Hey you're filming a commercial this afternoon...

Somedays in China just never go as planned... you sink clogs, the projector decides not to work in class, theres construction happening next door, you students invite you shopping and you think they are taking you to front street across the road and you end up on a bus for almost 2 hours (seriously one of my favorite experiences in Nanchang thus far), you bite into a "chicken" nugget to discover its taro, you get asked to take a picture with the daylight donuts sign and get discounted donuts because your foreign... welcome to the ambiguity that comes with living in a foreign country! Last week we had one of those days.

Our team got a wechat around noon saying we were going to be filming a commercial that afternoon at 4. Our FAO would pick us up and we are going bike riding... ok see you at 4. So there it is our afternoon's plans... lets film a commercial for the school. There are 2 thoughts going through my head: SWEET, I didn't know I was going to get to be an actress today when I woke up... next step broadway! All of those childhood dreams may come true after all! And well I'm in a dress so bike riding should be fun but hey whatever I have on leggings and who ever knew when my dad was teaching me to ride a bike when I was 5 it would become a necessary skill to live in China later on.

Cue 4 O'clock: Billy (our FAO) picks us up to drive up to the shoot, which is literally like 2 buildings away from where we teach. We get out of our bus and see the camera, Chinese students, and tandem bikes. Oh gosh, those bike riding skills may not be of the tandem type... well here goes nothing. So our team boards our tandem bikes, gets directions... you are going to ride and talk to each other, then you will meet some Chinese students and say hi enthusiastically to them as you ride, give them a hug. Hold on hugs on a bike, thats weird ok maybe just wave and be excited! Ok can do that! Matt and I get on our tandem and miraculously don't crash.  A few takes later and we are tandem bike pros and some of the most enthusiastic "say hi-ers" you've ever seen. A few different angles and close ups and lots of laughter from the hilariousness that ensues when your team is on tandem bikes and a bike crash (not me and Matt) not just once but twice into the same bush, and my acting debut is off to a great start.

Ok next scene, go sit in a circle on the grass and talk to each other. Ok can do! I sit next to a guy named Bear who speaks a little English and we begin talking, I get to use some of my Chinese and he tries his English out. More directions are given, ok we need you to be happier... Maybe someone could sing a song. Cue all the foreigners looking around... no um thats strange maybe we could all sing a song. Ok lets see a song we all know and the Chinese people know... ummm..... TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR... perfect. Ok the film guy says make sure you smile and look happy. Can do... a few rounds of Twinkle twinkle little star later and we are done filming. One last thing... can we take a picture, no event in China is complete without taking pictures at the end especially if there are foreigners involved.

And there you have it my acting debut, not at all how I envisioned my Tuesday afternoon going... Tandem bikes, a film guy, and some serious Twinkle Twinkle Little Star singing but it was definitely one of the most hilarious days in China thus far. So keep your eyes out for my very first commercial ever... coming to a JUT campus near you... and just be prepared Hollywood, I'm coming for you. I've already noticed a little bit of fandom and people asking for my picture(or maybe that just because I'm a blonde in China but either way) just please no autographs please.

我是外国人

sweet friends in Nanjing

Warning shocker alert personal confession coming: I am not Chinese. Nope I'm not... I'm not Chinese, I'm a 外国人waigouren (literally a foreign country person). Ok, everyone breath! I know I just threw you all for a loop and I want to apologize for anyone who is deeply hurt or confused because they thought I was Chinese. The truth is I'm American, I'm a foreigner. My blonde hair, fair skin, and blue eyes clue most people into that one pretty quickly. If some how you missed the physical difference between me and my 5 million closest friends in this city, the minute I opened my mouth and speak heavily accented Chinese with tones that well just aren't that good you'd know pretty quick. The truth is no one here needs me to tell them I'm not Chinese, its very obvious. China, much unlike America in which anyone could be American, is a country where it is mostly obvious who is not from here, and well I am not. We stick out, we draw attention and we often do things a little different than others.

