spoiled :)

I do admit that sometimes I feel spoiled here in Beijing. Here's my confession: right now there is someone else cleaning our house! This is actually the first time we've hired someone to come and clean, but boy am I excited. We haven't hired someone to come once a week like most people do, but we found out that there's a company you can call to have someone come whenever you need. This time of year is of course hectic. It's Saturday and I spent the morning at the school, just cleaning things up there, putting away the piles of things that accumulate, and trying to be organized. And the truth is, our place hasn't been thoroughly cleaned in awhile. Usually we just kinda do a surface clean. So this is a treat, especially since it's only about $2/hour!

I also feel spoiled with the health care I receive. I guess we pay it monthly on our paycheques, but I don't have to fork out cash in advance. The clinic I use has direct billing, and the doctor really is generous with anything we need :) Dry skin? He's got the solution! Their mentality is that we're paying for good health care, and he gets paid by our insurance company, so we might as well get all we're paying for! Did I mention I have a big gall stone? I don't have any symptoms because it's just one big one. As long as it doesn't bother me, which it hasn't, then it stays. And I'm not supposed to eat chinese food! Well, I haven't completely stopped, but I've definitely reduced the intake of the spicy, oily foods.

In two weeks we're heading to Shanghai for 2 days and then Manila for about 10 days! Should be a nice warm Christmas. Once we come back in January we teach for 3 weeks and then it's Chinese new year! But I don't think we'll go anywhere this time. It's too expensive and crazy to go anywhere that time of year. We'll just stay and experience the fireworks 24 hrs. a day for about 7 days :)

Happy December to all!

Gray November

'Tis the end of November and all through the town
The city is filling
With gray smoke all around

I guess since it's gotten colder, and the government turned our heat on on Nov. 15, the coal-burning plants are up and running, which means things are pretty dusty around here. Our back patio gets dirtier a lot faster, and the air is just not nice. I really noticed the difference today. We just got back from a 5 day trip to Hong Kong. What a difference! We've been there before, but it was in passing on the way to Manila...so this time I really noticed the differences between these two cities.

We were in Hong Kong with 9 others from our school for a conference for international christian teachers. Great conference! Great workshops, speakers, everything. We stayed at a YMCA camp which wasn't great, but much cheaper for the school. We took the subway various places to go out for dinner and shopping and you just notice how much more civilized the people are. They don't push and shove. They line up properly and follow the rules. There's no spitting, or really any garbage lying around. Yes, it's crowded, but they handle it much better. Blue skies there meant there's a deep blue whichever direction you look. Whereas here in Beijing you have to look straight up to find blue (if you're lucky), and still it's usually hazed over. Needless to say, there's a lot I liked about Hong Kong. Most people speak english, and there's lots of great shopping and food! The whole place is a lot more compact which makes it easier to find things. But the cost of living is definitely more expensive. So here we are back in our gray city, happy to sleep in our own beds and see our rabbits again :)

Speaking of rabbits, we had a traumatic experience about 2 weeks ago. It was a regular Sunday evening and I stepped out to give the rabbits some food when I heard something squealing. It wasn't very close, but I recognized the sound as a baby rabbit! I could tell it was on the other side of our fence, so Scott went out the front and around to the back to see what he could find. My heart was pounding. The only rabbit that was out was Pepper, and he seemed restless, especially when he heard the squealing. Sure enough, Scott saw a ferret (or weasel?) run out of the bushes. Then he followed the squealing noise and found our Pepper Jr. My heart dropped. Scott brought him inside but the back of his neck was chewed up. He must've been carried off. He was still breathing though and for some minutes, I had hope that we could help him. We wrapped him in an old t-shirt and tried to let him calm down. But I realized we couldn't do anything for him when he tried to get up, moving his back legs, but he could not lift his head. It must've been broken. How sad it was to watch him suffer. We made him as comfortable as we could. We knew we were in for a late night. We eventually did get to sleep around 11:30 and he was still breathing. Even in the morning he was still with us, and I was beginning to wonder if we'd have to spend money on him at the animal hospital! Both of us barely made it through teaching that Monday. We were so tired, physically and emotionally. I came home as quickly as I could and he was no longer breathing. I'm glad he wasn't suffering anymore, but it was still quite sad. He was like one of our own. He had been born in our little yard! And he was so cute. We had a little funeral for him that night. Rest in Peace Pepper Jr. Now we just have 1 baby left, plus Salt and Pepper.


Well that's all for now. These next 3 weeks are going to FLY as we get ready for Christmas concerts, parties, and then we go to the Philippines!

Thanks for reading and keeping in touch !

Snow, hiking...

It's slowly starting to get colder here...This past weekend we enjoyed (sort of) a 4 hour hike 1 hour drive north of Beijing. It was great to get out of the city but it was definitely colder than I expected. Thankfully I haven't gotten sick from this cold and sweaty trek, and I think my calf muscles have finally recovered. This hike was unique because we started at a small village in the mountains, trekked to another village in the middle of the mountains, climbed to the summit of one of those peaks, and then back down. It was cool to walk through a village that is so completely different from life in the city. We even saw a donkey pulling a big stone to grind corn. And speaking of corn, the harvest of corn from the whole area was drying on the shoulders of the roads! It was weird, and beautiful. Now we know why there are sometimes stones in our cornmeal :) It even snowed a bit while we were walking through one of the villages. Another point of interest from our hike had to be when Scott decided "straight up here" looked closer than going zig-zag up to the summit of the mountain. Of course the other guys had to follow along, while us wives took the trail. We reached the peak and then couldn't see them because it was such a drop over the edge! We started calling down "where are you guys?" until we saw some heads through the brush. But reaching the top required them to climb basically straight up these rocks with a big drop-off. One wife was screaming over the cliff "Turn around and get back on the trail! You don't have medical!" Thankfully we didn't have any serious injuries. Scott actually emerged completely unscathed. One guy emerged with bloody shins (he was wearing shorts) and the last (and older) one emerged sweaty and covered in bits of trees! hehe. It was a funny sight.

This weekend we'll be enjoying turkey again! Our staff is having it's Thanksgiving dinner. I'm looking forward to all the delicious foods! And in 2 weeks we head to Hong Kong for a 3 day conference. It will be warmer there! Our heat comes on this weekend though :) Thank the lord for government heating!

hmm...November already??

Well, apparently I'm less faithful at writing my blog this year. Sorry! I guess things are just more comfortable here this year, and we're just used to life in Beijing. So maybe it doesn't seem as 'new' anymore. Well the highlight of this past month was definitely my parents' visit! What a fun time to have them come and experience our life here! It was so great just to show them the local places we shop, and get to know some of our friends and community. They probably weren't used to the amount that we eat out! It's quite convenient and most importantly CHEAP to eat out rather than cook for ourselves. Don't get me wrong, I do cook dinner at least 4 nights a week :) But my mom insisted on cooking dinner for us sometimes, which was a nice treat. Especially since she ventured to the meat section of our market (which I had yet to step foot in!) and buy some good cuts of meat and seafood! If you wonder what my mom thinks of us biking around the city, she said that she will keep praying for me everyday! :)

Other excitement would be that while my parents were here Pepper was taken away to get nutured! We were fairly certain Salt was pregnant. And then while Pepper was gone for his surgery we think she had babies! No sign of them until just a week ago. So they are 4 weeks old now. We've seen 3 of them. 2 gray, 1 black (with a white nose like Pepper). They are quite small and very cute! Of course, they are quite timid as well, because they were born in a burrow! We did manage to get a picture of one the other day.

We enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner with other Canadians! Our dinner included all the regulars: turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, and pumpkin pie!

School continues to be busy, as usual. It's always fun to figure out how to do things with new staff and students. And of course, my students are a little wild this year. But I still enjoy my job! We've just finished reading Little House in the Big Woods! We even made butter!

I hope you're all enjoying the Fall weather. The leaves are just starting to turn here. BYE!

A few pics of the past month...

Camping Gang


International Family Day

We went to a wedding of a friend and fellow Canadian

We went to a themed birthday party: Dress up as your favorite musical character. Here are Todo and a Tree from the Wizard of Oz

October already!!!

Oops! Again, time has slipped by me. I'm sorry for not updating earlier. My parents are visiting though, so that's one less reason to blog :)

So, September is already over! What did we do besides work? We had one day off for Moon Festival (?) and were invited camping with friends. We went to a gorgeous spot in a deep valley, camped right beside the river with basically no people around - which is a rare treat here in China. Because of the Olympics we weren't allowed to have an open flame fire (even though we were about 2hours outside of Beijing). So we used hot coals to cook our food, and spent our evening eating and playing 2 Truths and 1 Lie. Great way to get to know people!

The highlight of the trip was Simon trying out the electric fly swatter on his face! AND swimming in the river, which was interrupted when a black and red striped snake swam right in front of Scott!!! The fun in the water was over with that! Definitely a memorable camping trip.

We also had International Family Day this past month, which is always a highlight for us. Us Canadians worked really hard this year and were able to make it 2nd place in ticket sales after the koreans! WOO-HOO!!! The Timmy's coffee, our crepes and waffles with maple syrup, and NHL Hockey on Playstation were major draws to our room! We definitely had the most people hanging out in our room, which was lots of fun.

My parents arrived that same evening, and we've been busy hosting them since then. Besides working for a couple of days last week, we've been to the Temple of Heaven, Olympic Green, and Summer Palace. They've also ventured out on their own to see Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and the older Hutong area of town. Tomorrow they actually take off for a few days to Xi'an, where they'll see the Terracotta Warriors, and various other attractions there. I'll be by myself for a few days because Scott is away for Enrichment Week. He's in Qingdao with the Grade 8 class.

Life goes on here...
-my students are still quite a struggle for me this year.
-My mom has been taken me to the back corners of our market next door to where the seafood is! She's been enjoying the cheap prices of all the food.
-Pepper, our male rabbit, was nutered
-Salt, the female, had babies on the same day (we're fairly certain, but can't see them because they're deep in the burrow)
-and thanks to technology it doesn't feel like you are all so far away!

Enjoy the Fall weather!!

First holiday!

Yes, we're back to school but thankfully we have a long weekend to enjoy right now! The beginning of this school year still seemed as crazy as the last. I'm not sure if that's because I've been trying new things in my class....but certainly my new students have contributed to the craziness. They are a different bunch from last year. More hyper, active, talkative, and certainly immature right now. Oh well....they'll mature. It's dawned on me that I only remember my last bunch as being mature, but that's because that's how they were at the end of the school year. I don't really remember what they were like at the beginning of the year.

I only have 12 right now, but I do think they're generally more difficult to manage than last year's class. I found out that one student was diagnosed with ADHD and is on medication! So he's actually doing better than he did last year, but is still a challenge. But the end of this week was good. We've been in school for 2.5 weeks now. I'm not really sure where the time has gone....it just flies so fast when we're busy.

So we have Monday off for Mid-Autumn Festival....Moon Cake festival really. And tonight we were invited to go camping! So we leave tomorrow, just for 1 night. We're excited! We love camping! And we're going with some friends from church that we've been wanting to get to know better. And then on holiday Monday we're going to the Paralympics! We'll be watching 5-a-side soccer.

Most of all I'm looking forward to my parents' visit! They arrive in 2 weeks!!! Yay!!

That's all for now!
Thanks for reading :)

Scott's Team

Olympic Fever!!!

Ok, here it is, all you want to know about Scott, Sylvia, and the Olympics! I'll do my best. Sometime last Fall we applied to volunteer. We had interviews in March, heard in May that we were accepted, and then got trickles of emails here and there. Scott is assigned to the Olympic Common Domain, doing Spectator Services. Basically, he stands inside the Olympic park (south end, between the Bird's Nest and Water Cube) and helps foreign spectators with any problems they have. The biggest problem he encounters is that people get dropped off by taxi, or enter the wrong gate. Then they have to walk 500m the other direction. Because of security you can only go into the park at certain spots. There's just a lot of walking involved. Even for us, the bus drops us off one place, we have to walk up to the security gate, then walk back down to check-in, then back up again to your location. Chinese people are used to it, but foreigners generally get pretty fed-up with all the walking :) So that's Scott. His managers are really great, they contacted him right away when we were back from camp, he was working before the olympics even started. He basically is required to work everyday, but it's kinda flexible. He usually works 4 then takes 1 off. The chinese are pretty thrilled about the Olympics. They don't take days off!

As for me, I had never been contacted by my manager. I called an Inspector for my site, and he said that they had problems with the manager, he wasn't answering his phone. Finally, 3 days after the Olympics had begun, I was called to go pick up my ID badge. I went to the south end of the city to get that, then had to go to my venue at the opposite end of town. I am also on the Olympic Green (park where most of the venues are), but in the northern end, about a 15min. bus ride from Scott's location. I am at the Tennis, Archery, and Field Hockey venues. As I found out on Monday, I'm in the office for the Volunteer Assistant staff. This office is in charge of checking in and out of all the volunteers for the tennis venue, getting uniforms for them, some statistics about the volunteers, numbers for catering, and writing a newspaper for the volunteers. So the question was at first, what would I do?? They didn't really have anything set for me to do, so I suggested maybe something in English in the newspaper, because there are other foreign volunteers. So I'll be interviewing foreign volunteers, and writing some short articles for the newspaper that gets put out every other day. It's been pretty laid-back though. We have a TV in our office, where we can watch all the Olympics we want. And today I helped make some paper flowers! My job is much easier than Scott's, but a bit more boring.

