My New Little Garden Project

I have mentioned before that we live in a very transient community. People are often coming and going so many of the things we own come from moving sales. For the past year I have admired a large planter that one family had on their deck. In late July I had the opportunity to purchase it for myself when they decided to move back to their home country. It came with a ton of plants and a large rosemary bush. It was a beast to get home, but I think it is well worth it!

I have a mum!

The pretty end of the planter.

Mini-garden in the corner of my deck. I am growing basil in one pot because you can't find it here anywhere!

Other end of the planter with the large rosemary bush. 

Every Day Life

We arrived in the grey van. We parked, went to dinner and came out to find that cars had parked all around us. We had to find a parking attendant and he had to go into a nearby restaurant to find the owner of the black car parked in front of us and have him move it. Typical China parking lot experience.

Out with friends, Kevin, Emma, John, and Melissa at Bird and Flower Market. This is the seasonal fruit available in Kunming right now.

Yum!

Pagoda at Green Lake park. 

The Muslim noodle shop near our neighborhood.

He is stretching the noodles. So cool!

Michelle, Kim, and Melissa waiting for our noodle dishes.

Amazing food for 8RMB (a little over $1USD).

The Great Seizure Trip of 2013

This is Eric's first night at the hospital. He was admitted at about 9pm and then went to have an MRI. He is waiting for the MRI in this photo.

This was posted in his hospital room. I think his goal is a little obvious.

Poor guy spent almost three full days like this.

Sweet freedom! Eric leaving the hospital with his fruit basket and a huge bag full of medication!

At a night market with friends, Eric and Amy Rodgers. 

Amazing fresh fruit.

Eric Rodgers ordering Massaman curry from a street vendor.

The Really Big Catch Up!

Oh wow. It has been a while. You know when you are putting something off for weeks on end and finally it gets to the point where you feel like if you don’t start, you never will? I am there. If I don’t do this now, I never will. The hole I have dug is so deep it will take some time to dig myself out.

Where to begin? How about June-July! As seen in my last post, in June I flew to Washington in June and spent five weeks with my family. Eric bravely stuck it out in Kunming and tutored three students 4 days a week. He is a good guy, I know. While home I had the opportunity to see so many of you. The process of catching up face to face and spending time with you was so good to the soul. I flew back home in July and Eric and I were able to spend a few weeks doing projects around the house and hanging around Kunming.

Eric had one week off this summer and he was so looking forward to it. We had big plans to stay home for a few days just relaxing and then further explore the city in which we live. Life had other plans for us. On Monday, 29 July Eric had a seizure and we flew to Bangkok for better healthcare and in-depth testing. We spent most of our week at Bumrungrad International Hospital. Our friend, Michelle, flew down there with us and was so crucial to our well being. She was the one thinking clearly on Monday when we traveled there, she was the one who knew where to go, and how to do it. She was the one who made sure we had everything we needed. She was the one who went out and explored the city with me when all Eric wanted/needed was sleep in his hospital room. She was truly an answer to pr*yer.

After all of the testing, poking, and prodding, we discovered that Eric has an epileptic wave in his brain that for whatever reason acted up that Monday morning. The doctor stopped short of saying he has epilepsy, but he put Eric on epilepsy medication that he now takes faithfully twice a day.

Eric was set free from the hospital on Thursday afternoon and we were able to spend one night in Bangkok together outside the four walls of his hospital room. Good friends of ours from KIA happened to be in the city that week so we met up with them and asked them, “What things does Eric need to do in the next 6-8 hours to fully experience Bangkok?” Answer:

1.  Order a Thai iced tea from a tea cart. Check

2.  Ride the sky train. Check

3.  Eat mango sticky rice ordered from a street vendor. Check

4.  Walk through a night market. Check

5.  Eat Massaman curry on the sidewalk. Check

6.  See a rat and a cockroach while eating above meal. Check, check

7.  Drink fresh squeezed orange juice. Check

8.  Get a Thai massage. Check

G*d is good all the time. We didn’t plan on spending the week in Bangkok and Eric certainly didn’t love spending four days in the hospital, but overall he is healthy and thriving, even on his medication and we got to have one really fun afternoon/night in a city he’s never visited.

Moving forward- Eric is supposed to get a three month check up and a six month check up, but we may forgo both in favor of a five month check up in Seattle with a neurologist. We want a second opinion and a trip home for Christmas will give us that opportunity. Again, G*d is good. We get to see family at the most magical time of year and get to have the reassurance of a second opinion.

We flew back to Kunming on Friday and had a relaxing weekend before our KIA staff orientation began on Monday morning. It was during orientation week that it fully dawned on us how far we’ve come in a year’s time. We are familiar with the processes, we know who to go to, and how to get tasks accomplished. We understand the system. What an amazing feeling!

We are mid-way through the fourth week of school and things seem to be running smoothly. We have some new students so it took a bit to learn faces and names, but now things have pretty much gone into routine mode. Eric is spending most of his time outside of the classroom preparing for his AP World History course. Because of the specific benchmarks his students need to meet he has to put extra time and care into his curriculum. He is careful to add fun elements into his lessons- short videos, re-mixed songs, photos, etc. allowing his students to really engage in the lesson. If I could, I would take his class!

This past spring I was informed that I would be taking on extra responsibilities this school year with our grading program and database information; I have assumed this role and it seems to almost be going smoothly, but as with most learning curves, I am pretty sure I don’t even know all the things I don’t know yet. I enjoy the added responsibility, but I can’t say I actually love what I am doing.

This pretty much catches us up! I promise to be better with updates!

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!