#138 Teaching at Taizhou Teachers College, China (1.Christmas Greetings; 2.Freshmen Military Training & Grad.; 3. Children of TTC Teachers)

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A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR-2012. I WISH ALL OF YOU A YEAR, THAT WILL BE FILLED WITH THE REALIZATIONS OF ALL OF YOUR EXPECTATIONS.

As I am approaching my 6th Christmas Holiday in China, let me wish my loving family, my dear friends, my special students and staff here at Taizhou Teachers College, my former students and collegues at Coral Gables Sr. H.S, at the University of Miami, and at Revere H.S in Mass. and all of the supportive followers of my TravelBlog a most wonderful Christmas, 2011 and a happy and healthy New Year, 2012. May you enjoy this Holiday Season with your families and friends in a festive spirit, sharing in each others lifes, while promoting the joys of this special time of the year.

I am very grateful for my life's experiences, all of which have been encouraged and enhanced by the people I have been privileged to know these many years, and that is all of YOU. Because of YOU, I continue to reflect on my past years with humble gratitude. Each of YOU, in YOUR own unique way, have made me a better man. There can be no better gift than the care, support and affection of friends, and for this gift I must always express my deep "Thank YOU".

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FOR MANY, THESE ARE DIFFICULT AND UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC TIMES, AND SO, I WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND AN INVITATION TO NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS OR GERMAN SPEAKERS WITH A COLLEGE DEGREE, TO CONSIDER A POSITION AS A TEACHER HERE AT TAIZHOU TEACHERS COLLEGE, IN TAIZHOU, JIANGSU, PRC. YOU MAY WISH TO RE-READ MY BLOG #125, AND REVIEW THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND SEE, IF TEACHING AT TTC MAY BE A NEW OPPORTUNITY AND ADVENTURE FOR YOU. COUPLES ARE ALSO VERY WELCOME.

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In this TravelBlog #138, I want to share some special photos and I have divided the 118 photos into 3 groups:

1. Christmas with my students at Taizhou Teachers College

2. Arrival of our new Freshmen, their path through mandatory military training and graduation.

3. The lovely faces of some of the children of our wonderful teachers here at Taizhou Teachers College.

There is no need to write a lengthy essay for this TravelBlog, since each of the 118 photos can speak a thousand words. Please enlarge them for their greater details, and I hope you enjoy them. They will tell you much about the joys of my life as a teacher at my special little teachers college, TAIZHOU TEACHERS COLLEGE, where every day, these past six years, has been filled with great joy.

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN ON EACH PAGE BELOW THE ADVERTISEMENTS, TO ACCESS ALL OF THE ADDITIONAL 118 PHOTOS.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT THESE PAST 6 YEARS, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS AND THOUGHTS. I MISS ALL OF YOU. MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

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Photos

MERRY CHRISTMAS
From the center of the city of Taizhou, Jiangsu, China, I wish all of my family and friends a very special Holiday Season. May happiness, love, health and success follow you, every day of your lifes.

Christmas in my little home in China.
I try to make my home at Taizhou Teachers college festive and stay in the holiday spirit.

One of the two Christmas trees in my home.
Everyone who visits my home enjoys the decorations.

My German 3 class
During our small Christmas party, every students received the small stuffed animal as a gift. These students will graduate this year.

The big gift in my German 3 class.
The pick of the draw made this young lady the winner of the grand gift, the "big bear".

Visitors from Norther College, Canada
Our college has established a relationship with N.College in Ontario, Canada. During a visit, the details of the exchange were discussed.

Ready to visit Northern College in Canada.
This group of wonderful students are preparing for their English Examinations. With a passing score, they will have the unique chance to spend some months, studying at the Northern College in Ontorio, Canada.

International English Class Photo.
You can find me, crushed, in the first row.

Two lucky winners
The class-monitor, on the right, works very hard, and so she received a bear. The lady on the left won the bear through the luck of the draw.

Christmas party in my International English class.
This wonderful class of English Students is preparing for a visit to Canada. It is my most enthusiastic class.

Classrooms in China are not heated.
To keep warm in the classrooms, we must all wear our wintercoats. It makes our students stronger, I am told.

The spoiled students make parents carry thie
Chinese children are spoiled, especially because of the one-child-policy, make each child the "little emperor/emperess" in the family.

Comments

[anonymous]

u record all the nice things,which's so valuable!
u took the pictures and annotated so carefully.that's stunning.i like them.

[Stefanie Kinnamon]

Hola!
Hey Hans, I know its been awhile. Glad to see that you are still enjoying teaching in Taizhou. I have been trying to reach you. All my emails bounced back. I was planning a trip to Shanghai for xmas, but the chinese embassy refused to grant me a visa. Apparently I lack sufficient visa pages. That or my passport is a bit too raggedy for them. It really has been through hell. Oh well. I'm thinking of going to Taiwan for a masters in either education or environmental studies. I could work on my Mandarin as well. I've quit my job here and am only staying till my replacement can take over. I'm working on getting my doggie the necessary papers to travel home with me. Wushu is the best impulse buy ever! Longest comment ever I know! Anyway, merry xmas Hans! send me your new email address if it has changed.

[Sue]

Hi from Oz!!
Heh Hans, another year almost past, so it seems and another great photo essay. International English- is that a "new" course? Am now on at least a 10 day break and won't know about work for next year until the end of the week. Having a quiet Xmas this year, the first without Mum, just hanging around home & doing some sorting out and culling of some of my accumulated possessions!! Heh, and you got a response from Stef!!! Wow!!! Hope you have a pleasant couple of days off and best wishes for the New Year & WInter/Spring Break. Are you travelling to the States as usual?

[Tracy]

Merry Christmas!
Hi, hans, so glad to read your blog again, at this special moment, i would like to wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year!

[danron]

You are always so kind and lovely
You are always so kind and lovely and charming

[leo]

lovely
no sooner had people seen you when you were a kid than loved you .so lovely

[josephsang]

Hi me brother how are you/ i am is looking fro your many yers ago. but i don't know were you now?
HI me brother how are you/ i am is looking fro your many yers ago. but i don't know were you now?

[舒乐园]

朋友
你好最近还好吗？ 还记得我吗 我们以前联系过，但是由于我把你给我的网址不知道弄那里去了，现在又找回了 你给我的网址 ， 看到信息后请回电话我，13476297635

[Jeffrey Kobman]

great!!
I teach in Virginia. I taught 1summer each in Zhengzhou and Hefei. I will retire after the 2013_14 year. My wife's family live in Nanjing. Could you give me a contact person at Taizhou Normal as I would like to return to China. Thanks - I look forward to hearing from you. Jeff Kobman

[Hans]

Hello Mr. Kobman
Thank you for your message, and sorry about my late response. You can contact me for more information at my email: [e-mail] or review my entry #125 about contract and contact information. Look forward to hearing from you, Hans

[anonymous]

I remember this giant flashy christmas tree, stood well into the end of March at the front gate of the Golden Eagle department store. Sales promoting performs was on show with young people dancing enthusistically following loud pop music, and even catholic hymns mixed in between! Soon Christmas again, wishing that all is well.