Vacation!

Saying goodbye to Solomon

Hey everyone. My Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) vacation started this past week. It's been nice to sleep in and just relax for a few days, but I'm starting to get a little bored. Kirk Ransom, Daniel, and I are getting ready for our mini Asia tour vacation which starts Thursday. We will be going to Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand for about 3 weeks so this will be the last update for awhile. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures so I can share some of my experiences with you. I might look a little different in them because the 3 of us have decided to grow Spring Festival beards, or at least try!

The first leg of my trip will be even more fun because two of my best friends from high school, Kirk Lacy and Joe Bentle will be with us. I grew up playing and watching football with them almost every Sunday, so it'll be great to (hopefully!) watch my Colts win the Super Bowl with them in Hong Kong. While I'm sure the trip will be a blast, please "think" of us in our travels. I hope there are no problems that arise traveling to so many different places in such a short time. Little problems become a lot bigger when you're in a foreign country!

The last week of classes went fairly smoothly except for one occurrence. As I have mentioned before, I have about 700 students total, which makes it impossible to know all of them. Two of my students knew this and tried to take advantage of it for their final exam. For one class, we ended the semester with an oral examination. I called out each student and just had a short conversation with them. One student was really nervous about it, so he had a friend go out and take it for him. Most of my students could have gotten away with this, but he is one of the few students that sticks out because he gets on my nerves since he rarely pays attention! I talked to them both after class, and had to give them both zeroes for their final grade. I gave their English teacher the score they both would have gotten if they had not cheated and told him he could do whatever he felt was necessary for their final grade in the class. It was frustrating that students tried to take advantage of me, but hopefully it sent a message to the rest of the class to not try to cheat again!

On my last day of teaching, I told my classes that I would probably teach them again next semester, but I didn't know for sure since the school might change our schedules. After one class, a student brought up his textbook and a marker to get my autograph! I thought it was crazy, but did it anyways. Before I know it, there were about 20 kids surrounding me with their books! Now I know why athletes just scribble their names when signing autographs. That can tire your wrist out!

Last Thursday night we had a goodbye party at Papa John's for our Chinese friend, Solomon. He is going to study electronic engineering in Australia for two years. Solomon is a "brother" and a great guy. I always had a blast hanging out with him. I'll definitely miss him, but I'll be able to stay in touch with him via Skype and Facebook.

Our foreign fellowship was canceled last weekend, so a few of us teachers went to a registered Chinese church with another Chinese friend, Jolie. While I didn't really understand anything being said, it was cool seeing a different type of worship style and meeting with other brothers and sisters. Our Father is everywhere, but I kind of laughed to myself when I pictured Him listening to an interpreter. I mean, can HE even understand this language!!?? :)

Over the past few months, I've also been sharing a little about the Book with another Wuhan friend. His name is Jesse. He's had a lot of questions, so I told him about what I believe. I could tell he was interested, so I wanted to get him a Book for himself. Cory picked a few up at a registered church, so I was able to give him one last week. He was really excited and wanted to pay me back. I told him that it was a gift. I just wanted him to read it, so he could learn for himself and continue to ask me questions. I haven't been able to talk with him much since, but I am excited for our future conversations.

On a sad note, be thinking of my friend Taylor. He is an American who works at the coffee shop I've mentioned a lot. He was an English teacher at my school for two years. I actually live in his old apartment. He flew back to America two days ago to have some doctors look at his skin and possibly undergo surgery. He might have melanoma. I don't know much more than that, but we're hoping for some good news soon.

That's all for now. I hope everyone is doing well back in the states. I am looking forward to letting you know about our trip. Go Colts!