It's the end of (this side of) the world as we know it

 Maddie was loving her dinner!

 Ya Mei and Yao Ling love taking pictures!

 Benjamin is the Chinese Superman

 Kinda normal

 A horse?  That's a little weird...

 What is this?  But I guess it's China so...

 What is this!!??  China is messed up!

Never mind.  China is awesome!

Hey everyone!  I know I have been really inconsistent with blog posts this year.  Sorry about that!  But a big reason is because I've lived here for four years now.  A lot of the things that seemed crazy at the beginning (old ladies hawking loogies, going to karaoke, getting my picture taken, etc.) just seem normal now.

Like a new job or place for anyone, you just get used to it.  Plus, you've probably already read similar blog posts from me about my time in Wuhan.  Just so you know, my year in Jingzhou has been amazing.  I love it here, and I want to thank all of you for keeping tabs on me and prying for me!  Here's a few things that have been going on recently.

- One of my friends from America (Joe) came to visit me.  He's already been to Jingzhou, so we took a long train ride to visit one of my friends Melodie.  Melodie used to teach with me in Wuhan, but this year she started helping (and now basically running) an orphanage for special needs children in Guiyang, Guizhou, China.  We went down to help/visit with her for a few days.  It was an amazing experience.  It helped me to appreciate parents, as well as people like Melodie who have sacrificed so much to help raise these amazing kids.  You can see a few of them in the pictures above.  You can support and learn more about what Melodie is doing at this website if you're interested.  www.journeyofajoyfullife.org

- One of the hardest parts about being out of the country, is that I can't run the Indianapolis Mini Marathon with my family.  We've been doing it together for the past 20 years.  I've told Mandi about how much I miss it, and she is excited to do it in the future as well.  This year, we decided to actually do it here!  We trained for a few months, and then ran the "first ever" Jingzhou Mini Marathon around the city wall.  It was ridiculously hot!  It was Mandi's first time to run a half-marathon, and she did amazing, especially considering the heat!  We did it in about 2 hours and 20 minutes.

- We visited our old school (Wuhan No. 1 High School) to say goodbye to our students.  Last year, we had them write letters to themselves and told them we would come back and return them.  A few students later told me they didn't expect us to actually come back.  But we did, and they were really excited to see us and read their letters!  It was really cool getting to see them one last time and wishing them luck before their VERY important college entrance exam.

- We've been crazy busy this semester.  One of the big reasons is because we've been planning a wedding in Baton Rouge, Lousiana while being in Jingzhou, China!  Our family and friends have been HUGE with helping us out!

- We took Chinese wedding pictures.  I don't think I really need to explain.  You can just enjoy a few!

- We've both been looking for jobs mostly around the Midwest.  We have applied for a few different positions.  Not a lot of responses yet, but we're both hoping and prying that something works out.  Feel free to let us know if you have any good ideas!  :)

And with that, Tales of a Skinny White Kid has come to a close, at least on this side of the world.  I might occasionally post on here to let you know where we are and how we are doing, but I'm sure that won't be all too often.

I hope you've enjoyed learning a little about China and my experiences over here.  The plan back in 2009 was to go to China for a year and then return home.  Four years later, I am finally coming back....as an engaged man!  I'm incredibly happy that I decided to come here.

Part of me feels like I'm leaving home as much as coming home.  I've met so many incredible people, been able to pour into other people's lives, and (even more) had people pour into me.  He has used my time over here to help me in so many ways, and I am incredibly thankful.

Who knows?  Maybe I'll be returning to China or heading to another country in the future.  But as for now, I'm ready to get back to the good ole' USA.  (USA!...USA!...USA!)  See you soon!

John 14:23