At the heart of it

2007-10-21T02:22:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,
Wow, it has been a long time since I posted. I always have such grand ideas of doing great journaling here and I always fall quite a bit short of that...and today will be the same. I don't have a lot of time to write, but wanted to let you know that I have changed the place that I am posting pictures. I have been using Facebook and have found it easier to post pics there. So, my pics are now at www.facebook.com. You do have to sign in to this site, but after you do, you can search for my name and view my pics and other info about me. At some point I may even blog there, but for now I will continue to try to keep you a little updated here.

2007-09-13T02:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,
I arrived back in Shanghai on Tuesday, August 28th. On Wednesday morning we were already up early to go to the supermarket to get groceries and to help the new ones get settled in. We have four new people joining us this year. Three of those are guys and yes, the other is a girl!! We have two new English teachers, one nursing teacher and one science teacher. The team is now about even in the ratio of girls to guys now!! The boys are happy!
My first class day was Monday, September 3rd. I am teaching Maternity this semester and have the same students that I had the first semester. So, it is nice to not have to learn a whole new class of students. We have 118 sophomores and 114 freshmen in our program. My first week was pretty easy because we have not started check-off yet. Check-off is the time where we teach them skills and they have to demonstrate them back to us for a grade. We will have check-off for Maternity, Medical/Surgical Nursing, and Fundamentals of Nursing. So, because of this, we will be in check-off every Tuesday-Thursday from 1pm-4pm. Makes the afternoons just a bit busy!!! And, of course, the students love it!! Just joking!!
This week was full of class time, but also a lot of time getting the new people settled in to their new life here in Shanghai. So, this meant a few trips to the supermarket and of course some travel around the city for sightseeing. Even though I have seen most of these places, it was really neat to see them again through "new people" eyes and to remember what it was like the first time I rode the bus, saw the Pearl Tower, or had to get on the subway!! It is a blessing that this place feels like home for now.
Well, I cannot share much, but our true purpose for being here is reaping great rewards. Continue to keep us in your thoughts. Our Father is faithful. Know that you are in my thoughts and I will keep you updated.
In Him,
Christy

2007-06-08T04:57:00.001-07:00

Sorry, but I could not post pics at the time I wrote the previous post...I will post them later and they will be at shutterfly!

Nursing Home

2007-06-08T04:42:00.000-07:00

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to visit a local nursing home near our school. I have to say that my mind thought of the worst possible circumstances, but I was pleasantly pleased to see the I was so wrong in my thoughts. The accommodations were simple, but pleasant and clean! Mostly I met ladies, but there were a few men around! The oldest resident died just yesterday at the young, spry age of 105!! WOW! Below are a few pics of the sweetness that we experienced!
The lady in the white shirt with the head full of white hair is 97 and as spunky as they come! She had more energy and was more flexible that I could ever dream of!
We were able to visit this place with some students from the school and spent most of our time taking blood pressures, singing and entertaining! They were so thankful for the time that we spent with them and I got quite a few "grandma" hugs from these little ladies. Needless to say, I had a great time!

2007-06-06T06:50:00.000-07:00

Today brought another check-off: tracheostomy cleaning. The girls did a really job and I have posted some pics at shutterfly. The other week I gave a test over nursing interventions. One question asked them to explain certain types of restraints. One specific type is called a mummy restraint. I was tickled at one response that said "A type of restraint that holds a child together". I just laughed as I envisioned all these little children running around in mummy outfits to keep them together. They never cease to come up with some of the funniest sayings!!!

Uganda 2007

2007-05-29T07:12:00.000-07:00

Every place that I travel to leaves me speechless in it's beauty and Uganda was one of the most beautiful!!! The people and the country. I had the great privilege to travel to Uganda for one week with Operation Renewed Hope and had a wonderful time in service. The team consisted of 28 people that included two medical doctors, two dentists, one eye doctor, seven nurses and 16 fabulous volunteers. We worked in three villages, in four days and saw over 1000 people. We also were able to see over 450 new souls!!!

