Chapter 18: Being a Rather Large Nutshell of the Author's Busyness

So much has happened since I last posted! None of it violently thrilling (or even peacefully thrilling), but busyness has been my theme this week. In thought and in deed.

At the end of last week I was busy with the IT conference and spending all day (three days in a row) helping students log in to websites, mail, skydrive clouds, and all other manner of e-problems. Friday afternoon was a relief.

Sort of. As soon as I got home, we had a British friend come over. We went to a noodle joint run by Chinese Muslims. Basically the best noodles for the fairest price in Qingdao. If you could have fajita lamb with onions and peppers and noodles, you'll have a good idea of what it tastes like. So we got to know Joel, our British friend, and it was great.

Immediately after that, we had two guys come to shoot a promotional video for our school system. These guys are great and they were a lot of fun to hang out with, but they stayed with us and it was a lot more work than I had been expecting. But our apartment and we will be in the promo video now for people looking to join the company. So that's pretty fun! (Completely random side note: We have a water tower with potable water and every once in awhile it will have a sporadic release of an air bubble even if no one has been near it for hours. Such a thing just happened, and in my empty home it made me jump a bit too high. Ridiculous.)

Monday I started Chinese classes. I'm really excited about this, and my teacher is very good. We got through 6 lessons in one session, which was twice as many as he was expecting! So I am going to start learning the Chinese characters as well as the spoken language. Exciting!

Last night we (for future reference, "we" will usually refer to Zack, my roommate, and me) had an invitation to dinner with a great family at the school. The dad is a few years older than me and he and I are quite similar in many ways, so it was fun to be there, even though I was pretty wiped out at this point. But his son is 5 and reminds me so forcefully of my own nephew that I couldn't help but be amazed at the similarities.

And on top of all this "normal" life craziness, I've been trying to get caught up with my teaching.

Overwhelmed. But getting better each day. And now for a night in with nothing to do but a bit of work and a bit more relaxation.

Chapter 14: Five Postcards from a Lovely State of Mind

1. Two weeks in - already laughing so hard I can't breathe.

2. That warm feeling you get when you think of love,
making you enjoy the very breath you take.

3. That falling feeling you get when you remember two years,
making you love all the more.

4. Eyes may look different,
                     but smiles look the same.
Tongue may be different,
                     but hearts need the same.

5. The water seeps through
          the soil of my chest
               and begins to crack
                     the bedrock below.

Chapter 13: About Tim

I am entering into sorrow.

There is a fantastic family at this school. Well, there are many. But this particular family is particularly wonderful. He is a high school science teacher, and she is a nurse in the States, but a stay-at-home mother here. They have four children, two of which are adopted.

This past May, they had to deal with one of the most difficult events in any person's life. Their son, Tim, had a significant fall. It was not survivable, and he was pronounced dead several days later. He was in fifth grade. 

The school is still deeply mourning the loss of this young child. As a newcomer, I can sense the grief even though I don't necessarily feel it myself. As an empathetic person, when Tim is mentioned and one or two people around the room quietly begin shedding tears, I can't help but feel full of sorrow myself. I wish I could remove all of their pain and heartache.

And next Wednesday, when my students come, it will be a whole new level. My 6th graders this year will have been Tim's classmates. And I teach them 3 classes. It will be a new challenge, but I am asking to be used in this experience. And I know that the glory will go to the right place.

Chapter 3: Being a Record of the Douchiness of the Author (edit)

One of the hard things about living overseas and coming home again is deciding which relationships require one-to-one face time and which relationships will probably slide by the wayside. How do you decide who to "cut out" of your life?

I spent the last weekend in the Twin Cities visiting friends, but there were still about 300 people I would have loved to have seen (that's not even an exaggeration). Yet time restraints and personal energy levels dictated only a few get-togethers.

Where is the line? When do you get to the point where you decide, "You are a truly fantastic person and I love you dearly, yet you don't quite make the cut"? And how can a relationship remain on solid ground after a decision like that? I unavoidably feel like a jerk.

Thankfully, I'm friends with someone whose friendship is constantly a solid rock. What a good thing I have him in my life, or I would probably be really frustrated with my poor relationships with most of my other friends.

EDIT: I am fully aware that some people are much better friends than I am. These people still make an effort to remain friends even if we don't have face time together. Those people, too, I am so thankful for.