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We often have simple conversations with the students, asking straight-forward questions and getting quick answers, and find out later that we have completely miscommunicated. We ask about a common exam they are concerned over, and get different answers about who can take it and what it is supposed to accomplish. Similar issues have also arisen with our closest teachers friends, though Howard is usually the one who can make it clear, eventually. Words do get in the way, sometimes 🙂

• It is our understanding that it is against the law here to have ultra-sounds to determine the sex of an unborn child.
• Young adults have to have a birth-permit in order to have a child, and you must be married and 25-years old. The penalty in both cases is a hefty fine.
• A public marriage is a major event here, but the marriage itself actually takes place in a government office, where they fill out papers and register as a married couple in the province. Sometimes a couple is married for 2-3 weeks before the ceremony.
• It is  our understanding that there are now some 4,500 buildings under construction in Wuhan, the capital of our province. This is the place we figure Eric and the family will be closer to, since they have many hundreds of universities (the number is still unclear to me, due to those ‘words’ getting in the way.
• Rumors on a college campus is normal, even in the United States…so there are several here. Last semester the rumor was that our entire University was moving to Wuhan, 3 hours east by van…the graduate school did move. This semester, we are all moving from the Central campus to the West campus..the small economics department did move. We will watch and see, since the rumor persists that we will all eventually be moved to the West campus, 8-10 miles away.

We have just celebrated Girl’s Day and Woman’s Day, back-to-back days that honor the place of these two groups. They celebrated on campus with class parties and Terry received some greetings from some students, wishing her peace and happiness.

We went from a near cancellation at the last minute due to schedule conflicts to one of our best teacher’s discussions of the semester, with one new member and two others here for only the second time.

This is my favorite group: more mature, have some history with the Important Things, and they are very-y-y interested in giving of their time….we’re meeting on Thursday p.m. now instead of Sunday a.m. at their request in spite of having classes during the day and a two-hour faculty meeting from 4-6 p.m.

We had a great surprise for lunch…our initial study group, from English Corner over one year ago, invited us to eat lunch with them and we also ate birthday cake to honor Sophie’s 21st birthday…a nice time with some of our oldest friends here. They are in the second semester of their junior year, so we do not get to have special time with them as often…this time next year they will be in many other places.

We had one of Terry’s classes over for a ‘get to know you’ time and Daisy sent this on QQ: “Today we had a happy day in your home…it’s warm seeing that you are living a happy life which I’m always dreaming of…I think I learned something from you two. Thank you.“

We had a great Assembly and studied Ephesians 2, about a household, building, and temple. When we told of our grandson’s New Birth in America, one of the sisters said plainly and quietly, “the building is growing.”

Vicky and Qin Ju Sen took me to a local supply store for some art brushes and some paper to send to my brother, Terry Alan, who is also an artist and wants to experiment on ‘the real thing.’ Qin Ju Sen is the senior art student who did my two paintings back in December.

We have had over 65 students here for a first-time Saturday night Life Lesson but the TEM4 exam is taking them away after three weeks…it is a BIG exam they must pass as English majors and every waking moment is filled with studying. I am glad we have a solid group of teachers interested to fill the void for 3-4 weeks.

Greetings from Terry: As in other semesters the students choose interesting temporary English names when they are in our classes. Some of the unique ones from this semester are: Sheep, Leaves, Shadow, Kaleidescope, Pain and Mint.

I am pleased to discover good moral quotes and topics in one of my new text books which open up good discussions. Today I had made some “American Culture” statements about how I was raised and how I live. After class the last student to leave told me that she believes in Him, too (only she used his name). She said her parents do not believe but that her Aunt and Uncle had taught her. I invited her to our Saturday discussion. We did not get to talk any more specifically at that time. I had already noticed her sweet spirit seeming to reach out to me. It makes me very happy to know and I look forward to getting to know her.

English Corner has started once a week again. It is on Wednesday nights this semester. This time we met in an assigned room which is much warmer. Everyone listened and participated which made it more enjoyable and easier to hear and be heard.

Today was rich. My Thursday 8:00 a.m. class are thinkers and they are not afraid to communicate. Our last two units were on success and heroes. Cookie said “develop your inner spirit”. Jessie said, “Success is like the up and downs of waves.” “Success is not the end of work.” Allison said, “Success can be solving a math problem if math is hard for you.” Ivan cannot yet look at me when she speaks but she said, “Attitude makes success.” Jimmy said he thinks Americans and Chinese have much in common. Abraham Lincoln is his hero because he cared and helped people of color. He asked me if I new what ABC was. He said A is for America, C is for China and B is blood that connects them. Sila quoted Kennedy and also said something about success is having order in your life. Jacki said, “Success is opportunity to everyone.”

