Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey

And so the countdown begins. I'm heading home in about 10 days. I can't even believe it. I know I haven't been gone that long, just over 6 months, but that's the longest I've ever been away from home, let alone on the other side of the world. The time has gone by both in the blink of an eye and as slow as molasses, so who knows. My official 6 month anniversary in China was the same day as my 24th birthday, so I knocked out two birds with one stone (holy hell, this blog entry is already rife with over-used metaphors and I'm only one paragraph in. My apologies) and celebrated both at once.

Not too much to report. School is winding down because the holiday is beginning soon, so I've had a lot more free time the past two weeks. Next week I only have to teach over the weekend, so I can use my 5 days off to prepare for my trip. I've been enjoying the time off, seeing friends and exploring new areas of Suzhou. I celebrated my birthday over dinner with my friends, and it was lovely. Much better than my 23rd birthday, spent as sick as I've ever been in my life. But despite a bad birthday, 23 turned out to be a pretty good year, so I'm optimistic about 24 :).

People keep asking me the same question: What am I most looking forward to most about my trip home? So I present my answer:

1. Not speaking Chinese- I like the language, I do. And I like practicing it. But it will be nice to say exactly what I mean to say and be understood. You don't realize how nice that is until you can't do it.

2. California Tortilla- Shockingly, my favorite Mexican fast-food chain has yet to make it to China. They followed me from Bethesda to Newark, maybe Suzhou isn't far off? That being said, I'm actually not missing much in the way of food- I love the food here, and there is enough Western food to satisfy. But no CalTor. But what I am looking forward to most is going into any restaurant and being able to read the menu.

3. Toilets- Not having to plan my bathroom breaks around the availability of a toilet versus a squatter is a nice break.

4. Seeing everyone- Obviously the number one reason I'm coming home. And the fact none of you (that I know of) speak Chinese is very nice.

5. Driving- I miss it. And I'm sure I'll be sick of it in 2 days.

6. Chinese food: American Chinese food that is. The only similarity I can find between Chinese food in China and Chinese food in American is that both are eaten with rice. Other than that, it might as well be from a different country. I can't wait for some Mei Wah :).

Things I'm not looking forward to (although it's only like 2 weeks):

1. Not speaking Chinese- I'm pretty sure I'll forget a lot of what I've learned in the time I'm home, because I can hardly remember things 5 minutes after I learn them. My trainer taught me to say "You are my trainer" today, and it took all my brain power to even remember the sentence he taught me in English, let alone in Chinese, just now, and he only told me like 8 hours ago.

2. Spending money- When something costs 100rmb here, it's nice to remind myself that's only like $15. When something costs $100 at home, it actually costs $100.

3. The flight- Shanghai to Beijing to Japan to DC. No further explanation needed. Oh, and on United.

3. China- I love China. I love my life here. I'll miss it, even for the short time. But I am super excited to be coming home, especially since it's much earlier than I expected to be visiting :)

So, I'm taking requests for gifts. I'll get my shopping done in the next few days, so if there is anything you want, let me know soon. Suzhou is famous for silk, and it also has all the normal Chinese knick-knacks and knock-off stuff, so just let me know.

And that's about it for me. Off to my normal Friday night routine- cleaning and watching DVDs, all in preparation for a long weekend full of repeating the word "shoulder" (trying saying it 20 times in a row and see if you can say it), being groped and doing the hokey pokey.

Can't wait to see you!!!!

XOXO,

RDG

P.S. For those of you who care, I arrive at Dulles at about 2:30pm on Monday the 8th.

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?

It's the Magical Thanksgiving Dumpling, Charlie Brown!

Happy Thanksgiving! Despite missing my favorite holiday at home, I had a great week. Let's get to the nitty-gritty, shall we?

My last blog was Wednesday, so let's go from there. Thursday I was bad and told my trainer I had to work so that I could sleep in and skip working out. But karma has a way of working out, because I did go in later that evening, and when I saw Xiong, he told me he was sick, and because I cancelled, he got to sleep in a few extra hours. So everyone wins! Friday I went to a birthday party for Ivy, the wife of one of my coworkers, Sharriff. Ivy is Chinese, and it's always interesting going to one of their dinner parties, especially the food. I wasn't as daring as I've been before, and while I tried bull frog, I skipped the cold duck tongue. Saturday and Sunday were long days at school as usual, and went pretty well.

