This weekend was a very busy one. We finished up the volleyball tournament and we had some fellow teachers and our boss through the organization come to visit us. It was really fun to have everyone together in one place to talk and share and enjoy fellowship. The Boss is doing many great things in the area and through teaching in China. It was also fun to hear about the teachers in colleges throughout China from Beijing, Chongqing, Xining, Guiyang and Anshun. There was even a family with kids, so that brought much more life to our home. The weather was very nice this weekend, so travelling around and playing volleyball was very nice.

We played two games this weekend, the semifinal game which we won. We were playing against the host school, the No. 1 Middle School, so there were tons of kids gathered around the court chanting "Let's Go" Jia, or cheering whenever their team did well, "Hao Qiu" meaning good ball. It was a very fun match. Afterward many students came to congratulate me and even one student came to tell Patty a secret, "Your husband is a very good pai qiu (volleyball) player." For the championship game, we played against the hardest team. The games were all very close, but we ended up winning all three. It was very exciting!! Afterwards, they had a closing ceremony with awards. They made Kristine and I get the awards for the men and women's teams. We receive a large plaque, a huge bundle of flowers, and a red envelope with our winnings. We took lots of pictures, so we will be sending some out through snapfish again. If you are not getting the pictures, send us an email and we will put you on the list. I think I will miss being a part of this team. There were quite the mixture of characters: from our stern and impressive coach (also our neighbor), to Tom (our English name for him) who I often practiced with who tried so hard but everyone always told him how bad he was, to the joker on the team (#16), Chairman Ho who was always there to give a high five, and many other great personalities. They were already asking for next year--will you be here 4 years or more??

Afterwards, we spent our winnings on a huge banquet. Supposedly, we spent almost everything 2000 kuai about $300. We had tons of dishes and hot pot (it was so spicy most of the teachers could not eat it). They played cards and mah jong for a long time also. We left when they started playing drinking games, but it was a great day. It was fun to compete again!!

Today, I went to class like usual, but when I got to class there were no students there. I was very confused, but heard that this week the 06 three year students do not have classses but have to do manual labor picking up stones in front of where one of the new buildings. I decided that I would go help and it was a really fun experience. The soil is heavy clay and there were stones everywhere. They had two shovels, but did not know how to use them, and three hoe like tools with much larger blades that they mainly used to dig the stones out of the ground. We dug many large stones out of the ground and transported them to the pile. I even got a chance to try to teach them how to use a shovel (not used for farming in this area). They taught we how to use the hoe, as many of them come from farm families. We are hoping to have many of the students from this class come to our house this weekend to watch Les Miserables. It should be fun to have time to talk to them outside of class. I have been visiting with many of them as I walk the dog late at night. Their electricity is out in the dorms forcing them to study or go elsewhere from 7:30-9:00 pm. Keep them in your thoughts this week as this is a big opportunity to build friendships. Hope all of you are well and we always enjoy hearing from each and everyone of you.