Missy

There have been so many good days. Today is very stormy. Lightening and thunder. In class today we drew prepositions. What does it look like for the bus to drive by someone? What does it look like for the bus to drive on someone? Very different.

The song Sorry Sorry by a Korean Supergroups named Super Junior is stuck in my head. It is actually a very good song. Not substantial but fun.

Pray for these last few days if you're into it. We need so much focus and I am low energy. Happy but low energy : )

Week three day one

gosh I love these kids.

Someone asked me the best and the worst.

Best: teaching one an one. times when kids say "I get it". Kids crowding around my desk after class to talk. We are sitting at the beach pouring sand on our legs not saying much and everyone else is playing at the shore. I tell her she can go play if she wants. She says "no I talk"

Worst: Feeling too dark to carry the light, difficulties teaching, not being able to tell the lady at the cafeteria that I just want some flippin pumpkin.

Week Two. Day Three.

God has put so much beauty in each of my students, it is simply a different challenge to find it in each of them. Certainly some wear it right on the top. Some keep it very buried.

I love my students Chinese names and I am trying to learn them. Li Pak Hin. Kwong Ki Fung. Woo Hoi Yin.

The kids are sometimes very naughty. But sometimes they are not. And when we play together there is so much joy.

Shuffle your buns. Is anyone familiar with this game? Big hit. Name Races, not so much. Asking them to teach me Chinese. Win. Group presentations, fail. Most of my students would prefer not to speak up in class, but many of them are very good at speaking English to me.

I move their desks everyday, either in a three sided box or into islands. The students help me translate to one another. My favorite chinese food is Shang Hai Tsow Woo don. I don't know how to write it but my students understand when I say it. I think in many ways it is very unfair that I do not know their language, but I am slowly learning some things. Tom teaches me. Sheng Jiang Je is lift.

The kids loved Enchanted, but not Charlie Brown. Lady Gaga is huge, they didn't know Gandhi though. Although at twelve I probably didn't either. If you're into asking our Father who arts in heaven (finger paint anyone) ask Him for love poured out on Sandy and Vanessa and Li Pak and Marco, and Alex, and Tom, and Handome Boy (this is what he cals himselfO

The paint is chipping

Today was a very very hard day.

There is a boy in my class named Tom and I love him very much. His English is pretty good and he understands alot. He loves Rock Paper Scissors, Seaweed flavored fries, teaching me Cantonese words, buses, and saying cheers. When we are at lunch together or playing he tells me: I am very happy. I am very happy. And I point at my nose and say I am too.

But in class Tom does not behave well all the time. He makes loud noises and disrupts the class even after I've asked him to stop. The other students say things to Tom and I think that they are saying mean things. We were playing a game on the board and someone tipped him off the desk he was sitting on. Then they pulled him up by the arm. By the time I was there and saying "stop" the whole thing was over. Later, Tom and another student started arguing in Cantonese. One boy threw his bottle on the ground and then Tom threw his paper. They kept exchanging words and wouldn't stop when I asked. I got a teacher's assistant and she told me Tom's side of the story, spoke to the other student and then translated to the class what I wanted to say.

I told the class that I was excited to be here and that I want them to learn English. I love each of them and I want us to get along. They would not want to be treated poorly and so they should not treat each other poorly.

The TA left and we tromped through one more lesson before we went to lunch. Tom and I went to lunch at McDonald's. He taught me words and we shared a Taro pie (instead of an apple pie :) ) He loves to hit things and hear them make sounds.

When we came back Tom started playing bus at his desk. He is the driver, his water bottle is a stick shift, and his book is the wheel. He makes regular announcements for the students so they know when to get off. They do not think this is helpful, they find it frustrating and distracting. Maybe this is what they are saying to him in Cantonese: I feel frustrated when you make noise and distract me from class, I'd like it if you stayed quiet. Or maybe not. Finally Finally 215 comes and we go downstairs and start having our scheduled water day. We throw water balloons, dump buckets, and squirt guns. I find Tom and give him a bottle to play with. I lose him in the crowd and forget about him until 15 minutes later. But now I can't find him. 10 minutes later, I can't find him. 5 minutes later I see him wandering by the edge of the court face turned toward the ground. He won't talk to me, he walks away.

