Soccer Champs

Spring?

Snow is gone, haven't had a dust storm in awhile, but air quality has been bad, and the temperatures NOT warm enough! It is also the time of the year that the students open up and reveal a darker side. Tired of the endless school work, they too are ready to burst out the doors and never look back at their teachers that work non-stop.

With Spring comes the end of various seasons for school sports...namely Scott's high-school girls' soccer. In an exciting twisting of paths this year, his team is full of superstars, and girls that work together. They've been undefeated, with 32 goals scored, and only 1 against them during the season! This past weekend they won the championship for one of their divisions, and this coming weekend they'll try to win another. This is Scott's 1st proud win of a championship!

My running continues to increase as I prepare for a 10k race this summer. Things are going very well, though I have some ankle pain after a 10.5k run yesterday. I bought a gym membership just for the winter...it's ending soon, so I hope it warms up and cleans up soon!

Speaking of dirty air....it gives a whole other meaning to "indoor recess." If the air quality reaches 300 or over, it's too dangerous to be outside. This happened a couple of weeks ago, and on the weekend too, at the soccer tournament. Both Scott and I noticed we had sore throats, and we aren't coming down with a cold!

This is all for now folks....thanks for reading! :)

Us with friends Simon and Bridget at the school gala in February

snowing in March

This has got to be the longest winter I've experienced in a long time! (besides our 3 weeks in the Philippines). We had snow on November 1st and yesterday, March 14th it snowed again! And it's cold outside so it's still around! Honestly, we're all tired of it by now. Usually the cold weather is gone by now. In fact, the government usually shuts off the heat by today the 15th. They've been gracious enough to extend it for a week, or hopefully until it gets warmer.

The end of the 3rd quarter is upon us....meaning, only 3 months left of this year! I've listened to myself complain quite a bit lately and I've wondered why. I do love my job...I mostly enjoy working with the kids...but sometimes there are so many OTHER things going on that it feels like planning good lessons is the last thing I have time for! I have to fill out ESL forms, plan our Enrichment Week, go to 2 meetings and a dinner for our accreditation, arrange groups and write questions for the upcoming Brain Bowl, finish marking, write comments and complete the report cards...the list could go on. It's hard to love the job when I can't fully enjoy the kids. Nonetheless, our lord is still using us, and 3 parents have recently come to know him. That is definitely a passion booster.

On a more personal level, I'm actually considering becoming a vegetarian! Bet you didn't see that coming! We've been slowly reducing the amount of meat that we eat, and other factors are also contributing to this decision. It still feels like a journey I'm on whether or not to fully commit to it. I'm doing some reading and pondering it all. Will keep you posted... :)

I still managed to go for a run today and worked out 'til almost 6, thinking Scott was at a soccer game. But he was home. His game was canceled because of the ice and snow on the field. But my phone was also dead so I didn't get his messages either. Late dinner of pasta with tomato/cream sauce, broccoli rabe and mushrooms with garlic. Yum!

It feels like I must apologize each time I post because it's been so long since the last one....but, I guess this is just how it is for now.

Time really goes so quickly when you're busy. Hard to believe it's March already, and that I'll be 29 this month! Only one more year left in my 20's!

School is wild and busy as usual. Lots of fun events. This past week we had "Dr. Seuss" day. I had the best costume of all the staff BY FAR! I wore a blue curly wig, a red jumper that Scott had made, and a round white sign on my chest that said.....can you guess?? "Thing 1"....from Cat in the Hat. Good times. Kids really loved it.

We've been craving warmer weather here, but without much luck. In fact, it's supposed to snow tomorrow, but it should be 9 degrees by Friday. Better warm up soon. The government heat usually turns off on March 15th!

In other news, we have a new rabbit. He was given to some friends that have a shop in the market. Poor guy was unwanted because he's grown already. So they called us and asked if we'd take him! He's been a lot of work because he's not neutered and has had some vicious fights with the rabbit who presently rules the back garden. So he lives in the big cage outside during the day, hangs around inside with us, and sleeps in a small cage inside at night. He can be naughty, but has a funny personality. Sometimes, for attention, he runs in circles around my feet. He likes being pet and will lay out flat if you start stroking him :) Good entertainment for us.

