The day I was baffled: a first grade memory

When innocence and cuteness mix together I am reduced to silent joy.  I teach 1^st graders at Yingxie primary school and let me tell you that they are very innocent and very cute (well, at least most of them).  This particular story is about one of those cute and innocent creatures. 

 

Allow me to preface my story by stating the fact that I am a teacher with no experience needless to say, that my teaching methodology is a bit unorthodox.  I try to have fun with these kids while teaching them basic vocabulary and short sentences.  We have a blast (at least I do).  I love little kids.  Anyway, the book that I am teaching out of is alright, but, it definitely has a good number of pages that are dedicated to cheesy dialogue.  One particular dialogue is about a teacher (Miss White) talking with her students (Zheng Peng, John & Amy) about cleaning the classroom.  The story is irrelevant to my story except for the last line of the story.  The last line of the story is Amy saying, “Goodbye Miss White.” The last line of that story brings me to the first line of my story.

 

One of those cute innocent girl’s who happens to sit on the front row approaches me after class as do most of the students.  The scene is usually that of mass chaos after Eric’s first grade class.  The students rush the podium to give me smiles, hugs, scraps of paper, pictures, hello’s, good-byes and whatever else they can muster.  And then it happened.  A tug on the bottom right side of my coat and then another, a more urgent tug, and another until I made eye contact with this bright eyed creature who was beaming up at me with sheer excitement.  If I remember correctly, she was bouncing back-and-forth with gleeful anticipation.  I gave her a quick wave and a short hello right before she said in her high pitched voice: “goodbye Miss White!”  How cute?  Every time she sees me now she say’s “goodbye Miss White!” and then runs and plays.   

 

I was baffled that day… a ball of cuteness came crashing in and I was a man reduced…

 

–I am white, but I am not a Miss, and my last name is not White, but I don’t mind…”goodbye” –Miss White  

Have you ever done nothing?

 

And there it was, a mere teen-aged girl, a poor peasant with mangy hair.  A good girl nonetheless but she was nothing worthy of the history books.  No expectations, no-one to disappoint and no-one to impress.  You see she was a lovely girl who enjoyed pigtails and daydreams just like all the rest but not much more than that.  And then there was her nose, she was ashamed of her nose, it was much larger than the other girls in her class; it always got in the way (you know how noses are…always getting in the way).  She didn’t think highly of herself.  I mean, who could?  Think about it, if you we’re a peasant girl with a big nose, you wouldn’t think highly of yourself either.  A poor girl with no-one to disappoint and no-one to impress was about to go unnoticed.  That is until Luke 1:30 happened, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.”  What did this poor peasant girl with mangy hair and a big nose do in-order to find favor with God?  The answer is nothing… she did nothing.

 

Fast forward about 30 to 33 years later and you will find the same peasant girl that received the favor of God and was at the birth of her son, that is the birth of God… was now a peasant woman at the death of her son, that is at the death of God John 19:25 “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother…”    

 

Her name is now known…the history books tell it, they tell it so well. 

 

–the favor of God, like the birth and death of God is a grace to be recieved by humble hands -Eric

From the passenger side:

 

Almost every morning around seven or eight I step into the passenger seat of Mr. Wang’s ride.  Mr. Wang is my driver.  We work for the same company but our jobs are as different as night and day.  We are familiar with each other now because we have spent a good amount of time together.  I appreciate Mr. Wang’s work, in my opinion he’s the best driver in China and boy is he quick.  If you know me, then you know that I am not quick and you especially know that I am not quick in the morning time.  Mr. Wang’s heavy foot has saved me from more than a few tardies.  He doesn’t know English and I don’t know Chinese, so on a good day we will try and teach each other different words.  We have spoken allot of words but the ones that stuck with Mr. Wang were the ones that he was most passionate about.  The words he remembers are: cigarette, lighter, motorcycle, seeds (sun-flower-seeds) & rain.  Here is the truth that I came away with: If you pluck a man’s heart strings he will remember much.  Pluck away.

