Chinese Name

We are starting to have the veteran teachers return to Beijing for a few days before they move on to their respective universities, so we are gaining numbers of children rapidly. I am still amazed by the commitment these young families are making bringing their children to live in a foreign culture. I met one of the little seven year old girls today, whose been here since she was two, that wanted to know if California was in Canada. I think they call that being emersed in the culture. But she speaks Mandarin pretty good. The Texans will be proud to hear there are several families and individual teachers here from Dallas. I even met a girl from my old alma mater, Stephen F. Austin State University.

The most interesting event of the day is that I was that I was given a Chinese name. When Chinese students study English, they take an English name. The name may come from something significant or it may just be one they have heard that they like. e.g. Joseph - from The Book; Fiona - she loved Shriek; Raul - he thinks the Spanish are cool; Prosper - that's what he wants to do. One young man who has kind of attached himself to me for some reason, asked that I would give him an English name. I felt honored to be asked to do something that important and asked Janice and Lisa for help. They suggested Caleb, and that's the name we gave him. We told him it was from The Book, and that Caleb was a strong warrior who was honorable and dependable. He was very proud of his new name and said that I should have a Chinese name. He thought it over for a few days, and today he gave me the name "Yan". He said it means good and powerful leader because it came from one of their rulers. I figure it's because I'm so bossy around here, but hey, I'll take all the complements I can get.

That's it from Beijing tonight. zai jian

Yan Scott