In a little over 2 weeks, we will head out on our spring trip, to Yunnan province. We have the locations and activities mostly set, but there have been a series of barriers and glitches that have prevented us from getting some of the transportation details finalized. With the trip coming so soon, and our urgency to notify parents and get itineraries set increasing, the stress comes with it. We have a meeting with a travel agent tomorrow, and I remain optimistic.
I have also been watching the news from Chicago closely - Illinois faces a huge budget deficit, and is cutting education spending. There is talk of thousands of layoffs in Chicago. Eek. I'll keep plugging away at those interviews!
In other news, Rachel has been visiting the Golden Sun Migrant School weekly with her Service Club to do English language lessons. The teachers there are overworked, which is evidenced by the speed in which the classroom teacher bolts for the door when Rachel arrives. Some games they play are a struggle for the Chinese students, who are conditioned to learn through memorization and recitation - thus making their imagination an underutilized tool in the classroom. In addition, their behavior is rowdy (to put it mildly) but definitely enthusiastic - so the "naughty" kids are still willing to be loud in a constructive way.
I'm glad she has a chance to do this!
-alan
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