Greetings!

I'm writing now from my dorm room at Michigan State University -- all moved in and getting ready for classes to start on Monday. I've been back in the US long enough now that I can no longer claim jet lag, so it's definitely time to write one last entry.

On Saturday we flew from Nanjing to Beijing for the Amity debriefing. Once again I was glad to be part of such an ecumenical experience -- our worship was wonderful and our discussions really helped put the experience into perspective. One group shared that whenever they encountered something strange or unexpected they would just say, "China," and move on. I met many people like this who just seemed so well-suited for the Amity experience -- they didn't stress out, they didn't panic, they just trusted God and prayed and said "China."

Beijing presented quite a bit of culture shock for most of us. Traffic lights! American fast-food chains! The cars and bikes stayed on their side of the road, but were somehow much more menacing than in Chu Zhou. We didn't have very much time at all in Beijing to spend sight-seeing. When we found out that we wouldn't have time to see the Great Wall, Jeanne and I were disappointed, but said, "Ah well, we'll be back." We saw the summer palace, home-away-from-home for Empress dowager Cixi. That was fun, and it was interesting to see all the tourists from all over the world -- I heard one group speaking Spanish. Another culture shock: all the touristy stuff to buy. Chu Zhou wasn't really set up for tourists. Of course, none of us had any room left in our luggage ... I left almost everything that I brought to China in China, and filled my huge suitcase with all the gifts from the students.

Jeanne and I had a really wonderful meal at the Hard Rock Cafe. Hamburgers, french fries and lemonade never tasted so good. We were sick to our stomachs but very, very happy.

Monday was the big flight home. It was long and I didn't sleep too much, but it was nicer than the flight to China. Of course, I wasn't nervous. On the trip to China I frantically wrote about 20 pages in my journal about how insecure I was feeling and how completely inadequate I was to be teaching in China ... on the way home I wrote at a more leisurely pace, about 10 pages of reflection on the journey and how it altered my map. When I got home my mom asked how the trip changed me ... I thought that this trip would be something that would increase my confidence ("I've been to China, I can do anything!") -- what I didn't expect was the way it made me realize how much I still have to learn about life and the world. For example, my interactions with people in China were a valuable lesson in how to accept help graciously, even when I didn't feel like I needed help at all.

When I arrived in Chicago I was one of the first people off the plane, one of the first through customs, one of the first to get my luggage and the very first to head out the doors to greet the Edison-Swift welcome team ... Mom and Dad with gorgeous pink roses and a fantastic butterfly balloon. I was still too dehydrated to cry ... that came much later as I showed Mom and Dad the video of our closing ceremony and Nicole and me singing together. When I got home I started unpacking ... I kept my parents up until one am showing them all the things I brought back from China, and telling stories. I felt great the next day ... got up early, did some shopping, had a nice, full day. After that I crashed a little. But I haven't gotten sick, which is a blessing---I thought for sure that when my adrenaline dropped I'd get some onslaught of illness, but I think my body was just so happy for the clean air and the sleep that those five weeks of abuse were forgiven.

My first Sunday home I presented St. Luke's a paper cutting of the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. I bought it along with two other pictures at the Amity arts and crafts shop in Nanjing. I met the artist, a woman named Fan Pu, who was selling her work entirely to raise money for a friend who needed a kidney transplant. Through an interpreter I told her that I only have one kidney, and it made her very glad to see someone living healthily and happily with one kidney. I gave her my email address, and just a few days ago got an email thanking me for my thoughts and prayers -- her friend got the kidney and is doing very well.

I've exchanged a few emails with Nicole, who has just completed training for her new job at one of the airports in Shanghai. When I go back to China it will certainly be a flight to Shanghai, and Nicole says she will be the first person I'll see when I step off the plane.

The current challenge for all of us who went to China is to settle back in our lives and at the same time keep our experiences at the front of our minds to share with others -- to write articles, give presentations and tell our stories to anyone who will listen. Thank you all for "listening" by reading this journal -- it made me very glad to know that we could be separated by such a distance and still connected by prayers and good wishes. If you haven't yet signed the guestbook... there's still time! The guestbook really made those smokey internet cafes worthwhile ... those messages are the best! Thanks again, and I hope to be in touch with all of you soon!

Mwah!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 1:24 PM

. . .

So much to say, so little time. This may be my last entry from China, depending on what happens Internet cafe-wise in Beijing. I'm writing one more time from Nicole's house ... this last day in Chu Zhou has been bittersweet indeed. My speech at the closing ceremony was something like, "We all have mixed feelings today. We're happy, because we've made wonderful friends, learned a lot, and had a great time. We're also happy that we're going to see our families again. At the same time we are sad because we are leaving ..." and that's about as far as I got before I caught sight of Vivianna and Martha crying and I lost it, too. Then I passed my Kleenex down the line to Jeanne, Shirley and Mel.

Now I feel like there is no moisture left in my body. I have cried and sweat it all away. After the tearful closing ceremony we had the "party," which was a lovely and well-prepared program of songs, dances and games. I was a little nervous because I knew I was going to perform ... Huangmei Opera. In Chinese. Yup.

