50 kids

Hello,

ah, this place is crazy. i really can't believe i'm in jing zhou, china. visiting marcus here has made it so much more of a unique experience. he's been here teaching english for the last year and a half so he knows a lot of people. on sunday i went to an orphanage with martin (marcus's brother) and their friend marcus. the guy we visited really cares about kids, and now has 50 or so (yes, 50 adopted kids). i couldn't believe it but it is absolutely true. while we were there he invited us to what we thought was a party for one of his kids getting accepted to the chinese army (the red army). this is a big honor and families usually have a big feast. but what it turned out to be was one of his sons (he calls all of the orphans son or daughter, and they call him uncle) going to the army--meaning, in his full gear, getting on the bus to go for two years of service. it was a heavy emotional experience for the kid and the family. it was very strange being there.

a few of the 50 kids waving goodbye to us. they were screaming "goodbye teacher!!" over and over again. they were talking to the others, not me.


for a lot of the time i hang out with marcus and his friends he has made in china. they are such cool people and i have felt so comfortable here in their company. we watch movies, play games, and laugh a lot. every weekday i go to class with marcus. i give them a little speech about myself and then they ask me questions. chinese students are the hardest working people i have ever met. i can't even imagine what it would be like to study as much as they do.

christmas is not as visible here as it was in japan and hong kong. but since it is cold out, i've got the christmas spirit inside me. That and while i'm typing this i'm listening to yahoo's launch music program with ella fitzgerald singing The Christmas Song. that's all you really need to put a big smile on your face.

happy christmas
have a good day

your friend
chad