Give Me Your Eyes

Okay, so this title sounds a little gruesome, but it is from the song by Brandon Heath. It does not mean that I have been eating eyeballs!

Today, I got my teaching schedule. Not too bad, but my Tuesdays are going to be very busy - I teach 6 hours that day. That's almost half of my whole teaching schedule. I teach 14 hours per week, not including my American Spoken English class for Mr. Ding, that makes a total of 16 hours. In true cultural style, the school here does not know when the semester ends officially nor do they have a calendar yet. I'm not sure how you start a new school year without a set calendar, but oh well! I guess it works for them!

I was very excited to come back and see my friends on G-chat. Have I mentioned that I love Google? Anyway, after reading a very long and very encouraging email from my dear friend "Salisboo", I got to chat online with him and my dearest Mere! It was so good to hear from someone who has sort of been through this experience and could offer some much needed encouragement.

This afternoon, I took my usual stroll on campus. Today was particularly unique, however, because I got to have a date with the love of my life. I could feel His presence right there with me and walked around with a big goofy grin on my face. You know the one you get when you are first "in love" that just spills across your face when you think about that person involuntarily? That's the one I was sporting and people probably thought I was weird (a) because I was smiling and people here don't really do that, and (b) because I was smiling like that by myself. Anyway, as we walked, I just asked him to let me see this place the way that he sees it and to share his heart for the people here with me. He did, but I was not at all prepared. The darkness that surrounds me was oppressive. I still cannot get over the sadness that filled my heart when he opened my eyes. It was almost too much to bear and I was thankful for my sunglasses to hide the tears that I shed.

Keep these things in the front of your mind when you think of me. I know that he is here with me and is doing great things all around be. How amazing it is to share work with someone that you love!