As lightning cracks on the horizon, my newly made friend Lian and I duck into the campus cafeteria to escape the rain, and to grab dinner. Of course, all I can do is stare blankly at the menu because I can’t read any Chinese. “What’s good?” I ask my friend. “Try number two,” he tells [...]
It was the entrance of a superstar. Students started standing up in their seats and applauding. Upon entering the English Corner, Skittles and I looked at each other with something akin to fright. I thought to myself, “It can’t be us they are clapping for. It must be some mistake.” But it wasn’t. And they [...]
We finally made it, arriving more than an hour late for our first English corner (EC). As we entered the room, it erupted with applause; some students even standing to their feet. I couldn't believe it! They were so excited to have us come. I wasn't sure what to do next. “I'm scared!” I whispered [...]
Normally, first meetings with new friends are sort of fun; they're filled with lots of getting-to-know you questions, semi-awkward and hilarious moments, and the seeds for deeper conversations. But my first meeting with Marie was rough; it was centered on Snooker, the English version of pool. There are more obstacles, all of the balls are [...]
What is snooker you may ask… Well it is the longest game in the world. I think you all should Google it. Guess how long it took me, my roommate and our one Chinese friend Maria to finish a game. It took us one hour and thirty minutes. Autumn and I even cheated when Maria [...]
Have you ever played domino’s? If you have, you know that when one domino falls the rest fall with it, and there is no stopping the snowball affect. Imagine if you will, one Asian student getting to know Jesus. He gets taught to the point where he can also tell others about Jesus. He plants a [...]
You know what they say about the ghetto? “Nothing good ever comes out of the ghetto…”, “Those kids won’t amount to anything…” But when something good does happen it seems a whole new light is shed — and a ray of hope beams down for everyone to see. Well I live in the ghetto. Not [...]
I had just awakened after a refreshing nights sleep on my teammates couch. My partner Joy and I had been sleeping in Mcphee and Smileys living room for 10 days while waiting to move into our apartment. I went into the kitchen and that's when I saw it: a giant cockroach heading straight for my [...]
One of the things I like best sometimes in life is getting surprises. All of a sudden when you least expect it something wonderful drops into your lap. This particular surprise came at a precise moment of desperation in my feeling discouraged about being so far away from my Chinese friends I made last year. [...]
As I looked around all I could see were Asian faces everywhere staring at me and my American friends. They started clapping as they were glad that we where there even though we were late. I sat down with a bunch guys surrounding me on three sides and we begin introducing ourselves. They all kept [...]