Hello! We have been orbiting in outer space it seems, hardly communicating with most of you, and for that I live with great shame! A million apologies! It is not for lack of love, for we both love you all very much, and it is not because we don't think of you often, because we do, or because we don't miss you, as I can assure you that we do indeed miss your company, but it is simply the result of a lack of time and perhaps some laziness on our parts! I try to be more zealous in my communication efforts, but always fall short of the mark, especially on this occasion, as you have experienced a clear drought in information from us, so let me attempt to recap a bit what has been occurring in our lives over the past few months:
The Highlights:
School is going well. We continue to learn and grow from our students and from our teaching experiences, even as we attempt to teach our students the finner points of the English language. Some people love grammar, others hate it (I was in this camp), this is life, but I have had to make peace with the beast and put some primary school anxieties to rest.... I think Ryan hates some of the spelling bits, as that is not his forte- a western child who grew up with spell check as a crutch!
I am teaching English II and III while Ryan has I and IV. I have a BIG class of 30 for English III, so that is my most challenging, and it is late Thursday afternoon, 3:30-5:30, which is not an ideal time for me, as I get pretty low in energy late on Thursday, but I rally, and also allow myself to get to the office late on Thursday so I have energy left over late in the day. They get really rowdy, and it can be insane, but I usually have them under my control... although it feels like I am teaching Middle Schoolers some days.
Ryan's Eng IV is more of a literature class, and he enjoys that very much. I think the students are responding well. Otherwise, it's a lot of regular stuff in our classes, as you might expect: grammar, vocab, oral comprehension, writing exercises, presentations, group-work, mid-terms, homework, all that school stuff. We hear our students like us, but I am sure they would be very hesitant to say otherwise- social pressure! We try to teach them about the world and about others peoples as much as possible, with a sociology/anthropology degree you can't help but read stories about other cultures and ask reading comprehension questions about 'gender roles' etc... they actually find it all very interesting. In my Eng III class we read about birthing ceremonies and rituals in a Guatemalan Indian community, and I had to draw a huge map of the Americas on the board, explain about why they call themselves 'Indians' and why they are minorities, etc., which I totally enjoyed, and they were keen as well- many of the LTS students come from poor families, and didn't make it through what we would call high school, so it is amazing what information we can't take for granted. Of course, some students already have degrees in Engineering, or are school superintendents, in the medical professions, or social work, but the majority, as far as I understand, only went to school until they were 16, when a big test is given in Hong Kong, and only those who pass can move on and continue with schooling.
The school year started with the faculty and student retreat on Cheung Chau island, as we did last year, although this year was much more relaxed than the hectic schedule we had to endure last fall. Thankfully, the Chaplain took note of all the comments that a 'retreat' should not be so stressful that people become ill, and we were given a couple more hours for rest and spiritual exercises.
Ryan continues to be the secretary for the faculty meetings, a job he does well, but he does not enjoy very much. It does, however, mean he is somewhat central in the meetings, and he also enjoys the favor of the Dean. It's especially as AGD when the meeting gets controversial, and all sides battle it over the diction, with Ryan having a big say the exact wording- although the Dean checks all the minutes, and we start every faculty with the notes from the last meeting, and some really go over it with a fine tooth comb, complaining and demanding corrections when it does not suit them! Bear in mind that we are a very collegial and congenial faculty, so nothing is ever nasty, even when we have very divergent opinions, but it can still be exciting. We laugh a lot, and everyone has a good sense of humour. Our meetings are conducted in English, with occasional outbursts in Cantonese, but those are usually Canto jokes that couldn't really be translated. Apparently Cantonese is a very 'cute' language with potential for a lot of language jokes. Our Taiwanese sisters sometimes use Mandarin, and these are very different languages, so that makes for good fun as well. I don't speak either, but I know there are certain words the Dean cannot pronounce in Mandarin, and watching him attempt to use these words is a delight even I can take part in. I guess we repeat a lot of the humour, recycling the same old stuff... but I suspect it helps to create community within the faculty, just as families re-run the same humour, even passing jokes down through the generations. All you need is 5 minutes with Mom's cousins, the Heffners, to see this in action. Likewise, Ryan's whole extended family makes jokes about "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" throughout the year... I am waiting for news that our little nieces have mastered the lines! :)
We have had many fun outings with our family group this semester. At LTS, if you recall, we are all placed in families and meet once a month for social gatherings and bonding time, and the students are suppose to lean on their family for support and get advice from their 'parents', etc., although they all have academic advisers as well. Ryan and I are the 'parents' for the new international students who we taught in the special English summer program, so we have the pleasure of seeing them regularly. It's nice because we had formed a tight bond, and so we have more love and spirit than many of the other groups. As evidence, we had the bi-annual "Seminary Outing" this Monday, and the whole school went to Stanley, on the other side of Hong Kong island, for the day (even the cleaning ladies!), and we play violent and competitive games for half the time, and our family came runners-up, winning prize money! We won first place last year with out former family, and so we had high hopes for the games this year. The school is very Christian and peace loving during most days of the year, but Christian love gets left on campus when the Cantonese start competing for prizes, and things get out of control. We always have many injuries. The nurse was ready. I should note that I am being totally serious. It's so absurd that I must sound sarcastic here, but truly, don't go up against a Chinese Christian unless you are ready to shed blood.
