Wing Men

Well, last night was one of the most interesting nights I've had in China. About a week ago, Bubbly asked Kirk, Daniel, and me to come to his university's (Hubei Institute of Fine Arts) English Corner. Bubbly helped us in our first week here with things like shopping and picking out cell phones. We wanted to help out, so we said yes. We were expecting this English Corner to be like our high school's. Basically, we just hang out at the center of campus and talk with any students who want to meet us and work on their English. Very easy. Very laid back.

This is what we were expecting when we left in a van with some HIFA students for the school. Dinner with them was a blast. We made some new Chinese friends in Rebecca, Jesse, May, and Sunshine. However, I was a little confused when Katrina (another friend who helped us in our first week) said, "I'm interested to hear what you guys are going to say to the students." I started to figure out what was really going on, and I told Kirk and Daniel that we should be ready for the unexpected...

After dinner, we head to English Corner. We meet Bubbly and he tells us that there are more students than expected, so they are in two rooms. Daniel and Bubbly take one room. Kirk and I walk into the other room.....that has about 150 students......sitting like we're going to give them a lecture....for over an hour! Fortunately, I had been mentally preparing for this for about 5 minutes!

We began by introducing ourselves and singing a song (Jack Johnson - Better Together. It was the only one that I could think of on the spot. We nailed it by the way!), and then basically answered questions for about 20 minutes before switching rooms. We got lots of interesting questions. "What is your phone number?...Do you want to have a Chinese wife?...What kind of girl do you like?...Tell us something about the NBA...What do you think about dogs?"

There were definitely some awkward moments, but I think it went really well overall. You could tell the students don't have very much interaction with foreigners, so they just loved being able to talk with us. A girl actually screamed when Kirk and I walked into the room! And I think we all feel more confident if other situations like that come up again. If we could wing it for over an hour in front of 300 Chinese students, we can wing it anywhere!

Last weekend, our Wuhan crew headed to Huangshi to visit the other half of our group. It's about a 2 hour train ride away. They've came to Wuhan a few times, so we wanted to check out their city. They live in a "small city" of about 1-2 million. It was a great time. We ate some amazing Chinese barbecue and attended a Halloween party that they put on for their students. Imagine about 60 middle schoolers hopped up on candy and pop in a 2 bedroom apartment and that's what it was like! It was fun to talk with those students as well. I could tell that our teachers there were really having an impact on them. While we were in Huangshi, we actually got a picture of the whole Zhong Relations team. I will try to post that as soon as I get it from someone. My camera battery died, so I didn't take one.

You may remember Thomas, the guy I've been talking with at the coffee shop. He has a lot of interest in talking about Dad and the Book, but I'm starting to feel like he just enjoys the debate. However, I asked him to read through the book of John with me so we can talk about any disagreements he may have. I figure if he's reading the Word, who knows!

I also had an interesting English Corner at my school this past Monday. I mentioned that I was a C, so one of my students said he was reading through Genesis, and asked me to tell him something about my faith. I asked what he would like to know. He said, "Anything!" I figured that would be difficult, so I had to tell them everything! It was cool talking with about 20 students huddled around me (it was cold!) and telling them about creation, JC, and love. Everyone was very interested, especially 2 of them (Richard and George). Be thinking of them, as I hope they will come by my office this year to talk more about it.

The student I tutored in English (Xiong Shi-Tong) had his interview with Cambridge. It sounded like it was focused more on his ability in math and science than a regular entrance interview. I'm not sure how much my tutoring would have helped with that, but he said it seemed to have gone well. He will hear from them in January.

That's just a little bit of what's gone on over the last 2 weeks! I wish I could go into more detail, but I think I'd have to spend a whole day writing! I'd love to hear from you guys. Send me an e-mail or look me up on Skype!