Author: jzurfluh

We’re down to about four weeks remaining in Guangzhou, and time has started to behave the way it often does near a departure date: it speeds up while also becoming strangely vivid. The days feel stitched together by errands, meals, bike rides, family time—and that background awareness that soon we’ll be packing, transitioning, and stepping into the next rhythm.

So, in the spirit of Stephen Colbert’s familiar cadence, here’s life lately:

Meanwhile… Emily and I took a wonderful trip to Xiamen, where we rekindled fond memories of our first kiss on Gulangyu Island in 1995. Some memories are like old photographs: they fade at the edges. That one didn’t. Gulangyu still has the same quiet magic, and it felt like we were revisiting a mile marker in a long, good journey. We also ventured into Zhangzhou to explore deeper layers of China’s history and visit the famous Tulou villages—architecture built for community, continuity, and protection. You don’t walk through places like that without thinking about what it means to build something that lasts.

Meanwhile… back in Washington, our modular manufactured house was delivered to our property on Harstine Island, and I followed the entire process through the narrow lens of one security camera and a steady stream of contractor photos. It’s amazing how emotionally invested a person can become in pixelated construction footage. I’m collecting and posting videos of the process on Zurfluh.net alongside these updates—because if we’re going to build a new chapter, we might as well document it.

Meanwhile… Easter came and went, and I felt a quiet ache that surprised me. For most of my life, Easter weekend wasn’t just a date on the calendar—it was a season of activity: youth groups, services, events, fellowship, and the familiar warmth of community. This year was different. It was quiet. Contemplative. I watched Mount Cross Lutheran services online and genuinely missed everyone. I’m looking forward to returning not just to church, but to that shared, steady rhythm that has anchored me for decades.

Meanwhile… PahPah is doing well, and weekend time with her (with Emily) has been good. Weekdays are harder—life has its schedules and constraints—but today I’m biking over to see her. There’s something about arriving under your own power that feels right here. Guangzhou makes it easy to move through a city and still feel human while doing it.

Meanwhile… I continue biking around the city—through Tianhe, along parks, into neighborhoods where I haven’t been before. Guangzhou is endlessly watchable. There’s always something new: a street corner you haven’t turned, a park you didn’t know existed, a small moment of daily life that reminds you this city is not just “developing,” it’s living.

Meanwhile… our twin nephews are studying English, and I’ve become a joyful tutor. My goal is to move them beyond memorization and toward understanding—while reminding myself of everything I’ve learned over the years about language acquisition. One moment made me laugh (and admire their creativity): I caught one nephew writing Chinese characters over English words—not because he thought they shared meaning, but because he was matching characters by sound as a phonetic system. That’s genuinely smart. It’s also a strategy that probably won’t scale. With Emily’s help, we persuaded him to use that creativity in ways that won’t eventually lead him into linguistic chaos.

Meanwhile… I’ve been doing a lot more Chinese cooking. I bought a wok at a local store, seasoned it properly (thank you, internet), and now I have a growing list of dishes I can make without panic. Last night I moved into soups: a winter melon and pork soup, with my own adjustments—carrot for me, sweet potato for Emily. It was delicious and well received. I’ve been told this soup helps fight the impact of hot days, and given recent weather, I’m choosing to believe in its powers.

Meanwhile… temperatures are climbing steadily. I haven’t seen a day below 25°C for a couple of weeks now. The rainy season seems to be taking a breather, except for the occasional afternoon thunderstorm—the kind I remember from both Guangzhou and Shanghai. The sky darkens, the air shifts, the city shrugs, and then life continues.

Meanwhile… the Spring Trade Fair is in town, and I’ve noticed many more foreigners around our neighborhood since we’re close to the conference area. It reminded me of an old saying that still makes the rounds:
“If you want to sell China, go to Shanghai. If you want to buy China, go to Guangzhou. If you want to love China, go to Beijing.”
I don’t know whether I’ll make it to the fair this year, but the energy is unmistakable: the city is hosting the world again, at least for a season.

Meanwhile… today is my birthday, and I turn 66. The double digit feels like it should come with a prize, or at least a commemorative hat. Tonight I’m joining the family for a home-cooked meal, and Emily and I will have a night out this weekend. I briefly wondered if 66 requires a Route 66 road trip—then remembered I’m currently in Guangzhou and the road trip might look more like “bike to the next park and call it destiny.” Either way, I’m grateful to celebrate here.

Meanwhile… I’m beginning to feel the gravity of May. I know we’ll be back, and we plan to retain the apartment, but goodbye is still goodbye. Transitions matter even when they’re voluntary. This will be our first year stepping into the rhythm of annual return, and I’m aware that the rhythm will be both beautiful and bittersweet—the kind of “practice” you get better at only by doing it.

