November: Seasons Change, but Service Remains

A REMINDER TO SERVE:

November at Kunming International Academy (KIA) started with AMP Week, a week during which the students are challenged to "amplify" their spiritual walks with Christ.  During each school day, periods were shortened by ten minutes and a convocation was held after seventh period.  The school brought in a guest speaker (pictured below, but un-named for security reasons) from Memphis, Tennessee who exhorted our middle and high school students to be like the Good Samaritan, helping not only their friends but anyone in need of their assistance.  I must admit, that the speaker also challenged me:  believe it or not, I can be a bit abrasive to people with whom I am not friends.  I say that a bit tongue in cheek, but ask my wife, and she will tell you just how judgmental I can be.  Too often I am like the priest and the Levite, when I am called to be like the Samaritan.  Our speaker reminded all of us that God calls us to serve and not just who we want to serve, but everyone.

ANNUAL SERVANT AUCTION:

Each year, the grade 11 students hold a servant auction, during which people bid on the skills of the various students.  Traditionally, the servant auction is held during the second semester.  However, because the graduating class of 2015 is a bit larger than usual, we decided to have two events--one in each semester.  My half of the homeroom had our auction during the middle of the month.  Students, parents, teachers, and administrators seeking a worker are shown the skills of each prospective "servant."  Because people usually struggle to get the hang of bidding, this year, I auctioned a box of my homemade brownies and peanut-butter-M&M cookies to get people in the mood.  I wish I could say that the people in the photo below are bidding on my baked goods, but alas, it would be a lie.  In any case, the servants raised much money (the auction is held to defray the cost of the Jr./Sr. Spring Banquet, which the junior class sponsors each year), and we gave ten percent of it to help raise scholarships for the children of migrant workers, who otherwise would not be able to afford attending a local Chinese school.

The picture below shows our two MC/auctioneers, Peter and Justin, extolling the particular virtues of one young servant.  I believe she is covering her face because the PowerPoint at the upper left says that one of her skills is that she can "paly violin," instead of being able to "play" the violin.  Most of the students gave us a list of their abilities--organizational skills, language skills (English, Korean, and Chinese mostly), computer skills, musical abilities, abilities with children, and more.  However, one student actually auctioned off her artistic abilities by having people bid on a piece of art she created in class.  We also sold popcorn outside the doors to the auditorium, so even if one could not find a servant, one could still enjoy some good munchies.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS WHAT?:

To an American foreigner living in China, two time oddities exist:  one, China has only one time zone; and two, China does not observe Daylight Savings Time.  The first actually makes sense, from the aspect of business and government efficiency.  When the entire country is on the same time, then business within China's borders--as well as outside of China's borders--are certain of operating hours, making it much easier to be certain when initiating and concluding business.  While this will mean that the east side of China receives substantial early-morning sunlight and the west side of China receives a dizzying amount of late-afternoon sunlight, the overall benefits of a single timezone, especially in a rapidly developing nation, totally makes sense.  As far as the lack of Daylight Savings Time:  I guess this only really affects an American foreigner who has grown up with the twice-annual need for changing one's clock.  And when it comes to Kunming City, which is roughly equal to the latitude of the southern tip of Texas, the overall impact of no time change is rather minimal.  Yes, the sun comes up later and goes down earlier, but we still receive quite a bit of daytime sun.  The picture below is the dimmer morning sky as I arrived at school in November.  A single male Chinese teacher from our neighboring Chinese elementary school is the only other person on campus, and the light coming from his door means he must have just been brushing his teeth at the outdoor sink on his floor.  The rest of the xiao qu appears to be still slumbering.  In any case, these darker mornings, even though they are warmer than what I was used to in Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, and Montana, still remind me of winter.  I can see my breath, and I like that.  I look forward to "winter"--December and January--when I might be able to see my breath all-day-long.

