Graduation, Chinese Style (sort of)

Wednesday was the graduation ceremony for Wuxi International School.  Monday and Tuesday the kids did nothing but practice for graduation, and, when you see what graduation included, you'll understand why.  This year, we did not have a Grade 12 class.  The Grade 6 students graduated to middle school, and the Grade 9 students graduated to high school.  Except for a few students who are leaving (probably because their parents are moving), they will all be back next year.

Now, even though this is an international school, it is run by the Chinese government, and shares a campus with a Chinese public high school.  So, how do they do a graduation ceremony in China?  Well, first, they have a welcome sign:

Illuminated Signboard:  "Warmly welcome to our Graduation Ceremony!

Perhaps the English is a little rough.  Then, they have speeches.  Principal Hu (whom I have never met) gave a speech in Chinese, with translation by one of the high school students.  Two of the students, a 6th-grader and a 5th-grader, each gave speeches in English, representing the students.  One of the students' parents gave a speech in English, representing the parents.  My colleague April gave a speech, representing the teachers.  Then came the presentation ceremony.  Each student was presented with a diploma, and a bunch of flowers:

The Grade 6 class of Wuxi International School

Note that this is the entire Grade 6 class.  Next, the family and friends were allowed to present gifts (or give presents?):

Family members giving gifts to the graduates.

Graduates holding their gifts

Next, the scholarship recipients were honored.  I don't know what they had to do to earn these scholarships, or what form the scholarships were given in.  I suspect they scored high on some kind of standardized academic test, and the awards were given in cash.  I know these award amounts wouldn't go very far towards defraying the school tuition that their parents pay.

Simon, Cathy, Mona, Dora, Jonathan, Felix, Nora, Alvin, Grace, Linda, Sophie, Jazz, and Sylvia

(Personal note:  Mona and Dora, in grades 4 and 3 respectively, were in my science class.)  Next, they had an all-school chorus:

The Student Body of Wuxi International School

The song they sang was "We Are The World".

Now it's time for my personal version of Where's Waldo?:  Can you spot the student from New Zealand?  I'll give you a hint:  she sticks out like a sugar cookie on a plate of brownies.  Not enough detail in the above picture?  Here's a closer shot:

WIS Grade 1 Students

It's Lilly, the Kiwi.  I had her briefly for Grade 2 Oral English, before two of the teachers returned from a matrimony vacation in the U.S.

Next, they had a piano solo by one of the high school students.

Piano Soloist

He's actually quite good.  After the piano solo came something a bit more fun; a skit from Grade 3 English called "Super Red Riding Hood":

"Super Red Riding Hood"

Guess who's Super Red?

"Grandpa"

And, instead of Grandma's house in the woods, we have Grandpa's house in Shanghai.  Jerry played Grandpa, an old man with a cane who could barely walk until he was given "magic food" to eat.  Of course, the story had a moral:  "It's always good to share."

After the morality play, came a martial arts demonstration by the Grades 1 & 2 boys.  Here's the best photo I could find of this:

 But this thing really needs a video clip to capture the visual performance.

While watching this demonstration, it occurred to me that one of the boys might have a mild learning disability, like AS.  Of course, that sort of thing is not really talked about in China or Korea (in my experience).

After the martial arts demonstration, came my students, the Grade 7 class.  They sang the song "Not Alone", based on Michael Jackson's rendition.

From left:  Rika, Teresa, Qi, Ryan, Alex, Cathy, Jenny

(There is one student hidden behind Alex.  She's not in my class, and I don't know her name.)  I would upload some video, to give you an idea of what I've been hearing at lunchtime for the past two weeks, but the video is almost 64 MB, and I'm on a slow DSL connection.  Instead, if you can just imagine the song "Not Alone" being sung by several middle school students, from Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and mainland China, you'll get a pretty good idea.

After my students, some boys from the primary grades attempted to sing "For The Longest Time" by Billy Joel.  I say 'attempted' because this song can really not be done without off-beat snapping.  Apparently, that is a skill that these boys have yet to learn.  We'll give them time.  They're young yet.

Next came another piano solo:

(Sorry, I didn't see Ali walking by when I took that shot.)  After the piano solo, the Grade 1 and Grade 2 students came out and sang a song in both English and Chinese, apparently called "Peace and Happiness".  I didn't recognize the song, I think it's a traditional Chinese song.  Some Grade 3 students (in teal) did hand motions:

Grades 1, 2, and 3 Students

After this song came something I cannot describe.  I'm just going to have to try to upload the video, and hope that it works:

After that unique performance, the girls in Grades 5 & 6 did a dramatic recitation of Shel Silverstein's poem, "Sick".  Sorry, no pictures from that one (none of them were my students), but it was very entertaining.