It was a fabulous time getting together with some old friends and a great time working with the kids! I was able to work with all of the kids for the entire week. Kinda worked like a doctor, but with much doctor assistance. I loved it!! Has made me consider going back to school for my NP license! Who da thunk it??????

Medication Check-off

2007-04-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

The freshmen just completed their most difficult check-off for this semester...medication administration. They were so nervous, but did fairly well!! It brought back many memories of trying not to forget to check the medicine correctly and to do the "five rights" (you nurses will understand that).

Flower Show

2007-04-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the privilege to spend the day with Stella at a flower show in Shanghai. We had a great time just meandering and seeing all the beautiful scenery that has been created. It is always a pleasure to be with Stella. We spent a few hours in all the green and color and for a while I thought I was back in the states. The noise of the city fell away for a little and the beauty of the flowers took over!! You can see all the pics at shutterfly!

To let you all know, I will be going to Uganda for a week in May to help some friends with a medical clinic. I am so thankful for this opportunity and can't wait to see some old friends and share in service with them. Please keep me in your thoughts and I will send pics as soon as I can. Beth and I leave May 12 and return to Shanghai May 19. We are excited!!

Know that you all are in my thoughts!

Second Semester

2007-04-01T04:43:00.000-07:00

Our second semester began March 5, 2007 and we are now in full swing and going into week 5...hard to believe!!! All is well and I just celebrated my first birthday in another country. I do have to say that it was a wonderful time. We began to celebrate the week before and ended the week with a dinner out at MoonRiver on Friday night where the team gave me the most awesome chair for my room. (Pics are posted at shutterfly) On Sunday, the 25th, I had lunch with a friend from the states who was here on business and then headed back to the campus for some more presents!!!
Beth and I were watching a movie and Ivy, student, called and wanted to talk. So, I headed out to the track and spent about 30 minutes walking around. We headed back to the building and she had to go by her classroom, so I went along. As we got to the room, the lights were out and the hall was full of students!!! Yes, a surprise birthday party from the students!!! It was so precious and sweet. The students were awesome and did a great job!
Enjoy the pics at shutterfly!!!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

2007-01-20T04:04:00.000-08:00

I promise that I have not fallen off of the face of the earth, but I have been neglectful in updating this site!!! I started the semester out well and kept up, but now I am so far behind with pics and info that it scares me everytime I think of updating. So, I will say that Christmas was great and the play was wonderful. The students did a great job in the performance and the words were clear.

As a team, we drew names for gifts and on Christmas morning we had a late breakfast and then shared our gifts. It wasn't the same as being at home with family, but our Father has provided me with many sisters and brothers and I am grateful to be here with them. We were like little kids with all of our gifts and very thankful to be able to share the meaning with each other. We also had opportunity to share with

students in gifts, words, and fellowship. It was a great experience to spend this holiday in another country and still have a common understanding of the true meaning.

The new year is quickly passing us by and I sit here near the end of January which means the end of the first semester and I am amazed that I have been here for 5 months now. Time does fly when you are having fun and when you get older!!! We are approaching Final Exams and have completed our last week of teaching. For now we will review and help to prepare the students for the finals. We will fly home on Feb 6th and have the opportunity to spend a few weeks with family in the states and Canada before we all return for another fun-filled semester!!!

Sorry

2006-12-03T05:23:00.001-08:00

I wanted to post pics in the blog below but the site wouldn't let me. Please go to shutterfly!! Thanks...