I was pleasantly surprised on Sunday when they told me that my classes for Monday and Friday were cancelled. I have no idea why, but I know better than to question. And Monday got even better, because when I woke up, the nasty, cold weather was gone! I hardly even needed a jacket. I spent the morning at the gym, and the afternoon cleaning my apartment.

In the early evening I went to the train station to pick up my friend Alex and his friend Les. Alex and I know each other from freshman year of college when we were in a study group together, but became friends when we studied abroad in London. He just spent the last year teaching English in Thailand, where he met his friend Les, who coincidently, is from Bethesda. He grew up just around the corner from me, and his sister and I were friends when we were younger. Small world! They've finished up in Thailand, and have been touring China the last few weeks before eventually heading back to the US in 2 weeks. I was very excited to see familiar faces!

Tuesday we woke up early and took the bus to Hangzhou, which is a large city about 2 1/2 hours away, in the neighboring province. I was hesitant about taking the bus, but let me tell you, it was almost luxurious. Big comfy seats, a bathroom, and clean. I sat next to a Chinese man who didn't speak a word of English, and we actually were able to chat for a good 15 minutes. I'm 99% sure he just wanted to try to sell me water-purification systems, but it was good practice for my Chinese. The strangest part was that he asked me for my cell phone number- but he doesn't speak English. I don't know why. Probably just to be able to show people he has Western friends.

Once in Hangzhou, we "climbed" up this beautiful pagoda, and took photos. Climbed isn't really true, because unlike the pagoda I went to my first month here, this one had escalators and elevators, so hardly strenuous. We then had some lunch and took a nice long walk around the West Lake, this gorgeous area. Hangzhou is really, truly, beautiful. A Chinese friend told me that there is an expression that roughly translates to "Under Heaven, there is Hangzhou and Suzhou", which I believe to be true. Getting home was a bit of a hassle- first trying to get a taxi, and then making it to the bus station. Our taxi driver actually got pulled over for driving in the bus lane or something, and had to get out to deal with it. I again impressed myself with my Chinese skills when I was able to explain to him that I wouldn't pay the price on his meter because he left it running while he was dealing with the cops. He understood and agreed. Turns out I know more than I thought I did :).

Wednesday we took it easy in the morning, and in the afternoon walked around some of the souvenir markets. The guys toured around some more while I went to work, where I taught 4 year olds the word "beer", and the phrase, "I would like some beer". It was in the lesson plan. In the evening we met some of my friends for dinner at one of my favorite Sichuan restaurants for a great meal.

Thursday, Thanksgiving, we were nice and lazy in the morning. In mid-October I spied pumpkin pie mix at the Western market, and overheard one women telling another that if you don't buy it early, it would be gone by Halloween. So I grabbed a can, and have been holding on to it for about a month. So on Thursday morning, I went out (after dealing with a stupid flat tire- my bike just won't let me be happy) and bought other things to bake my favorite- pumpkin bread. Cooking it was interesting, as I have yet to find a measuring cup in this country. The Chinese don't bake, so there is no need to measure. I had to use my gym water bottle, as it is the only thing with measurements on it. Despite it all, I made some semi-decent bread, and it made my apartment smell like Thanksgiving :)

I had to go to work, where I discovered my favorite class was cancelled again, this time due to H1N1. I sat around until my second class, and when I returned home, Alex and Les had cleaned my apartment, and even made little Thanksgiving decorations, which was very sweet. It was then time for dinner.

We decided to go to the Howard Johnson's near my apartment. I know it sounds gross, but I swear, it was the classiest HoJo I've ever seen- 4 star. The buffett was quite impressive, although the only thing that made it Thanksgiving was a carving station with the turkey. But we feasted on all sorts of things- from meat to pasta to sushi. It was by far the most expensive meal I've had in China, but it was worth it for the holiday. Too stuffed to move, we spent the evening watching TV. If that's not Thanksgiving, I don't know what is.

