Today was a fiasco. Well, at least it wasn't a complete loss. But I've learned some important lessons.

The May holiday is this week. Last year, students had a whole week off, and it gave them a chance to go home and see their families. Most of my students are rather far away from home, so we end up talking about homesickness a lot in class. They've all been looking forward to seeing their families.

However, today we found out that the holiday this week is actually only Thursday, Friday and Saturday; Friday's classes are being held on Sunday. And some of my classes have class on Saturday. So instead of having a holiday...they have a weekend two days early and then a seven-day week. They were understandably angry.

They spent the first part of my class venting, and I spent the whole class wracking my brain for ways to cheer them up. We ended up talking about local customs. I ended up 'reenacting' an American traditional wedding for one group, and talking to another in depth about American perceptions of time and why we expect to be notified about schedules ahead of time. The best way I could explain it is that we consider people who are either late or excessively early to be selfish and inconsiderate, because they aren't taking the other person's time into consideration when they do their own planning.

Anyway, they know I love them. They know I'm outraged on their behalf, because they were planning on going home to see their families and now they can't, with two days warning. And they left the class in a little bit better mood. I wish there was more that I could do, but that's about the limit of my capacity in this regard.

This afternoon was supposed to be a double-dose of two different classes watching one movie together. And that's where the fiasco part of the day came into play. I should have known better than to let my students handle this one, seriously, but they just took it out of my hands and wouldn't let me be involved.

I had checked with both classes last week, and found out that they didn't have class between 3:45 and 6 on Tuesday afternoon. I knew that one class had class every other Tuesday from 2-3:20...or so they said. So last week, I asked the class monitor from one class to sign me up for a specific room that I'd already checked out and made sure was empty that entire afternoon. Everything cool, right? I thought I'd covered all bases.

Yesterday, I got a phone call from that student asking me if it would be okay if we had our class from 3-5. I checked with the other class (or rather, had Dan check) and sure enough, they were free. So, cool. Whatever, I said, if that's what time you'd rather have it. I let the other class know that class would be at 3 o'clock.

Today, I show up to the classroom at 2:40. I was twenty minutes early, or so I thought, and everything was all set up. But...my students are already watching a movie. And there's a whole (but single) class in there. Bridget Jones' Diary is playing on the movie screens. And that is most definitely not the movie I wanted them to see. The class monitor comes up to me, and says, "Where have you been? We thought you were supposed to be here at 2! You're so late!" ... No...I'm early. There was a misunderstanding, seriously.

Then I got a phone call from another one of the foreign teachers, who says, "My students told me they need to leave my class early for your class!" Uh..what? The class she's got right at that point is the class that has the class monitor responsible for scheduling the whole schebang in it. There's NO WAY that she didn't know she had a class right then. I told her to come down and get the movie from me, and they'd watch the movie later.

I let the first class finish watching Bridget Jones' Diary. With the craziness of this week, I'm not going to make them sit in class for another hour, when they already had their vacation stolen from them. And then I came up to the room that the second class was watching the movie in and found out that they'd co-opted the other foreign teacher's class and had been watching it in her class time. Agh. At least Elissa (the other teacher) liked the movie.

Alright, whatever. It's dealt with. I'm never leaving it to a student to do alone ever again. Seriously.

Finally, I get out of the mess. Class is dismissed. We invited one of my 3-year freshmen out to dinner with us (she's a bit neurotic and needs a bit of cossetting sometimes) and ran down and tried out a new dishes restaurant. Pretty good. I run away and jump on the bus, and Dan wanders off to find a piano on campus, which is apparantly a succesful quest.

Got back to the old campus, and checked the hidey-hole that I was certain his birthday present was in. He'd convinced me I'd brought it over to his apartment; I was still convinced it wasn't here, and I'd gone through every single little hidey-hole I would have put it in here. Oddly, it was exactly where I thought I'd left it. Present found.

Home I went. Engaged in a little art project regarding Dan's birthday. I'm not very crafty, but hopefully he'll like it.

