Props

Since I and my three teammates are all leaving Qufu, we have had lots of students writing us notes and saying their goodbyes.  A couple days ago, I got an e-mail from one of my junior writing classes with a sweet "thank you" powerpoint attached.  It was nice, because I don't really love teaching writing and I found it hard to connect with my juniors this year.

So I started thinking about appreciation and how much it affects my job satisfaction (a lot) and my relationships.  I know my students love me, and they know I love them too.  What a happy circumstance for a teacher and cross-cultural worker!

I think I've been a little lax in showing appreciation to the people I love, so I'm taking this blog post to give some propers to the important people in my life.

My Stateside Friends

I started sifting through pictures to give a shout-out to my friends back in the U.S., and then I was afraid I would somehow miss someone important, so I decided to go with picture-less props.   Attention, friends from Cedar Falls, friends from Walnut Ridge, friends and roommates from Iowa City, friends from trips, friends from church, friends who eat dinner on Wednesdays, co-workers, classmates, and neighbors:  I miss you and I can't wait to see you and laugh with you when I go home. 

My Chinaside American Friends

I've spent two years on a small team in a small town.  Without my buddies from my organization, I would have been pretty friendless, especially in the first few months.  Plus, you guys are funny and quite proficient in Chinglish.





My Team

Saying goodbye to these people this week.  Team Qufu -- it's been good!




My Stateside Churches

Trinity in CF and Genesis in IC... I'm happy to have come from healthy, supportive churches.

My Supporters

Another category where pictures don't really do justice.  I'm so grateful for faithful financial support, for knowing that my team, me, and my students are regularly prayed for, and for the occasional e-mail, card, or package.  Thanks for taking care of me in so many ways and for caring about China.

My Family

My immediate family have all come to China!  Thanks for making the trek and for being interested in and supportive of my life here.  I'm grateful for my parents' love and good examples, for the friendship of my siblings, for our weird traditions, and for all of our fun memories together.

My Extended Family

One thing I love about my extended family is they don't seem to get any more normal over time.  Apple bowling, hocker, potato guns, nerd parties, bedpan awards, Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress, and stories about Emmet Mahoney...  Ah, awesome.  I love spending time with my aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins.








And last... Iowa.

You know that I love you.

 

(Two more weeks and I'll be home!)

Chi Ba

Chi (pronounced "chur") means "eat" in Chinese, and ba gets added to verbs as a suggestion or clarification.  Put them together and you get chi ba -- "Let's eat!" or "Shall we eat?"  And in this post, yes we shall.

When my family was here in Qufu, one of my students' parents invited us to join them for traditional tea and supper at their home.  I suggested our last free evening, a Tuesday, and unbeknownst to me both the mother (a professor) and the daughter (my student) cancelled their evening classes to host us.  This was just a foretaste of the outrageous lengths they went to to welcome my family. 

First, the tea.  We tried two different kinds, and my student served us using the white China tea set on the bottom left.  Look how tiny the tea-cups are -- just enough for a swallow!  Also, note the zillions of snacks, ranging from nuts caked with white sugar (because Americans like sweets) to some rather stringy dried chicken and fish.

Pre-game show: My mom and I down some snacks and tea.

Then there was the meal itself, which, as you can see, was none too small.  This picture was taken toward the end of the meal, although the only way I know this is by seeing the soup on the table, which they served last.  Otherwise, there was so much food it looks like we ate nothing.

Dad busts out his chopstick skillz on a rib, Mom picks at a salty duck egg, and I gnaw on a raw green onion.

I really like homestyle Chinese food, and our hostess was a great cook.  My favorite dish was the ribs.  We also had some roasted cicadas to keep things interesting:

Instructions for eating: Just eat it.  This one took me two bites.

Num num num.  (Crunch crunch crunch.)

Midway through the meal, the father came in with his colleague, and they plopped down for a flurry of toasts and the sharing of a raw salted crab.  They didn't stay long, but long enough to drink a little (a lot?) and encourage my dad to do the same.  We got lucky that my student stepped in and insisted we didn't really come to drink.  No one in my family really smokes either, but that didn't discourage my student's dad from offering my dad two cartons of cigarettes to take home to his smoking friends, which I'm pretty sure he doesn't have.

