May 19 - Game Week, Red Hat, Library and Shopping

We pass the entrance to the botanical garden on our way to the massage and they had it blocked off for a couple of weeks.  They took the fence down and revealed a brand new flower display.

In our classes this week, we had game week.  We used several games to help them learn to be more comfortable while using English.  The students all seemed to be excited about the games, and they had a lot of fun!  For some of them, it was probably the most English they have voluntarily spoken in their lives!  

 

Pictures are up on their foreheads, ready for another round!

Making sure they can all see the cards.

We played a “Fruits and Vegetable” guessing game of two rows and the first one to tell us the name of the fruit or vegetable that comes up on the screen gets the point for their team.  Another game is called, “Would You Rather?”  This game shows two possible choices on the screen.  They have to choose one of them and then tell the rest of the class what their choice was.  We only have selected students speak on each choice.  The fun is that some of the choices are things like; would you rather sleep with a snake or a spider in your bed?, and would you rather find true love or a suitcase filled with five million dollars?  Some of their answers are hilarious and the whole class gets into it.

The last game we played is called, “Heads Up.”  We have cards with random pictures on them.  The students hold the card to their foreheads without looking at it.  The other students have to give them clues in English about what it is, and the student must answer in English. I love how the students enjoy these games and start to feel a little more comfortable speaking English.

 

Some get really creative in how they get the cards to stay up on their foreheads.

One of the pictures in the game is a bottle of Coke.  One of the groups gave the clue of black fatty water for the clue!  I asked them why that clue.  They said that is what they call it in China.  A lot of people don’t drink it in China, because they think it will make them fat.  It’s not a drink that most of them choose, but I do see more people drinking it.  Quite often that is the drink that we are served, because they believe that ALL Americans drink Coke and sometimes Pepsi.  I’ve personally never cared for the taste of either drink, so when I am served it, I sip some, but rarely drink it all.

David had English corner on Wednesday evening.  He had quite a few more there this week than the last week.  After he got there, several students wanted to play the Heads Up game, so he quickly came home and got it.  

 

David English corner.

Look!  Professor Cox is taking a picture!

Thursday at the massage, the same lady with the Red Hat from last week came.  She had on a different outfit and showed it off to all.  She allowed me to try on the hat, so we got pictures of that.  She has a personality that lights up a room when she comes!  She might be a little outrageous, and that seems out of character for most Chinese, but she sure is fun!

 

So I tried on the Red Hat!  What do you think?

Everyone got a big kick out of the fact that David and I linked arms for this picture.

All week long, David and I have been putting in long hours of reading the Interview Summary reports that came in last week.  David finished his about Wednesday, but I still have about 50 of mine to do.  I have about that many more students than he does.  That’s what I did most of Friday while he went to several doctor appointments.

This is how part of the Chinese massage that we get goes.  The little boy is the son of one of the massage people.  The massage girl, Xioa Ye, is trying to get the little boy to do it like she does.  That's our friend, Carol, getting her massage.

The first appointment for David was a blood test for his cancer.  The numbers are really good for him right now, so that was positive.  When he came back from that, we had planned to go to see Dr. Tricia together, but my stomach wasn’t feeling great, so I decided to stay home.  David had a wart on his toe that was bothering him.  Dr. Tricia was able to get him to the dermatologist to get it taken care of, and then he stayed to have lunch with her at the hospital.

Michael and Stone came in the later afternoon for tutoring.  We really like these boys.  They bring a lot of fun with them, sometimes we have to curb it a little, but they seem like little sponges that want to absorb everything we are giving them.  

Saturday morning, we went to the little children’s library and sang some songs and read them some books.  We are the library’s grandma and grandpa.  That is what the children call us.  Those who are more familiar with us are getting a little more confident in interacting with us and love it when we come.

 

I was reading Duck on a Bike to them.  They seemed to get into it well.

David reading the The Hungry Tortoise.

                                                  Old McDonald is a favorite!

This mother wanted us to sing a song for the adults.  She asked if we knew 500 Miles.  We did, but didn't remember all the words, so she found them online and we are singing it together.

In the afternoon, some of the other BYU teachers and Aaron Tran wanted to go to the West Mall.  We decided on a time and met at a bus stop where we rode to the mall together.  The Wilkins had not been here before.  It is a little different than some of the other malls in Jinan, so it is a fun experience to see.

As we were shopping around, shopkeepers that I had interacted with and bought things from before would wave to me and show their recognition.  When we went to the toy store, I think the lady thought I wanted to buy some more dolls, so she was about to show me the dolls, but we were there looking for something for some of the other teachers, so I had to indicate “no” to her.  She still had big smiles for me. 

We stopped by a store that sold jewelry.  I was buying several pieces and David was looking at some watches.  He likes a watch that lays fairly flat on his wrist, and he tried one on that he liked.  He paid for it, but then one of the workers brought out some different watches.  He liked one of them even better.  Since we had Aaron with us to translate, he was able to ask if David could trade the watch he had just bought for the new one that he liked and negotiated a good price for that.  David is now the proud owner of this new watch that he paid about $27 for!  It is what he has been looking for for several years!

 

David's new watch!  The day of the week has English in the morning and Chinese in the afternoon!

On Sunday, we went to the Wilkins’ apartment for church.  The Quillen’s were in Qingdao this weekend, so we decided to let the Wilkins’ host church this week.  It was a great meal and a fine discussion afterward.  David and I gave talks in Sacrament Meeting.  It was nice to have everyone’s support there for our talks.

The following pictures are of an elementary classroom here in Jinan.  We were surprised because this is a new thing to have a colorful classroom and desks that aren't bolted down to the floor.

We didn't get to go there, a friend of ours sent these to us.  There are only 42 students in the classroom (down from the 60-80 that we had heard about in previous years).  The students are still taught to rise and speak when they are called on.  A nice show of respect to the teacher.