Tim Robertson with Fuyang cycling club, June 2013

from Tim Robertson

Jun 15, 2014

Dear Friends and Family,

 

Last Saturday I found myself playing the role of fake teacher. I can now see the humor of the situation but it was not an experience that I had expected. I suppose I should have seen it coming the evening before, when my supervisor from the Office of Foreign Affairs invited me and my colleague out to dinner with some of her friends - the first time this has happened since I began teaching on the old campus. She began the occasion by giving us both a gift and then proceeded to apologize for not having done her job adequately in her responsibility toward us foreign teachers. I felt embarrassed for her since giving an explicit apology is quite uncommon in Chinese culture and, although true, it was surprising to hear her admit it. I quickly assured her that she had been very helpful and that she had a very difficult job with complicated situations. I wanted her to feel I was very sympathetic toward her so that she would be more inclined to get my papers filed and completed for my new job. I needed all the help I could get and I was desperate to use whatever leverage I had to move the process forward as best I could. Was this the answer to my prayers?

 

Midway through the elaborate dinner Greg and I were asked to help her friends to start a new English language school to prepare local high school graduates to attend college abroad. This was the real purpose of the invitation and by that time we had no choice but to agree to their request to help them recruit students and their parents. As it turned, out the next day the official college entrance exam (the infamous gaokou) was being held at local high schools so Greg and I were taken to various schools to pose as teachers for this new business. While there, I learned that I was not to identify myself as a teacher at the local college, since it would be illegal for us to work at a private school, not to mention a violation of our contract. We were just supposed to stand next to the local recruiters and lend a white face to provide prestige and credibility for a school that we knew nothing about. I don’t know how successful they were in signing up students but we went out in the morning and afternoon and were paid for our “services”. We were both relieved to find out that our participation was not needed on Sunday.

 

Hiring foreigners to pose as fake associates in a business is quite common in China (see link below) but it is was never something I aspired to do. In the past I have helped to give publicity for a local training school where I was actually teaching classes, and I expected that I would be doing somewhat the same this time as well. But the main motivation for me to accept was to curry favor with the college liaison in order to give her a personal reason to do her job on my behalf. She has been quite uncooperative and irritated with my frequent requests that she get the documents that are required by the system for this process to be completed. I am hoping she will be able to get the last document that I need to renew my resident visa, and then get a two week visitor visa to provide enough time for the process to be completed. This last official document should have been given to me a month ago but for political reasons too complicated for me to understand or explain, I will not get it until five days before my contract and resident permit expire. That is why I will need the additional two weeks to send the papers to Liaoning province, in order get my new Foreign Expert Certificate and resident permit.

 

Each of the ten documents so far have needed to be written, translated, signed and stamped by a different person, so it has been a real education for me to find my way through the bureaucracy without offending and irritating too many people by my persistence. If I do not get the last two documents all will be for naught and I will have leave the country in order to get a new entry visa, which can be quite expensive, time consuming and complicated. This is an education for me to see what Chinese must do on a regular basis and it illustrates the need to trade favors and use connections to get even simple things done. Being an outsider (non-Chinese) with no real connections or political influence, I am constantly bumping up against the inertia and indifference of officials who got their positions through family members in the party and feel no need to do anything to earn their salary. In fact, most of the time it is safer to do nothing so as to avoid irritating a superior or losing face by helping the wrong sort of people – like me.

 

This next week I will be doing final exams with each of my students by conducting an informal five minute discussion. It is challenging for me to ask different questions of each student based on their choice of one of the four movies we have used this semester. These students are masters at memorizing answers to questions if they know them ahead of time and, of course, they are expected to tell their classmates the questions that I have asked them. I find it difficult to evaluate their oral language skills objectively and consistently, especially when I am tired by doing so many within a limited time frame. My consolation is that I feel that I am getting better each time I do it, but I am keenly aware of my limitations. I also feel that I am responsible for their progress even though I have them for a total of an hour and a half each week, which is totally inadequate. But I do the best to work within the system, because, as my students often remind me, it may not be a good system, but it is the only one we have. So I feel compassion for them considering the system that they have work with and the disadvantages they have in this area of China.