Following the poem, we had a performance called "Summer Dance", with the Grades 1 & 2 girls:

I thought the girls were very cute, even if the lyrics and motions were rather mature for that age group.

 After the dance, we had something a bit more serious.  There was a video presentation, showing clips of the students who were graduating.  First there were short clips, then clips with them smiling or laughing, then clips with them looking more serious.  Then, they showed longer clips, where the graduates were expressing their gratitude and "warm fuzzy feelings" (my term) for the school.  After that clip, there was a song:  "I Believe I Can Fly."  Then, the graduates lined up in two groups, like this:

Sally (6th), Sharilyn (6th), Sophie (6th), Wandy (9th), Desmond (9th), Michael (6th), Ali (6th), Allan (6th), Daniel (6th), Jesmond (6th), Anson (6th)

Then, they thanked their parents in whatever language they chose.  Sharilyn and Sophie, from Singapore, spoke English.  The rest used Malay, Korean, Urdu, Mandarin, Cantonese,or whatever language they felt comfortable using.  I felt that was much better than trying to make them all speak in English.

After this, came something a bit more lighthearted, but especially meaningful to me.  Some of the senior high students took it in turns to recite "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss.  Now, this was meaningful to me, not merely because I grew up on Dr. Seuss, but also because the content is very applicable to my life, and especially my current situation.  What places have I gone to?  Korea and China, all because I didn't find any streets in the U.S. that I wanted to go down.

When they came to the section in the poem with a list of names, they replaced those names with the names of the graduates.

Next came a presentation of Certificates of Merit, for some kind of academic excellence:

This was done while the band set up behind them  Yes, we had a band.  Two of the players were my students.  Desmond, from Malaysia, on backup acoustic guitar:

And Ryan, from South Korea, on drum kit for the second song.  I couldn't get a good photo of Ryan (backup electric guitar kept getting in the way), but here's the whole band, performing the song, "Yellow" by Coldplay:

During part of the song, some of the students were up on the balcony, doing this:

I think someone blew up some 200 yellow balloons to make this possible.

That's the last event I have photos of for that day.  After this was another all-school musical number.  This time, all the teachers were expected to join the students on the stage.  I complied, of course, trying to get in the spirit of things.  Then there was a big buffet-style lunch in the dining hall, which had plenty to choose from.  Then, there was nothing more for me to do but head for my apartment, stopping at the market on the way there to do a little grocery shopping.

Knitting
No more progress to show you on any of my projects.  I did, however, find additional sources for knitting needles in the market.  They seem to be mostly small sizes, and the size numbers seem to be more like the U.K. system than anything else.  If someone could find some info on the U.K. needle sizing system, and post a link to it, I'd appreciate it.

Prayer Requests
My big evening on Wednesday went well, so you can praise God for that.  Now, however, I learn that they want me to do more of them; at least six more on the schedule, in fact!  This has nothing to do with the quality of my work, as the guy who made up the schedule was not there.  I need God's help to do this.  Please pray that God will grant me the grace and wisdom to serve Him well in this area.

Also, I'm looking for paid summer work.  I just learned on Wednesday that I will not be needed for summer camp at WIS, because (news flash) the middle-school students don't want to take math classes in the summer.  Jane offered to help me find a part-time job, but she also suggested that I look for one.  Well, I found an ad on Wuxi Life for native-speaking English teachers for the summer, and I sent in my résumé.  Looks like I'll have an interview on Saturday, exact time TBD.  The location is downtown, very close to the church building.  Please pray for this interview to go well.  I don't know how much it pays, but I could really use any extra cash.

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading, and thanks for praying.  God bless.

Shopping for Yarn

So, today I went to church, as I do now every Sunday, at Wuxi Protestant Church in downtown Wuxi.  A. was not there, she's still on that company-arranged excursion.  The sermon was on the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  The pastor did well to focus on the faults of the elder brother, but he listed seven specific faults, when it seemed to me that Pride was behind every one of them.  Pride, however, was never actually mentioned.

After the service, I found an English-speaking Chinese woman who I had met earlier, and asked her to help me.  I had decided to purchase some wool yarn.  I had written down in my notebook, "I want to buy 100% wool yarn," and I asked her to write it in Chinese characters.  She had to talk with someone else, to make sure she understood what I meant, and the other woman (who is a sermon interpreter) actually wrote some Chinese in my notebook, with pinyin to guide my pronunciation.  Armed with this translation, I walked out of the church and made my way to Hou Xi Xi.