So all in all, Thanksgiving in China was good. I got many sweet messages from both my expat and Chinese friends wishing me a good holiday, which I enjoyed. One Chinese friend even sent me a text that said "Thank you." I responded, "for what?", to which he replied, "isn't that what you say on Thanksgiving?". Very cute.

This morning I got up early to call family while they were enjoying their dinners, and then promptly fell back asleep. I bid farewell to Alex and Les, and then headed to the gym for my post-Thanksgiving workout with Xiong. He laughed at me when I described an American Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure whether it's because of the amount of food, or that fact that Chinese people seem to eat that much on a daily basis, and he didn't see why it was a special event. He did make me go up those 20 flights of stairs again, but this time we made it to the top without stopping, so either I'm getting healthier, or that last time I was hungover. Both possibilities. I had just come back home and was catching up on the week's American TV when I got a call from Alex, who told me they had nearly 4 hours until their train. So they came back to keep me company. I've bid farewell to them again, and am now cooking more pumpkin bread, as I don't want to waste it the leftover pumpkin mix. Tomorrow is another busy Saturday, and my schedule returns to normal. It's also becoming cold and rainy again, so I guess my friends really lucked out!

And because my father thinks this is the best part of my blogs, here are more random things:

• I accidentally bought scented toilet paper. Surprisingly nice.
• There is a gas ration in SIP right now. My place is so small, I don't think it will be an issue, but I know it's worrying some people. No heat, no hot water. I'm banking on the fact that I can always shower in the gym....
• The movie 2012 is like the biggest thing right now. I've had 3 Chinese friends tell me how amazing it is and how I need to watch it immediately. I've already gotten it on DVD.
• I decided to have a coat made for myself, as it is just so cold. I found a shop, and they only offer cashmere. So I decided to treat myself. She let me pick it out of a magazine, and it will be done in 10 days. The price she offered was, no joke, about 70% less than what I had expected to pay. I was so shocked I didn't even think to negotiate.
• I cleaned my apartment on Monday because my friends were coming. On Tuesday my maid was so shocked that I hadn't let her anything to do that she did my laundry. Despite the fact that it's not freezing cold outside, my clothes are still soaking wet. It's Friday.
• Turns out I had the wrong name for my apartment complex. Having the right on has made my life much simpler. Imagine that.
• My students, being Chinese, love to eat. They come to Sunflower for 2 hours on the weekends. They have 2 5 minute breaks, during which they eat like they haven't had food in 6 weeks. I don't mind, because they share with me. Generally, I get seaweed, chips, candy and cold french fries.

And that's all I've got. Except photos. Those I have!

China 6

Wo Ai Ni,

RDG

Happy Thanksgiving! = 感恩节快乐 - gǎn ēn jié kuài lè.

I'm Freezing....

OK, so I feel really terrible for the delay. To be honest, it's been so cold and lousy, I haven't had much motivation to sit down and write. But here I am, with details to report. And sorry from the start if it seems more disjointed or random than usual- I'm just in a stream-of-consciousness sort of mood.

So yeah, it's finally, officially winter here. The Chinese tell me it's unseasonably cold- this type of freezing weather doesn't normally hit until January. Lucky me. But on the advice of another Sunflower teacher, Chris, I went out and bought a big plaid furry hat with ear flaps. I like to think of it as Homeless Veteran Chic. But it keeps me warm enough on the bike, which is good, because riding around with the cold wind cutting through you is miserable.

Well, at least it should be, if my bike was working. Last week there were some crazy downpours, and I tipped my bike trying to go over a curb too slowly. In my haste to pick the bike and myself back up (don't worry, nothing worse than a bruise on my leg), I didn't realize the foot mat had fallen off. The mat covers the batteries, which is especially important because I cracked one of my battery cases trying to stomp it in last month. And 15 minutes later, when I realized the mat was missing, it had already been stolen. So not thinking, I rode around with the battery exposed, and now, no big surprise, it doesn't work. My tutor is kindly arranging for the bike to be picked up tomorrow, so I can get on with my life! Not having the bike is really annoying, and taking taxis gets expensive (not to mention difficult in the rain/cold).

