Note: various links or
other references may be mentioned below that no longer apply.
Sorry for the
inconvenience.
January 1, 2004 (and
February while Michael was on the road)
(Please see the "P.S." below about Vivian's father, WR All, who passed
away December 3.)
Dear Friends,
Back in America, I didn't care much for January. Once
Christmas and New Year's Day were over, we had to go back to school. The
vibrant reds and greens of Christmas were packed away, and January was
simply the month for barren trees, gray skies, muddy snow, and large
credit card bills.
It's very different in China! The increasingly popular
Christmas decorations are just a warm-up for the omnipresent red and
gold of Chinese New Year. This year, monkeys hang everywhere, since the
monkey replaces last year's sheep in the 12-animal cycle of the Chinese
horoscope. Shops are decorated with images of children, dressed in
traditional silk "new year" clothes, bowing to show respect to their
elders. Children love the season (also called "Spring Festival") because
that little bow earns them a red envelop filled with money! Spring
Festival means lots of good food, new clothes, visits to relatives,
colorful entertainment and a vacation from school (at least two weeks
for children, and a month for the college crowd). The New Year is also
welcomed with lots of noise! This year, I was told that Xi'an has lifted
a five-year ban on fireworks, so the locals have a lot of catching up to
do! I don't expect to get much sleep on New Year's Eve (January 21,
2004)! Many Chinese people can not imagine a Spring Festival without
fireworks, any more than I can imagine Christmas without Christ!
So, if you are in America, make the best of drab January.
Here in China, we are going to have a wonderful month!
Michael Krigline for the family
PS: Vivian and Andrew left for America on Dec. 27. This
was the soonest Vivian could get away after her father passed away on
Dec. 3. (You can see the letter she prepared for her dad's funeral, as
well as some photos, by visiting our new page called "Remembering
Daddy.") I will be following our original plan: visit Hong Kong Jan. 30
to attend Jian Hua's annual conference for expatriates, and then fly to
America Feb. 12. We will stay in the USA until June, seeing friends and
trying to encourage more teachers to join us in China!
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March 4, 2004
Dear Friends,
I arrived in America as scheduled (Feb.
13), and it was certainly great to be together as a family again! But
before the suitcases were even unpacked, we all managed to become just as
busy as we are in China! It seems that lots of people are interested in
hearing about our experiences, and we look forward to sharing about them
over the next five months. We have already given talks in a school, a
women’s meeting, and a church. At each place, we tell the audience about
China’s need for more English teachers—and we hope that sooner or later
someone will respond by saying they will go back to China with us (or at least
begin the process of such a move).
Meanwhile, we are all working on various
projects that will take months to complete. Andrew is enjoying his new
school, and we are all enjoying the foods we cannot get in China (for me,
that is pretzels, for Andrew it is corndogs, and for Vivian it is Southern
BBQ). It is great to see the family and friends we left behind, and e-mail
reminds us that our students and friends in China miss us, too. One of the
great benefits of our line of work is that there are people who love us on
both sides of the globe!
One of my projects (that I had mistakenly
thought I could get to before I left China) is to update our website and
fix some of the problems. If you know of problems with these pages, please
write and let me know—and I also ask for your patience as I try to find
time to solve them!
Back in the USA,
Michael Krigline for the family
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April 1, 2004
(Happy Easter!)
Dear Friends,
Most people in China think Christmas is America's biggest holiday, but
that is not really correct. While the Chinese get several week-long
holidays (including National Day and Chinese New Year), the longest
holiday in America is Thanksgiving (four days). So, families make a point
to gather together on Thanksgiving. Christmas is colorful, popular and
expensive--for many that makes it the "biggest" holiday of the year. But
for committed Christians, the biggest holiday is Easter (which the Chinese
call "Resurrection Holiday"). Like Chinese New Year, Easter is determined
by a lunar calendar, so it is sometimes in March but usually in April.
This year it is April 11.
