June 13, 2010
Wow, these last two weeks have been crazy! It's hard to believe that it's already the second week in June. Anyway, so the last week of May was really awesome- I taught my students about how important it is to be unique and how everyone is unique and needed and all of this stuff. We talked about how around the world people are all so different and how there are good and bad things about every country. Then I talked to them about how you maybe don't like what people do, but that doesn't mean that you can hate the person. After that I really tried to help them understand just how important each of them is and how no matter what they're all needed and stuff like that. We even sang the primary song "Every Star is Different." It was incredible hearing 60 Chinese students singing that song together- the Spirit was really strong. Knowing that even though many couldn't understand all of what I taught and yet there were still those that understood perfectly was a very amazing experience.
I've been thinking about how we're all so much like those students; some of us sit back, away from the teacher and don't try to learn anything from them and just sleep or play games. Others don't understand very well, so although they'll try to pay attention it's just on and off. Then there are those who don't understand very well, but they'll try to listen and learn as much as they can so they can understand better and work to improve on their understanding. Some do understand and those are the ones who can truly grasp the idea and apply it to themselves and help the others understand. Not all of them choose to apply it and they just let it go from one ear to the other and only want to be entertained. So, the moral is that we are being taught constantly through life by our teachers- the teacher could be friends, family, enemies, significant others, strangers, other people that cross our paths, or Heavenly Father. We have the option to choose how we take in what we're being taught. Whether we decide to be the punks in the back of the class creating an environment where it's hard for anyone to learn or those who are diligently trying to learn and improve in our understanding and applying that which we learn to our lives and helping others understand or anywhere in between.
Anyway, now that I've shared my current thought provocation I'll get back to some of the other things I've done. Nikki actually left for Beijing on Tuesday morning because her students had some testing to do. I still had all of my classes that week and Sam had half of his. Thursday night Mariah and Savannah came down to get their tickets up to Beijing from Sam (he had bought them for them), then we hung out on Friday, and that night all of us headed to the train station and left for our separate destinations from there. We actually met up with Alyssa and Nora at the station and so we got to say goodbye for good again; it's nice being able to see people again even when you think that you probably won't. Sam and I took a hard sleeper train from Yongzhou to Guangzhou, then a sleeper bus from Guangzhou to Xiamen. The sleeper bus was during the day and it was so weird how everyone just slept the entire time. I think that we should really have a better train system in America because taking a sleeper is such a convenient way to travel long distances- you get on the train, go to sleep, then by the time you wake up you're basically there. Normal train rides are good too; basically, traveling around the US would be a lot easier if there were more trains- well, at least for those of us without cars :)
This week we've visited different countries and been treated extremely well by everyone we meet as well as meeting some incredible people. So, we got to Xiamen Saturday evening, went to our hostel (which was a really nice hostel, by the way), then we took a stroll down Zhongshan road to find a place to eat dinner. Afterward we went to the end of the road to where you can see the ocean and Gulangyu islet. It was awesome to see at night time- we headed back to our hostel after that since we had to get up and ready for church in the morning. We met with the Hayden-Smiths for church in their apartment; man, it was a really nice apartment. They have two little kids, Savannah and Indiana, who are adorable children. Later on for dinner we met up with my grandma's dean while she taught here, Dean Lin Yuru. Her English is fabulous- it was such a change from what I've become used to while talking to the Chinese people. We met with Dean Lin Yuru, her son, her granddaughter, and her granddaughter's piano teacher. For dinner we went to a really nice restaurant on Xiamen University campus and had a ton of seafood- it was fantastic. I used to think that I didn't like seafood at all, but now I know otherwise. Both the piano teacher and Dean Lin kept putting more and more food on my plate, so I felt extraordinarily full by the time everyone was done. That day was absolutely wonderful; the university is gorgeous, the food was delicious, and the company was amazing.
Hostels are incredible places because you get to meet so many different kinds of people from all over the world all with their own interesting stories of their travels and their homes. We met Chris from Italy who is teaching Italian in Nanjing University, Olaf and another girl (I forgot her name) from Sweeden who had taken a train through Syberia and Russia down through Mongolia then Beijing. Their train ride was so crazy long, but it was definitely an amazing story. Also, we met Shelley who is actually from Taiwan but had gone to Canada for schooling so she had perfect English. We ended up staying up for a really long time talking to her on Tuesday night. There was also this other guy from Taiwan who didn't speak much English. He snored so loudly and he always woke up really early then would come in and out of the room like 10 times every morning. Yet, he was a really nice guy and it was interesting seeing how different his habits were. Another guy came in on Monday or Tuesday from England; his name was also Chris and he was also teaching English in China. These people were all so different but it was cool getting to meet them.
