Journal Entry #2

We don't really have too much unusual to report for this week, unless you count spending 10+ hours grading journal entries from our writing classes!  We asked our students to write about "My Name". Some had to contact a relative to find out the meaning of their name!!

In China, children are given a surname and a given name.  However, they are listed in the opposite order than in the Western World.  A surname is usually based on Chinese ancestors or a region where the family lived. Wang is the #1 Chinese surname belonging to millions of people!!  The given name can be suggested by parents, fortune tellers, aunts, uncles, dictionaries, grandparents, etc...  For example:  Deng Min (Deng is the surname from Henan Province and Min is the given name meaning smart and quick minded.)

This is a sample of Deng Min's journal entry without corrections or editing.....

"I have always been wondering why mother give Min as my first name, so common and plain.  I thought maybe it's just a casually given name....My mother said that, because of malposition, it took almost six hours to give birth to me.  The surgical technics and instruments were not as advanced as those nowadays.  She worried that six-hour-stay in low oxygen condition may influence my intelligence.  So, she gave Min as my name, hoping that I could be as smart and healthy as other kids.  After hearing this, I suddenly remembered the long scar on her lower abdomen, and I don't wonder why now."

We enjoyed reading the unusual history of our students' names as well as some funny incidents that happened.  Some examples:
1.  Perhaps students had "boyish" names, which embarrassed them because they were girls!
2.  Maybe their name was difficult to pronounce and so they were teased or their name was confused with another Chinese character.
3.  When parents went to register their child's name with Chinese officials, sometimes there was an error and the entire meaning of the name changed.  Ex.  The name went from morning and seagull to small Europe!

The most common complaint was that they did not like their own name.  Some students even petitioned their parents to listen to their concerns and were successful as teenagers in upgrading their name to something "pretty and beautiful"!

 In process.....

finished!!!

We also agreed to tutor two nine year old girls in English on Monday evenings on a trial basis.  They have had English instruction since kindergarten, but the curriculum is generally memorized vocabulary from a Chinese speaker.  Their parents want them to improve in their pronunciation and "increase their interest". Thank goodness for the information and games on the internet, as we certainly did not bring elementary English books with us to China! We had an introductory meeting last week and managed to communicate with hand gestures and drawing on a whiteboard.  We hope this will be a way to interact with some Chinese families, although the parents have very limited English skills themselves.  One of their colleagues at the SDU Law School acts as our "interpreter" when needed.

Lisa and Sunny

Over the past few weeks we have become acquainted with Brian, Sara and their 3 year old son, Toby.  They are expecting another boy in January.  We met at a foreign teacher potluck and they live in the apartment complex next to us.  Brian is an anthropology professor from the US and his wife is from Taiwan. Both speak Mandarin and English and they have been very kind to us; ordering our water, having us to dinner, taking Stan to get a haircut, and explaining where we can find items at the store.  They spent most of their summer in the United States and admitted it was difficult to return to China this fall for their second year of a five year contract.  However, like all of us, adjustment comes after a few weeks and you learn to appreciate the setting and culture of this country and its people.

 Brian, Sara and Toby Harmen

Today our church attendance at the Hanlin Hotel doubled!!  Normally, there are 11 BYU teachers, one Chinese national who has a foreign passport, her 8 year old son who is a US citizen and a female black medical student from South Africa.  At our meeting this Sunday, we were joined by a foreign Arabic teacher from Sudan and by 14 others from the United States who are here in China for a medical conference and humanitarian service.  There was an emergency room physician, an oral surgeon, a dentist, etc. It was quite the gathering, especially trying to feed that many people for a potluck in a hotel "suite" following our church meeting.

Crisp autumn air seeps through our windows in the morning as the temperatures cool to the mid 40's.  (We are trying to practice using action verbs like we are teaching our students!!)  Window cracks are stuffed with towels and plastic bags decorate the holes around the air conditioner and stove gas vent.   However, we are grateful we are not sweltering in class any longer! We get stares when we wear short sleeve tops to class while the students huddle in their coats. Nancy even had one student question if she ever gets cold! We actually hope that winter postpones its appearances as we understand heat is almost nonexistent in the classroom.  Meanwhile, we are grateful for the days that are smog free and sunny.  We watch "city workers" sweep the sidewalks as each leaf falls to the ground.  We wonder what they do for a job when all the leaves are off the trees!