 

Tonight I will go to my last English Corner and try to find something interesting to discuss. One of the recurring questions has been, “Why did you decide to come to work here?” This reflects the response to my question, “What is you biggest disappointment in life.” The most common response being, “having attend this college.” Anhui has the reputation of being the poorest province in China and has even been called “the Appalachia of China.” So it is understandable that they would want to know why I would want to teach at this college, which is in the poorest, most remote part of the province. They find it surprising when I say I like it here, but aside from it being true, I could hardly respond by showing lack of respect for the local conditions. I do like the students very much but many of them lack the motivation to study hard and do as little as possible. Perhaps this is true of a certain percentage of college students anywhere, but the standards here are dis-hearteningly low, with little incentive, since most everyone passes their classes no matter what.

 

To illustrate this point, I asked a graduating senior that I have gotten to know quite well and is known as a good student, “Did you download your senior thesis from the internet?” He became quite irritated at my question but not for the reason that I had expected. His response, “Of course I did, because 99% of all senior theses at this school are from the internet.” After looking over and reading his thesis, I was struck by how my research papers in high school had higher requirements, and that was before computers or the internet when I actually had to read books and type it on a manual typewriter with footnotes and bibliography. This was the only research paper required of these students in their four years of college. So it is easy for me to get cynical and feel I am part of a diploma mill as a fake teacher. But I take it as a challenge to give more than required and more than is expected out of concern for them as individual students and out of my desire to represent my Lord. Perhaps too out of a desire to feel that I am making a difference in their lives and they will remember and appreciate my efforts. Perhaps this illustrates my own overgrown ego to think I am doing something important and of eternal value.

 

Last week I went on a long bike ride with another foreign English teacher who is teaching at a local high school before returning to Iowa to begin her master’s degree. I took her on a ride I had made before, but this happened to be in the middle of the wheat harvest so the concrete road on top of the levee was covered most of the way with wheat stalks that were drying from the heavy rain a couple days before. As vehicles passed over them, the grain was loosened and would later be separated from the straw and the chaff. This is a normal part of the wheat harvest although it is technically illegal to use the road for drying and threshing of crops, but universally ignored. Perhaps we were of some assistance to the farmers as we rode on top of the wheat stalks, but it certainly took more effort and we often had to stop and manually remove the straw that had gotten wrapped around the gears and jammed the gear shift mechanism. This is an example of how the experience of riding over the same route can be completely different depending on the season and the activities of the local farmers. This week my allergies were activated by the smoke from burning straw in the fields - also illegal.

 

About a month ago I took a long ride with a couple of students and the fluff from the cottonwood trees was so thick in the air it seemed like a snow fall in mid-May. It was particularly enchanting because the “snowflakes” did not actually fall, but drifted on the breeze as far as the eye could see. I had to remember to close my mouth as I rode so as not to inhale the minute fibers causing me to stop from time to time to cough and clear out my throat. We paused to sit along the river bank in front of a local god house which had heaps of blown-up fire crackers and piles of ashes from the burnt incense. The door was locked but I could peer into the gloom and make out the three ancient ancestral gods of the village and three Buddhist images which seemed to have been recently added. It is always striking to me that one never sees a single image; there are always at least three versions of the main figure, and usually many more on the side, often stacked on top of each other. Like Lays potato chips you can never have just one, and the more the better, often numbering in the hundreds or thousands, like wallpaper. Such is the inflation factor of idolatry. One idol is clearly not adequate to represent a deity, but the more you have, the less the value. There is always a need for more, ad infinitum. So they have to build another temple and the process starts all over again, with many temples in a complex, and others under construction. Maybe it shows that they know the gods are fake too.

 

There is a small Buddhist nunnery a short distance from my apartment which I have visited on occasion. At present it is hard to find because it is in the middle of a massive construction site about a square kilometer. When I first arrived the area looked like a bombed out section of Berlin after WW2, covered with heaps of rubble and debris from demolished buildings except for the temple. Now, about 18 months later there are about a dozen high-rise apartment buildings rising out of the ground like erupting teeth in a toddler’s mouth. The work continues seven days a week and would be remarkable except this is going on all round the city and into the country side surrounded by farmer’s fields. This too would be remarkable except for the fact that this is going on all over China in every city and town, with no end in sight. “And now the day has come, soon he will be released, Glory Hallelujah! We’re building, building, building the perfect beast.” (Don Henley, 1984, Album: Building the Perfect Beast)

 

I have several good job offers to teach English in China so if you know anyone who is interested, I will be glad to send the job information and contact with a recruiter who will be happy to send a contract to start teaching in September.

 

Please pray during the next two weeks that all the paper work will be done on time and as I move to Dalian (more about that next time).

Thank God, he is in control!

