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Polska

So off we go to Poland this weekend to see about setting up an exchange program between Illinois State and Opole University of Technology. This means my classes won't meet next week. The students are thrilled!

My bag is packed and I'm ready to go.

Every evening I plan to strike out into Poland to find Internet cafes so I can record some observations and share pictures.

Canadian Thanksgiving

We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend








Creative photography



















Game of Horse










Air Dan








Hat party







It's all in the facial expressions.

Birthdays and fall fun

Katrina planned a nice birthday party for her mom in August. She was surrounded by her 4 beautiful "grands" plus lots of family and friends.






Isn't she a "grand" granddaughter? :)









Here is a picture from one of my bike rides. I can ride 20-30 miles and see only a handful off cars. Biking in Illinois is the best kept secret...no hills and no cars. What's even better is that there has been no wind to contend with over the last 2-3 months, too! Good for bikers like me, but bad for all the wind farms!




Tom and Dan eliminated the honey locust. The tree has been bugging Tom for quite some time.

Summer 2009

Look! Here are the South American bicyclists getting ready for a ride through east central Illinois!







Joel and Karen trying some wine.










Karen's friend from McGill U, Iska. She is trying to catch some fish in the pond.







Group cousins hug!










Cousins










The highly skilled Dustin.


















The expectant parents







Uncle Dennie, Aunt Cheryl, Karen and Dan

Mom's 41st Anniversary of her 39th Birthday

We celebrated Mom's birthday last weekend in Cleveland. There were a few surprise guests, too! Sharon and Dave, Walter and Judy, and Mark and Mary Kay &  kids. Lots of fun.






Here are the cousins: Karen, Blake, Kelly, Kylie, Teri and Dan.








Kylie, Dan and Christopher










Rock on, Kylie-girl!









Dan & Kelly




Teri and Blake









Chas and Carolyn







Tom &  Carol

Back to the USA

Here is the Noodle Lady at the SWU canteen who made my lunch for me everyday. The last day she gave me a double of everything in the noodles (2 fish balls, 2 wantons, 2 tofu chips, 2 porks, etc.) for free! I ate every bite. This is only a 10 second video.

Here is Malin. She will take over my classes. She just learned that her Masters Thesis will be published!







My students on the last day. It was a great trip! Before I left people asked how I could travel to Thailand all alone, and wouldn't that be lonely. It easy to do because of my Thai colleagues who are also dear friends. They took excellent care of me, introduced me to all kinds of wonderful food (Tom Yum Noodle Soup), took me to beautiful places in Bangkok and to the sea, and showed me great kindness. Another great person in all of this has been Tom. He was very supportive even though I was gone during one of the busiest times of the summer! And Dan has become quite skilled at doing the laundry. Thanks for checking out my blog!