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jhjazz67
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Name: John
Country: China
Metro: Changchun
Gender: Male
Interests: Finding humor in the everyday. Riding in Chinese taxis.
Expertise: Well, I worked four years for an engineering degree, if that counts...only to teach English in China.
Occupation: Engineering
Message: message me
AIM:  jhjazz67
Member Since:
10/3/2005
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| Yeah, there's no denying the fact that I'm lousy at updating this thing
but anyway....I'm back in Meiguo!! (the "beautiful country"). The body
has pretty much adjusted back to US time though I'm still making up for
lost sleep from the last few months and feeling a little dazed. I
haven't really done much of anything this last week and a half except
for running, walking my dog, and seeing family. Oh, and eating
homecooked food.
Needless to say, leaving China was pretty rough. In a nutso few week
period, I had to finish up giving final exams (for all 255 of my
students), calculate their final grades, clean my apartment (which
admittingly wasn't in top shape and needed lots of elbow grease =)),
and do those "for the last time" things that one must do before leaving
a place they have come to really like. But the hardest part was saying
all the farewells to so many wonderful people that we came to love. The
Thursday we left, I went around to all of my classes to see them one
last time. The number of students wanting hugs got more and more as did
the number of teary students. When I got to my last few classes I
couldn't talk very much (choking up myself) and just allowed the
embracing to do the talking. A pretty sweet moment actually.
I know I've been home for less than two weeks now but there are a few things that I already miss about China.
1.) Having students and friends around all the time.
2.) Hearing English used in such wonderfully inventive ways.
3.) My close buds and family member friends.
4.) The constant people interactions involved in daily life.
5.) Not having to need a car to get around.
6.) No tipping in restaurants.
7.) Cheap food, dumplings, bubble tea, and haw snacks.
Adjusting has been pretty smooth but I've had my moments. At LAX when
we first got back, I went to get some lunch (since I had an looong
layover and journey home). I was convinced that the cashier overcharged
me and was about to say something...but then I remembered, "oh yeah,
there's tax in restaurants in America". Also at LAX, another ELICer and
I had all of our crud and were trying to get on an elevator. This older
man got on first and didn't hold the door for us and almost took off
without us! We managed to get our foot in though. Of course, I was
thinking, "how rude. who does this guy think he is?" and coming from a
place where it often doesn't matter whether or not I voice my thoughts
since no one will understand, I began to rant to my friend. But just in
time I remembered that, "oh yeah, this guy will understand my
words...better internalize that one, John."
Seeing family and eating mama's cooking has been great so far. A cool
surprise about being home, was that a new and rather large Asian
grocery store opened in Louisville. They sell lots of Chinese stuff,
snacks and sauces that I came to like a lot in China. So, my mom,
sister, and I went out there and we stocked up on veggie jiaozi and
boazi. Hmmm. It's also nice to be in a place where you can flush toilet
paper, where lines actually mean something in a store, and where you
don't fear for your life riding in a car (well, a taxi while in China).
My teammate Bruce, pointed out this website to me yesterday. A cool way to continue the work and be involved. www.prayforchina.com
A few pix from last minute photo shoots with friends and pix from home.
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Student Kurt and I.
Terrific Class 3
Wonderful Will and I, the last night.
Dear friends Rocklin and Echo, about an hour before leaving.
A gift from a friend. Pretty sure, this one meant to say "Just for you". 
From the Jay Chou concert. Yep, the biggest pop star in China (and now
I know why...that boy can dance! and sing! and compose!). An awesome
show!
A class party. Fun =)
My students from class 7 (hence, their shirts).
Friend Tom...who's way too light.
Good looking friend, Leon.
Home again.
The band reuniting.
Brother Ted
Sister, Liz.
Family trip to a nearby monastery.
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| Ugh, another long overdue blog post......
Congrats to all my Hopkins folks who graduated last week and best wishes on all the transitions ahead for you. Miss you guys.
So, my parents were here for our May holiday. It was so good to see
them after nearly nine months. I was getting a little nutty in the BJ
airport waiting for them to get through customs. Besides nearly running
them into the ground with my (in hind-sight) packed itenerary, we had
an amazing time. They kept saying "there is just so much to think
about...I don't really know what to say right now." Seems to be a
typical response. In some ways you kind of have to just come,
experience the place but not really process it until later. Here are
some clips from the highlight reel.
