The Catch Up

After vowing to keep up with this blog by faithfully posting at least once a week, I find myself at least a month behind. What can I say? Life was bananas for a while. While I have heard that the end of a school year can be quite hectic (according to expert teacher husband), I really had no clue until I saw it all for myself. I apologize for seemingly making excuses, but it is what it is. So here is the catch up:

Three weeks ago Eric was in charge of the Freshmen class lock-up. If you remember from a while back, I also helped with a lock-in this year for Sophomores, my homeroom. While my lock-in went quite smoothly (if you consider catching a ride with total strangers part of a smooth evening) Eric's lock-in hit a small snag. The night was going along fine, when, on a tip from a fellow teacher of ours, Eric caught three of his Freshmen boys with smuggled alcohol in a locker. Alcohol at a school sponsored even held on campus of said school is not a good plan, but apparently Freshmen boys know nothing of this logic. While the other teacher chaperoning the event took the rest of the class to Shao Kao (Chinese night bbq) Eric had to deal with the perps. He called one of our Administrators and had the boys call their parents and with much drama afterwards the boys were suspended for the rest of the school year. Way to go, boys. The rest of the night actually went on without a hitch and he ended up really enjoying himself.

Two weeks ago was high school graduation. I have been to a few of these ceremonies and while the KIA ceremony was very nice (and short), it was the after party that made my day. After the ceremony friends, family, and teachers were all invited to stay and eat and hang out with the graduates. We spent our afternoon and evening hanging out with the students we have come to know over the course of the year. It was really only then that it dawned on me that this was probably the last time I would see some of these kids again. Ever. Many were leaving that coming week and most on a permanent basis. They were spreading out around the globe to attend university or spend a gap year abroad. They were moving to other parts of Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America. Graduation afternoon gave us a great time of saying goodbye.

Last week was the end of our school year. Three days of exams followed by a half day of check-outs and an awards ceremony. Because teachers had to be done with grades by Wednesday night, my job as the Grade Coordinator didn't start until Thursday morning and then it was straight through to Saturday. Friday afternoon as our last official day of the year as teachers and there were many more goodbyes. We have staff moving around the world as well and again I realized all too slowly that that afternoon would probably be the final time I saw quite a few of the friends that I have come to know this year. 

Monday morning brought another season of change- Eric started teaching summer school and I boarded a plane for U.S. for a few weeks stay. Eric is at home, holding down the fort and being his ever responsible self, while I am back on the farm spending time with family and friends. I am so grateful for this opportunity and for Eric's insistence on having me make the trip.

This pretty much brings us up to date. I am sitting at my parents house. Everyone is asleep, but I am up. My mantra of, "I am beating jet lag, I am beating jet lag" isn't quite working like I'd hoped it would. But no matter, I am thankful for a great school year, an amazing husband, and a faithful God who has brought us through it all. I can handle a few sleepless nights. 

Rainy Season is Here!

Rainy season is here and while we don't actually enjoy biking in the rain, we need it so badly we really can't complain. There are currently water use restrictions in place in the city of Kunming and for most of the day we have significantly reduced water pressure. This is our fourth year of drought and only an awesomely wet rainy season is going to end it. Many people struggle on a daily basis due to lack of water. Please pr*y for rain! 

End of the Year Staff Party

We had our end of the year KIA Staff Party last night. The theme was breakfast for dinner (my favorite meal, ever!)and there was even a coffee bar onsite with baristas (the Kunming Youth Group leaders somehow got snagged into volunteering.)Many people dressed up in their pj's and we all enjoyed an evening of fellowship in the KIA cafeteria. After our breakfast meal we all played a few games and enjoyed our Admin staff's rendition of Cinderella. 

Eric and I pose with our friends and our Chinese teacher, Gan lao shi (teacher Gan). 

Kim brushing Eric's teeth in one of our staff games. 

The Admin staff reads Cinderella. Jim is the ugly step-sister. In real life, he is one of our Secondary Principals!

Prom!