 

Have you heard the name: Michael Schumacher?  Well, Mr. Wang has.  Michael Schumacher is just the most famous Formula-1 race car driver in the world.  And thus when I sense that I am about to be late for work I refer to Mr. Wang as, Michael Schumacher.  A smile comes to his face as all four cylinders of his van begin to rev.  “Fifth gear Mr. Wang, fifth gear!”

 

The other day I was riding with Mr. Wang and a most familiar song came to me.  And for the first time I wasn’t merely singing the song but I was in the song.  That song is “Mr. Jones” by the Counting Crows.  In China the name Mr. Wang is the equivalent to Americas Mr. Jones, everyone has that name.  I’ve changed one word in just a few lines of the song (to put the whole song on xanga would be a crime so here are just a few lines):  

 

“Mr. Wang and me tell each other fairy tales

 

Mr. Wang and me look into the future

Mr. Wang and me, we’re gonna be big stars…”

 

–Mr. Wang’s passenger seat is occupied…-Eric

 

P.S. Tyler has posted many pictures of us in China, just click here:  www.picasaweb.google.com/tylerpayne

A most ridiculous story for a most ridiculous audience  

 

Have you ever lost anything?  I have.

 

The other day I was on my way to work and it was very cold outside so I put on my favorite stocking cap (you know the Breckenridge one).  I road the bus for a few blocks and then I walked the rest of the way.  This day, believe it or not, I showed up a few minutes early and so I wasted a little time shootin-the-ole-breeze with the ladies at the front desk.  Shootin-the-ole-breeze is unproductive but hey it sure does humor a guy doesn’t it?  Eventually I logged-in on the most unofficial log sheet that I have ever seen.  And I went upstairs and taught the most unofficial class and then I left the most unofficial school.  Yeah, on that day I only taught one class (how unofficial?).  So I stepped out in the brisk Chinese winter and zipped up.  I reached for my back-pocket to fetch my stocking cap but something was wrong, something was missing, something horrible had happened.  With a small panic in my heart I digressed back inside and asked the ladies that I was shootin-the-ole-breeze with if they had seen my stocking cap they just giggled and told me that they had not seen it.  So I went upstairs to the class and asked my unofficial students if they had seen my hat and they gave me the same answer as the ladies downstairs. 

 

Depressed and deflated I stepped outside.  With cold ears I was determined to find that hat… it means allot to me…and it is very warm.  I, like a detective, re-traced every step that I took on my way to the school.  I was constantly scoping the streets and sidewalks below.  At the same time I was checking heads to see if some scoundrel had picked it up and started wearing it.  It was nowhere insight.  I was very sad, I mean I could go and buy a new hat but it wouldn’t be the same.  Some things are just irreplaceable and to me this hat is one of those things.  I had one last option.  To be honest I didn’t anticipate much.  But I went back to the bus stop that I had been to about an hour and a half ago.  The little phrase, “just maybe, just maybe” swirled in my heart but it came to no avail. 

 

I was supposed to meet my friend Tyler for lunch so I walked on with my shoulders slouched.  I was walking down the street when I looked up and saw stopped at a stop light the exact bus that I road earlier.  Immediately hope crept back into my heart.  I recognized the driver.  I caught up with the bus and I asked him if he had seen my hat… (mind you: the bus door was shut and I was playing sheraids and the bus driver obviously did not understand my game).  He just pointed to the bus stop up-ahead because he thought I wanted to get on the bus but I just wanted to see if my hat was on the bus.  And then it happened.  I couldn’t believe it.  Joy leaped within my bones.  I glanced at the bus drivers side and there it was.  My hat was sitting near the stick shift.  A boyish smile leaped on my face my shoulders broadened and I started to point at my hat.  He still didn’t understand my game of sheraids he kept pointing to the bus stop up-ahead.  So I started to run alongside this bus until it stopped.  I jumped aboard grabbed my hat, smiled and said thank you as I jumped off and shamelessly waved goodbye to the most official bus driver in all of China.  With a swagger in my step I went on and met my friend for lunch. 

  

  that’s me and my hat, at lunch with Tyler… -Photo by: Tyler Payne

 

Later my friend Aaron pointed out the fact that it was truly amazing that I had found my little blue stocking cap in a city of 8 million people.  I agree. 

 

 

–Have you ever found anything?  I have…-Eric