Examination time sends Chinese students into a panic and I don't blame them. The pressure they carry on their young shoulders is something to behold. My students keep daily journals, turning one in to me each week while they write in their second one and I read and comment on the first. Because I have the luxury of classes under 20 students (not like John's 40+ grad-student courses) it has been doable to read over 100 journals a week. I find it an awesome way to help them improve their ability to communicate in English but I also find it a very interesting way to get into their heads a bit. I am privy to their occasional fights with dorm mates, their successes and tragedies (their word) if they don't absolutely sparkle in every presentation, quiz, or role play they do. They are very competitive and "lose face" with themselves and anyone else around them if they aren't at the top. Since it isn't possible to have them all be at the top on everything--they are all in the same classes--there are always those on a high and those in the basement in their reporting their joys and woes.
Back to exam time for these kids. The standard for grading at JiaoDa is for course work to count 30% and final exams to count 70%. We have both successfully argued to alter those to 40% and 60% but could not get them any lower. A student could do very well in the coursework and bomb the final and seriously risk losing his or her spot at the university. The consequence for that is a very, very bleak future ahead. My kids are English majors. Most of them didn't choose that major--they got assigned to it. Overall they try to make the best of their lot and try to keep dusting off their dreams for the future. My writing students are junior and so are worried about how they are going to find work. Some of the kids freely write that they are trying to get in the Communist party in the hopes that it will augment their job opportunities, and explain that they all say this and that at the meetings to be viewed as they must be viewed. It doesn't seem to always mean a lot to them beyond that, though they are very loyal to their country. I hope they will do well in their exams. Suicide is all too common in China among students.
Thursday night we go to English Corner to sit around and talk with anyone who shows up and wants to talk English. John decided that would be a chance to catch some of his students for conferences he hadn't fit in and this week he sent an email saying he'd be there from 8-10. He had about eight of his kids come and they had a great time talking about their writing and then eating plums and peanuts that the students supplied. I spent the time talking with a half a dozen others who were very interested in American politics and politicians. Interesting views they have of our country seen through their "red" lens. They have inquiring minds and good questions and know a lot more about our system than we do about theirs. We even had a five-year old come to English Corner this week with his mother determined for her son to get a head start on English.
The weather in Xi'an continues to be more autumny than wintery, but today was windy and dusty. The street sweepers are an absolute must around here and we are grateful for their constant efforts. If you ever get to thinking your life is dull or boring, just consider how you would enjoy doing nothing but sweeping the roads and dirt 18-20 hours every day, seven days a week. I can't imagine having every Sunday just another day in the week.
Our Sunday, on the other hand, abounds with the blessings of the Spirit as we take bus 408 for 1 yuan each (about .15) for 40 minutes to Church. We arrive to enjoy together a wonderful community of saints with whom we share the sacrament, our testimonies, Sunday School lessons, and our Priesthood and Relief Society, all working together with our few numbers just as well as in your large wards. Today John (as acting branch president, reorganized our RS presidency, moving me to first counselor, since Elise Britton has moved, and adding LaRee Phillipi as second counselor. How grateful we are that we all have each other. We try to make everyone feel at home and a part of things. In that effort, today we celebrated the 21st birthday of our youngest Relief Society sister, Bethany Britton, with chocolate cake and flowers.
Overall we are faring well physically with an up here and a down there. Mine this week has been a dislocated rib on my left side which has made getting out of bed a bit tough. On top of that I caught another cold with an accompanying cough. It isn't good to have a cough while dealing with a painful rib!
How have we managed to survive? While we were still in Utah serving in the Salt Lake Second Branch we were very blessed to have a reflexologist among our missionaries. For months Sister Cyr treated us twice a week to get us in shape to leave. The last few months she also began teaching us how to treat each other so that we would have the help we would need in China. She blessed us with a great gift which we have made regular use of! Just after arriving we ordered a massage table to make it possible to work on each other without having to lean over so much. What a boon that has been! More times than I can count, one or the other of us has been put on the table to have knees, or ribs, or feet worked on to help survive the next day. We are so grateful for her tutelage. Her efforts have proven to be our finest gift!
We also continue to improve our little apartment. Not only did we add swags to our ceiling in honor of Christmas, but we also have a new bathroom sink! Our former one had a lot of cracks and chips in it as well as a 3/4 inch gap at the back that had been filled with dirty caulking. John had noticed for weeks now that there was a filthy, but new looking sink on the floor in the corner of our bike garage. He finally got up the nerve to "ask" (by pantomime) if he could buy it. The nice lady--whose kitchen counter is inside the garage itself--gave it to him. He brought it home, cleaned and scrubbed it in John's thorough fashion, and got it ready to install.
While he was working on cleaning up the sink I was out trying to find my way back to a little market street where I had ordered a hood made for my down coat. Not only did I finally find the place again, but also had my hood put on the coat with a dandy zipper attachment for easy removal, while I sat in the shop and read the student papers I had fortunately thought to bring along. With my hood now attached, my next destination was to try to find Home Depot. Yes, there is one in Xi'an. I even had its business card someone had given me.
On my way out to find a taxi to take me there I came across a wonderful find! A street vendor with a huge wash tub full of what looked to be smoked pig meat items, ears, organs, and, what caught my eye--what looked to be a ham hock. I had earlier purchased bags of split peas at the "Hole in the Wall" (that is yet another story) restaurant supply and had tried making split pea soup with Chinese ham and, though it wasn't bad, was just not the same as having a real ham hock to cook in it. I quickly added that hock to my purchases and headed for where I could catch a cab.
Grabbing a cab just as someone else jumped out of it (the BEST way to get one!) I confidently handed the driver Home Depot's business card showing it to be on DaQing Lu. I knew it was somewhere on the other side of the west city wall, somewhere to the north of me. The driver looked at the card made a phone call and then waved his hand at me in the typical Chinese fashion that means "No way, Jose." Apparently the card (nor the person on the phone) were helpful in telling him where the place was. He wanted me to get out and go and I didn't want to. I figured that at least if he got me close to DaQing I could maybe find it on my own so I pointed in the direction I thought he should go. The driver, deciding that to get me out of his cab would be harder than just driving where I pointed to, laughed and drove, following my gestures to turn here or there.
To make a long ride a short story, bless him, he got me there, stopping more than one passerby to ask something unintelligible in Chinese. I happily paid him his 15 yuan and waved him goodbye and headed into the illusive shop to find a drill, a hammer, and a putty knife for John and his projects. Successfully finding most of what I needed, I headed out into the night to try to find my way to a bus that would get me home. Along the way I discovered a little plumbing shop that had the last item (which Home Depot didn't carry) that John needed to finish his bathroom project.
We end the week with a lovely new sink, my improved rib--much better this morning after John's reflexology treatment on it last night--and grateful hearts for all our blessings. We continue to keep you all in our thoughts and prayers and hope your life's opportunities and challenges--even when they are really, really tough--will prove to be blessings in sometimes ugly disguises.
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