In case you need to find me...

Here is a map showing about where XinXing is located in China. It is way on the left side with a black rectangle under it. Hong Kong is in the lower right corner, and Guangzhou (the capital of Guangdong Province) is just above center.

I'm feeling very nervous this morning. I got an email from Rob in Hong Kong. He sent a link to a website with pictures of XinXing and Hong Kong. It gave me a little bit of a glimpse of what it will be like there. It's good to know now so that I can prepare myself, but it also reminds me of how different things will be there.

Sara and I have also gotten emails from Polly who is at the Junior High in XinXing right now. She has given us lots of tips on what to bring, where to go, and what there is to do there. I appreciate her help very much! She informed us that we probably will not be able to find clothes that fit us there as the Chinese are much smaller than we are, so we need to bring clothes along. But how do you pack clothes for an entire year along with other things you need, into only two large suitcases??? This will be quite a challenge!

Only Three More Months

It just hit me that we leave three months from today!

Rumor has it we will be in a "small town" (only 200,000 people), about a two hour car ride southwest of Guangzhou, called XinXing. There will be two teachers (a newly graduated and married couple) at the Junior High School there, and Sara and I will be at the High School. So we will not be completely alone!

I have wondered and been asked about communicating with the students. It has been explained to me that the students start learning English when they are young, so by the time they get to the High School, they have had several years of exposure. There will still be students that struggle, as well as students who are very good at it. I am hoping that the students that are good at it will help us with the students that struggle. We have also been recommended a cd set to learn to speak some Chinese. I am planning to order that soon so that I will have some knowledge of how to pronounce words, and communicate with those I am in contact with.

A new friend of mine who has been to China suggested that we bring along small gifts to give to the other teachers. Does anyone have any suggestions on trinkets from America?

TEFL Certification

Hello again,
I found out I will be taking a class in New Ulm on Teaching English as a Foreign Language. That means I will be living there for three weeks in June. June 11-29. I'm really excited to take this class and get prepared for what to expect as a teacher. I never thought I would want to teach, and here I am going to China...

Sara and I talked to a Chinese man at church on Sunday. He told us this joke: People in Guangdong will eat anything with four legs except a table, and also anything that flies in the sky except airplanes. So his advice is to not eat the tables! Thanks! :)

Thanks for all of the encouraging messages you have sent me!

I'm officially going to China!

So I found out on Thursday that my friend Sara and I are going to China to teach English at the Number One High School (Yes, that's what it's called!). We will be in Guangdong Province, possibly in Guangzhou. We leave on August 24, 2007, and can come home as early as July 1, 2008.