Later I see him with the TA crying and talking for a long time. I don't know what happened. We ride up to our room together but he won't talk to me. Finally right before I left I asked him to look at me and he did. I told him I was sorry for leaving him and that I should have stayed with him. He tries to squeeze the water from a ball onto my head, he tries to squirt me with a gun. They are empty and dry so I keep talking and ignore it. I ask him if he'll go to lunch with me tomorrow and he says no.

I am very tired, and very frustrated that I do not speak cantonese, I am sad that Tom has to handle the worst of human nature and that I can't stop it, even in my class. I wish I understood what they said to each other.

I came home and had to deal with a lost card. We don't know who lost the card so we both went to the office. Then it didn't work, finally it did work. I rode up the elevator, laid down, covered my head and cried.

Hong Kong is hard.

"Life is homework"-Tom

Milk in Cantonese

First day. I am exhausted but still have lesson planning to do. God bless the teachers I had that pushed hard to make class a joy. It is hard work.

When I speak my students stare at me with no glint of understanding in their eyes. It's unnerving.

Ok I really want to write about the day but I don't think I'll make it. Please stay tuned for: a cat, a cat lady+animal right and covert photo operations, food from heaven (eggplant), drunk elevator man, Spaghettios Chinese style, and mistranslations of a third kind.

Much Love

Emmrrrrr (love love love love)

Images from Hong Kong

Star Ferry

Fuel Espresso

Transportation

lunch

friends

One Tea Shop

maps

tricks

reflective rocks

sneaky shots

water vapor

grip

Hey sorry about that last downtrodden post. God picked my spirits back up. We are finally in Hong Kong! We arrived at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU for short) today around one. Even before we got into the building we met a guy named Steven and a guy named Eric. They are here on an internship/study abroad and Steven grew up in Missouri. Actually Springfield. Really what school did he go to? Kickapoo. Oh wow! That's where Weston is from. You know Weston!? Weird, he's actually teaching in Beijing this summer. Ya!

In a city of 7.5 million what are the chances of tht. The very first person we talk to in Hong Kong. The Lord is mysterious and sometimes just funny.

It's been interesting trying to understand the small intricacies of the system. When do I swipe my Octopus card to get a drink from the vending machine? How do I swipe my card to get outside? What do I do with my tray in the food court at Festival Walk the mall. Why is there a skating rink here? Why do the buses keep driving past us??

So fun. Tomorrow morning we meet the school officials for serious talk and then time to plan the opening ceremony for our students! FUNTOWN! I miss everyone back home dearly. I'm glad to be staying in touch on facebook. Thinking and praying for all of you all the time.

Picture taken on Cheung Chau Island

Today has been difficult. It is our last day of training and my attitude is very poor. Please be praying that I won't allow darkness to overtake light any minute of this trip. I know who has one. He is the One who sees Us. Please also pray for my students, we meet them very soon.

Much love

Emma

Much Love

Tuesday the 6^th 13:57

Listening to Lou Reed “The Last Great American Whale” and waiting for my 700+ plus photos to download onto the computer. I’ve been taking photos all the time, which means that I’ll have a small fraction worth sharing. : ) My lens fogs when I walk outside which means I’ve had the opportunity to take some creepy shots of the statue of Mother Mary in the courtyard, which I’m all about. I’ll be trying to limit my time online but I hope you all know how much I’ve been thinking about you. Everything reminds me of something. Risa, Brad, Angel Baby, and Lauren during the love language talk. Blake and Wess pictures, I have so many questions about photos. Kelsey when I hear something gender balanced I delight (the market makes me think of you but I don’t think you’d like why L ) Parker, all the time. When I pray and take pictures, when I come back to my room for a break and look at the front of my laptop, which has a picture of us. Bran when I see the dark skinned locals J Sarah when I see some of the beautiful art around. Also when we reference family life. Also when I see the sisters that are here at training. Dad when the speaker Sharee was brought to tears by how much her father loves her and shows her that. Carol every time I drink tea, which is nearly every morning. Mom every time I take a picture or hear myself talk, I see myself in you J Margaret and Alex I laid awake this morning thinking about you both. I love you all so dearly and there are so many of you I’ve been thinking about and praying about you all. Off to team time. Much love my brothers and sisters,

Sinner called Saint

Emma

In the Hong Kong airport

7/3/10 8pm ish

Caught the flight safely, flew safely. Watched Alice and Wonderland, If U Care (a HK movie :)) and some of Youth in Revolt. Slept, and slept some more.

