Showing posts with label Miscellaneous. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miscellaneous. Show all posts
Glimpse into a Wednesday
Wednesday, April 1Happy April Fools Day!
Have I mentioned on here how sweet my schedule is this term? I don't teach for a full 48 hours in the middle of my week - from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon. Life is pretty great with two weekends in each week. It's going to be painful next term when I have to teach more than two days in a row!
It being the first Wednesday of the month, we had a lunch meeting at Shi Yi middle school. Tacos were on the menu and our school was supplying the tomatoes and the lettuce. I took the elevator to the ground floor on my way out to buy the produce from the fresh market around the corner. When I stepped out of my building I almost got knocked out by a soccer ball that escaped the fence. If I had been two inches to my left I would have gotten smacked in the head, and that ball wasn't moving slowly, but the Korean students apologized profusely and I gave them their ball back. When I got to the market an old woman approached me as I was locking my bike. The elderly hang out in this area earlier in the day and there's an outside exercise park that many of them use. She stroked my jacket, pointed to my shoes, and touched my hair while telling me over and over that my clothes and hair were so beautiful. Such is the life of a laowai in China.
Michelle and I were in a meeting with two junior students when circumcision came up in discussion (chapter seventeen of the first book). Whoa boy was that awkward. One girl explained to the other what it was in Chinese, then the situation became funny when she fell over on the floor upon realizing what it was. A-w-k-w-a-r-d!
Have you seen Gmail Autopilot by CADIE? It will revolutionize your Google communication!
read more “Glimpse into a Wednesday”
Have I mentioned on here how sweet my schedule is this term? I don't teach for a full 48 hours in the middle of my week - from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon. Life is pretty great with two weekends in each week. It's going to be painful next term when I have to teach more than two days in a row!
It being the first Wednesday of the month, we had a lunch meeting at Shi Yi middle school. Tacos were on the menu and our school was supplying the tomatoes and the lettuce. I took the elevator to the ground floor on my way out to buy the produce from the fresh market around the corner. When I stepped out of my building I almost got knocked out by a soccer ball that escaped the fence. If I had been two inches to my left I would have gotten smacked in the head, and that ball wasn't moving slowly, but the Korean students apologized profusely and I gave them their ball back. When I got to the market an old woman approached me as I was locking my bike. The elderly hang out in this area earlier in the day and there's an outside exercise park that many of them use. She stroked my jacket, pointed to my shoes, and touched my hair while telling me over and over that my clothes and hair were so beautiful. Such is the life of a laowai in China.
Michelle and I were in a meeting with two junior students when circumcision came up in discussion (chapter seventeen of the first book). Whoa boy was that awkward. One girl explained to the other what it was in Chinese, then the situation became funny when she fell over on the floor upon realizing what it was. A-w-k-w-a-r-d!
Have you seen Gmail Autopilot by CADIE? It will revolutionize your Google communication!
Solution, by Hillsong
Sunday, March 29There's no one as Irish as Barack Obama
Monday, March 2No one as Irish as Barack OBama
O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
You don't believe me, I hear you say
But Barack's as Irish, as was JFK
His granddaddy's daddy came from Moneygall
A small Irish village, well known to you all
Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama
He's as Irish as bacon and cabbage and stew
He's Hawaiian he's Kenyan American too
He’s in the white house, He took his chance
Now let’s see Barack do Riverdance
Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama
From Kerry and cork to old Donegal
Let’s hear it for Barack from old moneygall
From the lakes if Killarney to old Connemara
There’s no one as Irish as Barack O’Bama
O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
From the old blarney stone to the great hill of Tara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
2008 the white house is green, their cheering in Mayo and in Skibereen.
