Dear Mr. Brierly

(The following is a reply to a letter I received some time ago. I initially wanted to reply in kind, with a physical letter, but I have been lazy and postponed my reply. Now, it is definite that I would arrive in the states before my letter would, which means that sending it would be counterproductive; it would generate an awkward moment in which I would be forced to say "I did reply to your welcome and uplifting message, you just don't know it yet!")

Dear Mr. Bruce Brierly, and family,

I apologize for the lateness of this reply; this tardiness is not a reflection of any apathy towards your message, in fact it is kind of the opposite. I wanted to reply to the great message properly, which was hard and, since it was difficult, I did not do it quickly.

It is definitely true that the re-assignment was a destined event! I think I learned as much as my students. And while it is certainly true that I was out of my comfort zone in the younger class, I eventually figured out how to act naturally and instructively even with kids who could barely form sentences in their own language. Really, the biggest challenging was figuring out realistic expectations of their ability since I had so little experience with kids of that age. And to be honest, I did make a couple mistakes. I did not expect them to have such a problem with "What's your name?" and "My name is [Chinese or English name.]" And it didn't help that the kids were divided into three years, the youngest of whom couldn't reliably say which sport they liked after three weeks of practice, and the oldest, some of whom could say "The blue dog plays ping pong." without any help. With such a disparity, there were a couple times I had lessons that were so easy they were finished in half the class, and once when, after going into "Overtime" the kids still could not comprehend the meaning of "This is a fish."

I think, after that, I've gotten more patient with kids of that age, and more comfortable waiting for them to figure out how to say what's on their mind. I started out rather lifeless in front of a couple dozen rapidly-getting-bored young kids, but in the end I've been able to get them excited to draw and explain pictures of animals playing sports. And, as you say, this experience will surely be useful if I have a kid of my own, and in many other aspects of life. After all, many people like to draw similarities between stubborn adults and young children. It's nice to know I have a head start on that. (But I do have to say, I never went so far as to lay on the floor. That would definitely have ended poorly. But my proxy, Xiao Gou Peng {Small Dog Friend} is willing to go to those lengths.)

Shijiazhuang is known to be a smoggy city, even by Chinese standards, but during my stay it was generally quite clear. I would say most days had a blue sky, and it was rarely bad enough to impair sight at medium distances, such as looking down a long street. I have been told that the situation has improved recently, and that the weather is generally better in the spring and summer because of the wind patterns, so I got pretty lucky with my timing.

The city you mention your great grandparents visited sounds like it is in another part of China from me, where the dialects produce different sounds. And the best guess I can make on the actual pronunciation would closer to Ta Ke Ying Cao, (the last sound is pronounced like tchs-ow, which is a bit tricky to write with English characters) Maybe this will help you find this lost city! Though it is possible the name has changed, or my guess is wrong. China is changing more rapidly than many people realize. For example, this city was only a small village seventy years ago; in fact it's name roughly means "Village of the Shi Family," which is noticeably missing the character for city, Now, almost twice the population of Maryland calls this place home! The change happened so fast, I bet there are people who saw the entire thing during their lifetimes.

Unfortunately, I have no guess as to how to say your Great Uncle's phrase, nor any idea what it's meaning is. And because Chinese is very sensitive to pronunciation, (Saying 'wo zai ma`i shi si ge bao zi' means 'I am now selling fourteen dumplings,' but 'wo zai ma-i si shi bae zi' means 'I'm buying forty cups') it is going to be a difficult task to determine the meaning of the phrase, and the translation you found is probably the best closure you're going to get. But, if you want to continue investigating it, I wish you the best of luck!

While it is very unfortunate that I couldn't go to Hawaii, I kind of feel like I wasn't too bad off either. I mean, I didn't have to leave after a few days, I'm being paid to be here, I'm not living out in the middle of the ocean, and I am learning a language to boot! But, it does sound like the trip was a blast and I'm sure everyone will try very hard to make me jealous.

I'm glad you were impressed by Leah's "performance" during Footloose. To be honest, I regret missing the play more than I regret missing Hawaii. Leah always take what she's doing seriously, and always makes sure to do it as well as she can, so it's no surprised she would be able to correct something like that so fast. But, that said, it is cool to hear that she made such a significant contribution to the production, while it was taking place!

That's great news about your new family member! I have to say, that was an unexpected plot twist while I read your letter, but I'm glad your new grandson had such a warm welcome into the world, even as the world itself was cold and wet. I'm sure he will grow up well in a family as loving as yours.



In conclusion, I am glad to read your message, even so many weeks after receiving it as I compose this reply. Although it has been.... over a month.... since it showed up at the school, I still found fresh meaning in it. What was good advice before I started teaching kindergarten, became very sound truths now that I'm done. And your surprise that I didn't go to Hawaii made me realize just how special my time here is. Finally, reading about how Kaiden had such a great family from his very first day in the world was as heartwarming a story the second time as the first.

Thank you for not only thinking of me, but going to such lengths to send a physical letter when I'm on the other side of the world!

I don't such a meaningful salutation to conclude this note, but I'll try to make do with what I've got: 小孩子笑，大人侧耳，大家成长 [xiao hai zi xiao, da ren er ci, da  jia cheng zheng.] (I made this one up, and I hope it means 'Children laugh, adults listen, everyone grows.')

From the other side,

Spencer "石鹏" Christian Paire