When he got home tonight.... he managed to drop bread on his stomach, jam side down. WIN! He's totally getting clumsier, and it's totally from associating from me. My life rocks. ;)

Today's lessons learned:
The perception of time in China is a lesson in zen patience. Seriously. You have to accept, rather than react.

If you want something done right, especially when you've got a cross-language boundary, do it yourself. Or go along. Don't do it over the phone. Ever. Nobody will understand anybody.

My klutziness is contagious.


Another website for today: www.bookglutton.com
Basically a book club online. Find a book, find a book discussion group. It's pretty sweet. ;)

Fucking mosquitoes.

It’s not like we don’t have these ingenious little devices that plug into the wall and are supposed to drive mosquitoes away. What’s more, it’s not like we don’t live on the 7^th floor – way above where mosquitoes are supposed to dwell anyhow. Oh no, we’ve got both of those.

It’s that they seem to think I’m a gourmet meal fit for the most discriminating mosquito palates.

I must admit, I disagree. But then again, I’m exhausted. And itchy. They don’t tend to start biting until about 3 a.m., when you’ve already settled into a good night’s sleep. Y’no, the time of night where you’re supposed to be having psychedelic dreams reminiscent of acid trips of the days of yore where you’re being chased by big purple elephants on cotton candy clouds and incidentally jump onto the roof of a skyscrape….bzzzzz! OW! Damnit!

So I’m exhausted. I wandered into class today with absolutely nothing prepared, and remembered halfway there that I’d already talked about Earth Day with this class. Fuck. So I literally had nothing planned, nothing prepared, and nothing to challenge these little minds with. I ended up bringing up the debate from Friday (yes, it’s dominating my life at the moment) and having them talk about the WTO.

I have to admit, I’m rather impressed. A year ago, I helped TA International Problems at University of Toledo, and my students were darn near clueless. I had my students today make up a list of what they knew about the WTO, and they gave me a darned accurate definition and description of duties, responsibilities and functions of the WTO (in bad English) and then detailed the consequences of the inclusion of China to both the populace and the government. I was…impressed. And a little disappointed in the performance of the students back home.

On the way home, I stopped for groceries and such. Nothing big, just enough to fill my backpack. The cashier was a little bemused at the foreigner jamming eggs and bread carelessly into her bag, possibly destroying both in the process. It made me realize, though, that I’m really glad I started concentrating on dialect instead of “proper” Chinese. Dialect is more widely understood and spoken here. I like being understood. I like understanding what’s going on around me. People stop treating you like you’re insane, stupid, or a child if you speak even a few words of dialect. Seriously.

Anyway, Dan had only been out of bed for a half an hour by the time I got home. Darn it. He very kindly made me lunch, although it didn’t turn out so well (he’s made like three meals in the last three months that have been so-so at best. The rest have been amazing.) He’s also tolerating my snippiness that comes from too little sleep like a champ. I don’t ever mean to be snippy, but I’m really like a toddler. If I don’t get enough sleep, I’m a cranky bitch.

The Webby Award nominations are out and they’re up for a vote. I always go take a look because I inevitably find something pretty darned cool on the web that I hadn’t already known about. Go take a look yourself if you’re interested. http://pv.webbyawards.com/

And the other cool thing I’ve found in the last couple of days is a website called Lunch in a Box. It’s basically a website dedicated to bento boxes. A bento box is a Japanese lunchbox, usually arranged to be aesthetically pleasing and full of bite sized munchables that are super delectable. I always liked ordering bento boxes in Japanese restaurants because it let me sample a ton of different Japanese food without paying crazy prices or getting locked into one dish. This site, on the other hand, doesn’t restrict you to Japanese cuisine for your bento boxes, but gives you ideas for healthier lunches that are fast to make, nice to look at, and yummy to eat. You can find it here: http://lunchinabox.net/

TTFN.

Amanda

Where did the weekend go?

