New Year's Eve

A couple of the girls Grace has been helping prepare for their exams to get into grad schools in the English-speaking world insisted on fixing us a meal as a way of saying thanks!

Here's hoping all of you have an absolutely fabulous 2015!!

圣诞快乐

We all taught full loads of classes today, but made time this evening to celebrate our Elder Brother's birthday with sibling colleagues over hot cider and cocoa...

We miss all who are likely to read this entry dearly, especially at this time of year, and send our love with the hope that your own celebrations are filled with the joy of the season!

We haven't seen a snowflake in these parts yet, but the local mall created a little for those who wanted a white Christmas!

Beijing Opera

Strange place to see your first opera, you say?  Well, we thought so too, but never having been to the Water Cube, we couldn't resist the offer to do two firsts in one evening!

We got to see "Madam White Snake" based on an ancient Chinese legend about the love between a man and a snake demon disguised as a beautiful woman...

Giving Thanks in China

Thanksgiving has made it all the way around the world, it seems... really cool when we see our favorite book quoted on flyers like this one! (even when they fail to cite their source.)

Grace and I have tons to be thankful for beginning with our five kids, two sons-in-law, grandson and all our friends and extended family who encourage and support us in so many ways throughout the year... we love and miss you all!

Oh, and the rest of that verse on the flyer?
  "...for this is the Father's will for you in His Son."

APEC Weekend

While the Presidents of our home and host countries were busy meeting in our city of residence for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Conference, Grace and I met with the Beijing leadership team from our organization in the country's 5th largest city (Tianjin), which is famous for (among other things) the beautiful "Eye" pictured in the photo below (the largest one in the world that is mounted on a bridge)

Halloween

Our Canadian teammate hosted a little get-together with some of our freshman English majors... a little pumpkin carving, mask coloring, movie watching party... a first Halloween for these sixteen teenagers and they sure seemed to be enjoying themselves! 

So, I suppose you could say college is not all study, study, study :-)

Brain Storm

The first topic for tonight's talk session in the Pretty English club office was "How do you confess you love creatively to another person?"

14 college students present, only one of whom had ever had a boy or girlfriend... these guys have literally lived their lives to this point with the singular goal of getting into a good college.

Grace and I had fun with this one...

A First!

I have a great time visiting with students every week during my office hours... students stop by for an hour or two at a time to chat about anything from what's new in their lives to how to prepare for graduate school exams. At one point this afternoon I realized that all of those present were former students, none of whom are in any of my classes this term... kinda cool to know it's not about getting a higher grade in my class!

L2R: Dennis, Jessica, Hermione, Lily, John, Mark, Elsa, Debby, Joyce, Doris and Rebecca

Crab Dinner

Our young friend, JP, has been saying every Sunday this month that "we must try the crab while it is in season!" 

Well, apparently all the suitable restaurant options have been booked solid (for weddings), so we went with dinner Monday... a great break from the routine, chance to sample an October favorite (it's a special river crab... the pot is filled with tofu) and spend a little time with a sharp young man!

Common Ground

First Coffee House of the school year... this one with "Fears and Phobias" as the theme.  We chatted about the things we're afraid of and how to keep from being paralyzed by them... in some cases, about the bigger picture so often ignored until the point of desperation.

Pictured during the student entertainment portion of our program... the kids love British and North American music.

New Classes

I have two of these three-hour Freshman Speaking & Listening classes... 55 students is less than optimal for an ESL conversation class, but we'll make it work!

65th Anniversary

October 1st, 1949 is celebrated as the day in which the People's Republic of China was founded.  Our little team of six and roughly 1000 other "foreign experts" serving in a variety of fields were invited to dine in The Great Hall of the People last Sunday.

The following day, the much more dignified group (pictured below) gathered to celebrate the occasion in the same room!

Guilin

The Li River cruise was a definite highlight of our time in Guangxi province; we are most thankful for the FAO grant for us as "foreign experts" to "discover China" in advance of its October holiday!