While I was making my way there, I heard something nearby, that sounded like a million crickets all chirping at once.  I looked around, and found that I wasn't far off the mark:

Cricket Seller

Yes, some Chinese really do keep live crickets as pets, and apparently they buy them in little wicker cages, from sellers like this man.  Don't believe me?  Here's a closeup:

 

 

 

Caged Cricket

Click for a better look.  This one's sticking an antenna and leg out.  Just a little local color to add some visual interest to my blog.  Now returning to your regularly scheduled narrative.

Hou Xi Xi is also called the fabric market in English.  There is a sign on the main road pointing the way to it.  In and around a walled courtyard are vendors of fabric, and notions, and tailors too.  Lots of fabric available.  Some of my colleagues go there to get clothing custom made.  I went there to find a source of buttons, which was successful, but I also found a yarn shop, which was fortuitous.  No needles or other supplies, apparently, just yarn, in boxes, which I didn't expect the first time.  No English either, which is normal.  I've been back there once or twice since, looking for needles and crochet hooks, with no success.  This time, however, I knew they would have something.

I went in the front door, said "Ni hao", and tried to sound out the pinyin words that my friend had written for me.  They motioned to see what I was reading, so I showed them the Chinese characters.  One woman pointed me to some blue and white self-patterning yarn, that seemed about sock weight.  She pointed to a blue-and-white sweater which was apparently made from the yarn.  Looked nice, felt like wool, the box said 100% something, but not what I wanted.  I wanted plain yarn in worsted weight, preferably a few balls of blue and a few balls of red.  (All their yarn is apparently pre-wound.)  I did not have the language skills or tools to communicate that.  I did, however, motion to some boxes of plain yarn in blue and in red, and looked at the tags.  I could tell that they were blends of something.

Eventually, a woman showed me some boxes of plain yarn.  There was some red, but it was a bit too bright for my taste, and perhaps not enough of it.  Eventually, I found this:

Box of Gray Yarn

I know the light isn't great in the photo.  It's a heathered gray, seems to be about a light worsted weight, and there are four 100-g balls and two 50-g balls.  Smells like wool, the tag says 100% something, and the washing instructions say 20°C-40°C.  It should felt OK.  Seems like it's boxed in quantities for a baby sweater, or something like that.  I'm not sure whether to use two or three strands to make my hot mitt.  This box cost 50 RMB.  That seemed fair.

After that purchase, I wanted to take myself out to lunch, to celebrate my birthday.  I was thinking of a Korean place that I had been to once with my friends, but I didn't want to get lost trying to find it.  I wandered around for a little while, and eventually saw a Pizza Hut sign.  A few days ago I had been craving pizza.  I decided this would be good enough for a birthday meal in China:

Pan Pizza and Red Bean Smoothie

The pan pizza was a supreme, with normal American toppings.  I also had a red bean smoothie, which is distinctly Chinese.  I had enjoyed a red bean soup at a wedding feast (and I do mean "feast") the previous Sunday, and this was also quite tasty.  I must find some of these red beans, and learn how to cook with them.

Of course, no birthday meal is complete without a birthday cake.  My family knows that I prefer a strawberry sparkle cake, made with Angel Food cake mix and strawberry Jell-O.  Not much chance of getting that in China, but I did order this:

Strawberry Ice-Cream Cake

This was the closest thing I could find.  I won't say it's better than the strawberry sparkle cake my mother makes, but it was enjoyable.  Lunch wasn't cheap (by my standards here), but I don't celebrate a birthday every day.  I also got a "Happy Birthday" text from A.  (I had mentioned my birthday to her on Thursday.  I was pleased that she remembered.)

So, that's how I celebrated my first birthday overseas.  Not a big to-do, but I did get some presents from home, and had a good meal.  Speaking of which, it's past time for me to start dinner, so I'd better wrap this up.  No new knitting news or prayer requests beyond what was already mentioned today.  Thanks for reading.  God bless.

Connected, Finally!

Yesterday, while I was eating lunch (a little late), came a knock on my door.  Actually, a few knocks.  When I opened it, there was Lao Pan, the school driver.  Pan doesn't speak much English, but I knew what he wanted.  He was in charge of making sure my Internet connection got set up, and that was due.  When I let him in, he made a phone call, and after a conversation, he handed the phone to me.  It was Jane, the vice principal at my school, who speaks excellent English.

