I really want to go, and she raved on and on about it. She saw castles, the Black Sea, Poland and the concentration camps…. That’s another thing about Ukraine: I can travel to Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Romania. Talk about incredible!

I applied for a head teaching position for the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 semester. I’ll copy and paste the email I sent to my parents, as it includes most of the information:

Dear parents,

I just thought you should know that I spoke with Casey, the ILP director, and my head teachers and friends here and I have felt the impression that I need to pursue a future with ILP and become a Head Teacher. ILP pays all travel, food and board expenses for head teachers, including a stipend of $1,100. Tonight, I applied for a head teacher position for Fall 2012 in any of the countries offered (China, Russia, Ukraine, Thailand, and Mexico) because I really don't have a preference, though I did say I'd prefer southern China if they assign me here again. I also applied for a head teacher position for the Spring 2013 semester: it's longer (five months) and I applied for Ukraine. Ukraine was initially my runner up choice behind China this semester, and Marie has so many incredible stories about her experience there; I would want more time there than the Fall semester offers (3 1/2 months). Ukraine teachers can travel to other amazing places: http://www.ilp.org/travel/

I applied for both semesters mostly for this reason: I know I want to go to Ukraine, and the Spring semester seems more logical. However, I don't know how well I readjust to living in the States and before long I may be itching to get outta there and go international again, and having the Fall semester will allow me to do that. I will do both semesters and two more countries. Nevertheless, if the time approaches and I don't feel like leaving in the fall is a good idea, I'm allowed to drop out.

I know I told you I didn't want to do ILP again, but having thought about it, I recognize that it's actually a great opportunity. I get paid to live internationally and I'm completely qualified to do so. I don't have to pay a cent out of my pocket unless I want to. Hopefully, I can get a job when I return to the States in a month and so I can save up anyway.

I just thought you'd be interested in this news. I'm ridiculously excited!

I love you so much!

Jillian



I applied before telling my parents. However, I had the feeling they would support me, since they love international opportunities. It may not be exactly what I want to do, which is work in an orphanage in Africa or India, but it’s a good foundation to a future of traveling plus an intelligent move when I don’t have the funds to travel otherwise.

I can’t tell you how excited I am for my future right now! I believe most everyone who applies is accepted, which means I’m probably—not possibly—going international again in less than a year! Oh my goodness, life is wonderful.