Last night Eric and I had an opportunity most people over the age of 18 don't have: we went to prom! All KIA high school teachers were invited to chaperone the event for our senior and junior students and their guests. We had dinner, watched a video honoring the seniors, listened to seniors wills (they will random personal items to the juniors and sophomores present), were given a waltz lesson, and then danced the rest of the night.

Technically neither Eric nor I had ever been to a prom before last night, we've been to Student Council Banquets, Junior-Senior Banquets, and random dances, but this was our first prom. It was a great first for us. 

Members of the sophomore class were invited as guests of seniors and juniors. Mr. Franks (on the left) and I are sophomore homeroom teachers.

Eric won the "Snazziest Teacher" award. How awesome is that?

Ms. LaPorte (Secondary Principal, HS Counselor extraordinaire), Nathan (favorite student), and I. 

International Fair: Come to KIA and See the World!

A week ago, Saturday, KIA hosted its annual International Fair. The PTA, teachers, and greater KIA community set up booths representing their passport country and each booth sells food or drinks, has crafts to make, or activities in which people can participate. There are game booths and general education booths as well. The community is invited for an afternoon and everyone seems to have a good time. 

We had a lot fun and basically spent our afternoon roaming around, enjoying the sunshine, and eating. We sampled food from Korea, Mexico, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday!

The Great Britain booth selling English tea.

The Mexico booth selling amazing tacos!

A group of students performing a song for the crowd. The students up front represent the Philippines, the United States, Singpore, New Zealand, and Korea (L to R). 

Friends Emma (Great Britain- she is showing off her Union Jack nails), Jenny (Native American), and Kim (American).

Week in Review

This past week we were back to our normal routine. Coming off a break is always a little tough, but coming off Spring Break seemed especially so, at least for most of my students. It is mid-April and we have 7 weeks left of school so everyone (teachers and students alike) is getting a little anxious in anticipation of the end of the year and summer. It is a little more difficult to focus and takes more discipline not to look ahead and miss out on the here and now. 

Last Monday Eric started his second coaching gig of the year when volleyball season started. We have a co-ed team ranging in age from 7th grade to seniors. It should prove to be interesting. Regardless of how successful the season will be, Eric is excited for yet another opportunity to relate to the students. The group is obviously eclectic and he gets to hang out with students he otherwise would never have an in with. 

I am one of three 10^th grade advisors this year and Friday night we had a lock-in at school. This basically means we had an all-night get-together from 6pm to 8am the next morning. We really did have a great time. We ate dinner together, watched a few movies, played capture the flag and sardines, and had quite the adventure finding a Shao Kao place. Shao Kao is Chinese street bbq. At about 8:30pm every night Shao Kao stands pop up all over the place and stay open until the early hours of the morning. I still am not clear on why they open so late, but there you have it. At around midnight we had planned on walking as a big group over to the nearest Shao Kao place for a late night snack, but upon walking up to the place we saw that they were closing (it was misty out which scares off customers). We then proceeded to walk a few blocks to a street corner where there were a few more stands, but as soon as we were about to order a police truck drove by and forced all of them to close (technically, Shao Kao stands are illegal because they don’t pay taxes, but as far as we have seen this could actually be said of 90% of the businesses here.) We were at the point of giving up and going to the 24hr McDonald’s when a lady pulled up in her SUV and said that she had a Shao Kao stand about a 10 minutes’ walk from here and she would be happy to shuttle us over there in her car. This being China, we said, “Great!” and a group of us hopped in her car. It took about a half hour for her to shuttle everyone there, but she did exactly what she said she would do and all 30 of us enjoyed our bbq after all! Only in China! What a great night!

An American in China.

The past two weeks Eric and I had the pleasure of hosting my friend Joy. We had a great time showing her around the city and traveling to Lijiang, a town northwest of us by the mountains. We had the opportunity to hike through Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the deepest river canyons in the world and a spectacularly scenic trek. Here are a few photos of our time with Joy:

Visiting the Western Hills in Kunming.

Shao Kao- Chinese street bbq.

Pandas at the Kunming Zoo!

Easter dinner in style at McDonald's!

Walking through old town Lijiang.

Hiking the Tiger Leaping Gorge Trail.

View from the trail.

Resting along the way.