And finally—Meanwhile… the world’s turmoil remains. As we watch war erupt in the Middle East and the daily din of political catastrophe continues to arrive like an automatic notification, I’m increasingly convinced that many of us need to step away from the noise at times—not to disengage from responsibility, but to preserve the clarity required to care well. In the spirit of Easter, I find myself returning to what Christianity is meant to be at its best: love, acceptance, and help offered to all, leaving greed and revenge behind.

This season, I’m practicing a single verb:

陪 (péi) — to accompany.

To accompany family. To accompany a city. To accompany a quieter interior life. Long enough to learn something from peacefulness—and maybe carry that insight back into the fray, with steadier hands.

Click here for the full letter:

Recent articles published on Medium…

Now that my school content has moved to the ASW School website, I’m transitioning Zimplicity back to my personal use for educational blogging. This is my moniker and I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts and experiences here.

As a start, I had a unique experience using NotebookLM recently, the new AI testbed from Google. I started with a policy document and was amazed a the summary and the resulting podcast reflecting on it. Then I had a thought and on a lark uploaded my resume to the tool and below is both my resume and a link to the NotebookLM podcast summarizing the resume.

We’ve moved Zimplicity to a new location on the aswarsaw.org website. Logistically, this works better for us from a publication point of view with eNotes. You can find new Zimplicity posts at this new location:

https://www.aswarsaw.org/about-us/news/directors-desk

We’ll keep this website here for historical purposes and to maintain the many links to the content herein. But, all new content will be directed to the new location. Thank you for being a Zimplicity reader! Please join us at the new place!!

Taking this brief and final opportunity to thank all involved in our First Annual Gala on Saturday and my appreciation to all in attendance on a stellar evening.  Many thanks to all the administration, staff, and students involved in making this such a special event.  We all walked away with our special memories and our actions for the future now on the giving tree that all will see in the future in the main lobby area.  We want to thank you for your support and for helping further the cause of our ASW4Ukraine project that continues unabated, due to many volunteers’ continuous efforts behind the scenes.  If you know one of these special people, give them an extra hug for all that they do.

Master Facility Design Process

We shared them with those in attendance at the Gala, but now have them displayed in the main hallways.  I should note that these are the first round of renderings and we are under a soft launch, but the more detailed presentations will come in the Fall.  Only minor preparatory projects this summer with much more detail in August and September on the scope and schedule of all of our plans.

Thoughts Before the Final Week

We will have our Final School Wide Assembly next week on Wednesday.  This will be open to all parents and you’ll see your areas to stand around the perimeter of students as we will again hold it outdoors on our back fields.  Everyone needs to think sun.  Please be advised that students will return to their classroom after the assembly to say a final goodbye to their teachers and school ends promptly at 11:30a.  Parking will be challenging and you should use exterior areas outside of the back gate if parking is not available in the main lot.  You may not leave your vehicle parked in any of our yellow zones.  Also, be reminded that we will not have a late start on Wednesday, June 15 and school starts at 8:30a due to the shortened week because of the holiday.

Looking forward to a strong closure and will offer a final message in next week’s final eNotes for the year.

Coming to you tonight is this year’s feedback survey.  As usual, this is a familiar survey with 80% of the questions we ask each year plus some updates and additions to gather important information from you about our programs.  We use this as our primary tool for addressing program changes and improvements.  All prior surveys are presented in summary to the board each year in September and the most recent was included in the September 2021 board packet.

You’ll receive a personal invitation to this survey today (some may have already received it as you read this) and you should strive to complete it by July 15.  If you do not complete the survey, you will continue to receive reminders until we close the survey in July.

This survey is critical not only to our ongoing operational and strategic work but also to our upcoming accreditation renewal process.  Participation is critical in making sure that we keep our finger on the pulse of the school community as has been the case in years past. The survey will take about 40 minutes to complete and we recommend your children be near you for questions as you consider each response.  Automatic translation to multiple languages by Google is provided, but it may not always be fully accurate.

Thanks in advance for your continued support of this important annual tradition!!

Master Facility Design Process

We’re happy to report that we are finishing up the master facilities design process and will be moving now into project implementation.  We’ll have comprehensive information about this come fall as the early projects of upgrades and renovations commence with smaller projects at the beginning, including this summer.  Those attending the Gala this weekend will have a special treat as we share a peek at the completed renderings of the various projects.  We’ll have these up in August to share with the entire community, but for now, know that ASW has continued its strategic work throughout these recent years of hardship and we continue our work in earnest to stay at the front edge of a world class education.

