I’m sitting here writing this blog and procrastinating the almost 600 papers I have sitting in my bag to grade….I graded about 200 yesterday. That is the thing I hate the most…reading the same thing over and over and over. If I could, I would pay someone to grade for me! I now understand why college and seminary professors have graders…I would not like that job! Everybody may be making really good grades…this is so monotonous.
I have kept Janey an average of about three days these last several weeks. I kept her for four days around Thanksgiving that was good for me. I’m so glad that she was with me on Thanksgiving day…she made it not be so lonely. It was tough talking to mom and not being there with them. We had a good day here…it was just sooo different. I’m so glad that Josh will be here for Christmas, otherwise it would be extremely difficult. I don’t know what I would do.
Hopie and Janey spent the night with me a couple of weeks ago and I took them to the park. I will try to post some pictures of them at the park…if I can figure out how! Hopie is “little Miss Boss” and after Janey is around her she gets sassy too. They are pills when they are together. Janey got in quite a bit of trouble the other day when I asked her to finish her dinner and her response was, “You don’t talk to me like that!” Ooooh…not a good response. She has become a little “clepto” around my house…she takes things and hides them under her pillow. Today, during nap time, she had some of my makeup, necklaces and a bottle of water (that she spilled everywhere) hidden under the pillow. She wasn’t a happy camper when she finally fell asleep.
My students have now realized that it is very important not to cheat. At least 70% of my class failed the vocabulary test that I gave them. I guess they didn’t believe me that they were going to have one after they cheated during the game. Now they are all scrambling to get extra credit points. I gave them the vocabulary portion of their final exam on Wednesday. They all did really well. I’m proud of them. I made four different vocabulary tests to make it cheat proof…at least I think it was. You never know with these guys. They are so used to cheating. They will begin giving me 3 minute presentations beginning on Monday and ending on Wednesday. It is going to be a kind of one-on-one interview on the topic they researched. Should be interesting…and taxing! There is a great prize at the end of the students presentations…JOSH ARRIVES!!! I’m sure I’ll make it through the presentations just fine! I will go to Hong Kong on Thursday (Dec 16) to pick him up. He doesn’t get in until 10:30pm so I might do some shopping before I go to the airport or…I might just sit in a bathtub all afternoon and soak up endless amounts of HOT water!! In the mean time, I need to finish grading and cleaning this place up…there are stacks of paper everywhere!
The week of December 20, I’m just going to have fun with my classes. We are going to have a Christmas party where Josh will talk about the TRUE meaning of Christmas…telling them EVERYTHING!!! I’m really excited about it! You can be thinking about that week! We will teach them some Christmas songs, play games, dance and all that fun stuff. I’ve given each class about $12 US to go get food and drinks and whatever else they wanted…that will take a load off of me…I wouldn’t have the first idea of what to buy over here…they have so much different stuff…they definitely don’t enjoy the things that we do!
I found out yesterday that I will be getting to go to the “Big O” or “The Farm” (to some) the 1,3,5 Thursday of each month. So…my first day going would be this Thursday and I am going to HK. We are trying to get it changed to the following week so that Josh can go too…we will just have to wait and see. Please be thinking about that. I would really like for him to be able to go. As of right now, we are going to be making a trip to “The Colony” while he is here so that will be good. I’m looking forward to seeing my friends there…it has been a little over a month. I need to find something to take them for Christmas…I don’t have a the slightest clue.
We have been in a drought here since September. It has rained twice for only a couple of hours since then. The farmers are really struggling and the pollution is just horrible right now. Everyone has been really sick with Allergies and just the crud. I will say that it is much more convenient when it is not raining as far as getting around goes..since we walk or take motorbikes everywhere…but it is not good for the economy or the earth. When we arrived we were worried about flooding because it was raining so much…now…we don’t even know what rain looks like. The earth is so dry. Please be thinking about that.
A couple of weeks ago the pollution was especially bad…I walked about a little over a mile to the Pizz’s house for a ‘meeting’ and when I arrived I cold hardly breathe. Thankfully Pat had an inhaler I could use. Now, I don’t leave without mine. I never thought I would say this…especially here…but I’m ready for some rain. It could rain during the night…that would be nice.
It is getting pretty chilly even though this is the warmest winter that have had several years. It is getting into the low 40’s at night. Brrrrrr!!!! I still haven’t bought a heater but I think it is time. I have figured out a trick though…I set my kettle on the stove and boil the water and let the steam come out…sometimes I let it boil for an hour or so…it helps to warm up the house and the air isn’t so dry…it helps my throat. The bathroom is just off of the kitchen so about 20 minutes before I go to take a shower I start boiling the water and close all the doors to the kitchen and let it get really steamy, take my shower and then when I come out it is warm in there. I’m learning the tricks…I’m probably being wasteful of the gas but…oh well…it is keeping me kind of warm! : )
Last week, I experimented with a Chinese dish and it turned out really well. I was quite impressed! There are a few small thing that I would do differently but overall it was really good. I’ve also been experimenting with soups…they have all been pretty good. I don’t think I’ve ever made so many things from scratch as I have here…it wouldn’t be so bad if the dishes weren’t such an ordeal. From start to finish…depending upon how many…it takes close to an hour to do the dishes! Fun, fun!!! : )
Thanks to several of you who have sent Christmas cards!!! What a great surprise. I love getting mail here! I have them taped up on my walls for my Christmas decorations! Ani and I went Christmas tree shopping a couple of weeks ago and found us a Christmas tree and lights. One of our Chinese sisters took us and she couldn’t believe how many Christmas things we had found. She said that every year she sees more and more Christmas things. China has found that if they “celebrate” Christmas or rather sell Christmas trees and decorations it is another way to make money…they are all about making money any way they can…right or wrong. I was glad to get a tree…made me feel in the spirit a little more…even though there is nothing “spiritual” about the tree. The Pizz’s who have been here for 9 years now, said it is amazing how the cost of trees have gone down. When they first arrived and purchases their they paid US prices and we paid $3 US for a four foot tree…and it looks really good. I was expecting a little tree that wasn’t full and needed a lot of help. Finding Christmas lights was an added bonus. I made little present ornaments for the tree…it is fun! Of course, making the ornaments was just another way of procrastinating the grading. :)
Each Wednesday night, our apartment building (Americans, Russians, Cameroonians, and a Phillipino lady) is having a “Soup and Bread”. We all eat together, sing Christmas carols and then have a small devotional. That has helped to get us more into the spirit of Christmas. Several of those invited to this (7) are not “family” so it has been a good way of outreach. We can get them to come because we are providing food…who would turn down food?? We will do something like this at Easter as well.
Brrr….it’s chilly…I’m going to go boil some water and warm up!!! :)
Have a wonderful Christmas season and be sure to tell someone about the TRUE GIFT of Christmas!
