Tim Ulmer, a former staffer for Illinois House Republicans (where I met him) taught English in China for a year.
He has written a book on the experience, which is not yet published.
McHenry County Blog is going to serialize the chapter on his experience at Christmas.
Here is the next installment:
A Chinese Christmas Carol, continued
I could tell they were lost, and tried to alleviate some of their confusion by saying,
Tim Ulmer teaches colors to a class. In a graduate and post-graduate class, Ulmer taught slang–their request after a show-down I had with the entire class. I taught things like “chicken”, “oopsy daisy”, “chance is an ice cube’s chance in hell”, “throw baby out with the bath water”, “tiger by the tail”, and “cat on a hot tin room” were some of the ones they enjoyed the most.
“God was sad that everyone on earth did bad things to Him and others. They disobeyed him like bad children.
And God really does think of us, human beings, as being His children.
“His enemy, called Satan, you probably know him as ‘the Devil,’ would be able to kill them forever, as a result.
“But God had one Son, and He sent His one Son, Jesus, to come to Earth.
“After He grew up and preached several years, He was killed by the Romans.
“All of God’s people had been called Jews, but once Jesus Christ was killed, his believers became called ‘Christians.’
“And by Him dying, all Christians are protected from being killed and tortured forever by Satan.
“Some people say that we give each other gifts, because there were three kings from Asia who traveled to bring him gifts,” I added.
What more could an inexperienced layman such as myself say to the class’s inquiry?
So, I just looked around the group, waiting for another question.
“What are you doing for Christmas?” asked a young woman I called Sally.
I shrugged and motioned around that room, chuckling, “I’m working.”
Sally seemed sad for me that I had to miss something as precious as Christmas was to Christians, but seemed relieved when I told her that some of my friends were having a dinner for me.
“In the West, nearly all businesses are closed, and many people go to a church.”
Then, I sighed, “It’s sad, but it might be the only time in the year that they go to church.
“Typically, families get together to celebrate.”
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More tomorrow.