Children's Day

This week Wednesday is Children's Day, a holiday that is widely and thoroughly celebrated here in China. Students will get the day off from class. Parents will buy them candy or take them to KFC. Kids might also compete in some special "performances" (photo below).

This past Sunday, I joined a pre-Children's Day party at the welfare center in Hengyang. Some student friends went with me (and actually helped motivate me to go too). Some of our other friends work at the center, so we got to cheer them on and see them at work. We also got to take some of the weaker and more disabled children from the government side of the center out to enjoy the performance.

These students asked why the kids we took outside were so sick and hungry looking. :( I have to bite my tongue in these situations as my natural response is usually an incredibly negative one. Instead, I try to explain the situation in a more indirect way. In fact, these kids are hungry. They only get 2 meals a day and in each meal, they get about half a bowl of some cooked rice mixed with vegetables. It's not enough, so the kids get really hungry, skinny, and crazy for food. Which is why, during the performance, the boys we took outside were only halfway interested in the performance and halfway interested in eating the oatmeal cookies we were feeding them.

All in all, it was a wonderful morning. These students did an excellent job with the kids, sitting with them and interacting with them, letting them feel human touch and kindness. They really were the Father's hands and feet on that morning, and I hope their passion for these children won't be quickly forgotten.

If I could write a letter to me....

Hey there Portia,
You're nearing the end of your time in China. I know you've been feeling overwhelmed by life recently, and realistically, you DO have a lot of tasks to complete in order to end well. However, no one is going to make sure that you don't overdo it or work yourself into a mental break-down. No one is going to tell you when you need to take a break or remind you that you can't save the world.

So, from one friend to another, take it easy. Relax a little bit this week-end. Yes, the Father will give you strength for each task, but He is also not a masochist. He has your mental sanity in mind too. Chill out, say no to all the random tasks that people keep inviting you to do. Sure, you will likely disappoint some people, but remember you are not here to please people. Yes, you just might have to say no to having a good-bye dinner with every single teacher friend or every single class of students. You realistically might not have time to go visit the island with your friend, visit that student for a meal at her home, pick strawberries with a former student, talk with every single friend one last time on QQ, go through every last drawer in your apartment, etc. But you know, it's okay. His grace is sufficient and all the other things, although not bad in themselves, sometimes just serve to distract you and tempt you to look away from the only One who can help you keep it together.

Hope this helps dear self. Yours truly,
PDogg Strasser

A Good Word

I've been single now for, ...well, 29 years. Sometimes, I feel like Jacob in my thoughts as I wrestle with God trying to understand what possible good could come out of my singleness.

But last month, I listened to a challenging message about being single (and being married for that matter) by Timothy Keller. This message not only challenged my thoughts but also encouraged my heart and made me feel that I am okay and have value as a single person even if social pressure and my own insecurities might tell me otherwise.

If you have a chance, no matter whether you are single, dating, or married, this message is worth checking out:
Sexuality and the Christian Hope

Speech Contest

Last Saturday, I helped one of our leaders to judge a speech contest for a local English training school. The contestants? 26 students ranging from ages 5 to 12 performing short little declam pieces in English. There were 5 main pieces that I remember.
a. Mom buys us ice cream.
b. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
c. My name is "Ted" ???(Actually, I never could understand the main theme of this one so all the students that choose this piece got lower marks. )
d. Thirsty animals in the desert
e. Let's be friends.
The students really were brave to get on the platform and perform in English. Some of the contestants barely seemed old enough to speak Chinese, let alone English. There were 5 of us judges. We gave students marks on their pronunciation, expression, "correctness," and passion. After their speech, most of the students also gave a short additional performance of some talent that they had. One of the boys did some Latin dancing. One girl played a song on a recorder, a few others sang English songs or read an English poem.

There were also some bonus performance numbers like this one. These little girls did a choreographed dance that involved hopping and moving around in circles.

Rotating Restaurant

Last week, one of our leaders visited us in Hengyang. It's nice when she visits for several reasons. One of those reasons, is reconnecting with our school leaders. They take us out for a nice meal and we all make small talk for a couple hours. This past week, the school took us to a fancy, rotating restaurant. I had only heard that Hengyang had such a restaurant, but last week, we all got to enjoy it.