The Irish in Kenya, and in Yokahama,
Are cheering for President Barack O’Bama
O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
The Hockey Moms gone, and so is McCain
They are cheering in Texas and in Borrisokane,
In Moneygall town, the greatest of drama, for our
Famous president Barack o Bama
Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama
The great Stephen Neill, a great man of God,
He proved that Barack was from the Auld Sod
They came by bus and they came by car, to celebrate Barack in Ollie Hayes’s Bar
O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
GE meets Qin Shi Huangdi in Atlanta, GA
Chinese Relics and Relationships
Globalization
Source: Internal
05 January 2009
Late last year, GE welcomed 500 guests, including nearly 200 employees, to view an exhibit at Atlanta's High Museum of Art chronicling the reign of Qin Shi Huangdi - one of history's most notable rulers. The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army is on display through April 2009.
Qin Shi Huangdi is responsible for standardizing Chinese writing, currency, law, weights and measures; building a system of roads, the first phase of the Great Wall, and even a 7000-piece warrior army to guard his tomb.
Comprised of more than 100 objects, the display includes 15 life-sized terracotta warriors, officials, horses, and entertainers. The High Museum exhibition is the largest grouping of these objects China has ever loaned to the United States.
As lead sponsor of the exhibition, GE hosted a welcome reception, where John Rice, vice chairman of GE, summarized the importance of the exhibit and the partnership between GE and China. "This is really a celebration for us. It's a natural relationship with the country of China where we've been doing business, led by our Energy business, for 100 years," he said.
"When [the High Museum] approached us about being the lead sponsor for the Terracotta Warrior Exhibit, we agreed because it symbolizes something that's obviously important to the country of China and clearly of importance to our company: leadership, ingenuity, and longevity."
A similar sentiment about GE's relationship with China was shared by Zhou Wenzhong, Chinese ambassador to the United States, "GE is a good partner, and GE's success story in China is a good example of this win-win relationship between China and the United States. We want to thank GE for their participation in China's developed program."
The mood and significance of the reception was further underscored by the fact that it served as the kick-off to GE's 9th annual China CEO Program, which hosts CEOs in the United States and offers them a first-hand look at GE's best practices.
"I think this is a very good opportunity for CEOs from China to come to the United States to have a good exchange of views and to figure out what to do in the future in terms of more cooperation, and closer ties between the two countries," Wenzhong added.
GE's sponsorship of the exhibit is a way to celebrate GE's growing relationship with China, from a commercial, cultural and personal perspective, and China's willingness to share the exhibit with the American people for the first time holds perhaps even greater significance.
read more “GE meets Qin Shi Huangdi in Atlanta, GA”
Globalization
Source: Internal
05 January 2009
Late last year, GE welcomed 500 guests, including nearly 200 employees, to view an exhibit at Atlanta's High Museum of Art chronicling the reign of Qin Shi Huangdi - one of history's most notable rulers. The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army is on display through April 2009.
Qin Shi Huangdi is responsible for standardizing Chinese writing, currency, law, weights and measures; building a system of roads, the first phase of the Great Wall, and even a 7000-piece warrior army to guard his tomb.
Comprised of more than 100 objects, the display includes 15 life-sized terracotta warriors, officials, horses, and entertainers. The High Museum exhibition is the largest grouping of these objects China has ever loaned to the United States.
As lead sponsor of the exhibition, GE hosted a welcome reception, where John Rice, vice chairman of GE, summarized the importance of the exhibit and the partnership between GE and China. "This is really a celebration for us. It's a natural relationship with the country of China where we've been doing business, led by our Energy business, for 100 years," he said.
"When [the High Museum] approached us about being the lead sponsor for the Terracotta Warrior Exhibit, we agreed because it symbolizes something that's obviously important to the country of China and clearly of importance to our company: leadership, ingenuity, and longevity."
A similar sentiment about GE's relationship with China was shared by Zhou Wenzhong, Chinese ambassador to the United States, "GE is a good partner, and GE's success story in China is a good example of this win-win relationship between China and the United States. We want to thank GE for their participation in China's developed program."
The mood and significance of the reception was further underscored by the fact that it served as the kick-off to GE's 9th annual China CEO Program, which hosts CEOs in the United States and offers them a first-hand look at GE's best practices.