The commercial side of Christmas often overshadows its religious roots
(Christmas is a holiday to commemorate and celebrate the birth of Jesus
Christ). Increasingly, this is also true of Easter in America. Easter eggs come in
all sizes and colors (some are real, but most are plastic). They hang from
trees, often accompanied by the secular symbol of Easter: the Easter
Bunny. Many communities offer children's Easter Egg Hunts, wherein kids
run around large lawns or parks looking for colorful plastic eggs with
candy inside. Chocolate bunnies, chicks and eggs are also a popular Easter
tradition, as is getting a set of new clothes to wear to church on Easter
(though, like a similar Chinese New Year tradition, this custom has become
less prevalent than it was when people didn't have much money to spend on
clothes throughout the year).
For Christians, Easter is a time of renewal and deep significance.
Churches are packed Easter morning, and many
churches put on dramas or musicals
about the world-changing events that took place almost 2000 years ago
(some are very popular with the public).
What events, and how did they change the world? Well, that would take a
while to answer! But it all goes back to how an innocent man (Jesus), who
was MORE than just a man, sacrificed his life (by choosing to die on a
cross) to make it possible for you and me to have a relationship with God
that will last forever. You can read some of the details in two articles I
have written and posted on this website. The first is a children's story I
call "A bird's eye view of Easter" and the
second one is NEW. It is called "The Passion of
Christ" and it contains my thoughts about the controversial new movie
with a similar title, as well as a remarkable poem written by a Chinese
Emperor nearly 300 years ago. I encourage you to check them out!
Well, as we enjoy Easter, we continue to be busy with speaking
engagements, Andrew's school,
Beth's upcoming wedding, and countless other projects. Maybe I can
tell you about some of them next month, so don't forget to come back in
early May!
Because He has risen,
Michael Krigline for the family
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May 4, 2004
Dear Friends,
Last month I said that
THIS month I would tell you about some of the projects that have been
keeping us busy while we are in America. I’m still hoping to add some
things to this website, including some reviews my students wrote about
helpful English-learning websites, but you will have to wait a while
longer to see that feature.
Meanwhile, the most
exciting project I’ve been working on is a new writing textbook! As a
writing teacher, I have noticed a need for a textbook that teaches Chinese
students how to write in a clear and simple way—the best way to get your
message across to Americans as well as non-native English readers. A few
years ago I found a writing handbook that would meet that need, so I have
been working to find the copyright owner since I returned to the US in
February. The rights have passed from company to company, but in the end I
found the rightful owner, and after a bit of negotiation they have
graciously agreed to allow me to adapt their handbook into textbook form,
and then to seek a publisher in China! My version will include vocabulary
lists, exercises for students, and new sections that give brief
descriptions of various types of practical writing. I anticipate that this
project will take about two years to complete (so don’t start looking for
my name at the bookstore!), but I am very grateful to the copyright owners
for giving me permission to pursue this project!
While we have been in the
US, we have also had the chance to speak about China (and the need for
more English teachers) in dozens of venues, including universities,
ladies’ meetings, public schools, a job fair, and churches. We have
visited friends and relatives in Ohio, South Carolina, Colorado,
Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia, and visits are still planned in North
Carolina, Florida, Canada, England and Scotland! The biggest event (and
Vivian’s biggest preoccupation for these months) takes place this month,
when our daughter
Beth becomes Mrs.
Rodney Wise! The list of things we’ve been working on is too long to print
here, but let’s just say that we’ve been so busy that I’m glad we only
visit the USA every four years!
Well, I’d better get back
to my projects, since time is running out!
Looking forward to our
return to China in June,
Michael Krigline for Vivian and Andrew
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June 9, 2004 (I think this will be the
"update" for both June and July!)
Dear Friends,
If were supposed to be resting during this visit to America (that is
quickly drawing to a close), then we really missed the mark!
Let’s see, we spoke about China or our work 45 times, including three
schools, two university lectures, one job fair, 11 neighborhood groups, 22
churches and a radio program. We had over 55 meals with our friends,
attended three banquets and four conferences, joined a family reunion, had
a birthday party for Andrew, celebrated Beth’s wedding, and enjoyed a
visit to my 99-year-old grandmother. Between the three of us, there were
18 trips to see a doctor or dentist; we attended three funerals, saw over
a dozen relatives, and participated in the National Day of Prayer. We
volunteered our time to help with an international festival, conducted
taped interviews with Chinese students at the University of South
Carolina, and secured permission to adapt a writing book for student use
in China. For recreation and education we visited seven museums, a
lighthouse, a fun park, a rock concert, three movies, and the tallest
structure in the world (Toronto’s CN Tower), not to mention seven natural
areas (including Niagara Falls, the Smoky & Rocky Mountains and Daytona
Beach). (Andrew also got to visit Disneyworld with his grandparents!)
