Updated on May 31, 2011
Springtime procrastination
When I pulled up my blog today, the dark colors just didn’t seem to convey the arrival of spring. I decided the blog looked way to dark and depressing and hence needed a make-over. Consequently, instead of writing my midterms I’ve wasted away the time today figuring out how to edit my blog. I’m not entirely satisfied with the final product yet, but it’s a start!
Jennifer, Rachel, and I have been doing Pilates three times a week this semester. We have a DVD that we use, and it’s slowly becoming less painful. I thoroughly enjoy the “girl time” it provides. Today, for the first time, Samantha (my almost 1 year old teammate) joined us for Pilates. She thought the three of us contorted into various positions was absolutely hilarious and would burst into giggles every few moments–as well as trying to climb on us. We basically laughed our way through the whole workout today.
Updated on May 24, 2012
Sensory women
Right now in my sophomore writing classes we’re doing a unit on story-telling. This weekend the sophomores have one of their most important exams of their college careers, so a “light” unit on something that they naturally excel at (creativity) seemed to be the perfect fit. Today the lesson was focused on adjectives. More specifically, the aim of the lesson was to take the students beyond the five or so adjectives they use WAY too often (i.e. colorful, lovely, interesting, beautiful, and wonderful). At the beginning of the lesson we were talking about what makes excellent writers excellent. Their notes had blanks on it to fill in with the following sentence: “What separates excellent writers from average writers is their ability to use vivid sensory ___________.” I asked my students which word they thought should go in the blank. Immediately, a student called out “women!”. I guess if I want to improve my writing, I need to start including some sensory women…whatever that might mean!
Updated on May 31, 2011
Sorry boys, I’m taken
Reportedly, Will (my two year old teammate) announced to a group of students last night that Jude (my six year old teammate) is going to marry Samantha (my almost one year old teammate) and that he (Will) is going to marry Kat (me). Wow, I think that’s the most parenthetical references I’ve used in a sentence in a long time. Hope you followed that. So boys, sorry, but it looks like little Will has staked his claim. 🙂 I’m quite flattered and think he will make an excellent husband–he loves to come to my house and help wash dishes (aka play with bubbles) and help cook. Today he helped me make pumpkin muffins for the team (and only had to ask me about twenty times during the process what we were doing). I had gone over to his house to borrow some pans and he invited himself over to my house–as in he stated very simply, “I’m going to Kat’s house.” I love having kids around!
The other kid who made my day today was Ai Jia. This little girl is finally back from her cleft palette surgery and she’s looking great! She is just one of those babies who has completely stolen my heart. She’s such a sweetie, babbles quite a bit, and has the most gorgeous eyes.
In other news, my animosity for Dongbei springs is lessoning as the cherry blossoms have come out in full force. Maybe I do love spring after all! Monday is supposed to be beautiful weather, and since I don’t teach or have my Chinese lesson (Juniors are student teaching), I’m going to try and go out to a local park for a day of reflection. Fingers crossed that the forecast is right and sunshine is headed our way!
Updated on May 31, 2011
Olympic spirit
After a couple deceivingly balmy days, the weather has turned again. Hopefully this chilly blast will be short-lived. However, the warmth lasted long enough to bring out buds. The short season of cherry blossoms is one of my favorite times in China…hopefully this cold snap doesn’t make this season even shorter! 
Yesterday, the Clements and Mark took part in an Olympic torch race. I tagged along as photographer. A student had planned the project as a creative homework assignment for Mark’s class. A group of about a dozen students, Mark & the Clements, and the chair of our department, Queen, participated. There was little fanfare and few adoring fans, but we all enjoyed the taste of the Olympic spirit. Jude got the privilege of keeping the Olympic torch.
This morning I had the fun experience of going to the hospital (a place I usually try to avoid at all costs) to have a TB test done (required by Wheaton for participation in the program this summer). A senior student offered to take me–and it’s a good thing she was there! There is absolutely no way I could find my way through the red tape of the hospital. After a series of conversations at a series of desks and in a series of offices, I successfully received my injection. We’ll go back on Saturday to see if I’m TB free.
With my junior students out on their student teaching assignment, my teaching schedule is reduced to two days a week. It’s been nice to have a little bit of a break and to get back into the grad work. It’s hard to believe it’s already April 10th! Before I know it, it will be time to take that long journey back to the States again.