"I think this is a very good opportunity for CEOs from China to come to the United States to have a good exchange of views and to figure out what to do in the future in terms of more cooperation, and closer ties between the two countries," Wenzhong added.
GE's sponsorship of the exhibit is a way to celebrate GE's growing relationship with China, from a commercial, cultural and personal perspective, and China's willingness to share the exhibit with the American people for the first time holds perhaps even greater significance.
Rohming Outside The Ropes
What happened senior year? Apparently the videos at CU got good again after I graduated.
Flash back to the past. The Facebook Song.
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Flash back to the past. The Facebook Song.
Snow shots
Tuesday, February 24Here are some belated pictures of the track (what the students call the "playground") after it snowed the other day. Noticeably absent are the obscenities that appeared after the first and only time it snowed last winter. These are taken from the building I live in (8th floor), which is also home to the international students (6th & 7th floor). The British A-level program and Junior 1 students are on floors 1-5. This taken from the south side of the field.
I teach all of my senior students (10th grade) in this building on the 3rd floor. It's on the east side of the field.
This shot looks north at the stands and west at the new dormitory building, which rumor reports we'll be moving into in the next month. Rumor has also had it that we'd be living there by September 1, 2008, then it shifted to October, then there was a possibility we'd move in February before the new term started. I am basically hoping that these are further lies and I don't have to move all my stuff down eight floors and then up nine more floors... multiple times until all it's all transferred. I arrived with three suitcases but now it's amazing to see how much stuff Anna and I have accumulated after 18 months!
Something I should do which I haven't yet is take pictures of the rest of our campus. There are four academic buildings, an administrative building, cafeteria/auditorium, pool/art building, library/orchestra hall/art studio, a dormitory, the post office, and teacher housing. There are also badminton, volleyball, basketball, and tennis courts. Someday... I will take pictures or maybe video.
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I teach all of my senior students (10th grade) in this building on the 3rd floor. It's on the east side of the field.
This shot looks north at the stands and west at the new dormitory building, which rumor reports we'll be moving into in the next month. Rumor has also had it that we'd be living there by September 1, 2008, then it shifted to October, then there was a possibility we'd move in February before the new term started. I am basically hoping that these are further lies and I don't have to move all my stuff down eight floors and then up nine more floors... multiple times until all it's all transferred. I arrived with three suitcases but now it's amazing to see how much stuff Anna and I have accumulated after 18 months!
Something I should do which I haven't yet is take pictures of the rest of our campus. There are four academic buildings, an administrative building, cafeteria/auditorium, pool/art building, library/orchestra hall/art studio, a dormitory, the post office, and teacher housing. There are also badminton, volleyball, basketball, and tennis courts. Someday... I will take pictures or maybe video.
Wanna race?
I parked my Giant ATX660 next to a Maserati Quattroporte tonight. We left the Aston Martin at home in favor of biking to Fridays since it was a balmy 3 degrees centigrade. Spring is practically upon us.
read more “Wanna race?”
Muslim Chinese at Guantanamo
Sunday, February 2217 Chinese citizens are imprisoned at Guantanamo. They are Uighurs from China's Muslim-majority Xinjiang province. Read about it here: http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2009/02/lawyer-for-guantanamo-bay-uighurs-vows-to-fight/
Sometimes I hear interesting things below my window, even though I'm eight floors up. It's not unusual to be woken up by cats fighting, which sounds eerily close to crying babies. Right now two men are having some kind of competition to see who can yell louder than the other. If I understood more Mandarin I would tell you what they're yelling about.
read more “Muslim Chinese at Guantanamo”
Sometimes I hear interesting things below my window, even though I'm eight floors up. It's not unusual to be woken up by cats fighting, which sounds eerily close to crying babies. Right now two men are having some kind of competition to see who can yell louder than the other. If I understood more Mandarin I would tell you what they're yelling about.
