Greetings from Terry: My large kitchen knife has needed sharpening ever since I used it to peel a very unique hard Chinese fruit. There is a man who rides through our neighborhood periodically who calls out something in Chinese. I thought he might do sharpening work so we asked our teacher friends about it.
They told us the Chinese phrase he would be calling out so we could recognize the rhythm and tone if not the exact words. Then Friday afternoon Gary called to me from the other room saying he thought he heard the man passing by. I grabbed my knife and hurried down the stairs.
I caught up with him, showed him my knife with a questioning look on my face. He understood, stopped and set up shop by taking his small saw horse and tools off of his bicycle and going to work. He knew exactly what he was doing and did it very well; polishing it up when he had it razor sharp.
It was well worth the 5 yuan and so convenient. Daddy and my brother Ward would really enjoy seeing all of the different ways these skilled entrepreneur craftsmen figure out tools, transportation and procedures on a low budget and limited space. Very interesting. – Love, Terry
Gary: Between us, we have eight classes and over 405 students that have studied the following topics from the workbook: Euthanasia, Is a Beauty Contest Harmful? and Has Feminism Gone Too Far? during the past three weeks. Each has offered extended time to discuss the value of human life and the development of “inner beauty” and character. I can say that these young adults “get it.” They were willing participants in the dialogue and know the difference between that which is superficial and that which is deeper and more sincere. It has been a very good time.
We have found that often the material is written to acquaint them with the vocabulary in different real-life circumstances they will encounter. I remind them that “I did not write this material, it comes from the China Education Ministry/Government” and we speak very boldly about the subjects from All Sources.
In some other discussions, I learned the mandatory retirement age in China is 60 for men and 55 for women, except for women in factory jobs (50 years old). Three students mentioned specifically that “Gary and Terry are interested in working and are energetic, and should be allowed to work forever.”
TJ got a phone call and two more freshmen students want to discuss Important Things. That brings to four the total in the past two weeks alone; two weekly groups continue and one Assembly.
Three of our Assembly Group have pregnancies in their family, two actual Sisters and one a relative of the other. We enjoy watching their development and joy in the process and anticipate and pray for safe deliveries and healthy children…keep them in your thoughts during these coming months…all due in early May-June, I think.
One of our best Life Lesson students has recently traveled to Wuhan and won second in a major contest and also passed an important exam. We are so pleased with her progress in Important Things, too. She is a joy to have around and full of energy and interest…becoming a very good friend. She is a second-semester junior, so we know we do not have much more time with her, since their schedules become very full once they enter their senior years. They are often only here part of the year, with intern work experience a major part of their educational training.
One of the students was in the hospital the first four weeks of the semester and has now returned and a part of our weekly study. She worked hard to ‘catch up’ in her classes…amazing to all of them that they are now just weeks away from being juniors in the university system.
Our bee-keeper Brother, Jordan, was in the area for a visit, and we had him over for lunch. He is concerned that his country has its focus so much on money, with a “short view instead of long view.” He is trying to decide where/when concerning business decisions so put him in your thoughts…he will be a big asset wherever he settles.
I enjoyed celebrating the NCAA Tourney winners..remember TJ was born in Waco and she has family living there, and I was born in Louisville, Kentucky and am a big SEC fan during the playoffs/tournaments…only a Vol fan during the regular season, though. I picked three of the four men’s Final Four teams and all four of the women’s squads…and correctly predicted both winners.
Though born in Kentucky, we only lived there a few months after that event (had to stay in the hospital five weeks so I could weigh 4.4 pounds and go home) and moved to Chattanooga…so I consider myself that my hometown. I used to tease people that when I was playing basketball, if I made a few shots, I’d tell the teammates of my birthplace…if I did not make any shots I’d keep my mouth shut, not wanting to embarrass the state that thinks only of basketball. 🙂
Our son has found family willing to rent their Texas home, so they have one more think off their “get ready to move to China in August” list. Wendy has also finished an eight-week Chinese language class.
It was good to see Ron and Ed here in Jingzhou recently. They were here with some students, in one case, and meeting with school officials to make plans for next fall, in the other. Always please when they travel safely and make progress in the Good Work here.
As you read the following China Daily newspaper article, keep us in your thought…we have an important teaching task ahead!
China News: Premarital sex is more common, survey finds — A new survey indicates that Chinese society is growing more permissive about premarital sex. In the survey in March, 71.4 percent of respondents said they had sex before getting married, 43.1 percent said they approve of premarital sex, and only 24.6 percent voiced disapproval.
