Thought I'd be gone forever, eh?

OK, I know this blog is weeks (or more like 2 months) overdue. And I have a whole bunch of excuses, but to be honest, it’s a mix of laziness, business, guests, a broken computer and winter lethargy. And now I have a million things to talk about, but I don’t want to bore anyone. So being the handy English major I am, I’ll break it up into two nicely organized sections. The first will be a brief overview of what I’ve been doing the last 2 months, and the second will be some random stuff about my students, because that’s what you all come here to read anyway.

So Part 1, which I have entitled “Sorry I Suck So Much, But Yes I’m Alive and Well and Here is Why”.

When last I wrote, it was just after Thanksgiving, and my friends were here. Well, I don’t remember the rest of November, or the first half of December. And probably too much beer, since I can’t remember anything. Just a mix of work and normal life I suppose. In mid- December my Mom and Alisa came to visit, which I had been looking forward to for forever. They both wrote guest blogs, which are below. But before we get to that, I’ll give a quick run through on what we did. They arrived in Suzhou and stayed for about 5 days. While here, they met some of my friends, saw the sites, and managed to lock themselves inside their hotel room twice. Then after my weekend at work, we headed off to Beijing, where we spent two jam-packed days seeing all the sites, including the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Mom took a toboggan down the Wall. It was a site to behold. Even more amazing? We were literally the only ones on the Wall. I guess we got there early enough. But I would have never imagined it. After that we headed to Hong Kong, where we celebrated Christmas with a Chinese Santa and beautiful views of the city. This trip was far more relaxing than my previous visit to Hong Kong, which I’ve written about before. Then it was back to Suzhou for me, and I later met them in Shanghai, where the 3 of us spent 90% of the time sick in bed. But onto the guest blogs. They’re excellent, and not just because they talk about how awesome I am.

Mom’s:

My impressions from two weeks in China (not intend be a comprehensive list--there is so much more!) :

My high regard for Rachel's ability to live in China and thrive has now reached astronomical levels--after two weeks of trying to navigate the roads, the food, the customs, I am exhausted! And yet Rachel takes it all in stride.

Rachel's blogs gave me a really good idea of what to expect once we were here, so she saved us from that "deer in the headlights" feeling.

The growth and development in China is unbelievable. We all should learn Mandarin as there is no doubt that the Chinese are going to take over the world!

Shopping appears to be the number one pasttime in the big cities--including the high end designer stores like Gucci, Prada, Burberry, etc.

I understand why Rachel has chosen to live in Suzhou instead of a larger city like Shanghai. Suzhou is quite manageable, and with its mix of "old city" and new development, it gives you everything you need. And the gardens are, indeed, beautiful.

The Chinese airlines are very efficient--and still serve real food!

The Hong Kong subway system is quite impressive and easy to navigate, making it very easy to get around.

I was surprised by all the Christmas decorations in Suzhou, Beijing and Hong Kong, and Christmas music everywhere! Though hearing a recording of young Chinese voices singing "Jingle Bells" in Mandarin was somewhat unnerving.

Visiting all the Imperial sites in Beijing, as well as the Great Wall, is definitely worthwhile, especially in the company of a wonderful Chinese guide.

Haggling for prices at the market is a skill that Rachel has mastered!

It's going to be hard to say goodbye to Rachel, but I know that she's very happy where she is, doing what she is doing, so what more could a mother ask for? I am one very proud Mama.

Di

Alisa’s:

I have decided to sum up our two weeks across China in a list of highs and lows. First things first, the ultimate low will of course be having to say goodbye to my sister, Queen Rachel, in about an hour. And ultimate high is getting to be with Queen Rachel, who I have missed so much. Getting to see her life here in Suzhou makes me even more impressed by what she is doing, and I am so happy to see the wonderful life she has built for herself here.

With that said, the lows of our trip include:

1. Hotel rooms that are smarter than us. And getting locked inside them, needing to call for help, twice.
2. Multiple groups of Chinese girls who put on their medical face masks (designer, of course) at the sight of you. I am the face of H1N1, apparently.
3. Smelly bean curd. It smells, so bad..
4. Getting lost in Shanghai, in the rain, followed by snow.

5. Squatter toilets.

The only some of the many highs of our trip include:

1. Getting picture taken with Chinese santa
2. Being the first on the Great Wall of China for the day and having it completely to ourselves
3. A Chinese girl with her parents coming up to us and wanting their photo taken with us. We obliged. I felt famous
4. Rachels friends that she has made in Suzhou. They are lovely.
5. Foot massages! I am over my foot aphobia--how could I not be when the foot massages feel so good...
6. Mamahuhu- the greatest chinese word ever, means "so-so", but I decided to use it for everything.

7. Mandarian Fish- the specialty Suzhou, and Roasted Duck in Beijing. They were amazing.

8. Watching Queen Rachel converse with taxi drivers in Chinese---very impressive!

Signing off from China!

Serf Alisa.

Sadly, as all things do, the good times came to an end, and they had to return. I rang in the New Year with some of the other foreign teachers, at least a good 13 hours before the rest of you lot. I barely had time to settle back into my routine when my friends from Delaware, Becca and Siobhan, came to visit. We spent a few days in Suzhou, and one exciting day in Shanghai. To be honest, it was the first time I ever enjoyed Shanghai.

