An American Expat in China

 It has been a slow couple of weeks since my last post. I do not have much to share but I will recount what has been interesting.   Faye is applying for a tourist visa in the US.  This has been a challenging process for her and I am doing my best to support her as I want her to travel with me to PA this summer.  Her visa application interview is on June 20th.  I helped her complete her application, wrote her an invitation letter, put together an itinerary, and have also printed off some common questions that the consulate asks during interviews so she can rehearse.  The two of us went to the wedding of hash couple.  Neil and Athena are a very cute pair and it was nice to be invited to their wedding.  The ceremony was short and sweet and preceded by copious amounts of alcohol. There was only one traditional dance at the reception but the food was good and the booze was flowing.  I finished my second 5 weeks of classes last Thursday (May 2...

From May 1-12 our school hosted AP exams.  For anyone from the US you know what these are, but for those who are not US teachers or students AP stands for advance placement, and these exams are important for our students.  As such the last two weeks were pretty slow paced for me.  Most of my classes were empty as I am not an AP teacher, rather an honors teacher, and my students did not need to attend class on days they had exams.  At the most I had four students.  Now that these tests are over, my classes are full once more and I have returned to standard teaching duties with my students working on their final project.  We had staff gatherings for the last two Fridays.  On the 5th the principal hosted a teacher appreciation get-together in her home. The available staff who were willing to brave the downpour met at Baia Burger for dinner on the 12th.  I had an interview on Wednesday last week (May 10) for a leadership role within the network. ...

I have a lot to share since my last post since it has been a while. Last Saturday, April 22nd, was the DongGuan kennel's 200th run. As such, the Shekou H3 took a trip to DongGuan to participate. It was a great run. We set out early at 12:45 (which is early for hashers) and arrived at 2:45 via a chartered a bus.  The run was mostly street runs with very little shiggy. We ran by the river and through parks as well as through an old looking neighborhood with some dilapidated buildings and cool murals.  This week was AP prep week so I taught very little new content. Most of class was dedicated to study hall in preparation for the big tests.  On Wednesday I got coffee at a new place near work called "Clip Joint". They had good coffee, but even better they had a cute bulldog that loved scritch scratches.  On Friday, after work, I hit the gym and then grabbed a bite at the street fair just outside my gym.  Once I had satisfied myself with the street food at this fair I...