Halloween!

This afternoon, Washington Square Park on NYU's campus had games and candy for small children.



There was a big parade tonight on 6th Avenue and so the subway stop where I usually catch a B train home was completely packed with people:



Craziness! As I pushed towards the subway, it got more and more crowded! So frustrating - especially when I found that subway stop was shut down due to Halloween! So I slowly made my way over to Union Square to catch a Q train home.

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, my cousins children got all dressed up. Here's Luke (age 2.5) on his horse:



Here's Luke's younger brother John (about 5 months):



Here's Catherine (about 5 months):



Aren't they cute!

Return of the Hillbillies

Well, my grandparents and parents flew back home this afternoon. I took them out to JFK and waved goodbye as they went through security at about 2:30 pm. We've been busy up here! After church on Sunday, we ate lunch at the Peanut Butter Company where we had an Elvis.



Then we saw the campus of my university, New York University, where Will Smith is currently filming the movie "I am Legend."



Following that, we went out to look at Shea Stadium (where the Mets play) and Arthur Ashe Stadium (where the US Open is held). For dinner, we ate at a Pete's Italian restaurant underneath the Brooklyn Bridge with a nice view of the Manhattan skyline. On Monday (yesterday), we saw the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in the morning.



Then we took a bus from lower Manhattan past the World Trade Center site, Chinatown, Little Italy, Union Square and midtown. Along the way, Grandma made a friend on the bus. After taking lots of photos from the top of the Empire State Building...



...we swung by Macy's and then headed back to Brooklyn. We ate supper at a nice restaurant near my apartment which brought each of us a ton of food - unlimited bread and appetizer, soup, salad, main course (meats and vegetables), and desert.



None of us made it through the main course -- some not even through the salad. This morning we took the Staten Island Ferry from the tip of lower Manhattan past the Statue of Liberty over to St. George on Staten Island. We then took some buses to reach Coney Island,



a beautiful sandy beach in southern Brooklyn which is about 3 miles from my apartment. While there, we stopped by Nathan's, famous for its hot dog eating contest each July 4. We did see a lot in four days! Just hope we didn't tire my grandparents out too much!


It does look like they were enjoying themselves on this subway, but I do realize climbing all those stairs are hard on the old folks! Aren't they cute? OK, now I have to study for my Game Theory midterm....

At the Tabernacle

Yesterday, my grandparents, parents, and I attended church at the Brooklyn Tabernacle.



We were able to worship God with about 2,000 others. The church was a blend of many races -- A black family sat to our right, a Korean family sat in front of us, and an Hispanic man sat behind us. During the service, a missionary from Haiti spoke as well as a group from Western Michigan's Teen Challenge. One of the speakers was from western Kentucky. Here is one of the songs they sang.



Here is the chorus: Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty! Worthy is the Lamb who was slain! Highest praises, honor and glory... be unto your name! Be unto your name!

Brooklyn Hillbillies!

On Friday morning, my grandparents and parents flew up to the Big Apple to visit me. This was the first time that my grandparents, who have visited all 50 US states, had ever been to NY City. I picked them up at JFK and brought them over to a hotel near my apartment. Actually, the hotel is really just a house in a residential area which has converted its rooms into hotel rooms. On Friday, we visited Castle Clinton National Monument, Battery Park, the American Stock Exchange, the site of the World Trade Center 9/11 attack...



...Trinity Church and its cemetery with the graves of Robert Fulton & Alexander Hamilton (of VP Aaron Burr duel fame), Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, and Federal Hall, the first US capitol where Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789. Federal Hall contains the stone Washington stood and the Bible he put his hand on during the ceremony. On Saturday, we saw St. Patrick's Cathedral, 5th Avenue shopping district, Rockefeller Plaza, the NBC tour with a view of the studios where Dateline NBC, Nightly News with Brian Williams, and Saturday Night Live are filmed. For a few minutes, we actually got to see the SNL crew rehearse the show that aired tonight.



