If we're being completely honest…I have a favorite class. It puts the others to shame. They are active, they participate unceasingly, they are excited, they do their homework, they even practice oral English outside of class for fun. It's great. It makes Monday mornings tolerable. It makes every other class feel like its missing something. But I think my favorite part of this class is the fact they do class as a community. It's the adult English majors class, so they are all a little older and they have all taught before (most of them primary school). But they all aren't from Guiyang and so they hang out together, live near each other, and do a lot of things together. It was with the students from this class that I ate dinner with earlier this semester and that I had an "autumn outing" with. Well, today brought another unexpected adventure with my class.
I was editing a science journal article (a whole other story in and of itself) at a coffeehouse (actually teahouse-but not like traditional teahouse) and I get a call from another teacher that also teaches this class. "Jake, where are you? Are you coming? We are waiting for you. Come to the basketball court."…ok, I wasn't really surprised. One student mentioned it yesterday, but he said a different time and he failed to tell me I was the starting power forward. So I run and change and make it to the court. All of the girls are sitting in the stands cheering. All the guys are either playing or standing in the unofficial bench area. They put me in immediately. We were playing a team of older guys. I am not really sure where they came from, but they were patient guys. But it was definitely an experience…
(Here comes the part that if you aren't really interested in basketball it might not be as interesting and you should totally just scan it to hear about where I went to cut on a fast break, slipped, and subsequently lost a large amount of hair and skin from my leg…actually, that is about it)…back to the game. We are playing full court, not a great thing seeing as how I have exercised three times in the last two months (at least they were all in the last two weeks though). But they tell me I am playing forward and I go in. First trip down the court I get a feel for the game. The point guard (another teacher) passes to one of my students one dribble and up goes a shot. Not just any shot. A heinous shot. It was ridiculous/amazing all at the same time. I go down to play defense and …well, I just decided to camp out in the lane because our center was cherry picking at the other end and no one could play a lick of D. The other team manages to put up a much better shot than we did, but they missed and to my surprise my teammate gets the rebound and chucks it down the court to the cherry picker who proceeds to miss the layup…ouch. This whole chucking the ball thing happened many more times. Only it stopped working and the ball was either a) stolen by the other team or b) not caught by the cherry picker and thrown out of bounds. My reaction was the closest thing to getting angry that I have felt in a while. I, of course, didn't express this to my team/students, but if I was coaching any one who even looked up court to throw a grenade pass would have been on the bench. My offense contribution to the game took a while to develop, but my students…well they are gunners…all of them. They never saw a shot they didn't like. So I got my hustle points (put backs from all the bricks that were thrown up). I had my fair share of defensive rebounds too. And after a while I completely abandoned the whole outlet pass concept and just ran the break myself. But in a way, it was dangerous basketball. Bodies were flying everywhere; there was no finesse about it. I caught a knee in my quad that left me limping up and down the court for five minutes. The half court offense though…once I went in the post they were actually passing me the ball. I have always had a closest fascination about being a post player. I think it might have been from seeing underachieving post players during my childhood and high school experience and thinking if I was taller I could dominate down there. Well, this was my chance. So I went to town. I'm telling you Tim Duncan would have been proud. I was knocking down 10 foot bank shots like nobody's business. We ended up winning. It was a little anticlimactic as we had managed to gain the lead upon my arrival and keep it (and no one really seemed to care about the score except for me). Overall, it was a lot of fun. Another great experience with my class, they are really feeling comfortable with me now (on my way back to my apartment I talked with some students who had been previously petrified to speak with me, but now are more than comfortable). I got a chance to be competitive (even though I didn't really show it). And I had a lot of fun. Quite the combo. Now if I could only get my other classes on this bandwagon.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Stretched and strengthen...
I don't know, I am just in that kind of mood. You know, the kind of mood where you are looking for a little phrase that sort of sums up your mood/your week/your recent experiences-hmmm…maybe you don't know. Anyway, stretched and strengthened. It's got that whole alliteration thing going. It has an accompanying image/experience everyone has shared (have you ever gotten your fingers stuck in a Chinese finger trap. It stretches only to strengthen its grip). Hmmm…maybe a little cheesy and over the top. Maybe it's a good image because it even has Chinese roots, but if you look into it too much you may think I feel trapped. I don't. Just stretched and strengthened. I have been encouraged this week in some great ways and I have had to rely on my Father above for wisdom and strength and He has come through again, praise Him for His faithfulness. My heart continues to be burdened with the desires to build and deepen relationships here. It was a good week for relationships and I hope next week is simply a step forward in that.