Jane had two things to tell me.  One, about the Internet access, the installers would be at my apartment at 1:30.  That gave me about half an hour or so.  Two, there was a package for me at the school office.  Pan would drive me to the school to pick it up, then drive me back to my apartment to wait for the Internet installers.  I don't really like riding with Pan, because he smokes, but it really wouldn't work any other way.  The weather was a bit wet, and I don't want to ride my bike in the rain.  So, I went with him, leaving my last serving of fried rice in the wok, and got the package.  I decided not to open it immediately.  Then, we came back, I finished my rice, and we waited for the China Telecom installers.

The installation went smoothly, and now, finally, I have Internet access in my apartment!  I tried to celebrate by arranging a video chat with my mom, but she's not available at a convenient time.  (It's hard with a 15-hour time difference.)  So, I chose to open the package by myself:

Clockwise from top:  peanuts, size 15 (10 mm) DPNs, crochet hooks, birthday card, care package box

Yes, it's my birthday, June 26.  My sister and brother-in-law already sent me an early present before I left.  (Actually, their present was a gift that keeps on giving, so it's good for birthday & Christmas both.)  My mother was also very generous, but she sent me a little something anyway.  Size 15 double-pointed needles, an assorted package of crochet hooks, and peanuts.  All things that are probably available in China, but rather hard to find.  Also a card.  Thanks, Mom!

Knitting
Well, I promised pictures of the completed cardigan when I had good lighting.  Yesterday the weather was blustery, but this morning there's enough sunlight in my apartment to take some decent pics.  So, here they are.  First, a picture of the partially completed helmetliner:

Because it's black, I actually added artificial lighting (a good lamp that I bought at Carrefour).  You can see that have only the face ribbing left to do, and there is plenty of yarn remaining.  This should be very soft and warm when it's done.

And now, the fully knit cardigan:

Cardigan, Front, Full View

Detail of Back Cable (Saxon Braid, modified)

I haven't tried it on yet, it's way too warm and humid for that, but I think the collar turned out nicely.  I used size 4 needles for all the ribbing, including the collar, and size 6 for the body.  On the lapel, I picked up 4 stitches on the selvage for every 6 knit rows, and I think that was the right amount.  It doesn't pucker, and it doesn't gape or sag.  I used a YO k2tog buttonhole, and I like the size I got.  I went up one needle size to bind off in rib, and it's just tight enough without being too tight.

In order to complete the 3" collar, I had to rip out a swatch.  Since this was a self-designed pattern, with two different cables, I had three swatches.  I chose to rip out the smallest one.  I skeined it on the back of a chair, tied it, soaked it in water to relax the fibers, and dried it on the clothesline.  When I spit-felted it on and finished knitting and binding off the collar, this is what I had left:

Leftover Yarn

Not bad, eh?  I also have a little more extra from the sleeves, and I think that should be enough to sew on 4 buttons.  Now, I just need to buy the buttons.  I want to take my friend A. with me when I go button shopping, because she speaks and reads Chinese.  (She should, after all.  She was born here.)  Unfortunately, she's traveling this weekend.  So, button shopping will wait.

However, yarn shopping may not wait.  I want to make a pair of hot mitts, one blue and one red.  Now that I have the #15 DPNs (see above), all I need is the yarn.  I think I know where to buy the yarn.  The trouble is making sure I get 100% wool.  Rarely do I find a vendor that speaks English.  Some don't even speak Standard Chinese (Mandarin), just the local Wuxi dialect.  This is especially true of the older generation, and knitting in China seems to be mostly done by older women.  I might have to take A. with me for that, too.

As for socks, I left my favorite sock pattern book with my Mom.  She, however, doesn't actually use that pattern, she does reinforced flap heels, and I taught myself short-row heels.  I've asked her to scan and send me pages from that book.  Because of the formatting, they may not scan well.  We'll see.  Meanwhile, I'm trying not to wear any holes in the socks I have.

Prayer Requests
I continue to enjoy spending time with A.  This last Thursday I tested her cooking skills, and she passed with flying colors, in Chinese style.  (Beating eggs with chopsticks, etc.)  My kitchen is a little spartan, but she did fine, and I got a few more things to make next time a little easier.  Please pray that there will be many more next times.

Also, I have a big day on Wednesday, that has nothing to do with school.  I know that I won't be able to do this without God's help.  Please pray that God would use me for His glory.

