The Nikki Madi Dynasty

Remember all those times I told you I loved the Chinese people? Well I’ve outdone myself once again. This week my love for China and the people have grown even more. Crazy how that works. This week I taught a lesson on American manners. I taught them some things that are rude to do in America, like hacking and spitting and blowing snot on the ground, telling people they are fat, etc, and I taught them some manner phrases, like “bless you” when someone sneezes, “please pass the ___”, “excuse me”, “sorry”, and so forth. Because I like to act things out as I say them to go for the full effect when communicating to ensure everyone understands regardless of their lingual level, they all had a blast! They found this lesson the more amusing so far, watching me up there hack a loogie, run out of the classroom to demonstrate how rude it is to peak into a window, or push past people without saying “excuse me”, pretend to belch or fart, man it was a lot of fun. OK, so from the sound of it, you’ll think I’m very immature, but honestly they learned it all! They didn’t miss a rule, and when we had a quiz at the end, everyone got 100%. So yes, maybe I sacrificed some reputational dignity from across the world, but it was worth it to see everyone succeed. :P

This week I have been able to spend more time with more students. I have met at least 10 new students from grade 3 and some have decided to come over and swap English lessons for Chinese ones, which I’m happy about. I’ve been able to exercise with some students, go out to eat with them, visit some places around town with them, and it’s been fabulous. One of my favorite students at this school downloaded the movie “Avatar” onto his hard drive, so I got to watch it with him (Bruce), and another favorite, William, both of whom I’ve mentioned before. As I was visiting with them, joking with them, and watching the movie with them, I realized something that has happened to me. Bruce, William, Cold Icy, Twinkle, Ginger, Evie, Stella, Angel, Shelly, Daphne, Patrick Jay, Albert Einstein, and so many others have become some of my best friends. Before I used to think of them as friends to hang out with on occasion so I wouldn’t be homesick and I’d teach them and they’d visit. Now I feel like they are some of my best friends. When I go home, they will be so hard to leave. I want to stay here in China, to be with them, to spend time with them, to learn from them. I feel like I have opened the door to a huge mine of valuable gems and I’ve only begun to scratch the surface. If I could, I’d want to stay here until December, when I’ll hopefully leave on my mission, but alas I could not get a good-paying job out here. I love my friends out here. They mean so much to me. No matter how hard I try, it is impossible for me to stay detached from people. I know I have less than 2 months left, but these are some of the best times of my life!

This weekend, Shuangpai, Daoxian, and Dong’an came up to Yongzhou and we explored the smoking factory (the largest tobacco plant in the area), because it is the cleanest place in all of Lingling. It has some amazing gardens, waterfalls, “clean” land, grass, flowers, and just some awesome sights. Bruce, William, and Twinkle went with us and got us in (it’s cool to have friends with connections), and we got some good pictures. Then we sort of split up and Sam and I visited some other places and got some more pics in some new parts of our town. Last night we all went KTVing (singing karaoke). Everyone just chills in a soundproof room with speakers and a karaoke, and we just sing with our friends. That was probably some of the most fun I’ve had with white people in China yet! Sometimes Americans just get really boring and complacent in China (no offense intended) and it’s nice to see them be normal, outgoing human beings again. So that was way fun.

So that was my week in a nutshell! I’m loving it here so much, I’m going to hate to leave, but I’m definitely willing to do whatever the Lord wants me to do. I think my English is getting worse the longer I stay here though. Yesterday I said “I think I’m overly the top rusty.” I’ve made fun of so many missionaries who come home doing things like that, and I think this is God’s way of telling me off. He’s so good to me and always knows what I need to learn. Haha, well that’s it for this week! I love you all!