复活节快乐! Happy Eas†er!

After living and teaching abroad for seven months now, I have seen many, many cultural differences between Ch¡na and America. Some are traditional and ancient, occurring only in Ch¡na and having no American equivalent. Others are customs that outwardly seem the same in each country, but their respective meanings are anything but. Take whistling, for instance. In America, we whistle to accompany music, to convey thoughts, or simply to express that we are in a good mood. In Ch¡na, on the other hand, whistling has a history of being used as a command in potty training. Ch¡nese moms will hold their babies and whistle, and the children will instinctively do their business through the perfectly-circular holes in their trousers — often right onto the ground. Pretty big contrast, huh? This simple action of whistling happens all over the world, but it has the potential to mean something very different, depending on where you are. (Don't even get me started on the stares I get when whistling in a crowd of what is probably a group of formerly whistle-trained adults.)

There is one thing, however, one fact that rings the same profound truth no matter where you go or with whom you speak: Je5us died once for all.

“For Chπ¡st also suffered once for s¡ns, the righteous for the unr¡ghteous, to bring you to G0d. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Sp¡r¡t.” (1 Peter 3:18)

This Easter, it doesn’t matter that I am immersed in a distant, foreign culture, away from my family and friends, unable to w0rship with them at chrch on Eas†er morning. It’s a bummer, for sure, but it’s not important. For no matter where I am, no matter the language in which I pπay, no matter the people with whom I gl0rify HIS name — it happened. Je5us died. Our perfect Sav¡0r took on the s¡ns of an imperfect world so that we might have salvat¡on. “Chπ¡st was sacrificed once to take away the s¡ns of many.” (Hebπews 9:28) Because he loves us. All of us.

Salvat¡0n in Chπ¡st means the same thing all over the earth. Its significance does not change depending on local language and culture. It does not apply in one country but not the other. It does not have conditions, disclaimers, or an expiration date. It is universal. Just as our G0d is omnipresent and eternal, so too is our salvat¡0n in Chπ¡st Je5us. “The death he died, he died to s¡n once for all,” explains Paul in the book of Romans. “But the life he lives, he lives to G0d.” (6:10)

Wherever we are this year, may we remember the empty tomb on Easter morning as a guarantee that Je5us lives, and so do we. Let us live to G0d as Je5us did during his time on earth so that “we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.” (1 C0rinthians 15:52)

All glory to the G0d and Father of our Sav¡0r Je5us Chπ¡st! In his love and mercy he has given us new life through the resurrection of his Son from the dead. H0sanna!

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Mandarin Word of the Day: substitute

Chinese characters: 代替 (代 = taking the place of, to substitute, to replace; 替 = to substitute | replacement) 

Pinyin pronunciation: dàitì

Observations (观测)

I have been wanting to write another post for a few days now, but I have thankfully been very busy! I have been exploring the city, meeting new people, and doing some good ol' fashioned learnin'. Since many of my readers (hi, guys!) have never been to Yinchuan, let alone China, I thought I would use this post to talk about some of the cultural differences I have observed so far. Let's begin!

