november

Friends,

This month has been filled with traveling, teaching, and learning.
Teaching continues to be challenging and rewarding as were slowly
progressing through our textbooks. Ive also had numerous
opportunities to absorb the Chinese culture while exploring Nanchang
and traveling to a retreat in Xian, China.

Xian retreat: Each year the TeachOverseas.org China team gathers in
a city to hold a retreat. This year we met in Xian which is the
former Chinese capitol and the site of the Terracotta Soldiers and
the City Wall. Our retreat site was a mountain resort located a hour
outside of Xian. I enjoyed the retreat as I had an opportunity to
interact with fellow teachers and share teaching experiences with
them in a relaxed setting. Our speaker this year was from Barnabas
International which sends out speakers to provide timely ministry
encouragement. I didnt visit the Terracotta Soldiers site but spent
a majority of my free time relaxing and talking with teachers who I
attended training with.

Health: Ive been feeling good this month as Im getting used to the
spicy foods and the weather in Nanchang. I get tired more often so I
take a short nap when I arrive home from class to get energized for
the evening activities or to plan lessons. Joey is also feeling well
and remains a positive encouragement to me. There are a number of
medical facilities in Nanchang if Joey and I require medical
attention or references for medicines.

Chopsticks: Not to brag but I often get first or second hand
comments from my students and Chinese friends about how my chopstick
handling skills. Ive had a few years of experience with using
chopsticks after my Parents and I have hosted Japanese exchange
students, traveling to China twice before, and living in Japan for
two years. I remember being in China the first time during the Fall
of 2003 that I used a fork and knife a total of six times in four
months.

Olympics: The topic of the Beijing Olympics is often discussed in
our class or seen on the Television. My Parents and I attended the
1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and I enjoy the history and
excitement of the Games. Im not sure if I'll attend the Beijing
Games but it would be truly a privilege to cheer along with my
fellow Americans. The only problem is who I do cheer for if I attend
an American- Chinese competition with my Chinese friends.

Thanksgiving: Im planning to remain in Nanchang for the Thanksgiving
holiday. Our host officials allow my teammate and I to take one
vacation day off to spend with our friends and students.

Listed below are two activities I've shared with our students:

Complete the Story: This activity involves giving the students a
piece of paper with a beginning of a story. The students are asked
to work in pairs or threes to discuss and write a section of a
story. I allow the student a time frame of five minutes to write
while I visit with each group to check on their participation and
progress. At the end of five minutes I have the students rotate to a
different story and continue writing the already established story.
At the conclusion of four rounds of writing I then invite 5 students
to read aloud the stories to their classmates. Each of our classes
had a variety of humorous and interesting stories that they had been
written.

Trust Walk: We learned this activity while we were in Pasadena for
training. This activity involves pairing up the students with a
classmate as pairs. The pairs are to walk to a destination while the
guide is giving directions to the ¡°blind¡± person. This activity
provided me with an opportunity to teach about trust among
classmates and gave me a moment to share how I feel being a trusting
people as a foreigner in China.

Thanks again for taking time to read my update. Ill try to share
with you next month of my plans to celebrate the Christmas holiday
here in Nanchang. Most likely, my holiday plans will revolve around
planning an activity with our students or my Chinese friends.

Have a safe week.

Brian

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