Summer fun.

We went back to Magic Springs this weekend. This time around, the water park side, 'Crystal Falls', was open for the first time this year. We rode a few rides first. I tried the 'Brain Drain'. It took me up 132 feet, before dropping me at about 55 miles per hour. And then there was the 'Summit Plummit' and the 'Splash Zone'. The water park was lots of fun, including the 'wave pool'.

Magic Springs Theme Park

My younger daughter and I have season passes to Magic Springs Theme Park, about an hour and a half drive from our home. We went to the park this last Saturday. Destiny liked the bumper cars.

It was a beautiful Spring day, and we had a wonderful time. We are planning on going back again in a couple of weeks when they open Crystal Falls, the water park that is included in our season passes.

Answers to common questions: 'Teacher, why have you lived in so many different countries?'

My father was in the United States military when I was born in the USA, and was stationed in Germany for about one and a half years when I was still a baby.

My parents divorced after returning to the USA, but my mother remarried to another military man, and we moved to Italy to live there for about another one and a half years until I was twelve years old, and then returned to the USA.

Later, we moved to England for three years, until I graduated from high school.

I moved to China after I was married and had my own family. We lived there for three years, from 2010 through 2012. We lived in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang for two years, and Beijing for one year. This is when I started my teaching career.

Sharing old photos.

First, let me introduce my older daughter, Suzanne. She likes animals, including snakes, coloring her hair, piercings, tattoos, and Harry Potter.

This is Suzanne's snake, Banana.

This is our guinea pig, Moe.

And now, this is my younger daughter, Destiny. She is twelve years younger than her sister. She likes 'Frozen', animals, watching cartoons, and playing.

This is her school, Victory Christian School, which is only a ten minute walk from home.

This photo was taken just after Destiny was baptized.

This was in Little Rock just before Chinese Spring Festival 2018.

It was very cold to go see the lanterns and performers.

This is an old car we saw in a parking lot going into Walmart.

We were at Mid America Museum in Hot Springs.

Just before baptism.

Halloween 2015 at the nearby White Oak Lake State Park.

This is a little water park our town put in for the kids to have fun during the summer.

This is from Destiny's eighth birthday part.

This is at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.

They have a real submarine, the U.S.S. Razorback, which you can go in. You can see a video tour here.

It was the longest serving submarine in the world, serving for 26 years in the United States Navy, starting in 1944, followed by another 31 years in the Turkish Navy.

This was our 2017 Christmas tree.

My little girl's bed.

I chop about ten different vegetables to make a large salad. The salad is seasoned, and I will have a little salad dressing on it for my lunch, and sometimes dinner each day. I keep the salad refrigerated, and it will usually last all week.

Disney on Ice

I surprised my little girl on Saturday with a trip to our state capital to see a traveling show called 'Disney on Ice'. She had a wonderful time, and so did I. She really likes 'Frozen'.

We were going to go to another event, about a civil war battle, on Sunday that is once a year in our area, but the weather looked like rain, so we stayed home after church.

My grandmother's paintings.

My mother’s mother sewed, quilted, cooked, wrote songs, gardened, painted, and was an author.

These are some of my grandmother’s paintings.

Easter 2018

On Saturday, Suzanne, her boyfriend, and I went to Little Rock to the movies. I went to see ‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’.

This is the second movie I have seen starring Jim Caviezel. He plays Luke in this movie. In the first movie I saw him in, ‘The Passion of Christ’, directed by Mel Gibson, he played Jesus. It was a very powerful role. I later saw an interview with Jim Caviezel that explained how he was able to perform so well in the first movie.

The bottom picture shows my two daughters and myself at our church, Grace Baptist, on Easter Sunday.

For those that are interested, if you go to the link for the church, you can find links to videos of our pastor’s sermons, and his blog.

We also have a wonderful singing group named ‘Ten Steps Back’ that sings at our church. This is a link to watch one of their concerts.

Happy Easter.

Spring Break 2018 day 8:

We left the campsite this morning and drove about an hour and a half to Malvern, where we checked into a hotel. We arrived early, so we went to see the Hot Springs Tower. Then, the idea was that we were going to go to Magic Springs Theme Park. This is our first time to have season tickets, and received an email about coming to the park today between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. to activate our season tickets. We thought the park would be open and we could go on the rides. It was only to activate the tickets. We are still going to stay the night in the hotel and return home tomorrow before noon. Then it’s time to get back to work for me, and back to school for Destiny.

Spring Break 2018 day 7:

We slept in, and went to the diamond mine at 10. We took some sandwiches, chips, and drinks with us. We dug, washed, and looked for diamonds, but didn’t find any. We returned to the camp and enjoyed the rest of the day by the river by practicing archery and going on a hike. In the evening, we had our last big campfire and made s’mores. Tomorrow, we are going to drive about an hour North to Malvern, Arkansas to check into a hotel for our last night of vacation.

