Snore!

ZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZZZ! It’s only nine o’clock this evening and I’m about to fall asleep as I’m typing this entry. I don’t know why I’m tired, but I did use up a considerable amount of energy trying to keep students interested in learning about Valentine’s Day. 


Classes went smoothly and nothing terribly exciting occurred. We ate grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, I got dinner from Muslim Noodle Shop, and we watched the new episode of The Bachelor. 


Since I’m trying to become a better photographer, I’m playing around with my camera and Photoshop Elements more. My goal is to take one to three “keepers” a day. Here are the two from today:

I’d better head to bed before I can’t....

Back in the saddle

Yay for spring! I woke up today, and was startled to discover that winter has fled and that his fair-headed sister has taken control of the world. Thank goodness. I was about to die from hypothermia.


I returned to the classroom at 2:00 this afternoon and I’m thrilled to be back. My first class on Mondays is often a snoozer (I think they’re still recovering from their lunchtime nap), and today was no different, but I did the best I could to energize them. I’ll admit, I was fighting a number of battles -- first day back from break, warm weather outside, I’m teaching a “fluff class” and the pressure for students is starting to build, etc. However, I know not to take it personally, and there are plenty of students who do enjoy my class.
The second period of the day was far more enjoyable than the first. I made a few adjustments to the lesson and the tweaks made a world of difference in the level of student interest, as I’ll explain in a bit. 


The main focus for this week’s lesson is Valentine’s Day, but we do cover some other topics. We start off with a warm-up about how they spent their vacation, which allows me time to wander around the room and individually discuss answers with students. I then explain the day’s schedule, show some photos from our Scotland trip, teach two slang words (24/7 and airhead), introduce some new vocabulary words associated with Valentine’s Day, show a short video about the history of Valentine’s Day (it’s a bit complex for many of the students, but I explain it to them), I give a short lecture about how Americans currently celebrate the holiday, play a music video of Taylor Swift’s Love Story, lead the students through a couple of love-themed mad libs, and discuss how the Chinese celebrate their own version of Valentine’s Day (it’s called Qixi). Yes, it’s a bit difficult for the boys to be interested in the content, but I think that the girls enjoy the lesson. 


During the first class, I skipped the mad libs and did an interactive quiz about love instead. However, some of the questions were too complex (example: is love practical?), so I decided to scrap that part of the lesson and do the mad libs instead. 


For those of you unacquainted with mad libs, it’s an activity that many elementary-aged children do on long car trips to keep themselves occupied. (At least that’s when I did them.) Essentially, it’s a short story into which you inject special words. You don’t know the topic before you fill in the blanks with specific parts of speech (adjectives, verbs, proper nouns, etc.), so it’s silly when you read the completed “work”. Here’s an example. If you’re asked for a body part and you chose “eyes” like the students did today, it’s hilarious when the story says, “I would like to ask for your daughter’s eyes in marriage.” Or at least the students think it’s hilarious. 


Well I’ve got to run open the door for Jean-Jacques. He ran to Pala to get us dinner and I’m super excited about my chicken sandwich and french fries. Yay! Until later!

A day of reading and tea drinking

It was another slow day because I wasn’t feeling my best. I’ve been fighting off a cold for a few days now, and today it decided to semi-incapacitate me. I was well enough to do most normal things (I washed the bathroom floor and toilet), but I decided that a bit of rest wouldn’t be a bad thing since school is starting soon.


I read more of Zinn’s book today. Although I don’t agree with everything he says, he does make some interesting points and I think it’s an important read (especially since I’m a history teacher). Also, I’ve been enjoying keeping up to date on my history learning. 


I also plowed through a number of pages in The Memoir of Cleopatra. It's a bit trashy, but I have to admit that I have a soft spot for the book because it’s historical fiction. It’s been a while since I’ve read something in the genre, and I must admit that I’m happy to be back into it. I’ve been enjoying learning about the Roman Empire since historical fiction allows me to discover more about the past in an extremely entertaining way (though I make sure to constantly check the “facts” portrayed in the story).


We watched Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and it was another stinker. It was a teeny bit better than Tron, but not by much. I did enjoy watching in on our computer through Netflix because it was a legitimate copy and we didn’t have any men interrupting the story’s flow by getting up from their seats.


That’s about all the news for now. I’m off to drink some tea, read more of Cleopatra, and get a good night’s rest! 

Productive relaxing

Tron Legacy is probably one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. It’s so awful that I’m able to write this entry as I watch the film. Though I would have to admit that the viewing experience was enhanced by the silhouette of a man getting up from and returning to his seat in the theater where the bootleg was taken. (Yes, we’re watching a pirated version of the film that some friends gave us.)


It was another low-key day, and I managed to play around with Photoshop Elements quite a bit. I’m feeling more comfortable with the program, although I still have a lot more to learn. Here are some examples of what I did:

We skyped with Richard, Debbie, and Isabelle. They are all doing well and it was fun to talk with them. 


