China News 1-28-08

Happy New Year to All of You!

It doesn't seem possible that we are already most of the way through January in the new year. We are approaching the midpoint of our first year of teaching in China and it seems like we just began. On the other hand we have had so many wonderful and / or interesting experiences that sometimes it seems like much longer.

We have met hundreds of students and many of the university staff. Learning the Chinese names is very difficult as we have only heard of a few before, so all of them sound strange and unknown. Fortunately, most of the students and staff that we deal with also have adopted, or ask us to give them an English name. Some of their names are very interesting, but uncommon or unknown as names in America. Do you know anyone named Horse, Rain, Swallow, Orange, Apple, Franly, Love Me, Penguin, Echo, Fish, Ocean, or Polo? Many names are adopted from movie stars or characters they play, hence, James Bond, and, Sucre and Michael, from Prison Break (an American TV series I had never heard of, but very popular in China). We have jokingly said we feel like we have a hundred new children that we have had to name. We are often reminded by these students that we gave them their English names. That is very honoring, or embarrassing if we can't remember what we named them. After a couple of reminders we usually remember.

A Special Christmas Dinner

It is traditional that the university hosts a big Christmas Dinner for all foreign teachers. This year it was at the King Kowloon (cow loon) Hotel. It is probably the finest hotel in the city, certainly on of the best. The hotel tried to have an international meal since there were foreign teachers from the US, Wales, and Japan. The food was very good, but some of the items were a bit unusual, like the Chinese interpretation of spaghetti, BLT sandwiches, and mutton stew. The head of the Foreign Affairs Dept., who is the supervisor for all foreign teachers, and the Vice President of the university that oversees his office, were present. The university officials were especially joyful to announce that the university had successfully achieved accreditation by the Provincial Education Department this fall. The campus had been spruced up and the street vendors removed for the week long inspection.

After the meal and many "toasts" (a big deal at meals here) the officials decided that they would sing. We toasted with tea or orange juice. They were drinking something somewhat stronger. I did not understand a word of the songs, but I heard ever word, especially the VP's. I think the people passing by on the bus also heard it. I decided I do not want him yelling at me for anything, so I am going to behave!

Then they started around the room asking all the foreigners to sing for the group. We had no warning that this might happen so were taken a bit by surprise. Gary Cook has a dramatic flair not previously know to me that came out in his rendition of Elvis singing "Blue Christmas." With backup from Hannah he was very good. Fortunately, Evelyn and I had been singing Christmas carols with students for three weeks so we had become quite familiar with "Silver Bells."

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was a very busy one. It started with a 7:30 AM meeting to begin decorating for the evening Christmas party with four freshman classes. This would prove to be very interesting as none of them had any idea what you do at a Christmas party other than have a decorated tree and have everyone wear a Santa hat. More on this later.

About 9 AM I rejoined Evelyn who had remained at home to finish preparations for our Open House. Guests had arrived early, as they often do here. For the next three hours we hosted a fairly regular stream of students and other friends from the community who came to visit and see the Christmas decorations. Signa had purchased a large number of gloves to use as Christmas gifts for students at English Corner and shared these with us to give our guests. We had purchased about 500 cookies to supplement the eight dozen oatmeal cookies Evelyn and a couple of students had baked on Christmas Eve. With these, a huge pan of hard candies and about 200 oranges, we were able to provide our 150 guests a taste of Christmas in America. Most of our morning visitors were students we had met at English Corner, from our classes, or from our discussions at Jordan's or at our apartment. Many of them had never seen a Christmas tree up close and none that we could find had ever helped decorate one.

In the afternoon we went to the Cook's to join a group of American teachers, and one from Wales who also brought his Chinese fiancé for a traditional Christmas dinner, complete with turkey and dressing. We had purchased the turkey at Thanksgiving in Wuhan. Since the only ovens in our apartments are toaster types, Gary took the turkey to a large bakery with a big oven to have it cooked. What a treat that was! After a big meal together we settled into a round of game playing. "Settlers of Catan" has become our major pastime game and several of our Chinese friends have become quite good players.