Thanksgiving

2006-12-03T05:19:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving becomes more precious to me every year. The past three years I have spent Thanksgiving in a foreign country. In 2004, I spent the holiday in Mexico on my trip with Operation Renewed Hope. I am thankful for the doors of service that that Thanksgiving opened. In 2005, I spent the holiday in Nias, Indonesia in a little village in the mountains. It took 2-3 hours to hike through rice patties and jungle to get to the clinic site. We were the first people who had come in many, many years to see to the physical needs of these people. They were very open to ALL that we had to offer. The meal that day as a beef and macaroni MRE and fresh pineapple. It was shared with precious friends who love to serve as I do. This year, the holiday finds me in China once again serving with precious people. We were able to have many friends to visit with us and the food was phenomenal. I am not just saying that because we cooked it, it was really good. We all added our own little "from home" ideas and they proved to complement each other very well.
Among our friends we had people from America, England, China and Japan. There were teachers, students and brothers and sisters who joined us. We fed about 30-40 people and had "baskets" left over. We were provided for in a great way by our Father, which made the meal of no expense to us personally. For that we were extremely thankful!!! We celebrated on Saturday because we had to teach on Thursday and then on Sunday many of our friends met with us again and we shared, with each other, the things that we are thankful for.
It was a sweet time of fellowship to hear the hearts of others in thankfulness.
I have been trying my hand at a little origami. I know that is a Japanese art, but hopefully the Chinese won't mind. Anyway, I found a pattern for a turkey online and tried for 2-3 days to fold the crazy thing. Well, look at the pic and tell me if you would know that it is a turkey?! It was quite comical, but fun to try. There is a manger scene pattern online that I am going to try for Christmas, so I will post pics.
Well, I don't want to make this an epistle, so I will go for now and try to post again in the next few days. Don't forget to visit shutterfly and see the latest pics. And please, if you have pics, please post them there for me to see. Have a great day and know that you are in my thoughts.

It has been too long...

2006-11-27T07:01:00.000-08:00

Again I am sorry for not keeping you posted, but the blog people have not been kind to me lately and I have not been able to get in to post anything. So, I am sending this to say that tomorrow I will update you all on the new happenings here. For now, the pic to the left is with some of our girls in the dorm. They had us over for supper and fed us very well. They are sweet girls and are learning much...

Sorry so late

2006-11-07T03:57:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I last posted and I apologize. I have been a bit busy, but also a bit lazy!! There have been many things going on here. Classes have been going great and I believe the students are beginning to understand me better. Or maybe I am understanding them better? Hopefully it is a little of both! I am enjoying learning more and more about how they function and see life. Things are very different here. The pace is slower and the memories are more special.
There hasn't been a whole lot more than school going on here since my last post, but relationships are forming and that is most important. This past Saturday we spent the evening playing games with the students. We played big ball volleyball and a game like marco polo. My body is still sore, but we had a fabulous time and I laughed more than I have in a long time.
I am not as spry as I used to be and these girls run circles around me!!
I know that many of you will not believe this, but I am actually cooking and enjoying it. The girls have even asked me to make things more than once!! My mother will be so proud, but I will no longer have an excuse to let her cook all the time...I will post pics at shutterfly.
Two weeks ago I gave my first test. I was nervous. The students were terrified, but they did really well. So either they understand me more than I think, or I was too easy! I give my second test this week, so we will see!! This week in check-off, they are learning about bedmaking.
They learn from their chinese classes how to make beds in china, but we teach them the differences in using fitted sheets and top sheets along with a bedspread. In the chinese classes, they have to practice their bedmaking skills 50-100 times. I thought we were hard!!!

Want to go to the zoo?...