Our office is located underneath one of the tennis courts. Our security clearance doesn't allow us to go INTO the actual venue, but we can get pretty close, and peak inside. Yesterday I peeked at the match between a famous chinese girl and a spanish girl. Also, we went into Center Court when there was no game going on. But I'm pretty sure it was a William's sister that was practicing there. Tall, black, USA uniform. Pretty cool. And yesterday I saw some of the field hockey action between the UK and Argentina. We receive free breakfast, lunch, and all the drinks we want. The food isn't that great. Actually, lunch is pretty bad. But at least the drinks are good! The Olympics are totally sponsored by Coke.

One of the best things about doing this is meeting other chinese people. Most of our colleagues are university students. They are all excited to have foreigners working with them. I was paraded around to other offices to meet them, but it kinda felt like they were showing me off. It was kinda awkward.

We went to 2 women's soccer games last night. Brazil vs. Nigeria and Canada vs. Sweden! Good times. And on Friday we're going to see Handball. Looks like fun. We're also hosting 2 delegates from Niger right now, so our French is coming in handy! We're all going out to dinner now so I've gotta go! Thanks for all your comments!!!!

Anybody reading this?

Not sure how many people actually read this anymore, besides our parents. If you're not able to comment here, you can email me your comments :) Funny thing, there was a magazine article that named some things to do before you leave Beijing. One of them was "Start writing a blog. Stop writing a blog when you realize everyone is writing one."

In any case, it's at least a good way for me to process things. We returned a few days ago from 2 weeks in Nanchang, which is a 12hour train ride south. We went down with a friend, to meet up with his fiance and our friends who are part of an organization that runs camps for orphans. It's difficult to paint a picture for you of all the things that happen at this camp, but I'll try. This year, the camp is using a hotel that is semi-abandoned. They still seemed to have some guests, but they don't provide many things (like change of sheets, towels, etc.) There was a big open courtyard at the center that we used for assemblies and playing with the kids. So, this organization has established relationships with state and private orphanages. Up to 40 children are sent to the camp for 5 days. Each child is paired up with a Foreign buddy (american, canadian, australian) and a chinese college student who acts as the translator, and also is like an older brother/sister to the child. The children sleep in the same room as the translators, and we're called family groups. With these groups we eat all our meals together, swim together, do crafts, and spend almost every waking moment together! The point is to show the children love, and that no matter what they do, we will always love them, because they are valuable! We will not abandon them like their parents did.

On Thursday we write letters to each other, and we also spend part of the evening doing a life chart. In this exercise, we encourage the children to discuss each year of his/her life and rate it on a scale of happiness. For some, it's easy to talk about. For others, they don't know how to talk about it, or even express their emotions. If a child does open up, it's very powerful for everyone in the family group. The child has the opportunity to share their emotions in a safe environment, and the foreigner and the translator are made aware of the tragic stories that happen over and over again here. It's really heart-breaking. Thursday nights are quite emotional. The foreign volunteers have a meeting each evening, and that night is always the most touching and powerful. Fridays are also difficult. We have a goodbye ceremony where the translator reads the letters we've written to our child, and the child to their buddy. There are always tears, as many of the children express their gratitude for experiencing love and acceptance for the first time. For many, it's the highlight of the year. After lunch we say goodbye, and it's so sad as they all get into the van crying. They drive away and we are all left there on the steps of the hotel sobbing....wishing we could each take our buddy home.....trying not to think about the place they are going back to.....wondering if there is hope for them. We stand there and doubt for a moment, but thankfully most of us are able to lay them back in the hands of their Father who loves them more than we do, and trust that he has a plan for them.

I'll tell you now a little about the girls that I had. The first week we had 2 buddies each. I had two girls, one 14, the other 18. They often look much younger though. Sometimes it's because no one knows their real birthdays. Often they are malnourished and emotionally immature as well. Both of the girls have lived at the orphanage their whole lives. They don't remember anything else. For them, their ups and downs involve school, and acceptance by other peers. One of the girls lives in a foster home, but they are quite poor. The other girl lives at the orphanage, but she has a "love mother and father" that she doesn't like. She said she also takes care of about 6 younger children. I encouraged them to keep studying hard. If they do well in school they do have some hope for a better future independently. If not, they fall into the welfare system. For the second week I had a 14 yr old girl who was visually impaired. It was her first year at camp. She really seemed to come out of her shell and made other friends, had a good time. She was quite afraid of the water at the pool and the first day wouldn't even cross the fence into the pool area. Eventually she did, once she saw the others swimming happily, but just sat on the side. By the 3rd day she wanted to try swimming, but unfortunately it was raining all day and we couldn't go. All week she had been sharing her story with the translator and I, but when we did the life chart she went into more detail. Because of her visual impairment she never went to school until this past year! And she's 14! I guess the orphanage finally had some money to send her. She goes to a boarding school for the visually impaired. She said the hardest part was that parents were allowed to stay for 3 days with the new students, and she felt very lonely because she had none. She told us that her greatest wish is to have parents. I wish I could fulfill that. What's tragic is that in this country, once your turn 14 you are no longer adoptable. The children don't know this. Breaks my heart, the memory of her with tears in her eyes as they drove away.......



On a more positive note, the translators are also deeply moved. Many regular folk don't know about what goes on with orphans. These ones start to ask questions, like why perfectly healthy, beautiful girls are abandoned? For most, they are moved to tears. On the last evening they did a huge fireworks display for us all. One translator was sobbing. When asked why, she said "I want my country to do this for its orphans, not just americans that come in." And that is exactly what we want! We want them to take care of them, to see the problem and find a way to solve it, to raise up a generation that thinks differently. Most of the college students live close to the orphanages that they plan to visit them. Some of them are mentors, who visit the children every weekend. This is the hopeful and exciting part.

We'll post some pictures on facebook. Needless to say, it was a great time. Email me if you want information about the organization, and if you're interested in coming next year!

Olympic updates will be another post later this week :)

Puppy in a basket

Trying to adjust back to life in Beijing, and actually it's not too much of an adjustment. We were only gone for 3 weeks afterall. Things do change quickly around here, at least the way things look. Otherwise, this is our home. We know the routines here, and it's become familiar. In Canada we were out of routine. We didn't really have a place to call home. What was familiar were all the people. How marvelous it was to see so many people and spend time with people who truly know us. Those bonds are irreplaceable. And the time in Ontario really was awesome. The skies were such a deep blue, and the trees and grass were such a beautiful dark green. The air was sweet, and the blueberries were delicious! We had a great time visiting....and although it was hard to leave, it was nice to unpack the suitcases, even if just for a week.

Salt & Pepper (our pet rabbits) grew and matured while we were away. They have both reached puberty and it certainly affects their relationship :) Needless to say, we think Salt might be pregnant. Pepper is as mischevious as always, jumping up on the couch, chewing on almost every piece of paper and wood he can find. Salt is still shy and flighty. We've considered getting rid of them, and have thought it over for a few days. But we don't really have many options. The pet store won't take them. Even though they are quite a bit of work these days, we're still quite attached to them and would hate to part with them. (Yes, we realize that we've become crazy pet parents).