That's all for now.  I've got to get ready for church.  Thanks for reading, and thanks for praying.  God bless.

Strange Encounter

Yesterday, after supper, I met a friend at the bus stop, and we took the bus to church for the Wednesday night international fellowship.  After the meeting, we made plans to meet again today for supper before she drove me to a fellowship at a private home.  Then, we parted to take our separate buses home, and that's where something strange happened.

When I boarded the 35 bus, it was extremely crowded.  Forget about finding a seat, you were lucky to find a handrail to grab.  I found myself next to a group of young people, about 3 girls and 3 guys, and their behavior was a bit unruly.  In fact, they seemed to be arguing, and getting physical, pushing and shoving and doing other things that didn't look so nice.  I tried to ignore it for as long as I could, but then one of the guys started to get the upper hand, and he seemed to be enjoying the pain he was causing.

Now, I was raised to be a gentleman, and a gentleman comes to the aid of a lady in distress.  I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but I was pretty sure it wasn't appropriate.  I didn't know what else to do, so I hit the guy with my open hand, not hard enough to hurt, but  hard enough to get his attention.

"Knock it off," I said.  The guy seemed to be ready to go after me instead, but he was restrained, either by his friend, or by the trouble he would get into if he hurt a foreigner, I'm still not sure.  "Calm down," I said, with appropriate hand motions.  That seemed to be understood better.

"Just a joke," he said.  "Only joking."  Now, I know Koreans will hit and shove and get pretty rough, all in good fun.  I wasn't sure about Chinese.  But, the young lady didn't seem to think it was very funny.

Then, another young man and woman in the group started to get physical.  "Hey, get a room," I scolded.  Then, I realized that the young lady was not a willing participant in the interaction.  When she was released, she was very upset, and started yelling at the first guy, and then she took out a phone, and a bus card, and shoved them angrily at the first guy.  I interpreted it as some kind of breakup.  Here, take your phone and bus card back.

Two of the young ladies were carrying flowers, dyed carnations individually wrapped, about half a dozen each.  After a little while, the second lady (the one who had handed back the phone and bus card) took one of her flowers and handed it to me.  I wasn't quite sure how to respond, so I just said "Xie xie," which means "Thank you" in Mandarin.

A Chinese brother from the fellowship had apparently boarded the bus after me.  He made his way to where I was, carrying his Bible, in time to greet me before witnessing the gift of the flower.  He offered to be my interpreter if I wanted to say something to the girl.  Since I wasn't interested in starting a relationship under such circumstances, I declined.

After I got off at my stop, I reflected on how odd that was.  The young lady simply handed me a flower, without a word.  (Of course, she might not have been able to speak much English, although most of the younger generation at least speaks some.)  I should have asked the brother to ask the young lady why she gave me the flower, what (if anything) it meant.  But, I didn't think of it in time.  So, I'm left with this flower,

and without an adequate explanation of why I have it.  I will leave it on the table for my friend tomorrow, and tell her the story over supper.  Maybe she'll find it amusing, and maybe she'll have an explanation for me.  Maybe it'll just be something to talk about.

Knitting
I'm done binding off the brown cardigan, and it looks good.  I'll get some pictures later, when I have time and good lighting.  I'm not going to model it, I'd ruin it with my sweat.  (It's that hot and humid out.)  My Chinese friend will be traveling this weekend, some kind of company-arranged leisure trip, so I'll wait on the button shopping until later when she can come.  Haven't started the face ribbing for the helmetliner yet.  And, I'm waiting on needles in a care package before I start my next project.  I also want to take a Chinese friend when I go to buy yarn, to make sure I get 100% wool.  It will be a felted project.

Prayer Requests
I'm very happy to be making friends outside of work.  One friend in particular, a Chinese girl I'll call A., seems happy to spend time with me, and the feeling is mutual.  Please pray for this relationship.

That's all for now.  I've got to go supervise an exam.  Thanks for reading, and thanks for praying.  God bless.

Bike Ponchos of Wuxi

Last Tuesday, June 14, was very wet.  While that was a bit unpleasant and inconvenient for me, it gave me the chance to take pictures of a subject that you might find interesting.  I would like to show you what my bus ride home looked like:

Typical Bike Poncho

E-bike riders wear them too.

The e-bike ponchos often have slits for mirrors, and a clear panel for the headlights.

This poncho has a front flap large enough to protect the basket.

Poncho Blowing in the Headwind

No raingear for this couple.  They're sitting under a viaduct, waiting for a break in traffic.  Presumably they have their love to keep them warm.

