Dear Family and Friends,
My tenure in China has gone beyond its halfway point. I myself can hardly believe it, but I just received the email stating I needed to buy my ticket for my return. As I look back on the past eight months, I can do nothing but smile. I know I say it a lot, but China changed me. This place healed something inside of me that was broken, and I know that when I return home, I will be whole again.
Now it has been a while since I have updated you on my adventures, so let me take this moment to give you a play by play of the past couple months including holidays and quite a bit of travel (I really racked up those frequent flyer miles). Of course I missed my family, and Thanksgiving and Christmas will never be the same without them. To me, the holidays will always encompass going to Aunt Sherry’s and eating Ed’s amazing mashed potatoes, or going to the farm and sliding the dogs my dad’s “prized” deep fried wild turkey that he just shot (buckshot included). To me these are the holidays, but this year I was lucky enough to gain some new memories.
First of all, there was Thanksgiving. Now the irony of celebrating an entirely American holiday such as this in China is not lost on me, and trust me there was some “lost in translation” when it came down to it. All in all though, it was a night I will never forget. Leigh and I packed our bags and headed to the big cities (Leigh to Zhuzhou and I to Changsha). I stayed with Tina of course, and seeing as it is Tina’s favorite holiday we had to do it in style. She sent out an invite and we had a WorldTeach Thanksgiving at the Sheraton.
One thing I have learned about the Chinese people is that they love Western culture, so give them a holiday and they will run with it and the Sheraton did just that. At this amazing dinner there were all the traditional fixings such as turkey, ham, lamb, pumpkin pie, stuffing (which was questionable), mashed potatoes, and wine (thank God). I might have had two too many bottles of wine that night, but I didn’t know when I would see it again.
Most importantly though, there was butter. Now as a southern girl, I believe that butter is a main food group in its own right, and seeing as there is no butter over here, my body is still going through shock. Needless to say, when I saw the butter packs I might have slightly lost control, no thanks to the wine I might add. To Tina’s surprise, I grabbed as many as I could and put them in my purse and pockets. Two months later, I am still finding these little Anchor New Zealand Butters in my purse.
Now, there were some non-traditional fixings as well. We had sushi, taro balls, some sort of meat on a stick, fish and a Hagen-daz ice cream buffet! There were also noodles, tiramisu, corn pudding (but not what I am used to), as well as rice of course. Even with a Chinese take on the food, it was still delicious.
For me, Thanksgiving, as it does with all holidays, means everyone shuffling from house to house and dinner to dinner. You’re full before you get to the next place you need to be and you always feel rushed. I always feel somewhat guilty leaving house number one and going to the next and I never completely relax.
This was the first year where I got to sit and eat one meal surrounded by people I have grown to consider family. I loved also being able to relax, drink too much, and laugh while being so full of good things I was really glad I wore stretchy pants. Now next year, I will gladly go back to the hustle and bustle of that annual Thursday, but this year I am thankful for the new friends I have acquired halfway away from the only world I’ve ever known.
Fast forward a few weeks and to my surprise it was Christmas, and as Leigh continued to mark her advent calendar, I continued to get excited about this merry holiday. I went into class a week before Christmas day and asked my students, “Do you know what day is next week?” and they replied with stupefied expressions. It hit me then, “Oh my God I am living in a Christmas-less country!” It had never occurred to me that living in a small town in rural China would mean that Christmas wasn’t important.
Don’t get me wrong, my students know about Christmas, but they do not know a whole lot about it. I then took it upon myself to spread Christmas spirit all around this little town. To start on Christmas Eve, Stella found an old Santa costume in storage, and you better believe I put that thing on, stuffed a pillow in my belly, and walked up to the Senior 3 classrooms. When we arrived we went straight to Stella’s office for her to walk us from room to room. When we entered each room, I would say, “Merry Christmas children Ho Ho Ho” and then Leigh and I would proceed into singing “Jingle Bells”.
As we continued from class to class, some of my nerves started to quell and I began to look at the students’ faces. This was the best part of the whole experience. Their initial reactions were priceless. Here are students who go to class fourteen hours a day seven days a week. They believe that their families’ fates lie completely in their hands. This is a form of stress I can’t even fathom, but I do know that it doesn’t change the fact that they are seventeen and eighteen years old and need to be kids too at times.
When I walked into these classrooms, I can say without a doubt that Santa Claus was the last thing they expected to see. Every time, without fail, their mouths would drop and then once their minds caught up to their eyes, the entire class would erupt in this innocent and childish laughter. It was by far the best Christmas present I have ever given or received.
Now, as I continued to walk down the halls going from class to class, one of my school’s principals saw me and Leigh and just started laughing hysterically. He then proposed that we attend morning exercises and run with the entire school around the track. Of course Leigh and I accepted, suited up the next morning, and we made it out to the track at 9:15 AM.
