Sean Teaches at Middle School Chapel

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Susan

Last week Sean was asked to teach for the Middle School Chapel on Monday. The title of his talk was "WAYT – What Are You Thinking." He gave some practical tips on controlling one’s thoughts, based on the scripture from Philippians 4:8

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things."

Urging the kids, using the analogy of an MP3 player, that you can always turn off bad thoughts and turn on good ones.

Sunrise

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Susan

Many of you may have read in your news about the horrible pollution we have experienced in northern China over the last 10 days. Today we see the sun! What a beautiful sight. I am so grateful to the Lord for HIS gift to us today and for HIS grace on our health. We have stayed strong physically, without cold or cough. Here is the sunrise from our 9th floor apartment window.

A view from 5 days ago.

Sean Meets Up with TIS Alumni

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Susan

During our stay in Hong Kong, Sean was able to have a short visit with some of his former students who are studying there, and one student who attends Boston University, but happened to be in Hong Kong with her family. It was rewarding for Sean to hear from them about their transition into college life.

Megan and the College Kids

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Susan

In Hong Kong, after church with Michael, we had brunch at this new cafe near campus. Here’s Michael with some of his friends and the girls.

Henry took a special liking to Megan during our trip to Hong Kong. He even bought her a little Christmas gift. Henry is a native from Hong Kong and is studying Industrial Engineering. Michael knows Henry through the campus ministry, International Christian Fellowship.

Together Again With Michael

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Susan

Our first Christmas Day without Michael, was not too bad, since we all knew we would see him just two days later. Over the holiday break we traveled to Hong Kong for the first time since Michael began college in fall 2011, at The University of Hong Kong. A family in Michael’s church was generous enough to let us stay in their small HK flat which had a beautiful view of the harbor. We enjoyed seeing his campus, meeting new friends, attending church at Watermark Community Church, and of course shopping and eating delicious western food in Hong Kong.

Arriving at the airport

Rachel Meets up with TIS Alumni

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Susan

Over Christmas break a few of Rachel’s friends returned to spend the holidays with their families. Rachel had a chance to meet up with some of them at the coffee shop in our school. It was a great opportunity for her to gather more information about college life and changes ahead.

Megan Class Party

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Susan

Rachel and I helped Megan’s 1st grade teacher with their class Christmas party. Rachel made all the cookies and frosting, then together we helped each group of children decorate them. Meanwhile other groups of students heard the story, “The Legend of the Candy Cane” and others made Christmas cards. Megan’s teacher was very brave to have twenty-two 1st grade children all at her apartment!

Cake Walk by Rachel

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Susan

Last Saturday, our school hosted a Fall Festival for all staff (including International and Chinese National staff). Our auditorium was absolutely packed with teachers, bus drivers, janitors, cafeteria workers and their accompanying families. After a short presentation detailing our school‚s history (for the family members who have never visited our school), a massive scavenger hunt began where teams were rewarded for the diversity of their members. However, instead of join my family’s team, I decided to spend the afternoon chatting with my good friend, the Elementary secretary, Susan Zhou. We have become really close friends this year since I am no longer busy with school 🙂 She and I are coffee lovers at heart so we spend most of our „hang-out-times‰ in coffee shops. We also share a tutoring job. We teach a young Chinese girl in 1st grade; Susan tutors half the week and I tutor the other half. In this way, we always have strategies to talk about concerning the progress of Mirranda’s English.

One of the activities organized for Saturday’s festival was a cake walk. With my recent fascination in baking, I contributed TWO cakes for the game. Can you guess what happened when Susan and I participated? Her number was the very first one to be chosen! But our luck didn’t stop there- the very next winning number chosen was mine! She chose the pumpkin bundt cake that I made (as any good friend would do ;), and I chose a delicious looking apple pie. After the fall festival was over, Susan came over to my house and we snuggled up to watch a movie with pumpkin lattes and our winnings. What a blessing it is to have friends and family to share this festive season with!

Baking with Friends

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Susan

Today I taught friends how to make pumpkin pie and muffins. To begin with, one cannot just go down to your local supermarket and buy Libby’s canned pumpkin. Instead one must make a trip to the vegetable market to buy a whole pumpkin. In China I use a a different shaped pumpkin which is oblong. The meat is very sweet and with this shape it is easier to work with. I cut in pieces, scrape out the seeds then steam, remove peelings and puree. A pumpkin this large can easily supply over 10 cups of pureed pumpkin.

I prepared the pureed pumpkin ahead of time, then brought it to my friend’s house for baking. Today I taught four ladies, each from a different country…China, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. We made apple pumpkin muffins and a pumpkin pie. So happy that Thanksgiving is just around the corner.

Fall Festival at Tianjin International School

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Susan

On Saturday our company hosted a fall festival for our Chinese National Staff and their families. It was a great way for us to share the day together. Events for the day included a scavenger hunt, kids games, lunch and a Talent Show. One challenge in the scavenger hunt was to take a group photo with at least 10 nationalities. I thought it would be difficult, but we managed. Here we have friends from Korea, China, Malaysia, South Africa, Jamaica, Barbados, Australia, Holland, Finland, and the US! Another challenge was to get at least 20 people on our old school bus for a photo.

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