September 22, 2008
This past week was a lot of fun. I have been going running regularly and the exercise has been enjoyable and energizing. I will write more about that on Friday the 26th.....

Last weekend I went out with some of my local friends for dinner and sports. Sports is what they call any sort of physical activity, like walking up a mountain, playing ping pong, etc. I had a great time hanging out with my local friends and many of their friends who I hadn't met before. Two of my American friends, a married couple, were there too.
After dinner we all drove in a motorcycle caravan to a remote place across town. We ended up right next to the railroad tracks at an abandoned warehouse. That's what it looked like. Inside it had been fitted to hold several badminton and volleyball courts. The people in this country are really into these two sports. I love playing volleyball with them because they use a larger, softer, rubber ball instead of the hard small one we use in the states. It makes it easier and gentler on the arms.
   
   

My school has given me a new classroom. Last year I was in an old building with concrete walls and floors. My classroom was on the ground floor and was slightly lowered into the ground. It often flooded when it rained, and the rest of the time it was full of mosquitoes and spiders and occasionally larger rodents. It had no temperature control and was totally exposed to the elements. The windows didn't close and left me sweating or shivering throughout the year. I talked with the president of the college about it at the end of last term, and apparently she took my words seriously.
I now have my own room in the administrative office building. I have two wall-fans and an air conditioner / heater. My teachers this term are Lucy, Rose, and Dong. I have had them all as teachers in the past, and we're good friends. I have one new teacher, ChiChi. I have high hopes that we'll become good friends. During my first class with her last week we were able to talk about many important things, along with my language lesson. She spent the last two years teaching in Indonesia and was exposed to many different ideas and philosophies while she lived there. Her openness to them, regardless of how flawed they are, leaves me optimistic about her desire to discover the truth.

I have started back up a weekly study group with the students at my school. We are all fired up to see what Dad will do in our lives as well as the students and teachers at our school. Here we are after our first meeting. I have high hopes for this group of fired up students!

This past weekend I went out to my favorite small town in the countryside. I hung out with some of the English teachers at the high school, which are my friends. They all love to play sports so we got our badminton on, and then went up to the roof of the school library to play some ping pong. These guys are both insanely better than me at both these sports, but they did a good job of playing down to my level on all our sports for the day.
   

The next morning of my trip to the countryside I got together with my good friend, Lisa. She and I climbed up my favorite mountain in the town. It was a pretty misty morning, and the mountains around us looked beautiful. Lisa and I had an amazing conversation the whole time we were climbing the mountain, and before I left town I gave her a book which she is going to be reading until I see her again. Then we will discuss what she thinks of it. How great!