Upon arrival, Principal Young handed Leigh and I both a microphone. “Holy Hell”, was all that went through my head (or something to that effect). Next thing I know, Leigh and I are jamming our way through “Jingle Bells” for all of Nanyue to hear. Then in the middle of, dare I say, spectacular rendition of this traditional Christmas song, the principal started to grab our arms and make us run. Now, I can’t multitask very well so needless to say, running, singing and apparently trying to hold up my pants is not my forte. Apparently my Santa suit was not fully equipped for exercising, so when I began running laps, my pants fell down and my pillow fell to the ground. The students got a whole new version of a Christmas present that morning.
After I recovered from flashing all three thousand students, Leigh and I watched Christmas movies, chatted with our families, and went out to dinner with our school. Last Christmas, if you had asked me how I would be spending the 25th of December next year, flashing small children while dressed as Santa Claus was not an option.
Even though I am half a world away, my father still managed to surprise me with a pretty magical present. My school announced that I would be getting five weeks vacation for winter break. My father and a few other members of the family were coming for three weeks to travel this historically rich and beautiful country, but with an extra two weeks to spare, I woke up to an email from Delta stating that I was going home. At first I thought I was dreaming, so I hit delete and went back to bed, but then I slowly woke up and called Daddy immediately.
Three weeks later, I packed my bags and headed to the train station. Two sleepless nights, four flights, and one really creepy man I sat next to later, I arrived back in Richmond, VA. Now, I had not slept, showered, or honestly brushed my teeth in two days, so when I walk out past security and see my father with the video camera, I couldn’t help but just smile (this is a huge sign of growth for me by the way). I hugged my dad for what seemed like not long enough, grabbed my bags and headed home.
Pulling up our gravel driveway, seeing the dogs run to the car, and hearing the familiar “Beep Beep” of the alarm system as the door to the house opened, ironically made me so grateful that I had gone away. Part of the reason I had left to go to China was to stop watching everyone else live their life while I was stood still fearing I would miss something. While heading home, I realized life in Richmond hadn’t changed without me. My favorite coffee shop still sat on the corner, my favorite restaurant still had its specials board out front, and most of all those same gray hairs still lined my father’s mustache. For the first time since coming to China, I no longer felt the need to justify my decision. I felt at peace, while I took in the beautiful view of the James River before pulling into the driveway.
I promise I won’t be such a stranger. I love you all.
Love,
Eileen
My tenure in China has gone beyond its halfway point. I myself can hardly believe it, but I just received the email stating I needed to buy my ticket for my return. As I look back on the past eight months, I can do nothing but smile. I know I say it a lot, but China changed me. This place healed something inside of me that was broken, and I know that when I return home, I will be whole again.
Now it has been a while since I have updated you on my adventures, so let me take this moment to give you a play by play of the past couple months including holidays and quite a bit of travel (I really racked up those frequent flyer miles). Of course I missed my family, and Thanksgiving and Christmas will never be the same without them. To me, the holidays will always encompass going to Aunt Sherry’s and eating Ed’s amazing mashed potatoes, or going to the farm and sliding the dogs my dad’s “prized” deep fried wild turkey that he just shot (buckshot included). To me these are the holidays, but this year I was lucky enough to gain some new memories.
First of all, there was Thanksgiving. Now the irony of celebrating an entirely American holiday such as this in China is not lost on me, and trust me there was some “lost in translation” when it came down to it. All in all though, it was a night I will never forget. Leigh and I packed our bags and headed to the big cities (Leigh to Zhuzhou and I to Changsha). I stayed with Tina of course, and seeing as it is Tina’s favorite holiday we had to do it in style. She sent out an invite and we had a WorldTeach Thanksgiving at the Sheraton.
One thing I have learned about the Chinese people is that they love Western culture, so give them a holiday and they will run with it and the Sheraton did just that. At this amazing dinner there were all the traditional fixings such as turkey, ham, lamb, pumpkin pie, stuffing (which was questionable), mashed potatoes, and wine (thank God). I might have had two too many bottles of wine that night, but I didn’t know when I would see it again.
Most importantly though, there was butter. Now as a southern girl, I believe that butter is a main food group in its own right, and seeing as there is no butter over here, my body is still going through shock. Needless to say, when I saw the butter packs I might have slightly lost control, no thanks to the wine I might add. To Tina’s surprise, I grabbed as many as I could and put them in my purse and pockets. Two months later, I am still finding these little Anchor New Zealand Butters in my purse.
Now, there were some non-traditional fixings as well. We had sushi, taro balls, some sort of meat on a stick, fish and a Hagen-daz ice cream buffet! There were also noodles, tiramisu, corn pudding (but not what I am used to), as well as rice of course. Even with a Chinese take on the food, it was still delicious.
