Easter in the East

My attempt at Photographic Artwork.  I call this one "Crazy Girls in the Rain"

  Just as Mary Magdalene found the tomb open and Jesus gone ahead of Peter and the disciple Jesus loved,  we have rushed ahead of you and found the tomb empty as well.  But, unlike Mary, Peter and that disciple we are fortunate to know the meaning of that cold and silent rock chamber on Easter morning.  So we wish you a glorious Easter with the full meaning of "He is Risen" being shouted out to you from China!!!!  Happy Easter to all of you and we hope you have as an outstanding day as we did.
  On top of my joyous shout of Alleluia on Easter to you, I want to send a big thank you as well.  It probably doesn't matter much to anybody else, but I reached the 5000 read milestone.  This doesn't mean that I get any monetary benefits or anything like that, but when I started this blog I thought maybe there would be a few hundred people from back home that would read it out of courtesy.  But, currently I have people reading from all over the world.  It has really been something that I have taken great enjoyment and pride in doing.  So, thank you again for all the support and I hope to continue to give you some great stuff to read about.  So with that being said, onto the topics of the week.

This is actually about 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

SCHOOL:  This week was a rather interesting week.  The reason being is that I have had a few teachers and friends ask me how living in China is going to change the way I look at things.  The first answer as it relates to school is this.  Never again will I listen to some inflated story about how great the other kids  in other countries are doing in comparison to standardized tests throughout the world.  Never again will I believe stories talking about how much better Asian students are at Math and Science.  Now don't get me wrong, I still think our students at home should be working to do better in these subjects and we should promote the innovation that goes along with them.  Also, do I believe our kids can learn to have a better work ethic that competes with the rest of the world, definitely.  But in the end when it comes to test scores I will be a scoffer.
  After all of that you are scratching your head and thinking, here he goes again jumping up on the soapbox.  I am not, I am just going to tell you what is going on over here.  I am very frustrated teaching in 10th grade, because for the next six weeks I am not really teaching.  The process over here is to give students samples of the exact exam that they are going to be taking in six weeks.  Each week they get a new exam, they take it like a practice test the first two days of the week and then we give them the answers on Wednesday.  We then spend the next two days going over the answers that they got incorrect.  So, I guess going over the answers is teaching, but for six weeks really?  To me this is not teaching, this is the worst example of teaching to the test.  I am not teaching to the test, I am teaching the test.  No wonder they do so well on all of their testing.  Can you imagine what our test scores would be like in California if we got copies of the exact tests for the HSEE or CST's and went over them for six weeks?  Our test scores should go up, just by Osmosis.  My kids in class even got upset because I was still teaching the objectives that I was supposed to cover and not doing what the Chinese classes were doing.  I also had a Chinese teacher tell me that if a student fails, it is the fault of the teacher.  I told him that I was sorry that he felt that way, but I didn't feel his sentiment.  On top of that I showed to him how the homework scores of my four lowest students corresponded with how well they did on the practice exams.  The point I made to him and the other Chinese teachers struck a chord with them. They don't keep homework grades so they don't have anything to correlate with their exam scores.  There was no further discussion on this topic after I shared with them.  Anyway, I do enjoy my 9th grade class because they are not caught up in the testing frenzy.
  Cecelia, Claire and Taylor had pretty normal weeks.  The only thing that is bothering Cecelia is that she is being observed by a plethora of Chinese teachers.  The fifth grade teachers become the first grade teachers next year and they are trying to suck in as much as they can from the best, while she is still here.

