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I'm way behind on updating this with pictures. However, life has been a little crazy lately, so posting pictures has been put on the back burner for a while.

Here are a few shots that I like from the past few months...

Longqing Gorge

This is Liu, a new friend this year. He owns a drink shop down the street from us, and we visit him and his store very often to get iced coffee or milk tea. He is always happy and loves to practice his English.

Tiananmen Gate at night.

Love these kids. They are students from last year, but we still get to hang out sometimes. This was taken on Sports Day a few weeks ago.

Fall is finally starting to show itself. :-)

More pictures to come...

60

The beginning of this month marked a pretty significant holiday for China. October 1st is the Chinese National Day, which always means a week off of school and work for many people. However, this year marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, and because of that the celebration was significantly more grand all across the country. Here in Beijing, flowers lined the streets, banners hung from every street lamp, and the entire center of the city was shut down on that day for a massive parade. It was a pretty amazing sight to see.

Here are some pictures from the days leading up to the celebration and of the day itself. Even though the month is half over now, I wanted to post these for you to be able to see.

We made waffles and watched the parade. :-)

Probably the hugest parade ever, just a guess.

The day finished out with a spectacular fireworks display all over the city. These were going off outside my apartment building. Who doesn't love fireworks?

Long Time No Blog

So, keeping this updated is a little difficult from my side of the world. Sad to say, I have been in China for close to two months now and this is my first post, but I'm hopeful that that will change now. I roped my family into posting things for me that I send to them, such as the text and pictures you are seeing right now. (I still can't access any blogs from here.) I'm hopeful that thanks to their willingness to help me I can continue to put up pictures and updates on here for you to read.

August 21 seems like a really long time ago. This first month and a half here has sped by and has been really busy--classes, meetings, new team, new experiences, and a lot of new responsibilities. Amidst all that, I have managed to take about 1000 pictures. :-) Needless to say, there are a lot of different things I could make a post about.


Let's start with the basics: the new team. This year, we have 10 American teachers at Shi Yi: 5 returners and 5 new ones, and it's really a great group. The beginning of the year was a whirlwind--figuring out class schedules, living situations, etc., and the team has done a great job through it all. We're are having a great time getting to know one another more and more as we live and work together.


Coming back for a second year has been awesome. Understanding cultural situations, knowing some Chinese, and being familiar with many students from last year have all contributed to making the transition back to Beijing both smooth and enjoyable. I was so excited to return to such a familiar place full of people that I had grown to love last year. It's truly a privilege and a joy to be here.

I hope that this brief update on my life is not the last for while. I'll do my best to keep up with posting on here, both because I want to stay in touch with you, and also because I enjoy giving you a taste of day-to-day life here in Beijing. I'd hate for you to miss it.

Until next time...