Loss

I found out today that Gisele, a fellow teacher at Three Gorges University, died today. I'm not too clear on the details, whether it was from the fire in her apartment or from jumping from the building. I am really in shock. I didn't know Gisele very well, but as foreigners living in Yichang, we all had a bond. We'd gone out a few times together, shared lesson plans, partied at New Year's. She was a newbie, and we all liked her. I guess it's affecting me so strongly because it could have been any of us. We all lived in crappy apartments with bars on the windows and wondered what we'd do in a fire. Gisele lived in Dawson's old apartment on the sixth floor. I guess I feel loss over a small piece of China gone. And in a way, I wish I were there to comfort her students and all the other foreign teachers there. It's so sobering.

Pray for her family. I can't imagine all that they will deal with in legalities with the government. Pray for her students. We shared many students, and they're so tender-hearted. They loved her as a teacher. And pray for those in Yichang with Wisdom to help those without in understanding and dealing with such a shocking event.

German teacher dies after jumping off dormitory in central China

www.chinaview.cn 2009-03-11 13:38:28

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YICHANG, Hubei, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A German woman died after apparently jumping from the seventh floor of a university staff dormitory building in central China's Hubei Province Wednesday, police said.

The woman, believed to be aged 32, worked as an English teacher at the Yichang-based China Three Gorges University.

Her dormitory on the sixth floor caught fire at 9:30 a.m. and neighbors saw her jump from the top of the seven-story building.

A note that read "Do not resuscitate" in English was found on her body. Fire-fighters have put out the fire.

Police are investigating the cause of the death.