But onto other things. I've decided to take on some private students to supplement my income. The first is a 14 year old girl named Ting Ting. She's been a student of my Boland instructor Bill for several years, and they decided it was time for a change. We had a demo 2 weeks ago, and then I had my first lesson with her last weekend. Her grammar is great, so I'm mainly focusing on her vocabulary, and more importantly, her conversational skills, as she wants study in the US or UK at some point. She's very sweet, and so far I enjoy it a lot.

The other new students come courtesy of Michael, the head teacher at Sunflower. They are three professional men, probably in their late 20s/early 30s. One is a lawyer, one is a private investor, and the other is a factory manager. So in other words, rich. They're primarily focused on business English, and they're a nice break from teaching kids. Plus, teaching adults is what I learned my first month here at Boland, so it's nice to be able to put some of that into practice. They meet pretty far away, but one has already agreed to pick me up and take me home. I had a demo with them, but I won't officially begin for a few more weeks.

Still going to the gym, although I usually only make it 4 days a week now. I thought it would be difficult to motivate myself to get up and going in the cold weather, but it's actually made it better, because the gym is far warmer than my apartment. So it's a nice break from the cold.

Chinese lessons are going well- Vivian noticed tonight that my pronunciation and tone-reading ability is getting much better, so that's good. She's also started supplementing the book with things I really need to know to survive, which is nice. So like today, for example, she had made up a little vocab sheet for me on ordering food in a restaurant. I knew a lot of the words already, but she taught me how to construct sentences, so that's good.

And to answer my Chazie's question- my Chinese haircut turned out just fine. He spoke English and since I just went for a trim, he did no damage to the curls, although he was a big fan of them. Chinese hairdressers crack me up- they're mainly men, and at home they would be seen as the most over-the-top group of gay men ever, with their eyeliner and 3 foot-high red hair. But then you see them walking down the street holding the hands of their girlfriends. As John Quale would say, they're definitely 'metro-sexual'.

Next week is Thanksgiving, and my friend Alex, from my study-abroad semester in London, is stopping by with his friend as they tour around China. The three of us, plus the one other American friend I have, will most likely be having dinner at a hotel that is hosting what they claim to be a Thanksgiving dinner. T-giving is my favorite holiday at home, and I'm feeling the little pangs of homesickness, especially after how great it was last year. But I'm also looking forward to experiencing a Chinese take on the holiday! And as my Grandma said, it will be an experience I won't forget!

Part II: Wednesday

OK, so I wrote that first part last night (Tuesday), but I didn't get a chance to finish because I went out with my friend. So here we are, Wednesday night, and I'm getting ready to go meet two of the other Sunflower teachers for our weekly Wednesday night bar session. I took my bike to get fixed today, which seemingly went really well- took no time and was completely free. But I got home, and my batteries still won't charge. So tomorrow I'll have to go back, and probably pay to replace them :(. It's very annoying, to say the least.

The rest of my week is pretty good and pretty busy. I'm going to do some serious organizing in my apartment to prepare for Alex's arrival on Monday. I'm also on the constant hunt for warmer clothes- sweaters and such, so hopefully I'll get some more stuff soon.

So that's about it for me. I also want to apologize for not responding to everyone's emails- I do really, really appreciate them, and I'll try to make more of an effort.

XOXO,

RDG

P.S. Chazie- I don't know if Aunt Sylvia reads my blog, but please tell her that I named a lovely Chinese woman after her!

Your Chinese for the Day:

Yi Er San Si Wu Liu Qi Ba Jiu Shi = 1, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10

And so we meet again...

See, it didn't take me so long to write again! Truth is, it's been a pretty busy week, so I have more to talk about this time.

I posted a blog last Monday, so I suppose I should start on Tuesday- my day off! My friend Mike planned a bit of a surprise outing for me, since there are plenty of important places I haven't seen yet in Suzhou. The plan was to walk from the area they call "Old City" to Tiger Hill, the biggest tourist destination in the city. The walk is about 3.5km. It was nice, because you walk through tiny streets along the canal to get to Tiger Hill. Once there, we decided to forgo the expensive admission fee and just keep walking straight. Which we did, for hours. We left the tourist areas, and went from tourist area to "real China" to farm land to abandoned highway to complete desolation and poverty. And then we turned around and walked back. The walk took us about 5 hours, but I saw some really amazing things. Living where I do, surrounded by Westerners, sometimes makes me forget what this country can really be like.

