First week back teaching

Well, I am back to work. This year I am contracted to only teach three days a week. This will provide me with time to study and do other important things.

My first week has been a little strange. It seems my department, the International College, is being phased out. The few students that were left decided to abandon ship as well. So, basically, I had no students to teach.

Soon I will be assigned new classes. Although I will miss my students, this may end up being a big help to me. In the International College, we were down to only one class, which meant I needed to prepare a new lesson for every class instead of reusing the same one over and over. Now I may only need to prepare a few lessons each week.

It seems things change often and without warning in China. I have learned the most valuable trait to have while working here is flexibility. I have to exercise it often.

A new house!

We have signed a ten month contract for an apartment in the university district of Beijing. Our new apartment is about 100 square meters and is nicely decorated. It will need quite a bit of scrubbing and painting, but we are excited. Our rent has jumped substantially from 1,500 yuan to 3,500 yuan per month, but we know God can provide.

Our new home is basically just down the road from the main Olympic venue, but we may not be living here when the Olympics come. Our owner is eager to rent it out for a steep price on a daily basis during the Games, so our contract only goes until the end of June.

We like our new area very much. We are within biking distance of some neat and lively areas. We are also in the middle of some of the best universities in China. The only downside is the time I will need to spend on the bus to work. Fortunately, I am only teaching three days a week, and I can use my time on buses to study.