Please absquatulate with our penicillan
It's been a good week back at work. We've had snow, sunny blue skies, amazing meetings with Chinese friends, new baby news, 24 catch-up, and good conversations in the office. I learned a new song by Sovereign Grace that you should check out: Hide Away in the Love of *esus. I also figured out how to circumvent our school's firewall (because apparently the Great Firewall of China isn't good enough for RDFZ - they needed their own) and download songs through iTunes. One of the great things about living in the East is that I get to celebrate my Friday before all of you in the West. One of the worst is that you are still on your weekend while I'm ending mine! But then again, I just had six weeks of vacation in the dead of winter.
I remember when I was a kid and we went on vacation. Someone forgot to take out the trash before we left and there was an unfortunate piece of meat in the kitchen garbage. We came home to a nice swarm of maggots. I always swore I'd never do that, but so far it has happened to me twice. The first time was in college. My aunt and uncle visited me with a birthday cake at school and and my roommate and I forgot to clean the plate. There wasn't enough time to get the platter washed before room checks, so Kim put it in the refrigerator to hide it. Then we left for break. And you can guess the rest.
The second time is more recent. Anna and I backpacked through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore for five weeks and just got back last week. Right before we left I did a last-minute garbage can/refrigerator check just to make sure we weren't coming home to any surprises. I found a pot of old spaghetti sauce that I had been meaning to dump. We were literally walking out the door and I had my pack on so I put it in the freezer. I can't exactly remember how long it had been in the fridge before I put it in the freezer, but after we got back things were really REALLY hectic (we returned on Thursday and started work again on Monday). I took the pot out of the freezer and left it on the counter to thaw, meaning to clean it ASAP. It was out of sight and got forgotten about and in only two days there were mounds of nasty mold all over the sauce. I'm talking seven different colored molds. Disgusting. The latent homeschooler in me thought it would be cool to watch it grow and Anna sort of agreed that it'd be neat to see when the molds finished their food supply and died. Well that was a bad idea because even with the lid on in the kitchen, you could smell it from the front door. The whole apartment smelled funky. I did everything on my to-do list today, dragging my feet the entire time, before I mustered up the courage to approach the pot on the kitchen counter. When I turned it upside down in the hallway trashcan, the stuff inside - which was mostly reduced to a powder - came out and a mold cloud (I kid you not) went up while I high-tailed it back to our door. Gladly, the stank is now gone from us. It lives in the hallway until our fuwuyuan takes out the garbage tomorrow.
My Mom's probably reading this, shaking her head and remembering the Tupperware that I used to take to work in highschool and regularly forget about in my backpack. I'm a responsible adult. Really.
I decided this week to stay on another year, so Beijing 2010 here I come! There were many factors in that decision, but it was mostly leaving behind the nice bike I acquired this year. Anna and I bought the same bikes, the Giant Something-Something 1.0, when we arrived in August 2007 and Caleb appropriately dubbed them "The Tank" and "The Beast." These are apt titles because I think they weigh like 113 pounds. I was fortunate enough to pwn The Tank off to an unsuspecting newbie in the fall and I like my new bike and I'm excited for Beijing Year Three. :) (The bike didn't really rank high among the decision factors, although I did have thoughts of taking it back to the US with me.)
Soon it will be Monday. Let's live this week doing all for the glory of our Father, not men; otherwise pleasure and work are meaningless.
read more “Please absquatulate with our penicillan”
I remember when I was a kid and we went on vacation. Someone forgot to take out the trash before we left and there was an unfortunate piece of meat in the kitchen garbage. We came home to a nice swarm of maggots. I always swore I'd never do that, but so far it has happened to me twice. The first time was in college. My aunt and uncle visited me with a birthday cake at school and and my roommate and I forgot to clean the plate. There wasn't enough time to get the platter washed before room checks, so Kim put it in the refrigerator to hide it. Then we left for break. And you can guess the rest.