What’s more, we still have a trip to England and Scotland to look forward
to next week! Yes, there will be pictures of many of these things on the
website eventually, but as you can imagine, I've been too busy to create
such things lately!
I think that after we get back home to China on June 27, we are going to
need a rest!
Looking forward to being back in “quiet” Xi’an,
Michael for the family
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August
1, 2004
Dear Friends,
As Dorothy says in the
movie, Wizard of Oz: "There's no place like home."
We had a great time in the US, Canada and the UK, but we were exhausted
when we got back to China. For the past month we have spent a lot of
time at home, watching movies, playing board games, and catching up on
the things we have put off. For me, one of those "things" was to label
and edit my digital trip photos, and you can see the fruit of this hobby
in the new photo pages listed below (with more on the way in August).
Andrew has enjoyed being back at his computer, too--making the most of
the new software he brought from the States. Vivian has been trying to
get our family records and photo albums back up to date. Vivian and I
have also been teaching summer school (a total of 15 hours per week),
and I have proofread a new textbook for graduate students and made good
progress in creating my own writing textbook. So, we haven't exactly
been sitting around doing nothing!
Between the new students we
are getting to know and the old hobbies and chores we have needed or
wanted to attend to, we are enjoying life in our own home after being
half a world away for almost half a year!
Thanks for dropping by (and
we hope you will look at some of the new pages!),
Michael for the family
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September 2004
In September we start our third year of teaching at NPU. You can find a
few details by reading my new letter at “Student Connection.” Together,
Vivian and I will have about 320 students. Back when SARS scared away
all the other foreign teachers, I taught the freshmen for a few
weeks—they will now be my juniors. Otherwise, all the faces will be new.
Andrew returns to the Xi’an International School, where we expect to see
some new faces as well. We hear that he will have a new teacher, new
classmates, and indeed, the whole campus will be new to Andrew since it
moved across town just after Andrew returned to the US last December.
When I’m not teaching or grading papers, I will continue to work on my
new writing textbook. Vivian will keep working to make our lives
comfortable, and Andrew will continue his after school Chinese tutoring.
In a way he makes me jealous, for I have a gnawing desire to improve my
Chinese—if only teaching and text-book-writing duties didn’t keep me so
busy! Well, maybe someday. As I tell my students, learning a language is
hard work...which reminds me of a story:
Last year a young lady attended one of the English movies we showed on
campus. A week or so later she came to my office, and wanted to know if
just sitting in my classes would improve her English. I told her that,
not only would she need English Department approval to audit my classes,
but just listening would probably not help much. She needed to memorize
words, read a lot, write in English, speak as much as possible, and so
on. With tears in her eyes she said, “You mean, it’s all up to me??” I
told her I was afraid that it was. Teachers, parents and speaking
partners can be a big help, but in the end, we get out of language study
whatever we put in.
Isn’t that true of anything worthwhile? Since I believe it is, I’d
better get back to work!
Working in China,
Michael for the family
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October 2004
October starts and ends with
important dates. October 1 is National Day, celebrating New China’s 55th
birthday. This means that the university community gets a week off--sort
of. Actually, we get three days off (Oct. 1, 4 and 5), plus a weekend
(Oct. 2 & 3), and then we get Oct. 6 and 7 off because these days have
been moved to Oct. 9 & 10. Thus, we will come back for Friday classes
(Oct. 8) before teaching Wednesday and Thursday classes after having
seven straight days away from campus.
Many people take advantage of the holiday to visit relatives, but I've
never been fond of teeming masses so we will stay at home. Andrew has
already spent a day making new Lego creations, while Vivian shopped,
cooked and cleaned, and I buried my nose in a grammar book trying to
figure out why noncount nouns like “water” sometimes need the definite
article “the” and sometimes don’t. If I ever figure it out, the answer
will become part of my new textbook.
Thirty-one days after the month begins, another Big Day arrives: my
grandmother’s 100th birthday. We enjoyed a visit with her while we were
in the US, and you can see a photo on this website. While we were home,
we also had a family reunion in Georgia where grandmother grew up,
graduated from college in the 1920’s, and then started her teaching
career. Perhaps I can squeeze a few minutes out of this National Day
holiday to create a web page about the reunion—we will see.