All in all, we got our fill of food and hospitality, and a fun memory of our Qufu time together.

My Parents, As Described by an Admiring Student

From a student journal last week:

My classmates and I met Alison’s parents, Bob and Joan in our college.  We are very happy.  Bob is very kind and humorous.  I am sure he is definitely a good father.  And Joan is so beautiful and elegant that we girls can’t help envying her.  Bob and Joan tell us their family in the USA.  How big it is!  There are so many relatives that they can’t remember all their names.  So they will put a namecard on their garments.*  A wise idea!  Bob and Joan love each other very much.  They have been married for more than 30 years.  They are romantic, too.  In China, there are just a few couples who got married years ago still celebrating their wedding anniversaries.  But, Joan and Bob do that.  How romantic it is!  Personally speaking, celebrating wedding anniversary is a good way to maintain harmonious relationship between husband and wife.  I wished I could be happy and beautiful like Joan in the future.

 *My mom showed them a picture of a recent family reunion with over 100 people from her side.  This received probably the most comments in student journals.  Other top mentions were my parents' youthful appearance, how much they love each other, the fact that my mom had the same major as me and my sister, and the fact that my parents are traveling the world and enjoying themselves instead of saving their money.  Haha.

Qufu Visit: A Guest Post by my Parents

My parents came to visit me in China!  They stayed with me for about a week, during which time my dad flew an old guy's kite and my mom ate cicadas and pig feet.  Now they have joined a tour group to travel around the country.  In the following guest post, my mom and dad collaborated to choose pictures and captions for some of their Qufu experiences.

We enjoyed 6 fantastic days in Qufu this week, getting a glimpse into Alison's life in China.  We loved meeting her team and students, experiencing Chinese hospitality at its best, and tasting many delicious foods that we never thought were edible.  A great experience, and we recommend it to anyone.

A warm welcome to Qufu

Enjoying Chinese hospitality

Pleasant bike rides in the country and villages

Observing life in the country

Being treated to a delicious meal by Alison's students

Catching a ride in one of many contraptions on 2, 3 or 4 wheels

Meeting interesting people and getting invited into their home

My Parents are in Qufu...

...greeted at the train station with flowers and a ride home from my student's parents.

More New Mexico

Anyone want to move to New Mexico?  I'm hoping perhaps one of my friends or relatives will re-locate there so I have an excuse to go there again (perhaps when it's a little warmer).  Volunteers?

You've already heard about my brother's wedding, which was the main event in Albuquerque, but my family had a few free days to enjoy other attractions as well.  My parents were with us for a lot of these, and then my sister and I stayed a couple extra days after they left.  A few highlights:

Albuquerque's Old Town, which included this historic church, the wonderful Church Street Cafe, the International Rattlesnake Museum (which we sadly did not tour), and lots of local crafts

Rocking out on my uncle's player piano in El Paso

Riding up the Sandia Tramway to view Albuquerque by night

Hiking through Tent Rocks National Memorial, also featured in the sun-bathed photo shoot of a previous post

Driving around gawking at beautiful local landscapes in the Jemez Valley

Passing on the opportunity to soak in the historic hot baths filled with mineral water from this spring

Clambering around in the Soda Dam

Enjoying snowy mountain trails

Driving through the Gilman tunnels

Testing our cartography skills and travel memories over a hot, greasy Dion's pizza

"Tent Rock Pictorial," Or "The Allure of the Self-Timed Picture"

A Wedding in the Family

 

On December 30, we celebrated our first family wedding. Bryan and Sachi got married!

In celebration of this auspicious event, my writing students had written short notes to the newlyweds. Most of the notes expressed some combination of the following sentiments:

1. Congratulations!
2. The bride is beautiful and the groom is handsome.
3. Patience and respect are important qualities in a marriage.
4. Have a baby soon.

A few students gave more specific advice, such as suggesting that the couple take a long walk every evening (preferably accompanied by a dog, which will make it more interesting). Another student thought the ceremony would be more romantic if Bryan started by singing a song. Then "Sachi comes in with her beautiful voice. But they sings together. Then the ceremony begins."

For some reason, Bryan and Sachi ignored that particular piece of advice, but I think the wedding was successful anyway. Here are a few photos: