CATCHING UP...

Well, it's been a while. I sorta lost momentum for posting on this blog when I no longer was able to see it what I posted, or even get on the blogger website to post. I could post by e-mail, but I never know what it ends up looking like! I guess I should just get used to that and stop making excuses.

Anyways, I'm in Thailand now, the land of sunshine, fresh fruit smoothies, and open internet. I've just finished two weeks of grad. classes - now I can finally enjoy the sunshine and have time to post a few things I wrote up this past fall! (I've already enjoyed quite a few fruit smoothies.)


Oh and I can't forget the elephants. I didn't get to ride one last year when I came, but I'm planning on it this year!

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT

Welcome Class of 2009!!! (They count the year in college by the year you start, not the year you graduate). Traffic around our front gate was extremely bad last week with all the freshmen arriving on campus. Some were driven by their parent's in nice black Audi's or other imported cars and were carrying their cell phones, cameras, MP3s, and computers in tow. Others came carrying their belongings in small rucksacks full of clothes and books, sweaty and tired after a long, lonely, and crowded train ride. The found their major's department, met their 7 other roommates, and got their military fatigues which they'll be wearing for the next 15 days as they complete their mandatory military training. (You can guess what next week's snapshot will most likely be!)

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT

Here's the team on the Saturday after our first week of teaching. Mr. Wang, our landlord, took us on a trip to Harbin's tiger park (search for it on youtube and you'll get a better idea of what it's like). You're probably wondering, where's the new guy? No, we did not feed him to the tigers. No, his first week of teaching was not that bad, nor was he scared away by the fact that he was on a team with only girls. Actually, he had to leave our team before he started teaching on account of a personal emergency. It was quite a shock to us and to our school. This is the 25th year that my organization has worked with this school. I don't think this unexpected loss has irretrievably damaged the relationship between the English teacher's organization and the school, but it hasn't been the easiest thing for us to negotiate.

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT

The team of foreign English teachers at my university and I went on an outing to get to know one another better and to help the two new teachers get better acquainted with the city. Here we are posing in front of St. Sophia Orthodox Cathedral, one of Harbin's famous sights. On the left, M. (new to Harbin, second year in China), B. (third year in Harbin), J. (new to Harbin, new to China), and me (second year in Harbin).

HELLO HARBIN!

I'm back in Harbin for my second year of teaching!!!

I arrived around noon today on a beautiful summer day in the North
East of China. Last year, I didn't arrive until the very end of
September, so I didn't know how beautiful the campus would look at
this time of year! The trees are green, lots of flowers are blooming,
and the landscaping and road repairing that was going on when I left
has finished. Back in the residents area of campus, where I live,
many of the retired teachers were out playing card games, mahjong, or
just simply sitting and enjoying the summer breezes. As I walked
around campus this afternoon, running some errands, I kept my eyes
pealed for any student's I knew, but I sadly, I didn't see any. There
aren't many students around yet, but I expect they'll be arriving by
the end of the week.

I'm still trying to overcome the jet-lag, but on the bright side,
I'll be used to waking up early when classes start next week.