Thanks for sharing Our China Adventure

We are sad and happy, both at the same time, to announce our return to the West. Due to some unforseen circumstances our trip has been cut short and we shall come home early.

This experience has been fantastic and it won't be the last. We all know that shit happens, especially at our age but if all goes well, it is our plan to return next fall term to teach again at ZSTU.

The staff and students have been wonderful and we've told them so. They all will be missed but as the saying goes, "We'll Be Back!"

Happy Holidays to All

href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6395/3185/1600/381418/IMG_1021.jpg"> A little Christmas tree at a party given by Michael's advanced student's classes.

This is Michael, yes, he was one of the two foreign teachers playing Santa Claus, with his co-Chinese teacher, Ms. Stephanie Liu. She is a doll and beautiful to boot. She's even had us over to her home (she lives directly behind us in another apartment complex, to make dumplings.) She's a wonderful person and the students love her as well.

Yes we have been eating like pigs, we can't help it, but no, that's not Michael's stomach your gazing in amazement at...it's a balloon stuck inside the costume....really!





Cindy's postgrad classes held a couple of parties as well. At this one they asked us to join them for dinner first, then what they call KTV, we call it kareoke. This picture just shows you a little of the table as there was two servings of food. Took about 2 hours of eating and drinking before the singing began.


If Michael wore a Santa Claus outfit at his student's party Cindy had to get up and sing for her students. Thankfully, the music was so loud no one got hurt. Here they don't care if you have a good voice or not. They love to sing and they sing from the heart.












We spent New Year's Eve in Yiwu, a city known as the wholesale capital of China as the West comes here to shop, becuase Jimmy, the gentleman standing to the left, has a children's english program in this city. Jimmy is a Chinese English teacher who shares our offices at the school. He's a great man with a vision to get kids to speak english in their early years. His program has around 40 students and they range from 5 to 12 years of age. Erin, another foreign teacher joined us down there and that's where we spent our New Year's eve. It's wasn't quiet with 30 children running around screaming and making the hotel staff freak out.
Great mugs on these kids!

The proud parents...





One parent placed their child with Cindy for a picture and...





here's Michael with a couple of the kids and....







here's Erin with a couple of kids surrounding her....