Some quick updates:

1)       The fundraiser ends tomorrow. Right now we’re at 3,575 Yuan. I’m confident we’ll hit the 6,100 mark.

2)       Sarah & Rachel went to Changchun today with the two babies that will have the surgery. They were scheduled for last week, but, if they have the surgery this week, then they will be back in Siping before we leave this term. It will be good to have some before and after pictures.

3)       As of today, it is 17 more days until America! I can’t freakin’ wait. It’ll be good to be home and tell EVERYBODY EVERYTHING about China. Clear your calendars and let’s sit down for a chat.

4)       My left leg is getting better. It was sore to bend it, but now it’s more flexible. At the gym, I’ve been doing some walking on the treadmill and that really helps. My gait is still a little slow, but, as of two days ago, I’m doing stairs again. Rock on!

5)       I’ve changed the songs for Windows Media Player. I hope you’ll enjoy the new selections.

6)       Siping is getting hotter and hotter. Today’s high should be 87. Yikes! I loved Siping until now. (You may be thinking, "Well, Sonny, put your shorts on."  My response is, "I have been doing that all winter!")

7)       I’ve been getting a lot of emails from different people who have been reading my blog. Thanks for coming on board. If you would also like to be on my mailing list, send me an email with your name, address, phone number and email, then I’ll add you to my list. My newsletter contains private items that will not appear on my public blog. I send one out every two months or so.

Peace!

Number of views as of this blog entry: 2465.

If you’ve been following my Chinese life, you know the group of us goes to the orphanage on a weekly basis. Well, many of the young children who are unwanted have cleft palate problems. A cleft palate is where there is not a clear “separation” of the mouth and the nose, so that a couple of them have teeth growing horizontally above the gums and cannot speak Chinese as they properly should. Right now, we are raising 6,100 RMB (roughly $760 USD) to fund two surgeries for those who need it most. We are raising money by having a raffle by selling tickets. Each ticket is a chance for our students to win a special prize – and the prize is their foreign teachers! Here’s what we’re offering: dinner and a movie with me, KFC and games with Robb, KTV with Ruth, Western meal & cooking lesson with the Wus, park playtime with the Norries, Mexican meal & Spanish lesson with Sarah, and concert & coffee with Seth. The eighth bonus prize is four students will win a meal with all of us at once! When we launched this fundraiser on Monday, students freaked out. As of our first week total, the students have raised 2,418 RMB. We draw the prizes next Thursday. There’s quite a buzz going around!

Number of views as of this blog entry: 2447.

On Wednesday, the team was playing volleyball. Well, I was trying to hit a nice bump back and hurt my left leg (like the outside). What I think happened was it wanted to pop out (as in my knee or something) but my tendons didn’t let it. My leg was twitching for a like a minute, then resumed normally. I have had a little trouble walking on it since it was really sensitive. But now, some 60 hours later after the accident, it feels quite well. I’m getting plenty of rest (which is affording me time to grade papers and read my Wheaton books) and it’s feeling stronger everyday. I just keep thinking God that nothing serious happened to me. I know He watches over us…even when we aggressively play volleyball in China!

Number of views as of this blog entry: 2443.

My last journal entry for my Juniors was “If you were an animal, what would you be and why?” I asked them this same question two more times as a color and a food. Then I turned the question on me and said, “If Sonny were an animal/color/food, what would he be and why?” Look on the right side of my blog to find their entries under the title “Junior Writing”. Some of them made me just crack up!

Number of views as of this blog entry: 2419.

Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve updated. So let’s me “bullet-point” you on some stuff. First of all, one of the reasons I haven't updated is because I'm winding down this term. Another is that MSN wouldn't allow me to add to my blog for like three days. It was frustrating but now I'm finally one. Here goes.

Last Thursday was Seth’s birthday. So we all hoped on a train to Changchun for our usually stop of Pizza Hut. We met up with some of our fellow teachers in Changchun and had a good time. We also ate with some past students who are working in Changchun. Earlier that day, I also hung out with the Norries and their children’s friends. I got to do bumper cars which I hadn’t done in a while. The little park where we went to was a mini-Six Flags Over Texas at best. It was fun.