Spring Break 2018 day 6:

Wow, it was a day full of activities and walking. We changed plans and went to Hot Springs today, because it was a little cool this morning. We started by going to a toy store and then saw a museum with Star Wars and superhero stuff. Then we had breakfast for lunch, (I had hash-brown potatoes, sausage, biscuits, and eggs covered in country gravy, and Destiny had bacon, eggs, and a pancake.), before going to see some model trains and town. After that, we went to an alligator farm and petting zoo. Finally, we went to walk around some nature trails called Garvand Woodland Gardens. We are both tired, but are going to enjoy a good campfire before bed.

Spring Break 2018 day 5:

We said goodbye to my father and drove to see where an ancient Indian civilization used to live about 3,000 years ago up to about 1,000 years ago. They built mounds of dirt to keep track of the Winter and Summer solstice, and of the Spring and Autumn equinox. Next, we drove to Murfreesboro, Arkansas, to spend the next four nights in a Tipi. After settling in, we built a campfire, and Destiny made some new friends. They all went out at night with flashlights on a ‘treasure hunt’ the campground owner arranged for them.

Spring Break 2018 day 4:

Took my daughter and nephew downtown Little Rock, Arkansas to three museums: Old State House Museum, Historic Arkansas Museum, and Arkansas Museum of Discovery. We also rode on a trolley car, had pizza for lunch, and ice cream in the afternoon before returning to my father’s house. I recorded a really cool video using a thermal camera.

Spring Break 2018 day 3:

Had a great Sunday with my daughter, father, my nephew David, and God. We went to church, and then my father took us to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. We came back to my father’s house, where the kids rode a 4-wheeler, and spent the whole afternoon playing. Tomorrow, we are going to take my nephew with us to three museums downtown.

Spring Break 2018 day 2:

It was Saint Patrick's Day on Saturday. We went to Burger King for breakfast before going to the zoo. We were at the zoo when they opened the gates at 9 a.m., and stayed at the zoo until 2:45 in the afternoon. We saw lots of animals and even went on a train ride. We had lunch at the zoo, and while walking around after lunch, we found $28 on the ground. Our feet were sore from all the walking by the time we left the zoo, but we still had another stop to make before going back to my father’s house. We drove to the Verizon Arena in time for a real feast. There were games for kids. Destiny had lots of fun. There were a lot of people there. We ate catfish, chicken, buffalo, quail, deer, bear, turkey, and pig. We also heard singers singing songs of praise, and speakers giving their testimony. (The name of this event was called: John 3:16, which is a Bible verse that says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not parish, but have eternal life.” We left about 5:15 p.m. to return to my father’s house about 5:45. Enjoy the pictures.

Spring Break 2018 day 1:

Drove 2 1/2 hours after work to stay with my father in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Sharecropping in North Louisiana

This is a book that my mother wrote with my grandmother. It tells the story of my grandmother’s life growing up. It is a true story placed in American history, and is easy to read. Contact me by my teacher email address to let me know if you are interested in reading the book, and I can get you a PDF of the book, or an audio version.

Camden, Arkansas 25th annual Daffodil Festival

Here are a few pictures taken over this past weekend at the Camden, Arkansas 25th annual Daffodil Festival: http://www.camdendaffodilfestival.com

Destiny and I enjoyed the beautiful day walking around downtown looking at all the vendors. There were many arts and crafts and homemade items for sale, as well as all kinds of delicious food, and many activities for kids. Later in the afternoon, we went outside and practiced archery.

Experience and tips.

I HAVE LEARNED A LITTLE BIT OF FRENCH, SPANISH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, CHINESE, AND SOME RUSSIAN.
SO, I KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE. I KNOW THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO PRACTICE.

LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE IS NOT SOMETHING WE CAN LEARN NOW, AND EXPECT TO REMEMBER IN THE FUTURE, WITHOUT ALWAYS PRACTICING.

I HAVE TEN THOUSAND HOURS EXPERIENCE, TEACHING TEN THOUSAND STUDENTS FROM OVER 50 COUNTRIES ALL OVER THE WORLD, ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE, AND I HAVE DEVELOPED THIS NATURAL METHOD TO LEARNING.

THIS IS THE NATURAL WAY WE LEARN A FIRST LANGUAGE, AND IS ALSO EFFECTIVE IN LEARNING OTHER LANGUAGES.