Now the truth is some Chinese people have never seen or interacted with a foreigner and are naturally curious, shell shocked, scared, nervous, giggly, or mouth opened. This is affected a lot by the are of China you are in, for example in Beijing literally no one bats an eye at the foreigners. In Nanjing, there were lots of foreigners around, especially where we lived, and while we attracted some attention  it was normally not a ton and not every second of the day. Sure there were pictures, small children pulling on their mom's sleeve, and the "hi, hello, giggle giggle giggle" that is to be expected when someone exciting and new walks by but is to be expected when you look drastically different than 1.4 billion people who also call this place home.

my favorite Noodle lady in Nanjing

Moving to Nanchang has been an adjustment for sure in more ways than one, its an adjustment that I'm still making and in all honesty one that is difficult and I don't always enjoy. I miss not only Memphis: my family, my friends, fellowship, my sisters, my car, the ability to communicate, and more; I now miss Nanjing: my team, my friends, my tutor, classmates, my bunny, my apartment (and the view if we are keeping things honest), and the sense of know how to function in China that flys out the window when you move to a new place. So aside from adjusting my ears to a new dialect, figuring out where the nearest grocery store is, learning how to create a lesson plan from scratch, trying to make a way to order and find things I need in a new city I don't quite know totally how to get around yet I'm also learning what its like to be foreigner in a smaller city that doesn't have a ton of foreigners and where it is obvious you don't totally fit here, aren't from here, and will never be Chinese because I am 外国人 (waiguoren), I am 美国人（meiguoren, American, literally translated beautiful country person). Before moving to China I'm not sure how many times I was ever asked 你是哪里人？"where are you from?" but I'm positive it wasn't a daily occurrence and "America" wasn't the answer to the question when it was asked.

I remember when I was little my friends and I would pretend to be famous and being photographed by the popparrazi. We would talk about how cool it would be to be famous and have people you don't know want to take your picture and go out in public and have people speak to you and look at you and tell you how beautiful you are all the time. Well I'm certainly not famous but moving to China has certainly given me more of understanding of what its like to be a circus monkey ... celebrity... err constantly on the other end of a person's cell phone camera. LIVING in a land where you are now obviously the 外国人, you are constantly noticed there's no more quick run into the store, someone not knowing if you've left, you draw more attention on the bus, sidewalk, and just about everywhere. There's no flying under the radar or going unnoticed doing just about anything.

the paparazzi... this one happens to be our
 students in Hong Kong  after camp one day
 but its a normal occurrence 

Being the foreigner in a city (or country) not use to seeing foreigners for essentially the first time makes you realize the small things you take for granted and makes you eternally grateful for those who genuinely want to be your friend, not because its cool to have foreign friends, and those who are willing to go out of their way to help you (because well you need a lot of it when you're pretty much illiterate). The life of a foreigner isn't always an easy one, living in a land where the language, culture, foods, smells, and customs are all well foreign to me is exciting, frustrating, different, and stretching. At times I feel as though I'm not a person but simply a photo prop. There are (several) days (a week) I feel more like a 3 year old than an adult when it comes to communicating and accomplishing "simple, everyday" tasks.  

Jelly and Katyna at our foreigner vs Chinese
basketball game in Nanjing while our summer team
was there

Thankfully "loving the sojourner" is something that most Chinese do well and I am thankful like incredibly thankful. They are patient as I mess up their beautiful language, 你说中文吗？"do you speak Chinese?" is a common question but when followed by my 一点 "just a little" and my vocabulary hinders what I'm trying to find, say or do. This conversation is a frequent one that is  often followed by an apology on their part for not speaking better English, ok like seriously China you're too sweet. I'm trying to learn Chinese and oh you know I live in China and am having this conversation on the street in China; and you're apologizing for not speaking better English. Seriously, when was the last time I ever apologized to a foreigner in America for not speaking their native tongue.... umm pretty sure it never happened.  Or the lady at the grocery store who sees me grab a box of oreos (confession and China oreos are better the American ones I swear... vanilla with strawberry filling yes just yes) and chases me down handing me another as she explains in Chinese something I don't understand. She then pulls me to the actual oreo aisle where there is some sort of sign of 2 for a certain price. I can't quite figure it out but she's persistent I need the second box and I'm pretty sure they are saying their on sell at this point as I graciously take both boxes. Yeah, they're on sell... buy one get one for 2 kuai (or something of the like I'm still not totally sure what the deal was) but thank you kind lady for letting me on to the secret sale on Oreos.

James (my student who got me a new computer chord) and  Mark

Or my student James, who graciously offered to order me a new conversion cord to show power points in class when mine broke during class Tuesday, literally saving me a ton of time and energy. Or my students who take me to lunch  or help order food, the lady who trys to explain the grocery coupons so I can save money, the drink stand guy who teaches me to say my favorite drink and remembers to leave out the aloe I dislike, or my sweet tutor who took off work to help me move, and well I could keep going the list is massive. So thank you China for loving me and others well,  and sorry that I tend to forget how genuinely good you are at doing that most days. I'm still adjusting to life as a foreigner and I guarantee I'm not the perfect one to watch, in fact most days I wish that whole watching thing didn't happen; but I'm learning what that means and I'll try to keep smiling when I see the cell phone cameras come out and try to not notice.

everybody's got a water buffalo...