Jean-Jacques was extremely kind and got us both lunch (fried noodles) and dinner (Sichuan noodles) today. I did laundry, dusted a bit, read some of Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States, lesson planned for a while, took a short nap, and studied Chinese on the website livemocha.com (if you want to learn a language, it's worth checking out). I throughly enjoyed the day, but I am looking forward to starting school again. I miss the students and teaching.

It's actually a firework festival, not a lantern festival

As I sit down to write an entry, the sounds of fireworks are blasting throughout Anqing since today is the Lantern Festival that officially ends the Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year). Sadly, we’ve seen more fireworks than lanterns or any other form of celebration. Though it’s been a busy day for our ears, this Thursday was relaxing otherwise.


Yesterday was quite busy. I texted a teaching colleague to ask when he thought school would start. (I had already asked someone else, but the person didn’t give me much of answer, so I thought I might try another source.) He responded that there was a staff meeting in about an hour and he would find out then. I asked if I should attend, and he replied that it was my decision. I thought it would be a good idea for me to go and show my face for a little while. I haven’t done much with the teachers here, so I wanted to support the school. (As it turned out, I didn’t end up staying at the entire time...)


There was a slight hullabaloo about us going to Hefei next week. Directly before the staff meeting, I was informed by a man I barely recognized that Jean-Jacques and I would be traveling to Hefei for a Model United Nations conference next Thursday and Friday. We hadn’t been asked if we were interested in participating in the event and Jean-Jacques will be holding class for the first time with his new students during that time, so it’s not possible for us to attend. Also, since there aren’t any substitute teachers in China, I would have to switch teaching times, which would be difficult. Although we were willing to help on Saturday and Sunday (if our assistance was truly needed and we weren’t expected to stand around while acting like “dancing poodles” ), the administrators decided our presence wasn’t necessary. 


In the evening, we ate Chinese BBQ with some friends in a restaurant close to their house. At the meal we discovered that the wife is pregnant and they are thrilled about the news. They’ve been trying to have a child for a little while, so I’m extremely happy for them. In China, parents aren’t allowed to know the sex of their baby before the birth because many couples will abort a female baby if given the choice.


After dinner, we walked to their apartment and watched the movie Green Zone. I throughly enjoyed the film, but it might have made our friends a bit uncomfortable. I think they learned a lot from it, though, and we did have an interesting conversation afterward.


Today has been short since we slept in so late this morning. I think we’re catching up on sleep from our trip. I spent a few hours learning more about Adobe Photoshop Elements and I’m pleased with the progress I made. The picture for today’s post was one I took during the day in Edinburgh, but I had fun fiddling with it (as you can tell).


This semester I’ve set some goals for myself: 1) Learn how to be a better photographer and photo processor, 2) Work harder at learning Chinese (I was happy to successfully use my newly learned phrase “good evening” tonight), 3) Read some history books, and 4) Continue writing a journal and posting blog entries. So far, I've been able to work on all of my projects and I'm enjoying it.   


I suppose I should sign off to start the process of falling asleep despite the ruckus outside.  

Back "home"

Hefei, capital of Anhui province

I’m extremely content to be back in our apartment in Anqing. Our two and a half week absence has been a turning point for us and I’m thrilled to start the final semester of our year here. 


We spent the past four days in Hefei visiting some friends and attending a National Committee on U.S.-China Relations conference. During the meeting, we discussed a whole range of topics, from teaching techniques to reverse culture shock and it was fun to reconnect with everyone in our group. I enjoyed exchanging teaching strategies, swapping stories, and learning about how the others are adjusting to life as ex-pats in China. 


After the meeting, when we returned to the hotel to check out and depart, we discovered that the power was out. We had to climb ten floors in the DARK (none of the “emergency” lights were functioning ) to retrieve our luggage. Fortunately, Jean-Jacques had his cellphone with him, so we used the light to illuminate the way as we trudged up and down the stairs. 


A friend helped us get to the bus station in Hefei. Jean-Jacques was brave and bought tickets for us to Anqing while I guarded the luggage. We weren’t entirely sure when the bus would leave, but we were directed to an area where we waited for a few minutes before boarding a large bus. The ride took about two hours and we almost disembarked a bit early (we couldn’t understand the loudspeaker announcement, so it was a bit confusing), but we made it to the tiny bus station in Anqing. 

This evening, Jean-Jacques was generous and snagged us dinner while I hung up a load of laundry to dry; we have a number of dirty clothes from the trip, so it will take some time to run all the necessary loads of laundry.


I feel refreshed by our trip(s) and am thrilled to be back in Anqing. At this point, it feels like a "home away from home" and I'm so thankful that we're able to spend our year in this city. It's the perfect size for us -- small enough to easily walk many places, but large enough so that we’re able to locate some western amenities. It feels manageable, whereas Beijing, Shanghai, or even Hefei feel overwhelming to us. (I'd better stop writing because I'm starting to sound like Goldilocks!)


Hugs to all!

Photos from Edinburgh

St. Giles' Cathedral on the Royal Mile

Scary graveyard

The partially-completed National Monument

Parliament and Palace of Holyroodhouse

Palace of Holyroodhouse

A tower at the Palace of Holyroodhouse

Edinburgh Castle

The Royal Yacht Britannia

View from Arthur's Seat

A house in a valley