Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thanksgiving was Grate...ful!

Have I done any good in the world today?
Our class this past week was on Thanksgiving. We taught about the history, the culture, and the foods like turkey which they do not have the chance to enjoy in China. They do not have turkeys for sale here and the Chinese do not like turkey. We taught about Thanksgiving traditions, and family activities. Then we had a kind of special exercise where the students stood one by one and expressed their gratitude for the things they were thankful for in their lives this Thanksgiving. It was really special. Then we assigned them to write with an attitude of gratitude -- a letter to their parents. This turned out to be a grateful day and a good idea. Most of our students, 99.5%, have never written a letter to their parents for any reason...let alone a thanksgiving letter. That fact made this English lesson unique and English writing assignment/experience emotional for everyone, including us.


They turned in all of their English letters to their parents so I was able to read every one of them and they are so special, sincere, and emotional. Thanksgiving celebration and family activities are now something to build on and to begin new family traditions. It is also a newly introduced western holiday which they have all agreed should also be an annual Chinese family tradition.

We had prepared letter forms for them to write to their parents...of course we also had written a note to their parents on the form letter too. We mailed the letters for them a week before Thanksgiving so they would arrive on or about Thanksgiving day.
Here is one of them:
Dear Father and Mother, I'd like to thank you and actually I'm always grateful to you. Thank you for letting me come to this earth. You gave me the chance to experience such a colorful and wonderful world. Thank you for raising me up and always forgiving me. When I was a little child, I knew I was a naughty boy and I often broke things, but you never blamed me for that because you knew I already felt so sorry and was afraid about my mistake. You had a strong belief that I would correct these faulty behaviors one day. Thank you for giving me a happy family. That was a great contribution to my physical, emotional, and psychological development so that I could be a normal individual rather than a uneducated child. Thank you for doing me a favor when I was having difficulty. It's so kind of you to support me all the time and respect my own choices. You act as light towers on the road to my success. I remember one day, mother asked me: "When was your happiest day of your life?" I answered: "I'm getting happier and happier". However, now I suspect maybe the happiest time in my life was being your child. I love you. Yours sincerely, Benjamin
This photo above shows our teacher's note to the student's parents. The feedback has been excellent as they tell of their parents call to answer their letter and to tell them of their love as well. We will do it again for Mother's Day! Thanksgiving time is when English teachers can really know that they are making a difference here in China...when the students learn and excel not only in English, but in learning about western culture and then trying out new and unusual traditions. We know that we have done some good in the far east today.

They translated thier English letter into chinese characters before turning them in.
They are really proud of their letters. Their parents loved the letters!
Kirk and Midge Evans from BYU arrived in Jinan to observe the teaching styles and expertise, and then took us all (Jinan's BYU English teacher group) out to dinner. Hamburgers, salads and brownie desserts were on the menu! Does it seem like we are always eating?Sunday's "Linger Longer" lunch is a weekly tradition in Jinan. We love this time together and the food is western cuisine...and the best meal of the week for most of us.


Luci Jones tripped and fell and bonked her head above her eye. What a cute "Shiner" she got. It has all healed up by now though, so it is no more. She is okay!
Barbequed Pulled Pork Sloppy Jays. Ya gotta love it. Gwen Bardsley says "Hi".
At Zhujiayu, an ancient Chinese village, we found a lot to look at. This was a culture shock and a step back in time. This lady below was spinning yard on an unbelievable spinning wheel. and I thought my spinning wheel at home which I brought back from Finland 43 years ago, was old because it was owned by an vanha iso iso aiti (great grandmother)... but it looks new in comparison to this one. And this one worked pretty well.

This aggressive sales lady is selling chinese fast food, a kind of corn meal pancake with vegetables inside. The food name is unknown at this time... I will try to find out.
Corn hung to dry... Good fortune, Good Luck sign. It is corn drying season again.
A long weave....This one is really long.
Student show and tell. This engineering post graduate student brought his engineering project which is made with no nails, glue, or staples. It is make to snap or clip together. That was the assignment from his professor.
Show and tell "Happy Time" knick knack box. She did a good job of telling where she got it, who gave it to her, what it is used for and all about it. She loves it and it is the most meaningful and memorable gift she has ever received. I like it too.
At the new Home Furnishing Center we visited today, I caught Dana was out front, just horsing around.

The Zhujiayu tour group of English, Japanese, Russion, Spanish, and German Teachers and Mary, our boss and her staff. This was a free tour by the University and they treated us to a really good Chinese Food lunch while we were there and we also went to the open outdoor market together for about an hour. Group Smile! It was a fun and an educational day. We look forward to the next tour... Winter break is coming on the first of January through the first of March. We will have time to travel. We are making our travel plans, reservations and booking travel arrangements. We are going to Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing and spend our time there.

5 comments:

beverly said...

What a wonderful post this one was Jay and Dana. Look like your adventuresous travels will be just starting again in January. We love you.

Marianne Thelin said...

Happy Thanksgiving! Loved the post, so happy you love what you are doing! we love you! Dennis and Marianne:)

Janae said...

Beautiful post. Thank you for sharing! It is wonderful to see how gratitude is such an expression of love. How fun to be part of their experience with this.

Tiffany said...

Hooray for Gratitude. I loved reading about your life in China so much.

Frank and Julie said...

Wonderful posts and pictures and stories of your adventure in China.
For some reason I haven't looked at your blog in awhile. It's Dec 26th!