The second time is more recent. Anna and I backpacked through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore for five weeks and just got back last week. Right before we left I did a last-minute garbage can/refrigerator check just to make sure we weren't coming home to any surprises. I found a pot of old spaghetti sauce that I had been meaning to dump. We were literally walking out the door and I had my pack on so I put it in the freezer. I can't exactly remember how long it had been in the fridge before I put it in the freezer, but after we got back things were really REALLY hectic (we returned on Thursday and started work again on Monday). I took the pot out of the freezer and left it on the counter to thaw, meaning to clean it ASAP. It was out of sight and got forgotten about and in only two days there were mounds of nasty mold all over the sauce. I'm talking seven different colored molds. Disgusting. The latent homeschooler in me thought it would be cool to watch it grow and Anna sort of agreed that it'd be neat to see when the molds finished their food supply and died. Well that was a bad idea because even with the lid on in the kitchen, you could smell it from the front door. The whole apartment smelled funky. I did everything on my to-do list today, dragging my feet the entire time, before I mustered up the courage to approach the pot on the kitchen counter. When I turned it upside down in the hallway trashcan, the stuff inside - which was mostly reduced to a powder - came out and a mold cloud (I kid you not) went up while I high-tailed it back to our door. Gladly, the stank is now gone from us. It lives in the hallway until our fuwuyuan takes out the garbage tomorrow.
My Mom's probably reading this, shaking her head and remembering the Tupperware that I used to take to work in highschool and regularly forget about in my backpack. I'm a responsible adult. Really.
I decided this week to stay on another year, so Beijing 2010 here I come! There were many factors in that decision, but it was mostly leaving behind the nice bike I acquired this year. Anna and I bought the same bikes, the Giant Something-Something 1.0, when we arrived in August 2007 and Caleb appropriately dubbed them "The Tank" and "The Beast." These are apt titles because I think they weigh like 113 pounds. I was fortunate enough to pwn The Tank off to an unsuspecting newbie in the fall and I like my new bike and I'm excited for Beijing Year Three. :) (The bike didn't really rank high among the decision factors, although I did have thoughts of taking it back to the US with me.)
Soon it will be Monday. Let's live this week doing all for the glory of our Father, not men; otherwise pleasure and work are meaningless.
25 Random Things About Me
Monday, February 16As I was traveling around SE Asia, I was tagged numerous times in Facebook notes called "25 Random Things About Me." The idea is that you write twenty-five personal things in a note, then tag twenty-five people to do the same.
At first, I declined because coming up with twenty-five things about me seemed time consuming and I wasn't sure I could think of anything exciting enough anyway. The more I was tagged, the more I got to thinking about why it's so popular. I think in a way blogging and Facebook allows us to fuel our need for vanity and to be known and unique among our friends. Everyone's out to get the most comments and have the catchiest status message. We want to think up 25 cooler things than our friends have written, maybe.
A quick Google search for "25 random things about me" turned up 630,000 results. The New York Times describes this newest fad as "a chain-letter-cum-literary exercise." Boundless even blogged about it.
Maybe not participating in "25 things" is my own way of standing out. Either way, now you know why I haven't written up my own list even though you may have tagged me to be a part of it. Don't be offended, I just don't want to. My 414 Facebook friends range from "my high school friend's way younger sibling" to "we shared a twin bed because our hotel was so cold." Sharing 25 intimate details with all of these people is downright weird. Want to know more about me? Pick up the phone instead of reading my online profile, which is intentionally designed to not be a substitute for a real friendship. :)
read more “25 Random Things About Me”
At first, I declined because coming up with twenty-five things about me seemed time consuming and I wasn't sure I could think of anything exciting enough anyway. The more I was tagged, the more I got to thinking about why it's so popular. I think in a way blogging and Facebook allows us to fuel our need for vanity and to be known and unique among our friends. Everyone's out to get the most comments and have the catchiest status message. We want to think up 25 cooler things than our friends have written, maybe.
A quick Google search for "25 random things about me" turned up 630,000 results. The New York Times describes this newest fad as "a chain-letter-cum-literary exercise." Boundless even blogged about it.
