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P/CLOUDY Temp: 48 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, November 21, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend November 2, 2002 Teena and Hugh Anderson look over a collection of photos from their trip to China. Sponsored by their Rogue Valley church, they taught Chinese teachers conversational English. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli A Bridge to China Medford couple taught English, learned international language of friendship By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune When the Communists took over China a half-century ago, Teena Anderson’s missionary grandparents were expelled along with all other Westerners. After growing up hearing their tales, Teena, a Medford piano teacher, finally got to fulfill a lifelong dream — going to post-Communist China to pick up her family’s work. Although sponsored in part by their Presbyterian Church, Teena, 50, and her husband Hugh Anderson, 53, went to China on a secular mission — trying to build bridges between cultures by teaching summer English to middle school teachers. "I don’t want to push religion on people," she said. "If I can be an example of God’s love and commitment, that’s a lot better than telling someone they should believe as I do. My grandparents were the same way." In the city of Jing De Zhen, the Andersons used games, songs, stories, play-acting and "jazz chants" (lengthy, playful repetition of phrases like ‘It’s hot and humid here today") to implant conversational English in a culture that has long studied how to read and write the language, but had little idea how to hear and speak it, said Hugh Anderson, a regional presbyter (religious elder) who oversees 125 congregations in the Northwest. "First thing I said was ‘Please stand up.’ They could all read and understand that, but, coming out of my mouth, they had no idea what I was talking about." In nearby Hefei, the Andersons for the first time met the Rev. Shaotang Zhu, the adopted son of their grandparents, the late Oswald and Irene Goulter. Zhu fled with the Goulters to America, then returned after the decline of the Cultural Revolution to administer the Goulter Foundation and library founded by the couple during their work there from 1920 to 1951. With aid from the foundation, Zhu’s daughter is now being put through Duke University Medical School, in Durham, N.C., Teena Anderson said. The Andersons’ visit was supported by the Amity Foundation, a Chinese Christian service organization that works with other churches around the world to promote health care, education, housing and social services in China. Summer English teachers in the program must have college degrees and be sponsored by churches in their home countries. Teachers end up paying about $2,000 in expenses for the six-week experience. Conversational English is a top priority now as China moves to the forefront of participation in global commerce and communication, Teena Anderson said. "No one knows English grammar and syntax like an educated Chinese person," she said, "but now they’re realizing they have to learn to speak and understand it fluently to participate in world culture." China had minimal communications infrastructure, such as phone lines, but now is leaping over that, directly into satellite television, the Internet and cell phones, she said. The Chinese have been getting much of their experience with spoken English (and Western culture) by watching such movie fare as "Lethal Weapon 2." "That puts Westerners in an awful light and gives a very false impression," Teena Anderson said. "That’s one of the reasons the program is so effective — because if you know one person from that country, it changes your whole attitude about that country." Teena Anderson, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Korea, used her ESL (English as a Second Language) skills to teach not just language but culture, music and games by re-enacting the ritual of American baseball. She engaged students in a baseball game and, having no bat, used an umbrella and rubber ball, sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and the national anthem (both nations), then had students learn to speak and spell all the baseball jargon, from pop fly to home run. "We just grew to love each other and by the end of the month, they were rattling on and on in English," she said. "The intensity was such that we are friends for life. They’re very warm-hearted people and they saw that we were, too. They could see we were not just there to proselytize, but to care for each of them as a person." The Andersons receive frequent e-mails from the students, including one this week from Ya Cai Xia, known as "Ann" (the Andersons gave them all Western names), which reads: "We all miss you. I dare not look at my picture with you. When I look at them I feel sad. I do not know how and when we can meet again. You are always our teacher. Please do not forget us. I hope you are happy forever." The Chinese were amazed to hear Hugh Anderson helped with dishes and laundry at home, Teena Anderson said, and the women said they would encourage their husbands to do the same. "Since we meet you couple, we come to know what is good husband and good wife," wrote Ya Cai Xia. "You are true ideal couple in my heart." Hugh Anderson taught in the areas of relationships and the life cycle here, including family, dating, customs, marriage and jobs — even re-enacting a Western wedding to convey Western words and phrases. Teena Anderson taught about daily life, including routines, daily schedules, money, recreations, movies and foods. She would like to return for another summer English term and "continue the seeds of friendship my grandparents planted" but, she said, is waiting to see if she hears "the call" to do so. John Darling is a free-lance writer in Ashland. 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