March 14, 2010

Update

Well, here we sit in the apartment. We have just finished listening to a sermon by DJ and listened to Carl talk about the demon spirits jumping into the swine, from the call in show this past week. Last week we visited Beijing once again—first time for family on bullet train-- and met up with our favorite local pastor and attended the service and sent greetings on behalf of everyone in our cbc family.

Beware of the Ides of March!

March takes on new meaning as the heat officially gets turned off on March 15^th. The apt. buildings are fed from central locations controlled by the state so unless it is terminally cold, we must supplement our heat with space heaters, sweatshirts and comforters, I reckon.

Filling in the gaps as time passes

Some bullet items so I can just get it done—things we have done:

•   Commuting to school daily via bus…but Brian walks home so he can work out-exercise at the Saixiang Hotel.
•     Susan is shopping, venturing out on her own in taxis. Walking through traffic in prayer. Finding things is her job.
•   Kids are doing their thing. Aaron did a lock in—so did Kelsey—I lip synched “J” train by Toby Mac on Friday night for the fun of it for the middle schoolers.
•    Andrew now has a bike, with training wheels.
•   We will buy bikes soon as the weather gets up to around 50 I imagine.
•  We have acquired a box freezer, made in Denmark, from the Ogden’s. It now sits in the ping ti and will be used very well by ayi Wo Mae and Susan. I picture it as an ice cream and seafood storage unit. The fridges here are small but energy efficient, so the addition of the freezer feels like home (size of a small dryer).
• End of 3^rd quarter is coming up. Something different here is student led conferences. Parents with translators sit in the conference and show the parent what is good and bad about their subjects via their portfolios. Right after Easter break. Should be interesting.
• Working in a faith based school here is really dynamic. Character development and small classes with high achieving, highly motivated students and faculty make it a pleasure to come to work. This past week I got an email from a student who wasn’t pleased with his score. Yes!
•   Of course we miss Beaufort, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. We celebrate with you in Beaufort--the arrival of the new Dunkin’ Donuts. My mother worked at one for a few years when I grew up in Norwood—a  suburb of Philly. She used to bring home dozens of leftovers at the end of the shift—no good ones just those plain ones with the little handle which sold by the name -Dunkin’ Donut. That may explain why two of my brothers ended up in law enforcement.  But none of us drink coffee. Go figure.