This weekend was far too short. It feels like it's just begun, and yet, it's 9:30 at night on Sunday night, and I'm looking forward to a crazy week that I just can't predict yet. Maybe I have class next Sunday; maybe I don't. Maybe I teach on Friday; maybe I don't. I just have no idea, and I wish I did -- my students don't even know what's going on.

I realized I've gained 10 pounds in the last three months or so and I'm rather unhappy about this occurance. I'm not altogether certain how it happened -- oddly, I'm riding my bike more and haven't really changed anything else. Anyhoo, it's created an impetus to start eating better than I have been, and Dan eagerly jumped on board. I'm lucky to have met someone who has been so incredibly supportive. He said that I'm beautiful as I am, but if I would be more comfortable with myself at a different size, he'd help me get there. So we've been buying better food and I've been trying to eat less starchy food. More milk (even though it's sweet in China), yogurt, and tons of fruits and veggies. During the break between my classes on Friday and the debate I had to judge, we wandered down to the vegetable market and stocked up on tons of veggies that we don't normally buy -- fresh red peppers, bean sprouts, new potatoes, squash and green beans. He's been cooking these amazing, colorful, healthy dinners that are tasty and awesome. Maybe dieting isn't so bad.

On that subject, his birthday's coming up in two weeks. I bought a gift for him back in December right under his nose -- bargained for and everything! -- and tweakily teased him about it for months. However, I seem to have put it in a safe place. I put many things in safe places, never to be found again. And I've got to find it. I really do. I went through all the nooks and crannies of the apartment today trying to find where I'd put it, but it's not in any of the logical places that I would normally put it. I'm more than a little annoyed. I'm going to check my old apartment this week to see if it turns up.

Other than that, we didn't really accomplish anything this weekend. We went out for hot pot yesterday, and then wandered through Trust Mart and the fruit market. We even visited this scarf shop I've been contemplating going into to get something for my hair, but didn't end up buying anything there. I did get some platform flip-flops though. It was the best kind of bargaining: he said fifteen, and I showed him my wallet because I only had 10. I got 'em for 10. Awesome.

I didn't lesson plan since I don't need to, really, although I have a ton of grading that I really didn't get around to. I had two classes last week that didn't get to see the movie I showed the week before, so they had a different lesson plan than the first three classes, so the first three classes can have what I taught the two last week. Whatever. It's not really a tough lesson plan. I just wanted to remind them about Earth Day and get them to contemplate the problems that China's facing, then think about some solutions. It's amazing that something so simple can keep them busy for two hours. Really. And I feel pretty good about it because they're thinking about something that really needs to be thought about.

Finally, I've found some interesting things on the internet the last few days.

• 43things.com: a website to help you find and keep track of the 43 things you'd like to do with your life. It's supposed to be an inspirational site, and I totally see how it can be. Writing down your goals helps you keep working toward them, to keep working toward accomplishing them. Mine are a bit silly, but accomplishing them would make me a very happy person. My list so far:
• learn to like wine
• take more pictures
• lose 40 pounds and keep it off
• open a bookstore
• learn to cook Italian food
• learn to play guitar
• write in my blog more often
• learn to make sushi
• learn to write well
• meditate
  

Anyhoo. I'm already working to post more often. It's a good release.

Until next time..

Mom called me last night in the middle of a debate competition. I shut the phone off in a hurry so I wouldn't disrupt it even MORE than I already had, so I didn't get the phone call. However, when I got home I had e-mails waiting for me. Lots of them.

Someone has apparently stolen my identity and opened a phone account in the United States with it. They somehow got ahold of my social security number, god only knows how, ran the phone bill up to $300, and then let it go to collections. Mom got a bill yesterday, and initiated the identity theft process.

So I've been up at insane hours trying to get ahold of her, and I have to deal with all of the ensuing garbage from halfway across the world. I hate people, have I mentioned that? Ugh. I really have no idea what's going on.

Today, I need to go get scans of my passport, PC id, and my drivers license, so I can email them to my mom

The local police department has my phone number here in China, and they have my e-mail address.

