TIC (This is China)

OK, I will admit I wrote like nearly all of this blog a few weeks ago, but for some reason I can't remember, I delayed posting it. And forgot about it. But here it is, now up to date!

TIC is my new favorite phrase. I was at the Western market a few weeks ago at the check-out, when Christmas music came on the speakers. The English woman in front of me turns around, sighs, and says, "Christmas music in May. TIC." "TIC?" I asked. "This is China." And that basically sums up everything. Now every time I have a question about why people do things the way they do here, I just remind myself: TIC.

Summer has nearly arrived in Suzhou. Right now the weather is nearly perfect- sunny and warm. (Edited note: When I wrote this it was true. Now it is incredibly hot and humid). But I remember last summer- hazy, hot and humid (so much like DC), so I'm enjoying it while I can. I am missing my hotel from last summer- the one with no windows, where I could sleep through the whole day never knowing the time. But this past month, the sun has been waking me up at about 5:30am every morning and just beating down. So my friend Danny came to my rescue, buying me blackout curtains- basically the best thing ever invented. Now I can sleep.

Not a lot new to report- work and gym as usual. I've tried some new things over the past few weeks. The first was spinning- which I was nervous to do, but ended up loving. All the instructions were in Chinese, of course, but Mike and Sharrif came with me, so we coped together. But it was a good workout and I look forward to doing to more regularly. I can see why people say it's addictive.

I've also started playing badminton. Of course it's quite popular here, so I figured I might as well get in on the fun, although the last time I played it was during PE freshman year of high school. So far, I'm not to bad. And it's surprisingly physical, especially when you have to keep dodging the birdies your roommate keeps aiming for your nose, or when your friend decides that any shot less that 10 feet above your head is unacceptable. The first time I played, my arm ached for days. But I am really enjoying it- despite the fact that the hot weather makes playing in an un-air-conditioned gym really, really unpleasant.

Last month I noticed that the nursery schools that I teach at suddenly had a sharp increase in security. We're talking full-time cops, barbed wire, security cameras, security badges, 2-3 levels of gates to enter the property. It took me a while to discover the connection, but the increased security is a result of the multiple shootings recently at nursery schools across China. So the schools that can afford it are increasing security ten-fold. It's refreshing to see how quickly the Chinese react to a problem- I have to imagine that if this happened in the West, measures would be taken, but not so rapidly. However, I almost laughed at the sheer stupidity when the construction worker was out on the playground, putting together a tall security fence with sharp spears on the end, welding without any sort of eye protection on. With children no more than 10 feet around him, also not protecting their eyes. They'll be safe from intruders, but blind.

Classes are all going well, not much to report. I took my private student, Ting Ting, who is 14, out to dinner at a Western restaurant by her home, because I want to introduce her to the lifestyle (she hopes to study abroad). We were accompanied by her mother, who speaks only a little English, and Danny. The dinner went well, although Ting Ting was pretty overwhelmed being around all the foreigners, and was frustrated about the prospect of using a fork and knife (which she solved by just ordering pizza). When we ordered drinks, Ting Ting's mom told Danny she wanted to try a foreign beer, so she settled on Corona. Danny and I got them as well, and Ting Ting's mother asked her if she wanted one. She said no, but as she was eating she choked and grabbed her mother's beer and took a sip. She said she liked the taste, so her mother ordered her one. So I sat at the table with my 14 year old student while the two of us sipped Corona. A little surreal, but TIC.

My older students, the 4 wealthy men, are a little more trying. Since the only topic that can hold their interest is sex, I have resorted to planning my lessons around that. One week we did Yo Mama jokes, which they liked, but were overwhelmed by the vocabulary. Also did jokes- one they got two versions of the limerick "There once was a man from Nantucket..." both the clean and dirty versions. Didn't work so well, but it did encourage them to tell me dirty jokes that forced them to translate from Chinese to English, so not a total bust. In our last class I taught them to play Texas Hold'em Poker- they were very interested in the vocabulary. We also played "Bullshit", which I haven't played since summer camp, but they really liked lying to one another.

So what else to add? Two weeks ago Sunflower held a team-building day in the botanical gardens on the outskirts of SIP. We played laser tag modeled after the video game Counter Strike, where I was killed within about 5 minutes by my boss George. It was a long day, filled with various team building exercising, like building a catapult to launch water balloons or bouncing a ball on a drum held up by ropes. It was fun but incredibly hot- I had a nice farmer's tan by the end. The biggest benefit? The company that hosted spoke no English, so we missed the lectures on communication and team work, and didn't bother having our Chinese coworkers translate :).

