I'd never experienced one. Neither had my father, Dick, or Martha in all their years in China. Hmmm...a Beijing sandstorm!

I guess up until five years ago sandstorms were a huge problem in the springtime. But the government spent a lot of money to plant trees to try to prevent them from doing so much damage.

So on Saturday evening, I took this picture of a beautiful sunset not far from my school. Mike & I were in a taxi on our way in to Tongzhou for some groceries. Then on Sunday night, the sand hit.

We woke up to a hazy, windy and depressing day. But I heard it was so much worse in the city center of Beijing. Three hundred thousand tonnes of sand from the Gobi Desert has blown into Beijing & the surrounding areas! Ouch for our lungs :(

Yesterday was my first day at my new assignment: teaching at Beijing Union University. It was interesting...I taught six students for three hours, and my classroom is a Chinese teahouse. Here's where I teach:




It was a nice experience, but it was exhausting...especially with the sandy, windy weather in Beijing.



Today at BCCSC, many students were hacking and I started coughing & couldn't stop. I think tomorrow I'll wear my white mask since I have absolutely no time to be sick, lol!

In less than two weeks it will be the May holiday, and while most of the other teachers are heading to Thailand (to the beach!), Mike & I are going on a hiking trip to Hongshan. Happy Easter to everyone back home :) Please know that I think of all of you often (even though I send e-mail very little), and I wish I had $$$ to bring you all here or to come to you & visit, miss you...