Framed

Toward the end of last year, I picked up a paper cut while in Beijing of one of my favorite passages. Last week I headed out with one of my Chinese tutors to find a place to frame it. All I wanted was a simple black frame. Simple is not always something excelled in by the Chinese, especially when it comes to home decor. After visiting three shops, I found a frame sample that was fairly simple for a price I was willing to pay. The shopkeeper informed us it would be ready on Sunday. I dutifully returned on Sunday, to be told (not surprisingly) that it was not ready, but would surely be ready tomorrow. I waited to return until today (Thursday) to assure its completion. The shopkeeper saw me walk in and hurried to get the finished product. He proudly held it up for my inspection and proceeded to explain that he thought the frame I chose wasn't very beautiful and didn't really go well with the paper cut, so he chose another frame. Additionally, the plain off white backing I had for the cut out was deemed unattractive. Instead, he chose a backing that looks a little bit like cork board. "Now doesn't that look great?" he asked me, beaming with pride. I was a little lost at what was culturally appropriate to say at the moment, especially since he was the "expert" in framing pictures. I knew I didn't have the language skills to delicately and indirectly explain that while his work was indeed lovely, there was a reason I chose the frame I did. Instead, I smiled, said thank you and headed home. Just another day in China.

Happy Teacher's Day!

Today is national teacher's day, which translates into obscenely large flower and fruit baskets for teachers. These tokens of gratitude are presented with well wishes like, "I hope you more and more beautiful for many years to come." My students were kind enough to give me one of each type of basket this morning. I was touched by their generosity...until it came to lugging both of them home in the pouring rain while also trying to juggle an umbrella. The umbrella never would have happened if some student hadn't taken pity on me and opened it for me on my way out of the building. I must have looked somewhat pathetic. I had the fruit basket somewhat slung (and cutting off the circulation) on one arm, with the other arm wrapped around the large flower basket. I gingerly found my way home, attempting to avoid the puddles. The last obstacle to tackle was fitting in and pushing the revolving door of my apartment building. By the time I made it inside, I had given the front desk ladies a good laugh. Suppressing chuckles, they also wished me a happy teacher's day. Later on in the morning, Wu brought me the below gift from the department. I must admit that after the photo I removed some of the "flare" from the basket.

They are precious in His sight

No words today...just pictures.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Sore feet

The first week back always gets you. It takes awhile to get all the little piggies used to standing and being in heels for hours on end. The first week is always the most brutal...and I'm feeling it tonight. However, other than sore feet, it's been a great week. It has been wonderful to be back in the classroom. Until this afternoon, all of the classes I had were new classes (students I've never taught before). There's something about the freshness of a new slate with a new class that I love. Not to mention the fact that they explode with praise of, "You're so beautiful!" My students I've had before are more likely to say, "You're fatter than before!" Why yes I am, and I enjoyed my ice cream in America very much. However, I also love the comfort and familiarity of a class I've taught before. The class I taught this afternoon was one I've had for three semesters and have a tremendous relationship with. They understand me well enough to get my sarcasm (a tough thing for Chinese students to catch onto), to know when I'm serious, and when I'm kidding. They laugh at my jokes and clap when they find out I'm their teacher. They know when I mention football to cheer, "Go Ohio State!" and obligingly ask how my team is doing. And they make me laugh. Today I gave them a "quiz" about me to see how much they remembered. Part of the quiz was listing my hobbies. The class quickly came up with photography and cooking, and then were working on guessing the other two. From one corner of the class came "sleeping!" Well, yes, I do like my sleep. "Eating!" That could be true too. One sweet girl called out, "smiling!" Lest I get too big a head from that comment, a student called out from the front row, "giving quizzes!" Ah yes, this class knows me well. Later on, I was telling the class that I had changed apartments. As an explanation, I added that I now had a bigger kitchen. The quip from the second row quickly followed--"so now you can bake us more cookies!" I'll get right on that...

Back in the saddle

**For those who may want to send me something in the mail...my mailing address did NOT change with the move down the hall. The old one will still work just fine!**
A week ago about this time I was rolling up to our apartment building greasy, smelly, and exhausted from a seemingly never-ending day of travel. A week later I'm smelling better, have my new house all set up, have taught my first class, and am organized for the new year. The first couple days were spent transporting all of my stuff (and it's amazing how much stuff a person can accumulate in three years) down the hall from my old apartment to my new apartment. I moved for the single reason of having a larger kitchen. I know, it sounds silly. But I cook a lot. And moving my fridge every time I needed to get in the freezer was getting old. An added bonus to my new place is seeing trees outside my bedroom window. Those who have visited or lived in China will understand the wonderfulness of this statement. Vegetation in cities is extremely sparse. If there are trees, they're usually not much taller than me and quite scrawny. However, outside my bedroom window is a small grove of big tall trees with big leaves that dance in the wind. What a treat!

