Classes are over, our grades are in, our visas are taken care of, and our bags are packed.
Now we play the waiting game...
The waiting game sucks, let's play hungry, hungry hippos!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Out of Surgery!
As of about 8pm your time my dad got out of surgery and is good! It will be a long recovery, but there were no complications, and everything went as expected! They did a double bypass, so they took one vein from his chest and one from his left leg. He's still intubated (on a breathing tube), but that should be out in a few hours. I guess recovery is going to be very painful, but the more he moves around and whatnot, the quicker he will heal. He's also got a sheath? in his right leg, and has been on his back since Monday when he had his heart catherterization, but that should come out soon, too, I think.
He'll be in the hospital for another 5-ish days, and then home with 4-6 weeks of just resting, not working.
Wuhoo! Thanks for the prayers!
He'll be in the hospital for another 5-ish days, and then home with 4-6 weeks of just resting, not working.
Wuhoo! Thanks for the prayers!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Double Bypass Surgery...
Yesterday my Dad had an appointment for a heart catheterization and when they got in it was way worse than they expected. They put him on a helicopter and flew him to St. Luke's in Milwaukee immediately. Since he was still in stable condition when they got to St. Luke's they scheduled his open heart surgery for tomorrow at 1.
Keep him in your prayers.
Keep him in your prayers.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
EXACTLY one week...
I don't even know if I can make it.
Shawn did the smart thing and didn't look at any of the Camp Croix pictures that were e-mailed or blogged,(and told me not to look at them) but I couldn't help it. What a mistake. I can't believe we've gone 10 months without seeing any of the kids (or any of you Wollers). I can't believe I have to wait yet ANOTHER week to see them again. I could have cried, and I am NOT a crier.
I'm not usually one to get stressed out, but I've definitely been feeling the effects. I've been having crazy dizzy spells and just general fatigue and weakness. (And I'm CRANKY!) However, all of our bags are completely packed except for a few clothes and the Wii. Our flat is totally cleaned except for the ridiculous amount of sand in Ningxia which leaves our flat looking as if I haven't swept in months about 5 minutes after I've finished. The upside of my stress for Shawn is that he hasn't had to clean or pack a single thing. I've been so intent on keeping myself busy and distracted so he's been able to play video games, learn Chinese Chess, and almost finish season 10 (or 11, 12??) of ER.
We were going to leave for Beijing on Thursday and have 2-3 days to maybe go see the Wall and hit up the Silk Market, but our school "didn't realize" that we had already bought our tickets for America and that they couldn't ask us to stay 2 extra weeks to take care of visas. So, we will get our visas, but we will have to stay in Ningxia until Saturday. Our actual flight out of Beijing leaves the 30th, and we're scheduled to get home on the 30th around 12:40pm. We simply can not wait to be home.
We should be sprinting to the finish here, doing our "work" with a burst of energy, but it will be really tough to not just hide in our flat for a week solid. We've got a few more classes to teach, but we're just watching movies, so our showing up is just a formaility. You should all know that Shawn has a much better attitude than I do right now. I'm working on it.
Point being, we are very much looking forward to seeing ALL of you.
Eric, if I cry and hug you when I get off the plane... don't judge me.
I should go sweep the floor... again.
Shawn did the smart thing and didn't look at any of the Camp Croix pictures that were e-mailed or blogged,(and told me not to look at them) but I couldn't help it. What a mistake. I can't believe we've gone 10 months without seeing any of the kids (or any of you Wollers). I can't believe I have to wait yet ANOTHER week to see them again. I could have cried, and I am NOT a crier.
I'm not usually one to get stressed out, but I've definitely been feeling the effects. I've been having crazy dizzy spells and just general fatigue and weakness. (And I'm CRANKY!) However, all of our bags are completely packed except for a few clothes and the Wii. Our flat is totally cleaned except for the ridiculous amount of sand in Ningxia which leaves our flat looking as if I haven't swept in months about 5 minutes after I've finished. The upside of my stress for Shawn is that he hasn't had to clean or pack a single thing. I've been so intent on keeping myself busy and distracted so he's been able to play video games, learn Chinese Chess, and almost finish season 10 (or 11, 12??) of ER.
We were going to leave for Beijing on Thursday and have 2-3 days to maybe go see the Wall and hit up the Silk Market, but our school "didn't realize" that we had already bought our tickets for America and that they couldn't ask us to stay 2 extra weeks to take care of visas. So, we will get our visas, but we will have to stay in Ningxia until Saturday. Our actual flight out of Beijing leaves the 30th, and we're scheduled to get home on the 30th around 12:40pm. We simply can not wait to be home.
We should be sprinting to the finish here, doing our "work" with a burst of energy, but it will be really tough to not just hide in our flat for a week solid. We've got a few more classes to teach, but we're just watching movies, so our showing up is just a formaility. You should all know that Shawn has a much better attitude than I do right now. I'm working on it.
Point being, we are very much looking forward to seeing ALL of you.
Eric, if I cry and hug you when I get off the plane... don't judge me.
I should go sweep the floor... again.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Idioms...
I gave my English Majors a list of idioms and their definitions. They each had a partner and had to write a dialogue showing that they could appropriately use one of the idioms. I just wanted to share this one with you (exactly as written and performed):
V: How beautiful your leg! Ha Ha!
N: Don't pull my leg
V: Oh. So sorry. What's wrong with your leg.
N: Nothing! Nothing! It's good.
V: Really? Let me have a try! Baby!
N: Oh, no! No!
V: Wow. Your leg is fall!