Cyclist with Umbrella

I have not yet attempted this technique.

Nor do I wish to try it.  It looks precarious.

Trike rider with an umbrella; somewhat more stable.

Frontal view of e-bike poncho in use.

Another Bike Poncho

The child sitting in the passenger seat (click for larger view) is also wearing a poncho.

Yet Another Bike Poncho

Some of them go pretty fast.

Two motorcycle taxis with special umbrellas fixed to their bikes, to protect the passenger as well as themselves.

Sea of umbrellas

See that motorcycle next to the bus, with the white boxes strapped on the top and side?  That's typical here, too.

A pink umbrella is better than nothing.

Even a pink ruffled umbrella.

And now, for variety, a pair of commercial trucks.

Commercial trucks apparently have to paint their license number on the tailgate.

Is the tailgate number more legible than the license plate?

Perhaps a little bit.

Can you read the tailgate number?

Two on an e-bike.  Apparently, a mom taking her daughter home from school.

One of the less-expensive e-bikes; still has a passenger seat.

I don't know how much a flapping poncho increases drag.  Apparently, not enough to make people adopt more aerodynamic rain-gear.  The relatively warm temperature might have something to do with it.

So, what does this say about China?  Riding bikes in the rain, wearing street clothes, is apparently so common that stores here sell a type of bicycle rain gear not found in the U.S., and this is the most common type of rain-gear used by those on bikes or e-bikes.  (BTW, I went to Carrefour on Saturday to purchase one of these ponchos myself, but they were sold out.)  This is not recreational riding; this is transportation.  I doubt people would be riding in the rain if they had a choice.  So, they must not be able to afford more comfortable transportation.

Now, some people in China can afford comfortable transportation.  One nice Chinese girl that I know, whose English is good enough to translate sermons, does have her own car, a fairly nice one.  She's given me a ride in it a few times.  I know that her last job involved translating between English and Chinese, and it probably paid pretty well.  Her current job, for a German company, apparently requires speaking English as well.  She is fairly young, and apparently in graduate school.  It seems that knowing English, more than anything else, allows access to the good jobs in China.

Knitting
Well, I may have located a source for knitting needles.  It's in the Chinese market I mentioned earlier.  Also, I showed my knitting to a Chinese friend (the girl mentioned above) when she was over at my apartment.  She apparently practices some kind of fiber craft (I don't quite understand what), and knows a store near where she lives with her parents; unfortunately on the other side of Wuxi.  She did, however, volunteer to buy things for me, whatever I needed.  I told her I'd see what I needed after my care package arrived.

Also, I'm in the process of binding off my brown cardigan.  I did have to rip out a small swatch (the smallest of three) to have enough yarn to finish the ribbed button band.  I'll take a photo when I finish, and when the lighting is good.  I'm starting to plan my button-shopping trip; hopefully I can take a Chinese friend along.

The cap of the helmetliner is finished; I only have the face ribbing to do, and it looks like I'll have plenty of yarn.

Also, I finally tested the thrift-store DPNs I bought against my needle gauge.  They are apparently not numbered in US, British, or Metric sizes.  I don't even remember what sizes they actually were, except that one of them was about a US #10½.  Apparently they are sized with some Chinese needle size system.  Well, I don't think I have any other DPNs in that size, so they may still be useful.  I would like to have a needle gauge that measures in mm and not just US sizes.

Prayer Requests
I'm starting to develop relationships outside of school.  Praise God for the body of believers, being able to gather together in fellowship!  Otherwise, it could be pretty lonely here.  I enjoyed eating supper with a Chinese girl at my apartment on Thursday.  She works in my neighborhood, and she offered to drive me to the fellowship at the apartment of a couple that participates in the international worship service.  She came to my apartment, and I served stir-fried rice before we left for the fellowship.  Then, on Sunday after church, we attended a Chinese wedding, and ate lunch there together.  She's pretty nice.  I hope I can get to know her better.

I had to deal with a discipline issue today.  It was the student I mentioned in the last post, the one who made the obscene gesture.  She apparently didn't really know what it meant.  I assigned her lines in English and Chinese.  I had to go to the school administration to get them to enforce it.  I was disappointed that my teaching assistant didn't back me up, but glad that the administration did support me.  Please pray for my relationships at school, with the students as well as with my colleagues and administration.

Also, tomorrow the students start taking their finals.  Please pray that they will try hard and remember what they have studied.

That about does it.  Thanks for reading, and thanks for praying.  God's blessings to you all.