And now here I am, back into my normal life. As the term comes to an end, my classes are ending, and soon I’ll only be working a few days a week, albeit only for the short term. And as most of you know, although some of you might not, I have decided to come home for two weeks during the Chinese New Year. It’s the longest holiday I get during the year, and it makes sense. So I’ll be home February 7-23, and would love to see any/all of you!

So that’s that. Work. Gym. Beer. Travel. Pretty much sums it up.

OK, Part 2, which I have uncreatively titled, “Chinese Kids Say the Darndest Things”. Most of you have probably skipped Part 1, so welcome back. And just in case any was wondering, I managed to write both parts without taking a nap in between. It’s called growth, people.

So these are stories I’m sure my coworkers are tired of hearing me tell, so now I have a fresh, new audience.

· I have a student I love named Jerry. He’s about 7, and tries really, really hard. He can be a bit naughty, but he’s so sweet I feel bad reprimanding him. A little background- at Sunflower, the TA s write the students’ names on the board and they are given stars throughout the class, for good behavior, correct answers, etc. We take them away when they’re bad, so it’s a good method of keeping control. If they get like 300 stars, they can buy an eraser shaped like an ice cream cone or something. But anyway, one morning Jerry was being pretty naughty. I don’t remember what he did, probably hit another student or was talking too much. So after threatening to do it, I took away a star. One single star. He tears up and turns around to face the wall. I try to coax him into participating, but he isn’t having it. I try to turn him around, and he loses it. He bites my arm, and when the TA tries to pull him away, he punches her in the face. He so upset he’s sobbing uncontrollably. I go about my lesson while the TA tries to calm him down. But Jerry is inconsolable. Suddenly, he’s hyperventilating, and he throws up on the floor. Over a star. His mother comes in to get him. 5 minutes later, she brings him back in, calm and cool. She tells the TA he has trouble controlling his anger when he’s upset. I’m sitting down because I’m “out” during our game, so Jerry comes over, sits on my lap, looks me in the eyes and says, “I’m sorry teacher,” kisses me on the cheek, and is on his way back to the game. Just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

· The other day I was giving a lesson in a classroom next to my friend Peter. His class was being loud, and I was bored, so towards the end of my lesson I told the students they had to yell the vocab words as loudly as they could to bug the next class. They got really into it, and we were shouting at the top of our lungs. I guess I got a little too into it because I was kicking the wall with my heel for emphasis, and managed to kick a nice big hole through it. Guess I didn’t realize it was a fake wall. And to make matters worse? Peter had finished his lesson and was in a different classroom. I interrupted some poor, innocent Chinese teacher’s class. But the kids, the TA and myself were in hysterics, so I guess it was worth it.

· I have a boy that I refer to as The Groper. He’s older and taller than the rest of his classmates (he’s 9). He’s called The Groper because not only did he point to my chest and give me a thumbs-up the first day he met me, he reached out and got a handful while he was lining up to go out on break. But things got stranger with The Groper this past week. It was during the break, and I was kneeling down playing with one of the shorter boys in the class. Suddenly I’m flat on my stomach because The Groper has jumped on my back. I pretend he’s knocked me out. He pulls me up, and begins to go for mouth to mouth. Yes, a 9 year old groping Chinese boy tried to kiss me.

· I have a new class, and there is something wrong with the kids. Included in the mix? A boy named Happy who is by far the unhappiest kid I’ve ever met. Piepie, whose name is pronounced “Peepee”, no matter how much I try to get people to call her “Pippi”. And Roger, who let the other little boys handle his, uh, little Roger, in the middle of the classroom.

· One of the units the younger kids have is drinks- milk, water, tea, etc. Also included in the mix is beer. It’s my favorite unit to teach, because the sentence that goes along with the words is “What would you like? I’d like some….”. So to get a group of 6 year olds to say “I’d like some beer” in unison is really fun (Give me a break- it gets repetitive). I was teaching it last month, and in this particular class I have a very clever student named David. His grandmother makes him learn the words before the lesson, so he’s always well prepared. So I’m running through the words, making each kid say it. I’m on beer, and it’s David’s turn. He says, “beer,” pretends to take a drink, and then stumbles around drunk for one minute. I couldn’t help but crack up.

· I have a new coat my mom brought me that has a neon checkered pattern on it. It’s good for teaching, and the kids always like the colors, so I wear it often. I was wearing it in one particularly cold classroom at my absolute favorite school. I was teaching them different words for toys, like “doll”, “boat”, “kite”, etc. And then I hold up a picture of a ball. Which happens to have a neon checkered pattern on it. Almost identical to my coat. They lose it. Qiu is ball in Chinese, and I am now known as “Qiu Laoshi “ (Ball Teacher) in the classroom. Not the most flattering name, but cute nevertheless.

OK, I’m sure I have many more to pass along, but I’m tired and I have a long day at work tomorrow. I’ve been attempting to make cookies all evening, but it has proven to be much more difficult than anticipated, since I can only bake 6 at a time in my toaster oven. But I’ll be nice and bring them in tomorrow.

I promise to blog more regularly now. Or at least I promise to think about doing it more often.

Pictures to come in the next post.

XOXO,

RDG

Your Chinese for the day: 一二三四五六七八九十

OK, they're just the numbers for 1-10. But I learned how to write them in Chinese. Impressive, no?