On our way to the Railway Station and Metro

ADVENTURES:  This week's adventure is based around the week of Easter.  On top of that, the rainy season has begun.  It didn't come in a mild mannered way.  It rolled in like a brigade of tanks all at once.  One day, it is nice and sunny with a slight breeze and then the next it is dark and rainy with thunder and lightning like Zeus himself is sitting above our community throwing the lightning bolts himself.  It is actually quite cool.  The thunder and lightning shows are more spectacular that all the fireworks on Chinese New Year.  On top of that I have experienced a phenomenon here like none other.  As the storms roll in, usually in the late morning or early afternoon, the sky becomes darker than I have ever seen.  Literally at 10 in the morning on Thursday, the storm rolled in so dark and furious that it obliterated the sun.  When I mean obliterated the sun, I mean 10 am became 10 pm.  It got so dark that the street lights in the neighborhood around school came on and the evening lighting in the halls did as well.  The thunder and lightening then came crashing down on us.  It was quite the light show.  Finally the rain came in sheets.  There was so much water coming off the roof of my classroom that it looked like I was looking through the backside of a waterfall.  To put it into one word, it was AWESOME!!!!!!  The storms come in so fast that I was caught off guard the other day while riding my bike out to the golf course.  When I started off it wasn't raining.  I got about halfway and there was a little mist.  Three quarters of the way there, it started to get a little heavier so I waited under a road overpass.  The precipitation came and went so I headed out again.  I went up onto the bridge and got about half way across when I was struck in the side of the face with the largest raindrop I had ever experienced.  It felt like getting hit by a water balloon.  It literally exploded on the side of my face and soaked my neck and right shoulder.  Oh, but that was only the beginning.  After being assaulted by the sky I began riding for my life.  I had about 100 yards of bridge to make it to the other side and shelter.  Unfortunately the sky had other ideas.  Within 50 yards I was barraged by a sky that empty like a 50 gallon drum being poured over my head.  By the time I made it to the end of the bridge and sanctuary I was soaked from head to toe all the way to the bone.  The only saving grace, is that despite the rain it is still 75 to 80 degrees.  I think I mentioned it once before, but it is still a strange feeling to be sweating and getting rained on at the same time.
 

The view from the first seat in the Church

  The highlight of the week was Easter.  We had a wonderful day.  The Easter Bunny arrived with his usual punctuality.  The girls received candy and socks.  I know, sounds like Christmas doesn't it.  The socks were not your typical socks.  They were crazy socks with different colors and the girls loved them.  We then got ready early and scootered over to the South Railway station to catch the metro to Guangzhou.  After getting to the railway station and then riding the metro for about 25 minutes we arrived at our favorite breakfast places, Starbucks.  At Starbucks we had a leisurely breakfast of lattes, hot chocolate and breakfast sandwiches and danishes.  With our bellies full of yummy goodness we headed out for our walk to church.

Father John and the girls on Easter.  Notice the name of the Church.

  Church was fabulous.  The choir sang like angels and Father John had a great message about our sinful souls dying with Christ and being reborn as new children of God.  The smell of the lilies on the altar and the roses outside the open window I was sitting next to added to the glorious morning.  Even though the sky was grey and threatening, our spirits soared like it was a brand new morning with fresh air and blue skies.
  After church we walked a few blocks and went to the art gallery/espresso shop that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.  We all had a wonderful time sitting on plush couches sipping our espresso drinks and reading.  Even though we were all reading separate books, it was great family time just being cozy. (I know the guys in the audience are going, "Oh man really", but it is really cool hanging out with three blondes in a coffee shop.)
  The espresso/art gallery captured our attention for about an hour before we headed out to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch.

Claire getting comfortable

  The restaurant is called Rendezvous.  It is a French/Vietnamese restaurant that serves amazing food.  At lunch the orders ranged from Curry, to Lamb, and a nice Filet.  You can't beat the price as well.  I had a five course meal that cost about $20.  My meal at home would have cost a minimum of at least $60.
  After lunch we went home and hung out the rest of the evening.  All and all a great day.
  Finally, I want to let you know that we send prayers for all of you regularly and looked forward to seeing you when we return.

These are part of the reason Easter is so special to me.  I thank the Lord for them daily.

   If I have mentioned it please forgive me, but we will be returning home around mid July.  We love and miss all of you.