Wednesday and Thursday I taught, and spent time with friends. Thursday I was a bit disappointed, because I was supposed to teach my favorite class, Da Ru Primary. These kids are seriously so excited to see me and learn English for 40 minutes that it makes up for all the crap that some of the spoiled rich kids at Sunflower put me through. Since the Chinese don't celebrate Halloween, I bought some light-up devil horns and a bag of lollipops to teach the children about trick-or-treating. But as the Chinese TAs and I approached the school, we nearly walked past it because it was dead silent. The kids had all gone on a field trip, and no one bothered telling us! Major bummer.

Friday, another teacher at Sunflower, Shariff, took me to buy a bicycle. I've been thinking about getting one, as I mentioned before, so I just went ahead and did it. Mike and Shariff invited me to join them on a bike trip today out to Lake Tai, where I've been before. I was all excited to go until I found out its about 100km round trip. Having not been on a bike in many years, I politely declined. I'm looking forward to hearing about it tomorrow, though! I also got my first haircut in China on Friday, at a very fancy salon. Haircut with amazing head massage? $11.70.

And then came Saturday- Halloween! I taught all day, pretty much ignoring the holiday. Except for my last class, which is 14 year olds. Last week they had the word "imported", which is a difficult concept to display considering everything is actually made in China. So I found an empty packet of Trident gum in my purse and showed them. I felt bad because they thought it was so cool but I had none to give them. So this week I explained Halloween to them, and then made them say "Trick-or-treat", and gave them each a packet of Trident (the remains of my stash from home!). They were very excited, and it made me happy.

That evening I had dinner with a large group of people (mainly Irish), and then we ventured out to Bar Street. As I mentioned before, Halloween is not a Chinese holiday. One of the Australian bars was hosting a large party, complete with free beer, so it seemed like every foreigner in Suzhou was there, including us. I've never seen anything like it- Westerners partying on the inside and right on the sidewalk, and the Chinese standing in mass on the opposite side of the bike lane, staring and taking photos. The party itself was like a standard American college Halloween party, so nothing exciting to say about it, other than I didn't drink because I had to work on Sunday, so I called it an "early" night at 2am.

Sunday I taught 2 classes, and then was assigned to host an optional Halloween party for students and their parents. It was pretty lame, for the most part. Best activity was carving jack-o-lanterns, since most of them had never done it before. I was impressed by their skills! It was also funny watching them do the Limbo- they did not get the concept at all.

Monday was back to the normal routine, and I enjoyed a lazy night in. The weather has suddenly turned extremely cold, and on the bike it's even worse. So I bundled up on my couch and began the John Adams HBO mini-series, which I've been enjoying a lot.

And that bring us to today, my day off. I read, went to the supermarket and the gym. Then I met my friends Mary and Michelle for an after dinner Starbucks and massage. First time I've ventured into Starbucks in China, and it's basically the same as home. The massage was wonderful, although painful at times. Right now I'm incredibly relaxed and warm in my little apartment, and as soon as I post this, I'm heading up to bed.

And because I like lists, here are a list of minor things that have been annoying me recently:

• The Chinese don't use fitted sheets. I'm tired of waking up on my bare mattress every single morning!
• If I buy one more stupid DVD in French or Japanese, I'm going to go nuts.
• Hard to believe, but the Chinese are far more addicted to their cell phones than we are. They refuse to ignore calls, no matter what they're doing. At the gym, on their bikes, getting their haircut, anywhere.
• No one accepts credit cards.
• China doesn't do daylights savings, so I'm now 13 hours from home, which is not as easy to calculate. China doesn't do timezones, either. The whole giant country is on the same time.
• I'm annoyed at myself for not studying Chinese as much as I should.

OK, now that I got all of that off my chest, I feel much better :)

Miss and love you all!

XOXO,

RDG

Your Chinese for the Day:

不识庐山真面目 只缘身在此山中- You don't know the true face of Mt. Lu because you're in Mt. Lu (I know, I don't really get it either. Something about how being involved in something makes it difficult to see the big picture. But it's by a famous Chinese philosopher, Su Shi. This is what happens when you tell a Chinese person you want a Chinese proverb to put on your blog....)

