Tuesday Morning Image

Continuing our tour inside Wal-Mart, we find the laundry detergent section. While we find this normal, it is packaged in a smaller bag (not a box) and it has a handle. Remember that we don't have a car, so everything we buy we have to carry home (as is the case with almost every other Chinese.) Please remember all the shoppers as the travel to and from the stores with all their goods that each shopper will have great attitudes as they walk, or crowd onto the buses (us included).

Lack of posting explained

Posting in March has been sporadic at best. I noticed today that I have half as many posts this month as I did in February (March=6, Feb=12) and there is only one day left. Most of this is because March is the first month back teaching. Let me give you a quick rundown of the schedule for the past week.

Monday: Teach lessons all morning, come home for lunch before heading back outside to make some copies and go shopping with M'Lynn.

Tuesday: Teach classes all morning, have a teacher's lunch, return home for a date with M'Lynn before having a team thinking time in the evening.

Wednesday: Have the morning free from classes, but use the time to do the next week's lessons and man the English Library we have in our teaching office; go to the restaurant to order food to bring back for lunch; attend a guy's time weekly afternoon meeting to discuss man issues; host some young professionals for a small group discussion in the evening.

Thursday: Teach classes all morning; come home for lunch; attend a team meeting all afternoon for business discussions, personal discussions, and reflection; have dinner with students in a large banquet room until 9 pm.

Friday: Teach classes all morning; buy lunch on the way home; and rest in the afternoon and evening.

Saturday: a day of rest before the week begins again (but don't forget to work on your IRS e-file taxes).

Sunday: Morning fellowship and dinner together as a team; quickly out to make copies in the afternoon before the students come over at 3; host students and make some great little lemon bars; crash Andy's party to interact with the students he is hosting.

Monday: begin again...

I wouldn't change a thing about the schedule. We really have seen the student interaction pick up this term and are thankful for all your thoughts on this. We look forward to sharing more of the stories when we see you guys this summer.

Tuesday Morning Image

Many of you ask about the Wal-Marts in China. This is a picture of one that we often walk to for some of our shopping. Most times we don't head to Wal-Mart unless we know specifically that this is the only place to find the item. For example, we head to Wal-Mart if we need to buy baby wipes (Parent's Choice is by far the best, and cheapest) found only at Wal-Mart. Please remember all those walking to go shopping as the roads and sidewalks are covered with ice daily.

Walk in the Park

I forgot how quickly we can draw a crowd in China. We went for a walk this afternoon because the weather has finally warmed up some and ended up in a nice little park near our apartment. After trudging through the melting snow and puddles, we found the open courtyard where all the young children went to play (more or less walk around). We took Kanyon out of the stroller and let him roam.

Within 1 minute we had about 10 people surrounding him as he walked. Given another minute, we had 20 people all asking the same questions: "How old is he?" "Where are you from?" "What do you do?" or "Is he cold?"

The little guy loved most of the attention, but would always hit at people as the came up to look at him. I guess teaching the boy to high-five wasn't the greatest idea. Then the fun started when a college student came over with a basketball. Kanyon loves basketballs! He followed the guy after he left and continue crying looking over his shoulder for the basketball player when we were trying to leave.

Kanyon finally fell asleep as we strolled to the noodle shop for some supper. As he slept, we continued to receive good intentioned advice about keeping the baby warm so he wouldn't catch a cold.

Tuesday Morning Image

Spring time has arrived in Harbin. The weather is warming into the 30-40s most days now. And instead of spring time rain, we get spring snow! Please remember everyone as they travel about the city. The snow melts during the day, but freezes again each night.

Volume 3, Issue 3

Spring time is here! Well actually, the weather is warm one day then snowy the next. The constant change reminds us of the crazy weather back home. Today’s full of snow and next week will be quite warm (35-40 degrees). Each time we walk out in the snow, we are reminded how much we love living here in Harbin. Then we remember each and every one of you who have encouraged and supported us as we work here. We can’t wait to see you guys this summer and share all that’s been going on in this city.



Harbin 2009 – 24th Winter Universiade

“A passionate Winter Universiade in glamorous Harbin China” was on the banners that were all over town. Harbin hosted the Winter Universiade during February for student athletes from all over the world. At first we were a little skeptical about the “international-ness” of the event, but we were surprise to learn the event was truly international.

We jumped at our first chance to watch live sporting events China and immediately researched the event times and locations. A few text messages and emails later, we booked tickets to watch Canada vs. China men’s ice hockey game. The game was on the birthday of a Canadian teacher at another school here in Harbin. Both he and our Canadian teammates were just as excited as us to see live hockey.

