You've got a lot of guts comin' here, after what you pulled.

Long time no see! This commonly used English phrase is actually derived from an ancient Chinese saying (which explains the lack of grammar infused within). Its common to hear these phrases or many like it thrown out but oftentimes the meaning can come out less than perfect. "People mountain, people sea," for example makes one think of bigfoot and mermaids rather than an idiom used to express the fact that there are people everywhere. "No three, no four" and "I'll give you some color to see, see," make even less sense when translated and simply leaves a confused foreigner with the feeling that some sort of joke must be being played on them...

Needless to say, a lot has happened since my last blog post. The last two months of school were a whirlwind, encompassing exciting events such as Melissa's trip to China, my travels to Xingtai (a student's hometown), multiple English Club excursions, and much much more. Unfortunately, due to my internet negligence and the great firewall of China (China banned all blogging websites for about a month and a half), these historical periods have gone unblogged and therefore have passed out of all knowledge... On a brighter note, I have added two Picasa slide shows that document some of these things for your viewing pleasure.

The last week of the Spring semester in China may have been the most social week of my life. As we were leaving on Monday the 22nd, I had to both give and grade my exams to approximately 160 overeager essay writers. Between classes, grading, and saying goodbyes to everyone I had met over the past ten months, things got a bit hectic. Despite the busyness, it was a great time to be able to have some deeper conversations with students. This semester has been blessed with tons of great times with students and it has been amazing to see the progression of our team's relationships with so many of the people here.

With that said, it was really not too hard to leave my home of the past school year. I know quite well that it will be right there waiting for me once my brief stint in America ends in about two months. I am looking forward to a summer full of reconnecting with friends and family who I have missed so much more than those little things like driving, movie theatres, and even Panera. Thank you so much for supporting me during my time abroad and I hope you will continue to tune in next year. Hope to see you soon!