The findings stand in stark contrast with a 1989 survey in which only 15 percent of respondents said they had premarital sex.
There were 1,013 respondents, 56 percent of them men and 44 percent women, from 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.
Almost 70 percent of respondents were from 20 to 39 years old. Sixty-four percent have received a college education. Their careers varied from professional manager, private company owner to civil servant and student.
In addition to the 71.4 percent who said they had sex before marriage, 43.1 percent said they approved of premarital sex. Only 24.6 percent voiced disapproval. Also, 33.7 percent said that “sex is a basic need and has nothing to do with morality,” and 27.7 percent believed “two people can have sex with each other as long as they are truly in love, even before marriage.” The survey was simultaneously conducted on Sina, a leading micro blog site. There, 19,578 netizens took participated, 79.4 percent of whom identified themselves as male. In the online survey, 86.5 percent of respondents said they had premarital sex, 15.1 percentage points higher than in the print survey.
Li Yinhe, a sexologist who conducted the 1989 survey about premarital sex in China, said an increase in premarital sex was inevitable.
“First, the purpose of sex has changed. Giving birth is no longer the sole valid reason. Second, there is a strong desire for sex from adolescence, before people reach marriageable age, and adolescence tends to begin earlier nowadays,” Li said. “Also, when the crime of ‘hooliganism’ was removed from the Criminal Law in 1997, sex out of wedlock went from being a crime to just a personal choice.
“Sexual desire doesn’t have anything to do with morality, but sexual behavior does,” Li said. “A married person who has sex outside the marriage without the spouse’s approval violates the vow of loyalty.”
However, Du Juan, a researcher at the Institute of Sexuality and Gender at Renmin University of China, doubted that the new survey’s data on premarital sex represented the situation in Chinese society as a whole. “We shouldn’t believe everything that statistics tells us.”
But researchers at the institute have concluded from their own national surveys that “the sexual revolution in China has succeeded,” she said.
On the other hand, abstinence is also a personal choice, Du said. “People need to follow their own will in choosing for or against abstinence. You don’t choose abstinence or sex because it’s fashionable.”
Speaking on whether a more open-minded view of sex would affect the stability of relationships, Du said: “The development of a modern society has weakened many functions that were thought to be served only by marriages. Sex is absolutely not the only thing to blame when couples and families split up.”
The recent survey was created by Insight China, a magazine affiliated with Qiushi, the Party theory magazine, and conducted by Tsinghua Media Survey Lab at Tsinghua University.
There were 1,013 respondents, 56 percent of them men and 44 percent women, from 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.
Almost 70 percent of respondents were from 20 to 39 years old. Sixty-four percent have received a college education. Their careers varied from professional manager, private company owner to civil servant and student.
In addition to the 71.4 percent who said they had sex before marriage, 43.1 percent said they approved of premarital sex. Only 24.6 percent voiced disapproval.
Also, 33.7 percent said that “sex is a basic need and has nothing to do with morality,” and 27.7 percent believed “two people can have sex with each other as long as they are truly in love, even before marriage.”
The survey pointed to a disparity between the thinking of men and women, with 33.5 percent of the female respondents disapproving of premarital sex, compared with only 17.8 percent of males.
The survey was simultaneously conducted on Sina, a leading micro blog site. There, 19,578 netizens took participated, 79.4 percent of whom identified themselves as male.
In the online survey, 86.5 percent of respondents said they had premarital sex, 15.1 percentage points higher than in the print survey.
Li Yinhe, a sexologist who conducted the 1989 survey about premarital sex in China, said an increase in premarital sex was inevitable.
“First, the purpose of sex has changed. Giving birth is no longer the sole valid reason. Second, there is a strong desire for sex from adolescence, before people reach marriageable age, and adolescence tends to begin earlier nowadays,” Li said. “Also, when the crime of ‘hooliganism’ was removed from the Criminal Law in 1997, sex out of wedlock went from being a crime to just a personal choice.
However, Du Juan, a researcher at the Institute of Sexuality and Gender at Renmin University of China, doubted that the new survey’s data on premarital sex represented the situation in Chinese society as a whole. “We shouldn’t believe everything that statistics tells us.”
But researchers at the institute have concluded from their own national surveys that “the sexual revolution in China has succeeded,” she said.
Speaking on whether a more open-minded view of sex would affect the stability of relationships, Du said: “The development of a modern society has weakened many functions that were thought to be served only by marriages. Sex is absolutely not the only thing to blame when couples and families split up.”
Proud to be TJ's man 