After leaving NBC, we ate Thai food at Bangkok House on Restaurant Row (46th St), and then visited Yankee Stadium and Times Square. I don't have a car here, so we've ridden a bus and lots of subways - the 3, B, D, E, M, Q, R - and done lots of walking! I've been working them pretty hard. My grandparents, are after all 82 and 79 years old! But they are holding up pretty well, depsite all the stairs in the subways that they aren't used to climbing. They'll be here until Tuesday -- so we'll have more to see!

Purpose Driven Theological Questions!

I got to chat online this morning with a friend of mine who has started a weekly study of the Purpose Driven Life. She has only been to church a few times in her life, and I'm glad I was able to help hook her up with the class. Anyway, now she has many questions for me! Here's a sampling of the questions we discussed in our chat this morning...

- I want to ask you a question: I was told that our life is not an accident--it was actually planned by God before we were born but there are babies dying every day because of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. if God plans those babies to come to this world, then why didn't he stop it from happening?

- then when do you think God will intervene what is happening to us? for example, I heard people in the real world received God's healing power

- God promises that our life is eternal. in this case in order to go to Heaven after death, people would choose to have faith in God when they are dying--they might be really really bad when they are alive. then is it fair for those who believe in God for their lifetime and do good things everyday and pray every day?

She's a very smart & inquisitive girl.

Pau grad students now online

Fifteen graudates of Tianjin Foreign Studies University (TFSU), where I taught during the past two years, were accepted to pursue a Masters in Enterprise Administration in Pau France this year. Many of them are good friends of mine. They left China in late September but did not get Internet access from the university until today! So slow. Anyway, now you can see some of their photos on Pan Ke's blog.

Nick & Laura's Wedding

I just got back from a wedding in Louisville, Kentucky, where my cousin Laura just got married. It was the first time I had ever met her husband Nick. I had a good time in Kentucky with my family. I flew down on Friday and back home today. Here are some photos:

My mom has 36 more photos of the wedding here online.

Yale PhD runs in McLean

My friend Matt Gunterman, who was my roommate when we studied Chinese history in Kunming China in 1998, is running for Judge/Executive in McClean County. He won the primary with 51% of the vote in a three way race, but faces a challenge in November when he takes on the incumbant. Matt is now pursuing a Ph.D. in history at Yale.

Boxes from China

Today my mom emailed me and said she received the two boxes of gifts, souvenirs, and other junk that "Bill" Chen Xi and Pan Ke helped me ship back to the US on July 26. I'm glad it made it OK. I haven't seen the condition of the box yet (she said there was a small hole in it), but I am excited that the box is there. Actually, I forgot what I put inside those boxes. I guess I'll find out when I get home for Thanksgiving.

Speaking of shipping boxes to America...In late March, my mom mailed me a package with a gift for my friend Feng Fan, as she is now going to graduate school in Europe. However, I received confirmation that someone else "intercepted" this package and shipped it back to the USA on Monday, April 10. I took photos on my digital camera and the lady in the post office positively identified the culprit. See, too and friends. The gift has not been seen since. :( Sorry, Feng Fan. I admit I have made many mistakes in my life, but revenge belongs to God - not to us. Although I have forgiven the culprit, it was, unfortunately, a bad reflection on this person's character and a terrible witness to students. Just ask Bill what he thinks about it!

Back from the Big Apple

My parents and I flew back to Kentucky today. My mom has put some of her New York photos online. Here is a photo looking towards the Brooklyn Bridge (Statue of Liberty is in the far distance) and one of us at Yankee Stadium:

G'bye Mate!

Jin Yi has left Tianjin. She's now in Weihai, her hometown, where she will quickly pack and get ready for her flight to Australia next week. This morning she flew from Beijing to Weihai. She had been living in Tanggu where she worked, but since her fight leaves Beijing at 7, she needs to catch the 4am bus to Beijing from Tianjin. The question for her -- where should she sit with all of her belongings while waiting for the bus 4am bus? The answer? My apartment. So Pan Ke, Feng Fan, and I had a going away party for our friend last night. Jin Yi's boss in Tanggu gave her a ride to Tianjin and then she was able to store all of her things in my apartment:



Believe it or not, her biggest suitcase is not pictured here! It was very amazing that she was able to get onto the plane with so much stuff! Then we went out to eat hotpot together:



Jin Yi trying to hide from my camera behind a glass:



Then we went back to my apartment to do, what else, play cards!



