Where in the World is Dave Sutton??
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Sent: Wed 7/25/2007 11:06 PM Hi All, Yes time is flying. It is lunch time, Thursday. The kids are great, the classrooms are small and in poor shape, there is virtually no A/C, and I teach two, two and half hour classes. 8:30 - 11:00 AM, ages 10 -14 and 2:30 - 5:00, ages 14-18. This part of China is very much unlike Hong Kong. There are very few signs or directions in English. But I travel everywhere by myself at night; school supply stores, electric appliance stores and super market by myself. Everyone so far has been very helpful. As soon as they see me lumber in, someone will come over to talk to me and through sign language, I can purchase what I need. The heat is bad nevertheless; 93 - 98 Fahrenheit 60 - 70% humidity. Even the Chinese people suffer from it here. Thank God that I do have A/C/ in my dorm room. The other teachers are very friendly and cooperative. This Saturday we are going to visit a city called Kaiping and see some ancient Chinese buildings. I have 100 hundred photos but it is difficult to get them transferred to the school's computer. There are only two older PCs here. Often the email server is down. Nine people have to share these two computers between emailing and typing lesson plans. I have waited almost two days to get to this machine and its free now because everyone else is at lunch. I love you all, |
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Sent: Mon 7/23/2007 9:31 AM Hello Kevin and Michael, It is now Monday 7/23 10:20 PM, and I have just sat down from today's first day of teaching. I have not been teaching all day but I did have teach my first two classes, then debriefing from 5:30 6:30, then dinner, then out to a stationary store to buy supplies. The money that the AOH is coming in useful. The University does not supply much at all besides the classroom. I have taken about 50 pictures but I have to clean my last flash card. I only got 3 pictures of students working in my afternoon class. Whatever I send you I hope you do share it. I was even thinking of writing up a story and sending it to the Hibernian. It would not necessarily be about me but rather about the Irish-American brothers and priests that I have met out here and how Division 2, Orange County deserves credit for supporting my efforts. I consider myself sort of as a "good will" ambassador for the AOH. By this Wednesday I should have some good pictures of the students. I have the cameras setting set for fine; high resolution. The people have been nice but there are few people besides those I am with that speak English. It is like being a stranger in a strange land. The kids are good, somewhat taken aback by my size. I do not think I will have discipline problems this month. God Bless You All In the spirit of Saints Aidan, Columba, and Patrick... |
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Sent: Sat 7/21/2007 8:47 AM Wu Yi University Hello Folks, We arrived in Jiangmen which is a city of 3.1 million. There are 9 of us led by a Christian Brother Charles Duffy; Professor Emeritus of Iona, three times Fulbright Scholar, with a ton of other academic accomplishments. He is 71 years old and takes all of this heat and humidity in stride. It is his tenth trip to China for this summer program. We are staying in a special Dormitory for Foreign Teachers. There is a/c, private toilet and bathroom, two beds and a table. The staff is very friendly and we were met at the pier ( 4 hour ferry from Hong Kong), by college representatives. I am using a college computer to send this email. The university has provided a room with two PCs and a/c. There is no phone hook up in my bedroom. They provide all meals within the dormitory building; Chinese food and style. We already had our first meeting to discuss assignments, rosters, classrooms, etc. After dinner tonight, we walked to the boundaries of the campus, went shopping at a market (No Guinness but I did get peanuts and iced tea), which took about 30 minutes in one direction. We begin teaching on Monday. By the way, I am 12 hours ahead of New York. Finally, I'll be early for most things; in New York anyhow! This area is not as western and prosperous as Hong Kong but the people that we have met so far are genuine and appreciate that we have come to Wu Yi to teach. They have shown us much consideration. There is al a college student/teacher assistant available (9:00 AM - 9:00PM), downstairs at the Main Desk should we need anything. I am tired and I will end here. Duffy and I are leaving at 7:00 AM to go to mass which is about 30 minutes away by bus. I don't want to miss mass because Duffy looks like he lives up to all those stories about the Christian Brothers. God Bless You All. |
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Sent: Wed 7/18/2007 12:44 AM Dear AOH brothers and Friends, I cannot thank you enough for the donation. It has made a significant difference for me. I am sorry for not writing sooner. Everything is absolutely great here except the weather. It is normally 95 to 98 degrees with 85+ humidity so it creates a comfort level of 104 degrees. i have lost at least five pounds from sweating. The food is great; we receive three meals a day plus they have an open refrigerator with soda and snacks available to all whenever. I did some traveling on Sunday night and saw Hong Kong Central and Kowloon. Otherwise, it has been conferences and classes from 9:00 AM till 6:00 PM each day. Last night I went to a nearby beach and was swimming in the South China Sea; water temperature = 82 degrees. Then, I hooked up with one of the younger guys and had a few pints on the other waterfront. We leave for the mainland on Saturday, and should arrive on Saturday afternoon. That is when the real fun begins. This Friday is a free day for us and I will be going to Macau and Lantau Island. This country is beautiful, hilly with many bays. I am in the Southern most part of Hong Kong. The central area is built up and resembles Manhattan very much with the skyscrapers, malls, fancy stores. I have taken about thirty photos but have not put them together yet. I hope to send these out soon. There are 14 of us, 5 in my age category and the rest are graduate college students. Everyone is enthusiastic and a joy to be around. Thanks again for your support and good wishes Dave |