Safety Reminder

Just a plea to please reduce your speeds between speed bumps in the parking lot.  I’ve monitored in recent days and have witnessed some excessive speeds from multiple vehicles that are very dangerous in a school parking lot. I would ask all to please consider maintaining very slow speeds throughout the parking lot at all times (under 10 km/h).  See our Parking Lot Guide for more information.

To all of our special guests, faculty, staff, administration, parents, friends, and family members, whether here or online watching live – I offer you my thanks for your pride and presence as we come toward the close of this, our 29^th commencement exercises for the class of 2022. 

Our special gratitude to our board members who are present here and watching online today, led by Board Chair Kay LaBanca.  Thank you for your courage and leadership through difficult times.  You represent and defend the needs of the community with honor and capability!  It is a pleasure serving with you all!

Ambassador Brzezinski.  I offer special thanks for your message today.  Our bonds with the Embassy are always strong.  Today you refresh this partnership with your presence and your words, not just as a wise diplomat and friend, but also as an ASW parent with similar hopes and dreams for your own in the years ahead.

Can and Nina, thank you for representing your classmates so well.  You both bring a unique and thoughtful perspective — born for both of you through spirit, dedication, and enthusiasm.  You have represented your classmates well and we thank you for your service to the greater good, a model for us all!

Ms. Hassan, your message will long be cherished by the students seated before you who both respect and appreciate you for all that you have done, and continue to do, in service to teaching and learning each day.  You are a fine choice as a representative of a world class teaching faculty that can only be revered and honored for their commitment and dedication under the most difficult of circumstances.

Whether here in the auditorium or watching from home, we thank you all, the staff of ASW, for your unwavering dedication.  Faculty, counselors, administration, and support staff have all been the beacons of hope and resilience for students and parents during the darkest of days.  I thank you all for your continued demonstration and modeling of the core values we all hold in highest regard.

We know as an international community that many of our graduates have had other schooling experiences before joining us here in Warsaw. Some even stay with us for a time, leave for a bit, and then return. It is part of being an international school that we embrace this regular flux of change and transition. Over twenty nationalities sit on this stage tonight.  But, as has been our tradition, I’d like to recognize some Warriors, nurtured at ASW from the beginning of their schooling experience all the way to this graduation. As I call these names, would you please rise and remain standing so that we can recognize all of you as a group:

12 Students have been identified as having been at ASW since either Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten:

Kindergarten:

• Theodore
• Helena
• Olivia
• Maksymilian
• Nina
• Karolina

Pre-Kindergarten – Age 4:

• Maria
• Zofia
• Blanca
• Noa
• Hung Dung

Pre-Kindergarten – Age 3:

• Liliane

Please recognize these students and their families as this year’s Warriors of longest standing.

I offer a simple message of closure today, punctuating a splendid return to our favorite venue and leaving behind the bumpers and headlights in hopes that they can be fond memories, but never again a reality.  Many thanks to Mr. Sheehan and his team as they dusted off their memories and brought back all but a few of our traditions in short order as it became clearer each day that this would be possible.

I’m inspired tonight by a quote that I think may resonate despite the challenges that seem to surround us.  This class is the first to have run the full course of our most recent challenge.  As you entered your final two years in the Diploma Programme, we had just emerged from lockdown and you are now experiencing life as we emerge from a long and winding, and often daunting, tunnel. So, here’s the quote I bring today:

From past American President John F. Kennedy – “Change is the law of life.  And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

While I value that we all believe that there are lessons that we have learned in recent years — and that silver linings should be plowed into new realities, I would ask you to challenge yourself and consider for a moment the unknowns rather than the knowns.  While we should all celebrate that we have survived, or will survive, it can unfortunately leave us short-sighted and often too busy in the moment to be inspired by imagination and possibility.

While tired at times, at my core, I’m an optimist.  In the darkness, I still seek light.  In despair, I look for threads of opportunity.  And even in success, I seek aspiration and vision looking toward the next horizon.

I want you to embrace this with me – this optimism and excitement.  Like every educator and parent in this room, I wanted to give you a better world, empowering you to embrace it – our legacy is your hearts and minds engaged in finding what has not yet been tried, what has not been considered, what you can bestow upon the next generation.

Look around at the faces in the audience, filled with pride and inspired by your growing.  When you greet your family and friends at the reception, see the joy in their eyes that is inspired by your journey, incomplete, but full of promise and potential.

Embrace your parents today in a new way.  Thank them for all that they have done to support you, but more importantly just make sure they know that you love them and always will.  That’s the only thing that is truly important on this day and in this moment as you prepare for what comes next.

Let’s embrace this with smiles and pride as you cross in front of us.  All sins are forgiven, officially for the school at least, and may you always look to the future rather than the past, embracing the optimism that is life.

