Updated on May 31, 2011
Chopstick games
Tonight was one of those nights when I shook my head in wonder at the life I’m currently living. We had a welcoming meeting and banquet–an annual event meant to encourage relationships among the foreign teachers (American, Japanese, Russian, and Korean) at the school. The evening started with greetings and introductions. Our group then moved on to visit a small museum one of the Japanese teachers had set up with a ton of Japanese artifacts. He showed us around the museum, explaining the collection in Japanese. His explanations were translated into Chinese, and then by various people re-translated into English, Russian and Korean. Quite remarkable! After visiting the museum, we also visited a library of books set up by the same Japanese teacher. It was quite the impressive collection–complete with full sets of English encyclopedias.
From the library we moved onto dinner. Sarah and I were at a table with most of the Japanese teachers and their translators. I was next to one of the translators who spoke some English as well. So between her English and my Chinese we were able to communicate. One of the most entertaining events of the night began with the observation that I was using my left hand to eat. I proceeded to tell the story of the first time I came to China and tried to eat with my right hand. I was entirely unsuccessful and went hungry the first several days. When I eventually tried my left hand (the hand I write with), I finally mastered chopsticks. This story led all of the teachers at the table to try to use their left hands to eat (and commenting that such an undertaking was a good dieting technique). I also attempted to eat with my right hand. Our endeavors resulted in a quite a bit of laughter and some of the more successful and genuine communication I’ve had at a banquet since coming to China.
Updated on May 31, 2011
Deep breath & ahhhhhhhh
That’s my reaction to unlocking the door to my apartment. And just in case you’re wondering, that’s the pleasurable sort of “ahhhhhh” sound, like when you sink into a really comfortable couch or hot bath. Yep, I’m home…and it’s wonderful. We rolled into Siping at 5 am Tuesday morning. By 7 o’clock I had pancakes cooking on the stove for the team and most of my things up on the walls. 🙂 It’s nice to once again be the hostess instead of the guest! This morning I took the Ragin’ MK out for a ride. Stopped in a small park to read for a bit and was quite entertained when someone (a stranger of course) walked up and said, “Hello, free fancy meeting you here!” Oh how I love China! This week is team building and we’ll start teaching Monday (I think…). Back to the grindstone!
Updated on May 31, 2011
Indianapolis…home to the 8th wonder of the world
Ok, not quite. But the guide at the Scottish Rite Cathedral today swore that it had been voted the seventh most beautiful building in the WORLD. Well hey, there is something to see in Indiana other than CORN. This post is especially for my team…the next time you have a debate to decide which state in the U.S. to get rid of, think twice before throwing out Indiana. You wouldn’t want to lose a treasure like that!
In all seriousness, it was an impressive building (although I think I might be able to list off more than six other more impressive ones I’ve seen in my life…). However, I liked an old church from the 1860s that I found downtown today almost better.
Next stop is Chicago…and then I’ll take my last trip of the summer…back to China!Updated on May 31, 2011
Summer slipping away
The Jones family…my first time meeting Canon!
Updated on May 31, 2011
Good friends & Good ice cream
This past weekend I headed over to Columbus to visit some college friends. The blessing of them and other dear friends this summer is simply indescribable! So thanks to all of you who have made me feel so loved! 🙂 The other highlight of the trip (and summer) was a visit to Graeter’s, simply the best ice cream in the world. If you’re ever in Columbus/Ohio look for a Graeter’s store. You won’t be disappointed!
Updated on May 31, 2011
Back to Indy
It was hard to drive away from Wheaton–people, places, and a fellowship I love almost more today than the day I left. I had an awesome couple of weeks just soaking up love and relaxation. And to be quite honest I wasn’t too excited to begin my time of being stranded without a car in suburbia. However, this past week has been wonderful in its own special way. It’s been nice to sit down to amazing dinners with my parents, photograph their spectacular 
gardens, and exercise my competitive muscles at a few round of croquet. I’ve driven my mom to work a couple days this week and tucked myself away in Starbucks (I’m loving the raspberry mocha…) studying for the GREs. I’ve been learning all kinds of useful knowledge such as, if a triangle with a right angle has two sides the length of 6, the third side is 6 times the square root of two. And in less than two weeks I can forget all of this pertinent information that is supposedly indicative of my future success in grad school. Tomorrow I head back to my birth land (that’s Columbus, Ohio–not Iowa) to visit some friends. I can’t wait to have a nice big helping of Graeter’s ice cream–best ice cream in the world!! I’ll also be sure to say hi to the Shoe for you Wu…Updated on May 31, 2011
Home
The last couple weeks I’ve been hanging out in the Wheaton/Chicago area. If I have a “home” in the States, this is definitely the place. My parents are currently in Indianapolis and since I only lived there two years I don’t really have any roots down there. Wheaton, however, is full of memories and dear friends. It’s been simply incredible to just soak up time with the amazing folks around here. I’ve also had plenty of time to tuck myself away in coffee shops reading. I should have been studying for the GREs…but, I can do that when I get back to Indy… It’s been really good to be forced to take things at a slower pace, to sit still and reflect, and to simply rest. Last night I headed into the city to meet a friend of mine. I was sitting for a little bit in the Metra station waiting to meet him, watching the crowds pass through. I was amazed at how rushed and harried everyone seemed. I was slightly disturbed by a very visual representation of how my home culture is constantly running from one thing to the next. This type of living is something I am often guilty of myself–which is why a couple weeks of being forced to live without schedules, tasks, and time frames has been startlingly refreshing. To take time to go on a long walk after dinner, to sit and chat over cups of coffee, to sit outside in a heavy summer rain. Hmmmmm, it’s late and I’m beginning to ramble here, but I think you get the point. The summation is that my time here in my American home has been a wonderful time of rest and renewal and pausing, which I’m incredibly thankful for. In addition, it’s also been fun to hang out with some of the team on this side of the ocean (we miss you Michelle!).