Even though we've returned to our familiar surroundings, we are missing a lot of our friends that have returned to their motherlands. We're really missing Jodee and Steven, who unexpectedly left while we were gone. His contract was cut short by one month and so we didn't even get to say goodbye. We really did a lot with them. Our evenings are currently a bit boring without them around. But we look forward to the beginning of the school year, when new faces will arrive, and some others will come back from summer holidays.

I won't be posting again for a couple of weeks, as we're heading down south to where it is rumoured to be 35 degrees everyday and have lots of mosquitoes! It's an overnight train ride, which is always an adventure. Thankfully our friend Noah is joining us. We'll have 3 other people to share the cabin with.....hopefully no babies or snorers.

Oh, I forgot to mention our impulsive move this week (we realize that together we sometimes make rash decisions). I really wanted to add some colour to our white walls. I wanted a cozier feel....I guess slightly inspired by all the beautifully decorated homes in Canada. We decided on RED for a few of our walls. Choosing the paint at the store is nerve-wracking. We probably should've taken more time and brought the paint chips home, because we ended up with a red that I think is too bright. But it's fine. It was a 1.5 day affair. Cleaning, taping, painting once, painting twice, painting three times, go buy more paint, then paint fourth time! yes, four coats. It actually looks pretty good....but I think we should've done a red that was a bit warmer. Oh well! Stay tuned for pictures! And we're hoping our landlord likes it :)

Goodbye for now from the mainland, where the sicadas are defeaningly loud, and dogs ride in the baskets of bikes.....

HELLO CANADA

Yes, we've been visiting Canada now for 2 weeks. It was an unplanned trip, spurred on when I realized we had about 3 weeks with no plans, and I really needed a break. After sitting on the idea for 3 days, we went ahead and bought tickets, just 10 days before flying out. We've really enjoyed our time at home. It's been great to catch up with friends and family. Honestly, it doesn't feel like we've left! Facebook is great for helping us keep in touch. The biggest difference would be the kids - they sure grow and change a lot in a year.

Being home is nice and easy...everything just runs simply....not like life in China. Scott reminded me tonight that this is not all that life is meant to be...too much comfort, and you don't grow. I enjoy life in China when we're there, but it's sure nice to visit Canada. We've really appreciated the clear skies, clean air, GREEN everywhere, stars, sunsets, the list goes on. But I know that for now, God has called us to serve him in China. So in obedience, we return there next week. There are lots of adventures planned for this summer, and we look forward to another great school year.

Keep in touch!!!

HOT!

It's been very hot this past week here in Beijing. Saturday and Sunday were probably the hottest days, with temperatures between 30-35. We had an excellent Sports Day on Saturday with the school. The only unfortunate thing was that we had to be outside most of the time! Sitting on astro turf wasn't nice either, it gets really hot! All the students and staff were divided into House teams, and we had a great time getting dressed up as Yellow Lions, or Red Bulls. I even wore yellow nail polish.

In spite of the heat, all in all, it was a great day. Tug-o-war was probably the highlight, especially when us yellow lions won! We didn't win overall, but my team did take second place and Scott's team was third :) We were supposed to have Sports Day on a Friday, but for logistical reasons it was changed to Saturday, and so we got Monday off! We were able to enjoy a nice weekend, which included a trip to the Bird's Nest (Olympic National Stadium). It's pretty cool! Each of the main venues has to have a rehearsal running an event, that's why we've been able to go. We saw the finals for a Track & Field meet, including javelin, triple jump, high jump and the relay races, which are always exciting! (We also had a teacher's relay for our Sports Day, which Scott's team won because he's an awesome sprinter!).

We are down to the last two weeks! It's really hard to teach. The kids are loopy and excited, but I try to find fun things they enjoy doing. We're still not sure what exactly we'll be doing for our holiday after school, but that's ok.

Our bunnies are big now! Pepper can even jump up on the couch unassisted! Which is bad news, because he likes to poop on there. gross. But they are still as cute as ever, just double in size.

We've had some sandy weather lately, which means we have indoor recess. Apparently factories are working overtime now since they will be shut down during the Olympics.

Well, don't forget to come visit us over here! We're craving visitors! And I'm also craving Greek pasta salad mix. That kind in an envelope. Any of those dry envelope mixes would be great! :)

Bye!

Our new pets & Great Wall trip

Safe & Sound

Yes things are crazy right now in China. The recent earthquake has kinda shaken things up (unintentional pun). I barely noticed the small tremor we got here in Beijing at 2:30 on Monday. We were in school...I was standing at the front of the class and felt dizzy for a moment, as if I was sick. Later on I found out the reason, and that I wasn't the only one who thought I was sick :) Our students didn't even notice, so why would we evacuate? Some parents were wondering why not, when other schools did. Maybe we should first get an Earthquake Evacuation procedure! hmmm.....

Almost two weeks ago now we went on an AWESOME, memorable camping/hiking trip on a section of the Great wall. We planned to go with some co-workers who'd been before, but they backed out....so we ended up planning this trip on our own, blindly. Thankfully we had some other adventurous friends who trusted us to the task. We got a driver and off we went, 6 of us, to a more remote section. Hardly any people! That's an amazing thing when you live in such a crowded country. Unfortunately the china traffic delayed our arrival, so it was 6 pm by the time we made it to the entrance of the park. We hiked up, and then once we figured out which direction to go on the wall, we hiked as far as we could and found a flat tower in which to pitch our tent. We made a smorgasboard for dinner: baked beans, mac 'n' cheese, soup, buns, boiled eggs. So good! Us 4 girls slept in the tent, while the two boys gladly slept outside on mats.

At 2:30 I saw some lights.....prayed it wasn't lightning....but it was. At about 4am we woke everyone up, grabbed everything that was sitting outside, including the boys, and huddled inside the tent as it started to rain. We were completely, and entirely UNprepared for rain. No rain fly for the tent, no rain coats, nothing! Thankfully it wasn't too heavy and only lasted about 40 minutes. Once it stopped there was nothing else to do except pack up and hit the road. On the road at 5am it took us about 3 hrs to make it to our destination, Simatai park. Along the way we met some other really cool people who had also camped out for the night. Even though we didn't have clear skies and thus couldn't see the wall for miles in the distance, it was so wonderful to be up there in the clouds. Beautiful.

We have 4 weeks left of school. But sometimes it feels like just 1. I forget how much we have to do still. We're planning our vacation already - to Mongolia for about 10 days as soon as school is out. Should be a blast!

That's all for now folks!

7 more weeks of school

It's hard to believe that school will be over quite soon. 7 weeks can really fly by quickly, especially when we have another holiday coming up this week, and lots of activities to finish up the year. By the lord's grace I've made it through my first year of teaching. This past week was Enrichment Week. Monday we spent time preparing for the big photo scavenger hunt we were sending the kids on. Good thing we didn't plan anything outside that day because it was pouring! and traffic gets bad when it rains a lot here. there are accidents, it's almost impossible to get a taxi, and buses are more crowded than usual.