It's Not That I Don't Love You, I'm Just Really Lazy

I think the title says it all. I've been meaning to write another blog- honestly. But I just haven't had anything particularly interesting to write about. I mean, one or two things will pop up, and I think, 'By golly, I need to put that in the blog!'. But a one sentence blog isn't going to appease anybody. So I store up all these little things and finally, after a week (or two) have enough to say. Things have been going well- still teaching 6 days a week, still taking Chinese lessons, still going to the gym. Wow, that reads like a thesis statement and a decent M.O.D. Yay AP English!

Teaching- They've finally given me what appears to be my permanent schedule. The best thing about it is that my weekends have been reduced to 9-5:30 on Saturdays, and just 1-2:30 on Sundays, which allows for some semblance of a normal social life. However, I know new classes will start on Sundays, and they'll be given to me, so I'll enjoy this schedule while I have the chance. At this point I have classes I love, classes that annoy me, and one class I hate.

Oh, the class I hate. It's about 15 7-year olds. This was my second week teaching them, and they didn't get any better. They're all naughty- they like to poke at me when my back is turned and stick out their tongues rather than repeat vocab words. But we use a star system in Sunflower- good behavior earns stars, bad behavior makes them disappear. If they earn a certain number over the weeks, they get something stupid, like a Snoopy eraser. But they, especially the younger kids, go nuts for these stars. So with the naughty class, I just keep taking them away, which keeps them somewhat under control. But I have one kid- he just pushes me to the breaking point. Let's call him Billy-Bob, because he's fat and has the nastiest black teeth I've ever seen.

-A quick side note: In China, there doesn't really seem to be the same emphasis on 'Special Ed' or learning disabilities in schools. So every kids is placed in the classes, which means we occasionally get kids like Billy-Bob, who clearly need Ritalin or one of those leashes you strap your kids to.-

So Billy-Bob can't sit still. He's out of his seat every 5 seconds. Or under it. Or on top of it. Or chewing on it. He punches me in the stomach, he bugs the little girls, and on top of it all, he can't pronounce a word to save his life. He seems to have some ability to memorize the vocab, but can't say it. So on Saturday, we were playing a game that the kids love, called 'Wolf Wolf, What Time is It?', where I stand on one side of the classroom with my face to the wall and call out times, and they take steps forward, until I run around and chase them. Well, this was the first time this class has played this game, and they were loving it. But while I was standing with my back to the class, Billy-Bob runs up and pushes me into the wall. I had it with him. Both the TA and I grabbed him, and sat him down, and yelled "[Billy-Bob], no! Sit down!". And that was it. Not too bad, right? Well, during the break, Billy-Bob's mom comes in and tells the TA she and I are too mean to him. We need to exercise patience, and be his friend. I laughed. BB is a perfect example of the 'Little Emperor'. He's spoiled rotten. He probably weighs like 100lbs, and his mom still carries him. I just find it funny because I never thought I'd get complaints for being too strict! Generally, Chinese parents expect and encourage it!

It's not all bad though, as I said before, I have classes/ kids I just adore! I've also gotten to name some more. Dad- you'll be happy to know, I named one Jeff! I'll name them for all of you over time, I'm sure! Oh yeah, did I mention that no one here can pronounce my name? It's just so strange, coming from a country where it's super common. I notice it most often in the spelling- Richel or Rechal.

Chinese lessons are going well, although I need to devote more time for studying in between lessons. But I'm at the point where I ask everyone I know for help- the TAs at school, my trainer, Chinese friends, etc. Oh yes- I made some Chinese friends! The first night I went out with them, they took me for hot pot- which is where they bring a big ying-yang shaped bowl to the table filled with hot "soup"- one mild, one incredibly spicy. Then you mark down on a piece of paper what meats and veggies you want, and they bring them out to you. You put them in the pot, and eat up. It was very good, and Amy and Margaret were great company.

