Blogs from Daxing, Beijing, China, Asia - page 2

For those following our work here, this is a little delayed. It's been a busy few days since we arrived here on May 7. We are here in China for the 13th FLTRP (Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press) Cup, which is the Chinese national debate championships. It's conducted in English and American teams have been coming to China to train debaters in the parliamentary format, adjudicators in judging skills, etc. We also serve as "Independent" judges for the tournament to add credibility to the decisions. After we leave this Saturday we will proceed to Beijing proper (we are currently in a suburban district) for about three days, where we will meet with officials at Beijing Foreign Studies University, provide a demonstration debate for the BFSU team, and leave some time for our students to visit ... read more

I am doing well after battling sickness this week. I recovered from the actual physical part of the illness by Wednesday but the emotional toll it took took longer to recover from. But after a trip to the foster home and the ability to get out and take pictures put my spirits right back at 100%. It is the Autumn here and they are harvesting corn and it really is a very good time to be in Beijing the weather is mild and you can walk or ride your bike without being hot or cold. On Friday we have to drive to a school teach one class at 10 and then don't teach again until 2pm. So Bao, Randy and I walked around area and found a pagoda in a small park where we sat and ... read more