After the meal, David surprised Jeweliann with a night at the Shang-ri-la in Changchun. Bling bling! While they were gone, I helped Sarah to watch their kids. Among the most interesting events was: 1) I think everyone thought Sarah & I were married and Josiah & Sarah were our kids (awkward!); 2) at one point, I had Josiah taking some pictures with my camera (you know, to keep him entertained) and then, out of no where (like in 20 seconds or less), we had a crowd of about 30 Chinese people watching him – at which point a police officer screamed in Chinese, “Haven’t you ever since foreigners before” – to which I “walked” quickly because he scared me with his tone: 3) while playing on the train station “playground” (actually, a small pen with a little slide), little Sarah peed in her pants and, of course, we had nothing to change her with, soooo big Sarah “hosed” little Sarah down in the bathroom and used her own sweater as little Sarah’s “outfit”; then 4) when we arrived in Siping, all the taxis wanted to charge us more than the standard 5 Yuan fee (I think because when they see us, they just think “money”). It was waaay too much sucakge! But it was all for Dave & Jew (by the way, she hates it when I call her this!).

On Sunday I took pictures with two of my student friends. I’m going to make picture cards for my second year in China and they look cool. I often have surreal moments of being in China and Sunday was one of them. It’s hard to believe that I’ve lived here almost a year and my second term in almost over. Selah.

This week it has been windy and warm. No more coats & now it’s all about the shorts. It’s enough that I’m starred at normally, but with shorts on, I stick out all the more. Chinese people are indeed funny.

Next door, they are also building a new student housing apartment. I wake up every morning to the loudest rumblings and nosiest Chinese spoken on the planet. They often work all night. Sometimes they work on top of the building right next to me, so I enjoy the “peeping tom” action happening at all times of the day. I guess that’s teaching me not to walk around naked! J (Please forget I said that!)

Four weeks of teaching are all that’s left. As I write this, I will be leaving in 31 days. THIRTY-ONE DAYS! It’s hard to believe. I am so looking forward to seeing friends, family and being in my native land. It’ll be a little bit of culture shock as I have forgotten what it’s like to act like an American. Oi vay!

Yesterday, I navigated the student dining hall #3 for the first time. I found out how to get a money card, how to put money on it, how to use it to pay for food, how to buy drinks, and what’s what. It was quite an adventure. I’m very happy that they have chao fan (fried rice) and hua sheng lu (peanut milk). Life is indeed good. See pics of all of these different events in the album “Random Shots”.

Number of views as of this blog entry:  2376.

China Will Not Change One-Child Policy to Fix Gender Imbalance (April 24, 2006, AFP)

China's male-dominated gender imbalance will not prompt the government to change its stringent family planning policy. "The major reason for China's rising sex ratio is the entrenched concept of 'boys are better than girls'," said Zhang Weiqing, director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission. He blamed the gender imbalance on the use of ultra-sound technology that allows families to identify the sex of fetuses and abort girls. "Does the imbalance have something to do with family planning? Yes, but there is no direct connection," Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying. "Adjusting the family planning policy is not a fundamental solution to dealing with a rising sex ratio." China's family planning policy has tried to limit one child for every family, with rural couples allowed to have two children if the first child is a girl. According to China's last census in 2000, for every 100 girls born, there were 117 baby boys. This compares to between 103 and 106 males born in other parts of the world. According to a study issued by France's National Institute of Demographic Studies in October last year, if such birth rate ratios continue, China will have up to 25 million men with no hope of finding a female mate between 2015 and 2030. Such a situation could pose huge challenges to the government in maintaining social stability, the study said.

Number of views as of this blog entry: 2248.

Dalian is a beautiful city! It is in the province just south of where I live near the coast. It is a very multi-cultural city as there were Russian, Korea, Japanese, American, Argentinean, and Italian cultural presences throughout the area. I had a great time traveling with a couple of teachers from Changchun and a student.

What was the most fun to travel with a student was his “firsts”. First time to drink Starbuck’s cappuccino, first time to ride in a sleeper car, first time to see dolphins, first time to go on a VACATION. He was tired half-way into the second day! It was funny.

Dalian’s coastline is gorgeous. There is tons of shopping areas and much to see. We went to the Sun Asia Ocean and Polar World, Dalian Zoo, and many shopping districts. I had my fill of awesome food: cheeseburgers, fries, a Philly cheese & steak sandwiches, strawberry cheesecake, fried squid, Italian cream sodas, garlic potatoes, and more. If you come to China, you’ve just got to go to Dalian. See the albums “Dalian Zoo”, “Dalian’s Sun Asia World”, “Dalian Food Shots” and “Dalian’s City Parks” for pictures.

Number of views as of this blog entry: 2220.