Globe Trekkers

There was a group of Canadians passing through on a 9-month tour of the globe... we are pictured with them and the leaders of our local fellowship after hearing the vision of the latter for reaching our community of 500,000 with the message of hope... roughly 1% are currently a part of the fold.

Grace and I (and 5 of our teammates) will be doing a little "trekking" of our own Wednesday-Saturday.  The Foreign Affairs Office has blessed us with a "Discover China" grant... a 4-day trip to Guilin!  We'll be without internet until Sunday, but after that look for some great pictures!

Junior EMs

Had a little meet-n-greet with some of our junior English majors last night.  This is the group that Grace and I have worked most closely with over the past two years.

Great to see them, and to hear all that is happening in their lives as they begin to think about what they'll be doing post-graduation, to realize how far they've come in their ability to communicate in English, and to look forward to building on the relationships we've established with them!

Military Training

This is what our campus looks like from sun-up to long after dark for the three weeks of military training (required of every one of our 3,600 freshmen each year.)

They all say it is pretty tough, but also helps them get to know everyone in their divisions really well before having to "hit the books".

The New Team

This is our new core team (the ones who live and teach full-time in Liangxiang), with Apryl and Emily Cole being the newcomers. Three other members of our Beijing City team will be teaching part-time on our campus.  I love the logo of our school, which illustrates its goal of "Peace on a Foundation of Strength."  The central building on the main campus (pictured in the background) was designed to look like an open book.

L2R: Ben Brewer (Michigan State); Apryl Sniffen (NY); Emily Cole (BC/Ontario); Emily Thomas (TN); G&G (Florida)

Back in China!

This rush hour selfie shows the protagonists headed to the first team leader meeting of this school year... still feeling the effects of jet-lag, but this was early enough in the day that it isn't too outwardly-evident.

It is a two-hour bike/subway/hike to most of our meetings downtown...

Sunset in Chicago, Sunrise in Beijing

Not the same day, mind you... we left the home in which we were staying at 9:00 o'clock Saturday morning, and arrived at our apartment at Beijing Institute of Technology just before midnight Sunday night (27 hours plus the 12 hour time differential)!

Grace took this picture as we left Chicago...

Waking up the next morning, this was the view out our dining room window at Beijing Institute of Technology.  Looking forward to meeting our new teammates... and to the challenges that this new year will surely bring us!

Arrivals and Departures

Promo poster @JAX for JU featuring its Student Body President

2 Months in Africa, and where do you suppose he wanted to eat his first meal back in the USA?  Why, Chick-Fil-A, of course!

All of this the evening before our return to China!!

Visit to Tim's School

Tim's bedroom (he has the top bunk)... shared with one of three housemates.

The building where Tim will have most of his classes this term

Appalachian State University has a gorgeous campus in the mountains of Boone, North Carolina. 

Tim gave us a guided tour, including lunch at his favorite restaurant, Black Cat!

He's a junior Appropriate Technology major this year, and made A's in everything but Chemistry last year (a B+)

The Main Event

Not the clearest picture, but the best one I have so far of the Bride and Groom with their parents at the wedding!  Looking forward to seeing the professional version of this and others!

Wedding Day!

It has been five weeks since our last entry, and pretty much everything has built toward this day... this photo was taken at one of Kara's favorite breakfast spots, her choice to host a "Bridal Brunch".  The wedding itself is scheduled for 7:30 this evening!!

The future Mrs. Eddie Kelly framed by two of her sisters (Ashley Niklinski Latham and Bonnie Baxley Strickland)

Seeing Our "Kids"

Well we've gotten to see 60% of them in our first week back.  Will is now in Africa for the summer (see: willbaxley.blogspot.com ), Kara is busy working/planning her own wedding

(see: karaandeddie.com ) and we're spending a little time with Nathan in Jax before heading to Orlando for the Kynast family gathering, which will at some point draw in the last two.

There are A LOT of you on our list of people we want to see and express appreciation to... including all of you who are taking time to read this post!

