Last class

I taught my last class this week. I still have grading and the study tour yet to go, but still it feels sad to no longer really be a teacher. I learned a lot from my student the past two years and I will miss the energy and excitement of getting up in front of a class.
Here's my last class:
And me with my student, Cecilia:

Spring conference: Xiuning Middle School and Huangshan

For Yale-China's unofficial Spring Conference, 18 of the fellows (plus friends) gathered at Xiuning Middle School in Anhui province. We took an overnight trip up Huangshan, a famous Chinese mountain. We had great food, incredible sites and the best people you could ask for.
(I forgot my camera, so thanks to Max for his photos!)
Beautiful scenery:

More beautiful scenery:
Max, Meredith and me (in front of a famous tree. No, seriously, it's the most famous tree in China):
Lots of tourists at a tourist spot in China? Never!

Ok, I didn't take this photo. But it did spark some debate in the group as to what inspired it.

Thailand for lunar new year

Ok, so this was a couple months ago, but anyway. Mom and Dad met me in Bangkok and then we went north to Chiang Mai, then south to a yoga resort on Koh Phan Ngan.
Here we are at the largest market in Asia, Bangkok's Chatuchak Market:

About to get on a river boat:
Before our elephant ride:
And by the beach:

December in Denver

I was at home during the blizzard that hit Denver before Christmas. We heard lots of horror stories about people being stranded, but the four of us were already home, so we had great time (once Dad made it home from the office after his bus got stuck!).
So I could lie and say we built this snowman with neighborhood children, but really Scott and I built it and Mom and Dad helped decorate. You're never too old to build a snowman!

Singapore half marathon

Ok, so this is a really old post and it happened a really long time ago. But I left for America a few days after . . .
So at the beginning of December, I went to Singapore to run a half marathon. It was great--I was really happy to set this goal for myself and complete it, Singapore is a cool city and I was glad to go back, and it was a nice way to finish off the semester (I brought a ton of grading with me). I would post pictures, but I was there alone, so I didn't take any. And the official one from the race got my number wrong, so it's a picture of an old Asian guy looking unhappy.

Teaching conference in Changsha

This year's Yale-China teaching conference was in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, which is due north of Hong Kong. We took the overnight train, which is a real China experience.
There Yale-China fellows teach at Yali Middle School, a school that Yale-China helped found (hence the name) 100 years ago. It was great to see Yali and get to see all the other fellows. We ate delicious Hunan cuisine and managed to find time for bowling and just hanging out as well as teaching discussions. This is me in a Yali class:

Weekending in Taipei

At the end of October, a crew of 6 of us headed to Taipei for the weekend. I was really interested to see Taipei finally, having read so much about the ROC and its history. Although we did not see any protests, it was a really interesting time to be in Taiwan. We had a great time--especially tasting all the snacks that Taipei has to offer! Here Mark enjoys a giant piece of fried chicken:


The crew:
The Chiang Kai-Shek memorial (Aunt Martha recommended to see both the Sun Yat-Sen and this memorial together--it made for very interesting reflections on the roles the leaders played and how they are remembered):



At a beautiful temple, where we saw many people gathering after work:

The happiest of runs

We did the Happy Run a few weeks ago, just like last year. In the not terribly competitive category of female staff, the ladies of GB did quite well. I managed to come in second and get an even more ridiculous trophy than last year. But the day was beautiful and it was a fun time and a chance to hang out with Dr. Man!

Another year, another mid-autumn festival

Now that I've spent more than a year in Hong Kong, I can say without hesitation that Mid-Autumn Festival is my favorite festival. It has mooncakes, lanterns, moon watching! What could be better?
This year's Victoria Park display:

Sarabeth and Jacob celebrating with their lantern:

And the Buddha was large.

The largest in the world, in fact. Seated, outdoor, bronze, that is. Yes, I finally made it to Hong Kong's Big Buddha on Lantau Island. It is not old (1983), it has no particular historical value, but it is very, very large.
Meredith, Mark, Jacob and I made the trek out to Lantau to take the newly installed cable car to see the Buddha. Despite some early glitches that have caused some Hong Kongers to believe the cable car is dangerous, it is a beautiful (and safe) ride with great views!

Mong Kok Flower Market

Possibly my favorite place in Hong Kong, the Mong Kok flower market is a block or two of little stalls selling beautiful flowers and plants. It's also a nice place to practice Cantonese--the people are friendly and don't immediately break into English when they look at me. A lovely thing to do on a Saturday in Hong Kong is to swing by the flower market after yoga class and buy a few things to brighten up my room and the apartment. These are my purchases this week:

Beer Tasting in America

These are from back in August, when I went home for two weeks. It was a wonderful, too short trip of seeing family and Tyler and America. When Tyler was in CO, we went with Mommy and Daddy to a beer tasting in Manitou Springs.