I've been running more recently. I signed up to do the 10k in Grimsby on Tuesday June 29th. Anyone else wanna join? My goal is to be faster than the last one we did. Scott plans on joining me, but I warned him that he can't hold me back! (I've been running all winter and he hasn't run with me for a long time).

There have been a few moments in the past few weeks that I've longed to be home. I wish I could be closer to some of my friends that are going through hard times. I also wish I could be part of the celebrations in my family with all the new babies arriving. But, I know that God provides for all our needs since he has us here.

To him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine...

2010 already?!

Ok, so I'm not very good at this blogging thing, but maybe it's because I don't think of myself as a good writer, or having anything really that worthwhile that others would actually enjoy reading. I guess it's not necessary for me to be a good writer. Most family members just want to know some details so they know what to say when a friend at church asks, "So, how are Scott and Sylvia doing?"

Here are some memorable moments since I last blogged:
-Christmas concert for the elementary students. I must've forgotten last year's reasons why I didn't enjoying doing a drama for this event, because I signed up to do it again. Stressful, but memorable for the students.
-end of the semester involved lots of glitter, glue, and even gingerbread houses thanks to IKEA. The classroom smelled like sugar the next morning. Thankfully the kids went home at noon after they stuffed their mouths full of sugar.
-the night before we left for our Christmas holiday we went to a photo exhibition to commemorate International Migrant's Day. It was minus 12 celsius, we wandered around the art district for about 45 minutes, surrounded by quiet, empty streets, abandoned factories, and numerous galleries all bearing similar names. Finding the place made us appreciate it even more. We even bought some pictures!
-arriving in the Philippines and being greeted by my brother and his wife made the trip so much more exciting! It's great to enjoy this all with them here.
-since arriving it's been one party (with lots of food) after another, splattered with a few runs, some swimming, some AWESOME snorkelling in Bohol, chasing after dolphins in a boat, a baby dedication, a wedding, and soon it will be goodbyes.

These times here with the family in the Philippines are precious. Until this time of living in China, I only saw these family members maybe every 3-5 years. It's great to connect closer with these here, to love one another, and to just be a family! In a few days we go back to chilly China, but my heart will be bursting with the warm memories of these priceless times together.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

Looks like Christmas!

This winter has so far been almost enjoyable here in Beijing. We've had a snow day already! And 3 snowfalls that have each stayed longer than 1 day. That's quite a difference from the previous winters we've spent here, where it snowed once or twice, and quickly disappeared. Granted, the government is helping the snow to fall because of the drought. Still, it's beautiful outside. The city is more sparkly white than dusty grey :)

We've finally made our way back onto this site and others that were blocked, all thanks to a vpn we've paid for. Sorry for not updating in a long time.

Things with that piggy flu aren't winding down, but still going strong here. We still have to get our temperatures checked twice a day, and we're actually receiving the vaccine tomorrow. Unfortunately, the 7 day quarantine is still in effect, which really is hard for students to catch up from.

What else has happened since my last update?? Scott and I trained for and ran 9k as part of the Beijing marathon back in mid-October. It was lots of fun, with thousands of people participating. Since then I've joined a gym and I alternate between running on a treadmill and swimming to stay in shape this winter. Otherwise I'd probably hibernate in the apartment (which thankfully now has heat!) and gain weight during the cold months :)

We did enjoy Thanksgiving with other Canadians back in October...our staff is having a big dinner this Saturday, and then the Americans invited us to their Thanksgiving in two weeks! Funny how we didn't invite them yet they still invited us....hehe

Not much other excitement, except that my brother and his wife are joining us this year for Christmas in the Philippines! WOO!

Well, I'm coming down with a cold and I think I'll drink some Neo Citron (which, did you know, is truly canadian?) and head to bed.

Zai jian!