English Corner to Begin

            Last evening, the newlywed Peace Corp couple (John and Ashley) stopped in for a chat about our upcoming English Corner this evening. 

Ashley and John will be joining me for our English Corner evening tonight.

          We finally have set aside Thursday evenings, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., in Room 3205 as our gathering point for students to practice their English.  We will take turns every week leading those who arrive.  Tonight is my night.  We’ll start out with a 10-minute game as  a warm-up and then branch off into small groups for talking time.  Our topics will be:  My Family, An Exciting Day and A Lesson I Learned in Life.  

            None of us have any clue as to how many will come.  We might have to branch off into 2 or 3 classrooms depending on the crowd but no matter what, there will be plenty of time for everyone to practice speaking. 

My Absentee Ballot Arrives!

              Before leaving the States this summer, I made sure to register at my local county courthouse to receive my absentee ballot for our upcoming Presidential election.  I’ve voted for every US President from an overseas’ setting, never in my own country, which is quite amazing.  It’s a great honor to be able to choose the leader of my country,  no matter where I am in the world.

              Yesterday in the English office, I was handed over my ballot. Four years ago, I also voted from Luzhou and four years before that.  Little Flower was always present when I marked my ballot but, sadly, not so this time. 

           And, believe it or not, Little Flower always had a preference for which political party was her favorite, although her method of partiality fell a bit on the questionable side.          

           For Presidential elections, she gave little notice to what the issues were, the speaking eloquence of the candidates, the constant poll counts, analysis of percentage ratings or the pundits’ viewpoints.  Nor did she care much for what I thought. 

              For Little Flower, the deciding factor between choosing a Democrat or Republican came down to one thing and one thing only:  her basket of playthings. And it was pretty apparent which doggie toy was the most desirable.   

                 The donkey squeaked; the elephant didn’t.  Choice made.

      Treasure Your Right to Vote

             Here’s hoping all of you head off to the voting booths come November 6, no matter what your political party might be.      

My absentee ballot in hand, I’m ready to cast my vote for US President. You all be sure to do the same!

           From along the Yangtze River in Luzhou, China, here’s wishing you Ping An (peace).