Tuesday and Wednesday was our scavenger hunt. the kids were divided into groups of 3 + an adult per group. We gave them a list of locations, and certain things they had to find or do at the location. The kids had to do all the work, and the adults were just there to keep them safe. It was a great experience! It forced the students to use their chinese, and it was the first time using public transportation for some of them. It was quite exhausting by the end of the two days, but well worth it!

Thursday we drove to a city just southwest of us, Tianjin. We visited a historical site, then spent too much time at the hotel trying to sort out problems. I almost thought we'd have to go back to Beijing. It's a long story so I'd rather not elaborate. Needless to say, after an hour of them saying no, we decided to leave for awhile so they couldn't waste more of our day. As we left they said everything was alright. This is just how things go here. Regulations for having passports have changed and there was a lot of miscommunication between the travel agent and our staff member. Anyways, we got to stay at the hotel....which was alright....but I've learned a lot planning this past week and will be better prepared for next year!

This weekend has been great for relaxing and doing some things outside. We played some badminton, went to the park, did some biking to the art district, and just had a good time with friends. This week we only teach 2 days, then we have May holiday! We're planning a camping trip to the great wall with some friends for 1 night. We're also making our plans for summer. we hope to volunteer with some camps, travel, and take some chinese lessons.

Along with the warmer weather comes the return of some nasty smells. We certainly didn't miss them in the winter....but more smells seem to come out of our drains when it's warm. Gross! I also think I inhaled a few small flies today while we were biking.

Bye for now!

will I survive?

The stress is getting to me. I think I need to have a breakdown and relieve some of this stress............or maybe I just need another $3 massage and hair wash. This past weekend I pampered myself a little. Jodee and I went for pedicures, then for a hairwash/massage. So wonderful! Scott was away at youth camp ;) Anyways, this week is SAT testing and we're still finalizing details for next week's Enrichment Week, which is a week of field trips! yikes! Someone decided to inform us today of some unwritten rule that would've changed our plans. But someone else in the office staff doesn't think it matters! They leave us on our own to plan a week of trips, including an overnight trip, with no clue what we're doing, and then a few days before you're off "Oh, by the way, have you done this???" "NO, because no one told us to!!! How are we supposed to know that?!" We just want to enjoy next week. Hopefully things run smoothly.

The weather here continues to improve. It's been in the mid twenties all week so I've been enjoying wearing skirts (yes, I bike to work in a skirt) and some of the new clothes from my mom and sister-in-law. Thanks! So many beautiful blooms that mask some of the bad china smells.

Oh and on top of everything else we're having some grade 8 boys from an out-of-town international school stay with us for 3 nights. our school is hosting a soccer tournament and we offered homestays to some of the teams. Mostly we just have to feed them dinner 2 nights and make sure they get to bed on time :)

I'm really looking forward to the end of the school year. I need a long break!
Remember that our place is always open for guests!!

Spring Fever!!!

The weather is really warming up now! I think today was about 20 degrees! There are so many blossoming trees, that in spite of the pollution and dust in the air, the city is looking pretty :) This past weekend we had the chance to spend some good quality time with friends. Friday was a holiday, and besides hosting a fellow Holland Landing resident for lunch, the weather was sunny and hot! We spent the evening playing Cities & Knights with friends (thanks for sending it mom!) and then the next morning we took off for a hiking adventure.

There are many English books and websites about hiking around Beijing. Steven and Jodee have one of those, so he picked one he went on over a year ago, got a driver, and off we went. It took about 1.5hrs to get there by car (Buick minivan!). The hike was on and beside part of the Great Wall that hasn't been restored. The day was cloudy, but the weather was perfect temperature for hiking. The mountains were literally covered with flowering trees. And there were very few people. We were by ourselves, the 4 of us, most of the time. The higher we got, the steeper the climb was. The safest route was on a path that ran alongside the Wall. But sometimes we had to climb up rock. Thankfully there were guardrails to keep us from falling over the steep cliffs down into the river valley. With breaks and lunch at the top, it took us a total of 3. 5hours. We were exhausted when we got back. Thankfully Jodee and Steven have free passes to the Club at their place, so we all went to the hot tub, and then enjoyed the steam room. Only today have my calf muscles finally begun to feel normal again.

Sunday was another nice warm day. After lunch at our favorite pita place, Scott and I went to the Expat show, where our school had a booth set-up. We were too tired to stay for long, and went home after an hour. It's still hard for me to keep up with everything happening at school. We finish one thing, and another starts. Was it just last week we had our accreditation? Have I mentioned that yet? Anyways, it went very well. We don't really know the results for a month or more. This week I had parent teacher conferences on Monday. And this week is fairly regular as we preapre for SAT testing next week, and then Enrichment week after that! And then May holiday! phew! Time is passing far too quickly!

Thanks for all your support, love, and friendship. We still think of home, and miss it occasionally. But we know we have obeyed our lord , and so he continues to teach us and mold us.

much love,
SA

Dancing Stars!

Out with our friends for that night of dancing :)

spring madness....or is it "March Madness"

Regardless.....I feel like I can barely keep up with everything these days. It seems like the longer we're here, the more things we become involved with, and obviously, the more people we get to know. So our weeks seem full. Not to mention our accreditation this week!!! yikes! I didn't realize how long it's been since I wrote last. Almost 4 weeks! Sorry parents :) I'm not sure where the time has gone. We had a lovely Easter break, just realxing and enjoying some nice weather. I had a great birthday, celebrated with many co-workers as well who have birthdays the same day and two days later. Scott took me out to our favorite indian food restaurant. Such delicious food! And he picked out a fantastic new purse for me! Very bold of him to pick out a purse, and I am still really impressed with his choice! It's perfect for me! Wonderful husband I have :)

This past weekend was spent preparing for our accreditation. I spent far too long at the school on Saturday. We even had to go to work on Sunday afternoon (just for 1 hour) to meet the visiting team members. Just an informal Meet & Greet. Today they were walking around the halls and popping into our classrooms while we were teaching, or just to chat about our curriculum, etc. They have also been meeting with students and hanging out with them in the lunchroom :) My committee meets with them tomorrow. I look forward to the end of this week. We even have Friday off! Then we have to seriously plan for Enrichment Week.

There are lots of interesting things happening here in the city as we get closer to the olympics. Please remember to "lift up" those who are experiencing some difficulties because of pressure from the gov't. They are literally cleaning up the city of people they don't want causing trouble.

We're planning a trip for ourselves for the end of April to Sichuan province. Specifically to go see the Panda bears in Chengdu! Should be fun!