Tim

 

Article on Fake executives: www.cnbc.com/id/37759560

Article on “naked officials”: qz.com/218369/beijing-is-having-a-hard-time-convincing-of...

 

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Surprise!

 

May 12, 2014

 

Dear Friends and Family,

 

Today I am thankful that I could take a shower, do laundry, wash dishes and flush the toilet again. Yesterday, instead of writing this letter as I planned I focused my attention and energy on getting the water turned back on to the foreign teacher apartment building and, thankfully I was successful. This saga begins about a month ago when I noticed an official looking message posted on my door. Being illiterate but curious, I asked a student to tell me what it was about. That is how I found out that the school had not paid the water bill and this was a warning that the water was about to be turned off. Fearing the worst I took down the paper and brought it to the foreign affairs office to see what should be done. The liaison officer told me not to worry, that it was no problem and it would be taken care of. So, having received these assurances I did not think much was amiss when there was no water this past Friday.

 

 

 

After a few hours I was informed by Greg, my upstairs colleague from the UK , that the water had been turned off due to non-payment by the college. So, at least they knew about the problem and it would be soon be resolved, I assumed. On Saturday morning I began to realize that all was not going as I’d hoped, so I began to send text messages and make phone calls, but got no response until around noon. We were told to go buy drinking water in the store, but that was not very practical for other necessities. Since I was going through a bout of intestinal difficulty, I was about to go down to the river next to my apartment and get a bucket of water to flush with. Eventually I got a return call telling me to meet a student who would take me to the appropriate office close by to make the payment and get the water turned on again. After an awkward discussion, several more phone calls, and my insistence that the water be turned back on to all of the apartments in the building, and not just my own, they told me it was the weekend but it would be done in an hour. After two hours I called again and was told that the man was waiting for the rain stop. Eventually, around 4:00 pm the valve was turned back on. Fortunately, I keep my bottles of boiled water numbered for just such an emergency.

 

 

 

This little vignette is somewhat symbolic of my relationship with my supervisor, whose job is to make sure that all goes according to contract. I am usually the one who goes to bat for the other foreign teachers, which often results in a satisfactory resolution of the problem but also gives me the reputation of a trouble maker and an agitator for change. I figure that if I am persistent, the unjust judge will eventually give me what I need, even if it produces the impression that I do not give proper deference expected by a Party member from an underling, and a foreigner to boot. So it was not a big surprise that the administration decided not to renew my contract for next year (coincidentally I found this out at the same time as I gave her the water bill notice). But perhaps being open about my faith, discussing taboo political topics with students, insisting on following the contract and persistent advocacy for my students were also contributing factors. My contract expires at the end of June, along with my resident permit that allows me to stay in the country. So I will need to leave China during finals week which does not give me a lot of time to finish oral exams, submit grades, pack my stuff and remove it from this apartment to my next location – wherever that may be.

 

 

 

When I wrote you last month I was planning on teaching here for another year with the same students that I have this year, so I was disappointed to have to change my plans rather abruptly. My job search via phone, internet and email for the last three weeks has resulted in four solid offers (so far) to sign a contract for next year. At the same time, I have been praying for guidance to lead me to the right place and make the best choice based on the limited information that I can get from various sources in English. As of yesterday, I have made a tentative choice as to which offer to accept and now all I need to do is sign the printed contract, scan it and send it back via email attachment. But I continue to pray for assurance before making a commitment for the next year.

 

 

 

This afternoon I am meeting a couple of students who asked to go with me for a long bike ride outside the city. It is somewhat ironic that I will be showing them the places where I have already gone but they have not yet ventured. Fortunately the steady rain of yesterday has given way to sunshine and a cool breeze. After that I will meet a man downtown, who has asked me to teach some of his students in an English school that he has recently started. I will see if his schedule will coincide with mine. It is another chance for me to learn by experience in a new setting and earn some pocket money. The opportunities that come my way are surprising and often don’t last very long for various reasons. So I hate to turn down the chance to try something new and challenging to my teaching abilities and add to my previous experience. Unfortunately I have only a few weeks left here to explore the possibilities.