Thanks for your Thoughts, they help in the whole strengthening part.
Thanks for your Thoughts, they help in the whole strengthening part.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
An 11 day break...
10/9/07
I've been in China for eight weeks now. Eight weeks. Sounds like a long time, but really, that hasn't seemed to be the case. In fact, it seems like I just started teaching. So you can imagine that when I had a week break this last week, it seemed a little out of place. It was National Day here in China, Monday, October 1st; the celebration of 58 years of existence for the People's Republic of China. "A long time"…hmmm, we are at 231 and that doesn't really seem too long. All that too be said, I had a week off, well more like 11 days because I still had no classes on Thursday or Friday at this point (I will have classes on Friday for the first time this Friday).
But my vacation started with a banquet dinner at the Guiyang Sheraton hosted by the provincial government with foreign teachers, business people, and engineers in attendance. Dinner at the Sheraton, yeah, not a bad deal. I passed on the caviar though.
After judging an English Contest on Friday afternoon and then getting paid I was ready for that vacation. Things started slow, just spending Saturday with friends and Sunday at fellowship. On Monday though, I went with my teammates Kara, Susie, and Jen to Anshun (1.5 hours west of Guiyang ) for a camping trip with two other teachers from ULS and some students. I left Guiyang with everyone's bedding in my bag/strapped to my bag and needless to say turned more heads than usual on the way to the bus station. We spent Monday in Anshun prepping. I got to stay in a concrete shell of a room that belonged to one of the students. He made it as much like home as possible and I think I would prefer it to living with 8 people in a dorm room, but still, it was quite basic and the toilet facilities…I'll spare you the details. We took a bus to our camp spot-a twenty minute walk from the road into the woods. It was nice, no buildings, no cars, no blaring horns, a little peace and quiet and rest for the senses. Dinner was a bbq over the fire. It was delicious, but definitely not the quickest way too get food and I was hungry. All this meaning it took all that was in me to stay patient and just wait for the food. And after dinner (a three hour event), it was time for bed. Now you may wonder why I bother to mention this part, but it was really one of the more entertaining aspects of the trip. After realizing the tent we were borrowing was not a three person tent as we were told, but rather a two person tent, the two other guys and I shrugged and said, oh well. Actually, I am not quite sure what they said, it was something in Chinese, but I don't think they minded it, they shared a sleeping bag. I was squished against the side of the tent all night however, but I still managed to sleep decently well despite having one side, my head, and my feet up against the side of the tent. But the tent was a little mildew-y and I think I might be allergic because I am still congested-or I have a cold, so I'm not really sure. Ok, enough about camping…
We got back to Guiyang and a day later we were on our way again. This time Kara, Susie, Jen, Miah (another American teacher here), Hanna (an American studying Chinese), and Martin (Susie's old student and my closest Chinese friend) were going rafting. We boarded a train and four hours later we had arrived. We spent the rest of the day swimming in the river and I even climbed a little mountain. It was a great way to let the testosterone flow. Just going and climbing. And I had to really do some climbing. I was sort of set on summiting the little mountain, but to do this I had go over a little open faced area and climb up, not the safest, but here I am typing to you today, alive and well. Rafting was quite the experience though. The setting is a shallow river that winds through a beautiful green canyon. Towering limestone walls draped with vegetation. It was beautiful, every turn on the river was another gorgeous view. But I say a shallow river because, well, it was white water, but it wasn't. They gave us a two person raft and a six foot wood pole and said good luck. Of course, I was quite excited for the opportunity, but some of the girls weren't really interested in guiding themselves down the river. The float was a lot of fun. In the rapids you just had to get as low as possible without putting your butt on the bottom of the raft because it was bound to hit boulders in the river, all the while holding the pole like a kayak paddle and just bounce around, trying best to not get turned sideways and tip. Oh, and to not hit poor Miah in the head with the pole. This was my biggest fear and yes, it did happen once, but she has since forgiven me and no long term damage was done. We had to stop a few times and empty the boat of water. One time we managed to fill it to the brim. It was quite the trip. We arrived back to Guiyang late Saturday night. I got some rest, went to fellowship on Sunday, worked on lesson plans for five hours (still a difficult and painful experience. You can be Thinking of that) and went to bed only to start teaching again the next morning not really feeling like I had 11 days off. I guess that's how it is when you pack in trips like that and travel all over the province. So things are good here. Hopefully I won't leave you hanging as long on the blogs in the future, but as you see, I've been busy.