Well I hope the snow is gone now from southern ontario. Trees are in bloom here! We're excited for a hike we have planned outside of the city this weekend.

love to all,
SA

weekend fun in Beijing

This past weekend was great! Busier than usual, but we had some good times here in Beijing! The first highlight of the weekend was going to our neighbour's parents' house. Scott was visiting our neighbour, and his parents stopped by. They invited us over to their place for dumplings. It was a great experience. We actually hadn't been into the home of a chinese family until this weekend. They live in an older building, about 30 years old, and they have lived there for about 20years. It's a tiny apartment, full of their daily necessities. His mom is retired and it seems like she just spends her days cooking and making things. We made dumplings together. They made the dough, his dad rolled out the little circles, then we filled them with the filling she'd made ahead of time. They were so delicious! They don't eat much else with their dumplings except a cold dish or two. I ate a piece of pickled garlic as a side item!

His parents didn't speak a word of English, but Alex translated that we are welcome to go to their house anytime, even after their son moves away to New Zealand. a generous offer, but that would be very difficult since we don't speak enough Mandarin. They were so warm, kind, and generous to us. Even gave us leftover filling so we could make more ourselves (you can buy the wrappers already made in the market). We made them on Sunday with friends, but it of course did not taste the same. We live in a relatively affluent side of town. The more wealthy chinese, and other foreigners live in this area, so it was great to experience what the majority of the population lives like. We know we are greatly blessed.

Saturday night we were invited to ballroom dancing! A friend from church goes every Saturday. it's free! We didn't really go to dance, but to watch and support our friend. We were so captivated by the great dancers. There were 6 of us newbies, and there must have been more new people, because they decided to do a short rumba lesson. Good times trying to dance "properly" with Scott. He can't help but just goof around :) But he's really intersted in learning. We might find some of the local places where they do free lessons and go there with friends.

Sunday was a great day at church, and hanging out with friends. We've got great friends! It's fun to just relax with them, watch LOST, and play games :) Ever played Nacho Loco??

The time is really just flying by. I can't believe it's March already. This week has been busy with various events at school. They've hired an elementary principal for us for next year and she's been visiting this week from California. We also have our Spelling Bee on Friday! And for all these things I am very grateful! What a blessing to be a part of this school, and to work with such great people.

I hope you're enjoying your week!

back at it....

well the holiday season is over for awhile. we've been quite spoiled with Christmas and then chinese New Year holidays. for now we have to work 4 more weeks until Easter break. And then the school year is basically over! :) in April there are so many things going on.....the chinese Tomb Sweeping holiday (one day), parent teacher conferences, SAT testing, enrichment week, and then our May holiday beginning April 30. according to other teachers we should finish our teaching by end of March because it's hard to get stuff done after that! yikes! we've got a lot to do!

travelling to Vietnam was fantastic! our travelling buddies Becky and Daniel were easy-going and we had no disagreements. the Vietnamese people are very friendly and helpful and it's just a beautiful country. There's more color and old architecture....somehow they've preserved the 'ancient' look of the places we went. it is less-developed than China. it's communist, but we saw a bit more of the poverty there. I felt like I saw a lot more smiles though. Maybe the people just know how to welcome tourists better than the chinese. people always said hello with a sincere smile and "Happy New Year!"

we stayed in Hanoi for 2 nights first of all. we walked all over the "Old Quarter", visiting museums, old churches, Ho Chi Minh's masoleum, and other sites. it wasn't too warm. spring weather that required a jacket. because of the French influence there are great bakeries around and good strong coffee! and milk with coffee actually means coffee with sweetened condensed milk! yumm! we often bought baguettes on the street to munch on for lunch. they eat delicious rice noodles a lot.

we then took a sleeper bus to Hue, 12 hours south. needless to say, it was a long, interesting night. the roads are bumpy, the driver honked his horn a lot and the "beds" were not comfortable. I think Becky and I got the most sleep....maybe 5 hours? but the boys didn't sleep much at all because they're so tall. we were glad to get off that bus! But then we had to take another 3 hr bus ride to get to Hoi An, the small beach town we were heading to. we arrived at the travel agency/bus stop and bought tickets.....the bus was kinda full so they offered to put two plastic chairs in the aisle so all 4 of us could go! it was quite a hit with all the foreigners on the bus :) some australians arrived at the travel agency after us. they had bought tickets but there was no more room....or for some reason they wouldn't accept their 'receipt.' he put up quite a fight, even storming onto the bus, swearing his head off that he was going to get on the bus! soon there was pushing and shoving, and even a plastic chair raised over his head when he had stolen the keys! haha, it was quite immature. the mean angry guy definitely and his wife didn't make it on the bus, but everyone else did!

Hoi An was a nice quaint town with lots of charm. we were able to rent bikes for about 70 cents for the entire day. we rode all around and down to the beach. it was kinda windy and cold, but we did run in and then out of the South China Sea :) we really enjoyed a quiet bike ride by a river through farm fields. after some good food, haircuts, bleached hair and a couple of nights including games of Settlers, we FLEW back to Hanoi where the next morning we took a tour to Halong Bay. beautiful place! there were about 9 of us on our boat, and we spent the night on the boat. 2 days and 1 night, including meals and kayaking it was $46. definitely worth it! kinda cold, but it was still breathtakingly beautiful. I'll include a few pictures. but you should definitely check out my (or Scott's) pictures on facebook.

after one last evening in Hanoi we flew back the next morning. on a side note....our flight was early in the morning and the exchange place wasn't open yet so we couldn't change our extra money back to renminbi. so we tried in the Beijing airport and they said no, but you can do it at the bank. I hate going to the bank, so I finally made the trip on Thursday only to be told that they don't take it! no where in China can I exchange it, she told me! this just adds to the list of reasons why I hate banking in China. I don't even have to go far! it's right in the hotel where our school is located! but it always takes so long and everything is vague! I never know what I can or can't do there, or when. and then it takes 10 minutes to pay a water bill because she has to fill out all these forms by hand, and stamp about 10 different things. it drives me crazy.

but in a way it was nice to come home and sleep in our own bed. we bought some new fish this week and we knew right away that the female was pregnant - with her giant belly and all. she seemed stressed though in the tank with all the other fish so I thought we should put her in the "nursery" tank so she can have the babies. sure enough, the next day she had the babies! they are platy's so they have livebirth. we have about 12 little fishies in the nursery now :)

I'm going to go take advantage of my Saturday now and have a nap. I had too much marking so I went to the school for 1.5hrs this morning already. Happy New Year of the Rat!

hidden grief

This Thursday started out as a normal day, except that my computer at school wouldn't connect to the internet right away. It didn't start working until 8:35am, once the kids were already in the classroom. I was finally able to check my school email, and that's when I got the news that my grandma had passed away. It was a bit of a shock and I had to step out of the classroom for "just a moment" I thought, as I left my student's in Jodee's care. But the grief kinda overcame me for a bit. The worst part was wanting to be at home with my family. My staff was kind enough to cover for me for the morning while I went to Jodee's and used her computer to call home. My grandma (Dad's mom) has been living in a nursing home for over a year. In good care under my mom's supervision there. She suffered with Alzheimer's and Diabetes. She's seemed relatively stable there, with bouts of sadness. But she stopped recognizing us awhile back. I still remember 3 years ago when I left for Korea she said "I hope I'm not here when you get back." It was painful to me, but she was 90 at that time. She's been tired for awhile....waiting to go be with grandpa, who's been gone for about 10 years. She's finally at peace.

