Who Needs Fire?

Well, I have been back at school for two weeks. So far it has been busy, to say the least. It has been a little difficult to find my bearings in my study abroad classes. The classes are twelve weeks long, and I had a substitute cover the first three weeks, so I could go back to the US. It has been a difficult transition, but I am finally in control of my two classes. There has also been an added complication. I have also been asked to teach two more. Our staff lost our math teacher. As a result, I am now teaching a social sciences class and an algebra/trigonometry class. My friend Ted has also offered to help. He is teaching a statistics and business math class. I am glad too, because that stuff is beyond my understanding. I would feel much more comfortable teaching calculus, and I might end up doing just that, if we cannot find another math teacher. I have not yet started teaching at the high school. The students returned today, and they will have to go through a week of military trai...

A few days ago, I took yet another plane ride back to China. For those of you who don’t know, the trip from Chicago to Shanghai takes about 14.5 hours. So, I had plenty of time to reflect. I can’t believe that I am going back to China for a fourth year. It really doesn’t feel as if it’s been that long. The past three years have been amazing. I really believe that it is what God designed me to do. The adventure and fulfillment that I’ve felt in these recent years completely shadows the six years of job-hopping and searching that I did before I came here. I am so excited that I will be reunited with the thirty students in the study abroad program tomorrow. I’ve only been back for three days, but I start teaching on Monday. I suspect that the energy and excitement in my classes will be more than enough to combat the jetlag that woke me up at 3am today. In just one more month, I’ll be meeting the next sophomore class; there will be around 800 new students. I love to teach them. They are al...

Last week, I had a wonderful opportunity to go to Shanghai. One of my best friends was holding her wedding on Saturday. Now, I have been to Chinese weddings before, and have not really been all that interested. Once you have been to one, you’ve been to them all. This one though, was quite different. First of all, my friend is very much Chinese, but has always been interested in western culture. This came out in her wedding. She had what appeared to be almost a typical western wedding. The only exception of course, is that it was all in the Chinese language. The wedding was great. There was a choir that was singing. They said their vows before God and all of the witnesses, and of course a kiss to seal the deal. It was a great time! I also took the opportunity to stay in Shanghai for a few days. A few of my friends who are new to teaching in China asked if I would take them around Shanghai and show them some of the sights. So, we spent a few days doing all of the typical tourist stuff. ...

Okay, so i've been horrible about keeping up with this blog... But hey, let's not dwell on that. Have you ever had a day when something just truly touched your heart? I had one of those days today. Today started just like any other day. I taught my new study abroad class this morning. We focused on the pronunciation of "th". Did you know that there is a vocalized "th" sound like in that , and a non-vocalized "th" sound like in thank ? Right... Like you really want to know... Then I went to lunch. After lunch, I taught one of my favorite classes. They were doing group presentations about American Holidays. One group did a presentation about Valentine's Day. After they finished, they gave me a big folded paper heart and 58 little paper hearts. All 58 students signed the big heart, and they all shouted "I love you!" I absolutelly love my students. I truly believe that I have the best students in the entire world. What a great day! "...

Hello everyone!!! I am back on the air! It has been a long time! I have had many issues with some certain people trying to prevent a lot of people from getting to certain places on the internet, if you know what I mean. For now, I have found a way around it. So, I will once again be updating as often as I can to let you all know what has been happening with me. I just finished teaching my first full week since the holiday ended. The Chinese Spring Festival was about three weeks ago. Our students are less than enthusiastic to be back, and so are many of the teachers. The good news is that we all got some good down time. My students look well rested. Most of them spent their holiday just being kids – playing basketball and computer games, watching TV, sleeping, etc. I am so glad to see them again. Many of them have been finding me to hang out and talk during their rare and busy free time. It is so easy for me to think of it as “business as usual” at times, but the time that I have been h...

The next port was Antigua. It was a very easy and relaxing day. We didn’t have any excursions planned. We woke up a little later, and ate breakfast. After that we decided to go look around Antigua. We all got off the boat and started looking around the small shops that were near the boat. My Mom, Mary, and Cindy did some more shopping, while Kavita and I decided to look around town a little. When we docked, I noticed a church that looked to be quite old. I wanted to go and check that out first. We walked about a half mile, until we came to it. It was amazing. It was St. John’s Cathedral. It was built in 1845. The architecture was unbelievably intricate. The wood carvings and inlays were unlike anything I’d ever seen. The stained glass windows were also masterpieces in and of themselves. Plaques and commemorative artifacts adorned every wall of the church. Most of them placed there in honor of the people who sacrificed and labored to build the church. As I was walking around, I could ...

St. Lucia was our next stop. I was very excited about this port because we had planned a hike in the rainforest. We got up early again and ate breakfast, and prepared for what was listed to be a moderately difficult hike. We met our tour guide as we got off the boat. We got into a van and drove for almost an hour. Along the way we drove through several small towns and saw beautiful scenic landscapes. We drove out to the end of a road where a walking trail began. We were off. The hike was not too difficult. The trail was a little rocky and we had to be careful where we stepped. Slipping was a very treacherous thing to have happen, because we were so close to the edge of a cliff at times. The forest was incredibly lush. Vegetation growing on top of vegetation. The plants were relentless in their growth. We also saw several fruit trees that are used by the natives for various cuisine and crafts. Eventually, we came to a small waterfall that emptied into a natural pool formed by rocks. I ...