On Monday, Nikki flew into Xiamen and met us at the hostel. We decided to go to the Botanical Gardens that afternoon- though the route that we took ended up being really difficult to find. We took about an hour just looking for where to hike up to the gardens, then the actual place was huge so we didn't actually get to see all of it. It was a really, really good afternoon and it was really nice seeing Nikki again. It'll be really weird going home and not seeing Nikki and Sam basically every day... Anyway, Tuesday we went to Nanputuo Temple; which was fabulous! When you go in it's like this huge garden, then you go into the actual temple part where you can see all of this amazing buildings with the statues that everyone prays to. Then you keep going up the stairs and basically climb the mountain; there are places along the way where there are hundreds of these little statues where people stop to worship. As you keep ascending, the view becomes more and more fabulous. We got to the top and after looking out for awhile we decided to separate- Sam one way while Nikki and I went to explore a little more. We found a place where people used to go eat and climbed on the rocks and trees. After we stayed there for an hour or so, we had to head back down to the entrance because one of my grandma's old students, Alex, was coming to pick us up and take us around on the ring road that goes around the island (Xiamen is just a big island).
Meeting up with him was awesome- he took us to some amazing parks around the island. The first place we stopped was the same place that I had been to fly kites when I was 11. It was crazy because I actually recognized and remembered the place; which was more than a lot of other places. We then went to Music Square where they have the faces of famous musicians as well as some information about them carved into stones placed around the square. It was really cool seeing the faces in the rocks, though the eyes were all like Chinese eyes which was quite amusing. We also got to drive through an underwater tunnel- it connects between the mainland and Xiamen 70 meters underwater. Sadly, you couldn't actually see anything but it was still way cool. After that we went to go pick Sam up from the hostel so we could go to a new vegetarian restaurant with some of the other students. At the dinner there was Jimmy, Alan (Allen?- I'm not sure on the spelling), Vera, Henry, and Alex. They were all so awesome- they care so much about my grandma and it really made me happy to see that. I was really glad that I was able to meet with them, some again and some for the first time. It was interesting how much they all paid attention to how much I ate and whatever would make me happy- I felt VERY spoiled this week. The food was interesting but quite delicious which was a very nice surprise- I was a little wary about having vegetarian food.
They asked us what we had planned for the week and we told them that we wanted to go to the Butterfly Valley after which they started talking vigorously in Chinese about what the Butterfly Valley is and where it is. They then all "told" Alan to take us since he had free time the next day. Alan also invited us to go with him to go get some hot chocolate (he got coffee) that night which was delicious. I was also given a few gifts to take back to my grandma from them. The next morning we got up and met Alan who took us to some really incredible places up in the mountains of Xiamen- we didn't actually go to the Butterfly Valley because it's a hike and his knee is rather messed up, but it was really awesome to get to talk to him and see those places around Xiamen. I really feel like I learned a lot from him. That night we met up with Dr. Tian (another of my grandmother's friends) and she took us out to eat at a Japanese restaurant. The food was delicious and she's an incredible lady. I feel so lucky to have met with so many amazing people in Xiamen. That night we went over to Gulangyu and bought a bunch of fruit that we don't get back in America so that we could have a little party of trying fruit, though we didn't actually have our party until the next night (Thursday).
Gulangyu is a great place- the buildings are totally European style because that's where the consulates used to be. Also, there was an organ museum which was so cool! We had a lot of fun on the beach as well- it started to rain while we were on the beach and it was crazy awesome! The thunder sounded like gunshots, they were so loud. Thursday night we were taken to dinner by Alex, his family, and his business partner, Charles, and his son Andy. Andy's actually going to try going to a university in America next year. Alex actually brought out some old pictures of when I was here last time- I was definitely not expecting to see those pictures. The restaurant they took us to was super nice and I felt bad not being more dressed up than I was.
We took a sleeper bus back to Guangzhou the next morning, then went on our train back to Yongzhou at midnight. Between the bus and the train we had about 4 hours of waiting- Nikki and I actually met an Israeli guy in the Market there. He asked me something about the "guy" I was traveling with and I was really confused- it turns out he was just saying how Nikki looks like a guy because of her muscles and the way her hair was done. It was cool talking to him. He also asked about water with gas, which we were rather confused why there would be petroleum in water until he said something about the bubbles in the water. Then we understood he meant carbonated water and water with gas makes sense, if you know what kind of gas is being talked about. On the train we also met a guy named Chris who teaches in the University here in Lingling. It was crazy meeting another foreigner who's from Lingling, but it was fun getting to talk to him. He's actually from Boston and he and his friend have been teaching here since September.
Well, I think I've covered most everything… this is rather long as it is. Anyway, I guess that I'll call it good for now. I only have like 3 more weeks until I come back to America (I'll be getting in to Omaha late on July 2nd )- wow, what a weird thought. Well then, until next time- God be with you!
Zaijian!
Madi