Last night at a banquet with Mr. Zhang (Nicole's dad) and Anhui education officials from Hufei some of the assembled started singing "Couples Go Home Together" -- a love song from one of Anhui's own operas. I was pretty familiar with the tune, having heard it several times on theater day, then again on dance day, then again during the newscast. So I started humming along. Then Mr. Li and Mrs. Chen decided that I was going to sing the song (it's a duet) with Mr. Li at the party. I told them I didn't know the words. They assured me that I would do wonderfully. I said, "But I don't know the words!" Again ... "It will be fine. You will sing tomorrow." Then Nicole, my saving grace, offered to write down the lyrics in pinyin and teach me to pronounce them after dinner. Singing with Nicole, I was glad I got talked into learning the song. It really is beautiful. Nicole also made me feel good about my pronunciation ... so I was only a little bit nervous about it. I reminded myself that the trainees would probably be pleased enough that I was trying to sing in Chinese ... it didn't have to be perfect.

It went well, though I think I sang it better with Nicole (and without an audience!) I got applause after every verse, and an encore request! So, we sang it a second time. If I was good, I would have learned the dance, too. But I got to learn some dances later, as you can see from the pictures I've uploaded.

I sang "I will be right here waiting for you" with Nicole and cried some more ... sang "I Just Called to Say I Love You" with Jeanne and Angela (Abraham's daughter) and "Auld Lang Syne" with Mel. I did some "break dancing" with Nick (he did breakdancing, I swayed back and forth and occasionally moved my shoulders) waltzed with Marvin (he was sweet about it ... I sort of got the hang of it by the end of the song) did a fan dance with Abby and another folk dance with Abby, Martha and Alicia. That's not even getting into all the games ... you can imagine the sweating (and see it in the pictures, too.)

We had lunch with the students ... many toasts, many hugs goodbye. Tonight we will have one more banquet with Mrs. Chen, Mr. Li and Mr. Zhang. At some point, I suppose, I will pack.

Packing will be quite a feat ... we all got many gifts from the trainees, and some of them are rather large and fragile. Shipping isn't an option this late in the game. We depart for Nanjing airport at 9 am tomorrow.

This week has been quite eventful. The baseball game on Tuesday was great fun. It was sweltering hot ... really ... really ... hot. Then it rained a little. Then it rained sort of hard. Then it stopped raining ... and it was hotter. But the game went on with the help of some water bottle breaks and some dedicated players. I told them all that no one at home would believe this, but it's true ... I pitched. A very soft, slow underhand at close range. We had some excellent hitters and Alicia made some great catches from the outfield. Jacob said, "Mel keeps saying 'You're out! You're out!" Why does he say this? I am standing on base, minding my own business ... 'You're out! You're out!" The trainees knew the rules of the game before we played (they learned in Mel's class) but putting it in practice was pretty funny.

The main event of the week for me was the "newscast" on Wednesday afternoon. In my classes on Monday I introduced some concepts related to news and the different elements of a newscast. On Tuesday, each class designed their own newscast and assigned parts---well, in a perfect world that's what would have happened. Everyone got shy suddenly. "Maybe someone could do a sports report on the baseball game," I'd suggest. Silence. Total lack of eye contact. "Anybody?!" Somehow we got it all worked out. We ran through the newscast in class on Wednesday and then performed it for the big group (and Jeanne's camera) in the afternoon. The very cool thing about it was that everyone participated, and there were some great surprises from shy students who really got into being reporters. It was hard work for the trainees and for me, but I think it was a success.

From the pictures you will see that I have been taught to make Chinese dumplings. This was our Monday night activity, and it was a complete success. My favorite picture is the one of Mel holding a dumpling up with chopsticks, talking to some trainees and other teachers behind him. He is saying something along the lines of "See? I can use chopsticks. No spoon for me." We scuffled good-naturedly a little over dumpling folding ... I wanted to do it myself and learn, the trainees wanted to take it away from me and do it right. The dumplings were delicious ... I think we each ate close to 15 a piece. It's something I'm going to try at home ... Jeanne has made them at home but she says they're never the same, and I can believe it.

A quick story from Langya mountain ... we had a wonderful weekend trip to the mountain right down the road from our hotel. There is so much to see and do there, and it is very old and very beautiful. The only problem was that it had rained the night before, and the ancient moss-covered stone paths and steps were treacherous. Mel had a pretty bad fall down a flight of stairs ... his camera bounced all the way down but was unharmed ... Mel's leg was not so lucky. He got a pretty nasty muscle injury---it wasn't necessary to go to the hospital, but it is the kind of hurt that calls for rest, ice and pampering ... all of which is pretty hard to come by here. But Mel's treamtment began soon after his fall ... while Jeanne, Shirley, Nicole, Mr Li and I climbed up (about a million stairs) to the top of the mountain, Mrs. Chen and Mel rested. They sat down in sight of a man who was telling fortunes and playing his flute. He told Mrs. Chen's and Mel's fortunes ... then he took Mel's hand and started finding pressure points. After awhile he moved to Mel's knee. Mel said at this point he was thinking, "Ah, how nice. La dee da. Wonder how long this will go on?" That's when the man started pounding on Mel's leg with his fist ... hard ... right on the spot where he had a bad knot from the fall. At this point Mel was thinking, and saying "Yowwwwwwwww!" Mel said the "treatment" took care of the knot in his muscle ... since then he's still had trouble with bending it but it seems to be getting better. Jeanne keeps offering, though, to beat on his leg with a stick to help out ...