1. Loogies. I don't know if this is a "small" city thing or a general China thing, but the men here hock loogies like it's their job. The louder the hock, the better. On the bus, in the car, walking across the street -- wherever there is ground, there is loogie potential. It is, in short, disgusting.
2. Traffic. To no one's surprise, it is crazy here. Traffic flows like fish in a river. When a driver wants to turn into traffic, he doesn't wait. He makes the turn, assuming that other cars will make space for him when he enters the lane. People are used to it here...but they still honk. Oh, do they ever honk. (Had I never lived in Chicago and been exposed to various degrees of chaotic traffic patterns, I would probably never leave my apartment.)
3. Parking. There is no curb too tall for a car to drive over in order to snag (and often create) a parking spot.
4. Bathrooms. Public toilets are holes in the ground. The nice ones will have a porcelain frame around them, but even that would be flat and flush (hyuck hyuck) against the ground. Some places do have Western toilets, like my school and my apartment, for example. #thighsofsteelhereicome
5. Toilet Paper. Plumbing is bad in smaller cities like Yinchuan, so, if you want to keep your toilet in working order, you better throw that used TP in the trash bin after you wipe yer tushie.
6. Street signs. There is some English on street signs here, actually -- major street signs, anyway. There is also Arabic. Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is one of very few parts of China where an ethnic minority (Hui people) hold the power of governance. The Hui people, a Muslim minority, composes one-third of the local population. Drive up any street in Yinchuan and you will likely find a Halal restaurant or a mosque or both.
7. Staring. You likely already know this, but it's very, very, very weird for locals to see foreigners in such a small Chinese city like Yinchuan. I actually haven't had an enormous problem with this so far, but I have indeed noticed several people turn their heads around to look at me when we pass each other. (A few of these people have been on bicycles or scooters when turning their heads around to stare at me. I have decided that if I end up causing an accident, I will take it as a compliment.)
8. Grocery Shopping. Oh, there are plenty of small differences in grocery shopping, but they aren't anything major. I will mention two things, however: 1) there is a separate checkout line for people with Halal items, so as not to contaminate any food with counters that have touched non-Halal items; 2) the ladies at my grocery store must always be either super bored or working on commission. If I am in any beauty aisle, multiple clerks will hover around me like a helicopter parent, gesturing to various products and rambling in Chinese, undoubtedly trying to get me to spend more money. It's a little obnoxious, but so far I have just smiled at them and continued searching for a good brand. It's hard to decide when everything on the bottles is in Chinese! (But "shampoo" and "conditioner" are written on the bottles, thankfully.)
9. Fruits and vegetables and other things. There are many different fruits and veggies here! I have seen sunflower seeds still in their giant sunflower heads, and I have seen several fruits and veggies I don't even recognize. I have tried: agaric mushroom, enokitake mushroom, lotus root, and a few other roots. The textures are all very interesting. That being said, I will not be eating enokitake mushrooms again any time soon. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
10. Dairy. Milk and yogurt in China have magical powers and can survive outside of the refrigerator for an extended period of time. 
11. Kitchen. If you want an oven or a microwave, you have to go buy those yourself. Ovens are small and portable. My boss equipped my apartment with a microwave, but the first and only time I used it, I noticed smoke coming out of it after 2 minutes. I will no longer be using my microwave.
12. Hot Water. You know how you are served cold water in a glass when you sit down to a meal in the States? In Yinchuan (and most of China, I expect), you are given a small cup of hot water. Alternatively, sometimes you are given hot drinking soup. People here believe that drinking hot water is good for you. Even my roommate offered me a mug of hot water when I complained of a small stomach ache last week. At first it seemed strange to drink hot water with no flavor, yet here I am, typing away with a mug of hot water next to me...
13. Schooling. Kids here have it way harder than kids in America. They have longer hours, more homework, and what seems like greater pressure to do well. There is no expectation that they should have time to play outside. There aren't even any playgrounds here. The other day I shadowed a teacher as she taught her last English Literature class to high school students. (Side note: I will be taking over this class and am very excited for it! These students have a great grasp of English and it will be refreshing and fun to discuss literature with them.) Before we began class, my coworker made conversation with the five students and asked them about their homework loads. You see, I work in an English Training Center. That means that students who come to us have already attended a full day of school. And, as implied before, the Chinese school system is very strict. Case in point: a real sentence that one of the students said was "I am lucky, I only have 26 pages of homework tonight." Oy. 
14. Kids. No difference here, they are still adorable. What makes them even more adorable, however, is the fact that many kids know more English than adults -- because they are learning English in school -- so they will leap at the opportunity to practice their English if they see a foreigner. I was walking around in a park the other day and had the following encounter with a group of Chinese girls:

(Chinese girls and Megan have already walked past each other.)
Chinese girls: "Hai-looooo!"
Megan: *turns around* "Hello!"
Representative of Chinese Girls: "Where are you from?"
Megan: "Chicag--err, America!"
RoCG: "Ohhh! America. You are very pretty!"
Megan: "Wow, thanks! So are you!"
RoCG: "I do not speak English. Sorry." (Note: she said this in perfect English.)
Megan: "Oh, but your English is really quite good!"
RoCG: "Bye!"
Megan: "Oh, uh, ok! Bye!"

This will become a very normal conversation for me, I think. 

And to think I've only been here a week! Just think what more I will have to say after a year...or even just a month! Stay tuned. ^_^

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Mandarin Word of the Day: different 
Chinese characters: 不同 (不 = not, no, negative; 同 = alike, together, same) 
Pinying pronunciation: bùtóng