Last week several of my friends and I went to an indoor ski slope in Shanghai. I've never skied in June before, so it was pretty cool. For about $30 you get to ski for the entire day, plus they give you a snow suit and all the ski equipment. The slope was a bit short to be exciting, but the experience was great, and next time I go I think I'll try snowboarding.

So that's really about it for me. Summer classes begin next month, and rumor has it we'll be working 7 days a week, but I'm not certain yet. I'm not thrilled but to be honest, Suzhou summers are so miserably hot that it's not like I'd be outside much anyway. I'm for sure staying for the foreseeable future, but I'm in the process of evaluating exactly what I want to do after my contract ends in August. I will keep you all updated.

Oh yeah, and my Kindle broke :(. In the middle of a book, no less! But I can get a fake one here, so that's the plan. The Kindle that was saved in Hong Kong couldn't survive having a wood stand dropped on it.

Hope all is well with everyone, and as always, I miss you all so much!

A few pictures I stole from my friends:

Spring in China

XOXO,

RDG

Your Chinese of the Day: ta ma de - (the Chinese version the the insult "your mom...", but it translates to "his mom's...")

Surprise!

See, it didn't take me another 4 months to give you an update. It doesn't hurt that I actually had a break from my normal routine and was able to travel a bit because we had a Monday holiday.

For the holiday, I was invited to Zhenjiang, the hometown of one of the Chinese teachers at my school, Cissy. I went, along with my coworkers Marcus and Tamara, plus Tamara's boyfriend and her mother, who was visiting from Canada. Zhenjiang is about an hour away from Suzhou by train. They all went there on Thursday, and I joined after work on Friday. Cissy and her uncle picked me up, and took me to his house, where I had the most amazing home-cooked Chinese meal ever. I kid you not, I counted at least 20 different dishes on the table, each more amazing than the last. After that Cissy took us to a nightclub, where we had fun being the only Westerners and making lots of Chinese friends.

Saturday morning I slept in for the first time in ages. Cissy took us to an underground shopping center where she convinced me, Tamara and her mother to get these crazy fake fingernails. I chose white with cherries, and they lasted exactly 2 days, when one broke off and I ripped the rest off within minutes. Then we all piled on to a super busy bus and headed to the countryside, where there are hot springs.

The hot springs were amazing. The water looks gross- murky and brown, and there is so many minerals in it it turns your skin yellow. But it's bath-water warm and makes your skin feel soft. There were both indoor and outdoor pools of various temperatures, and several different types of super hot tubs that fix various ailments. But the best by far was the fish pool. It's a giant pool filled with probably thousands and thousands of tiny little fish. The fish eat skin, so as soon as you get in they swarm you. I can't even describe the feeling- it's ticklish and weird. You can certainly feel them biting. But they eat your dead skin so you come out smooth as a baby's bottom. One of the coolest things I've ever done.

That night we had another amazing dinner with more of Cissy's family. We then went to karaoke, which, I'll admit, is not my favorite thing. Sunday we said goodbye to Tamara, her boyfriend and mother, and Marcus, Cissy and I headed to Nanjing, the capital of our province. The place was a complete zoo, because it was a holiday weekend. We shopped and shopped and shopped and ate and then shopped some more. I will proudly say I spent a whopping 3rmb the whole time I was shopping, on a small gift for a friend in Suzhou. We visited the Confuscious temple, and saw a lot of really cool things. See pictures. We took a boat ride along the river, where we saw a tour boat hit a tiny little row boat occupied by a civil servant who was cleaning the river. The hit knocked him down, and he promptly got up and beat on the big boat with his scoop. Very funny.

After running for our train, which was caught with seconds to spare, we headed back to Zhenjiang. Despite being tired, we found a bar for a few drinks, and ended up spending many hours playing drinking games with a group of Chinese people sitting near us. It's amazing how friendly people can be, especially when they are not used to seeing foreigners all the time.

Monday we traveled back to Suzhou. The weather the whole weekend was amazingly warm (spring, or maybe summer, is finally here!) and Sunday was especially warm and beautiful. I ended an amazing weekend by walking around Jinji Lake with my friend Danny and having a great Indian dinner.

So yes, the warm weather is back. With the warm weather comes things I've missed: riding my bike without gloves, couples in matching t-shirts, men exposing their stomachs. Suzhou summer, how I've missed you!

Weird things I have eaten update:
Tofu cooked to taste exactly like duck
Duck guts
Bull frog

All of it, especially bull frog, is really yummy. Next up? Dog.

On that note, I'll leave you with some photos from my trip.

