Greetings to you in this season of rejoicing! We are happy to share with you what has been going on in our lives over the past year.
Seth is now a curious and rambunctious little four-year-old boy who continues to delight us and our Chinese friends. His favorite word at the moment is "why?" He is in his second year of preschool at the kindergarten on campus. Transitioning back to school was difficult after a six-week vacation in the States this past summer, but he seems to be back into the swing of things now. He is making friends in his new class--he came home several weeks ago proudly announcing that he has a girlfriend--and continues to spend time with the children of our colleagues. He also loves playing video games and driving Mommy crazy.
Benjamin is still teaching at the International College at Beijing (ICB). In the spring he was awarded an outstanding teacher award for the 2010 to 2011 academic year. He spent the bonus money on a brand new laptop which so far seems to be holding up to Beijing’s incredibly dry and dusty climate. This past semester he has had an especially heavy workload due to a shortage of teachers.
Laurie is also still at her post at ICB. She teaches reading and writing to students preparing to take the IELTS exam. (The IELTS exam is an English language proficiency exam required of non-native speakers planning to study abroad; the American equivalent is the TOEFL.) She was also very recently hired to work for the British Council in Beijing, the organization that administers the IELTS exam, as a clerical marker.
We have had a busy holiday season this year. We hosted our (first annual?) Christmas Cookie Bake-off on December 18, when we turned out over 25 dozen cookies in one day! On Christmas Eve we had our second annual gathering at our home, which about 30 people attended. Today (Christmas Day) we had a nice time exchanging presents and chatting with family on Skype. On January 1 we will celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary, and shortly after that we will have four weeks of vacation before the spring semester begins. During this vacation we hope to celebrate the Chinese New Year in true Chinese fashion--fireworks and food--with some of our very good Chinese friends. Incidentally, Benjamin's birthday falls on the Chinese New Year this year, so he’ll be celebrating in style!
Wishing you all the best this holiday season and in 2012. If you are wondering where to spend your 2012 vacation, why not try Beijing? We'd be thrilled to have you!