Listen and repeat – Watch movies / television / films in English, preferably with English subtitles. And then repeat what they say. You can also listen to news or talk radio. (vocabulary / listening comprehension / pronunciation) at least 10 minutes each day

Reading – Read something that is interesting to you in English; nothing too difficult or too easy. You should read speaking the words. If you can, record your reading to listen to later. (reading comprehension / vocabulary / speaking practice / pronunciation / grammar and sentence structure) at least 10 minutes each day

Writing – Write in a notebook words and phrases by topic or category in your language, and then translate to English, also writing down the synonyms and antonyms, and other definitions and forms of words. Write questions and responses, in past, present, and future tense using the new vocabulary. Read the questions and responses speaking the words. Review. You can also practice by describing something in detail. (vocabulary / grammar and sentence structure practice / speaking practice) about 5 to 10 minutes each day

Speaking – Speak English all day, and then your native language after. (speaking practice) 35+ hours each week

ENGLISH ONLY at home for 30 minutes with family.

Read English bedtime stories to your children.

***THIS IS NOT THE ADVICE OF EDUCATION FIRST.***
***THIS IS MY PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.***
You still need to keep you private lessons with a native English speaking teacher, so you can listen to the different accents and ask them: ‘Is this how I correctly say this word?’ And, ‘Is this how I correctly use this word in a sentence?’
The teachers are here to help you learn, but you should be doing more outside of class than inside of class.

I am usually available Monday to Friday from 0900 EST to 1600 EST, and then 1630 EST to 1900 EST.
You can book a class with me through the EF system or by contacting me at: Carl.K@teachers.org

Carl K.

FINAL POST: Goodbye China?

THE SITUATION:
About the middle of January, my most recent school to teach for and I parted company over disagreements on how to teach. (That's keeping it nice.) We were given an option of showing up to the Exit/Entry Bureau and getting our Visa's changed to tourist until February 21st or do nothing and have them automatically expire in ten days. The school was also kind enough to let us stay in the apartment until the end of January. I tried to find other employment and had a few first and even second interviews, but nothing worked out. No matter what the outcome for work, we still had to leave the country to renew our Visa status to a Z-teaching Visa. We were waiting on our tax return money to come in so we could buy tickets to go home and visit anyway. When the end of January was near and we still didn't have the tax return, we had to have another plan. We contacted the US Embassy and they could help us with an emergency loan, taking our passports, and we would have to pay the loan back before they would allow us to get new passports. Before we followed through with this decision, my mother let us use her credit card to buy tickets to return home. We got tickets with a round-trip  date of April 17th, in hopes that we would find work in time to do the correct paperwork to come back to China. We didn't have enough money to get our family dog home, so we found him a new home with a nice American family in Beijing.
THE TRIP:
We spent three hours going to the airport by subway carrying a dozen bags and a three year old toddler. After going through security and on the way to our gate, we were told that our flight had just left the gate. We had to return to the front of the airport, reclaim our checked bags and try to find out what to do next. After getting sent first one place and then another, we finally discovered we had to sleep the night at the airport and wait for the airline personnel to come in the next morning to find out what to do. The next day, we were placed on stand-by. There were only three flights going out to America and they wre all full. We were placed on the waited list for the last flight, because it had the connecting flight we needed. We were lucky enough to be the first of a dozen other people to get seats. We made it through security again and had to run for our flight. We left about 45 minutes late, but landed on time. We barely made to our connecting flight, only to find it was cancelled due to mechanical problems. This time, the airline put us up in a hotel with dinner and breakfast. The next morning, we finally made it to Little Rock from Chicago. My parents picked us up at the airport and gave us a ride home for the final hour and half. It had taken 64 hours from the time we left our apartment in China to get home.
THE FUTURE:
The tickets for round-trip didn't cost anymore than one-way. With over ten weeks before our return ticket date, we are looking for work here at home to off-set some of our cost. We are also looking for work in Beijing with the hopes to find something before the middle of March. After that time, there would not be enough time to do the paperwork to return to China. Even though there are some good reasons to return to China, there are also some good reasons to stay in America. Our decision may be made for us. We will have to wait and see.

Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner.

 

We haven't had an American traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner since moving to China. For Thanksgiving we have had KFC and the first two years we had a nice dinner with our Canadian friends for Christmas, but no turkey.  Mainly because turkeys are hard to come by over here. We did see a live one in Jiamusi, but weren't prepared for killing, cleaning or cooking it. Now that we are in Beijing, there are several restaurants that fix complete meals you can order ahead and even have delivered.

 

We had purchased this large toaster oven and after Thanksgiving saw frozen turkeys for sale in one of the import stores. We decided to buy the turkey and have a Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner ourselves. We don't have a freezer so we had to cook the turkey once it was thawed. It only took 3 hours in our new convection oven and it turned out wonderful. Golden brown skin and juicy meat that just pulled off the bone.

 

Deb made deviled eggs.

 

It was a feast for the six of us, including Spot and the rabbit.

 

Turkey, deviled eggs and gravy.

 

Mashed potatoes, asparagus and cornbread dressing.