Now a word on popsicles. They are everywhere and they are strange. Some have normal flavors and odd textures ... others weird flavors but fairly normal popsicle texture. My favorite flavor is milk. Next favorite, a blueberry popsicle that's hard ice on the outside and creamy blueberry-y ice cream on the inside. Flavors I have not tried because I don't want to waste a popsicle: green been, red bean, poppy seed and date.

With any luck I'll be able to get online again before I head home on Monday, but if not ... thanks again for all the wonderful emails, guestbook messages and, especially, prayers. When I get home I will continue to work on the website--adding captions to pictures and maybe telling some stories I haven't had time to tell while here. So ... stay tuned!

Mwah!



 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 2:01 AM

. . .

As my folks have reported to some of you, Nicole's mom gave me some great Chinese meds and some Contac and I'm doing very, very well. Down to a three Kleenex a day. =) Many of you know that I sometimes brag about my ability to tolerate any medicine with no sign of drowsiness ... these little green pills from Nicole's mom knock me out. I've met my match. They're doing a great job keeping my sinuses clear, though, so I'm very pleased. I've started turning off my air conditioning at night, too, to reduce nasal stuffiness. People I talk to here are all convinced that air conditioning is the source of all my problems. Maybe, maybe ...but on days like today, it's awfully nice to come back to a cold room. It is hot and hazy here. We're all a little overwhelmed with everything we need to do in this last week.

Speaking of which ... better go pack up for the afternoon session. I'm teaching the songs "Country Roads" by John Denver and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Just wanted to let you know that I'm healthy and thank you for all the wonderful guestbook messages! They make my day.

Next time I write I will tell you about Chinese popsicles, traditional medicine and massage for sore muscles, the class baseball game and preparation for the big newscast on Wednesday.

Take care! Mwah!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 11:53 PM

. . .

Whelp, nothing like writing the words "I'm very healthy" to ensure that I'll get sick. Nothing serious this time ... just some sniffles from all the rapid temperature changes. Everyone else is sniffling right along with me ... really, it's the cool thing to do. =) I should be back to health soon ... at any rate, it's nothing that will keep me from teaching.

I've uploaded some more photos! Many of these were taken by my surrogate uncle, Mr. Li. (All of the photo file names with the letter "P" in front are his.) I know that Mr. Li likes the ACE in China website, because he printed out the picture of my family from the St. Luke's sending service and gave me a copy. He knows I miss my parents. Everyone here takes very good care of me and the other teachers, sometimes in ways we'd never expect, like the photos from Mr. Li.

Today my classes taught me how to bargain in a Chinese bicycle shop. We're talking laugh riot. One student pretended to be the shopkeeper, and I pretended to want to buy a bike, and the rest of the class told me what I should do. First, I should go to the other bike shops in town and compare prices. When I choose the shop and the kind of bike, I should ask the shopkeeper for a price, but--very important--I should not seem too eager to buy. I should point out several flaws or defects. When the shopkeeper names a price I should offer to pay half. At this point the shopkeeper may suggest that I am trying to kill him or her. The shopkeeper will name another price. I should name the price I really want to buy for, and if the shopkeeper refuses, I should offer to bring all my friends and family to the shop to buy bicycles. That one works pretty well ... the promise of more business seemed to be a good point to make. I told my "shopkeepers" to be tough with me and, to the delight of all, they were. Vivianna had a million different tactics to refuse my offered prices ... once, when the pressure of the class was high for her to concede, she said, "Well, I am just the salesperson. I have to call the shopkeeper and ask her if it is ok." I thought that was pretty brilliant. We all had a great time, and it was fun to do some acting. Then they made advertisements for the top five bicycle brands in China ... some of the brands named were Giant, Phoenix, Forever, Flying Pigeon, Golden Lion, Good Children and Long March. I was a little surprised to hear that there's a brand called "Long March." Jeanne led an afternoon session on advertising so everyone already knew what to do, and there were some great ads. One incorporated the tune of the "Tennessee Waltz" which I just taught in class yesterday. Another used me as a "celebrity endorsement." "The world-famous Anne rides Phoenix bicycles. Phoenix bicycles, for world travelers!" I didn't put them up to it, I swear.

I talked a little about homesickness in my last email to my parents, and it was excerpted here. I should explain that usually I don't feel either extreme ... that I want to stay forever or I want to leave right now. Most of the time I'm just really happy to be here, and happy to know that soon I will be home. My parents are heading home from Germany, the Mills' are back from Maine ...my turn next! It must be time to go because I'm running out of unstained clothes ... I manage to accumulate terrible rust and grease stains just by leaving my bedroom. It's true what the Internet says about Anhui cuisine ... it's a little on the greasy side. I've had some great meals, though, especially at Nicole's house. Nicole and I had a wonderful dinner tonight ... eating at a table on the sidewalk, some very hot (temperature and spice) rice noodles with cilantro and some goat meat. Excellent.

Going to focus on getting these pictures up... blessings and peace be with all of you! Many mwahs!