Most Chinese have never eaten turkey as they are very rare here and not available in the stores in Jingzhou. A friend purchased a live turkey and prepared it for cooking as a gift for my birthday. I teased him when her brought it to me, "Jordan, this is not a turkey. It just a big chicken." It was about the size of a larger roasting chicken and was very thin. No plump "Butterball" turkeys for sale here. Wuhan, a city of 9 million, has some huge supermarkets that have some western style foods available, so that is where you must go to get one you would recognize.

After 5 PM we returned to the South Campus where we live and began final preparations for the first ever Christmas Party hosted by students on this campus. Early in the morning, considering all the activities we scheduled, we made a plan for setting up the room, only to discover, when we returned, that none of it had actually been followed. The seating was altered so that now two large posts obscured the view of many of the students from the front of the room. The two Christmas trees along with two large speakers and a CD player system were occupying half of what was to have been an open area for games for the 200 expected students. The tables for making Christmas tree decorations that were to have been set up in the back behind the main seating did not exist. The supplies for decorations had been set up amid the main seating area. Given that the culture allows anything left out to be picked up, I knew instantly that as people arrived they would begin to use these supplies without any guidance as to what they were for or how to use them. So the planned period for making tree decorations was going to be very different from what was planned. After a few minutes of wanting to pull my hair out, and that of a few other people, I calmed down and figured they did not know what was supposed to happen and would not realize that it was all being scrambled beyond my ability to fix. It was a constant battle to communicate with the leaders how to keep the party under control and moving so as not to make this two hour party a disorganized, boring event. The party went well and many students told us how happy they were to attend their first ever Christmas party.

Our first activity was making of decorations for the trees. We muddled through this and each tree soon had dozens of snowflakes, origami cranes, or folded lotus flowers added to the lights and tinsel. Each student put their name on their decoration before hanging it on the tree. A part of the Chinese culture includes a great love of "performing," especially at parties. Performing includes mostly singing or dancing with an occasional poem. So we used a game that capitalized on that. Everyone wore a Santa hat and I was leading the singing of Christmas carols. Whenever I removed my hat, which I did with no mention of it, everyone was to remove theirs. The last student with their hat on had to perform for the group. They thoroughly enjoyed this. Later Santa Claus, a student volunteer in full costume, took five decorations students had made earlier from the tree. . Each one drawn had to perform and then received a nice special gift from Santa.

Students who brought gifts received one in the gift exchange. This was not as successful as we had hoped because the leaders did not realize how much instruction needed to be given to those coming about this. They had no concept as to what it involved or how to prepare. Nonetheless, those who did catch on really enjoyed receiving a gift.

We were told by the student leaders who monitored the tickets, required in order to limit the attendance to a manageable number, that about 250 attended the party. It was a grueling experience as we were very concerned that the communication barrier and the newness of these activities would cause much confusion and disorganization with such a large group. Both the student leaders and we learned a lot about how to plan such an event . . . and a lot about what not to do.
All of this gave us a great opportunity to contact many students that we would not have not met otherwise. This as a priceless benefit, helping to fulfill our purpose for coming to China.

The New Year

The students do get New Years Day off, but this is a very small event in China. The New Year for them is celebrated as the central part of the Spring Festival. Chinese New Year, Feb. 7 this year, is like Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled into one. Everyone tries to be with their family for special meals and all the associated activities. Fireworks, an essential part of all celebrations in China, even including weddings, are especially big during Spring Festival. New Year's Eve begins their holiday and the Lantern Festival closes it. One of the special parts of this holiday are the Sky Lanterns (KongMing Lanterns), a kind of "hot air" lantern / balloon combination. A candle inside the lantern causes the air to expand and the lantern to ascend like a hot air balloon. Last year during our preparation visit we witnessed dozens of these floating hundreds, even thousands of feet into the sky. They are beautiful to see.