Class of 2022 and your parents, thank you for letting ASW be part of your lives.  We love you and wish you nothing but the best in all that you seek and do!

Warriors always!

In the coming days, we begin a series of events that are considered important milestones in life.   A milestone is defined as…

…a significant stage or event in the development of something.

School has always been a place where many reflect on how these growing and becoming milestones are achieved.  This weekend, we start with graduation for our oldest students.  We look forward to celebrating their achievements, and in the true spirit of a milestone, giving them cementing both memories and a pathway.  Graduation, like many milestones in schooling and life, is not about a destination, but more about holding onto the momentum and continuing the journey.  For all our students, pivotal milestone moments allow an opportunity to breathe so that we can celebrate, reflect, and then continue in the journey undeterred.

We live both in the moment and in the plan.  Let’s rejoice in how we kept learning enabled, with or without challenge, and embrace the “growing” in all its forms.  Let’s start with graduates and then look for each of our milestones between now and the final assembly bells, encouraging and enabling those most precious to us, the children we all nurture and serve.

Tragedy Again

I could not write today without at least mentioning the tragedy in the United States unfolding in recent hours in Uvalde, Texas.  I can’t be silent.  No child should ever have their life snatched away, whether in war, from famine/disease, or at the hands of deranged individuals.  I agree with all who are suggesting that we have to find active and urgent ways to bring this kind of senseless loss to an end.  As a family of human beings living together on this planet, we need to find a better path. ASW’s mission is to change the world for the better.  All of the adults of the world need to consider it their mission to change the world for the better for our children.  As a parent, my heart cries for the families in Texas, who are now engulfed in grief.  Please keep them in your thoughts in the days and weeks ahead.  If students are struggling with this recent news in any way, please reach out to our counsellors for support.

Gala

A final plea to get your tickets soon so that we can lock in numbers for our special event.  We will have a wonderful crowd at this spectacular event and I’m very much looking forward to it!  Thank you for watching my video last week and please share your thoughts with me to help guide us in our future endeavours in this area of service and advancement under Culture of Giving.

Additional Update on COVID

On Monday we noted the reduction of protocols and suspended the “Test-to-Attend” program.  Today we are announcing that next week (May 23-27) we will end regular testing for the remainder of the school year.  Based on the data recorded to date, this has been approved as our next viable next step and a way of closing the year consistent with what we see in terms of risk level in the current environment.  We will maintain a shorter morning testing time for both “Test-to-Stay” which will still be required for all close contacts in a household.  But, our testing in cohorts will end next Friday.

An endemic approach requires that we continue our watchful eye on any potential increase in infections.  Therefore, we will continue with daily attestation in OK4School.  But, starting after next week, you will no longer be prompted for a test expiration and we will rely entirely on the daily survey and your at-home checks.  We continue to encourage the use of home tests in the face of emerging symptoms and personal responsibility for self-isolation to protect the broader community in the case of illness.  Thank you for all you do to help us remain safe and secure each day at school.  Watch for Monday’s Weekly Update for further directions on next steps.

Belated wishes to many of the Mothers of our community and their celebrations last Sunday in honour of your special day.  We recognize the importance of celebrating all that you do for your children.  In that regard, I hope that the children of ASW took this opportunity to cherish and care for you in essential ways with extra hugs and much lovingkindness to show their awe and appreciation for all that you do.

But, we should also be quick to mention that many countries celebrate Mothers on different dates.  Poland officially celebrates Mother’s Day on May 26.  France follows shortly thereafter on May 29 along with the Dominican Republic and Sweden.  Spain, Portugal, Romania, Hungary, and Lithuania celebrated on May 1st.  Other dates in various countries include February 13, November 27, August 12, October 16, and June 12 in 2022.  In our diverse community, it means we are celebrating Mother’s Day throughout the year, as it should be! 😉

Wishing you all the best and thank you for all that you do!!

Gala!!

Hoping you have had a chance to check out our website and consider joining us for an elegant evening here at ASW in support of our programs at our inaugural event.  We are moving quickly towards our date, so please consider joining us by purchasing tickets either as an individual or as a group or corporate sponsor.  Our partnerships are very important to us, and would be so happy to have you with us at this important event!

https://gala.aswarsaw.org

PYPx

We had a wonderful PYPx for our Grade 5 students last week.  Each year this constitutes a significant capstone of the elementary experience where years of learned skills are brought together into a multi-disciplinary project.  We should applaud the talented and capable staff of the elementary school and all the volunteer adult mentors and experts who helped to make this a robust and rewarding experience for our students.  The projects were a dazzling array of ideas and actions that will have a profound impact on our school and community, demonstrating a key part of our mission – changing the world for the better.  See below for more information in the elementary section of this eNotes.