The end is near...

Burgers!

20 people packed in one small apartment!

Well, the end of the school year is approaching very quickly. I still can't believe that I've been here for 9 months. Last week, I purchased my ticket home. I'll be back in America the morning of June 29th! Since the end of the year is approaching, we teachers are talking with the school about some changes we think should be made for next year's contract including living conditions, teaching ideas, and flight reimbursements. For example, thy are supposed to pay for our flights to and from America. They set a maximum price, but it is quite a bit lower than our actual flights even though we bought the cheapest tickets possible. It's been extremely frustrating trying to work with them and get answers. I'm starting to expect none at all. That confusion and frustration has made me even more ready for home!

This past Saturday was a really fun day. Kirk, Cory, Rebecca, and I all ran in a 6 kilometer (about 3.8 mile) race on the other side of Wuhan. I missed running the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon (13.1 miles) this year, so I enjoyed having something to train for, even if a short race isn't really up my alley. We all felt happy with our runs, but we had no idea what our times were since they had no clock at the finish line! I've been talking with some other foreigners at our fellowship, and we are planning on running the Shanghai marathon in the fall when we return. I'm PUMPED for it. I just hope the air pollution allows me to train the way I'd like to.

That evening, we celebrated Kirk's 27th birthday. I've mentioned it a little before, but Kirk is one of the biggest reasons I'm here. We went to IWU together, and he is one of my best friends. I'm the one who originally heard about this whole China thing. I was a little hesitant, but I mentioned it to Kirk, and we both decided to go together. I've loved having him here, and I was really happy when he decided to return again next year as well.

For Kirk's birthday, we had a big group of about 20 people. Kirk decided that we should have an American-style cookout. Our group bought a grill, burgers, hot dogs....pretty much everything! It wasn't easy. Kirk and Cory had to go to a foreign store quite a ways away and stuff the whole grill in a taxi, but it was worth it. The food was great, and now we'll be able to have more cookouts with people in the future.

On a side note, keep my Uncle Tom in your "thoughts." He recently found out he has brain cancer. It caught all of us by complete surprise. I'm excited to see him at our family reunion the weekend of July 4th. My uncle is a strong C, and we all know that nothing is impossible for our Father.

That's all from China. Mathews out!

One More Year

Sign at Hua Shan Mountain. No one tells me not to stride!

Hua Shan Mountain

Terra Cotta Warriors

Janet, Jolie, Daniel, and Kirk

I've really enjoyed my 8 months in China. When I came here, my plan was to only stay for one year before looking for a job back in America. However, after living here and getting to know so many people and having great opportunities to experience a different culture, I decided that 10 months just wasn't enough! It was not an easy decision at all. I really miss being so far away from family and friends in America. I think the tipping point was one day I realized that if I left, it might be the last time I'm ever in Wuhan with all of these great people. Most of my Wuhan teammates are coming back as well. Kirk, Rebecca, and Daniel have decided to stay. Cory is still deciding. He and Lara will definitely be in Wuhan another year, but they may decide to do something else while here. I will be in America for 6-8 weeks over the summer. I'm REALLY excited to get back and visit as many of you as I can.

A lot has happened over the last two and a half weeks. As usual, I put off writing an update for so long that I don't know where to begin. I'll try to keep it as short (and interesting) as possible!

Two weeks ago, Kirk and I went to a movie with a student (Yvonne) from Wuhan No. 1 and her family. Honestly, neither of us were too excited about it. Yvonne is actually a student of Cory's, but he wasn't able to go. Kirk subbed for Cory's class one day, and Yvonne asked him to go to a movie with her family that weekend. He didn't want to go by himself, so I decided to go with him. It was a little awkward at times, but it was actually a lot of fun. Yvonne is a great English speaker, and she was talking to Kirk pretty much all night since he had taught her before. I talked with Yvonne's mother quite a bit. She knows a little English, but not too much. It was fun practicing my Chinese as we ate dinner and walked around a mall before going to the movie. We watched an American movie that I can't remember what it's called right now. It's about Greek gods, and the guy from Avatar is in it. When we went to buy tickets, we learned that the movie was only showing in dubbed Chinese! It was interesting watching an American movie in Chinese! I hardly understood any of it, but at least I got to hear a few of my new vocabulary words. Kirk and I decided to try to laugh whenever everyone else in the theater did, just so they thought we were fluent speakers.

We had last week off because the students had mid-term exams. I always feel a little bad having time off when my students are really stressed out, but there's nothing I can do about it! Kirk, Daniel, and I decided to go to Xi'an with two of our Chinese friends, Jolie and Janet. They are both about our age and English teachers at a training center. It's always nice to hang out with Chinese people who can understand me when I speak at my regular pace! We had a blast while we were there. Xi'an is a really historical city. There is a famous mountain called Hua Shan as well as the Terra Cotta warriors. The warrior statues were discovered about 40 years ago. An ancient Chinese emperor had hundreds of them buried with him to protect him in the after-life. It was crazy to see so many statues, and every one was made to look unique (probably like an actual soldier)!

Just about as soon as we had returned from Xi'an, our Zhong Relations team left for a meeting at the Tianmu hot springs. Hot Springs are a little like spas in America. At least, that's what I'm guessing. I've never been to an American spa! There were different types of hot tubs, pools, water slides, and lounge rooms. It was meant to be a time for the whole Zhong team, including the Huangshi group, to relax towards the end of the year. It was also a time to talk about our experiences. Our good times, bad times, and how we can continue to improve Zhong in the future. I think we all had a relaxing weekend meeting together. And I know we're all looking forward to going back to America as well!

Last night, we said goodbye to Taylor. He is flying back to America for good today. He has been here for 3 years. The first 2 were teaching at Wuhan No. 1, and this year he has been working at Mr. Mai's and taking Chinese classes at a local university. He was great to have in Wuhan. He was a lot of fun, and he helped our group of mostly rookies out a lot! I know we, and a lot of Chinese people will miss him next year!

Well, that's the shortened version of the past few weeks. See a lot of you in about 50 days!