Just a quick note to let you all know we made it to our school! We're actually living on campus in 2 dorm rooms...so one will be primarily occupied and the other might become our 'crap' room. I'm writing to you from our spacious office (really, it's bigger than both of our rooms) which is the only place we currently have internet. We will see how it goes! We have a stack of letters our students wrote for us at the end of their last term compiled here on our desk that the former foreign teacher left. Our contact teachers, Harry and Shaka, are ridiculously nice and I think will be really helpful for the year. Time to unpack! Love you all.... read more

Well, after a 25 hour train ride and then an hourish bus ride to our hotel, we are HERE! Staying at the nicest hotel I've ever been in for the next three nights will feel glorious. We're exhausted and off to bed so that we can get up at 6am to eat a provided breakfast and then spend the first half of the day getting our medical exams for our work visas done. Here's to hoping for a clean bill of health! :)... read more

Staci and I were planning on going to the vegetarian restaurant last night, but as we were headed out the door, a fellow teacher, came our way and invited us out to dinner with a few others. It's so nice to be here with a big group as it allows us to make friends and experience being in a foreign place with like-minded adventurers. We had a bit over an hour to spare before take off, so the two of us headed out to get some bubble tea from this place we've seen next to our hotel. They had a small menu translated in English and we ordered a pineapple tea and a blueberry tea. It turned out not to be the type of bubble tea we were expecting, yet still delicious. Crushed ice with flavored ... read more

Well, a few more days have come and gone. Every day kind of melts into another, since our schedule has become so routine. I had my first evaluation today (Thursday) finally, and it went really well. She said we were awesome and just had a few pointers for making things connect better. My kids are hilarious. One of my students is only 10 (in a junior high class) and the most adorable thing you've ever seen. His English name is Mike and he's constantly volunteering answers or saying "Thank you, Teacher. Yes, Teacher!" Whenever you ask a student how they are, they respond by saying "Fine, thank you!! And you?" You can keep this going with them too, and they don't even get it. "Good, and you?" "Fine, thank you!! And you?" China success: We successfully ... read more

Coming to live in China has required us to once again embrace many of the same things we did exactly one year ago today. Staci and I celebrated our first anniversary of marriage yesterday (Sunday). Since we are 15 hours ahead, the exact moment in time was today, but regardless, the feat is quite special nonetheless. China has required us to take a deeper look into trust, communication, love, humor, and dedication. The program we are a part of has been, as advertised—very intensive indeed!. Of course, Staci and I are probably making it more intense then needed, but I guess it is in our nerdy-studious-old-boring-married-couple-nature. It seems like many of the participants are still in the partying mode, seeking out every opportunity to down a cold one or two….or thirty. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes ... read more