 

 

 

At English Corner on Thursday I met several students from my class last year and invited them to come over to my apartment for a spaghetti dinner this evening. The students are always eager to try some American style food and “Italian noodles” are close enough to what they normally eat. I can buy the imported spaghetti and sauce at the local Walmart and cook it in my small kitchen with other local ingredients to make a reasonable facsimile. I only wish I could find Romano or Parmesan cheese to go with it since the supply that I brought back with me from the US has been consumed on previous occasions. I can fit 4 or 5 guests around my coffee table in the sitting room/office where I can play music from my computer and speakers in order to enjoy the friendship they have offered me. The students and teachers I have invited are always very gracious and complimentary toward my efforts at cooking since it is unusual for a man (and a teacher) to offer this sort of hospitality. They also enjoy looking around my apartment and relaxing in my back yard in the hammock among the palm trees and bamboo. Since the weather was great we ate outside until the darkness and bugs drove us back inside.

 

 

 

Now that I am facing a new future, I am eager to make the change to see other parts of China with different culture, climate and people. Perhaps I have become too comfortable and complacent here and I need to stretch my faith in God’s provision for me. I have chafed under the oppressive atmosphere at this college and I am hopeful that in time I will see his purpose in taking me through this valley. To paraphrase Paul in 2Cor 8-10: “I want you to be aware of the hardships I have suffered in this province in Asia. I was under such great pressure that at times I had lost hope. In fact I felt in my heart a sentence of death. But this happened so that I would not rely on my own strength, but on the Resurrection and the Life. He has delivered me from this hopeless situation and he will continue to deliver me. I have set my hope on his promise to keep on delivering me.” Hallelujah! God willing, I will go to the city of Hangzhou in September and spend the next year there teaching English, earning my salary and sowing seeds. (James 4:13-15) More on that next time.

 

 

 

I am finishing my series of classes on the movie Titanic. It has provided me an opportunity to point out many expressions of faith in the plot, dialogue and the music. For example, when Jack says “I am on God’s good humor.” I interpret that as an expression of his reliance of God’s provision for the future. When he says “Life is a gift and I don’t plan on wasting it,” it indicates that God is the giver of life and we have a responsibility to “make it count” for him. The popular theme song also expresses faith in an afterlife. “There’s nothing I fear, I believe that the heart does go on.” Faith is also expressed in the church service on the last day before the sinking and in the prayer of the priest as he quotes from Revelation and looks forward to “a new heaven and a new earth.” Jack can also be seen as a savior since he gives up his life for Rose and she says, “But now you know that there was a man named Jack Dawson and that he saved me in every way that a person can be saved.” There is also an example of lack of faith when Cal says, “God himself cannot sink this ship.” Director James Cameron has said he intended to depict the end of the world in microcosm. While not exactly the gospel, these offer an opportunity to discuss religious topics in class to students who have been indoctrinated with atheism. I pray that from such small seeds, faith can grow.

 

 

 

The influence and popularity of American culture is evident everywhere and hard to miss. From the never ending basketball games that occupy the fourteen courts and backboards that I see every day on my way to classes, to the popularity of faded jeans and tee-shirts emblazoned with fake designer brand names and other random English words. I am the only one on campus who wears shirts and hats with Chinese characters on them. That fits my status as a foreigner trying to honor the host culture that has shifted dramatically in the past couple of decades. Many of my students have watched more American TV shows and movies than I have (since they are freely available to download from the internet), and they know the characters names and personalities too. (Curiously, the most popular line from Titanic in China, which I frequently hear is, “You jump, I jump.” In the U.S. it is “I’m the king of the world!”) When I ask students what their dreams are, the most common response is, to go to America to study, or just to see places they have seen on their video screens. One of my quirks is to try to decipher the English words and letters printed on clothing since it is somewhat altered from the original, either intentionally or in error. Often the words and letters seem to be chosen without rhyme or reason. Most Chinese have no idea what the English words mean, just as many Americans have no idea what the Chinese characters say on their clothes and accessories. So are these people victims of fashion or willing participants in a bizarre cosmic joke? Either way, it brings a smile to my face.

 

 

 

Last month I mentioned that my mother’s has cancer is no longer treatable after over 20 years of successful treatment and she is expected to live only few more weeks. I had accepted that I may not see her again in this life, but since then she has regained some strength and I am hopeful that I will be able to see her after finishing this semester. I am still exploring options for how to spend the two months of July and August between spring and fall semester. I am open to suggestions and offers of hospitality. Perhaps this is a time to try to reconnect with members of my family whom I have not seen for many years.

 

 

 

Thank-you for praying with me,

 

Tim

 

 

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On Saturday, April 12, 2014 2:15 PM, "robertsontim66@gmail.com" wrote:

 

Dear Friends and Family,

 

I am have been experiencing internet connection problems for several days so I am not sure when I will be able to send this off, but as always, I do what I can and hope for the best.

