Saturday, March 20, 2010

The fog is lifting

I realize that it's been a long while since I've written about anything. To be honest, I've been living in a foggy world, where I'm just trying to put one foot in front of the other. Making it to my classes is my biggest priority, and that's about all I'm able to accomplish. Some kind of virus is really hanging on to me, although I continue to feel better by the tiniest degree every day.

Oh, the weather has been gorgeous here lately! Although I haven't been able to exercise for the past week or so, it wouldn't really matter much. They have been refurbishing our old campus where we live for several months now. Everything has come under renovation, except for our apartments and the class buildings.

They are currently taking over the only possible place that we can get any form of exercise in our concrete jungle: the track. It is fenced off in a nice bright green fence now, and they are replacing the astro-turf by about an inch a day. At this rate it might be finished by summer.

Classes have been going well. This week my students created skits using new idioms we have learned, such as "eager beaver" and "pep talk." The majority of them were very creative, and you could understand most of their English.

On Friday I stayed in our office until 5 p.m., when I rode the teacher school bus back to old campus. As our bus was pulling out of the front gate, you could see a huge crowd gathering around a student who had been hit by a car. Glass was everywhere, as well as the student's shoes.

You could still see these items long after the crowds had cleared and the student had been taken away. Did that person survive? I don't know, but I'm hopeful! This is about the sixth or seventh body/injured person I've seen in the middle of the road since I've arrived in China, and it still makes me so incredibly sad.

Thanks for your thoughts! Studies and relationships are going well. Please think of my dear students' hearts!


(Hanging out with my friend and workers looking at us in curiosity).


(A lazy Saturday afternoon down on of our favorite back alleys).


(A nice little garden).


(A cute little puppy visiting us at lunchtime).

Monday, March 15, 2010

Blue eyes, why are you blue?

I'm feeling a little blue lately. I get so frustrated with my body in China. It's like it doesn't have an immune system. It comes into contact with one germ or virus and melts down. Or maybe my immune system still has to adjust to all these foreign germs.

Anyways, I have no clue what is wrong with me. I came down with a high fever and chills on Thursday night. I rested for most of Friday and the weekend. My fever is gone, but now I'm so exhausted. I feel like I got hit by a bus. I can barely lift my arms and legs to walk, let alone get to class. But somehow I've managed to get to classes... I've never felt so tired in my life. And I don't really feel any worse or better. Just the same. Oh, plus I have a headache and sore throat now. Your thoughts are always appreciated!

I taught my students the word "pep." I feel like I don't have an ounce of pep or energy. I don't mind being sick so much, but when it totally wipes you out for several plus days, I start to mind. I'm here to build relationships and teach engaging lessons. But I can barely make it to class, and can't bear to eat or talk very much. It's a little challenging...


(A little stuffed animal a student gave me. It makes me smile. It sort of looks like a germ. Maybe that's why I'm sick?)