 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 5:36 AM

. . .

Howdy folks!

I'm very healthy. Tired, but healthy. My colleagues are starting to get a little sniffly. It's definitely sinus weather. You asked about homesickness. There are times when I think I could stay here forever, and other times when I want to come home not tomorrow, not the next day, but right NOW. Guess that's the nature of the thing. I have fallen in love with China ... I don't think this will be my last trip here. I'd like to learn Chinese. I have a knack for the pronounciation ... it's like singing!

Nicole and co are encouraging me. My lesson on art was way too abstract but I think I made up for it today with the dancing. So much fun.... I am soaked, sore and happy. You guys are thinking seminary now, but you know that of course being here makes me want to teach...we'll see. I still think there's a way I can do it all!

All packages and letters have arrived. Your postcard from Frankfurt arrived today, if that gives you any indication. I also got nice letters from Brandon and Heidi. Heidi's letter made me cry. She is so wonderful ... she gave me all sorts of good traveler encouragement.

I have consumed all of the gatorade. Nicole's mom keeps me supplied with peaches. Life, all in all, is sweaty but good.

Jeanne and I teared up in church Sunday when an old woman told us she's been a Christian for 50 years. Imagine what she's seen, the changes she's lived through... and what an amazing faith!

We went to Hefei this weekend, the capital of Anhui province. Very modern city ... and also visited the "Venice of China": Three Rivers Village. Ancient city with some amazing sights and really gross green water. Mel says ducks are to blame. I was a little too hot and tired to really appreciate this weekend's adventures, except for dinner on Saturday. Firepot. There is a circle cut in the middle of the table, under the table there is a little stove and on top of the stove, level with the table, is a huge pot of boiling water...first just broth flavored with ginger, dates a fish and some other stuff. When it gets really boiling you add uncooked ingredients... three kinds of noodles, pigeon eggs, bean sprouts, potatoes, greens, pork balls, tofu, seaweed, fish balls and much much more. You hold the thinly sliced meats (beef) in the pot with your chopsticks fondue-style. With the other ingredients you fish out what you want with gingerly held chopsticks or long handled spoons whenever you think it's done cooking ... then you dip it in a mixture of spices and enjoy. It gets hot. Great, great fun.

All four of us had an amazing meal at Nicole's house last night ... best meal in China so far, by far! The Shanghai style duck and pork chops were probably the first meat I've really, really enjoyed here. We got the recipe, sort of.

Well, it's really really time to go now. Jeanne and I had a little adventure finding this cafe... the one by the hotel is often full, so we've got an alternate place now.

Mwah!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 6:49 AM

. . .

Greetings on a Friday afternoon from Nicole's house! I'm celebrating the end of the week with Nicole and her family ... I was starting to really miss her mom! When Nicole and I got to the house she had fresh peaches waiting for us. Chinese peaches are amazing. They are big and not very fuzzy ... the meat is white with red streaks and the taste is fantastic. I have consumed many, many peaches.

It was an eventful week. On Wednesday I taught a class on television, and we had a formal debate on whether television is bad or good for society. Both teams in every class made excellent arguments and expressed themselves very well. I like those kind of lessons ... I could just listen and ask the occasional question.

Thursday was THE BIG DAY. The birthday party. I've uploaded some pictures of the event. You would not believe this cake. It was six tiers, with the most colorful and beautiful icing decorations. The cake itself is a cross between regular cake and angel food... not a lot of flavor and sort of a strange texture. The icing is a little bit like whipped cream ... not very sweet and very light. The cake was also decorated with pineapple and cherries and some jelly-like substance. I had two pieces.

There were four trainees with birthdays in July, so we had them come down and we sang "Happy Birthday" to them. All of the trainees knew this song already. Then they blew out the candles ... which was good, because the icing was starting to catch on fire.

While Mrs. Cheng prepared the cake and the watermellon we went to the gym for some party games. The big hit was musical chairs. Jeanne got some great video footage of one of our "quiet" students really cutting it up with the chairs. We also had pin the tail on the donkey and temporary tatoos. Mel hung a wiffle ball from the ceiling and had the trainees practice batting (We're having a baseball game on the 30th.) My station was balloon animals. I figured I could make some and then teach them how to make them themselves. Utter chaos. Every balloon got used, and some that broke were ingeniously repaired. We were all getting a little jumpy from all the popping. It was really neat to see who the fearless ones were. A couple of the really quiet, shy women were completely fearless about twisting the balloons. Some of the "macho" guys were terrified. I regretted not having more balloons ... but really, I don't think there could have ever been enough for everyone to get one (and keep it inflated.)

We went back to the auditorium where the cake, watermellon and soda was all ready and waiting. A local TV crew filmed the whole event. I got a picture of Jeanne following the TV camera man with her camera, getting the same dramatic pan of the 100 some pieces of cake. Jeanne is an excellent videographer ... her footage of the party wouldn't even need to be edited.