Other family outings have included a boat cruise
off the coast of Sai Kung with other international students, a Barbecue, sorry "BBQ," on our compound, and next month for December we will be hosting a Christmas party. The students are great fun. We have 15 children!In other news, we have adopted a stay kitten that our neighbor, John LeMond, found crying desperately and emaciated and stuck in a large clay pot near Tao Fung Shan Christian Center, up the hill from where we live. He took it home, being an animal lover, and I couldn't resist the tiny thing. He's larger now, and a real 'wild thing' but it's fun to have the little guy around, even though Ryan has claw marks all over his legs from playing with the kitten. We have had him
for about two months now, and he might have been up to 6 weeks old when we was rescued, although he could have been much younger as well. Having been without a mother and proper socialization, he's a little out of control sometimes, but usually he just wants to play, and has never hurt any guest! He entertains himself a lot of the time, but Ryan makes time for active play with him every day to help his brain develop- and hence Ryan looks like he's been crawling over glass regularly. If anyone has advice about how to get a kitten to cut back on biting during play time or using claws when he gets very excited, do pass it along. Strangely, he loves water, and evens showers with me, and also always wants to be in the same room as us, following us from room to room like a dog might. He was named "Cou-cou" by John, but we added "Bonaparte" to give him something more dignified which would match his personality. In China, spoiled children are referred to as "Little Emperors" and we thought he acted a bit that way too, and his aggressive nature coupled with his small stature made me think "Bonaparte" was appropriate. He catches and kills anything that flies into our apartment, so he has lived up to his name.We are well and trying to enjoy our last year in HK. We will be here until mid-June, so we are making the most of our time here by taking advantage of the international city we live in. We found an even better Middle-Eastern restaurant in Central, a Lebanese place, and they have the best falafel! The Egyptian place still has the best moussaka, but this Lebanese place is our current favourite, and the waitress doesn't even ask me what I want anymore- they know us!
I went to a great inter-faith day of peace event at St. John's Cathedral this past Sunday, and did all kinds of meditation and singing and enjoyed great dancing and music and lovely company. HK is extremely multi-religious, and if it exists out there somewhere in the world, you can find it here, and amazingly many of us get along quite well and meet regularly. It's a free and tolerant environment from a religious perspective. The week before that we went to 'the gay Church' and enjoyed worship with a different group of Chinese Christians than we normally meet at our seminary. They were lovely, very gracious and kind, and also employ a Canto pun as part of the title of their congregation. Complex tonal languages have this distinct advantage. The week before that I went with a group to worship at the Sikh Temple/Ashram, and sat on the floor with all these beautifully dressed women in multi-coloured Northern Indian dress for a couple hours before we enjoyed the free Indian lunch that all Sikh temples offer those who venture in. It was delicious! Mass produced, and very Indian, I felt like I was in India- it was just like I have seen on the travel channel!
This is getting too long, so I have to cut myself off here, but I hope this gives you a flavour of what has been going on in our lives.
Love, kisses, and peace,
Katrina (and Ryan, at the grocery store)