Maybe not participating in "25 things" is my own way of standing out. Either way, now you know why I haven't written up my own list even though you may have tagged me to be a part of it. Don't be offended, I just don't want to. My 414 Facebook friends range from "my high school friend's way younger sibling" to "we shared a twin bed because our hotel was so cold." Sharing 25 intimate details with all of these people is downright weird. Want to know more about me? Pick up the phone instead of reading my online profile, which is intentionally designed to not be a substitute for a real friendship. :)
Happy Niu Year 新牛年快乐！
Saturday, January 3I'll take a cue from my students and say that my new year's resolution is 1600x1200.
Continuing tradition, here are the books I read this year. I wouldn't recommend all of them, so don't read anything just because it made the list!
read more “Happy Niu Year 新牛年快乐！”
Continuing tradition, here are the books I read this year. I wouldn't recommend all of them, so don't read anything just because it made the list!
- The Lexus and the Olive Tree (Thomas L. Friedman)
- Be Intolerant (Ryan Dobson)
- The Faith of George W. Bush (Stephen Mansfield)
- Gathering Blue (Lois Lowry)
- The Peacemaker (Ken Sande)
- Sarah (Kaylene Johnson)
- Why We're Not Emergent (Kevin Deyoung, Ted Kluck)
- The Shack (William P. Young)
- Holes (Louis Sachar)
- Under The Overpass (Mike Yankoski)
- What Went Wrong? (Bernard Lewis)
- Faith of Our Fathers (Chan Kei Thong)
- Forever In Blue (Ann Brashares)
- Girls In Pants (Ann Brashares)
- The Partner (John Grisham)
- The Memory Keeper's Daughter (Kim Edwards)
- Get Off Your Knees And "Think" (Sheila Walsh)
- Lies Women Believe (Nancy Leigh DeMoss)
- The Blue Castle (L. M. Montgomery)
- Get Married (Candice Watters)
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J. K. Rowling)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets (J. K. Rowling)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J. K. Rowling)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J. K. Rowling)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J. K. Rowling)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J. K. Rowling)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (J. K. Rowling)
- The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
- The Christmas Promise (Donna VanLiere)
- The Heavenly Man (Brother Yun)
- Atonement (Ian McEwan)
- Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt)
- A Painted House (John Grisham)
- The Runaway Jury (John Grisham)
- The Summons (John Grisham)
- The Beach (Alex Garland)
- Prince Caspian (C. S. Lewis)
- The Brethren (John Grisham)
- Improving Your Serve (Charles Swindoll)
- The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
- The Story of English (Robert McCrum)
- The Cost of Discipleship (Dietrich Bonoeffer)
- Modern Leadership Strategies From Ancient Chinese Wisdom (Robert Foster)
- Three Cups Of Tea (Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin)
- China's Ascendancy: An Opportunity Or Threat? (Sheng-Wei Wang)
- The King Of Torts (John Grisham)
- God at The Dock (C. S. Lewis)
Extended blogging absence
Tuesday, December 30I did something I've never done before - finish something waaaay ahead of its due date! I was determined to have my final grades finished well ahead of their January 9th deadline so I could enjoy this last week of teaching and spending time with students, so I worked hard and finished everything on Sunday. Today was the last day of classes and it was fun to visit with students and hang out in the office without anything hanging over my head.
My MacBook has been giving me some trouble. I had the case replaced over the summer because it cracked where your palms rest and where the magnet meets the case when it's closed. Now in Beijing, it's beginning to crack again and the top case by the hinge is cracking. Fast forward a little and the external speakers died so I have to plug into the headphone jack to get sound. Last but not least, the disk drive spit CDs/DVDs back and couldn't read anything.
I'm lucky on two counts. 1) I decided to renew the AppleCare Plan, maybe one of the best decisions I've made all year. 2) Apple opened its first store in Beijing in July, ahead of the Olympics. I waited until this afternoon when classes finished for the semester to find the store and get repairs made. They're replacing the top and bottom case, keyboard, disk drive, and motherboard... and it's all included in the AppleCare Plan.