We were hot. We were sticky. We were incredibly tired. But we were very happy. Shirley said she wished it was Friday, because anything after the birthday party would be a bit of a let down. She was right ... it was hard to get some of the students to concentrate in class today. Well, my class, anyway. Today's topic was literature, and I passed out "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost and a short poem by Li Bai, the most famous Chinese poet. I also talked about John Hockenberry's quote about how life's map changes with each journey. It all went over pretty well ... some classes seemed to like poetry more than others. Every class had a good, sophisticated reading of the Frost poem. And every single person in every class didn't like the English translation of Li Bai. That led to a good discussion on the problems with translating, and how it is especially hard to translate poetry. We also talked about favorite books. I'd say more than half the students--mostly the women, but also many men--say Jane Eyre is their favorite book. The women who talked about it in class said that Jane is a role model for all Chinese girls because she is strong, smart and confident. I also heard some more about Chinese literature... which makes me anxious to start reading! When I get home I want to start "Journey to the West," which sounds a bit like a Chinese Don Quixote.

Well, I shouldn't spend my whole time at Nicole's online! I'll try to write again soon. Much love to all my friends and family in the US and Germany!

Mwah!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 4:23 AM

. . .

I still have a voice! I sang today. Not too badly, either. A little more timid and whispery than usual, but I had a microphone. I was amazed at how fast they picked up the "Beauty and the Beast" tune. But not too amazed, because this afternoon I learned a little something about Chinese opera.

Today's lesson was on "Theater" (following up our unit on movies. Tomorrow is "television".) I broke the class up into groups and assigned each group a different aspect of traditional Chinese opera to explain to the class (and me!) They gave their presentations, and then they sang! We had several soloists, a duet complete with dancing, and some songs where the whole class joined in singing and clapping. Then they explained the songs to me in English. I heard songs from the Opera of Mulan, The Love of Butterflies (the Chinese Romeo and Juliet) and many others. It was great fun. The last class asked me to sing something too, so I sang a phrase or two from "Make of our hands" from "West Side Story," keeping with the "Romeo and Juliet" theme. It's going to be tough for me to follow that lesson.

And the heat certainly doesn't help. It is over 100 degrees everyday. And muggy. We're all pretty tired. Hopefully it will cool off a little by Thursday for our big "birthday party." Mel is going to lead bobbing for peaches ... apples aren't in season. We'll have musical chairs and pin the tail on the donkey ... I'm in charge of balloon animals. And there will be cake. And watermelon, always.

In my class on Monday we got into a good discussion about Disney movies ... students in every class noticed that Gaston dies by falling, that we don't actually see him die, and that it's not the Beast who kills him. In one of my classes, a student said, "Oh. A Disney ending." Exactly. We talked about all the things we like about this kind of movie ... and in one class the students brought up Mulan. We talked about the differences between the Chinese and Disney "Mulan" movies. I want to see the Chinese Mulan before I leave!

I went swimming with Nicole today. So cool. More later... time for bed. Hope all is well with all of you! Mwah!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 7:33 AM

. . .

Greetings all!

Back to the Internet cafe for me! It's pretty smokey, but not too bad, because it's about 1 pm and almost everyone is sleeping. It is hot! Yesterday began the hottest week of summer ... coincidentally, the day we spent tramping about the countryside. Yeah, it was sticky. But great fun! It felt good to walk around and sweat and climb hills ... we are very protected here so it's nice every once and awhile just to be able to run ahead of the group and scramble up some rocks. Of course, this sort of behavior is quite alarming to our Chinese friends/hosts. There have been a few scuffles like this: "I am fine. Really. No... I'll carry that. I can walk. I can use chopsticks. You don't need to help me. I can pay for that. Really, I'm ok." But we're all figuring each other out as we go along, and keeping a sense of humor about it.

Yesterday we toured Fujian (sorry for my phonetic spelling) County, which is part of the greater Chu Zhou area. We walked through the ancient tomb of the parents of the first Ming emperor, had a banquet-style lunch, saw (and climbed) the old city wall, and spelunked our way through a rather large and famous cave. For a sickling, I did pretty well. I slept in the van, I stayed in the van when the others got out to chase water buffalo and goats (don't worry, I'll get copies of those pictures,) I took my medicine and chugged lots of water and green tea. Mr. Li, my new elder uncle, and I were both thinking that I should have maybe taken the day off.... but everyone else was pretty adamant that I shouldn't miss it, and in the end I'm glad ... it was great fun. Tiring, but great fun. We got to see some of what Jeanne calls "real China." Not to mention a boat ride in a low-ceilinged cave and a trip down a mountain in a tractor/"surrey with fringe on top." Very cool.

Last night was my last treatment at the hospital. It was rather late, but all my friends were there ... Nicole, the nurses, Nicole's doctor mom, Mr. Li, a nurse's daughter, and even Nicole's dad came to visit. The nurse's daughter has been great to talk to these last few days ...she didn't have an English name, so I gave her "Helen." She's very bright and hopes to come to the US to study.

So now I just have to keep taking my medicine until it runs out and be smart about using my voice. I'm speaking like a human again. Still can't sing. This is just my way of learning to be a silent and respectful young person. =)

Tomorrow I'll spend my four hours of morning class wrapping up Beauty and the Beast questions and talking about movies in general. Then I'll lead the two-hour afternoon session on "Holidays." I think my voice will hold ... but I'm not going to even try to sing yet. Mel will lead "Jingle Bells." I'll introduce the lyrics to the theme from "Beauty and the Beast." We're doing an activity where each of us four will take a holiday and do an activity while we talk with the students. My holiday is Thanksgiving and we're going to make hand-outline turkeys. We're also going to ask them to tell us about Chinese Holidays, especially Spring festival. This Thursday is the big birthday party ... we ordered the cake (for 90 people) from the hotel today. I'm going to teach balloon animal making. Should make for some great pictures.

