Preparing for another year

You won't want to know that I've been up all night as we prepare to leave in a few hours to catch our flight at BWI, and I'd probably be better off not having told you - but, truth is I've just about pulled an all-nighter for my last full day in the U.S.

There's a lot of things I'd like to share with you, probably the most important of which is to say that I probably won't be able to post on this blog for the foreseeable future. As near as I can tell, China has continued it's block of blogger and we won't be able to post new entries. For those of you who aren't on our newsletter list, you can send an e-mail to jaybomb2[at]yahoo.com and I'll promptly add you to our list.

The next most important thing I think I could say is that this blog will be outdated, not because I won't be able to post, but because it will still think we're in Hangzhou when this just isn't true any longer. We were able to land a teaching position at Zhejiang Normal University in Jinhua, just an hour south of Hangzhou. We're very excited about it - they're building a fancy new apartment complex that should be finished in about a week, and we'll be able to take Chinese classes for free. It's more than we thought we could get, and actually the situation improved after we signed the contract. When we first decided to go, we didn't know for sure that we'd be able to take the Chinese classes and the apartment complex was on permanent standstill. Another neat opportunity is that Audriana will be able to join a Chinese pre-school and get a lot more exposure to the language. We're thinking to just take her two or three times a week, though we'll be paying for full-time enrollment. We think it will be a great opportunity for her, but are a little concerned about the adjustment into a new environment - it will be a big one!

We've had a great visit this summer and were glad that we were able to see so many friends and family. If we didn't see you, let us know you missed us and we'll do our best to make it happen next year. Also on the periphery - we hope to have a yard sale in Winchester next year as a way to raise funds to help pay for summer expenses. We'll also have one in Mountain Grove, but the Winchester sale will feature imported goods from China. We've already got several neat keepsakes put up in storage and will probably add to the booty over the course of this next year. We still desire to be self-supporting and this is one way to help offset costs. We have considered trying to get help in order to pay for health insurance next year - that $800 every year will be hard to come by on our own.

Life doesn't seem to slow down anymore...I don't know if it is completely related to being a father of two or if I need to learn to practice 'resting.' I could use some encouragement in making sure I take time to consider the important things in life.

Best wishes to you all from the other side of the world...well, at least that's where we should be by the time you read this. We hope to be in better communication by e-mail this year and improve upon the two mass e-mail broadcasts we sent by newsletter last year.

Blessings,

Jay and Victoria
Audriana - Joseph