(this entry copied from my other blog that I'm currently using: http://runronrun.blogspot.com/)

How odd that in nearly exactly a month later, I get the urge to post a new entry in this relatively new, but seldom updated, blog.

And just as my fingers are ready to transmit my reflections...Blogger gets blocked in China!

I haven't heard the official word, but I'm assuming Blogger has joined several other blogs and user-oriented video and/or content sharing sites that were blocked this year due to the nation's important anniversary's - 50 for Chinese rule of Tibet, and 60 for the Com.Party. To minimize or prevent the spread of local news, sites like YouTube has been blocked.

Anyways...nothing new under the sun, really. :)

It's been a month since I've last posted, so what's new?

Sundays - I still teach a kid's class one Sunday a month, and that has been a great blessing. I approach it ESL style because 80% of the kids there are local. I'm thankful for my bilingual assistants, but moreso, thankful for my patient expat kids - who have heard the stories before but do not act out their boredom in the form of rebelious behavior.
Mondays - I'm still on the "backseat", meaning I chose to step down from teaching due to the busy schedule. We've been going through the book of Mark, and only on chapter 3 after spending a month. Soon, I'll return to facilitating since the main leader will go on 'paternity leave'.
Tuesdays - I've startup up running again after a long bout with a lung infection back in Feb., and just regaining full lung capacity. This time, I'm training for the 10K run for Seafair on July 25. Would love to run with you if you're in town!
Wednesdays - The kindergarten after-school class has finished after its 12 week run. It has been great! And I'm thankful for the new approach - ESL Style Bible teaching. Basically, teach the important target language first, then share the stories so that they can relate to them and hopefully apply. The evening fellowship group for elementary school kids are still going, but the numbers have gone down, 25 to now averaging 10. Small is nice, since I feel I can connect with each kid more. It's also safe...25 was basically pushing it.
Thursdays/Fridays - usually I work out. Hang out with friends. Rest.

Other:
Teaching - I'm moving up in the career of ESL/EFL teaching, I've been made Department Head for the entire school including the Kindergarten and the future Middle and High School. I feel the weight of the expectations already.
Courtship - I've been courting this great woman of God since early March (another reason I've been busy). Don't know how much to share about it here, but I'll say this: she is a huge blessing in my life and I'm having the greatest and easiest of time gearing our relationship for God's glory. I'm off to Hong Kong next week to see her family! Also, she'll be joining my school as a counselor - so this "long distance" aspect of our relationship will soon end!
Rest of the school year - While transitioning to this new position, I'm focused on wrapping up the school year by writing and directing an English language play. It's been fun (so far)!
Summer plans - I'll be home (Seattle) for the month of July, with a side-trip to San Francisco for the 4th of July Weekend. It'll be good to see my brother before he moves on to Virginia to begin his career as a professor. Then I'll fly back to Beijing, then off to Hong Kong to help my girlfriend move.

Well, I just don't know what to do with this blog anymore - seriously, with Facebook and a more hectic life in recent months have given very little desire to write about it.

But, for some reason I itch to keep this up - but wow, three months is a bit too long without an update, yeah?

September - The school year started up again, new students and new teachers. Personally, I love it but I also sorta not love it. While it's exciting to meet new teachers, knowing that some of them are here for only a year brings sadness that a school year is all I've got to enjoy the time I have with them. This year's batch of new teachers are really awesome. A retired Canadian, a dating couple from New York, and a faithful Texan. That faithful Texan has been a gigantic blessing to the work out here in the harvest.
In the kindergarten, much has remained the same. I was supposed to hire an additional English language teacher, but the contract negotiation fell through. The number of kids remain the same, so we really didn't need a new teacher after all. (But I am recruiting! Interested? Let me know!)
And I guess because I need the extra challenge, I took on a primary school class, teaching Language Arts to local kids in grades 4, 5, and 6. This is a whole different arena than teaching kindergarten - I can actually carry a conversation with these pre-teens! So far, it's been a lot of fun, but it is more work than what I've been accustomed to.

October - After six weeks of work, guess what - one week of holidays! Yeah! So I spent the week in Seoul, South Korea. I've always wanted to visit there and I wasn't disappointed. I loved it! Riding the subways was easy, the museums were cool, and the food awesome. The rest of October was the beginning of a new project for me, an Awana type gathering at a family's home for an average of 25 kids. It's been a great blessing sharing stories from the good book to these kids who really want to know him. Best of all, the parents have been extremely supportive. Oh, I ran a half-marathon in Beijing. It was fun, but retrieving my bag after the race was a nightmare. Never again if the race organizers are the same.

November - Around this time, I was getting pretty beat. Not just because of the busyness with teaching, the new weekly gathering with the kids, co-leading a young adult group, and training for later marathons, but emotionally I was worried about home. Hard times have fallen, and let's just say, it doesn't get any easier when the folks get older. Lots to think about concerning the future, and this has certainly been the time about trusting in him that he will provide. The other big development at this time has been about my roommate - he's gone home after being my roommate of two years. I miss him - he was a good conversation buddy and great guy to bounce ideas off of concerning projects. Having a roommate who's like-minded in more ways than one is really rare here.

And as I roll into December, my co-workers keep asking me "So what will you do during the four-day Christmas weekend?" They assume I'll travel somewhere, but really, I'm looking forward to doing just nothing. I need some time to reflect and pray.

Coming up this month: a new roommate! After only four days of solitude, I'll have new company. My school's Christmas production, and I'm going to play Santa - including sleigh and reindeer!

So, my apologies if you had been wondering "hey, where have you been?". Otherwise, thanks for reading my update.