Amoy Wanderings

The last few months, I have been relatively silent for many reasons, not the least of which is all the changes in our lives which seem very insignificant when compared with the issues many of you have been facing in the States. The COVID crisis seems largely to have passed, which is what benefits the political situation here, although there are significant monitoring policies still in place. In our previous city, Xiamen, students have been allowed to return to their universities for the new school year, but they have been locked on campus and must apply for permission to leave campus. Over the most recent break (which should have been at least a week long) the students merely given a long weekend vacation which was designed to prevent them from returning home and bringing the virus back with them. In our current situation, we are merely facing occasional mask requirements and a few health code checks, though that may also be because we are living in a much more rural setting. As to...

We had a good summer and were very happy we got to see so many friends and family. Although two months is a long time, it passed very quickly and we found ourselves back in China preparing for another year. However, there was a lot to do...more than we knew. Our last week before returning to the States was crammed. I was busily preparing grades and final documentation for my school year. We also were packing up our house because the lease was up on our apartment and the school wanted us to move into a school-owned apartment. Added to that, four days before we left -- and before we had really started packing -- Sandy sprained her knee which confined her to an office chair. Fortunately, one day some friends came over to help her pack the kitchen and the next day several friends came over to help the movers move our stuff. We didn't have far to go (just about 100 yards) but we still had to pack up everything, and because it was so close, the movers didn't bring a truck, so every...