Everybody's got a water buffalo. Yours is fast and mine is slow. Oh where we get them I don't know, but everybody's got a water buffalo.

Ok, ok so maybe I don't actually have a water buffalo but... 

 

.

Life in China may not always make a lot of sense and may seem a little random some days but it sure is mesmerizing and beautiful. And because sometime pictures really are worth a thousand words.

Hope you enjoy a few pictures from my afternoon on the river and seeing the traditional side of China and the modern economic boom collide.

 You see an interesting mix of 2 worlds colliding often in China and well if you aren't at least a little confused odds are you aren't paying attention. 













Cranes, skyscrapers, water buffalos, fishermen, house boats, and families enjoying the afternoon all make up the modern makeup of the River bank settled nicely in the financial district of Nanchang.

The Ferris Wheel is the iconic back drop of the city at one point it used to be (or maybe still is depending on who you ask) the World's Largest. The Star of Nanchang because well every city needs its claim to fame.

And because sometimes pictures are really just a beautiful thing. 

I AM THE TEACHER

Lecrae lyrics start blaring through my phone around 6:30 in the morning. I turn over and look at the phone and hit the snooze button. 9 minutes later my phone starts singing again as I reach to turn it off and put my feet on the floor of the 3rd story room I recently call home. I am not a morning person, I think to myself as I make my way to brush my teeth and get ready for my first day of school. This the first day of school is something that I've done many times around 23 times in my school career but this one is unique. For the first time my role had changed. For the first 22 times I had done a first day of schools a student, a role I'm pretty comfortable playing. But this time I am the teacher. I AM THE TEACHER. Sometime between the teeth brushing, grabbing a cardigan, and straightening my hair I think that hit me. I AM THE TEACHER. Double check my handy teacher bag: lesson plan ✓ laptop ✓ my Book ✓ water bottle✓ raise the roof for my students, myself, and my team ✓ . Mr. Li has arrived and honks the horn to take us to school. Breath and head out the door.

We arrive at school and there is a flood of Chinese students making their way to class. Our team talks in the van about our general excitement, nerves, and emotions. Breath, I AM THE TEACHER, breath, maintain communication with Him, tell myself again I AM THE TEACHER. Walk into the office, put my bag down, read over my lesson plan again, and walk out the office door.  

I put one foot into the door of the classroom, smile and breath I think to myself, as I look up I'm greeted by beautiful Chinese faces. My students, or at least the first group of them, the ones I'm anxious to know and teach and learn from. I put my lesson plan on the desk and am greeted by the class monitor. She introduces herself to me and hands me an attendance book. SCORE!!! This is huge I think to myself, this is not a given in a Chinese classroom and I'm super thankful to be given such a great resource so early in the semester. (I know, I know my friends who have never taught in China may think this is no biggie but here its never a given.) I make sure to receive the book with two hands and quickly open it, and realize I've hit the goldmine of a TEFL classroom. I have an attendance sheet on the first day of class with ENGLISH NAMES in it!!! 

I begin to take roll because well I AM THE TEACHER and thats what teacher's do. I make my way through my lesson plan, I introduce myself, learn about my students, introduce the course, and get them talking in English. Now don't misunderstand me here it was a first day lesson plan of a new teacher it had some pauses (thankfully no major ones) and I'm pretty confident that none of my students left that class speaking flawless English.

I am not perfect and I do not have any awesome gift of implanting a difficult language into brains effortless but I AM THE TEACHER and sometime during that first 2 hour class I was met with the reality of what a privilege that is. I am not a teacher because I posses a lot of great teaching skill, knowledge, or even because I happened to be born in a country that speaks English. I AM THEIR TEACHER because this is where I have been called, to teach an incredibly difficult language that I happen to call my native tongue to students who upon entering college may have never met a foreigner or only had English classes taught  mostly in Chinese. To use the gift, that I rarely see as a gift, to be able to live in another country and experience more of the Father's beautiful creation and get to know those who are also made in His image. My students aren't actually mine, I only see them for 2-4 hours a week, they don't look like me, and the chances that we would even ever meet were slim without some serious intervention, they have unique personalities and interest and I get the privilege of helping them learn English while getting to know them for the unique, beautifully created, loved individual they are. I AM THEIR TEACHER but I am also still learning.