Once in the arena, freshly painted for the Universiade, the stands were packed with 3,000 people cheering for the host country. We remained neutral through most of the match, but couldn’t help but cheer for China as the final minutes ticked off the clock hoping for one last chance for a goal. Final score, Canada 13 – China 0.

One event just wasn’t enough to satisfy our appetite for live sporting events and we were determined to watch another event. Back to the ticket office to purchase more tickets, this time women’s figure skating. We really got our money’s worth with this one as we watched over 4 hours of skating, 28 competitors, and a bonus event at the end, synchronized skating.

Synchronized skating is like cheerleaders on ice or synchronized swimming on top of the frozen water where 18 skaters (I would say women but Team Russia did have one man) take the ice for a synchronized routine. Who knew?



The excitement of the Winter Universiade really pumped us up for the beginning of the semester. We realized how much we love China, the people here, and especially the crazy randomness of life.

BREAKING NEWS: Schedule Change

The semester began on Monday, March 2nd like any other semester, full of butterflies to meet the new students and hopefulness that the lesson plans with not flop. So with that I entered the classroom to begin teaching my Selected Readings of British Literature class to junior level students. When I entered the first classroom, I knew immediately that something was not right. I noticed that all my students had a blue textbook on their desks titled “Readings in American Literature”! What a way to begin the semester!

We called the deans, department chairs and talked with the students and indeed found the course was to teach both American and British literature! OK, I can do that. So I made the plan and went back to class Tuesday. By Sunday, the course had been changed back to British Literature only. I informed the students and am finally ready to move forward.

But wait, this just in…the foreign affairs office has a new schedule for our teachers. Another teacher on our team is teaching my Literature class (because of his love for literature) I am now teaching Advanced Oral English beginning Monday, March 16th. I am really excited and hopefully can finally settle into the routine of planning lessons and teaching. But I just never know!!

Happy Birthday M'Lynn!!

We hosted a birthday celebration for M’Lynn’s birthday. The dinner doubled as a Texas Independence Day meal for our teammates. We pounded out Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, corn, and for dessert, chocolate pie. Some of our teammates had never had Chicken fried steak! We considered it absolute that they have it and made them promise to order one if they were ever in a restaurant in Texas!

We never realized we had everything we needed for the meal. But now that we know, we’ll be having this meal again, hopefully soon.

Misc. Others

New Website: Our company just launched a brand new website. Check it out to learn more about the work here in China! We are excited about the work and want to share this new resource with you!

Kanyon News: He weighs in at 12 kg and is getting into more and more things. He recently learned to climb on the couch and sit (well really stand and reach for everything he knows he’s not supposed to have. He had be grumpy lately because he’s working on getting more molars. Rib eye steak, here he comes! He still doesn’t speak much (English or Chinese) but can say Daddy in two languages, “dada” and “baba.” Yet he doesn’t say “mama,” except when he’s hungry.

Return to the States: We are setting our return this summer to the US for June 28th. We are excited to see each of you during the two months we are home. We’ll try to get in contact with you guys to set up some times you are available and free to say hi and thank you for all your support!

Texas Home Cooking

Grandma's Chocolate Pie

As I continue to live in China, I expand my recipes and experiment with anything and everything Texan. I happened upon a great website of a Texan expat living in New York. The site lists all sorts of Texas favorites. Click here to visit the site.

My new favorite dessert comes from this site: Grandma's Chocolate Pie. While I don't know whose grandma she is, she sure knows how to make a great chocolate pie. I don't think there is another dessert any better then this. (If you try the recipe out, note the one missing step to cook the pie for 30-35 minutes in order for the filling to set. Then add the merigne and cook again.)

Another great Texas favorite I recently discovered, or finally realized, that we had all the ingredients to make Chicken Fried Steak. So I got out the flour, tenderized the meat, and fried away. The meal was so great, I repeated the meal for M'Lynn's birthday and cooked it for our whole team! I also whipped up 2 chocolate pies to pass around at the party.

The pies are so good, I'll probably have to cook another one (or two) for my own birthday next month!

Tuesday Morning Image

An old picture from our first year in China of my freshmen students in Nanchang. This week marks the end of our vacation and the first week back in the classroom. We are reaching out specifically to the freshmen class here to build relationships that will last over the next three years. Please remember all of those on our team here as we begin the new semester.