Thanksgiving Text Messages from Students

The first time I received masses of texts from students was when I was sick and had to cancel class. I got dozens of messages, all with some form of "oh no, Miss Sarah, are you ok?!?!" or "you should wear more clothing" or "or should drink more hot water" or "you should eat more apples", etc.

Yesterday, for Thanksgiving, I received another barrage of texts. I thought you might enjoy reading some of them.

"Dear Sarah, I am Joy. I think you are my friend and my teacher. We can play basketball when you are free? Happy Thanksgiving. May you have a nice day." 
I love the random basketball invitation in the Happy Thanksgiving message.

"Thank you, Sarah. Thanks for teaching me English. Wish you be happy every day! Mars"
"Wish you be happy every day" is the most common note I receive from students.

"Sarah, Happy Thanksgiving. I have you to be thankful for. It is a time when I tell you that I like you. Wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving! Abigale."
So sweet!

"Happy Thansgiving Day Sarah. By the way, I am happy to meet you in the basketball court! I am Clara."
Another basketball invitation. Apparently, in my classes, I have mentioned that basketball is my favorite sport. :)

"May your life be blessed with joy, love, and miracles. Just dig into the roast turkey. Wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving!"
So hilarious. Where do they come up with this stuff? And, in case you are curious, I did not get to 'dig into' any roast turkey. :(

"Miss Sarah, thank you for teaching us spoken English so conscientiously. Your class is definitely my favorite, it is so cool and we have really learned a lot. Thank you, thank you very much! From Clay. To my favorite teacher for Thanksgiving Day."
He is so trying to score brownie points including the "conscientiously". :)

Happy Thankgiving from the Middle Kingdom!

one of my post-grad classes says "hi"

Wow

Today, I walked into my 8am post-graduate oral class just like it was any other day. The class is full of chemistry majors taking English as an elective. The weather is getting colder, and so I was wearing a new warm headband that my Dad sent me from home, a coat, and gloves. As I opened the door, my students looked up and, in unison, said, "Wow."

Um, what?

Then, they started clapping.

I started laughing.

Apparently, seeing your foreign teacher in winter clothing is a big deal. Then, I took off my coat to begin class. Another chorus of "wow". Apparently my green sweater is awesome too.

During the break, two students asked if they could take pictures with me.

Oh, life in China.

Me with a couple of my post-grads:

Watching an Election from the Other Side of the World

I have kept an eye on the election as I have been living here, not a super close eye, but an eye nonetheless. My absentee ballot finally arrived, so I can vote. I won't go into the details of who I am voting for and why, for my opinion is very insignificant in the big scheme of things.

I will say that I don't have faith in politics to somehow save America, to solve our problems, to fix everything. I have faith in the Father. A president is just a man. America isn't the hope of the world; our Rescuer is.

No matter who is elected, the Sovereign King will still be reigning. No matter who leads the nation, He is leading me. No matter who holds the highest office of the land, His office is higher, and He has final authority. 

So, what am I to do? Make my best judgement call, act faithfully, and trust the Father with the results. Some trust in princes, but I will trust in Him. I'm proud to be an American, but that isn't my most important citizenship. There are unseen things vastly more important than this world.