list

Sooo there's a whole list of things I've been meaning to post about.

1. letters to Eastwood:
A couple weeks ago, the unit the sixth-graders were working on was about sending letters to penpals, so we had them write letters that (someday when I've stopped being irresponsible) I'll send home and they'll go to some kids at Eastwood, who will hopefully sometime have time to write some responses. Some letter-writers were more successful than others, but there were some pretty cute ones, and sometime soon maybe I'll post some highlights.

2. weather:
I'm not actually sure what I really wanted to say about the weather. It's been pretty nice lately, though smoggy like crazy. Some days, we can stare straight at the sun (* cough * not that we ever would, of course, but we could) and it's just a reddish circle in the clouds - it feels less bright that staring at the lightbulbs in our apartment. It's been getting colder lately, too. A couple days ago it was probably actually freezing, which was unfortunate because that was the day of

3. 7 hour power outage:
Not my favorite event, and the fact that it was so cold that day made it worse, since heat is maybe dependent on electricity? Running water certainly is, at least, as we noticed that afternoon when we could no longer wash our hands (on the bright side, though, the lack of running water meant that the leak in the bathroom stopped and the floor was dry for a while). Also, we have no non-electric means of heating food, so we went out for lunch. Luckily, lunch is often cooked on makeshift gas stoves on the street, and the fact that there was no electricity wasn't really a problem.

4. Japanese pigs:
This week, classes were all weird 'cause the students had a huge test (apparently a huge disheartening test; everyone I've talked with says it was really bad this time). The only classes we had to teach at the high school this week were a couple days of third-year writing, so we team taught it and played a game with collaborative story-writing. We gave them half of a first sentence and told them to finish it, then had them pass their stories on so the next person could write the next sentence (and so on). Many stories were pretty good, and most of the kids seemed to be having some fun, but one story got stamped with a great big "REJECTED!" It went something like this: "I love English. I hate Japanese. They are pigs." which was probably the first really unfriendly unabashedly racist sentiment we've encountered so far.

5. Man on bicycle with grandson:
An old man was riding his bicycle down one of the muddy, narrow back streets in our neighborhood. It was pretty busy, so he had to weave around pedestrians and other bikers. He, like many people, was carrying a passenger on his bicycle. Unlike most people, his passenger was about two years old, sitting on top of an old, well-loved soccer ball in a basket attached to the back of the bicycle.

6. Oh! Bicycles!
Speaking of, Mr. Mi, the first person from Fenyang we met in China, took us out this morning to buy bicycles, and now we are the proud owners of some lovely bikes. It was kind of funny - we were maybe a little self-conscious since none of us really know much about how to choose a good bicycle, but then it seemed like the only criterion we were really expected to be using was whether or not we liked the color. We remembered our experiences pushing bikes up a mountain, though, and we bemused them all by picking up just about every bicycle in the store to find the relatively lightweight ones (we made sure they're all pretty attractive colors, too).

7. Wushu!
Basically since we got here, I've been interested in trying to go to some sort of wushu (martial arts) class. We have taiji classes during the week, and those are great, but I really loved Tang Soo Do in high school and aikido at Carleton, and I want to try to find the same sort of community and camaraderie that existed in those groups. Also, I want to have the chance to get to know people outside of the context of Miss Lee the foreign teacher. Anyway, this is something I'd mentioned to Mr. Ren a little bit once, but sort of let fizzle afterwards. For the last couple weeks, I've been eyeing the sporting goods store we've gone to a few times, gathering my courage to ask them if they know a place I can go. I like the store a lot - we went there for badminton rackets and birdies, a soccer ball, and a basketball, and the people there are friendly, which is nice, but even more refreshingly, they speak slowly and smile and use easy words. Tonight, Katrina and I went in looking for little five pound dumbbells (which you apparently buy by the pound here). Afterwards, I (finally) asked if there was someplace I could study wushu, and the guy said he knows a very good teacher and tomorrow if I go back, he'll show me the school and introduce me to him. I am super excited! Also super proud! Yessssssss, successful communication!

8. Cat, and visiting the doctor in China
Actually, this story's not really mine to tell. Rabies vaccine in China is super-cheap (under $25 for the whole series), and visiting the doctor can be done with no paperwork whatsoever (or arranging for the doctor to come visit you)

Sooooo now I'll just post this, and maybe sometime later I'll post some pictures.