OUR BABY BEAR:

One thing of which western foreigners with babies or toddlers always get accused of by Chinese parents and grandparents is failing to dress the little ones with enough clothing.  Of course, those same foreigners look at how many clothes the Chinese children wear and shake our heads thinking Those poor kids are going to sweat to death!  It is not unusual, even in early summer, to see children Chinese children running around in long pants and long-sleeved shirts . . . , with long-underwear on underneath their clothing.  Conversely, there have still been days in November (and now in early December) when Oswin has still been seen running around in short pants.  Well, it has gotten a bit chillier, so when we go out walking after dinner, we have started to feel the need to dress August (and yes, Oswin) a bit warmer.  That is why we busted out the bear suit.  For the most part, he loves it.  Plus, his numerous Chinese "nai nai's" (grandmothers) do not feel the need to reprimand Suli for not adequately dressing the wee-one in warm clothing.  Strangely enough, one of August's Chinese ai yi's (a title meaning 'aunt,' given to any female roughly the same age as the child's genetic aunt--yi ma) was holding him at night while Suli and she talked, when another Chinese woman audibly asked a friend, "Is she holding a dog?"  Well, really!  I never!  He is not a dog!  He is a bear!

THIRD ANNUAL THANKSGIVING CREPE BRUNCH:

This year marked the third time Suli and I hosted a "potluck" crepe brunch during Kunming International Academy's (KIA) Thanksgiving break.  Unlike the previous two years, I organized this year's event for the Friday after Thanksgiving, rather than on Thanksgiving Day.  This allowed us--the Franks and our guests--to more leisurely enjoy our crepe feast, because very few of us had lunch plans to which we needed to rush.  Like both previous years, Suli and I provided the crepes and a couple toppings; our guests brought all the other toppings.  One "big" change from previous years was the presence of two other Chinese people.  At the first two crepe brunches, the only Chinese attendee was on of my former Chinese language teachers, Kim Zhang.  You see, the Chinese just do not do morning parties:  it is just too unusual for them.  However, this year was a bit different.  Kim made a repeat appearance.  But my current Chinese language teacher decided to come.  She recently moved into the same neighborhood as the school, so she did not feel quite so daunted by the idea getting up a bit earlier to go to a mid-morning party.  Also, a former KIA Chinese language teacher (and friend of Suli's) was in the area, and she came as well.  The crepes were still a bit too sweet--maple syrup, chocolate syrup, Nutella, whipped cream, caramel-pecan praline topping, et. al.--for our Chinese guests, but their presence definitely made the event feel more international.  I also made one logistical change in the production of the crepes:  I started making them an hour (instead of a half hour, as in previous years) before anyone arrived.  With about fifteen minutes before guests started arriving, I had produced the pile you see in the picture below.  I do not know how many that was, but at least this year we never ran out, leaving people to wait as each new crepe was being made.  We ended up serving approximately 80 crepes.

FRANKS FAMILY TRADITION:

When I was growing up, the Franks family tradition, as I remember it, was to put up the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving evening.  (We would take it down on New Year's Day.)  Well, Suli likes this tradition, so we brought out the tree, our brand new lights that we brought from the States this summer, and our ornaments, and after Oswin went to bed, we erected our tiny tree.  August particularly loved the shiny ornaments and the white Christmas lights.  Only one problem:  when I first plugged in the string of lights, I failed to use our electricity converter.  Initially, when I plugged in the lights, they shone beyond brilliant.  Both Suli and I stared in disbelief at how bright they were, thinking that these American lights were so much better.  We placed all the ornaments on the tree and stood back in awe of our tiny but beautiful little tannenbaum.  We turned away to start putting away the storage containers that had held the tree and ornaments, and when we looked back, one strand of lights had gone out.  Suddenly, the second darkened in front of our very eyes.  By the time I reached the outlet, the third and final strand had gone out, never to come back on.  Thankfully, we had brought six strands of lights from the States.  So we took our tree "apart," replaced the strands of lights with new ones, put the ornaments back on, plugged in the converter, and finally plugged the light strands into the converter, and we had our tree.  Granted, it was much dimmer than the original, but at least it is remaining lit.

We pray all of our family and friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we also pray that all of you will experience the Blessing of Christmas, not only as we approach it, but even as we work through the coming year.  Merry Christmas!  And may God Bless everyone!