 

Now that I have started my second year, classes are easier because I am able to reuse some of the lesson material that I created last year. I have to adapt them to my students on this campus who have lower English skills and don’t seem to be quite as motivated, but I enjoy the challenge. My students have become somewhat accustomed to my unorthodox teaching methods and my expectations of them. After many weeks I have gotten them to put away their mobile phones, and text books, and take notes in a notebook. That is the bargain I have struck with them, since they would much prefer using American movies as a source of dialogue than using their text, which is designed to teach British English to students in the UK. I have just finished a three week series using the Disney/Pixar video of Brave, which focuses on a mother daughter relationship and whether to follow tradition. Since 90% of my classes are made up of young women who are the first in their families to go to college, this is something they can all relate to on a personal level.

 

Next week I plan on starting a series on Titanic since it is a popular movie in China and many of the students have already seen it. Hopefully the level of difficulty will not be too high but I feel it is better to use real actors than animated characters, which I have used so far. I also choose popular songs to go with the plot of the stories from ones they have requested and written down for me in the attendance book that I pass around for them to mark. It usually takes three times before they feel ready to sing along, but repetition and review is part of the learning process. I also use short video clips of OMG!Meiyu that are produced by Voice of America and teach authentic language used by young people in American pop culture. The slang, idioms, and figures of speech are presented by a cute young American named Bai Jie (Jessica Beinecke) who speaks fluent Mandarin and has a large following on Weibo - the Chinese version of Facebook/Twitter. She is much more attractive and interesting to watch than me, so I use a couple of her three minute videos each week to help explain expressions related to the dialogue from the movie. I also find pictures and use music videos on the internet to help illustrate new concepts and settings. The combination of multi-media helps to produces images, sounds and scenarios so that I do a minimum of explaining and oral instruction. In addition, I make a list of new words and idioms from the script that I put up on the screen for them to write in their notebooks, along with the slang expressions, which I write on the chalk board.

 

After I show selected scenes from the movie with subtitles, and have them read the parts from the script (which I transcribe and project onto the screen) in groups. I then ask some of them to perform it in front of the class from a printed copy of the script, while the rest read along from the screen. In this way, they go over the same material three times. The visual images, pronunciation, context and plot are much better in communicating the meaning of the language than a textbook or a lecture on grammar or traditional memorization. This technique allows me to engage all of the students in the class all of the time without intimidation or embarrassment, since “losing face” is such a huge deterrent for them to speak up in class. I usually end the class by drawing parallels between the characters and situations in the movie to China and the students themselves. Thus, they learn English as well as how we share many things in common on a cultural and personal level. I teach each lesson eight times but I have to adapt and modify it each time according to how the students respond. By the end of the week I have the bugs worked out so that I can move seamlessly between the various programs and media in the right order and within the given time frame. The many hours spend preparing, finding and downloading pay off with greater enthusiasm and participation in the classroom.

 

I have started wearing short sleeved shirts as the weather warms and the bright green of new leaves appear on the various kinds of trees, especially the gingko and the dawn redwoods. The cherry blossoms are out and leaves are emerging on the bamboo and palm trees that I planted in my back patio area. I have strung up the hammock (that I bought in Qingdao last summer) between a tree and the concrete wall. I find it a relaxing way to end the day gazing up at the birds, moon and stars as they make their way through the tree branches in the evening. I listen to music with headphones or play my harmonica while tugging on a wire to keep swaying gently in the evening breeze. This reminds me of the many hours that I spent reading and relaxing at my home in the jungles of Peru many years ago, although I do miss the grand sweep of the Milky Way visible in the southern hemisphere.

 

The weather is also ideal for long rides out into the country side where the winter wheat is over a foot tall and the yellow rape seed is blooming in the fields and garden plots. The birds are singing to their mates, especially the black and white magpies which are as big as ravens and build onto their huge nests each year in the tops of the cottonwood trees. The air is full of the drifting fluff from the ever present cotton woods which is the primary tree planted for wood. On a recent ride I stopped to watch some men and women operating a large lathe to peel sheets off the logs, which are then cut put on racks in the yard to dry in the sun before being trucked off to be laminated. I was impressed at how much human labor was used and how small the logs were – usually less than a foot in diameter. The operators were happy to let me ride around and watch them at work, and even offered me a smoke. It was the first time I had observed this process although I have often seen the machinery and products along the road from a train or bus window. The physical exercise and the peaceful landscape, crowded with farms and villages give me a chance to see new aspects of life in this area which are good for body, heart and mind.