Mom and Dad at the Great Wall at Mutianyu.
Us on top of Beihai park, overlooking the Forbidden City.
Teammates, Bruce and Brae, and close friends at a great nearby hot pot restaurant here in Changchun. I love hot pot!
Last week, our school had a culture fair
in which students from each department were required to put on some
sort of display for particular countries. And since, I teach in two
departments.....that meant two sets of students came asking me to
participate in their gigs. It was actually a lot of fun! My Applied
Department students were in charge of representing America, which in
their minds should be represented by having "superstars" (students
dressed up in prom dresses) walking on a red carpet (our school's
track).
Here's a pic of Marty and I walking with some of my students, led by
non-other than a French-Canadian (very American  ) independent
foreign teacher.
After waving to the president of the school and showing my foreign
face, I went back to join my other students, in the Business School,
who were representing China. It was a little surreal at first, since
there obviously isn't a shortage of Chinese people to represent China
in the festival. I got to be their dragon dance! I was the guy who
moves the ball which the dragon follows. It was totally worth the three
days of practice they wanted me to do.
Last week, I went on a picnic with some of my close students. It was a
lot of fun, casual and lose. We ended up going to four parks! which
weren't too far from each other. I really like Chinese park culture. I
will definitely miss this when I leave. On a Saturday afternoon, the
parks are a mixture of retirement community (think crowds of old folks
singing, dancing, playing cards, playing instruments), gambling hall,
dance hall, date spot for the young crowd, amusement park (for the
young kids), strolling path for the walkers, and of course, Wedding
Photo studio. We saw at least six brides and grooms getting their
wedding photos taken, fully dressed out. Such a contrast of images!
My friends demonstrating how they can squat flat footed and how I can't.
My buddy Ducky, posing with one of the brides.
Just an interesting image.
Jay Chou is coming to Changchun on June 16th and we have tickets!! I'm
pumped! I mean Jay Chou, only the biggest singer in China. There are
three other groups part of the show, one of which sings this really
peppy song, Xi Shua Shua.
Speaking of music, Bruce and I both bought erhus, though mine is
eventually going to be a gift for my brother. We made a rackit the
other night trying to learn the scales. We bought them from this musty
shop run by an older collector. It felt like what an old music shop
should feel like, surrounded by cluttered instruments all over the
place.
A man and woman from a nearby
calligraphy/scroll shop. The picture doesn't do justice to the size of
his chops! Probably the coolest facial hair I've seen yet.
One last thing...If any of you reading this would like to correspond
with one of my students, I have many that would really like to talk
with one of "my friends with America".
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| Yes, this was the picture out of my apartment today, looking over
campus. Snow on April 19th....kind of longing for the cherry blossoms
back at Homewood.
A teaching/cultural anecdote:
A few weeks ago, I asked my students as part of their language partner
homework, to tell their partner one thing they want to do before they
die. My intentions were for them to share about their dreams or
something wild that want to do at some point. Well, interestingly, they
interpreted the question as what would they do right before they die if
they knew when that would happen. A large majority of them said they
would be surrounded by their parents, give them all they had (making as
much money for them before hand, of course) and then say "I love you"
(for the first time for a lot of them). While, the answers certainly
made sense and weren't really that surprising I guess, it was just
another reminder that for much of this generation in the PRC, their
purpose in life is still only for their parents. I didn't have the
heart to ask what would they do in the case that they out-lived their
parents, which was out of their minds. Don't get me wrong, I still have
a lot of excitement about how this youth generation will shape the
country. And actually the issue of family has been a great conversation
starter and a few weeks ago lead to an intense (well at least in the
simple English variety) conversation with some students who were over.
That opened some doors and has allowed me chance to share.
Speaking of parents, mine are going to visit during May Holiday!!! In
10 days, I will see them for the first time in about eight months. I'm
a little anxious though, since my limited Chinese will have to order us
food, talk to taxi drivers and get us around. That's another reason I
got a cell phone a few weeks ago....my students = free translators. 
Fun Fotos:
Bruce teaching how to make the "American Classic" PBJ.
