Last China post...maybe

Is it even possible that our time in China could be drawing to a close? Where did the time go?

This may be my second-to-the-last post. My plan is to do this post, and then the final post will be one which will contain my favorite pictures from our China Adventure. I will try to do it with little or no commentary...a tough mission for me.  That is my plan, unless something catches my eye, brain or heart in a manner I feel ought to be shared.

For this post, I thought I would share some of the insights, thoughts, etc., I have gleaned through our ten+ months here.

Things the Chinese admire about Americans:

Most Chinese love Americans and through a number of sources, I have gleaned a few things I think they admire or even envy about Americans.  I displayed one of those sources in a post I did about Stereotypes [Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness (11/8/18)].

Other sources were class presentations by the students, one-on-one conversations with them, etc. Here are a few of the things they envy about us:

High nose bridges (our glasses don’t slide down!)

Our “dazzling” white skin (many of us)

Different eye colors

Different colors of hair

How direct we are (blunt!)

Our enthusiasm for life

How adventurous we are

We are rich in facial and body language

Our freedoms!  While they the Chinese people are happy, they recognize they do not have the freedoms Americans have

• We can decide when we want air conditioning / heat on in our personal accommodations as well as all public buildings, nation-wide (now decided by the government)
• We can decide what kind of mattress we want – hard or soft (the government mandates very hard beds for health reasons – Chinese mattresses are essentially nothing more than box springs)
• They envy our Internet access and capabilities. The government routinely shuts down the Internet, sometimes for days at a time. Of course, Chinese citizens do not have free access to the Internet anyway...
• They are absolutely fascinated by guns…sort of like snakes -- some people fear and/or are mesmerized by snakes
• Our freedom of speech, Hollywood topics (even the trashy ones) are all envied.

Things I envy about the Chinese:

Family focus – particularly multi-generational families -- you can't go anywhere without seeing multi-generational families --> grandparents, children and grandchildren, enjoying their time together, running errands together, etc. That has been lost in America in great measure.

They have a pretty healthy lifestyle. They generally eat sensibly (large breakfast, lighter lunch, still lighter dinner), lots of vegetables, fish, fruit.

Drugs are illegal in China. That is enforced by death penalties for drug dealers, even for those who deal the "harmless" drug of marijuana.

Incredibly low crime rate. I have seldom felt as safe on a street in America as I do in China, whether during the night or during the day. Crime is punished quickly and effectively (albeit, I suspect, fairly harshly).

Incredible patriotism – the likes of which I have never seen. Our students are so proud to be sons and daughters of China. The closest I have been to seeing this in America was shortly after 9/11. The Chinese people are NOT the stereotypical "Communist-woe-is-me citizen" I have pictured since my childhood. Instead, our students are happy, quick to smile and laugh, and quick to accept us. Most Chinese citizens are pulling for their country to succeed.  America seems to be pulling in opposite directions.

Things we’ll miss about China:

Real Chinese food. We like Chinese food in America, but ****Newsflash**** -- it is not real Chinese food. The seasonings and sauces are different, I guess. Oh -- and we're eating it in China...but there is a difference. Very few items on the menu of an American Chinese food restaurant appear on a menu (or anywhere in the restaurant) here in China.

The people – their smiles, sincere kindness we experience everywhere.

People offering me their seats on a bus (I always feel awkward, particularly because it is often older women at least ten years older than me who are offering!)

The warm and welcoming smiles of our students

Our celebrity status here – lots of photos with Chinese people (some requested, far more surreptitiously!) Seriously -- we will really miss that.

                                                         (Yep -- that's Bonita being videoed by a woman at a market...)

     This was the first class I taught when I came to China. The picture of a portion of the class behind us was taken that first class period. The picture of us taken in front of that previous picture was taken after my last lesson with them.  Bittersweet memories.  Aren't they absolutely adorable?! (See if you can recognize any of them in the current classroom, that were also in the picture at the beginning of last year -- I can pick all of them out...but of course I love all of them and they are MY kids...)

Applause from students after a lesson they particularly enjoyed or appreciated.

The naivete of our students – truly precious.

The peace and harmony that is prevalent in the Chinese society.

The safety we felt while walking around large cities.

Things we’re looking forward to in America:

Bathtub - our apartment did not have a bathtub...while I don't normally take baths, when I am sick, or bone weary from a long day, it's a nice option!

Bathroom amenities: Toilet paper (you always carry your own), soap, hot water, paper towels, clean.

A thick, juicy steak - I tried repeatedly and never had a decent steak in China. Generally the meat was tough as shoe leather, and had an odd taste -- some spice or perhaps a marinate most restaurants use. Saltgrass or Texas Roadhouse, here I come!

Chicken, beef and pork without bones diced up in them (See my post: Lawnmower Chicken, 2/24/19).

Drinking water out of a tap or drinking fountain, and not have to carry a backpack everywhere I go with enough water to get me through a day or two, and toilet paper.

Real ice cream.

Being retired again – no lessons to plan, buses to catch, classes to teach. Just pretty much do what we want, when we want.

Internet service that isn’t arbitrarily blocked by the government for days at a time.

Internet access when I expect it.

Colorado Rockies Baseball!

******************************************************************************************************************
And now, below are a few pictures of my students and me during our last moments together. I have 265 students across six classes this semester. Since all my classes are Oral English classes, my finals are just meeting one-on-one with each of my students and speaking English for about five minutes. I have completed 216 of the 265 -- 49 more to go, which I will do this Thursday (June 20). The meetings I have had thus far have been precious beyond belief. There were lots of hugs (the boys requested them as often as the girls) and many tears were shed.

                    Wouldn't you buy a Coke from her? I would, and I don't even drink Coke! :-)

One young woman -- Grace (Sun Mengxin) posted this series of pictures on an app they have over here -- WeChat:

At the beginning of the first semester, I provided all students with tent cards that had their names on them -- these helped me learn their names. They also had a playing card printed on them -- I could quickly get them into groups that way, and mix it up with who they would be speaking with. "Okay -- all the aces are one team, the twos are another...etc." Or "Okay, let's have the ace through four of hearts be a team, ace through four of diamonds be another team, etc."

I taught my students about the various American holidays...so I of course gave them all Valentines Day cards.  I was touched by how many kept them, including Grace!

I have 208 more pictures (or thereabouts), but I will let these few suffice. Aren't my students the greatest?

A few more:

When the sun comes out, so do the umbrellas. Chinese people -- particularly the young women -- value light skin, and they constantly strive to protect their skin from the sun with umbrellas and face masks.  Also -- please note on this college campus -- about half the young women are wearing dresses or skirts -- very typical for spring, summer and fall here.

Some of you saw my FB posts of Shanghai -- the city was absolutely stunning (I thought). Here are a few of our pictures from there:

                   Shanghai Center Tower, tallest building in China, second-tallest building in the world (2,073 feet to the top).

                                             Buddhist monks in the Jing'an temple. Being taught by the Master.

                        Even monks have a light moment every now and then. "Did you hear the one about the

                       four Mormon missionaries who walked into a coffee bar?..."

                                           Bonita took this awesome picture of a monk in a hallway at Jing'an temple.

                                                                                                         I was framed...