Where has the time gone???

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First, I must apologize to all of you at home who are NOT on Facebook, and who have not been updated about our lives for a few months now. The last two months have been rather insane, both in our professional lives (the school in which we teach) and our personal lives. Due to the rather sensitive nature of the issues, I won't get into what has happened in our personal lives, but if you feel you can offer up any prayers, we'd sure appreciate it.

I will do my best to update you on the last two and a half months. The day after we changed apartments, we headed back to Beijing, and spent two weeks there. It was really nice, we had time to see things that normal tourists don't, and Chris really enjoyed seeing the sites. We found our own way to The Great Wall, no tour or anything, and were very pleased with ourselves. We stayed in the same hostel as the previous time, the staff there are amazing! We had taken the train to Beijing as always, but had a very hard time getting seats to go home! It was Chinese New Year, so all the seats were taken. We finally got some hard seats in the lowest class of train - I can't even begin to tell you what a horrible experience it was. You know that saying "If you can't say something good, don't say anything at all"? Well, we didn't talk for 16 hours!!! LOL Each set faced another one, so you're always fighting for leg room with the people across from you. There is no table or place to put your things. The floor is the garbage can - literally - as well as the washroom. Babies just peed on the floor where they were standing. Within a few hours, I dreaded having to walk anywhere - you were stepping on old food, tissues, human waste... it was really bad. But we made it back to Wuhan in one piece, swearing we'd never again take that class of train! They say what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger😉

Once back in Wuhan, we still had a couple weeks before classes started for us again. We spent the time relaxing, watching dvd's, and showing Chris around Wuhan. It was pretty funny, we ended up completely reversing our sleeping schedule. We were on Canada time, living in China. One day, I talked to my sister Erika back home for 9 hours! Another day, we woke up at 7pm, then went to be the next morning at 10am. Haha believe me, it wasn't fun getting it back in order again in time to begin classes.

Our new apartment is awesome - we love living so close to the school. We have lots of room here, every person has their own space, and that's proved very useful. We've all adjusted to the bathroom - though believe me when I say that we're looking forward to Western style washrooms!!! I'm sorry that I can't show you pictures of our place, I'll have to take some new ones. Almost a month ago, I bought a new external drive so that I could free up some space on my laptop. Stupid me, I transferred over my pictures BEFORE I backed them up, then my external drive stopped working. I immediately quit using my laptop, and my Dad sent me my new laptop that was waiting for me at home in Canada. But that turned into a fiasco too. We didn't know we'd have to pay 1000Y worth of taxes just to get it through Customs, and we weren't prepared with the money. I now have my new laptop, but still have not been able to send my external drive home so that my dad can begin recovering my photos. Please pray, I lost more then 5 years worth!!! And yes, I know I'm stupid, please nobody rub that in😉 LOL

Classes began on February 9th, and we've been teaching 5 days a week every since. Chris has settled in very well, he fits into our office with no problems. The girls love bugging him, poor guy is usually the only male among 10 women (Jean is upstairs in the office above ours). Chris likes teaching (most days, just like the rest of us), and I'm sure that he'll be here longer then just a few months.

Our friend Sarika visited us for one week towards the end of February. She is the only one who has been able to make the trip, and we were so excited to have her! She got to sit in on my classes (the kids loved her of course), and even got to take part in one where the kids asked her tons of questions. Haha they loved practicing their English😉 We were sorry to see her go...

At the end of February I attended a conference at the Canadian Consulate in Beijing. I can't go into specifics on this public blog, but will gladly share with any of you if you're interested, just email me. I had a nice weekend - two days alone in the city. It was the first time in my life that I've ever traveled anywhere abroad by myself, and I was excited and nervous all at the same time. I'm not sure why... but I had a great weekend. I was put up in a fancy hotel, and had my first bath in almost two years!!! I got to do a little shopping, and even ate lunch at my favorite Beijing Duck restaurant all by myself. I was proud of that😊

The last few weeks we have been busy making our final budget, and making sure that everything is in place for our wedding. Time is flying now, we only have three paycheques left before we come home!!! Can you believe we'll be home in three months??? We still have so much to do, but I am blessed with family and friends that are incredibly willing to help, and Jean is right by my side. I'm so lucky, he gets into wedding planning just as much as I do!!! LOL what a guy!

We plan to fly back to Canada a few days before the end of June, so that we can celebrate Canada Day in Kelowna. After Chinese New Year here, the fireworks will be nothing, but spending a day with thousands of people at the lake is SO much fun!

Thank you all for your patience, and I promise I won't take so long to write. At least now you know I've had valid reasons😉 Love and miss you all!!!

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