Thailand so far

Well, our lovely break has brought us warmth, sun, and family. Lots of adventures, too many to count but here are a couple shots, not many because my computer is being fussy right now, (by both myself AND Ben!) for you to enjoy:)

The Long Awaited

Today is our last day of school.....though technically school has not been in session for the past week, we have been cleaning up, invigilating exams, and getting ready for next semester. Students have been stressed and relieved all in the same massive bubble, and teachers have felt their strains and stresses. But finally, our long awaited extended vacation period is right here, on our doorstep, politely knocking and we are much obliged to let it enter. For a lovely 4.5 weeks, we will bask in the Thai sun, soak in the sweet tastes and flavors of colored curries and luscious fruits. We will also get to finally see some family, face to face! We are really quite excited for the adventure and it begins tomorrow at noon. Our semester is finished but it feels more like a whole year. The next semester is daunting so we try not to think about it, but I believe it might go faster and easier than first. Last night was amusing as we reminisced with some friends, over homemade pizza (yes, I am finally a pizza maker, attempting to keep up with my ever-so-talented mom), about the semester, funny moments with the students, mishaps, growth and change. Its interesting, though there are changes in culture and place, teenagers are still teenagers and act somewhat illogically sometimes and it at least gives us some light amusement to push us through each day.
Anyways, here is our "see you soon" to China and a big "Hello!" to Thailand. We'll keep you posted as we go:)

(PS-the picture shows some of Ben's heartiest beard work that he has accomplished since I have known him. It also highlights a bit of my Chinese haircut.....I guess I won't get to grow it out as I hoped, something was lost in translation there:)

Last Day of Term

We did it! We hit the halfway mark. After today term number one will be done. Christina is in the process of having the kids clean up the home economics room, put the finishing touches on their cooking portfolio and whisking them off into the next semester with a new arsenal of English vocabulary. They had a great week, finished in style, by cooking PIZZA! (from scratch) The students did a great job, but some of their topping choices were 'suspect??'. There were some peach and lychee pizzas, deluxe supremes with the toppings piled sky high, and asia's favorite, the CORN pizza.... yes in Thailand sweet corn (with condensed milk) is a favorite and here in China, corn on your pizza is a favorite as well.

My mandarin classes have a final exam which will take place on Monday, and then I'll be marking and getting the grades for report cards ready. Christina is one step ahead and has almost all of her marks in, with report card comments being thought up as we speak!

This time next week we'll be closing up our house, moving our bikes into the flat, and packing our bags for an exciting reprieve in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We look forward to meeting up with Christina's parents (Stephen and Sandy) at the Bangkok airport, then carrying on to Chiang Mai and two weeks with both sets of parents!! Here's to hoping the loads aren't full from Vancouver!!

We rang in the New Year in style... sleeping soundly at a hotel in Tianjin. We woke up Jan 1st at 5 am realized the world was still here, that we had a flight to catch, and that we were happy we decided to turn in early and not wait up for the 11:59-12:00 rollover. There's always next year...

Chengdu was great, very relaxing, lots of GREAT food and excellent conversation.

Happy New Year to you all!