Finals Week and Saying Goodbye

This was finals week for us.  For the oral classes we tried something we hadn't done before.  We divided the class into random groups of 3 or 4 and had them report to the classroom at a scheduled time.  For Stan's freshman classes, they were to bring a provocative question to discuss.  (In Nancy's classes they wrote questions the week before finals and she randomly selected them.)  They led the conversation and we just listened.  We were impressed with these discussions.   Some of the topics included:  Personal goals, the environment, marriage issues, .....

This is Stan's Tuesday, 8 a.m. class.  We tried to make it a casual experience.  They were still very nervous.

For our writing students, we had them complete their final during last week's time period.  The topic was "Life Lessons Learned this Year."  'This week we had them evaluate two papers written by their peers.  (Nancy and Stan traded papers)  The evaluators did not know whose paper they were grading because we used only numbers.  It was an interesting experience for them and their comments sounded like the ones we have been making on their papers all year.  Our hope was that if they evaluate other papers with a critical eye, they would also do the same thing with their own writing in the future. 

We followed a similar plan to say goodbye to these students.  At the end of  class, Nancy and I shared some of our Life Lessons and emphasized how much we all have in common, in spite of the political exchanges between our countries.  We then played "Changed for Good" from "Wicked."  It summed up our feelings about our experiences with them this year.  We then presented each one of them with one of our personal business cards and gave them a homework assignment to contact us in 5 years and tell about how their lives were going.  It was and emotional experience for both us and the students.  It was difficult to say farewell.

This is the Translation Class.  They are a very talented group.

 

Carol wore her traditional Chinese dress

 

Serena, Hermione and Carol

This is Nancy's junior writing class.  They enjoyed being silly as they are English/Law majors and discuss serious subjects!

 

We were able to meet with some of our special friends one last time.  Three of Stan's students from the far West section of China invited us out to dinner to eat some Weegar food on Tuesday night.  It was really nice and we enjoyed the things we ate.  It was not typically Chinese food.  There was more middle eastern cuisine; a pleasant departure from the norm.

Corban, Kelly and Zoe  They are very sweet

 

  On Tuesday, during our tutoring time, Stan took Sunny and Lisa to campus and met with Sophia, one of the translation students.  (Sophia still communicates with the Kuzmich's who were the BYU teachers at Shandong University last year).   She and her friend, Mushroom, tried to encourage the girls to practice their English. 

 Sunny, Mushroom, Lisa and Sophia

 

Sophia is a junior English translation major in Stan's writing class.

 

 This is mangosteen which is grown in Asia and has a citrus flavor.  We "sampled" it at Brian and Sara's home on Wednesday evening.  They invited Coxs and us for a "farewell" dinner.

 

 Toby trying on his Portland Trailblazer shirt from Portland, Oregon.  Mom, Sara, is telling him it is not too big for a nightshirt!

 

 Friday night we had a huge thunderstorm.  There is a small alleyway outside the entrance to our apartment and there was about 8 inches of water!

 

 Eating at the Central Campus Faculty restaurant using our meal credits!.  Clarkes in the background and Coxs.

 

Nancy is demonstrating that she can use chopsticks for most foods!

 

Saturday we had lunch with Julia and her 4 1/2 year old son.  Julia runs with Nancy except the last month she has had to do yoga due to a knee injury.  At first her son was "acting out" because he doesn't understand English.  However, he warmed up when Stan showed him a "hide the coin" trick and let him take some pictures with our camera.

 

Another Chinese dinner!  Saturday evening we ate with Robin and Jasper, who hiked the Yellow Mountains with Wayne and Stan a few weeks ago.  The extended family all went out with us to dinner to say "goodbye".  This is Cindy, Keith and Evie.  Cindy and Keith both teach at the college level.  Their family will be visiting Britain this summer and they spent a year in Chicago.

 

We met for the last time with our friends and colleagues for church and dinner.  We have looked forward each week to the opportunity to be together and share our experiences.  It is difficult to say goodbye to these people too.  Everyone will be returning to the states or Canada.  Pam, here in the front left, will be coming back to China to teach another year.

 

 

 Lulu is our medical student from South Africa.  She is the only one from our church group staying for the Summer.

 

Here we have Kathy, Hansen and Simon.  They are planning to move back to Canada in August. They are Canadian citizens but were born in China.

 

 Nancy feels tall next to Li Hong!

 

 Monday morning we met with our co-teacher, Li Hong, to submit our grades.  After doing this it finally sunk in that we were officially "done."

  

BYU teacher, David Cox, with the deputy director of the SDU International office, Ji Rui.

 

We were called to the SDU main campus for meeting on Monday afternoon.  The university wanted to thank us for our work and service and ask for suggestions.  We had some ideas.  Also in the meeting the deputy director repeated several times how much the university appreciated the relationship they had with BYU and the China Teachers Program.  They would really like more teachers.  Any volunteers??

 

 The BYU teachers and members of the

SDU International Affairs Office.  Mary, on the left, lives in our apartment complex and has been very helpful.  She has spent time in the US and has worked with the BYU program since its inception twenty years ago. Ji Rui, the deputy director is in the back right.  In front of him is Melody, a new employee who took us on a trip to Cufu about a month ago.

 

 

This is the Chinese version of a moving van

  

We are leaving for Tibet and Nepal on Wednesday.  We will not be able to post anything until we return to the states on July 7th.  It has been quite a "ride" and we hope you enjoyed coming along with us.  We leave China with many wonderful memories.  Of course, we want to go home, but there are things here in China that we also wish were in the states.  There are benefits to living in both places.