October 31 is also important as the day (in 1517, I believe) when Martin
Luther nailed his 95 theses to a door in Wittenberg, Germany, thus
beginning the Protestant Reformation. His teachings denounced
self-centered religious practices and stressed personal accountability
to a gracious Heavenly Father, who alone had the power to forgive.
Historians say that this led to the industrial revolution in Europe, for
if Someone Above is watching EACH of us, we should each strive to live a
righteous and productive life.
I think my grandmother has done just that. As a child I saw the love and
faith that she and my grandfather had, which expressed itself in
generosity to neighbors and strangers alike—especially toward those who
chose to work cross-culturally to improve the lives of others. Maybe
that is part of why my family and I work in China today. As I said in a
speech a few days ago, we count it an honor to live here, doing our part
to serve China’s students, as China ascends to her rightful place of
importance on the world stage.
So, happy birthday China, and happy birthday Grandmother! You have both
seen a lot of things since you were born. May you continue to experience
grace and peace.
For the family,
Michael Krigline
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November 1, 2004
As November opens we find ourselves buried in the demands of academic
work. Michael is grading his first mid-term exam, preparing to give his
second one this week, and writing (with Vivian's help) a final exam for
their Ph.D. class. Michael also has essays to finish grading, the normal
load of lesson preparation to do, and--always at the back of his mind,
if not on the front of his desk--more work to do on the textbook he is
writing. Since it is the beginning of a new month, he has also been
tweaking this website, and editing photos of this term's students. Just
to keep things interesting, he is doing all of the above with his first
major cold/cough of the season.
The rest of the family has lots of things to keep them busy as well.
Andrew spent the weekend revising his web page (with Daddy's help) and
creating a new LEGO page (pretty much on his own!). He has also been
busy at school with various projects. Vivian is busy teaching, preparing
lessons, shopping, cooking, cleaning, and doing all those other things
that make our lives enjoyable.
We are also looking forward to the Thanksgiving Holiday (Nov. 25--click
the underlined word and follow the link!). Though it will be a normal
workday for us over here in China, we plan to celebrate with some of our
"foreign" friends as we do every year.
So, things are pretty normal around here this month: busy!
Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving,
Michael, Vivian and Andrew
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December
3, 2004
Once again we have entered the Christmas
season running at full speed. Last weekend we had students over to help
decorate our tree, and then had our first ever "student game night" at the
apartment on Nov 28. We plan to have four more game nights before we pack
the Christmas ornaments back into boxes. We will also be sharing Christmas
Day with the NPU community, in the form of an open lecture followed by a
holiday movie classic. Andrew's school celebrated Christmas a bit early by
taking gifts to a countryside school that had been damaged in a flood.
Wherever you are this Christmas, we hope you
will take time to read the story of the first Christmas (click
here for a chronological version of the event)--whether
it is the first time you have seen it or the 50th time! We read it every
year, and something new always strikes us. This year I am awed by the
simple truth of the historical event--a truth that every human will
understand the moment he or she dies. Unfortunately, then it will be too
late for most people to enter the joy and forgiveness that only comes to
those who accept by faith what the facts will one day make undeniable.
May you and yours experience the fullness of
joy and peace that Christmas has to offer us all!
Michael for Vivian and Andrew
What is new?
This
month's addition is a page from our trip to Florida last summer and the
XIS page mentioned above. If you are one of our students,
click here to find continually updated resources for our classes.
Older additions include: class photos, Andrew's revised page
and new Lego page, an updated Better Writing
Guide (that is once again linked to my "Test
Your Skill" interactive worksheet), and an old photo of Michael's
Xiamen classmates. Additions within the past few months include pages
about visits to England, Scotland, Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania,
Canada, and other things from our 2004 trip away from China.
PS: If you tried to use
www.krigline.com.cn
last month and found many photos or buttons missing, I'm sorry. We
recently started to subscribe to a more expensive ISP, but we are still
having problems uploading our website from China (to both our US and
China-based hosts). Thanks for your patience. We have also run out of room
again on our server, so Flat Stanley is gone, and other old pages may
follow him soon.
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