N: (cry) You hurt my heart!
V: (run)! See you!
V: How beautiful your leg! Ha Ha!
N: Don't pull my leg
V: Oh. So sorry. What's wrong with your leg.
N: Nothing! Nothing! It's good.
V: Really? Let me have a try! Baby!
N: Oh, no! No!
V: Wow. Your leg is fall!
N: (cry) You hurt my heart!
V: (run)! See you!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Google Earth
For the Google Earth users out there I have finally found the location of our apartment/school.
Our coordinates are:
Latitude: 38°14'49.37"N
Longitude:106°13'33.31"E
Eric, I know you asked for this months ago but as you can see there really aren't a whole lot of landmarks around by which to find the school. Believe me I tried. It wasn't till I got more familiar with the area and the roads in particular that I was able to locate it.
The picture is a bit old, there are a few more buildings and the athletic field in the center of campus is artificial turf now and therefore always green. Everything surrounding the campus is pretty much the still the same though: fields and small brick huts(for lack of a better word).
The small town just north is actually YongNing. I think it has been mislabeled. You can also see how far away we are from Yinchuan (i.e. civilization, any other foreigners, KFC)
So there, we aren't quite off the map. You just need to know where to look.
On another note, blog spot has been working for us for almost a week now but I don't want to say anything and jinx it.
Only about 18 more days till we come home. Have food ready.
Our coordinates are:
Latitude: 38°14'49.37"N
Longitude:106°13'33.31"E
Eric, I know you asked for this months ago but as you can see there really aren't a whole lot of landmarks around by which to find the school. Believe me I tried. It wasn't till I got more familiar with the area and the roads in particular that I was able to locate it.
The picture is a bit old, there are a few more buildings and the athletic field in the center of campus is artificial turf now and therefore always green. Everything surrounding the campus is pretty much the still the same though: fields and small brick huts(for lack of a better word).
The small town just north is actually YongNing. I think it has been mislabeled. You can also see how far away we are from Yinchuan (i.e. civilization, any other foreigners, KFC)
So there, we aren't quite off the map. You just need to know where to look.
On another note, blog spot has been working for us for almost a week now but I don't want to say anything and jinx it.
Only about 18 more days till we come home. Have food ready.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
The Legal Drinking Age is 3
Last week Shawn told his students that in America the legal drinking age is 21. He asked them the legal drinking age and they said "3".
A few months ago I met a woman on the bus and a gave her our phone number. A few weeks ago (about 6 months after I met her) she gave me a call and wanted to meet me. So, I met the woman and she invited Shawn and I to dinner with her, her mother and sister.
Last night we went to dinner, expecting a very long and semi-painful night considering her English is absolutely terrible and our Chinese is worse. However, it turned out to be a lot of fun. They were all really sweet, and her mother especially was incredibly enthusiastic about our being there.
Her 3 year old nephew was there and when dinner started they gave Shawn a beer and then opened another one for this little kid, and poured it in his little cup. The kid drank an entire can of beer. Every few minutes he would stand up and go around the table "Gambe, mama", "Gambe Ayi" "Gambe Nai nai" etc. "Gambe" is the equivalent of "Cheers" and he would hit his glass to theirs and drink. If someone he had toasted didn't drink (since he did it so often) he would say "He! He!!"(drink, drink) until they did. After a few rounds he was accidentally knocking things over when he stood up to "Gambe" everyone and the mother of the child laughed a little and said, "My son is very happy."
Keep in mind that the beer has a very low alcohol content. Also, they did cut him off after one.
Now we know, the legal drinking age in China really is 3.
A few months ago I met a woman on the bus and a gave her our phone number. A few weeks ago (about 6 months after I met her) she gave me a call and wanted to meet me. So, I met the woman and she invited Shawn and I to dinner with her, her mother and sister.
Last night we went to dinner, expecting a very long and semi-painful night considering her English is absolutely terrible and our Chinese is worse. However, it turned out to be a lot of fun. They were all really sweet, and her mother especially was incredibly enthusiastic about our being there.
Her 3 year old nephew was there and when dinner started they gave Shawn a beer and then opened another one for this little kid, and poured it in his little cup. The kid drank an entire can of beer. Every few minutes he would stand up and go around the table "Gambe, mama", "Gambe Ayi" "Gambe Nai nai" etc. "Gambe" is the equivalent of "Cheers" and he would hit his glass to theirs and drink. If someone he had toasted didn't drink (since he did it so often) he would say "He! He!!"(drink, drink) until they did. After a few rounds he was accidentally knocking things over when he stood up to "Gambe" everyone and the mother of the child laughed a little and said, "My son is very happy."
Keep in mind that the beer has a very low alcohol content. Also, they did cut him off after one.
Now we know, the legal drinking age in China really is 3.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Modeling... with our translator Vivian
My darling husband
All the female models
The crowd that gathered in Long De just to see foreigners
During the 3 days of mourning for the earthquake victims in China some of us wore yellow strips of cloth around our wrists for the 3 days and on the 3rd tied them to these trees.Hey, it's working!
Kids running away from Shawn in Long De
Ladies and Gentlemen, the split pants...
Some lake... this is what we look like now that we've been in China so long.
"Hallelujah" was the only English word she knew
Another modeling picture, since I never actually put any up...
I'm trying to post some pictures of our recent adventures, but there's no telling if that will work or not.
We're at 23 days till we come home... and counting.
I sent out an e-mail this morning of everything we've been up to lately, and yet I still feel obligated to blog because it's actually working. Well, enjoy the pictures...
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