Today we went to church ... the congregation is about 2000 people and the huge place was packed. And hot ... but we were placed right in front of the fans. We clocked the sermon at an hour, but the service itself wasn't very long. The opening hymn was "Onward Christian Soldiers" in Chinese. The minister welcomed us and Mel said a few words to the congregation through Nicole. The worship leader was a beautiful young woman who read and sang exceedingly well, she had to be about my age, and announced the hymn numbers and readings to us in English. I got to talk to her a little while after the service. It was a really moving experience for all of us, and I'm looking forward to going back next week (this time remembering to bring my Bible and a water bottle.)

Thanks again for all your prayers and back-to-health well wishes! I think it's working!

Mwah!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 11:33 PM

. . .

I'm writing from Nicole's computer! She is protecting me from the smokey Internet cafe. But alas, as usual, I have very little time. The quick scoop: I am on my way back to health, thanks to the efforts of Nicole's mom and her staff. They call it the "number 2" hospital in Chu Zhou, but I think I have gotten the best care in China. No sinus infection could possibly stand a chance against this treatment! I will have a photo of this to share with you soon. The mornings of four hours of teaching, the afternoons in the hospital, and the evenings spent (again) in the hospital have left me worn out, but I am sleeping better (thanks to the traditional Chinese tea medicine.)

Thanks to Nicole's patience, I have added some photos to the gallery. These are not edited yet ... out of order, no captions, not rotated or tweaked. But they're up!

Thank you so much for your kind messages, thoughts and prayers. They lift my spirits greatly! This Sunday I will go to my first Chinese Christian church service ... I will write with a report on this and thoughts on the music for Ann Organ! I've heard that they use traditional hymn tunes with Chinese words ... I will find out soon!

My love to you all!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 6:59 AM

. . .

Feel better soon, Annie!
Here are excerpts from two emails from Annie that were received Friday, July 12. Our wonderful nurse practitioner, Kathy, reassured Paul and me that the treatment Annie is getting is entirely appropriate. "Even though getting antibiotic via IV sounds aggressive, remember that in China they don't give oral antibiotics [pills]," she said.
Thanks to Zhang Xiao ("Nicole") and her family for their good care and concern. We are very grateful.
Annie did manage to upload her first pictures from China. Until she has a chance to ID them, you'll need to use your imagination for the captions. Remember that you can click on pictures to see a bigger image. Sometimes a click rewards you with an extended caption.
Hope you're better soon, Annie! Love and kisses, Mom
P.S. Here's a big MWAH from Dad.

Email excerpts from Annie
Sorry I've been out of touch so long. I have not been able to go to the Internet cafe or call ... I'm afraid I have very little time, again. I am at Nicole's computer in her house, and my ride back to the hotel will arrive soon. They are protecting me from the Internet cafes (because of all the smoke).
Then again ... I have been rather sick. I got myself a rather nasty sinus infection. I go to the hospital every afternoon; they are giving me penicillin by IV, plus something else I must breathe in through a machine twice a day, plus some traditional Chinese tea medicine.
Nicole's family has taken good care of me. I've been spending every morning teaching and every afternoon at the hospital, then every evening with Nicole's family. I am worn out. The treatment itself is very tiring ... breathing in a vapor from this machine... I'll have a picture of it up soon, I hope.
I think the infection is pretty much beat. I am still coughing up a lot of icky stuff, and my voice is gone, but I've been not talking these last few days. I've been showing "Beauty and the Beast" in class. They love it. By Monday I hope to return to normal speaking and teaching. I have to run to the hospital now. I'll email again as soon as possible. I love you and miss you very much.
Mwah! Annie

 

posted by Sue Edison-Swift at 7:00 PM

. . .

Greetings from an Internet Cafe in Chu Zhou! I'm not sure where to start ... so much has happened since I was last able to write to you.

Chu Zhou is about a two hour drive from Nanjing. We crossed the mighty Yangtze River ... Abraham, one of our hosts from Chu Zhou, said, "This is like your Mississippi." Breathtaking. We played our water buffalo spotting game again. Right away I hit it off with Nicole (Zhang Xiao) who is 21 and wonderful to talk with. She's helping us get around the city and has become my friend.

In "Encountering the Chinese" (the book we all read to prepare for this trip) there is a chapter on friendship. It explains the cultural differences between American and Chinese ideals of friendship...and concludes that making friends with Chinese is very rewarding, but Americans should only do it if they are really committed. This made me nervous ... I figured I wouldn't want to get too close to anyone here. Being here has changed my mind. I'm not going to give every person I meet my email address or make huge promises I can't keep -- but I will be friends with Jiang Xu Dong (my friend from Nanjing) and Nicole. Both are my age and, of course, on the Internet ... staying in touch with them will also help me get better at staying in touch with my other friends. It's an ideal of close friendship I really admire.

