-吴佩芙
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Hello, Touxie!
The apartment is cold these days. I find myself working with cold feet. I thought I would buy some socks and house sandals at QiBaJiu. I got some cute socks, and the slippers were so cute that I couldn't not get the Hello Kitty slippers.
-吴佩芙
-吴佩芙
Monday, November 26, 2007
Gua
The apartment smells like home. I made my Red, Yellow, and Green Dish tonight with some modifications. It's actually Green and Green today. It's supposed to be red pepper, yellow squash, and zucchini. I got green peppers at the vegetable stall on campus. Walmart had some zucchini-looking things. I suppose they are called Mexican squash in America. I got two big ones in case it was the right thing, and it was. It's totally unreproducible, though, because it was the only squash that didn't have an English tag at Walmart, and I could only recognize the character 瓜（gua: melon, gourd, or squash).
The topics of class are becoming drudgery. We started "immigration," but it can't be some interesting issue with provoking questions, it's about the immigration waves of the 1800's, like Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It's designed for ESL, really. I don't feel comfortable with the topic because I feel like I'm always talking about America and how great America is and why people would want to go there. It's just too nationalistic for me. Oh, and by the way, there was also Angel Island, which is not exactly positive. I just don't want to discuss the topic at all. It's on the schedule for three weeks.
Last night I had a dream. I took Kavi to the vet. We had to wait a long time. In fact, I was getting a little mad because we were being passed over. And then I looked at him and he had collapsed in the box. I took him to drink from the water fountain, and he was ok. It was a little disturbing, though.
-吴佩芙
The topics of class are becoming drudgery. We started "immigration," but it can't be some interesting issue with provoking questions, it's about the immigration waves of the 1800's, like Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It's designed for ESL, really. I don't feel comfortable with the topic because I feel like I'm always talking about America and how great America is and why people would want to go there. It's just too nationalistic for me. Oh, and by the way, there was also Angel Island, which is not exactly positive. I just don't want to discuss the topic at all. It's on the schedule for three weeks.
Last night I had a dream. I took Kavi to the vet. We had to wait a long time. In fact, I was getting a little mad because we were being passed over. And then I looked at him and he had collapsed in the box. I took him to drink from the water fountain, and he was ok. It was a little disturbing, though.
-吴佩芙
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Love
"God's grace is undeserved, but it's not unconditional."
Someone left their printing on the printer in the office. I was there to print class materials, but since it was left there, I thought I would glance to see if I could deliver it to the appropriate person. The material was Christian in nature, which didn't surprise me too much. Having not gone to church since before I came to China, I thought I would read a little to see what the study was about. This sentence sent me spinning.
Christian or no, does this sentence even make sense? Undeserved means unearned, which means you can't do something to earn it. Unconditional means made without conditions or unreserved. There are too many negatives in the sentence: "God's grace is undeserved, but it is conditional." Ew, gross. Doesn't putting a condition on something mean that you earn it? The question went on to say that one must be humble to receive God's grace. Does this make sense: The condition is to be humble, and by being humble you are deserving.
It was drilled into all of our heads early that Grace means 'undeserved love.' I guess it's kind of assumed that undeserved also means unconditional, since whatever makes one deserving must be a condition. I just don't understand how a sentence like that makes someone feel better. Maybe if you meet the condition, it's not a big deal to you. It's the premise that bothers me: If you meet the condition, then you are better than those who haven't met it. Instead of feeling good for feeling good's sake, we have to tear down other people in the process. I just don't think this should fall under the umbrella of "Good News."
-吴佩芙
Someone left their printing on the printer in the office. I was there to print class materials, but since it was left there, I thought I would glance to see if I could deliver it to the appropriate person. The material was Christian in nature, which didn't surprise me too much. Having not gone to church since before I came to China, I thought I would read a little to see what the study was about. This sentence sent me spinning.
Christian or no, does this sentence even make sense? Undeserved means unearned, which means you can't do something to earn it. Unconditional means made without conditions or unreserved. There are too many negatives in the sentence: "God's grace is undeserved, but it is conditional." Ew, gross. Doesn't putting a condition on something mean that you earn it? The question went on to say that one must be humble to receive God's grace. Does this make sense: The condition is to be humble, and by being humble you are deserving.
It was drilled into all of our heads early that Grace means 'undeserved love.' I guess it's kind of assumed that undeserved also means unconditional, since whatever makes one deserving must be a condition. I just don't understand how a sentence like that makes someone feel better. Maybe if you meet the condition, it's not a big deal to you. It's the premise that bothers me: If you meet the condition, then you are better than those who haven't met it. Instead of feeling good for feeling good's sake, we have to tear down other people in the process. I just don't think this should fall under the umbrella of "Good News."
-吴佩芙
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Thanksgiving
On Thanksgiving night, I gave a speech at the English Lounge. The students were interested in Thanksgiving traditions, so I had a PowerPoint prepared. My distinguished colleague got the students to help make apple crisp in a rice cooker. It was really fun.
Friday night, we were all invited to the swanky hotel in town for a Thanksgiving buffet. It was really exciting, although there weren't a lot of traditional foods. I'd been wanting soup so bad, but the pumpkin soup was more like a roux. It was a nice dinner, and so exciting to go to the swanky hotel. It's not the same without Aunt Mrl's slow cooker corn and cheese and green bean casserole.
Today was my plan to go to Walmart for something to make into soup, some oatmeal, and contact solution. I found Campbell's soup, corn with mushroom. I had it for lunch with some Chinese black-and-blue fry bread with sesame seeds, which I found out was stuffed with red beans. Oh well, it was just like the Bread Garden. The soup smelled and tasted like corn casserole. Mmmm, soup!
-吴佩芙
Friday night, we were all invited to the swanky hotel in town for a Thanksgiving buffet. It was really exciting, although there weren't a lot of traditional foods. I'd been wanting soup so bad, but the pumpkin soup was more like a roux. It was a nice dinner, and so exciting to go to the swanky hotel. It's not the same without Aunt Mrl's slow cooker corn and cheese and green bean casserole.
Today was my plan to go to Walmart for something to make into soup, some oatmeal, and contact solution. I found Campbell's soup, corn with mushroom. I had it for lunch with some Chinese black-and-blue fry bread with sesame seeds, which I found out was stuffed with red beans. Oh well, it was just like the Bread Garden. The soup smelled and tasted like corn casserole. Mmmm, soup!
-吴佩芙
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