My sincerest excuses...

Hello, dear readers. Yes, I know you are probably shocked senseless by the mere sight of something new on this page. I have good reasons for my long silence. Well, maybe good excuses. All right, maybe they aren't that great, but nonetheless here they are:

1. I'm lazy.

2. It takes FOREVER to load pictures through Blogger. (Unless I load them one by one, it usually doesn’t work. Each pic takes about 30-50 seconds to upload, which doesn't sound like a lot, but just multiply that by the 50 or so pictures I need to upload. Which still doesn't sound like a problem, but see excuse number one. If anyone knows how I can get around this technical problem or what I might be doing wrong, feel free to enlighten me.)

3. I don't own a computer; I use one at my school. It's also the computer I use to prepare for my classes, so I'm never eager to spend extra time on it, or to spend more time than necessary here at school. When I'm done working, I just want to go home.

4. Also, I'm lazy.

So that's my story, and I stand by it.

As to how I'm doing...

Life is pretty good here. I'm getting the hang of teaching, even enjoying it much of the time. It's nice to be doing a job that is meaningful and exciting. It's certainly never boring. I'll say it again, it isn't easy, but the successes are very sweet. It's the best and the hardest job I've ever had.

Interpersonally, I do have some friends, though not as many as I would like. Teaching adults every day gives me the illusion of having many friends (and many of my students are my friends, but I only see them in class), so I'm not starved for human interaction at all. But I don't really have any kindred spirits here. You can pray for me in that regard; specifically, I need a good guy friend or two.

Romantically, well...let's just say that there is definite potential for imminent progress in that arena. Know what I mean? (But by no means is anything official or certain at this time; I will say no more...)

Contractually, I've decided to work an extra two months, until April instead of February. As I may have mentioned to most of you, my brothers and I are planning to trek China at the end of my time here. However, February is winter, and winter in China is no joke -- especially in Tibet, which we simply must see. But April is primetime for traveling, hence the extension.

So, again, please accept my sincerest excuses, errr, apologies for waiting approximately three months to post an update. I'll try not to let it happen again!