Thank you all for thinking of me as I traveled back to China. There are unique difficulties in relocating to the opposite side of the globe. I'll fill you in on the details of my jo
urney back to China. I spent about forty-five minutes waiting for my suitcase in Beijing (which I've now learned should have been a clue that something was wrong!). When I finally saw it I went to grab it off the belt when much to my horror, stuff from the inside started pouring out onto the conveyor belt that by now was moving really fast away from me. I just stood there half-holding my suitcase while more stuff poured out of it for what seemed like forever, but in reality was only a split-second. I quickly grabbed my suitcase off the belt and reached down to grab a handful of stuff off the belt. Then, I grabbed my cart with all my remaining possessions and ran to the opposite end of the belt to pick up a few more handsfull of stuff. My suitcase was completely destroyed so I didn't know how I was going to get my stuff to my apartment. I was able to get a little bit of money by talking to the airline company desk and explaining my problem. After going through security and trying to ignore all the stares wondering what a foreign girl was doing walking around with her suitcase half-open, I found the only store in the Beijing airport that sold suitcases. I had to pay a ridiculously high price for a smaller suitcase, but two hours before my flight left I didn't really have another choice. When I got back to my apartment and went through my stuff, it appears that unbelievably the only things I lost were three pair of earrings. I guess I didn't have anything 
interesting among my belongings!
I'm just starting my second week of teaching now. In contrast to American college students, Chinese college students are for the most part thrilled to be back in school seeing as how they spend their whole vacation sleeping and watching TV. They didn't practice English (which I assure them is OK since I didn't practice Chinese either!), but are eager to jump back into learning.
My Music Corner will start up March 17 students will soon begin to sign up. Our trips up north will start again soon as well. In addition, we're starting to think about summer camp and all of the preparation that goes into that. Of course, with Easter being March 23 our teachers will be hosting at least six different parties in various locations. We're all very excited about this semester.
~Lisa
--contributed March 2008