It was at that meal that I ate pig's brain. Yes. The brain of a pig. And yes, it looks like a brain. And has the texture of what you'd imagine a brain to taste like. I had a few bites and politely tried to hide it in my bowl. I went out with Margaret again tonight, and had a fantastic Chinese meal, free from all known strange animals.

Still going to the gym. Trainer is still adorable- except that this morning he made me climb up the stairs at the building next door. All 20 stories. On the upside, he did it with me- which I choose to believe is because he wanted to rather than didn't trust the lazy Mei Guo Ren (American) to not walk up like 6 stories, sit down and have a nice 20 minute nap. But I'm still motivated to go tomorrow, despite that, so all a good sign.

So I think that does it for me. Fairly busy week ahead- going to do some more site seeing during my day off tomorrow, and then teaching the rest of the week. Thinking of you all!

XOXO,

RDG

Your Chinese for the day: 瑞吉儿- Rui Ji Er, My Chinese name :)

Sister Act 2- Back in the Habit

Well, hello there. Please sit down, and I will tell you a tale of intrigue and suspense. Ok, not really at all. I'm back in my normal routine of teaching. The holiday went through last Friday, when I returned in full force to the classroom. Friday and Saturday were fairly easy days, just 2 hours each, and then Sunday was another 9am-8pm day. As far as those go, it wasn't so bad.

See, this is why I don't post often- my life can be pretty boring! After sitting around the last few days of my time-off, I decided to get off my lazy butt and join a gym. The combination of the e-bike and access to Western food is not good for the gut. So I picked the only gym I know about, since I can see it from my apartment. It's called Powerhouse, which they tell me is an American brand, but I've never heard of it. But anyway, very nice facility, would be considered high-end even by American standards. My first two sessions I got to work with a personal trainer. His name is Xiong, and he speaks English fairly well. I mean, he has no problems with words like biceps, forearm, and nutrition, but we spent a good five minutes going over the pronunciation of the word "towel".. The first two sessions went so well I decided to hire him a couple times a week. I help him with his English, and he helps me with my Chinese, so it's kind of a win-win. But I've committed to going 5 days a week, since Mon-Fri I work so little. So fingers crossed I'll stick with it, but so far I actually look forward to going (and not entirely just because Xiong is so completely adorable).

What else? I finally got paid today! Which is important for several reasons, the first being the most obvious- I haven't been paid since I left the Embassy at the end of June. The less obvious reason is that I now how enough cash to open a Chinese bank account, which is important because I need to be able to pay my bills, since one of these days I am going to wake up to no electricity and/or water. It's also fun to be handed a wad of 100rmb bills rather than a paycheck. Makes me feel like a gangster.

Wow, I'm actually struggling to think of something to write, and as witnessed by my ramblings belows, that's not usual. So it's probably best to do what I sometimes do- just jot down little musings and thoughts on China. You people like bullet points, don't you?

• Today I saw an armored car picking up cash from a bank. With 8 soldiers holding guns in a ready-to-fire stance. No joke.
• The stores are filled with long-johns, and it's still like 70 degrees outside. But to be fair, it's already pretty chilly riding around on the bike. So I bought a pair when I was at Walmart. Just the first of many, I'm sure.
• One of my students got so excited in class the other day when we were jumping around shouting and acting out words that he punched me in the mouth while chanting "hope hope hope" over again.
• I can no longer wear dresses/skirts to school. Kids are perverts.
• I had some more pointless words to teach at the same school that force me to teach "mete" and "dene". This time we had "tun", which is an antiquated British measurement of liquid volume, especially wine casks. Essential to know, right?
• But on the positive side, one word I had this week was "cute", which was an excuse for me to poke each kid in the cheek while reciting the word. They are so freaking cute.
• I got to name my first student this week. I was caught off-guard and named him Simon, since he had glasses and spiky hair and looks like Simon from Alvin and the Chipmunks.

And that's really all I've got. But, as always, I am happy and safe, so I guess that's all that matters. Will be back soon, hopefully with more exciting things to pass along.

XOXO,

RDG

Your Chinese of the day:

Wo chang lai darao ni, hen gup yi bu qu: I am sorry to trouble you so often

(OK, I have Chinese tutor in like 10 minutes, so I just flipped through my book and picked this out. Should come in handy, though!)