Action shot of a typical weekend Chinese food grubbing time.
I had my students write and present parables (after teaching the
parable of the Lost Son). Here is a student in costume after her
presentation. It was a good opportunity to learn some Chinese folklore
(since a lot of them used those stories).
A few weeks ago we had a random power outage at night (something not
uncommon here). It canceled plans for the night but brought us
together, along with the candles we could find. This isn't a great pic
of me but this is one of my closest friends here.
As an update on the life of John after June 27th when I come back, I recently sent this email:
I wanted to notify you that I have decided to accept your offer of
admission into the BU ECE PhD program. I am very thankful for and
excited about this opportunity and look forward to a very full
experience as a student at Boston U. I will be mailing in the official
signed contract to you soon.
Thank you again,
--John Henson
If anyone has any thoughts about BU or other general Boston/grad
school advice I'd really appreciate it. I'm not thinking much about it
now but I figure the transition might be a little sharp.... Leaving is going to be pretty tough though...I've really loved my time here.
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| This past Friday, we finished up
our first full week of classes of the spring semester- a little weird
knowing that spring break is coming in the States. I can already tell
that things will be a little different this semester, mostly in a good
way. It's nice stepping into a classroom where my students know what to
expect and I know better where they're coming from. We've also had some
above freezing weather lately. Actually, quite a bit of it- a little
surprising. It was in the 40s for a few days, only to drop back into the
20s for a few quick snows.
Speaking
of snows, a few weeks ago, my teammate Jennie (the one holding a
penguin) insisted that we take a "family beach portrait" photo. Note
the students and staff in the background, wrapped up in winter clothes
looking at us like we're nuts. My teeth were chattering after about 30
seconds.
This past week was an exhausting
one, but in really positive way. I can already see how the Father is
moving in unexpected yet very faithful ways. This week was packed with
deep conversations and late afternoons and nights talking on my couch.
Things are exciting......
I figured I haven't shared enough about relationships that have been gracing my life over here, so just a few quick anecdotes...
I have a contest going in my classes where my students can write me
emails and do other "use-English" things to earn points. Every three
weeks the top point earners get to come over to Mr. John's apartment
for a party.
She later sent an email which had this paragraph:
And I want to tell you my feelings about
the Jazz,Do you know what I was thinking about when I first listened to
the music?It's your parents. I think the jazz is romatic,so are your
parents.I remember that you have a picture which your parents sit
together and eat icecream .How romatic thay are!You know ,never in my
life had I seen my parents sit together and eat an icecream!That's not
to say,they don't love each other just because all the Chinese don't do
that , and we used to it .IN someways the Chinese are very inplicit
,thay don't always show their true feelings,And we neither say "i love
you beteen parents and kids nor between Mothers and Fathers ,that's
only for the lovers.It's so differentfrom what you Americans do
,right?However ,I don't think it's that important.
She was referring to this picture I have in my apartment. It was on my
parent's anniversary in Baltimore, the night before graduation. This
made me happy.
I must include some evidence from
at least one of the obligatory photo-booth shots I've taken here. Below
are two friends with fun spirits whom you can also have a good
conversation with. They're really curious about important things, so
we've had many a discussion on my couch. Yes, I'm petting the ambiguous
animal Qoo.
When Marty, Bruce, and I were in Singapore, we couldn't not buy this very classy Merlion toliet
paper dispenser for our teammate Katie, a person with classy taste. Pay
close attention to the eyes, they're mesmerizing.
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is Jennie Love. I am John's teammate. I feel as though I
know John on a fairly deep level. Like a faultline level.
Dangerous level where you can make each other cry all the time.
Oh no...that's him who makes me cry. Oh well.
So...for all you people back
home...John is doing ok. He refuses to wash his hair more than
once a week. He wears the same pair of pants for week also.
He washes his hair and pants in the same shower. He gets easily
distracted and won't get back on track until you yell at him.
Otherwise, I guess he's nice.
This is Katie, John's other
teammate. He gave me a toilet paper dispenser.... I don't know
what to make of that. John takes a while to get things
done. Seriously, the only person I know that takes longer to get
things done is Bruce. They're great though....you do hear the
rest of us yell "JOHN" pretty often.
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