July 21 - Mahjong and Dancing

Ni Hao dear friends,

My apologies for being out of touch with both blog and individual e-mails for a few days now. The weekend was filled with travel to caves and waterfalls, which I will write more about in tomorrow's blog. But once back in Bijie, we found that the electricity, water, and Internet have all been out for long stretches of time. As a result, I have not been able write.

There is very much a "makes lemons out of lemonade" philosophy here. The lack of electricity surprises no one who lives here, and no one complains about the outages at all. It is simply expected that the electricity or water will be off for hours or even several days at a time. They have water buckets filled and candles ready.

So, last night in the blackout, we learned to play Mahjong. The men in our classes have been hounding us to learn the game, so they escorted us out to the male dormitories and taught us the very basics of mahjong. We played by cellphone light and candlelight for several hours. This game is very popular here, more with the men than the women. The men have a mahjong table in their dorm, the women can get one if they request it.

While the men and "the two foreign woman" played mahjong in the dark, the women, we were told, were "chatting" in their dorms. "Chatting" is apparently code for gossiping. There are at least two students attending the institute that have "fallen in love," so this is the latest topic of conversation. The man who is in love is moving very cautiously and carefully and told us that twenty class sessions is not enough to express his affections. The young woman he is enamoured with will need permission from her family to see the young man. Both are brilliant young people who take their English language studies very seriously.

There is a very strong work ethic here among the students, and they actually request homework. I feel like I am in some weird time warp, or perhaps on an episode of The Twilight Zone. Even when homework is not given, they advance themselves beyond what we have done in class or they tend to complete vocabulary studies well in advance of when we actually get to them in class.

Tonight again, with the power out once more, I spent a few hours of the evening dancing with my students out of the basketball courts outside the Student Canteen. They were working on the dance number they are going to perform for the talent show we have scheduled for Friday. It is a beautiful and graceful Chinese dance. They invited me to learn, so in a round robin style, I was able to dance with all of my students. In turn, I have taught them the song, La Bamba (and a few basic Samba moves), the Hokey Pokey dance, swing dancing, some moves to Beatles tunes, and even a Renaissance Pavanne out on the court tonight. They are very receptive to learning that contains any kind of music or movement. We even started some harmony round singing in class today, and I was lifted to a place that I have never been before listening to them sing today.

I am convinced I was fated to be here in Bijie at this moment. The match between these teachers and myself is overwhelmingly beautiful, and I am grateful to Bill Richardson, the director, for his wisdom in placing me at this particular site. Bijie is in a very remote part of southwestern China, but many of my students I am working with teach in places four or five hours further away. For many of them, coming to Bijie is very much of a luxury. These teachers work under some very difficult conditions, with far more students in each classroom than we are used to in America. They are faced with traditional exams and a very lockstep curriculum, but they are very receptive to incorporating new teaching methods into their classrooms. They want very much to engage their students with active, participatory, creative learning strategies. There are so many obstacles facing them each day, but their hearts and their wills are strong, sure, and powerful.

By the way, before coming to China, I asked my 8th graders at MacDonald Middle School to create bookmarks for my students here. The bookmarks are a huge hit, and I share a "quote of the day" along with a bookmark lottery each day. The quotes my 8th graders chose are very inspirational, and their autobiographies on the back of the bookmark are of very high interest for the students here. I have the pleasure of introducing one of my 8th graders every day via these bookmarks, and the language always yields additional vocabulary for the Chinese students. We have constructed a Word Wall in class, where we post new words, alphabetically, as we encounter them.

I introduced The Beatles to my class today. A very serendipitous event occurred regarding the lyrics to one of their songs. Last week, as you may have read, my students gave me the Chinese name Bai Ling. This is a rare songbird with a lovely voice. That night, I began to plan a brief lesson on a bird in a well-known song by the Beatles, "Blackbird." As I was preparing this lesson, I received an e-mail from my dear friend Therese, stating that she had no idea why she was doing this, but she was sending me the lyrics to "Blackbird." The universe is responsive and taking care of us in ways that I can't even begin to understand. Therese is a kindred spirit, and I always feel very blessed that she is in my life.

It is but one of many twists of fate I have experienced. While here, my husband enrolled our two youngest daughters in a Chinese Language and Culture Summer Camp offered through Michigan State University. It turned out that not only is this Camp being offered where I teach at MacDonald Middle School in East Lansing, but their particular class is being held right in my classroom! They even e-mailed a picture of their first day.

In other news from my home front, all four of my daughters had "fairy" pictures taken at a studio in Lansing. Apparently, since this is usually reserved for kids aged 3-7, it has ranked as one of the most embarrassing leotard moments in the life of my 23 year old daughter, Alicia. Allegra, my 9 year old, e-mailed me saying that if she pokes her finger deep into her belly button, it does not extend to China where she could see her Mama. 10 year old (soon to be 11) Annelise is excited about taking archery classes, which will help her with her sessions at Camp Michigania when we all vacation there in August. My 21 year old daughter Audrey is about to have a very special Pinning Ceremony as she continues in the nursing program at University of Michigan in Flint. Life goes on.

And so, permitting that the Internet is up and the electricity is on, I will continue this blog tomorrow. It is almost 1:00 a.m. now, and I need to be up and ready to teach in about five hours. I have much to share about the weekend excursion to the caves and the waterfall. There is so much natural beauty here... a new vision in every direction; a banquet for the eyes and the soul. When my feet are sloshed with mud from the thunderstorms and my legs are dusted with debris from the construction here, all I need do is look up... and my spirit is carried off into the mountains that surround Bijie. How can I keep from singing?