ALL IS WELL!!

Good news! The hot plate is working. It was operator error. I attribute this to two reasons. One, the instruction manual is not the right one for the hot plate. Two, the instruction manual is in Chinese. Nevertheless, trial and error seems to be the best teacher. The hot plate came with a thin metal pan shaped like a frying pan without the handle. It looked so cheap that I just put it in the cupboard and used the pans I had already been using. Luckily they were metal. Apparently there is a magnet in the hot plate so it only works with certain kinds of pans. After I made my soup in a metal pan last Sunday, I tried to boil water using an aluminum pan. The hot plate wouldn’t work and just kept beeping and finally shut off after a minute or two. Now that I know what is going on, I realize that it is actually very ingenious. Don’t you think it is a good idea for a burner to shut off if it is not being used? So all is well with my cooking in Xi’an.

Good and bad news! The school situation has been straightened out—mostly. I contacted my weiban and she called the professor at the new campus. The classes do end on December 31^st. However, I may have caused a slight problem with this if the professor “lost face” in the process.  I am giving my finals to my Oral English classes on the old campus the last two weeks in December. I do not have a final in my writing class, but I do have one in my reading class. I wrote one final and found out that I needed to write a second one, in case the students don't pass the first one. Interesting concept! Just a day in the life of a foreign teacher in China. But all is well in Xi’an. Really it is!

Mixed news. We have had some interesting water temperatures this week. My shower goes from scalding hot to ice cold, sometimes during the same shower. So I either come out with third-degree burns or with goose bumps. On other days it is just lukewarm. The fun part is that I never know until I get in the shower. We have had some maintenance workers come over to look at the problem. Their solution is to turn the water on and let it run for 15 or 20 minutes. Apparently that forces the hot water into the pipes. I have not figured out the plumbing system yet. However, the pipes are above ground, so it should be an interesting winter when it gets r-e-a-l-l-y cold in Xi'an.

The construction for the parking garage is coming along well. The workers work all night pounding and moving dirt. The hole is quite large and deep. However, during the process, they cut the line for Internet service and no one can use the school Internet. I switched over to WiFi and I am doing okay so far. Everything is covered with dust—my shoes, my face, my floors, my clothes, my food, my lungs. So all is dusty in Xi’an.

Thank you for sending suggestions about keeping Christmas. I have been blessed with a sweet spirit of love this week. I was able to listen to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on Monday night. It was so wonderful! Just like being home. The music was fabulous as well. I now know that I need to look outside myself and find ways to serve others. The Chinese may have Santa, decorations, and gifts, but I know the real reason behind the holiday. I will use the next few weeks to share it with them—without mentioning anything about my Savior. Hopefully that message will still come shining through. Peace on earth, good will to all--especially in Xi’an.

I am correcting the research papers for my Academic Writing class. I expected some grammatical errors and awkward phrasing—in fact, I am very suspicious when it is too “perfect”. On the whole, they are very good, and I am very pleased with them. The problem comes when I give them back and they do not get 100%. They will ask if they can redo it. The answer will be no—except in one or two cases where the students were totally lost. I have been told to grade on a bell curve model, but all of these students want 100%. Hmmmmm! All may not be well in Xi’an on Thursday morning.

On Wednesday I actually took a risk and told my two classes of teachers that they needed to teach their students critical thinking skills. Their faces went totally blank. I had done an activity where they had to choose which person would get a heart transplant out of seven critically ill people. Then one of the teachers asked me why I did the activity. It was my golden opportunity. I told them, “Because your students need to learn more than just how to memorize information!” I am not sure the message was understood, but I have a few more weeks to get it through to them. If I can reach even one, it will be a major break-through. The sad part is that they only know one way to teach--memorize and recite back. I think I am causing an uproar in Xi’an.

Well, it is always good to hear from you. I hope you are well and happy. All is going well in Xi’an. Thanks for listening--er--reading.