 

I have been gradually broadening my range of dishes that I can cook in my rudimentary kitchen equipped with only a hotplate, a microwave oven, a rice steamer and an electric tea kettle. As a result, I am finding it harder to shed the extra weight I gained during the winter when I spent many days without physical activity due to the weather and my travel itinerary. Perhaps I am also burning less calories in nervous energy that inevitably came with adapting to a new culture, profession and lifestyle. It seems I am continually moving around the cycle of tension, frustration, cynicism and complacency as a result of trying to solve various problems. I have learned to value the small progress in various areas from the classroom to my apartment and add to my knowledge of this strange and fascinating place called China. For instance, after eight months living in this apartment I was finally able to get my toilet bolted down to the floor. Now if it would only flush properly, stop flushing and refill the tank automatically! Each small victory encourages me to keep pushing for improvements on a personal or professional level. Although it does not seem like much, over time it adds up to significant progress.

 

Another interest I have is in teaching at a local pre-school one afternoon each week. I have finally realized that kids of this age are not impressed with technology and I have switched my focus to high touch. When I enter the room I go around to shake hands and greet them individually. At first, many were reluctant to extend their hands to me, but now they approach me and shake enthusiastically. When I leave at the end of class, I am surrounded by a crowd of three foot tall minions asking to shake hands and get a hug. Breaking the physical barrier also encourages them to speak and sing and dance with me even without the music and video on screen. Since most of my college students had never met or talked with a foreigner until my class, it is encouraging to see how quickly and easily three, four and five year-old children have adapted to me as their teacher – often, faster than college students. In China the old ways change very slowly but once the change has come on a personal level of experience, there is no going back. Building up familiarity, respect and credibility takes much time and effort, but it is the only way to open minds and hearts. In the same way I swing back and forth between empathy and impatience with my students and the pace of learning in the classroom, but the progress is evident and inevitable if I do not grow weary and lose heart.

 

There are many pleasant elements to life on campus, like the strains of instrumental melodies leaking out of the music building close to my apartment, and the family of feral cats that I feed on my back patio. (Thanks to Greg, my upstairs neighbor who buys their food.) They have gotten used to me giving them food and water, hanging up my laundry and hanging out in my hammock. So much so, that if I do not close my door, some of them will venture inside looking for more food. Somewhat less enjoyable is the chanting that comes from athletic field and vocal warm-ups of voice lessons starting around 6:00. I have gotten used to the frequent honking and the sound of fireworks going off at all times of the day or night. The students’ attire is also changing with the seasons and I am becoming accustomed to seeing short girls in high heels and short skirts with long straight black hair. They enjoy shopping for the latest fashions in the stalls and street markets as well as the large department stores. So, they are more attractively and fashionably dressed than us fashion-challenged foreign teachers. To compensate, I try to wear a different hat to class each week to go along with the lesson – another visual aid.

 

Along with these bright spots comes news of my mother who has recently returned home from the hospital and has been put on hospice care. The medications that she has been taking for the last twenty-five years are no longer effective and the cancer has spread from her breast to her lungs, diaphragm and liver. Unfortunately the cancer meds have also lowered her resistance to infection resulting in her stay at the hospital and taking high dosages of antibiotics. Her doctor estimates that she may have only two months left. I am trying to decide if I should return to Michigan to see her one last time, or for the funeral - as I did for my father about 18 months ago. I knew that when I visited her in early February that it might be the last time that I would see her. My oldest sister and her husband are there to help with another sister coming later from Canada to provide in-home care. The college administration has given me permission to go but I do not look forward to the time and rigors of travelling 10,000 miles there and back again, not to mention the costs. My younger sister has just begun to teach at an adult English training school in Shanghai and my older brother will soon be leaving for a job in Africa, but there will be many other family members who will be able to be there. So I am waiting to see what I should do and asking God for wisdom and guidance.

 

I hope you will pray along with me in this and many other matters that I face.

Looking forward to the resurrection,

Tim

 

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Tim Robertson's posts about his time as an English teacher in Anhui at the Fuyang Teachers College are uploaded at: www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/9114089397/in/photostream, www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/8302698850/in/photostream, www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/14217075257/in/photostream; www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/9012874492/

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