Bride-to-be and her proud papa checking out the wedding venue in Atlanta 

Mother and Oldest Son enjoying an evening at Jacksonville Beach

Done with Grades!

Got our grades submitted for the 503 students we had on our rolls this term... these two soon-to-be-senior English majors asked to get together one more time (they will be on the main campus next year.)

Among their questions: "Where do 'people' get the motivation to leave their families and work as foreigners in far-away places?"  You can imagine the fun we had with that one!

We leave for the airport at 5:45 a.m. (our time) Tuesday!

Future Engineers

These 64 all took their Oral English final exams today! The pictures were taken right before the exam; do they look nervous?

 Top (L2R):  Mr. K, Dave, Thomas, Nemo, Samuel, Chen, Bob, Vinn, Leo, Hunter, Eric;
Middle:  Dennis, Joshua, Lee, Ken, John, Justin, David, Henry, Castle, Jason;
Front:  Angelica, Zora, Willow, Sidney, Jade, Ada, Valerie, Lou, Carole, Rita, Beatrice

Top (L2R):  Mr. K, Cannon, Andy, Royce, Jackson, Harold, Johnson, Chung, Eric, Ezreal, Tony, Davis, Victor Zhai, Black;
Middle:  Vincent, Caesar, Drake, Gary, Kevin, Victor Cai, Lawrence, Donald, John, Brick, Evan, Mark, Karl;
Front:  Jessica, Phoebe, Hermione, Mona, Daisy, Jade, Alicia

Visiting Their Old Teacher

L2R: Marc, Taylor, GK, Nelson, Luther and Herman

Nothing warms the heart of this old prof like a visit from a former student... these future engineers and programmers decided to multiply the blessing by five... we chatted for hours while Grace was giving exams about everything from their classes and relationships to plans for the summer and hopes for the future.  Taylor will complete his undergraduate studies in Chicago (Illinois Institute of Technology), Herman in Canberra, Australia and the other three at our main campus in downtown Beijing, where they all plan to add a second major (in Business or Law)... good men!

Net Reading Exams

The Net Reading Classes both had their finals this morning... now I have 198 pages of essays to grade!!

Top (L2R): Vivian, Summer, Jessica, Leona, Cinderella, Andre, Cane, Sue, Timmy, Holly, Helen, Mr. K
Middle: Melody, Lily, Mary, Cathy, Harriet, Jane, Iris, Tiffany, Randi, Fay, Annabelle, Rae, Rosy;
Front: Gelara, Elina, Swallow, Jen, Doris, Kate, Cecily, Amy, Serena, Sherry, Sunny

Top (L2R): Ian, Nicholas, Alessa, Wendy, Christy, Sunny, Judy, Mia, Joyce, Mandy, Elsa, Mr. K;
Middle: Sophia Zhao, Daisy Zhang, Amy, Gina, Summer, Jill, Catherine, Jean, Sophia Mei, Nancy, Lily;
Front: Cicy, Andrea, Gabrielle, Melissa, Vivian, Debby, Viola, Helen, Daisy Hu

First Exam

It's a small, but absolutely delightful class of twelve soon-to-be-senior English majors... my Monday 4:10-6:00 A/V class!  The last one ends 6:00 p.m. Friday... Grace and I fly out Tuesday morning (the 24th)

Perfect Timing

We found a little park just east of campus... thought it might be fun for a change to grill out for our last team meal before final exams!

The food and fellowship were great... the fun was cut short however by one of our first thunderstorms of the year!

We ended up sharing in the nearby shelter some of our favorite memories of our individual fathers and of the goodness of the One we have in common!

Temporary housing for the people charged with landscaping the park (we assume)... our subway station in the background

Kara's Engagement Pics

There is a link to 25 pictures like this one on my FB... Grace and I are four and a half weeks away from wrapping things up (for this year) in China, and we're inside of two-and-a-half months away from the BIG day in Atlanta!

Here in China, the number 8 is considered perfect for love and marriage, because (like ∞) it never ends... what better day to start a lifetime of love and shared experiences than the eighth day of the eighth month!