Gifts from Above

This week has been an incredible week. We have had 3 days of beautiful sunshine and perfect weather. It has really lifted our spirits. Craig met two new first year students this week. Both are now coming to study English with him. They are really nice and open to learning. I also have two new girls coming to study English. They are both encouraging and I look forward to studying more with them. Our English Readings are also going very well. The groups we have are very interested and we are enjoying getting to spend time with them.
This past week I taught some of my students how to make pumpkin bread. They had a good time and next weekend they are teaching me how to make mán tou (steamed bread). I hope that I can learn to make several different Chinese dishes. A lot of my students are willing to teach me.
Craig and I have recently taken up the sport of badminton. We decided since we are residents of China, it is a must to learn how to play. Since we both have not played since we were 9 years old, we were just a little rusty. The first time we tried to play, it was not pretty. We played against one of the Japanese teachers and his students. I think they were holding back on us. We have improved a little, but we have a long way to go. We have also been playing volleyball with some of the teachers here. Our team won the championship! Craig starts playing team football(soccer) this week. He has been playing some, but the league games start this week.
This weekend is our school's sports meeting. It is like a mini-Olympics. They have basketball, football, and track games. We get out of school on Monday because of it. We have a four day weekend, which is great! It has been a perfect weekend of relaxation! We've studied, read, exercised, played badminton, enjoyed the beautiful sunshine, cleaned our apartment, and watched a few movies. We also found a new restaurant called Lem Hamburger. Granted they do not always have hamburgers. They do have chicken sandwiches and popcorn chicken and they have french fries! It is nice when you want some unhealthy American food.
It is starting to get cold here, but I am thankful that is not really cold yet. I do not know if I am ready for the winter here. We plan on traveling in the south of China over our winter break to avoid the cold weather. We will just do what all of the Chinese people do, wear lots and lots of layers.
We have posted some pictures recently. I hope you get the chance to look at them!