Stranger No More

At the first of each month the students typically receive a short holiday. No school Friday afternoon at noon until Sunday evening around 7pm. This is the longest time they are without classes each month. Students who live in the school take the opportunity to visit their parents to do laundry, receive allowance for the next month and just get some down time at home. Students who live in the community and go home every night when classes end at 10pm take this time to relax and socialize.

On Saturday the 1st I was invited by some grade three students to go to hot pot with them. It is still odd to be eating and drinking beer with eighteen year olds. Thankfully none of these guys smoked and I didn’t have to admonish them for that. We finished up at dinner and decided to walk around the corner to Allen Story a large chain of bars with locations throughout China. We were joined by Daisy a student from grade two who speaks English very well. We watched the singers and enjoyed another round before calling it a night. As we dispersed in several directions Daisy invited Edward and I to her home for lunch the next day. She invited me to her home last year for lunch, her parents a very nice and her mother is a fantastic cook. We both happily accepted the invitation.

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On Elly’s blog she calls out blogs by foreigners in China and the obligatory, Omigod, the bus/taxi/car driver was so crazy entry. She is right, of course. I have mine. Elly lives in Beijing and the best part of her making the callout is that she is a bright, articulate Chinese woman, (beautiful, too), blogging in her second language. If I ever finish my post about my trip to Tibet you’ll be able to read about how I met Elly. If.
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So I finally went to China Post today to mail some gifts I bought in Shanghai. Specifically I wanted to mail my sister and mother some Chinese clothes for them to wear to see the Peking Acrobats in Madison later this month. I included some items from Tibet last summer as well as something from Song Pan last Spring. Yeah, it is high time that some mail went out of Santai.

Nothing is simple. I’d love to tell you how fantastic my spoken Chinese is and how I get along so well in day to day life. I’d be lying.
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Last nights lesson at CCES, (the school for young learners that I work part-time at), was about action words. After a good solid review of words like write, hop, run, jump, dance, draw, sing and bounce it was time to learn the words in sentences.

We moved onto to short phrases incorporating those words.
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Honored guests, fellow teachers, returning alumni and current students.

As for me, I am truly honored and thrilled to be a part of this school and this community. Thank you, Santai Middle School.

That is what I was going to say. I was asked to speak and then there wasn’t time. The ceremony was pretty amazing with many guests and even a full sized hot air balloon. The school has been cleaned up and decorated beautifully.

The evening festivities featured a talent show by the students and teachers alike. Many of the students had been practicing for weeks and they were not about to let something like a freezing rain keep them from showing their talents. Good times.