Updated on May 31, 2011
Black hole located
Soooo…not thirty minutes after I wrote the last post, I located the black hole. It is true that I don’t have closets. However, I do have kitchen cabinets. Silly me, I never thought a broom would fit in a kitchen cabinet. After I posted about the mystery, I was in search of some other activity that would legitimately justify procrastinating the grad work I had already been procrastinating a week. I decided a spring cleaning inside and out of my windows was just the ticket. In order to undergo this mission, I had to dig to the back of one of my kitchen cabinets for my windex. To my surprise, tucked at the very back of the cabinet behind the pipes for the sink were two brooms and two dust pans. I’m sure my cleaning lady was quite surprised at the arrival of another broom and dust pan this past Friday… At least now I know its hiding place! I used my new found broom (wrapped in paper towels duck taped to the broom and drenched in windex) to try to reach the far end of the outside of my bedroom window (I live on the third floor and was precariously perched on a 5 inch wide ledge…shhhh, don’t tell my mom!). However, when I tried to replace the broom in its new resting place, for the life of my I couldn’t get it to neatly fit back into the cabinet. This fact only further confirms the notion I’ve had for awhile; my cleaning lady is a wonderwoman!
After wiping off layers of coal dust from the inside of my windows and dirt from the outside, the windows sparkle. The amount of entirely black paper towels (about 2 full rolls) is a little disturbing if I reflect that I’ve been breathing all of those lovely particles…but, we won’t reflect on that long. Today I finally returned to the grad work…if I could only keep that momentum going!
Updated on May 31, 2011
Broom black hole
My apartment has developed a black hole for brooms and mops. A couple weeks ago I was looking for my broom. Towards the end of last semester, I started having the lady who cleans Sarah’s, the Wu’s, and the Clement’s homes clean my house once a week. Hence, I had found no need to use my broom in quite some time. However, I was shocked that the broom was gone when I went to fetch the broom from its normal resting place behind my fridge. I noticed my mop and dust pan were missing as well. Sometimes my cleaning lady moves things to places she deems more proper, so I began searching my house. My house really is not that large, and since there are no closets there aren’t too many places to hide a broom. Within a few moments I had ascertained that indeed, my cleaning instruments were missing. Not that I was looking for the broom to clean with–I wanted to unscrew the pole part of it and use it as a cane in a role play for class. I borrowed Michelle’s broom pole for this purpose, and though perplexed, let the missing broom slip to the back of my mind.
This Thursday night, right before students came over, I dropped and broke a glass full of water in my kitchen. With their impending arrival, I shut the kitchen door and forgot about it for the next couple of hours. However, after the students left I set about cleaning up the mess. The disappearing broom came back to haunt me. I went to the Wus to borrow their broom and explained my conjecture that the cleaning lady had done something (not maliciously–she’s a very sweet sister and I absolutely adore her) with my broom. They laughed at this proposition and willingly lent me their broom. I cleaned up the mess, and since it was late at night, set their broom behind my fridge to return to them the next day. Friday morning my cleaning lady came and made my apartment spotless. This morning (Saturday), Wu came to fetch their broom. Sure enough, their broom and dust pan has disappeared. We’re guessing our dear cleaning lady has put the brooms somewhere (she rides her bike here and we highly doubt she takes them with her), but are utterly confused as to where the broom black hole is located.
Updated on May 31, 2011
Changeable weather
Spring in Siping…beware of flying bagsMy first year in China, I used to snicker a little bit when students would tell me, “Be careful, Miss Katherine; the weather is very changeable.” The phrase “the weather is very changeable” just sounded a little bit silly to me, as did directly pointing out the weather’s changeability. However, I now confess the validity in this statement. In fact, I caught myself yesterday remarking, “The weather is very changeable in the spring.” Perhaps I have lived in China too long. However, I’ve learned that the northeast truly does have very changeable springs. One day you’re deceived by balmy warm weather and the next day you have snow dumped on you. A couple days later the temperature will rise, but you’ll be confronted with winds you would swear had the strength of a hurricane. These factors have led me to detest spring in the northeast–at least early spring. Spring does not evoke pictures of pretty flowers, little bunnies, and sunny days following a warm rain. Rather, spring conjures up images of dust storms, winds too strong to bike in, and unexpected snow showers. Consequently, I have concluded that fall truly is my favorite season in this part of China. 
