Dear friends,
Women bu hao yisi (we are so embarrassed) that we haven't been keeping up with our blog as well as we would like to! It seems that life continues to keep on keeping on, and our typing fingers just can't seem to catch up! I'm afraid that Steve's promised insight into our trips to Hainan and Harbin will have to wait. When the weather gets blisteringly hot and humid (at least for us), Steve can refresh us all by describing the ice palaces of Harbin, and the ice cream we enjoyed every night in Hainan :) Steve has a little bit less free time than I do, as he is pioneering a Chinese Social Studies class without any resources. There is no textbook, and no one has ever taught a class like this before (that we know of), so Steve has been doing a lot of researching and creative planning this year. He is doing AMAZING, and I am SO proud of him!!! Really, he's an awesome teacher and his students absolutely adore him. Because of him, his students are hooked on Lord of the Rings, Batman, and with beginning to think philosophically. This week he got an email from a parent asking him teach 5th grade history next year so her son can have him two years in a row. Ok enough with the wife bragging stuff, it's time to tell you what we've been up to since February.
Well....we have been teaching, slowly and painfully learning Chinese, and working with the youth group. Here is a short summary for those who are interested. :)
Women bu hao yisi (we are so embarrassed) that we haven't been keeping up with our blog as well as we would like to! It seems that life continues to keep on keeping on, and our typing fingers just can't seem to catch up! I'm afraid that Steve's promised insight into our trips to Hainan and Harbin will have to wait. When the weather gets blisteringly hot and humid (at least for us), Steve can refresh us all by describing the ice palaces of Harbin, and the ice cream we enjoyed every night in Hainan :) Steve has a little bit less free time than I do, as he is pioneering a Chinese Social Studies class without any resources. There is no textbook, and no one has ever taught a class like this before (that we know of), so Steve has been doing a lot of researching and creative planning this year. He is doing AMAZING, and I am SO proud of him!!! Really, he's an awesome teacher and his students absolutely adore him. Because of him, his students are hooked on Lord of the Rings, Batman, and with beginning to think philosophically. This week he got an email from a parent asking him teach 5th grade history next year so her son can have him two years in a row. Ok enough with the wife bragging stuff, it's time to tell you what we've been up to since February.
Well....we have been teaching, slowly and painfully learning Chinese, and working with the youth group. Here is a short summary for those who are interested. :)
In February, my mom and brother came to Shanghai to visit! It was so so SO great to have them here to experience the crowded subways, the yummy lemon chicken at the Sichuan restaurant, and to hear all my cute little students shouting “Teacher Emily-a! Teacher Emily-a! when I walk by. We saw the acrobats (amazing!), went to the zoo to see pandas (we realized that the little red pandas are our favorites!), and, most importantly, played “Bang!” every chance we could get! It was great. Just like when Lyssa came in November, it was so meaningful for me to know that my family can understand my life here in China, even when they are thousands of miles away.
In March, Steve participated in “Macho Marcho”, we went on a high school youth retreat, and I continued to train for the Great Wall Marathon in May. “Macho Marcho” was a fund-raiser that allowed students to bid on their teachers beards to win the chance to design their teacher’s face however they wanted to. Steve grew out his beard and his class won the bid and decided that the Batman symbol would be the most fitting.
And the end of March brings us to our trip to Guilin….