Going for a walk

Here is how a typical walk for me goes:

I start out with a quiet, responsible kid, then have a half-dozen or so little munchkins follow after us saying, "Faith Jiejie! Faith Jiejie(Sister Faith)! Let us come too!"

So, we start off on a big, wild adventure!

They stop to take a peek in the window to see what some other boys are doing (there's my big, responsible boy I started out with: Dai Shengyou, 7'th grade. He is such a goof for the camera! He had an appendicitis attack last month, but has recovered from the surgery and is doing fine now. He's still a little too thin, though. He likes to come to my room and see if I'll give him any American candy. Considering how thin he is and how well-behaved, I usually give it to him!)

They're messing with a whole bunch of flashlight pieces. I'm not sure if they're taking it apart or trying to put it back together! (the kid on the right in the white shirt is named Noah. He is one of the sweetest kids here and the most well-behaved. He only has one foot (the other was amputated a while back), and hops around our center with a smile on his face. He's such a trooper! You should see him on the badminton court!)

So, we continue down the road....and the little boys see some beautiful flowers on the neighbor's tree...and, yes, they start to pick them! I say, "No, don't do that! I'm not taking you with me next time if you don't listen to me."

But they're just too cute! And then they want to give ME the flowers! (That's Hai Ting(above), our youngest child here. He's 4 1/2 yrs. old and started 1'st grade this year. He's doing very well in school! He's really sweet, but needs to be taught what one should and shouldn't do in public. For instance: one shouldn't just go in the middle of the road, even if it's a country road and you aim right into a puddle. Lesson learned on this walk...)

Here is Zeng Wen Bing, the feistiest kid here! He's in 5'th grade. When I first got here, he was always hitting the other kids and causing trouble. He's much better now, and ridiculously sweet! He gives me thumbs-up and calls me “Sister #1”. He come up to hug me every day, many times a day. His parents both died when he was very young, so he has grown up not knowing the love and security of a family. His older brother is a bit feisty too (he's the other kid playing with the flashlight parts above).

Tuo Tuo caught a frog! How cute...
Tuo Tuo, Hai Ting, and Zeng Wen Bing put together make one exercise of a walk!

But it's all worth it.

It's good.

No, better than that....it's wonderful!

My many roles

Oh, and I really love living here! I don't know any group of people I love more than I love these kids. They are my Chinese family, an we are such a BIG family!

There are over 70 kids living here now. I love them all so dearly, but it is a challenge to help them at times.

Sorry I've not posted for such a long time! It is difficult to get online, and it is hard to blog from China for a number of reasons. Here are a couple roles that my life here consists of:

REFEREE

Here is Jack with a bump on his head given to him from Beth, the girl in the yellow jacket. She whacked him with her shoe because he was teasing her and wouldn't give back the shoe. I'm trying to mend the situation. These two are typically good kids....

MIDDLE SCHOOL TUTOR

Here we are in one of the the reading room where the middle school students do their homework on the weekend. Dai Sheng You needed help with the dictionary.

“Wait, you're asking an American to help you with your Chinese composition? I'm an ENGLISH teacher!” Here I am trying to explain to Grace how to write an outline. She's our best student and plans to go to Harvard one day. She was writing about how China has changed over the years, and she wanted my help.

My favorite thing (and the thing I do most) is teaching the elementary school students. They are here a lot more than the middle school students, so I have a lot of time with them. I have many more pictures and stories, but it is really difficult to get things posted on the blog. I'll keep trying...maybe I'll come up with a newsletter. I'm busy now with teaching the kids not to curse and fight. I'm really upset about their dirty little mouths and mean to do something about it. They are generally good kids, but like all children, they need good direction or they will fail. I do as much or more teaching about living right as I do teaching English. Please keep remembering all of us here. Thanks!