Jan 19

Jan 19 Yes, It's Real . . . (Jan. 2017)

Brigg and Janet

We completed our finals on December 30 and turned in our grades. That left us with about six weeks before classes began again on February 20. So what does one do when it's winter in Bejing and the air is so bad that one can see, smell, and taste it? Go South!!!! So at 11:30 p.m. on January 1st (Happy New Year!!), we took a cab to the airport and hopped on a redeye flight to Singapore. From there, we boarded a cruise ship for two weeks, making stops in Thailand and Vietnam on our way to Hong Kong. This is basically what our itinerary looked like:

Just a few photos of our adventures:

SINGAPORE

THAILAND

Took this last picture at the Pattaya Floating Market--and, No, didn't try anything--maybe next time!

And yes, we ARE wearing the same thing every day! Here's the story--when we got to Singapore, we were missing a piece of luggage. This was especially frustrating for us because when we ordered our tickets online, we paid an extra $70 to check luggage. However, when we got to the airport in Beijing, we were told that we would need to pay 1200 RMB (Chinese money) in order to check the luggage. The language barrier and the fact that we needed to get quickly to the gate prevented our arguing, so we paid the second time. And then they lost the luggage!! We filed a "missing luggage" claim in Singapore but then had to board the cruise ship. The Guest Relations employees on the ship were fabulous--worked with the airline to try to find the missing bag. Finally (after we had left Singapore) we were told that a bag that matched our description was in the airport in Kuala Lumpur without ANY tags on it at all. The airline sent us a picture, but we couldn't really tell if it was ours, so we couldn't positively identify it. They said their protocols prevented them from opening the bag to confirm its contents, but they ran it through the X-ray scanner to see if we could identify it that way. Well, you know what those X-ray scans of luggage look like--we couldn't identify anything in the bag . . . EXCEPT--we had packed some Terracotta Warrior figurines that we purchased in Xi'an as a gift for one of the grandkids, and those figurines were outlined beautifully on the X-ray shot of the bag. Yep, it was our bag. The airline forwarded it to Bangkok, and we received the bag on our 5th cruise day.

Two years ago, we had two darling Thai exchange students (Min and Bew) living with us. Brigg had emailed to let them know we would be in Thailand, and on our 3rd day there, they drove down from Bangkok to spend the day with us. They took us to the beautiful Nong Nooch Village and then to a nice seafood lunch on the beach. When Brigg told Min that the airline had lost one of our bags and that the bag contained Christmas presents for our grandkids (many boxes of Chinese "Legos"), Min told him, "Don't worry. My mother and father own a toy distributing company in Bangkok. I'll bring you some Legos so that your grandkids get some presents." Look at the first picture--Min filled her trunk with toys! Brigg tried to pay her, but she refused, saying that her mother would be offended if she accepted any money. We needed two big boxes to bring the toys back to the U.S. (and the airline located our baggage in the meantime . . .) so, WOW, were Amy's kids glad to see us or what???

VIETNAM

Yes, Brigg's there on the steps--lower left corner.

HONG KONG

From Hong Kong, we flew to the U.S. for a quick visit with everyone and a new baby (Yea, Nate & Diana!) We'll return to Beijing on February 17.

We’re Back!!

I can’t believe it, but at the invitation of PKU and with the encouragement of BYU, we returned to Beijing for the 2018-2019 teaching year.

Brigg continues to teach some of the most popular classes on campus — this, at least, according to many of my students who are hooked into PKU social media during registration time. It seems that there is continuous chatter about how to get into one of Mr. Steele’s Business English classes. The students have an allotment of “points” they can use to “bid” for priority in registration, and many students report using ALL of their points just to get into one of Brigg’s classes! He teaches these Business English classes on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and again on Wednesdays at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

I continue to teach four sections of Critical Thinking/Academic Writing — Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and again on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Both Brigg and I teach a section of Oral English for English Majors on Tuesday mornings at 8 a.m. We enjoy teaching the same course, although in different buildings, and have even switched things up on occasion, sharing our “expertise” with each other’s classes.

We were asked this year if we would teach an additional children’s oral English class, available only to those affiliated with PKU. We were told that this was a request from parents who wanted to enroll their children, but only if we were going to be the teachers. I know! Flattering! How could we refuse?? So we’re teaching the same Grade 2 class we taught last year (with a few new faces) on Wednesday evenings, but we’re also teaching a group of “beginners” (mostly 6-year-olds) on Monday evenings. We’ve had a lot of fun sharing American culture with them, including the carving of Halloween jack-o-lanterns in October and the decorating of various holiday-themed treats.

I continue to tutor my 9-year-old Thomas as well, sometimes twice a week. He loves to come to our apartment even when not having a formal lesson just to play games or read stories. Brigg has to hide his treats, though, because Thomas eats EVERYTHING he can find!

We love our continuing relationships with our former students and friends, especially our BYU China Teacher colleagues, who are our “family” while we’re so far from home!