This year has a very different feel from all previous years. I'm accustomed to the year beginning with a large meeting in Beijing with all of the teachers in China. However, due to the Olympics this year we all went straight to our schools. Our new teachers also will not arrive until the end of the month. Consequently, the team is "small" for the time being. We're missing three teachers, so Rachel and Jennifer have magnanimously (with compensation) stepped up to teach full loads for the month. This semester I'm teaching two sophomore writing classes, two junior speech classes, and one freshman oral class. The freshmen are currently learning how to march and chant and do other soldierly things, so that class won't begin until October. I'm excited to have one day off of teaching (Tuesdays), which will hopefully help with getting graduate work done.

Right now is my absolute favorite time in Siping. The temperature is around 75, with sunny blue skies. The grass is green, and there are even some flowers here and there. From past experience, I know this is about as pretty as it will be all year long, so I'm trying to soak in the beauty. It feels wonderful to be back here again; I'm always reminded every time I go away and come back how much this place truly is home. However, home is never perfect. The most glaring imperfection this week has been the water being shut off for several hour periods several times a day. I've got to have something that reminds me I still live in China... Most of the time this isn't a big deal, but there are moments of annoyance. Like today, when I got into the shower after working out with sweat pouring off of me (yes I know, you're thinking, Katherine? working out? gotta shed those pounds from all that good American ice cream...) only to discover there was no water. Lest you think I lied when I said I'm smelling better today than a week ago, the water did come on a few hours later and I got my long anticipated shower. :)

One final note, lest you think my fervent love has somehow dissipated. This past weekend contained the sheer joy of watching Michigan choke once again in its opener and Ohio State steam roll its opponent. Here's hoping Beanie heals fast and will be ready for USC.

Heading home

After two months of travel and living out of a suitcase, I'm ready to head back home! Following my stop on the ranch, I headed up to the twin cities to visit Lana. It was great to see a China friend state-side, and to see a little bit of her life here.

I flew from the twin cities out to LA to visit one of my best friends from college and her husband. This yearly trip always proves to be incredibly refreshing for me. This year I got to go to a local corn festival. Yes, I came all the way from the midwest to California...to eat corn. Only slightly more exciting was spending a day at Disneyland with Kasey. We were all business, and thanks to our expert (could you say genius?) planning, fast feet, and wise use of fast passes we managed to hit almost all of the big rides by 10:30 am. Not too shabby for a busy summer day! Our most oft visited ride was Buzz Lightyear, where Kasey put me to shame with her intergalactic shooting skills. She has had more training. One final plus of LA was getting my hair drastically cut...which felt great!

From LA I came back to my parents' for a quick stop, then headed over to Columbus to visit one of my college roommates and her husband. Columbus just so happens to be my home of sixteen years, and the location of my happiest place on earth. You guessed it, right? The Shoe. Field of the Ohio State University Buckeyes. My friends were nice enough to stop by the stadium to let me drink in the view. The season begins in less than a week! The trip to Columbus also featured the best cream puffs in the world at Schmidt's and the best ice cream in the world at Graeter's. An added bonus was the display of Brutuses arrayed in all kinds of costumes and occupations...only in Buckeye town. And if you don't know who Brutus is, look it up. As my friend, you really should know this.

I got to take in the opening ceremonies while in Columbus, and earlier tonight watched the flame extinguished over Beijing. I've probably watched way too many hours of Olympics these past two weeks, but I found myself more drawn to them than usual. As the games closed out tonight and the newscasters praised the Chinese for their hospitality, I couldn't help getting a little teary-eyed. China did such a splendid, beautiful job with these Olympics and I'm just so proud that I get to call this nation home for the time being. I can't wait to get on the plane tomorrow and head back!

On the road

I'm working on setting a record for the number of different beds I can sleep in during one summer and the number of hours I can spend in airports. Lately it feels like I've been here there and everywhere. I'm about ready to get back to China to rest up. Ahhhh, and it was only a few weeks ago that I said the same thing about coming back to the States.

One of the most enjoyable stops this summer has been a quick two day trip up to Westbrook. This tiny town in the southwest of Minnesota is the site of some of my fondest childhood memories. For a "city girl" (or more accurately, a suburban girl), life on my great Aunt and Uncle's cattle ranch provided endless amusements. Consequently, the smell of cow manure, mixed with hay, that wonderful black Minnesotan dirt, and sweat is actually a pleasing aroma to me. I love the old barn where I got bottle feed a newborn calf and name numerous kittens. There's the office with coffee, orange drink, and sweet breads. There's the sweetest cowboy you'll ever meet, with boots, hat, and sparkling blue eyes. This year we stayed on my other Great Uncle's farm, just a couple miles from the ranch. There we were treated to fresh picked rasberries, homemade syrup (from trees they tapped in their backyard), and homemade gooseberry jam. I absolutley love the pace of this small town life, and the intense interest in people that is shared all around. It was immensely refreshing to go back and photograph some of the places of my childhood. As always, you can track the journey on my flickr site. Below are a few of my favorite shots from the trip.

My favorite cowboy, Uncle Maurice

Beef, it's what's for dinner.

Scene from the old general store