All that's really left to do is to make sure that nothing ELSE has happened with my stuff. Hopefully this is it.

My second grade teacher pronounced library "lie-berry." I still remember.

My second grade self, already an ardent library fan, told her she was wrong. It was "lie-brary." Two rs.

We stared each other down, each knowing the other was wrong.

However, I was in second grade. I ended up going about my way, pronouncing it 'library,' whilst my classmates immediately started pronouncing it minus the second r. I did not get my ducky that day that you get for good behavior that you could turn in for candy at the end of the week.

I really had good intentions when I made this thing. Really. In times past, I've been a compulsive blogger, posting multiple times a day. However, habits are easy to break and once I fell out of it, it was gone forever. Sadness and woe.

This semester is halfway over. I'm so amazingly glad, and so utterly sad, all at the same time. I absolutely adore my students, and, I find, they feel the same way about me. I hate having to teach every freaking morning, because teaching one class every day first thing in the morning is exhausting -- but I am always, always happy to see them. Next fall, I will not be teaching the same students, since I will be teaching the freshmen once again, and my current students are disappointed to the point of speechlessness. It's really odd. I'm a loner; I don't really like people. I've never been described as social or outgoing and I totally treasure my time alone. I like quiet and solitude. And yet there are 250 or more students who are screamingly loyal to me, and god only knows why. I certainly don't understand.

However, last night I judged a debate competition for the first time. My students were insane. There were 350 or more people packed into this room that's meant to fit ..maybe 80. There are students sharing seats, people packed into the aisles, every seat is full, and there's a crowd outside of the room. Its insane. And as I'm looking over this crowd, I realize that I've taught most, if not all of the students present. I've taught all of the freshmen, all of the sophomores at least once, and four out of seven classes of juniors once. So when the judges were asked to stand up and be introduced, each was applauded. I got a standing, screaming ovation.

I have absolutely no idea what I did to deserve the love of these kids, but.. I'm so proud of the progress they've made this year. My students have really bloomed into confident, creative people, and if I had any part in that at all, I feel like I've made an amazing impact on this world.

But anyway, the semester is half over. Next week is May holiday, where I may have four days off, I may have three days off. I may have one day off and then the weekend. I really have no idea. I really wish I did. Bleh. I think I may have gotten a little upset with the secretary yesterday, because my students were asking me what the deal was and I had absolutely no answer. That frustrates me.

No plans, either, because I have to ask for permission to leave, and it's too late now. I want to go down to Chun Qi Lu, spelling optional, to go shopping..but otherwise I have a feeling that this will be a weekend of relaxing on the couch. I do need to go someday and spend a day or a week taking pictures of Chengdu...but I have a feeling that is going to wait until this summer and my three months off from school. Oddly, I really need it right now.

Summer is also going to include summer project, which is probably going to be two weeks of marathon teacher training. I'm really not at all sure what's going to be going on with it. Bleh. Do not want to do. Here's hoping some crazy natural disaster cancels it. Something that hurts no one, just prevents everyone from doing the project. :) A big hand of god sticks a wall around the university and says,"DO NOT ENTER" for two weeks or something.

Anyway. Here's hoping I'm a little better about posting in this thing in the relative future. My students' midterms are coming up, and I'm really looking forward to them. They've been asked to select a bit of Chinese culture and present for 10 minutes on it, then lead a class discussion. They've got as much time as they want, because the more time they spend presenting is less time I actually have to teach -- and because of the discussion aspect of the assignment, my students are talking, too.

Oddly, one of my groups of students managed to shock me by deciding to do theirs two weeks early yesterday. Not at all expected. They presented on Beijing Opera, which was pretty interesting, and I'm desperately hoping that they didn't copy their presentation. I'm waiting for the e-mail with their powerpoint in it so I can check. If they did, I have absolutely no idea what to do about it. Their grammar was just a touch too good (read: it was nearly perfect) for me to think it HAD been them writing it. Ugh. Cheating just leaves me speechless sometimes.

Anyway. I've babbled enough. Later.