Nicole and I made everyone laugh when we got excited about all we have in common. She said, "My favorite band is Savage Garden, do you know it?" "Savage Garden! Yes!" "Yes?" "Yes!" We are having a great time getting to know each other.

I just switched computers ... cigarette smoke is pretty bad for me right now. I've almost completely lost my voice. I cough a lot and my voice will suddenly go out completely ...my students are worried about me. They all tell me I need to rest more and drink more water. Nicole's mom is an ear, nose and throat doctor... she is bringing a traditional Chinese remedy for me this afternoon. Bet you 100 yuan it will work much better than Benadryl.

Chu Zhou is beautiful ... very clean, but very noisy. Traffic is incredible. My street crossing skills are improving everyday, and I even open my eyes when we take a taxi. I just trust and pray. I told my students I don't think I could ever get bored here.

The town has two hotels, a three star and a four star. We're in the three star, which is very clean and comforting. I have a big bed with four pillows (guess I didn't need to pack one.) Hotel rooms have an interesting light switch system. Everything is turned on and off by a series of switches on a panel right next to the bed. I think this is a wonderful idea ... no stumbling around in the dark to get to bed. The food here is either much better than in Nanjing or my stomach has adjusted ... probably a little bit of both. The tables have a glass lazy Susan in the middle with all the dishes on it ... when you make a toast, you tap the lazy Susan twice instead of clinking glasses.

The placement interviews went well--the students were nervous (so was I) but I think we put everyone in a suitable class. I got to give out a few English names, including Eleanor, Lucy, Susan and Cecile. I didn't name anyone "Anne" but there are at least two Annes in the group. Most of them already had English names. My class is 3rd rank out of four and we're called the Tigers. The lowest class is Pandas (Jeanne), highest is Dragons (Mel), and second highest is Phoenix (Shirley). Every morning we teach the same lesson (with some changes for skill level) four times. The students move from class to class. By the time I got the Phoenix class (my last class of the morning) we (students and teacher) were quite tired. We teach 50 minute periods, from 8 am-11:50 am.

We begin the afternoon session at 3 pm. This is held in the auditorium with all teachers and students together. Right now we have exactly 80 students, but there may be more coming. This week is the week of national examinations for middle school students, so many teachers may be delayed in getting here.

This afternoon we are going to do the Hokey Pokey and play "Getting to Know You" BINGO. A nice, low key activity for the first day. On Thursday I will lead the afternoon session on Holidays.

This morning I put the students in small groups and asked them to come up with a list of three questions to ask me. I passed out my big, laminated pictures of friends and family to help them think of questions. They loved the pictures. Dad--they think you are so handsome. Mom--so beautiful. They think I was very pretty when I was four but that I looked like a boy when I was two (because I had so little hair.) One man said Dad was even more handsome than Bill Clinton. (Big compliment.) They think it is interesting that I am an only child--just like a Chinese family. They loved hearing the story about my scene in the Good Doctor ... I think talking about theater will be a great lesson. The "lowest" group had some of the best participation. I know I lost a few ... there were a couple students who didn't seem to understand what I was saying at all ... with those I didn't mind if their neighbors helped them out a bit in Chinese. It is only the first day ... I'll be able to have some time to talk to them individually in the coming days.

Better get hopping ... time for our afternoon session, and well-timed too, because I've started coughing pretty bad from the smoke (and my no-good, stinkin allergies). Prayers for health much appreciated.

I'm going to try to stay at the school over lunch hour tomorrow to install the software I need to upload pictures onto our computer in the "teachers' lounge." Wish me luck. Oh, and I almost forgot ... all of the bathrooms here except for the ones in our hotel room have Asian toilets, which are just a trough in the floor to squat over. Definitely a learning experience. I've been brave. =)

Love and Mwahs!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 12:29 AM

. . .

Here's an excerpt from an email Annie sent us (Mom and Dad) last night...she wasn't able to get a "blogger" (journal entry) out, but wanted to share more about Nanjing. Sue
P.S. Thanks for those guestbook entries...we're eating 'em up.

Today we had several special meals including a real Chinese banquet. I'm still eating vegetarian ... my stomach is unreliable at best, even after I stopped taking the malaria pills.

Ah, the sensory details of Nanjing ... like the big black moth that dive-bombed me while I was typing, the incredible green, the grey sky (just like Michigan!), and the cooking smells on the street in the morning (the night smell isn't very nice at all ... but the streets in East Lansing at night don't smell too great, either.)

I love you guys! Many mwahs!

Annie


 

posted by Sue Edison-Swift at 12:26 AM

. . .

The Internet cafe at night is absolutely packed with young Chinese men Internet gaming. Reminds me a little of the computer lab in Wells Hall! The woman at the counter recognized and remembered me from this morning ... the Internet cafe is becoming my Cheers, the place in China where everybody knows my name.

This morning Jeanne and I tested our skills at bike dodging on the way back to the hotel... it was getting on rush hour. The secret of not getting into an accident with a bicycle is to make no sudden movements. We glide in a nice, relaxed diagonal across the street--a whooshing sound on either side.

Today I spent some time at the pool with Victoria, who is here with a Quaker group from England. She helped me get to my room once when I was really sick that first day and since then we've been socializing a bit. Another person I enjoy talking to is Xu Dong Jiang, who is studying electrical engineering here in Nanjing and working with Amity as a summer internship.