For me, Thanksgiving, as it does with all holidays, means everyone shuffling from house to house and dinner to dinner. You’re full before you get to the next place you need to be and you always feel rushed. I always feel somewhat guilty leaving house number one and going to the next and I never completely relax.
This was the first year where I got to sit and eat one meal surrounded by people I have grown to consider family. I loved also being able to relax, drink too much, and laugh while being so full of good things I was really glad I wore stretchy pants. Now next year, I will gladly go back to the hustle and bustle of that annual Thursday, but this year I am thankful for the new friends I have acquired halfway away from the only world I’ve ever known.
Fast forward a few weeks and to my surprise it was Christmas, and as Leigh continued to mark her advent calendar, I continued to get excited about this merry holiday. I went into class a week before Christmas day and asked my students, “Do you know what day is next week?” and they replied with stupefied expressions. It hit me then, “Oh my God I am living in a Christmas-less country!” It had never occurred to me that living in a small town in rural China would mean that Christmas wasn’t important.
Don’t get me wrong, my students know about Christmas, but they do not know a whole lot about it. I then took it upon myself to spread Christmas spirit all around this little town. To start on Christmas Eve, Stella found an old Santa costume in storage, and you better believe I put that thing on, stuffed a pillow in my belly, and walked up to the Senior 3 classrooms. When we arrived we went straight to Stella’s office for her to walk us from room to room. When we entered each room, I would say, “Merry Christmas children Ho Ho Ho” and then Leigh and I would proceed into singing “Jingle Bells”.
As we continued from class to class, some of my nerves started to quell and I began to look at the students’ faces. This was the best part of the whole experience. Their initial reactions were priceless. Here are students who go to class fourteen hours a day seven days a week. They believe that their families’ fates lie completely in their hands. This is a form of stress I can’t even fathom, but I do know that it doesn’t change the fact that they are seventeen and eighteen years old and need to be kids too at times.
When I walked into these classrooms, I can say without a doubt that Santa Claus was the last thing they expected to see. Every time, without fail, their mouths would drop and then once their minds caught up to their eyes, the entire class would erupt in this innocent and childish laughter. It was by far the best Christmas present I have ever given or received.
Now, as I continued to walk down the halls going from class to class, one of my school’s principals saw me and Leigh and just started laughing hysterically. He then proposed that we attend morning exercises and run with the entire school around the track. Of course Leigh and I accepted, suited up the next morning, and we made it out to the track at 9:15 AM.
Upon arrival, Principal Young handed Leigh and I both a microphone. “Holy Hell”, was all that went through my head (or something to that effect). Next thing I know, Leigh and I are jamming our way through “Jingle Bells” for all of Nanyue to hear. Then in the middle of, dare I say, spectacular rendition of this traditional Christmas song, the principal started to grab our arms and make us run. Now, I can’t multitask very well so needless to say, running, singing and apparently trying to hold up my pants is not my forte. Apparently my Santa suit was not fully equipped for exercising, so when I began running laps, my pants fell down and my pillow fell to the ground. The students got a whole new version of a Christmas present that morning.
After I recovered from flashing all three thousand students, Leigh and I watched Christmas movies, chatted with our families, and went out to dinner with our school. Last Christmas, if you had asked me how I would be spending the 25th of December next year, flashing small children while dressed as Santa Claus was not an option.
Even though I am half a world away, my father still managed to surprise me with a pretty magical present. My school announced that I would be getting five weeks vacation for winter break. My father and a few other members of the family were coming for three weeks to travel this historically rich and beautiful country, but with an extra two weeks to spare, I woke up to an email from Delta stating that I was going home. At first I thought I was dreaming, so I hit delete and went back to bed, but then I slowly woke up and called Daddy immediately.
Three weeks later, I packed my bags and headed to the train station. Two sleepless nights, four flights, and one really creepy man I sat next to later, I arrived back in Richmond, VA. Now, I had not slept, showered, or honestly brushed my teeth in two days, so when I walk out past security and see my father with the video camera, I couldn’t help but just smile (this is a huge sign of growth for me by the way). I hugged my dad for what seemed like not long enough, grabbed my bags and headed home.
Pulling up our gravel driveway, seeing the dogs run to the car, and hearing the familiar “Beep Beep” of the alarm system as the door to the house opened, ironically made me so grateful that I had gone away. Part of the reason I had left to go to China was to stop watching everyone else live their life while I was stood still fearing I would miss something. While heading home, I realized life in Richmond hadn’t changed without me. My favorite coffee shop still sat on the corner, my favorite restaurant still had its specials board out front, and most of all those same gray hairs still lined my father’s mustache. For the first time since coming to China, I no longer felt the need to justify my decision. I felt at peace, while I took in the beautiful view of the James River before pulling into the driveway.
I promise I won’t be such a stranger. I love you all.
Love,
Eileen
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