At the funeral, instead of a eulogy, my family will be taking turns to share various memories. Here's my contribution that my parents will read for me:

"I will always remember Grandma's strong arms. Her strong arms gave countless hugs that always made me feel right at home. Grandma leaves memories of hard work in the garden, pulling weeds from the river at the cottage, delicious meatballs and sweet Peparkakor. But her greatest legacy is the legacy of faith that has been passed down through the generations. She was an example to all her grandchildren of a woman of strong faith that was willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the gospel. I always knew she was in touch with God, praying for each of us. She never said so, but somehow I just knew. I hope I can follow her example in my life, to be a woman of prayer and sacrifice. I'm glad she can finally rest in her Heavenly Father's arms."

to those of you close by, sorry I haven't been so open about this. I tend to just start crying when I talk about it. but soon enough my mourning will turn to joy as I celebrate her life.

brrrr....

still quite cold here....we even turn on the extra electric heater sometimes in the evenings. government heating isn't warm enough in our building! maybe because we're on the first floor it's colder. we had snow again the other night, but again it's mostly gone.

this past weekend Scott had a final volleyball tournament with his girls' team. we also received a call inviting us to an interview for volunteering for the Olympics! we'd applied awhile ago and hadn't heard anything until now. so I went on my own early Saturday morning to the other side of the city, to one of the universities. there were all foreigners, about 30 of us, and they had us fill out a form that was all in chinese! haha. then I had the first interview since I was sitting closest to the door. they just asked me a few questions: what did I do here in Beijing, how long I'd been here, how I planned on getting to the Olympic Stadium, and was I truly available for the entire period. that was it. they didn't seem completely organized. we'll see how they do with running this big event!!! anyways, we'd like to be involved if we can....though we might have some meeting in preparation for the beginning of the school year during the games. we can only hope that we can get out of them if we get to volunteer!

it seems like everyone at our school is getting sick. one of our teachers found out today she has bronchitis, so she's on I.V. antibiotics at a clinic and will be taking tomorrow off....which throws things off for chapel which she's supposed to do. oh well! we'll manage.

the puppy is still with us. she's doing a bit better. but we're still trying to give her away :) there is a korean family that is quite interested. we'll just have to break the news to our friend Alex, and see if he approves. we had some other neighbours over on Friday for dinner (malaysian), and they have 2 very young kids. the dog was scared of the small humans! it was pretty funny.

I gave my testimony at church on Sunday! it went well I think. of course everyone gave me positive feedback later....they wouldn't really say otherwise, would they? :) as long as it encourages one person along the way, it was worth it :)

well I better get set for chapel tomorrow! figure out how to do worship without our guitarist.

zaitian!

sucky cold week

basically this week sucks so far :) it's very cold. even a few minutes outside and you feel the nipping at your nose. but I'm thankful for the warm home I have. also, my teaching partner is away on holiday, and the guy subbing for her doesn't like to chat too much. I'm used to talking about everything with Jodee.

the puppy is alright. cute, but taking her sweet time getting adjusted to our home. still using our living room floor as a toilet. and her former mom came to say goodbye today as she flies out tomorrow. she had tears in her eyes as she took a few last pictures with her. they have really treated her like a baby. she even came with her own suitcase of things!

thankfully tomorrow is Wednesday, which means Cheap Chinese! a weekly gathering for a cheap meal with some friends after work. we also usually walk over to IKEA after for a 1 kuai ice-cream cone (1/7 of a dollar).

this weekend I'll be giving my testimony at church. Scott did his about a month ago. so I've got to plan for that. and I've got too much marking to do! plus plans for chinese new year, spelling bee and brain bowl. this semester really is going to fly by.

Scott is doing a chinese lesson, while I've just finished preparing songs for chapel tomorrow. Joy and I usually take turns. but she always plays the guitar :) the piano is in an awkward spot in the auditorium so I haven't played it yet.

bye for now!

busy week

it's certainly difficult going back to work after 3 weeks off. it was an exhausting week. but the kids were great, and I'm glad to see them again. it's just all the administrative details that make the job too stressful at times.

but we managed to book a trip to Vietnam and acquire a dog this week! yikes! we're going with a couple of friends, flying into Hanoi. we're really looking forward to it! the weather is getting colder here. down to -10, which is the coldest it's been so far here. I guess it's harder to handle here because of the wind, and because we walk around quite a bit more than we would in Canada. thankfully the bus is so cheap! it's about the equivalent of 2 cents! we love it!

the dog we've adopted is from our neighbours who are moving to New Zealand for awhile. she's really cute. not sure what kind yet. but she has golden/brown curly hair like a poodle, but she has a shorter nose. she's slowly getting used to us. she barked a little when she heard my mom talking to us on Skype. she just barks for a moment at strangers, but then is very friendly.

we continue to be blessed by our church. we really sense G-- preparing us and molding us for things in the future. whatever it might be, we are surrendering our lives to him and allowing him to use us wherever and however. and for now in our lives, that's right here. the people at our church are all incredible people. one natural characteristic of all people living here is that we're all risk-takers. we've stepped out in faith because He has called us. and this somehow creates and unique bond between us all. we know most of these people are in our lives for a short period of time. many are in fact leaving within this year. but that doesn't stop us from having fun and encouraging one another.

I'll keep this one short because I know the other recent ones were quite long.
zaitian!

back in BJ

I must say it's been bitter sweet to be back home in Beijing. It's great sleeping in our own bed again and having the comforts here. But it's cold. Our skin quickly reacted and dried right up. we try to slather up with the lotion to prevent our tans from peeling away. I miss all the warm sunshine....and tomorrow we go back to teaching. Friday we had meetings in the morning then in the afternoon we got ready for Monday. it was strange being back after 3 weeks. I felt myself get stressed again. but remembering our trip to Boracay will help me right now :)

we flew from Manila to Kalibo on the 26th. from Kalibo we were taken on a 1.5hr bus ride with a terribly violent movie playing, and the road was winding through the hills, by steep cliffs...which made me feel a little car sick. once that terrible ride was over we took a 10 min. boat ride to Boracay island, where we were met by hotel staff. all this transportation was arranged for us. then we took a 10 min. ride by mini-jeep and arrived at the hotel. it was a modest place, kinda motel style, but looked like townhouses. it had all the basics and served us well. we spent most of the time on the beach anyways.

that first afternoon we just walked up and down the beach, browsed in the shops and enjoyed our first swim in the salty water. that was hard to get used to. but everything was just beautiful. white sand, clear water, gorgeous skies. picking a restaurant for lunch and dinner was always fun. there were so many good choices. and by 5pm, they can set up tables on the beach. so we ate our dinners reclining or sitting on the beach under the stars, with the sound of the ocean, and live music.