More later ... got to get my groupmates back to the hotel. I almost got us lost getting here (oh dear) but I figured it out quickly. One more day in Nanjing, then the real adventure begins!

Mwah!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 9:06 AM

. . .

Ok ... one more post and then off to breakfast (there must be some way to change the time settings on this thing, but I can't figure it out ... it's actually 6:48 am on July 5 here ... happy 4th to all at home!) Just wanted to thank everyone who posted messages in my guestbook ... I'm so happy I'm getting a little misty. I laughed, I cried. Hooray for friends and family!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 4:55 PM

. . .

Ni hao!

Here I am in an Internet cafe in Nanjing!

To catch you up: the flight to Beijing was long but otherwise fine ... I almost finished John Hockenberry's memoir, 'Moving Violations" and wrote a bunch in my notebook. Got to Beijing and found our "mother hen," Judy Perry, with no trouble. Got to the hotel and immediately hit the pool ... taking advantage of these luxuries while I can! Jeanne keeps telling me, "This isn't China, you know." This is true ... I have been anxious to get to our final destination ... there are some advantages to these few days of cushy living, though. My first day in Nanjing (we flew from Beijing) I got pretty sick. I'm still not feeling quite myself, but I think the worst is over. I was thankful that it happened here in a nice hotel, before we get to "real China" and before I have to be up for teaching every morning.

I love the ELCA team. On the bus ride from the Nanjing airport to the hotel we counted water buffalo. Yesterday I got the strength together to join some members of my team and other Amity teachers on a day trip to Sun Yat Sen's tomb... over 700 stairs! A fantastic view. We also participated in a tea-tasting ceremony, which was kind of a funny activity for such a hot day, but really did settle my stomach.

Our orientation has been very helpful ... in between meals we have workshops, outings and devotions led by the different teams. Today, in addition to the workshops, we're going to investigate an outdoor market and I am going to let nothing in the world keep me from the pool. On Sunday a car will arrive from our college in Chu Zhou to take us "home."

There have certainly been a few bumps along the way, but I am very glad to be here and excited to begin teaching.

The folks a few computers down just had their floppy disk eaten by their computer ... I'm not going to try to use my A-drive here. You'll have to wait a little longer for pictures, but I'll figure out a way to get them up soon.

John Hockenberry wrote about how our expectations for life change: "Each journey alters the map." This journey is already altering the map of my life, and I'm so glad for all of your support and prayers along the way!

Zia Jin!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 4:45 PM

. . .

Salutations!

T-16 hours and counting. We're into the detail work now … making sure I know how to work everything, making sure everything works, running last minute errands and packing my carry-on bags. I've compiled two cds of "music for teaching" -- heavy on John Denver and The Carpenters because I've read that they're popular in China. Of course I'm taking music for my own enjoyment, too … two mixes from Brandon (no Carpenters there!) and a bunch more that I've been putting together (so that's what Annie's been doing since school let out!)

My farewell dinner will include all my summer favorites: my famous strawberry and bleu cheese salad, spaghetti with lots of vegetables and vegetarian meatballs, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. All strawberries are fresh from the garden of Marj and Jerome Leegard -- thanks for the berries and a wonderful visit!

Well, in case there was ever any doubt, I am a very lucky girl. As I write this Dad is putting some finishing touches on my China website and finding some extra international plugs, while Mom is expertly packing my own mini-pharmacy. It's been an all-Edison-Swift effort to get me ready to go, and I'm very, very grateful for the help.

Love and mwahs to you all! The next post I make will be from China!


 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 6:40 PM

. . .

Greetings! Welcome to my China journal. I'm not in China yet, but I feel much closer to going now that I've been commissioned by St. Luke's and I'm almost completely packed.

During worship this morning Pastor Steve Nelson led a sending service, which affirmed my goals for the trip and the congregation's support. St. Luke's has been incredibly supportive! I am so grateful -- I can't imagine now how I could ever have done this without them. The congregation raised the money to cover all my fees for the trip, and in addition to that have freely offered hugs, kindness and good advice. Knowing that the good people at St. Luke's are praying for me makes me feel energized and empowered.

And that's exactly how I felt after the sending service today! It really gave my folks and me the boost we needed to dive headfirst into packing. It was an all day, all night, now into the next day project and very much a team effort. Don't worry -- I haven't over-packed. It was the strategic packing, sorting and gathering that took so long. And the pictures. I'm taking enlarged, laminated copies of a good number of pictures to use as "get to know me" props and as conversation starters for some of the lessons. For example: I'm teaching a lesson on holidays, so I'm taking pictures of Christmas, Easter, birthdays, Halloween and Syttende mai. (My Norwegian grandpa would be very proud.)

We're shipping two boxes of teaching supplies and other goodies to my school in China tomorrow. I'll let you know if any of it ever shows up! Hope so. It will be interesting to find out what I should have taken to China, what I should have left at home, and what will be the biggest hit with my students.

That's all for now. Thanks again to my St. Luke's friends for a wonderful sending!

Mwah!

 

posted by Anne Edison-Swift at 10:58 PM

. . .