Amazingly, we stopped cards to watch Sesame Street! It was the first time they had ever seen it. They were especially interested in watching Elmo show children how to mail a letter, as "Elmo" is Jin Yi's nickname:



As 3:30 rolled around, it was a mad scramble to find taxis to get over to the bus stop. I thought I had seen people cry before. I was wrong! The flood of tears that emerged was quite amazing (or depressing, depending on your point of view).

Jin Yi has been a big part of my life in Tianjin. She helped me fix my laptop, got me my apartment, taught me Chinese, but, most of all, she was a true friend. In life, there are few people with whom we can really be close friends. Jin Yi is one of those special people in my life. Thank you for the memories.

Xinjiang Food & World Cup

Yesterday Yang Xi "the computer man" came over to help fix some problems with the laptop. Afterwards a group of us went to eat Xinjiang food:



We then made it our goal to stay up late enough to go watch the World Cup together. So after eating dinner we came back over to my apartment and talked and played cards until 3 am. Then we rode our bikes over to McDonalds on Guangdong Lu to watch the 3rd Place World Cup game between Germany and Portugal. Afterwards, I stayed up burning DVDs but the others all took a short nap at my place. Here's Yang Xi trying to sleep...



Germany won the game 3-1 by the way. I was rooting for Portugal, whose Chinese name putaoya translates to grape teeth!

Dinner at Tian Ta

Tonight Pan Ke, Jin Yi, and I ate dinner at Dong Po Zhou Jia Restaurant near the Tianjin TV tower. Some pretty good eats there!

Injection #4,321

Over the past two months, I have not been so healthy. Or, being the optimistic person that I am, I should say...over the past two months, I've been getting healthier! That's because I've been going to Tian He Hospital at the corner of Fukang Lu and Munan Dao to receive medication via IV (or as my Chinese friends like to call it, an injection)! I've had several people visit me during these fun hours at the hospital. Today was Jin Yi's turn...



I'm not an expert on Chinese medical practices, but I think biting the tube is not the proper way to help the patient improve!

TGIF Sendoff

Yan Yan left to go back to Hunan today. While I know I will get to see her again next month when I go to visit her, this could be her last time for her to see Jin Yi. Because Jin Yi will soon leave to begin graduate school in Australia, we decided to have a goodbye party for Yanzi. (In addition, we also like Yan Yan!) So Jin Yi came back from Tanggu after a hard day at work just to see Yan Yan, even though she would have to turn around and take the 6 AM bus back to work this morning. Unfortunately, we got a late start on things. We went to Kisseling but it was just about to close. Then we went to a Thai restaurant nearby but it was too smoky. Then we went to a Mexican restaurant but they had just stopped serving food. Finally, we decided on TGI Friday's:



There aren't many non-fast food American restaurants in Tianjin. This is one of the few. We all had a good time, and they got to try lots of new foods: calamari, fajitas, steak, etc. Fun to introduce them to new food, but hard on the wallet. Many Chinese restaurants are cheap -- you can eat a good meal for less than $2 per person. Foreign restaurants, like TGIF, charge American prices, so it cost more like $10 a head. Not too bad in the US, but expensive for China! That's why the restaurant has few Chinese customers. Most of the people eating there are laowai (foreigners). I joked with them that soon they would be laowai, as all of them are going abroad to graduate school.

Here, Yan Yan leaves my apartment for the last time. She actually lived here with a roommate and took care of it for me while I was gone to Tibet and India in January and February so perhaps this was a sentimental parting for her.



After moving out of the girl's dorm...