there are so many vendors on the island. everyone is trying to make a living there. but they all have to have a licence. so the guy selling the pearls is wearing an official "pearl vendor" shirt, as is the sunglasses guy, etc. they were relentless in trying to sell us stuff. it didn't matter that I was wearing sunglasses, they asked me if I wanted to buy a pair anyways. after awhile Scott's brilliant idea was to ask them if they wanted to buy our stuff. one day a watch vendor came by and Scott said "wanna buy this watch?" and he held up my Colombia sports watch to him. the guy kinda smirked and said he'd give us about $1 for it! ha! and I paid at least $50 for it. but I guess they don't sell sporty watches.

the hotel provided our breakfast each morning. on our first full day we went snorkelling. that was one of the highlights of the trip for me. it was my first time snorkelling. we were taken by boat (just the two of us) just off shore from the beach. Scott says it's not as colorful as other reefs he's been to, but it was still pretty cool to me. we had crackers, and lots of fish came to eat from us. he took us to one other location, though they were supposed to take us to another island too, but he said the water was too rough that day. we had a great morning though. it was quite exhausting though. we had a long nap in the afternoon because we were so pooped. Scott got a good sunburn from lying on top of the water like that for almost 3 hrs.

that night there was a huge thunderstorm. really loud thunder and huge downpours. in the morning it was still pouring. we made our way to a cafe where we got a coffee and read for awhile. we met a couple beside us who were German, but they lived and worked in Beijing! crazy! by noon things had cleared up. but a few of the stores and restaurants were flooded. we took a long walk that afternoon around the rocky coast to another beach. it was more secluded and had more private homes. the long "white beach" as the call it, was also starting to fill up with more people. it seemed more and more were arriving to celebrate New Years on the island.

on our third full day we ventured out and rented bikes. the bikes sucked, and the ride was rough because there's only one main road on the island with plenty of traffic and many steep hills. thankfully, the further we went from the beach, the less traffic there was. we biked by a golf course, and many poor homes. we made our way to Puka Shell beach, on the north shore of the island. there weren't many people there at all. understandable though, the sand was not very fine and the beach was rocky and dropped off quite quickly. riding out of there we met up with some guys who were offering tours to the bat caves! Scott was all for that. they even offered to let us drive their motorbike, and their friends would ride our bikes for us. so off we went. the road was pretty rough. then we had a short walk through the jungle and arrived at the caves. it was a steep climb down. very wet and muddy. but they took very good care of us, guiding step by step. once at the bottom we looked up to see thousands of bats! the cave has an opening to the ocean. they told us we could go swimming, but we didn't feel comfortable with that, especially since there were sea snakes nesting in the cave!! yikes! I was pretty scared when we saw those. we didn't stay much longer after that :)

they rode our bikes back to the main road for us, then we went back to our beach, but agreed to have them tour us around later. after lunch they met us at our hotel and we took off on their motorbikes again. we went to Mt. Luho, which is really just a hill, and the highest point on the island. it had a nice lookout though. they also took us to a butterfly farm where there were giant fruit bats! they were so big!! Scott got to hold one, though he was pretty scared :)

and that was it! we ended our time in Boracay by eating at the Mongolian Grill restaurant on the beach. we befriended some local kids who were selling stuff to tourists. so they came to talk to us whenever they saw us. actually it was Vince, the mascot alligator (from Beacon) that really won their hearts :) most of them are muslim. one of them has 11 siblings! we sat with him one day, got him a Coke, and we were looking at a map of the island. he told us he goes to school and is in grade 3, but he barely knows how to read. I think with a family his size, they might not afford school all the time. sometimes kids are in and out of school there.

the contrast between rich and poor in the Philippines is vast. we read in the newspaper that there are 90 million filipinos! and that's just the ones living there - not counting all the ones who are living and working away from home. the money isn't making it's way to the people who need it most. thankfully many people there know the Lord. and there are many people working to help the poor and forgotten.

we've been infected with the "travel to warm places" bug :) we're considering a trip to Vietnam with friends during our week off in february (chinese new year). according to the other teachers, this second semester seems to fly by even faster because of all the events. chinese new year, then easter, enrichment week, may holiday, spelling bee, brain bowl, spring concert, and who knows what else they have up their sleeves?! should be a breeze!

...hot Christmas....

we are nearing the end of our Christmas holidays. and we are slowly moving towards colder air. we're currently in Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong in mainland China. we have a long wait here for our flight this evening. thankfully we met up with one of my colleagues and her husband, who are taking the same flight, and are just as early. we spent last night in Macau at a Best Western. they upgraded our room for free and threw in buffet breakfast too! it was nice....though the room still smelled like smoke.

it has felt like such a long vacation, though we've only been gone for just over 2 weeks. we've been so busy relaxing....I should have written throughout the vacation, I've probably forgotten some of the fun details by now.

we started out by flying here to Shenzhen then travelling by bus to Hong Kong with my colleague Joy, and her husband Rob. we all stayed at their friend's place, which is the apartment at the top of the YMCA hotel right downtown. a beautiful view of the city. Hong Kong is a nice place. clean and well-organized. the buildings are so tall, just to fit all the people in the small area they have. we wandered the streets and took a short trip up to Victoria Peak at night-time. we only stayed one night, then took a ferry to Macau, where we caught our flight to Manila. apparently that night in Macau, was the grand opening of the MGM.

we arrived in Manila just after midnight. but by the time we got picked up, drove home and had a snack, we were in bed by about 3:30am. thankfully we had no jet lag to recover from, so the next day we were ready to enjoy the hot weather and pool in the backyard. we spent a few days just relaxing and shopping (and eating lots of fresh mango) before all the Christmas parties started. then the meals got bigger and bigger! those filipinos love to eat. and they are so hospitable. I have 3 Aunts plus some cousins living there. another cousin from the U.S. also went home for Christmas. it was great to reaquaint with all of them. we rarely see each other. we took a day trip to Tagaytay, a mountinous area. unfortunately because we were with lots of people, we weren't able to do the adventurous boat ride, horse ride and hike up to the volcano.

every Christmas Eve they go to Kawit, to the home where my mom's family lived for many years. one of their cousins still lives there, along with other relatives in the neighbourhood. that city has a parade every year, with floats depicting various stories from the Bible, and some good marching bands in between. this year they made the parade earlier, because of high tide. some streets get flooded now when the tide comes in, because the sewage system is all plugged up with garbage. the river there is a sad sight. so dirty with drifting garbage everywhere. my second cousin, Rizza, was on one of the floats this year, as the angel announcing the coming of Christ. she looked beautiful!

Christmas Day is different than in North America. presents aren't a priority. the biggest priority is spending time with family. so when we went to my Aunt Fely's house for lunch, presents are given inconspicuously and without much fanfare. we had a lovely dinner. the very next day we flew to Boracay island. but that's another big story and I'll save that for another day.