Most of what happens in our lives here in China revolves around two things – the school and all those associated with the school, whether Chinese or American. This has its good and bad sides – the good being that there are quite a few people who speak (or at least attempt to speak) English to us and the bad, at least for me, is that all those people are made up of the female race. This has been great for Tiff, who towards the end of this year has really begun to get close with a few of those English teachers, but it has left me with a lack of male companionship.

This lack of companionship has led me to first try to establish a good line of communication with old friends at home and also to try to find my niche here. The first has been difficult, although I don’t blame my friends because I realize I have much more free time here to write e-mails than they do in the States, and the second has presented its challenges as well. The fact that I don’t speak good Chinese is quite a roadblock to looking for friends beyond our school walls, but earlier this year I realized that I speak a “language” that is becoming very popular in China now:

The main college campus in this town is across the street and I decided one day in May, I think, to just go over to their courts with a basketball. You should have seen the jaws drop – many of them had probably never met a foreigner in person much less played against one at least a foot taller than them in basketball (notice how this young man has no chance of blocking my shot). I haven’t played much since high school but I haven’t completely lost my touch either, so I will try to say with much humility that I have thankfully been able to earn their respect on the court over the past few months. Their only disappointment in me came when they found out that not all American basketball players can dunk (I’m a big white boy for goodness sakes!). I’m working on it – I’ll get back to you next year with my progress. Also during this time my Chinese has been improving enough to where between my broken Chinese and their broken English we can actually have a decent conversation. It’s really been exciting!

After talking with Tiff and mustering up as much courage as I could, I invited a few of them out to dinner last night not knowing if we’d even be able to converse much over the table. We went to a good restaurant down the street (my treat – not only am I a “rich” foreigner, but the “poor college student” cliche applies in China as well) and ate a very hearty meal followed by Tiff’s American-package brownies back at the apartment (thanks moms!). Best of all, not only was the conversation unending but it also veered to places I was only “thinking” about! I will go into more details in person for most of you later, but I will say that they were very open to answer my questions and very curious to ask their own. We have swapped e-mails and phone numbers in hopes that over the course of the next year we can continue to lay the groundwork for a good friendship and possibly for those more important things in life.

Let me introduce my newest friends real quick before I sign off here. Remember, the first name is actually their surname or what we consider the “last name”. Also, another quick Chinese lesson, the “zh” sounds similar to our “j” and the “x” is somewhat similar to an “sh”. From left to right: Zhan Shaodong, me, Huang Xingping, Zhang Jiaqi, and Mi Jilong.