Penny in Abilene Texas

ACU Campus is beautiful – but sorry it is not a place I would want to live. I am too attached to the wet, humid weather along with the plants, trees and moss that seem to hug and shelter me. I felt very vulnerable in the wide open spaces of Texas. We flew into DFW airport and rented a car for the 3 hour boring drive to Abilene. After just 2 days she was set up in her new room she is renting from Roberta and already riding her new WalMart Huffy bike around campus.

Side Note she has called a couple of times and is doing well. There are about 70 other Chinese students on this campus but most of them are undergraduates and male. She is still practicing her swimming and doing lots of reading for her assignments. Here is the link for the "Penny in America" photos.

Penny in South Georgia

She wanted to learn how to swim so we practiced many hot afternoons at our local SSI public pool. Our new “Casino Pool” is great. It is located right next to the lighthouse with a spectacular beachfront view. We also took lots of walks on the beach and played in the waves. One day we visited a very uncrowded Okefenokee Swamp Park and had a close up encounter with a momma gator. We were the only tourists on the boat so we got to spend a lot of quality time with our guide’s favorite gators.

As for food –as expected- I took her to MY favorite places like Willies Weenee Wagon and Crab Trap to eat. We also went shopping for real Chinese ingredients (which are hard to impossible to find in Brunswick GA) and Penny taught me how to make pretty good fried rice. Not as good as in Hangzhou –but passable.

Penny in North Georgia

When she first arrived in the US she visited some other American ZUFE teachers (Rachel & JP in IL Jim & Kris in Dalton Georgia) before I got custody of her.

Even though the drive to Dalton is a very long one – it was well worth getting to see Kris and Jim again as well as Penny. We toured Chattanooga and had a great time.

Side Note: We took this picture in Kris and Jim pretty garden. They are the couple that made my one of my last semesters in China GREAT!
Another Side Note: Penny says that only restaurant hostesses and waitresses wear this type of Chinese Dress - maybe so - but she looked so cute it in. We are glad she brought it.

Penny Comes to America

Penny was one of the many of my China helpers and friends. Penny’s position was rather unique in that she was a student at ZUFE but NOT one of my English Major students. I met her at a Hangzhou West Lake English corner and after that meeting we frequently met at the bus station early Sunday mornings for the hour long bus ride and the 20 minute walk to West Lake. She frequently helped me travel, shop and order food. During those 2 years we got to be rather good friends. Last year I was really excited to hear that she got a full tuition scholarship and visa to attend Abilene Christian University in Abilene Texas. Now it is time for me to repay favors…