I can't say it enough: get the AppleCare Plan! They don't ask questions if something goes wrong and my experience says something will go wrong. My sister has had her case crack twice and another friend has the same problem. Hopefully the new generation of MacBooks will avoid this problem, but still. It's worth the money. :)
The repairs are going to take up to two weeks and I'm leaving on January 7 to take the backpacking trip of a lifetime through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore so I'm taking an extended absence from the blog until February. Happy New Year! Xin nian kuai le!
read more “Extended blogging absence”
My MacBook has been giving me some trouble. I had the case replaced over the summer because it cracked where your palms rest and where the magnet meets the case when it's closed. Now in Beijing, it's beginning to crack again and the top case by the hinge is cracking. Fast forward a little and the external speakers died so I have to plug into the headphone jack to get sound. Last but not least, the disk drive spit CDs/DVDs back and couldn't read anything.
I'm lucky on two counts. 1) I decided to renew the AppleCare Plan, maybe one of the best decisions I've made all year. 2) Apple opened its first store in Beijing in July, ahead of the Olympics. I waited until this afternoon when classes finished for the semester to find the store and get repairs made. They're replacing the top and bottom case, keyboard, disk drive, and motherboard... and it's all included in the AppleCare Plan.
I can't say it enough: get the AppleCare Plan! They don't ask questions if something goes wrong and my experience says something will go wrong. My sister has had her case crack twice and another friend has the same problem. Hopefully the new generation of MacBooks will avoid this problem, but still. It's worth the money. :)
The repairs are going to take up to two weeks and I'm leaving on January 7 to take the backpacking trip of a lifetime through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore so I'm taking an extended absence from the blog until February. Happy New Year! Xin nian kuai le!
Mao-ey Christmas
Have yourself a Mao-ey little Christmas...
We had a door decorating contest and David's door won by a lot! As you can see, Mao Zedong is... everywhere. His face is on the green one yuan bill and on the one jiao coins. Incidentally, his birthday is tomorrow (12/26). Whatever you think of Chairman Mao, this is funny.
We began celebrating Christmas last night at 十一学校 (Shi Yi). All 35 of us ate great food, watched Christmas movies, and played games before heading back to our respective schools to play Santa. At Fu Zhong we hung our stockings in the hallway and snuck out to fill each others' when no one was around. This morning we each contributed something to a wonderful breakfast, including fresh-squeezed orange juice, and then we opened presents. We each drew a name to shop for and it was fun to watch everyone open their gifts.
We also had storytime. There were two good ones.
Trying to get to Shi Yi (seven miles southwest of us, a 30-minute taxi) at 7pm was especially fun in rush hour traffic on Christmas Eve. Many people couldn't find a taxi and some ended up taking a bus. One of these people was Ann. Buses are often stuffed with people, they smell bad, people are all up in your personal space, and it's possible for small children to be relieving themselves on the floor if it's an emergency. This was the situation last night and Ann started to get sick during the ride. She was so sick that she hurled... and kept it in her mouth until they got off ten minutes later. Now I don't know about you but both other options sound much better to me: swallowing or spitting it out.
Tim and Ginger were on their way back from grocery shopping and Tim had two big bags hanging on his handlebars. Tim was trying his hardest but despite his efforts a bag got sucked into the spokes of his wheel and a jug of milk got lodged in it. The top was forced off and completely sprayed two Chinese women in their long coats from head to toe who were waiting at a bus stop. He tried to apologize but they were too shocked to be angry or upset!
We had the rest of the day free to do whatever and I delivered Christmas cookies to the Chinese English teachers of my classes and then visited Ren Da (the unversity) to deliver the rest of my presents. When I got back we had visitors! Many of my students came over on Christmas and it was fun to hang out with them and give them their gifts. At one point there were quite a few students over: Jojo, Handoyo, Ellen, Jackie, Maria, Elaine, Wendy, and Anne. James also stopped by during his lunch break to see all of us.
Christmas is so much fun when you can share it with other people! It adds new meaning to the holiday and its many traditions.
read more “Mao-ey Christmas”
We had a door decorating contest and David's door won by a lot! As you can see, Mao Zedong is... everywhere. His face is on the green one yuan bill and on the one jiao coins. Incidentally, his birthday is tomorrow (12/26). Whatever you think of Chairman Mao, this is funny.