A funny story from today. Each week I usually invite one of my classes over to watch a movie. Attendance isn’t required, but I usually have about a dozen students show up. I always bake a snack, often chocolate chip cookies. Let me preface the story by saying most students love the cookies, and in fact request to learn how to make them. However, this morning I was messaging on my cell phone with one of the students coming over tonight. We were agreeing on a time and she was telling me how many people were planning on coming. This part of the conversation was entirely ordinary. But then I got a message saying, “Miss Katherine, could you please put less sugar in the dessert, we think it’s too sweet.” I quickly got over the shock that they would actually make that request (it’s not all that surprising here) and refrained myself from the quip, “then why don’t you pick something up from a Chinese bakery”. I do understand that American desserts are much sweeter than things in China, hence why I like them. 🙂 But tonight I will refrain from making cookies (which you really can’t just make with less sugar) and instead make banana muffins. Sigh…crazy Chinese people…no wonder they’re so slender!
Updated on May 31, 2011
What a difference a few months makes
Several months ago, in late autumn, Siping got hit by a big snowstorm. My students could hardly contain their excitement at the snow’s arrival. There was giddy laughter and snowballs were sneaked into the classroom. When I asked if the students liked the snow there were gleeful cries of, “Yes, it’s so beautiful!” Just this past week, yes, in the last full week of March, Siping was hit with a similar snowstorm. However, this storm didn’t receive quite the welcome of its late fall brother. As I discussed the weather with my students, not a single one praised its beauty. Instead there were groans and sighs and questions of, “Will spring ever arrive?” I think everyone is ready to appreciate the beauty of fresh blossoms–not the purity of a fresh covering of the white stuff. Hopefully this will be the final blast of winter for the year, but then again, this is the Dongbei. 
Several months ago, Dou dou and Tong tong, two children at the orphanage, were completely unaware that two special families were in the final waiting stages of bringing these special children into their families. They had no idea how much time, money, and energy these parents were expending to bring them home. However, this week both children got to experience the embrace of mother and father for the first time. The privilege of having a front row seat to watch the beauty of adoption is one of the greatest unexpected bonuses of my work here. This week, Jennifer and I got to travel to Changchun to meet up with these families. Reflecting on this process always reminds me of our Father’s great love as He eagerly pursues and waits to be united with His children.
Updated on May 24, 2012
My heart is in Florida
I’m finishing up a very busy weekend and beginning a very busy week, but I just had to put up a quick post to say that I’ve got the most adorable nephew ever! 🙂 I know I’m slightly prejudiced, but this sweet little guy makes me want to fly back to the States TODAY!
We had a great celebration this weekend with visiting teachers from Changchun. It was good to spend time reflecting and rejoicing over the great gift of this weekend, as well as share in laughs and good food. We simplified our feast for 20+ people by getting fried chicken from KFC. I know, not my first choice, but it sure made life a whole lot easier! I should have some pictures up sometime in the next few days. Hope you all had a wonderful celebration!
Updated on May 31, 2011
Welcome to the world!
I’m usually extremely strict about cell phones in my classroom, and will confiscate phones if they go off in class. However, Tuesday morning, I asked my students forgiveness and announced that I was leaving my cell phone on in anticipation of my nephew’s arrival call. That announcement resulted in cheers from my students. Sure enough, during my second class of the morning, my parents called to make the announcement. I was in the middle of a
listening activity with my students and was completely flustered–both during the call and for a bit afterwards. I’m super excited about beginning the “aunt-phase” of life…and quite sad I don’t get to meet my nephew for another three months. However, it’s been cool this week to see reminders of why I am far across the sea from family and friends…and why that decision is well worth the sadness it sometimes causes.
On a far less significant note, Tuesday morning we had one of the strangest weather phenomenons I’ve seen in China–not only did we have an intense sand storm (not at all uncommon during spring), but it was combined at the same time with snow showers. It was quite literally snowing dirt. Ewwwww… When I got back to my apartment and took off my coat, there was a distinct line on my pants between the part that was covered by my coat and the part that was exposed to the elements. Once again, ewwwwww.
This weekend we have some teachers coming in from Changchun to celebrate–we’ll probably have about 25 people for Sunday dinner. However, to avoid some of the insanity of cooking with 6 toaster ovens for two dozen people, we’re going to pick up fried chicken from KFC. We’ll still do all the sides, desserts, etc…but that will relieve a lot of pressure! Shhhh…don’t tell, no one will ever know!
The “big events” will continue Monday as Tim Davis, our company’s president, comes to visit. At our annual conference the team pressured him into a quick visit and we’re thoroughly looking forward to having the big guy around for two days. As you can tell…life is busy! So back to work I go…thanks for all of the thoughts for my sister & family. Continue to lift them up through this transition time!
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