And it's fall....

I am just going to apologize for not keeping up to date enough, and for the brevity of this post as well. I could plead busyness, and that would be at least partly true. Since July I have been teaching English to a small group of college age students who are preparing to go to the US for college. In order to do that they need to achieve an acceptable score on the TOEFL exam (Test Of English as a Foreign Language). New Day Language Institute, one aspect of the New Day family of organizations, was a thriving English training school several years ago and is in the process of being revived. Several of the long term volunteers have been *recruited* for this project. While it isn't my primary focus, I said when I came to New Day that I would be happy to use my skills wherever they are needed. That commitment has been tested and challenged in many ways, and I believe it has been a good thing. While I believe most people come to do great things, in fact, it's the ability to work together as a team, seamlessly flowing from leadership to support roles that leads to the greatest impact. So, when I was tapped for the English training center in early July, I really didn't hesitate. I have very much enjoyed getting to know my five students as we frantically work together to improve their reading and writing skills as their test date looms in mid-November. An added blessing has been that this role comes with a small stipend...quite unexpected, but appreciated. This has helped immensely with keeping up with our expenses. This will end in the next month, and finding additional support will again become a significant issue.
In other news, Luke was able to come visit just before he left for university in early September, and again during the week-long October holiday. This will likely be our last visit until the lunar New Year in February as China does not take any days off for Christmas.
The weather is getting colder, and as a Floridian I am not too fond of that. It's actually my least favorite time of year because the central hot water heating is not turned on until November 15, but we have fairly cool weather for about six weeks before that.  Brr! Once the heat comes on our apartment is generally very pleasant, so I am certainly counting the days.  However, we are also enjoying beautiful sunshine and clear skies...something I never take for granted.