XOXO,
RDG

Zhenjiang/Nanjing May 2010

Chinese lesson of the day:

You get 2:

金瑞秋 jin rui qui: my new Chinese name

人山人海 ren shan ren hai: mountain of people, sea of people (means a ton of people)

If you couldn't tell, I've been studying Chinese characters :)

Long time, no see (now with photos!)

OK, I know, it's been like 4 months since I've posted a blog. And I do feel bad about that. I have a whole list of excuses- moving, no internet for nearly a month, annoying colds that won't go away, visitors, etc. But the number one reason is probably because I'm lazy, and the same things that I found interesting enough to report 6 months ago no longer seem so fascinating.

But I'm alive and well and happy. I had a fun time at home despite the blizzard. It was great seeing everyone and eating Mexican food. At the same time, I was looking forward to getting back to China.

Since being back, things have changed a bit. The biggest would be that I moved into a new apartment with my friend, Mike. I was tired of living alone in my small, expensive apartment, and Mike was looking for a new place as well. Our new apartment is great- it's big and in a great location.

One thing that makes the new place so great is that it's next to my new gym. A few months ago my trainer Xiong decided to switch gyms when the old one cut his salary. And I can see this new gym from my bedroom. It's in the shopping mall that is literally next door. So I joined this new gym, Impulse, along with Mike, and two of my other friends. I still see Xiong twice a week, and Mike and I go to the gym together 5 days a week. Mike has been kicking my butt- getting me to do things I never thought I would do, like running. It's where I should be at the moment, but I'm not feeling good. I tried to go, but after about 6 minutes on the treadmill, I gave up and went home. Need to conserve my energy for work this week I think.

Work is going well. I now have two days a week off- Mondays and Thursdays, which I like. I haven't been keeping up with the Chinese as much as I'd like, but Xiong and some of my other Chinese friends have been teaching me, so I'm still learning. And while learning curse words and slang probably isn't exactly what I should be doing right now, I do find I'm learning words that are more practical to my everyday life, rather than learning things from a textbook. I'm looking into options to study the language more intensely in the upcoming months.

My dad came to visit, which was nice. While he was here we had a big housewarming party, which was a success. My dad grilled burgers and chicken wings, and many of the Chinese guests were fascinated by watching him cook. Our party, which was a standard house party, complete with music, laser lights and beer, was an exciting experience for many of our Chinese guests, who are accustomed to dinner parties only. I know I had fun.

It's funny that after 4 months I'm struggling with things to write! My days are pretty routine right now- gym in the morning, work in the afternoon, out with friends or relaxing in the evening. The Shanghai Expo begins in a week or so, and I think that will cause a bit of excitement (and traffic) in Suzhou.

I want to take a nap before I got into work, so I'll just leave you with a few random stories:

• Before I left for my vacation home, I asked Xiong what he wanted as a gift from America. He told me a Playboy magazine. He was joking, but I got it for him anyway, along with the Sport Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. I have never seen him so excited/embarrassed when I gave it to him.
• The internet company made Mike and I wait 12 days before someone could come out and install our internet. Once he did it, the technician told us that, for some reason, he couldn't get both our laptops online at the same time. If I was on, Mike couldn't be, vice versa. We had two computer experts come look at the problem, and neither could fix it. We had friends call the company multiple times to no avail. We were told that it was a new policy from the internet company- only one laptop at a time. Finally, my friend Danny looked at the contract and called the company to have someone come sort it out. The morning the technician was meant to come, it suddenly started working. Just like that. All they had to do was remotely adjust the modem. But this whole thing took weeks to sort out.
• I started teaching twice a week at a nursery that is all the way across Suzhou. I get frustrated riding 40 minutes each way to just teach for an hour (recently, always in the rain), but the kids and teachers at the place are so great I don't mind. They do have the absolute worst English names, though. Like a chubby little girl named "Fatty", or a boy named "Vivien".
• I was hanging out with my Chinese friend Margaret the other day, and she was bugging me about the fact that I've been here like 9 months, and according to her, my Chinese isn't up to snuff. I told her I had recently learned the different parts of the body (eyes, ears, head, etc). I showed off to her, and she said, "Congratulations, you're now as smart as a 1 year old." Did a lot to boost my confidence.

So that's about it for me. I will blog more often, I promise. I may even be able to post pictures in the next day or two. Or even video!

Edit: I've added a ton of photos of life over the last few months. Take a look:

Winter/Spring China

XOXO,

RDG

Chinese lesson of the day: Wo bu zai hu = "I don't care"

p.s. this might be the first time I've ever written a Chinese lesson of the day entirely from memory. See, my Chinese IS improving!

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