We began celebrating Christmas last night at 十一学校 (Shi Yi). All 35 of us ate great food, watched Christmas movies, and played games before heading back to our respective schools to play Santa. At Fu Zhong we hung our stockings in the hallway and snuck out to fill each others' when no one was around. This morning we each contributed something to a wonderful breakfast, including fresh-squeezed orange juice, and then we opened presents. We each drew a name to shop for and it was fun to watch everyone open their gifts.
We also had storytime. There were two good ones.
Trying to get to Shi Yi (seven miles southwest of us, a 30-minute taxi) at 7pm was especially fun in rush hour traffic on Christmas Eve. Many people couldn't find a taxi and some ended up taking a bus. One of these people was Ann. Buses are often stuffed with people, they smell bad, people are all up in your personal space, and it's possible for small children to be relieving themselves on the floor if it's an emergency. This was the situation last night and Ann started to get sick during the ride. She was so sick that she hurled... and kept it in her mouth until they got off ten minutes later. Now I don't know about you but both other options sound much better to me: swallowing or spitting it out.
Tim and Ginger were on their way back from grocery shopping and Tim had two big bags hanging on his handlebars. Tim was trying his hardest but despite his efforts a bag got sucked into the spokes of his wheel and a jug of milk got lodged in it. The top was forced off and completely sprayed two Chinese women in their long coats from head to toe who were waiting at a bus stop. He tried to apologize but they were too shocked to be angry or upset!
We had the rest of the day free to do whatever and I delivered Christmas cookies to the Chinese English teachers of my classes and then visited Ren Da (the unversity) to deliver the rest of my presents. When I got back we had visitors! Many of my students came over on Christmas and it was fun to hang out with them and give them their gifts. At one point there were quite a few students over: Jojo, Handoyo, Ellen, Jackie, Maria, Elaine, Wendy, and Anne. James also stopped by during his lunch break to see all of us.
Christmas is so much fun when you can share it with other people! It adds new meaning to the holiday and its many traditions.
Calisthenics by creative Chinese student
Tuesday, December 2All Chinese students must do choreographed group exercises together every day. This one takes them a bit too seriously.
Maybe funnier than the student himself is all the other students who aren't looking at this kid like he's from Mars.
read more “Calisthenics by creative Chinese student”
Maybe funnier than the student himself is all the other students who aren't looking at this kid like he's from Mars.
I am thankful for...
Monday, November 2424!
'24' Reasons to Be Excited About 24: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/24/24-reasons-to-be-excited-about-24621.aspx
read more “I am thankful for...”
'24' Reasons to Be Excited About 24: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/24/24-reasons-to-be-excited-about-24621.aspx
Technology is so cool
Monday, November 17
Technology is so cool because my sister is sending me texts and pictures from the 10:00 daily morning meeting at Cedarville. Greg and Rachel Vruggink are speaking about China as we speak! As Anna said, "it's funny that we're so interested in what they're saying because we already know the stories they're going to tell... yet we so desperately want to hear them say it!"
Mark, Loren, Greg, Rachel & Tatie.... we miss you guys!
Five year phase-in plan for "EuroEnglish"
Thursday, September 18The European Commission have just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU, rather than German, which
was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five year phase in plan that would be known as "EuroEnglish".
In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump for joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour
of the "k". This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have 1 less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with the "f". This will make words like
"fotograf" 20% shorter.
In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.
Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of
the silent "e"s in the language is disgraseful, and they should go away.
By the 4th year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".
During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer
kombinations of leters. After zis fifz year, ve vil hav a realy sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it
ezi to understand each ozer.
ZE DREAM VIL FINALI KUM TRU!
I'm leaving on a jet plane
Wednesday, August 20I'm departing for Beijing at noon tomorrow (8/20 12EST)!
read more “I'm leaving on a jet plane”
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