I am tagged with a bright orange sticker that reads 5, sitting next to four of my team mates in the HK airport by the Starbucks. I have no idea what we're waiting for, but I don't mind the time to chill before our traveling begins again. Three flights down, a bus ride, ferry, and .8 mile walk left.

:) there are lots of Canon cameras here for my Rebel to be friends with. Ditto macs ha. Chacos and a skirt with pockets, a black shirt, scarf, and watch. It's my traveling outfit.

7/4/2010 1:44 am Well this post didn't load before we had to leave. I think the internet cut out. But all is well. After a bus ride, on which I slept, and a ferry, on which I fanatically snapped as many pictures as possible, we arrived on Chen Chaung island. We came out of the gates and onto a night market, separated into Camp China, Camp Vietnam, and Engage and started moving. Through an alley, up a hill, down a hill, up a hill, stopped for a rest, up a hill past a park, to Salesian house on Don Brusco street. We could smell the sea once we had climbed out of the town. I wanted to take a picture of everything. I didn't want to forget. My bag was a nasty brute to get up hill but the workout felt good after so much sitting. No huge impression of Hong Kong yet, I think the daylight will be revealing.

Salesian Retreat House. I know there is more to see still, it was so dark when we got here at midnight. The sea is close, many entryways are open air and it seems like there are courtyards everywhere. Lisa has been in Hong Kong for three weeks already and says it is really wonderful. We are rooming together in room 510. all of the doors have wooden frames, there is a cross hanging above Lisa's bed. And here is a new vocab word: shoilet. The toilet and shower are together in one room. It makes me wonder why they need toilet paper.

Well on that note I should give it up. I'm not tired but training starts tomorrow right after breakfast which is at 8:15am. One more vocab word to impart before I go: Watchcat.

Much love my brothers and sisters

Sinner called Saint

Emma

Still no internet just one very long post : ) Happy Fourth of July to everyone. No fireworks for me tonight, just training. CR and gender differences and E vs. I and J vs. P. Its all very good. This morning I woke up every two hours, 3, 5, and then 7 but it didn't bother me. I could see the huge elephant ear plant right outside the window to our balcony and I thought to myself "wow, this is real and I am the luckiest girl in the entire world" then I would see I had more time to sleep and be even more excited.

Today during a break we walked down to the town with James and took pictures. It was beautiful and very fun. I'm excited about our team; there are ten of us all together. We seem to be gelling well. Rachel is our team leader and I'm very excited to know her, she seems inside out beautiful. I think God is working to take away some insecurities. The bad things I see in myself can often get in the way of relationships but I think Christ is binding those things and I will pray that He continues to do so.

We began the training with worship and it was so refreshing. I felt close to God in a way I haven't for so long. There was one thing that really tripped me up though part way through the morning. Andy was talking about Cultural Relations and explained that in Asia same gender hand holding is the thing to do. As a man, he said, he is not comfortable with it still. There were some jokes made and everyone laughed really hard. I'm still trying to process through why it bothered me so much. I hate that two men holding hands is so foreign to Christians. I hate that being gay is a joke. I hate that if my Aunts were here and they heard and saw the way Christians reacted to same sex hand holding they would feel justified in hating Christians. I hate that any reference to Chik fil A is a crowd pleaser and the idea of Animal Rights is foreign. I want my secular lens demolished. I want the cynicism in my head to stop. I want to worship and hear prayers without imagining what non christians would say or think. I pray that Jesus will do this for me soon.

I'm afraid I sound whiney or sad but I really am not, I just want to call these things out in the open so they are not binding.

16-19 students. Lord help me tell my story. Lord diminish me.

Sinner called Saint

Emma