...we raced to the train station. I helped her get one of her large bags on the train. It was a good thing too because the train was very crowded and she had many bags. I would have had trouble, by myself, getting all of those bags onto a train this crowded:



Here she is looking at me after I got off the train...



Goodbye Yan Yan! You have a wonderful personality and you will be missed (until I come visit you in Hunan!)

TFSU Graduation!

Yesterday was the graduation ceremony at Tianjin Foreign Studies University. This was an exciting day for me as the first 64 students I taught at TFSU were graduating. Graduation at TFSU is much different than at universities in America. Only a few select students (those going to graduate school at TFSU or elsewhere and those with guanxi) get to attend. The ceremony is held in the small auditorium at the western end of the famous TFSU building. Here is a photo of the room right after the ceremony ended:



At TFSU, the English department makes up almost half of the university. For this reason, the English department held graduation exercises in this large room in the teaching building where students and faculty could watch what was happening at the official ceremony with President Xiu Gang on a large screen.



However, this room is not large enough to seat all of the graduates, but since many graduates were not informed of their option to attend until the day before the ceremony and had already left town, there were plenty of seats available. I was able to get a seat next to Cao Wenping, Zhu Shu, and Ma Tong:



Two of my students who were able to take part in the ceremony were Sun Yue and Liu Chen. Here is Sun Yue and her mother:



An here is Liu Chen...



Graduation is a time for reflection. A time to reflect on the past and a time to dream about the future. There is happiness in the achievement of a goal, fear in what lies next, but also sadness as friends will soon part ways. I realize that yesterday may be the last time that I am able to spend time with these students, who have befriended me and taught me so much about China and myself. Thank you all for all you have given me. God has truly blessed me with great students and friends.

Grad Party #2!

Today is graduation at Tianjin Foreign Studies University (TFSU) and so last night, in order to celebrate, I invited a few seniors over to my apartment for dinner and a party. Considering that during my tenure at TFSU, over 90% of my students were female, I had a good male turnout -- 3 of the 4 senior boys I taught came over!

We were going to cook dinner, but we were all too lazy! So we bought food and ate it at my apartment. Sorry, I do not have many exciting photos of the event as we are all busy. Here is a great one of me!

Yang Wenyan, me, and Zhang Peilong:



Later we talked and discussed what the future holds. Their lives hold so much promise, and their families really expect a lot out of them. Several of them stayed all night at my apartment - we played spades and hearts like madmen. We used multiple decks of cards, various rules, etc. It was card playing heaven. We had a blast.

Graduation Party at TFSU

The seniors will graduate next week, and last night we held a party at TFSU in the large banquet room on the 3rd floor of the student dining hall. Unlike the party Wang Ruixue organized on June 11, both me and Leon attended.

Feng Fan/Sun Yue in foreground; Leon talks to me in the background:



Yan Yan, Pan Ke, me, Jin Yi, and Feng Fan:



Liu Borui, me, Xia Qian:



Zhang Jianli, Fang Xiuhui, me, Cao Wenping:



Xia Qian, me, Xie Yu, Ma Ziyue:



Afterwards a few students came over to my apartment to continue the fun. We had a fun night of playing spades all night. I was really amazed at their ability to stay up all night. I must be getting old -- I was getting really tired but they kept pushing me. Unbelievably, we played all night! I think the final score to one of our games was something like 2,036-1,952. Pretty close! We also tried to play monopoly but we didn't get too far into that.

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Zhang Peilong's New Life

After the amusement park, we rode the subway out to visit Zhang Peilong. He couldn't join us at the park because he had to work -- on a Saturday! But we still got to eat supper with him...


Afterwards, he showed us the building where he works...


And also the apartment provided by his company (but shared with a few other guys)...


Here's the group photo. Aren't they a great looking bunch, each with a bright future ahead of them!


It was a long day in Beijing, and all of us were exhausted by the time we got back to Tianjin. But it was fun to catch up with everyone. Thank God for such wonderful friends. Thank you all for the memories.