I've been in China for eight weeks now. Eight weeks. Sounds like a long time, but really, that hasn't seemed to be the case. In fact, it seems like I just started teaching. So you can imagine that when I had a week break this last week, it seemed a little out of place. It was National Day here in China, Monday, October 1st; the celebration of 58 years of existence for the People's Republic of China. "A long time"…hmmm, we are at 231 and that doesn't really seem too long. All that too be said, I had a week off, well more like 11 days because I still had no classes on Thursday or Friday at this point (I will have classes on Friday for the first time this Friday).
But my vacation started with a banquet dinner at the Guiyang Sheraton hosted by the provincial government with foreign teachers, business people, and engineers in attendance. Dinner at the Sheraton, yeah, not a bad deal. I passed on the caviar though.
After judging an English Contest on Friday afternoon and then getting paid I was ready for that vacation. Things started slow, just spending Saturday with friends and Sunday at fellowship. On Monday though, I went with my teammates Kara, Susie, and Jen to Anshun (1.5 hours west of Guiyang ) for a camping trip with two other teachers from ULS and some students. I left Guiyang with everyone's bedding in my bag/strapped to my bag and needless to say turned more heads than usual on the way to the bus station. We spent Monday in Anshun prepping. I got to stay in a concrete shell of a room that belonged to one of the students. He made it as much like home as possible and I think I would prefer it to living with 8 people in a dorm room, but still, it was quite basic and the toilet facilities…I'll spare you the details. We took a bus to our camp spot-a twenty minute walk from the road into the woods. It was nice, no buildings, no cars, no blaring horns, a little peace and quiet and rest for the senses. Dinner was a bbq over the fire. It was delicious, but definitely not the quickest way too get food and I was hungry. All this meaning it took all that was in me to stay patient and just wait for the food. And after dinner (a three hour event), it was time for bed. Now you may wonder why I bother to mention this part, but it was really one of the more entertaining aspects of the trip. After realizing the tent we were borrowing was not a three person tent as we were told, but rather a two person tent, the two other guys and I shrugged and said, oh well. Actually, I am not quite sure what they said, it was something in Chinese, but I don't think they minded it, they shared a sleeping bag. I was squished against the side of the tent all night however, but I still managed to sleep decently well despite having one side, my head, and my feet up against the side of the tent. But the tent was a little mildew-y and I think I might be allergic because I am still congested-or I have a cold, so I'm not really sure. Ok, enough about camping…
We got back to Guiyang and a day later we were on our way again. This time Kara, Susie, Jen, Miah (another American teacher here), Hanna (an American studying Chinese), and Martin (Susie's old student and my closest Chinese friend) were going rafting. We boarded a train and four hours later we had arrived. We spent the rest of the day swimming in the river and I even climbed a little mountain. It was a great way to let the testosterone flow. Just going and climbing. And I had to really do some climbing. I was sort of set on summiting the little mountain, but to do this I had go over a little open faced area and climb up, not the safest, but here I am typing to you today, alive and well. Rafting was quite the experience though. The setting is a shallow river that winds through a beautiful green canyon. Towering limestone walls draped with vegetation. It was beautiful, every turn on the river was another gorgeous view. But I say a shallow river because, well, it was white water, but it wasn't. They gave us a two person raft and a six foot wood pole and said good luck. Of course, I was quite excited for the opportunity, but some of the girls weren't really interested in guiding themselves down the river. The float was a lot of fun. In the rapids you just had to get as low as possible without putting your butt on the bottom of the raft because it was bound to hit boulders in the river, all the while holding the pole like a kayak paddle and just bounce around, trying best to not get turned sideways and tip. Oh, and to not hit poor Miah in the head with the pole. This was my biggest fear and yes, it did happen once, but she has since forgiven me and no long term damage was done. We had to stop a few times and empty the boat of water. One time we managed to fill it to the brim. It was quite the trip. We arrived back to Guiyang late Saturday night. I got some rest, went to fellowship on Sunday, worked on lesson plans for five hours (still a difficult and painful experience. You can be Thinking of that) and went to bed only to start teaching again the next morning not really feeling like I had 11 days off. I guess that's how it is when you pack in trips like that and travel all over the province. So things are good here. Hopefully I won't leave you hanging as long on the blogs in the future, but as you see, I've been busy.
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