A FEW DAYS AND COUNTING

For those who don't know, I'll be returning to the States on June 25th, only 21 days from today. The Lewis Five, Brian, Derek and I will all be returning at the same time. We will fly together all the way to L.A. where the Lewises will break off from our group, and the boys and I will continue to Atlanta together before our final goodbye. I'm glad we're flying home together. Somehow it seems like a fitting end. But actually I'm trying not to focus too much on my upcoming return home. I've still got two weeks of classes left which includes final exams, lots of grading, and filling out and completing teacher logs and final grades.

A FULL WEEKEND

Last Monday three American friends of Derek arrived in Shiyan. Dollie and Amber are staying in my apartment, and Matt is staying in Derek's. The three are from Harding and had just spent some time in Wuhan before coming to Shiyan. They came at a good time because we've had quite a few activities this week for them to participate in. Saturday night we had a big potluck meal. I think it's actually the first official potluck dinner we've had, and I'm already regretting that fact because the food was amazing. After dining and socializing, the guys and girls split for separate family devos.

Saturday night I stayed at the Lewis house because Courtny's 16th birthday was the next day. She and I stayed up till 4 a.m. watching movies and being stupid. It was fun, though. Sunday morning the family gathered together for a little roadtrip. We went to the nearby Huang Long Reservoir where we rented a boat. It was my first time to go to the reservoir and I was amazed by the beauty of the surrounding scenery. Mountains jutted up all around us, and the water was really clear. After awhile of singing and learning, many of us went swimming in the cool, clear water. We were out there all afternoon, which is evident if you see Brian's red face!

Last night we celebrated Courtny's birthday with taco salad and lots of cake. Then we watched the season finale of LOST which was awesome. We had a full house, or I should say, the Lewises had a full house, and despite Brian's constant threats of dismemberment if anyone talked during LOST, everyone made it through the show entact. I spent the night again last night at the Lewises and decided to make use of their Internet while they go eat lunch this morning. I actually need to head home, probably clean up, plan my classes for this week, and prepare for meeting with students for dinner tonight. Brian and I rescheduled some of our classes to meet in small groups outside of class. Many of these groups have come to my apartment to cook dinner for us (which is pretty sweet because most of them can cook really well), but tonight I'm going to have dumplings at some restaurant with some of the boys in my class who can't speak English... It should be, um, well, a long evening.