November 18-ILP Director Visit

This weekend is supposed to be one of the most important of my ILP experience, because the ILP director Casey Glade is visiting DaGuangHua. Casey is supposed to supervise our classes on Friday; that night, DaGuangHua is treating us with dinner at a super fancy restaurant. Casey will interview each of the ILP teachers individually on Saturday morning. We’ve prepared for this weekend with pep talks, quick re-training, and lots of cleaning.
There’s not much he would do besides tell us to do better if we have a bad teaching day, so I haven’t been terribly worried. Yes, I’m concerned enough to step up my game and try to be better and get my kids to speak more English, but it’s not a life or death situation and I know that.
This Friday morning, I prepared a lesson that included lots of items about which to discuss and an easy BMC. My students were more active than usual, but I controlled them with a firm hand and things weren’t too bad. I tried to my best to keep them speaking and behaving, just in case Casey decided to enter my class, but he never showed. I had the kids speaking a lot more English than usual, until my second to last class, with Kyle, Kylie, Kim, Dennis, William, Collin, and Paris.
I can’t recall how the subject of kissing came up, but somehow we began discussing kissing. I think one of the kids tried to kiss another student, causing an uproar of laughter from the entire class, including Teacher. The Chinese use a simple hand gesture to symbolize kissing: you interlock all your fingers except your thumbs, and you tap your thumbs together. The kids started doing this, and Kyle tried to kiss Kim’s cheek. She shrieked and backed away, giggling. Before long, all the kids were calling out dual names, like, “Collin and Paris! Kim and Dennis! Kyle and Collin!”
William kissed Dennis’s cheek, grossing out the latter. Kylie and Kyle, who were on opposite sides of the tables, air-kissed (they are siblings— ironically, considering their names— and they thought this was hilarious). Paris had been pouting for whatever reason, but was pulled out of her funk by the raucous giggling of her classmates. Kylie said, “Paris and Kyle!” Paris and Kyle leaned into each other, pulling away at the last possible second. Both shrieked, embarrassed. However, they tried it again and this time Kyle planted one on her kisser.
Everyone gasped and then burst out laughing; Kyle vigorously wiped at his mouth and turned bright red. Paris covered her mouth with one hand, pleasantly surprised. Although he pretended to be grossed out, it was easy to tell that Kyle loved every second of this attention; he proved this when he promptly kissed Kim’s cheek. Kim’s facial expression was priceless: she squeezed her eyes tight and grimaced, and then had a giggle fit.
Suddenly, all of the girls left their seats and bombarded Kyle, holding him down as Paris tried to kiss him. He fought her and grimaced as she planted kisses on his forehead and cheeks, but then he stood up and willingly smooched her.
Kyle and Collin are friends, but they usually spend their time karate chopping and kicking each other. However, today Kyle stood up and grabbed Collin and kissed the top of his head, much to Collin’s horror. The class loved it.
I filmed a lot of this escapade, thankfully. It makes me so happy to watch. This class was so much fun!
When I took them to the bathroom, I asked Paris if she liked kissing Kyle. She responded animatedly, “Yes, Teacher. Yes, yes!” I had to laugh—this girl’s life had just been made: she was positively glowing.
When Kate brought her kids to the bathroom, Kylie told her that Kyle and Paris kissed. Kate looked at me disbelievingly, but I didn’t need to explain or legitimize Kylie’s claim, because Paris and Kyle kissed yet again. My class and Kate’s class practically died laughing; Lily fell to the floor in a giggle fit.
My students are absolutely adorable. My only worry is that that class will never behave ever again: they’ll want every class to be a kiss fest. At least Casey didn’t come into that class! In fact, he never showed up. He still hasn’t showed up; his flight may have been late or something. It’s kind of nice; I’m not complaining.
At lunch, I tried pig’s foot. It. Was. Disgusting. Holy eff, it was awful. All that was on it was fat—squishy, chewy, nasty fat—and the hoof. I had to try it just to say I did, but I will never try it again. Ever. The Chinese must be in survival mode, otherwise why would they serve so much crappy meat? I’ve had chicken feet, chicken neck, and now pig’s feet—the parts of the animals where little to no meat resides. Crazy Chinese.
I showed off my video of the kids kissing, and everyone has loved it. Maren almost keeled over and died laughing; I knew she would.

For the big dinner tonight with Casey, I wanted to dress up all cutesy since I hardly ever get an appropriate opportunity to in China; however, it’s rainy and cold outside so I decided to be sensible and wear skinny jeans, tall wedge boots, a black shirt and my red, white, and black cherry blossom scarf that I found in Shanghai. I even straightened my hair (and received lots of compliments, including Adam’s impressed glances now and again).
I talked to Casey briefly; he’s a very congenial man with a plethora of stories that he is more than happy to tell—over and over. I do think he has a pretty awesome job though, as he gets to travel the world every semester. How awesome would that be?
We all met at the school gates at 5:20PM, where we piled into vans (China is so sketchy) that took us to a tall building with a drive up entrance, like a hotel. Chinese hostesses led us to a vast dining room filled with countless circular tables. The room was decorated as if for a wedding or a formal engagement.
Our tables had a glass center that turned; before long, this was loaded with all sorts of Chinese dishes: various sprouts and leafy green vegetables; beef, chicken, and other meat dishes; potatoes; tomato stew; dumplings with different stuffing; rice noodles; fried rice; and my personal favorites, basu de guo and guo bou ro (sweet potatoes and sweet and sour pork). Whenever there was an empty space on the revolving table, the waitresses would fill it with another steaming dish. Most of the dishes were delicious, while others were, well, quite nasty actually.
For desert, there was basu de guo (it’s like potato covered in sweet, sticky gooey stuff; candied potato, I suppose is the best description—to die for!) and this strange purple doughy ball (not so tasty). We all ate until we felt ready to burst—my food baby was/is very prominent right now.
I love going out to good Chinese restaurants, though: it’s so much better than cafeteria food.