Are Tanks Really More Important Than Pears?

Hey Folks,
Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I think I might have gotten into some trouble with that last panda post or something. I haven't been able to access my blog for about two weeks now. Stupid firewall. But I'm back up now, so hopefully it will stay that way.

Things have been really busy around here lately. Classes are in full swing right now, and I am finally teaching my full schedule. I've got two Brit Lit classes each week, six Bible Lit Classes, two Chinese classes, and three extra-curricular classes each week. It's nice to be teaching so much. Teaching is easily one of my favorite things about China. I love being in the classroom, love interacting with the students, love sharing with them. The students in my Brit Lit class have really been going above and beyond lately. They're getting into the readings, taking discussions to places I wouldn't have expected, and really making me proud. Last week I had them write sonnets for our Shakespeare Unit, and they really blew me away with some of them. I think S. Eva would be proud. I'll try and get some of them posted later.

Bible Lit is going, just going. Still waiting on the books, that will make a huge difference. We covered Creation/Adam and Eve/Garden of Eden this week. Next week is Noah and the Tower of Babel. I'm finding it difficult to keep the religion out of it, but I don't think they really seem to notice. They actually give the biggest groans when I want to talk about themes and character development and other 'lit' related topics. I think secretly they find the religion side of things more interesting, just because it's not something they've ever been exposed to. It's going to be an interesting class.

The extra-curricular are also great. I don't know how many of you read Fr. Brian's blog, but the student of his in the hospital is also a student of Cletus and myself. Selina (Ting Ting) has got to be one of the bravest souls I've ever met. At the beginning of September she was in a car accident which killed her boyfriend and left her with two broken legs, a broken ankle, some internal injuries, and a long road to recovery. But somehow she has battled through all that life has thrown at her these last two months, and she continues to be an inspiration to us all. Anyway, she's stuck in the hospital sitting in a bed all day, when she is supposed to be taking Bible Lit with me this semester, so I petitioned to the Dean of the English Department and got her to agree to let me give Selina class in the hospital each week. She'll get full credit, and hopefully Cletus and I can make sure she still graduates on time, which would be awesome. So Cletus and I spend a lot of time up at Er Er Er Yuan each week, bringing Selina food, chocolate, and company. It goes without saying, but any prayers you can lift up for Selina, her family, and the family of her boyfriend, would be appreciated by many.

My other teaching responsibilities involve one of my Chinese friends, Jenny. Jenny is going through a pretty rough time right now. Her mother passed away about a month ago, and her step-father is also giving her problems, so life's kind of dealt her a bad hand recently. But thankfully she approached me a few weeks ago and expressed a strong interest in learning more about Christianity and the Bible, so I've been meeting with her twice a week to answer her questions and go over some Bible passages with her. She also comes to Mass with us each week out at the Seminary, so hopefully God can work in her heart. Please keep Jenny in your prayers as well.

I guess that's all for now. Like I said before, hopefully the firewall gods have been appeased and things continue to run smoothly. I guess Cletus has started his own blog now. I don't have the link, but you can go to Fr. Brian's blog and link to it from there. I will hopefully get the link up this week. If you remember Cletus' guest post on this blog last year, well then you'll share my high expectations for his work. Good times.

The East Is Red,
I'm Off To Bed.

-Aaron