Tonight as we were getting ready for our discussion with the teacher group in our apartment we found out one more wants to come for important learning. She has just returned from six months of studying abroad in Iowa. She has begun the journey of following the most important book and is so excited to find a group of people with the same interests.

This is so much fun. The fields are white unto harvest. — Terry

“History shows women have made great strides in the fight for equality, including the right to vote, and major inroads in equal opportunities at home, in the workplace and in education. Though today gender bias continues to create barriers for some, Chinese women are playing a more important role in today’s society. As the saying goes, they hold up half the sky.

“International Women’s Day this year gives us an opportunity to review what Chinese women have achieved so far, both in family and in workplace, and what they are striving for amid changing attitudes towards gender equality, virginity, family and work.”

I recommend a very interesting website here in the China Daily site: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-03/08/content_14742395.htm. It speaks of the Road to Equality” of women in this country and has a full discussion of virginity, etc.

When explaining the necessity to amend the law to a plenary meeting during the annual session of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC), Wang Zhaoguo, vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee said that (photo above) amending the law is to strengthen punishment of crimes and protection of the people.

It is also necessary to revise the law to strengthen and make innovations in social administration and maintain social harmony and stability, and deepen judicial system reform, Wang added. The draft amendment to Criminal Procedure Law was submitted to the NPC Standing Committee for first reading in August 2011 and for second reading in December 2011. China’s current Criminal Procedure Law was enacted in 1979 and amended in 1996.

Adding the article of protecting human rights to the Criminal Procedure Law will help judicial organs observe and implement this constitutional principle in criminal proceedings, Wang said.

Employment challenges are growing due to an unbalanced job market and a large number of people seeking work, a top labor official said on Wednesday.  “Cities and towns will see 25 million more people join the workforce this year, over half of whom will be university and college graduates, while another 9 to 10 million will be surplus rural laborers,” Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, said at a news conference.

Graduates are finding it difficult to get jobs and many enterprises are facing problems in recruiting workers and technicians, revealing structural problems in the work market, he said.

China aims to create more than 9 million jobs this year and keep the registered unemployment rate below 4.6 percent, according to the government’s work report released on Monday.

Some analysts believe that slowing economic growth will see enterprises reduce their intake of new workers, exacerbating the employment situation.  China is aiming for GDP growth of 7.5 percent this year, much lower than 2011’s 9.2 percent. Yin Weimin said the government would introduce a package of measures, such as more training and more efficient public services, to help expand the job market.

To help with the employment of graduates, Yin said that the government will encourage them to find grassroots-level jobs in central and western regions and would encourage graduates to start their own businesses.

China News: History shows women have made great strides in the fight for equality, including the right to vote, and major inroads in equal opportunities at home, in the workplace and in education. Though today gender bias continues to create barriers for some, Chinese women are playing a more important role in today’s society. As the saying goes, they hold up half the sky.

“International Women’s Day this year gives us an opportunity to review what Chinese women have achieved so far, both in family and in workplace, and what they are striving for amid changing attitudes towards gender equality, virginity, family and work.”

I recommend a very interesting website here in the China Daily site: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-03/08/content_14742395.htm. It speaks of the Road to Equality” of women in this country and has a full discussion of virginity, etc.

When explaining the necessity to amend the law to a plenary meeting during the annual session of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC), Wang Zhaoguo, vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee said that (photo above) amending the law is to strengthen punishment of crimes and protection of the people.

It is also necessary to revise the law to strengthen and make innovations in social administration and maintain social harmony and stability, and deepen judicial system reform, Wang added. The draft amendment to Criminal Procedure Law was submitted to the NPC Standing Committee for first reading in August 2011 and for second reading in December 2011. China’s current Criminal Procedure Law was enacted in 1979 and amended in 1996.

Adding the article of protecting human rights to the Criminal Procedure Law will help judicial organs observe and implement this constitutional principle in criminal proceedings, Wang said.

Employment challenges are growing due to an unbalanced job market and a large number of people seeking work, a top labor official said on Wednesday.  “Cities and towns will see 25 million more people join the workforce this year, over half of whom will be university and college graduates, while another 9 to 10 million will be surplus rural laborers,” Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, said at a news conference.

Graduates are finding it difficult to get jobs and many enterprises are facing problems in recruiting workers and technicians, revealing structural problems in the work market, he said.

China aims to create more than 9 million jobs this year and keep the registered unemployment rate below 4.6 percent, according to the government’s work report released on Monday.

Some analysts believe that slowing economic growth will see enterprises reduce their intake of new workers, exacerbating the employment situation.  China is aiming for GDP growth of 7.5 percent this year, much lower than 2011’s 9.2 percent. Yin Weimin said the government would introduce a package of measures, such as more training and more efficient public services, to help expand the job market.

To help with the employment of graduates, Yin said that the government will encourage them to find grassroots-level jobs in central and western regions and would encourage graduates to start their own businesses.