Tea Shop

One of my favorite places in Hengyang is a yellow tea shop at the front of our campus. The shop is named 向上 (upwards). Not only can we get delicious and cheap coffees, teas, and juices, but the owner and his wife are friendly toward us and very patient with our Chinese.

The other day at the tea shop, I ordered a "machiatto" which is a new drink they have (similar to a machiatto from Starbucks but less strong.) Some visitors to our city pointed to my cup and asked, "Is this Starbucks?"
"More or less" I said. "It's our Hengyang Starbucks." And that's the truth. Hengyang Starbucks and friendly store owners, I will really miss you next year.

(The owner and his wife. They are 25 and have a 4 year old daughter. They think I'm a little bit behind on my life phases, but that's okay.)

Here are my top five favorite drinks to order at the tea shop:
1. Cold lemon black tea (has real slices of lemon in it)
2. Korean style, mango tea
3. Wu long flavored milk tea
4. Iced machiatto
5. Vanilla tea

We just ordered our drinks and feeling good about life.

Summertime

Mothers...

I could add a lot of photos here to represent all the mothers I admire and respect. But for sake of time, I'm only posting photos of a few of these special women. . .







"Once my mother, now too my friend." Thanks for all you do for us moms. Love you!

Internal Heat

Two weeks ago, it turned really hot and humid here overnight. From wearing layers, to sweating in one layer, my body and my closet were not prepared for the quick change. I sweat a lot during the initial humid period, and I also had a slight break-out on my forehead. People were quick to point out both issues to me: “You’re sweating” and “you have some acne on your forehead.” Awesome. However, I have learned a new way to deal with both these problems. You simply have to tell people that you’re internal “qi” or heat is up, 上火了。 This is an acceptable reason for all these small problems and near as I can tell, it’s a fair topic for small talk since people have readily told me before that I am 上火了 or that my internal heat is up.

It’s also an easy problem to fix. You just have to eat more fruit, especially watermelon, and drink some chrysantheum tea. So now, when people tell me I’m sweating or point out some pimples, I simply say 我上火了. They nod with satisfaction and tell me to drink some tea and eat green bean popsicles or fruit. (Disclaimer: when I looked up the Chinese characters for 上火, it said this phrase can also mean to be angry at someone. Maybe I have accidentally been telling people "I"m angry" and then they think that explains why I'm sweating...but it does not explain why they continually recommend the same foods.) Internal heat, got you in a sweat? Try some refreshing chrysantheum tea and throw in some guo qi berries for good measure.

True or False

True or False:

1. As long as you are a responsible teacher and teach in a way that challenges and interests students, they will be motivated to learn and appreciate your class.

(Answer below)

The other morning, I walked into class only to hear a class of freshman students moan. Yes, moan out loud for me and the walls to hear.

“Good morning. Nice to see you too. Have you prepared for today’s class?” (They were to prepare an English corner.)

They look at me with blank stares and no one responds. Finally, the monitor of the class responds, “We didn’t know what to do so we didn’t prepare anything.”

“No one has anything prepared?” I ask incredulously.

More shaking of heads and shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

“Okay” I respond. “Then you will all get a 0 for the assignment and we’ll study next week’s lesson. Open your books to page 112.”(Side-note: I also woke up this morning with a terrible cough. I nearly hacked a lung out during the night while I was sleeping and had a tone of voice that was one octave lower than normal.)

Luckily, I kept my cool and was even relatively prepared to teach the next week’s lesson since I was teaching it that afternoon too. However, at the end of the class, I gave these students a mini lecture (enhanced by the fact that I sounded like I was dying) about how they needed to take the class more seriously and show respect by not moaning when their teacher walked into the room. “We have 6 weeks left, so I expect you to improve your attitude in this class.”

After class, about 5 students rushed outfollowing me to tell me they were sorry that some students had moaned in the class and they told me to take some medicine for my cough and get more rest. (Culture side note: I’ve heard that in China, an open apology is not so common. Instead, people will use some round-about way to try and make it up to the person they have wronged. In my head, I told myself that the students “concern” for my cold was their way of apologizing.)

What a timely reminder to me that teachers, no matter how much they try to motivate, to be innovative, and to challenge students, simply might not receive the appreciation or even respect they think they deserve. If you want a glamorous job, don’t be a teacher; be a locksmith.

The answer is False.