So I did go to China to visit my sister and brother-in-law. I have written a lot about adventures thus far.
My sister and brother-in-law are both teaching English at Chinese schools in Changchun. Eleni is teaching at a primary school and Allen is at a university.
I had the privilege of following Eleni around for the day. Actually she put me to work and made me talk and field questions for all 8 (or was it nine?) classes. By the way Eleni, are you going to split your pay with me for that day???? :-)
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| Some of Eleni's students |
I had a great time with Eleni and the kids. It was fun drawing pictures of my family and Australia. I played a game with some of the classes where they had to try and guess our ages. They had fun with that. They also thought it was hilarious when they found out my husband's name was Brandon. You see, some of the boys in the classes had adopted Brandon as their English name. One turned red, lowered his head in shame and kept shaking it. The rest of us thought it was great fun. They laughed even harder when I told them Brandon was 32. The poor Brandons were probably teased the rest of the week for that :-) Some context behind the English names. In each English class every child picks an English name. Some are quite normal like Brandon or Helen. Others can be very strange. Such as, Car, Lucifer, Tiger and other inanimate objects.
The kids also had the opportunity to ask me questions. A few were about Australia, the normal animal and weather questions. A few were about my kids, what they liked to do. I had two questions were really good.
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| More students |
One girl asked why we can have three kids in Australia. I told her that our government allows us to have as many kids as we want. Where as her government says you can't. Do you now see the evils of Communism? Too much power in the hands of a few can lead to disastrous consequences. No, I didn't really say that last bit but I wanted to. The Chinese teacher (there is always one in there with Eleni to help with translating or problems that arise) then proceeded to talk for a very long time in Chinese. I suppose to clarify on how the Chinese govt. is looking after the people and doing what is best.
Insight #6 into daily China life - Communism is real. The children see it as normal and when they hear of differences in other countries they are curious. Unfortunately the English teachers are limited in what they can say as of now. Lord willing, this system of government in China, North Korea and Cuba will one day fall. We should be ready for the day when it does. And, if even in small ways, support those who are slowly, peacefully trying to chip away at the foundation.
The second question was "What are you going to have your kids do when they grow up?"
I told the kids that my husband and I were not going to decide what their job was and that it was up to them. I told them the only thing I cared about was that they learn how to be good mommies and daddies if there comes a time when they have their own children. Again, I could have said a lot more. I wanted to say that it doesn't matter what they do. What matters most is that they are following Jesus. But for the sake of Eleni's job I refrained.
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And more students. The face the boy in the middle
is making cracks me up. |
The first difference I noticed were the class sizes. Eleni's classes on averaged had about 40 students, some close to 45. Big classes. You can imagine how hard it would be to remember the names of everyone. Eleni often had to write notes next to people's names so that she could keep track of who was who. I suppose the hard thing is that some genetic differences we see in the West are not as prominent in Asia. For instance hair color, the type of hair (not much in the way of curly over there) and eye color cannot be relied upon. You can't use those differences as ways to recall names. You have to be a bit more creative. Especially on the day you have 7-8 classes that are each filled with around 40 students. I have to say that Eleni's school, Perfect English, is also very large. I believe there are about 15,000 students. I suppose that has to be when you have a population of 1.3 billion.
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| Lunch time! Rice, a fish and some greens |
Another difference was how they ran the schools. The kids have one room that they are in the entire day. At lunch time the food is brought to the hallway on carts. Kids line up get their food and then go back to their rooms to eat. Kids are also responsible for keeping their class rooms clean. I think they take shifts on cleaning them up.
One last difference, school productions. They are crazy. The New Year production Eleni was involved in was bigger than what most half-time shows at sporting events. Also this production wasn't for the entire school, it was only for the teachers, upper management and government officials. Also, the teachers were in the production. Eleni even had a part. Below you will find some video clips from last year's production. The entire show lasted five hours, yes five hours. I won't show you that much, I will be nice. I do believe a new category under 'persecution of the saints' has been discovered.
Insight #7 into daily life in China - Celebrations, shows, etc. Are big and not to be taken lightly.
A mention now of the foreign teachers who go to China to teach English. Many, but not all, come under the umbrella of Christian groups with the hope of reaching out to the people in whatever way they can. Many of the teachers I met in Changchun and Dalian were Christians and had been there for several years. This is where I began to see a need.
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| The fish. Bones and all. |
There are pockets of Christian teachers all over the country. They usually do not attend the state churches. Those services tend to be all in Chinese and well, run by the State. Not so great theologically. The foreign teachers cannot get involved with the underground church because it would be too dangerous for the locals. A group of white people going to a building/house every Sunday stands out way too much to the local authorities. So then what do these teachers do? Most gather in each other's homes for Sunday worship. They sing, pray and listen to a sermon downloaded off the internet via some VPN software. These groups can be made up of people from all different denominations, backgrounds etc. Some are not even believers. They come for Western contact. Something very much needed when you have had a bad China day*. Most of these people are in their early to mid twenties with a few being around 30. On the whole, fairly young.
I really saw a need for older, wiser Christians to be traveling around to these cells of teachers. Leading, discipling and encouraging them. I asked the two groups I worshipped with how they chose their sermons. They both said they just go around the group and take turns choosing. I suppose for a while this could be fine but some of these teachers have been there for years. The most was 6-7. There are benefits to studying an entire book of the Bible, theme, or subject. Popcorn style just doesn't lend itself to that. Also, some of these teachers have not had the opportunity to take communion for a year, two, maybe even five years. That is a long time.
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Three of the Dalian group. We ate at Dairy Queen. A treat
for me too seeing as though Oz doesn't have them. |
I talked to one of the older teachers in Dalian about this. He realized this was a problem as well. He said that there had been an older couple who was living in Dalian and leading/mentoring the group. However, they had recently moved back to the States. Their leaving had certainly left a gaping need in the group. The man I talked to spoke of how it was hard now that the older couple had left, they didn't have anyone to lead them. Sure they could take turns but that isn't the same as having a more spiritually mature person take on the role. There is a need.
I also meet a few people who were struggling with their faith. They needed older, spiritually mature people there to help answer their questions and be alongside them as they wrestled with some difficult issues.
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The Changchun groups. Two groups that
worship in different places. |
You could pray for these little groups in China. They are a mixed bunch, as is often seen when you go to the remote places of the world. They need (they do miss it) to be able to have communion from time to time, encouragement (China is not an easy place to work as a tent maker) and spiritual leadership. Pray for their unity. Pray for their witness to the non-Christian foreign teachers who come to worship purely for the Western/English contact. Pray that God would call some older Christians to meet the needs of these groups sprinkled around the vastness of China.
*A phrase some of the foreign teachers used when the day had not gone well do to cultural differences. Sometimes the brain just has enough and needs to be with what is comfortable.
The New Year's Perfect English (the name of the school) Production. I apologize for the bad filming. I was using my phone to record from a dvd that was playing on Elen's laptop. The entire show took up two dvds and came in a nicely designed plastic dvd case. My kids are not going to school unless their school does something like this.
This video shows all the important people arriving on the red carpet.
One of the dances. Remember these are the teachers and other management at the schools doing all of this. Or at least that is what Eleni was told. When you have a school with 15,000 students you don't get to meet everyone. So who knows?
Another dance. Notice the fancy camera booms around second 33-37.