This is a very slow period in our work since all the students have gone home for the spring break and will not return until after the Spring Festival. Classes will resume about Feb. 20. Meanwhile, we have time to plan for our next teaching session. Since we were given no textbook or objectives for our first semester, we just had to do the best we could to figure out what needed to be taught and how to do it. We have learned much about both. Some of our lessons will be repeated, some modified, and others replaced with better plans. This break will be very helpful to improve our teaching plans.

For the past two weeks we have been battling some severe cold and snow. The snow is not that deep, but the combination of it with enduring cold has crippled transportation in our area. Many of the students were delayed one or two days because the buses could not go to Wuhan, where they must make connections to flights or, more commonly, to trains for trips home. Some travel as much as 30 hours by train to get home. News reports say it is some of the worst weather to hit China in 50 years. Wuhan, population 9 million and the capital of our province, had 300,000 that had to change travel plans because roads were closed. The local primary schools shut down early, postponing final exams until the resumption of school after Spring Festival. Dozens of falls on the ice resulting in injuries are reported from the local hospitals. At one or our five local hospitals on one day 18 people were treated for various broken bones. One young boy in Jingzhou died from injuries suffered in a fall on the ice. We have heard reports that four students from the university were involved in a car crash and some were hurt seriously, be we do not know the details. We are glad when we receive messages from our student friends that they are safely home.

We have been holding up in our apartment most of the past week. After fighting a cold and bronchitis for a week, the snow came. It was only about four inches, but has been followed by two weeks when every couple of days another inch falls over night to replace the one that melted the days before. The forecast is for another week of cold weather with additional snow flurries. Since we have no TV channels available here ("maybe" next year) we watch DVD's of American TV series we did not watch there. After watching several seasons of West Wing this winter, we feel like White House insiders.

Thanks Again for This Opportunity

Our work is slow now with the students gone. But the time gives us more time to reflect on our decision to come to China. It is a humbling and happy reflection. The opportunity is so great and so important. So many have sacrificed to make it possible for us to be here. So many here have been blessed.

Since the school year began seventy five have joined the team. I love my weekly sessions to help local Chinese teachers to learn the King's English better.

This is a very slow time for our extra curricular work as all students are at home for a five week winter break. Evelyn and I feel especially blessed by an unanticipated benefit; so much more time together. There is no way to express the depth of our appreciation to our Father or to you for making it possible. We will only try to be as faithful and effective as possible. You are in our hearts and in our prayers.

Ron & Evelyn McFarland

(Please include phone numbers on all mail)
Home: 802-0513
Cell: 159 279 717 20
Department of International Exchange & Cooperation
Yangtze University
1 Nan Huan Rd.
Jingzhou, Hubei 434023 P.R.C.



P.S. If you want to read more about:
- Chinese Spring Festival / Chinese New Year
http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Festivals/78322.htm
- The worst winter weather in 50 years and it came at the busiest travel time of the year,
stranding hundreds of thousands http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0129/p04s01-woap.html
- Death and damage in Hubei, the province in which we live http://www.enn.com/lifestyle/article/29684




Attachment 1: YU Christmas Dinner 07 King Cauloon (12) Edited.jpg (image/jpeg)
Attachment 2: CHRISTMAS Jingle Bells by Chinese Students Dec 2007.mp3 (audio/mpeg)
Attachment 3: YU Christmas Dinner 07 King Cauloon (8) - Evelyn Chats with a Coworker.jpg (image/jpeg)
Attachment 4: DSCF0810 - Workmen Mopping Sidewalk for Accreditation Inspection.jpg (image/jpeg)
Attachment 5: Snow 2008-1-13 (20) Edited - Girl by Tree.jpg (image/jpeg)
Attachment 6: Snow 2008-1-13 (131) - Students Playing in the Snow.jpg (image/jpeg)
Attachment 7: Snow 2008-1-13 (159) Edited - Snowman.jpg (image/jpeg)