2006-10-22T02:50:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been almost two weeks since my last post. I keep forgetting that I have this blog...please forgive me!! Since I last posted I have been to the zoo. Yes, the school took us to the Shanghai Wild Animal Park and it was very nice. The weather was beautiful, there was a cool breeze and I got to see the pandas!!! It was much like a zoo in America, but the areas that housed the "ferocious animals" were areas that you could drive through and see the animals in their own enviroment. They had acres to run on, not just housed in small areas. I have posted pics at www.cholshouser2000.shutterfly.com. The funniest part of the day was seeing the dogs that were on display! Yes, dogs! They had Lassie, and a beagle, and a golden retriever; it was so odd to see them in areas like the other animals. One thing that they do here that we don't in the states is that you can buy chicks to feed to the alligators and chickens to feed to the bears. That really caught me off guard. The bus that came in behind us when we drove through the bear area had two chickens hanging out of the windows on strings. They would pull them up and then let them down to tease the bears. I have never...!!!
Well, we are back in full swing here at school and I am giving my first test on Wednesday! The students are not sure what to think and I am not sure what I am going to think after the test is over. It is still hard to communicate and to help them to understand. They are coming around more to classroom lectures and notes, but they are not doing well understanding their reading assignments. So, I am trying different ideas to get them to get more out of their reading and to weed out what reading is not necessary.
Two weeks ago, we began our first check-off. A check-off is a time when they demonstrate a nursing skill and the first one was hand washing. They were so nervous. They came into the room for the demonstration and they were shaking! They are required to speak in English when they come for check-offs and sometimes that is what makes them the most nervous. Last Monday they had to come demonstrate the hand washing that they had practiced and this was a challenge for many. You could tell those who had not practiced as they were told and subsequently they failed and had to repeat the performance on Wednesday. They practiced for Wednesday!!!! Above is a picture... and others can be found at shutterfly!
My other big adventure lately has been our trips to the fabric market. The first time I went was a little intimidating and I almost thought that I would never go back, but I am actually coming around to loving the place. You can have anything custom made for a very good price. My first purchase was a coat for winter... The black coat is mine. Please don't anyone be jealous!! I love it!!! And will keep me warm on what I have been told can be some pretty cold days!! Well, that is all that is new for now. I am going to try to remember to update more often. It will especially be easier on me!! Know that you all are in my thoughts.

Vacation already!!!

2006-10-04T05:59:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are in the middle of another week. This week has been different though, we have been on vacation. This weekend was a chinese holiday and they not only got the day off, but also the whole next week. Now that is my kind of a holiday. Maybe America can take some pointers???!!! Seriously, we have the week off and have had a great time going around town and spending time with friends. Alot of what we do, along with teaching, is to build relationships. This time has allowed for some of that.
Last week went very well. The students were very receptive and seemed to understand most of what I discussed with them. I am learning how to say things many different ways. My vocabulary will either stretch or center around a few small ideas!!! This week I am trying to be diligent and get ahead, but so far I am not succeeding!! It is too easy to remind myself that I am on vacation! I will keep working at it.
Monday we spent our day at the fabric market and I picked out some material to have a winter coat made. I will pick it up next week and will post some pics then. I believe it will be very nice- cashmere and silk. I have never been pampered so!! Only in China!
Tuesday we spent the day shopping in a Swedish store named IKEA. It reminded me of a Sam's store without all the bulk buying. It was somewhat like a large warehouse with tons of things in it. From there we went to supper and then made our way to Pearl City. We spent quite a bit of time in a little pearl shop and dreamed of beautiful things. Some of the girls had pieces made, but I haven't decided on what I would like yet. Here is a set that Beth had made. Very lovely and fits her personality wonderfully!!
We left Pearl City rather late and were concerned about getting a bus back to Zhou Pu where we would catch a taxi to the campus. We waited for a little and watched tons of people try to climb into already full buses. We laughed until we cried and then realized that we were going to have to do the same. Finally the 581 came and we piled in with all the others and began what proved to be a most hilarious trip. I do not know the capacity level for the bus, but I do believe that we exceeded it by about 6 times. No joke, you couldn't move and if you did it was because the whole group was moving. It was as if we were one unit!! We would stop and maybe 3 would get off, but 10 would get on! I haven't laughted so hard in so long. All you could do was laugh when your neighbor was really close. Forget the 18 inches of personal space, we were down to maybe 2!!! This pic doesn't even do it justice; you would have to be here and experience it first hand!! We finally made it back to campus around 11:30pm.
Today has been spent just lounging around. I have accomplished a little reading, watched a movie, ate, and slept. It has been GREAT!! Tomorrow I have to get some work done. Well, it is late, so I will go for now! Thinking of you all!!

First Day!!!

