Then at our Christmas party we sang the whole song and they joined us on the last two verses. Last year we thought we should not even talk about Christmas, then second semester the book we taught out of had a whole section on Christmas and Christ being the savior of the world, so this year we thought we would have fun with that. Jay was Santa Claus, I really have become grateful for Santa Claus, because in China he is everywhere along with so many Christmas decorations which makes it fun to talk about.
This year we had the opportunity to sing at a government accepted Christen Church. It was a wonderful experience.
Since I was in front of the microphone I mouthed the words. Anyone who has ever heard me sing knows that I really can’t carry a tone.
Christmas day we taught our class. When we got home at 6:15 pm we got ready for our twig Christmas party. The weather has gotten so cold here, it reminds me of Alaska. You forget how cold it is until it hits again.
We really had a lot of fun. There were five couples that were able to make it and we did white elephant gifts that I was really excited about. We had gotten this one gift from our school. Jay got one and I got one. It was this sculpture in plastic of an elephant. We both got one so we were able to really give a fun one. We had such a fun time. The O'breins came down and participated in the evening. At the end of the evening we went downstairs to the Watkins apartment and sang songs around the electric piano and ended the evening with one dance. It turned out to be a very special China Christmas eventing.
This year has been really a good one. I have enjoyed teaching and think I have a better handle on how to do it right. I video all 258 at the beginning of the semester and then did it the last week at the end and have been so excited to see the progress they have made. Most important they have all learned that it is okay to say, “I don’t understand you, would you please talk slower.” The book I have been given to teach out of has really been helpful. They had a whole unit on thinking and brainstorming and the importance of thinking “outside the box.” I am excited about next semester and what I will get to do be with them next year.
For the Christmas party we decorated a really great room for the party. It seated over 400 students and has a great screen to show movies. My nursing students game over to the house and made 600 sugar cookies in 4 hours. They really had a great time and I had fun with them.
My kitchen counter is perfect for making sugar cookies.
I went to the wrong room. I was scheduled for the West Library and I had told everyone the East Library on the 5th floor. They let me stay in the East Library on Saturday but we had to do the second night in the West Library. I would like to note that there is no elevator in a building unless it has 7 floors. Because of my mistake we had to decorate twice.
We had one on Saturday night for my freshmen and then on Sunday we had a Christmas sing a long with the Watkins, Jay’s and some of my students. That night was really great also. I asked Jay if he would be Santa and he remained me of the last time he played Santa in Utah and how he told me he would do it one more time, but to never to ask him to do it again. I guess being in China helped to change his mind. He did a great job and he said that it was a lot more fun with the college students than the little Ward children who always pulled at is beard.
Paula Watkins setting up the sound system for Sunday Night Christmas sing along. She is an amazing teacher and performer. It is fun to watch her and Richard in action. They had Saturday Dance English Corners.About half way through Judy Judd & Sarah, Joann’s granddaughter, came in and the students were so excited. We once again sang, “I Heard the Bells.” Most impressive was they said, then, the, and earth, with the “the” sounds perfectly. We had been working on that.
I am going to show the movie “Flower Drum Song”. They love movies, but the teacher in me has a hard time letting me show one during class time so I have had movie night every Tuesday and Wednesday. I have shown some really great ones. This last week I had to do a “One on One” with all my students and so I showed them “Homeless to Harvard.” What an amazing movie, I don’t think there was a single person who had a dry eye at the end of it.
Well, I started this in the morning yesterday and now it is Monday morning. Last night two of my students came over and helped us with a couple of computer problems. Then I fixed them American food. A piece of one of the best bread I have made this year (Actually Jay and I work together on it. I start it out and use the beater to mix it – we actually found here, so I don’t have to use my electric drill – and then Jay takes over and finishes it off. He is really good. He said he learned how to do it by watching his mother when he was young. We brought some instant Chicken Noodle soup, to have when we get a cold, and so I made that for them. They found it interesting to see such little noodles. I had made macaroni salad for our twigs (our name for our Branch group) Sunday dinner and I gave them that. We sat around and talked. They both speak really good English and so we had a great talk about a great many things.
This year President Lewis, our Branch President, said if any of our Chinese students or friends ask us what religion we belong to we can tell them that we are from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or some times called Mormons. That we have a Word of Wisdom and do not drink alcohol or smoke and use wisdom in our eating, and that we believe strongly in the family unit. That has been nice to be able to say that much.
Of course, when they ask us to tell them more, we always follow up with the statement, “we can’t tell you any more, we have signed a contract with your government and we believe in opining the laws of the land, so we really can’t talk about it. I then say, “What I say I will do or not do is what makes what I believe important.” But last night one of the young men said, “Mormons, oh I have heard about the Mormons, they were mention in the movie “Sherlock Homes.” He said that in the movie they said Mormons were a mysterious religion, I asked him if he thought I was mysterious, and then we both laughed and left the subject.
It is now Tuesday morning and I just got home from getting some Chinese medicine. It doesn’t taste very good but it seems to be working really well. Two more days and we leave on our journey through China. I am really excited about it. I some times don’t think we are really going to be doing it but if it happens it should be one really great adventure. I feel we have been so blessed this last that I have become a little worried that we will have to go through some new testing experience. We will be staying at youth hostels so that should be a new and interesting (and cheap) experience. The last place we will be at will be is Xi is where the Terracotta worries are.
Also, Amanda de Lange, who received BYU Humanitarian award for her work in building the chinese.stawfishthrower@gmail.
Well I will close now, there really are so many things that I could write about, I would like to remind you to remember China and all the other nations where the church can not be in you prayers.
With Love, Dana
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