Updated on May 31, 2011
The 6th Annual Mordt Tournament
I just got back form a fun week in Florida hanging out with my s
ister and brother-in-law and one of my college roommates. One of the highlights of the trip was the annual putt putt competition with Heather. We’ve competed annually for six years and the rivalry is fierce as ever. This year was a close race all the way to the tied end…after 15 holes. We were playing behind several large families, which
meant it was slow going through the course. And what is the only thing more important than putt putt? Cheesecake!! Consequently, we abandoned our tournament to make it to Cheesecake Factory before closing time. The raspberry chocolate cheesecake was well worth the sacrifice of three holes of putt putt.
Updated on May 31, 2011
Home sweet home
After a whirlwind of final activities, a very rushed day of packing and cleaning, a day of hanging out in Beijing, and a very long day of travel I’m back in the USA. The last few days in Siping are a complete blur…I’m still not quite sure what all happened. I taught my last class Thursday morning and Thursday night was on an overnight train to Beijing with Seth and Sarah. Lying on the train, I realized I had forgotten to pack about 10 things I was planning on bringing…but oh well, at least it’s not hard to find the things I want here! 🙂 Friday night in Beijing, our friend Stuart took us to a new area. This “West Hutong” was yet another face of this very diverse city. It was lined with unique small shops, coffee shops, cafes and bars–and was like stepping into another world. We settled in on the rooftop of one of the cafes. The roof was slanted and scattered with all manner of leftover/broken chairs and tables–yet somehow this all worked together for a cool atmosphere. We sat drinking coffee, taking in the beautiful polluted red Beijing sky.
t neighbor. After weeding my way through immigration and customs at what has been voted the worst airport in the country (see the current Newsweek), I sat in the terminal in “staring mode” for a couple hours waiting for my flight to Indy. I found myself incredibly distracted by the fact that I could eavesdrop on everyone around me. Another short flight and I was in my parents’ car headed home for a nice dinner accompanied by a nice bottle of wine.Updated on May 31, 2011
People time
The last couple days my large stack of essays have been pushed to the side (or rather, messily cluttered every surface of my office). My time has been packed full with activities with some of my favorite people. While I have moments of panic every now and then about the enormity of what needs to be accomplished in the next six days, it’s been great to have tons of reminders about why I’m really here.
Yesterday, my two Chinese tutors from last year came to visit. These girls are some of my dearest friends and although our time was short together, it was also extremely sweet. Relationships take a lot of time to go deep here, which is why the closeness I feel with these girls is truly a gift. Sadly, they have now graduated and work has taken them down to the south of China. Hopefully I’ll be able to visit them in the next year!
I’ve also had dinners with students the last two nights. Last night, four of my junior girls
brought over dinner for us and then we played their new favorite game, Phase 10. They are determined to spread the game all over China. I promised to help them out by bringing them decks for them from America. These girls have become great friends this year and I’m looking forward to more game nights next year!
Tonight I cooked dinner for eight of my freshmen students. Their groups had the best commercial performances in class and hence won a home-cooked meal. Yes, I’m crazy to be doing this sort of thing with less than a week left, but we had an awesome time toni
ght. They were a little nervous at first about eating dinner at their foreign teacher’s house, but a fiercely competitive game of spoons went a long way to making them feel more than comfortable. In China I always play spoons with chopsticks instead, which makes the game even more challenging–try grabbing for a thin, slick piece of wood! Sarah and Seth were kind enough to “help” me clean my dishes after everyone left…that is, if getting in a huge soap sud fight is considered helpful…well, at least it was good stress relief!
I finally got my flight itinerary today. Due to the fact that I ended up on a flight early Saturday morning (instead of afternoon), I’m going to have to head to Beijing Thursday night (instead of Friday night). Having one less day is huge…which is why I need to stop doing things like updating my blog and turn to the stack of menacing papers on my desk. There are some pictures on flickr from Sarah’s 4th pink, yellow, and purple birthday party from today. Another opportunity to see team Siping looking their best.
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