Videos by Olivia

Robin has a good April Fools story from yesterday, but for today, some videos by Olivia.

Hello! Video:

(No children were harmed in the making of this video.)

Bye! Video:

Hello Floor!

ENJOY!
ZaiJian!
再见！
－Hacked by 石恒志

OH BoyS!

Well, it looks like winter is leaving us alone and spring is popping its head in, but I did slip on the ice the other day, so who knows. It was one of those comic moments where your feet keep walking, but you don't go anywhere and then...BLAM! down on your tush you go. I got up and wiped off the mud and my pride and started on my way. An older lady came out of the apartment building and asked,” 你晒到了吗？” (Ni shuai dao le ma?" Have you fallen down?) I assured her I had, and kept going.

Today, I taught my second group of students. I gave the first group their final exams last week, and it seems strange to now begin with a new class. I got to know the first group well, and four of the girls have been coming over to my house. SO much fun.

Today's class was special. As the students came in, I was amazed by the large number of them who were boys. Up until now, most of my students have been English majors. Not many guys choose that field needless to say, and a majority of the students are therefore girls. Not so with my non-English major students who are primarily engineering graduate students. Out of 32 students only about 4-5 are girls! What a dynamic!!

They were a lot fun. Their English level seems pretty high and they are VERY active. I think it will be an interesting four weeks. I plan to have the lonely girls over to do girly stuff just to give them a bit of a break. :)

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter

Christmas in Harbin wasn't white, but the weather has more than made up for itself the past few days. The fluffy white snow falling and actually sticking has been quite fun.

Yes, I know it is March and we should be turning our down coats in for lighter layers and pastel colors. With such a mild winter behind us, I can't help but feel giddy watching the snowflakes fall. :)

Olivia enjoyed "cleaning off" the slides at her preschool. :)

 

Snow angels in March. Who'd a thought it?

Back in the Saddle

Well, I have a wonderful husband. He is thoughtful in so many ways. It is 1:51 am and I cannot sleep because well... you need to be able to breath to do that. I just read his last blog. Thanks for those of you who have been thinking about us. We still need it! In fact, a number of our teammates are suffering with sickness now too.

Today I taught my first class and it was so much fun. The lesson wasn't all that special- introduction lessons rarely are - but it was great to meet the students and hear their timidity and hope come out for the class. I am teaching masters degree students who aren't English majors. That means that even though they have had English in the past, they have not had many opportunities to use it. Their focus was probably writing and reading more than listening and speaking. So, what fun it is to be able to give them those chances to speak and encourage them along the way.

Olivia is also back in school. It seems she didn't understand why she couldn't sit on the floor. "We sit on the floor at home" was her response when Steve was getting the low-down from the teacher. In general, Chinese people are afraid of being cold or letting cold in you. Drinking cold drinks, not wearing enough clothes, and sitting on the "cold" floor all bring a fear of the dreaded ganmaole 感冒了 or "cold". So, it is no wonder that her teachers were fit to be tied when she decided that she would sit on the floor in school today. Who knows, maybe there is something to their theory. She does have a cold. Then again, she is 3 and I hear she will have quite a few episodes of it before she is 5.  怎么办？(Zenmeban?) What can be done?

See ya' later! 再见！

Happily at Home in Harbin - A Husband's/Father's Revisitation

This is Steve hijacking the blog and the last title.

I'm writing to ask for your upward requests for us as Robin is sick and this week we enter a new semester (oh, and leftovers of sickness with the kids too). I left her for nearly a week and returned to an exhausted (I mean spent!) wife who served her usually-sick children with every drop of energy she had. She's got a bad, deep cough and starts teaching in less than 3 days. :-(

(note - this blog won't last long if she deletes my praise, so get it while it's hot!)

But her health is not the only request. Please lift up our vision: priorities and focus; our walks with Him who is our life; for hearts and minds ready to receive those led to us (even if he's from Uzbekistan, like I think happened today); and (specifically for me) for growth in humility and submission to Him.

I had a great opportunity to serve last week (it was very successful, PTL) and am thankful for how smoothly things went technologically. May it continue well!

Thanks for reading and zai jian!
(再见！)
Steve


Thankful for today: Today I'm thankful that, living overseas I have no choice but to take full responsibility for my children's spiritual upbringing. (If you don't get the hidden meaning, this site hides nothing about its meaning and makes a good point.)

Happily at Home in Harbin

Well, it has certainly been long enough since I last wrote a real blog! Thailand was great, and being back at our home here is great. We enjoyed a five day stay at the Juniper Tree in Dolphin Bay. It was a relaxing time together and the family atmosphere was wonderful. I thought it would be really hard to leave the nice warm... hot really... beach to come back to the cold dry weather. Actually, it was really nice coming back and feeling "at home" in spite of the bags to unpack, the children whose sleep was all messed up, the dusty apartment and coal dust. There was a sense that this is where we belong. Holidays have their place, but it is good when they end as well.

Unfortunately, Steve has had to leave me right off the bat for a week in Beijing helping with tech support at the office there. We will make it. :) I have wonderful Chinese friends who live in the building next door, and they are wonderful to us. I spent a couple of hours of what was supposed to be a short visit the other day and again was struck by how "at home" I felt in her presence. There is something special about friends who aren't students. I love the students and enjoy the times we have together, but we aren't in the same stage of life. This friend is a wife, mother, teacher, friend. We can really talk and share life together. That is a precious treasure in this frozen land we've found ourselves.

So, home. What a strange term. When we were at the Juniper Tree, I met this 6 year old little girl who looked Asian but sounded American. Her family serves in China, she has two other siblings and they were all seemingly born in a different country. When I asked where she was from, she said, "I'm not really sure." That seemed to sum it up quit well.

As Olivia stated when we first got back here, "We have many homes." (2 in America, 1 in China, 3 in Thailand) Wherever she finds a place to lay her head, she's home.
See ya later! 再见！

Olivia On Stage!

Enjoy the show!

Note how Olivia smiles at us, her true audience, and makes her way to the front between two bigger girls. That's Olivia...in one respect: she's a determined little girl.


See ya' later!
在见！

Direct link to share with others:
http://youtu.be/v29PsxozCtU