Settling In

3rd email sent Aug 14

Dearest Family and Friends,

Nee-Hao! We hope things are going well wherever you may be. I am writing this letter, sitting in my classroom on the 5th floor of our school. If I look straight ahead, I can see our apartment. As I turn my head to the left, I see a panorama view of the ocean, boats, and local mountains. What an amazing scene. This is definitely not a traditional school setting. We have a 5 story building that was converted from a business building. In fact, there is an architectural firm down the hall that will be out of the building by Christmas. When this happens, the only other space in the building that is not occupied by the school will be the small Park-and-Shop store on part of the ground floor (this is a great convenience).

It’s been a while since I last wrote. We have been busy preparing for school, getting to know new people, and enjoying our last days of the summer. On Friday night, 20 or so of us teachers got together at the Chinese Lantern (an amazing local food joint that we’ll take you to when you come) and enjoyed a multitude of appetizing dishes. Saturday morning, 6 of us, and our kids, climbed the local mountain. We had great views of the city and across to some Hong Kong islands. After resting much of the day, we got Judah together with his new friend Jack – the 2 year old son of two friends from Colorado. They had a great time playing, while we ate delicious food that our Ayi cooked.

Sunday morning, we walked 5 minutes to a local church. A few of the QSI teachers attend this non-denominational church, which is headed by an American who manages one of the local factories. All in all, it was good. I spent a lot of time in Judah’s Sunday school class, where they sang song and taught the lesson of Joseph and his colorful coat, solely in Chinese.

Later that day, a bunch of us teachers got together and went down to the local massage parlor. As we walked into the lobby, the ambiance was set with a Chinese man playing a “Guzheng” next to a water fall. A Guzheng is sort of a long rectangular guitar that sits in your lap, and is plucked with both hands. We walked upstairs and all sat on reclining chairs set in a circle so we could converse. Water and watermelon was brought to us along with a piping hot bucket of tea of which we were to soak our feet. A woman walked around, and asked us if we would rather have a boy or a girl (I don’t think I could have another man give me a massage). After a few minutes, a dozen masseuses came out, and had us sit on our footstools, while they began the hour-long body work over. They massaged and cracked our backs and necks, before taking our feet out of the tea bath. They then proceeded to work our feet and legs over for the rest of the time. I’ve never had someone besides me rub between my toes. I kind of felt bad for her. Overall, though, it felt great – what made it feel best, however, was when we went down and paid 33Yaun ($4) for the hour of pleasure. We laid in bed that night with our bodies feeling like Jello and we both agreed that we could get used to doing this once a week for a date.

Monday morning brought on some work in our classrooms, and business items for the school. Our teaching assignments have had changes – Marea has been given a 2nd grade (7 year olds) class of 12 students and will be working full time. She wasn’t crazy about this idea when we arrived, but after spending time with the other 2nd grade teachers, and realizing that the part of the day that she would miss out on would be her planning period if she only worked part-time, she felt good about this job change. It also helps that we don’t have to come home and clean, make dinner, or do laundry (I’ll talk about this in the next letter). My job has changed, too. I will be teaching Physics, Chemistry, Life Science, and an SAT prep class. Along with these things, I’ll be leading the high school staff meetings and doing other administrative duties. I’m no longer teaching Algebra (yeah!).

Tomorrow (Tuesday), the school is having their school bus (more like an airport shuttle), take us to the South China Sea to a local beach. We are looking forward to cooling off. It’s been about 85 to 90 degrees the last few days. This is a little warmer than what we’re comfortable with, especially with the high humidity. We have been assured that this is the hottest time of the year, and it will cool down within the next month.

Tuesday

The beach was outstanding! We cruised through traffic, past Hong Kong, to the South China Sea. Twenty or so of us spent time in the water, playing with the kids, and having a grand time. I didn’t know there were such amazing tropical beaches in China! What struck me, however, was how they had towers with loudspeakers playing some Chinese elevator music – not your typical beach noise. Also, about a ¼ mile out, they had nets set up to keep away any sharks. Tonight, we’re leaving Judah with our Ayi so that we can go out and celebrate the birthday of one of the teachers.

Hugs and Kisses to you all. We love and miss you. Thanks for all your emails.

Robb, Marea, and Judah