China update...

Winter is still hanging on so Joey and I are keeping warm both in and out the classroom. The Nanchang spring will arrive in time so I thought this would be a good time to have a cup of coffee and send you a monthly update.

Spring semester:

This last month our theme has been transitions as we shifted our focus from the customs and traditions of the Chinese New Year to the needs of our new students. March 13^th was our first day of the spring semester. This semester Joey and I will share 32 students who work as Professors on the campus of Nanchang University .

March 8^th and 9^th were set aside as days of testing and interviewing our prospective students. From these two events we assembled an advanced and beginning level class. I will be teaching the beginning level class which has become a good fit for my learning style and previous experiences. During our interviews we hand out a sheet to ask for our students contact information. This information is important as it helps us in developing our lessons to reach our students and to maintain contact with them throughout the semester.

Our students are younger than our fall semester group so we'll need to use a different approach with each of them in the classroom. Our students are already planning several activities so I'm looking forward to spending time with them in and out of the classroom this semester.

China Events:

March 27th marks the 500-day countdown until the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics. China will also host the 2008 Para-Olympic Games in addition to the Summer Games.

The 2007 FIFA Women's World Soccer Cup will be held in the following cities: Chengdu , Hangzhou , Shanghai , Tianjin , and Wuhan .

Shanghai will host and welcome guests to the 2010 World's Expo. My parents and I attended the 1986 World's Expo in Vancouver , Canada and I have fond memories of touring the Korean, Japan , and China pavilions.

Common Question: How much is a Haircut?

A Men's haircut in Nanchang includes a shampoo, rinse, cut, and style for the price of one American dollar. I go to the same Barber Shop each time so the stylists know who I am and what I need. I speak a few Chinese words with the people in the shop but mostly keep quiet and allow them to do their job.

Cultural highlight:

bai nian: New Year's visiting

During the Chinese New Year week of February 17^th - 24^th I had the unique opportunity to participate in the tradition of making social visits with my Chinese friends and students. My visits were mostly situated around Nanchang but a number of our students traveled long distances to pay the traditional visits to their friends and relatives.

Family news: April 6, 2007

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Parents Keith and Florence a blessed 39^th wedding anniversary. If you ever have had the opportunity to meet my Parents ask them to share their story of meeting each other in Oregon . I have access to one version but I can't seem to acquire any others. My version includes both sets of Grandparents knowing and working together in farming long before my Parents had met each other.

Thank you for taking a little bit of your time to read my China experiences. I trust you¡¯re learning a little about China as I do each day with our students. I¡¯ll look forward to sharing more about our transitions with you in future updates.

Until then, have a safe week.

8-2-90

August 2nd 1990 was the day Iraq invaded the country of Kuwait. I remember this date like it was yesterday. Let me share with you my personal background to this date.

I was stationed aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower CVN-69 a nuclear powered aircraft carrier home ported in Norfolk, VA. My job was that of an Aviation Storekeeper which entailed keeping track of the aircraft parts for our embarked air wing. I was in the Navy for nine years and the Eisenhower was my first assignment. I had a positive experience onboard the Eisenhower and consider it one of the many memorable times in my life.

Our Battle Group of 8-10 ships had been conducting operations in the Mediterranean Sea during the spring and summer of 1990. We had left Norfolk in March and traveled to a variety of ports in Spain, Israel, France, and Italy. In a Battle group there of ships of different sizes and purposes. I recall fond memories of the port visits and participating in group tours or exploring the cities in a small group of friends. By far my favorite port visit was to Haifa, Israel as I was able to take a bus up to Jerusalem to tour the historical sites.

Naples, Italy was our last port visit of the deployment as we would begin to look ahead to the time of transiting the Mediterranean and Atlantic toward Norfolk. But something had occurred in the Middle East that prompted our schedule to be quickly adjusted from a westward transit to a south-eastern transit.

Iraq had invaded Kuwait.

Our commanding officer announced over the addressing system that higher authorities in Washington D.C. ordered us to change our course and head toward the Red Sea. This was no drill because now our ship was going to a combat zone. Our battle group was to provide a advance U.S. Naval and airpower presence. I was beyond words during this period of time as I was now apart of something really big that would affect not only our country, Kuwait but the world in terms of its relations with Iraq.

Yes, this was the beginning of the First Gulf War but in my mind this was the continuation of the events that have surrounded the mystique of the Middle East. This wasn't the first time America was going to be in the region and not the first time the region was shaken up by one country.

We transited the Suez Canal and remained in the Red Sea operating area for a total of one month. During this time personal and military resources were being staged in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for the orders to enter Iraq. Our air wing flew a variety of reconnaissance flights while battle group companions conducted standard search, board, and seizures of suspected boats in the Red Sea.

My global outlook before the Navy and particularly this event was mainly focused on Asia, Europe, South America, and North America. I had read plenty of the history found in the Middle East but didn't realize I would someday be apart of a major event as the one I participated in during the summer of 1990. Today my global outlook or perspective includes more of what occurs in the Middle East and the other regions I mentioned.

I returned to the Middle East a total of two more times while I was in the Navy. The Eisenhower made a return deployment to the region as we transited the Suez Canal, Red Sea, and operated in the Persian Gulf. I was also stationed aboard the USS Independence (CV-62) and deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1994.

One memory that I'll have of those deployments was witnessing the handling of missiles and bombs that were being transferred from our ships armory to our assigned aircraft. These weren't the practice bombs that were utilized in range practice but the real deal.

In closing, to this day I'm not sure what prompted Iraq to invade Kuwait. I've heard from many sources that oil was the cause of the invasion. Whatever was the reason for the invasion or why we have to project our presence in the Middle East is something we'll have to contend with for many years.