Long Time.

Wow, where have we been for the last two months. Who even knows. Busy, I guess. I have been on a blogging hiatus and just happen to have a little bit of time tonight that I would like to use to rectify that!

The last two months have been...busy. Let's start with A. As I mentioned in my previous post some visa issues have been preventing him from going in to work for the last couple of months. We decided that one of the best ways he could be spending this time is working to improve his Chinese. A enrolled in the intensive Chinese language program here at our university and has been an international student ever since! Just when we thought we would never be students again... :) Even after one week in class he was a totally different person (language-wise) so just imagine how great 2 months has been for him! He's in classes 4 hours per day, 20 hours per week with other international students from all over the world. He'll be re-submitting his work permit application in a couple weeks and we're hoping for a better response than we've got in the past. We're hoping that his application will be approved and he'll be able to start working as soon as possible - but we'll see. I'm so proud of how hard he's been working on his language. We've done a total 180 and I'm asking him how to say, read, or write things. We're thrilled!

I have been equally busy the last couple months with classes of my own. Last semester I taught 12 hours per week which was a full load...I thought...This semester I've picked up quite a few extra classes and am teaching 26 hours per week - 14 hours of speaking and 12 hours of writing. I hope that my masters program advisor doesn't read this cause she'll freak out...Karin? Am I right? Anyway, I've hated it. lol. I did it purely for the money, which turns out isn't the best motivation. I guess it's good I'm learning that lesson now? It really has been fine, it's just been a lot of time in class on my feet talking, lots of prep, and a butt load of grading. But good news is that the semester's almost over! I only have 6 more weeks of this schedule and then it will be behind me, which is good. I'm still enjoying my students, but I would love to see them a little less often, and I'm sure they feel the same way about me. lol. They still make me laugh though, which is also good.

We're coming home! Oh, I should have prefaced that better. Not for good, just for a summer visit. :) I'm holding myself back from making a paper chain...cause man are we excited! We can't wait to see our family and friends and enjoy all of the comforts of home. And trust me, there are many. I'm not even going to start listing them now, that will be in a post to come, but let's just say it starts with grass, the FDA, Dr. Pepper, clean water, and central air!

This fall we are planning on being in China again for another year of...who knows what. :) I'm planning on teaching another semester/year here at BIT and A will be working full-time and becoming a professional commuter - 1 hr. subway ride each way...But it will be a good year. We really feel like the last 8 months have been amazing for us and we've learned more about ourselves than we ever thought we would. We've laughed, cried, been sick, spoken Chinese, made friends for life, missed home, ate weird things, and loved each other so much. So we'll see what's ahead...we're not totally sure but we're planning on being here in Beijing for at least another year. 加油！