| 22 April 2010
It's a sad and happy day. On one hand, a really good friend is leaving, but on the other hand, he's off to continue on an exciting adventure.
Antoine Strauss is a 20 year old Frenchman who felt he didn't want to live in the "Rat Race", so packed a bookbag and started walking. And didn't stop. He walked through deserts, warzones, went without food for days and eventually found himself in China. He reminds me of myself in many ways and I'll miss our conversations. Check out his website, where you can catch up on his journey "On Foot and almost without Money".
Hmm...sound familiar?
Good luck Antoine!
| 02 April 2010
From favorite movies to women's suffrage, tonight's conversations were pretty profound. Until he squinted at me and picked up the chalk...
"I have a question for you Greg...If you leave China, your girlfriend will go with you?"
"That's right."
"Why?" he asks as he finishes drawing his "This is China, this is another country, X equals Greg and Y equals Sam with arrows going every which way" diagram.
"Because we're a COUPLE. That's what you do when you're a couple. If one of you moves somewhere, the other goes with you."
And I should have ended the conversation there...
| 28 March 2010
On Fridays, I have a one-on-one lesson with a boy named Nicky. He used to be in one of my weekend classes, but this semester's schedule left no time for it, so his parents paid to have him do an hour with me every Friday evening.
This kid is quite a character. He loves to talk, and is never at a loss for words. He likes to accompany our conversations with notes, diagrams and calculations on the blackboard. He's got chalk in his hand longer than I do in most of my regular classes!
It was made clear up front that he had no desire to learn from a book, he simply wanted to practice his conversational skills and learn new vocabulary. And due to our free flowing conversation topics, his inquisitive nature sometimes catches me off guard.
Here's an example from our last class...
| 04 April 2010
Happy Resurrection of the Lord Day! Did you have your celebratory chocolate eggs in His name this morning?
Today in China, this is a holiday for "cleaning graves". Families get together and visit the sites of their loved one's who have passed, tidy them up, leave flowers and wine and whisper a little prayer for them.
The only caveat is that you can't say the name of anyone living while you're there. As in you can't say "Hey, John - can you please pass me the scissors?", as it's believed that doing so will give the spirits power over that person. One of the Chinese teachers at my school had that happen last year, and believes her grandmother is still inside her head....
At least it's not snow...
| 02 April 2010