2006-09-26T04:42:00.000-07:00

My first day in the classroom was yesterday, Monday, 9/25. In the picture, you can see where I had a student write my name in chinese. They think it is so funny that we try to learn chinese, but they are so helpful in our learning. I taught two different classes of students for three periods (40 minutes) each. I taught class 1 from 0945-1145 and then taught class 2 from 1300-1520. By the end of the day I had used up all of my 30,000 words and was ready to just sit and listen for a while. I actually have three different classes of students and I taught class 3 today from 0945-1145 and then had office time until 1630. We officially have 118 freshman and they are divided into three different classes to make it a little easier to teach.
For the next two weeks the freshman are in an orientation phase and we are given more time to teach. So, for these weeks I teach each class a total of 5 periods a week. That makes about 15 hours a week. My voice will need some encouragement. After the orientation phase, we back off to four periods for each class per week. I like having more time to teach, but my voice will like the break!!
The students are awesome! I do have to use creative ways of describing things and never realized how many colloquialisms we use in english. It is a challenge to speak slow, with proper enunciation and be able to convey the right definition or idea at the same time. You all would "get a kick out of it"!!! (I would not be able to use that expression;o)) For our first class time I talked about the course description, the schedule of reading and assignments, the rules for class and lab time and what they will be learning during this semester. I also explained what Fundamentals of Nursing means and different things they can do to learn better. I told them that they would have a quiz every class time and they could not believe it!!! It is cute to watch their responses and expressions. This is a challenging program for them. It is a bilingual program and they do have classes in Chinese, but for our classes everything is in English. Some of them have very good speaking and comprehension skills, but many can speak more than they understand. Little things that we say or take for granted, they do not know that they mean. I continually ask for wisdom and discernment. It is a challenge to determine what they are really understanding because they do not want to ask questions because they do not want to disappoint the teacher.
I am very excited to be in a classroom setting and be able to share in their learning and to tell them why I enjoy being a nurse. I do miss my PICU, but this is such a great opportunity!!!
I have the privilege to work with some really great people and that makes this even better.
Know that things are well here!! and enjoy the pictures at shutterfly!!

China

2006-09-15T04:24:00.000-07:00

I am here in Shanghai and all is well. It is hard to even begin to tell how things are. I have set up some pictures at cholshouser2000.shutterfly.com with the password of chinadoll. I will be updating the albums periodically and that is where you will be able see the bulk of pictures. You can also order pictures from there or post some of your own for me to see. It is pretty cool!!!
Well, I have had almost two weeks here and am getting settled in nicely. We are expecting 117 Freshman this year. The sophomores begin classes on Monday, 9/18. I am teaching the Freshman Fundamentals of Nursing I this semester and we begin class on Monday 9/25. I will be teaching 12 hours a week since the Freshman class is so large. We will split them up into 3 separate classes. I will be teaching Pediatrics in the Spring. The Freshman have some time in adaptation classes to get them ready for college and for english. The campus is lovely and very modern. I feel like I am on an American campus except for all the people who don't speak a lot of english.
I met some of the girls today and they are very nice. Our accommodations, as you can see in the pictures at shutterfly, are fantastic. Much more than I ever expected. I live in a 4 story service apartment building that is run like a hotel with linen and cleaning service once a week. My office at present is on the first floor and I live on the third floor. Our classes and lab rooms are just a building away.
There are nine of us on the team and I hope to get a group picture soon so that I can introduce everyone. There are seven girls and two boys. Five of us teach nursing courses and the other four teach the english and sciences. It is a great group of people that are committed to what we doing here. Continue to remember us in your thoughts.

Welcome

2006-02-06T06:23:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog. I hope that this proves to be an effective way to keep in touch with the many of you as I plan to hit the trail at the end of August. God has opened a great door of opportunity for me to travel and teach nursing with BJU. It is amazing to see how God has and is continuing to work in my life. I ask for your prayers as I continue on this journey and that God would be glorified in everything that I do.