No class tomorrow! Yay! Today we designed ad campaigns to save the environment and learned about African archaeology. Apparently they don't teach the kids about Great Zimbabwe or Mali in school here. Which makes it no different from school in America! I told them about the absence of stone in west Africa and how the palaces there were made of wood and terra cotta (another latin- based word they now know) and how since those haven't survived over the centuries, many people don't know there were important civilizations there. We also learned about Egypt and the Valley of Kings and how the embalming process works. They should so be paying me more money.
I got a fan for my bedroom, so that's a bit more bearable. I carry it around the apartment with me. I wish it had wheels and a long cord. I taught Jenna to play canasta the other night. Me: "So, you want to learn to play canasta?" Her: "Isn't that a game for grandmothers?" To which I say, whatever. And we sat around eating Zunyi beef jerky and drinking the local beer. I've decided to acquire a taste for beef jerky. Then I can reminisce about the wonderful food in Zunyi and when someone asks what I would like, I can say, "Well, what I would really like would be [some made up chinese word- "beef jerky" doesn't quite have the same snob appeal], but since we're not in a small city in southwest China, I'm guessing you don't have it... No? I thought not. I'll just take the nachos grandes, then. And an extra napkin, I dropped mine on the floor."
Today in class we were discussing what we would do were we premier of China. "If I were Hu Jintao..." Someone suggested make China's economy "stronger and stronger." And how to do that? "Realize Communism", of course. However, when I asked them to list countries with strong economies and then countries that were communist, there was no overlap. I gave them a quick explanation about why Capitalism is good for economies, but as always, arrived back at a balance between the two being the best solution. One girl suggested that to improve education in China, we [China] should invite more foreign teachers to come to Guizhou. I asked her to push for cute boys. Another student suggested that to strengthen China, we should bring Taiwan back to the mainland. I asked if Taiwan wanted to be part of China. Yes. Then why isn't it a part of China? It's the evil government. The people of course, want to rejoin China. A new kind of country, a democratic dictatorship made up of an alliance between the workers and peasants or something. That's from the Handbook for Foreign Experts. See some earlier entry.
Jenna has two students named Azan (a friend of her's from GW). One is "Cute Azan" and one is "Smart Azan." She was telling her friend "Real Azan" how she had given her kids "English" names (Lakshmi, Harenna, Anjana, Ravi, Sundari) and he said, "You did no such thing!" Cute Azan was around one day when we were talking about this and we explained to him in Chinese (he's only 9 or so) that he was "the cute one." He was quite happy to hear this.
Angel, the new teacher, seems happy to be back. He's really laid-back. Very LA. I haven't yet met his wife, AKA "This chick I hooked up with." Ummm... do you mean your wife? He always apologizes and he seems to love her, but dude, "wife."
Speaking of boys and girls... Jenna and I usually get around to asking our kids about boyfriends and girlfriends. They can't date here until they are 18. If they do and a teacher at school finds out, the teacher will call the parents. If you get pregnant while you are at college, they kick you out. I was asking my kids what they look for in a boy/girlfriend and you get all the normal stuff: good looking, funny, nice. Every now and then a boy will say, "a kind heart" or something really sweet. Which is good, because another boy has invariably said, "should do housework" and "should be less clever than I am". Most girls aren't too taken with the housework idea (there are people you can hire to do that), but a lot of them think that the boy should be more clever. The boys tried to explain to Jenna that this was "science" and I can't say that I'm surprised she didn't understand, what with her being a girl and all.
Relatively uneventful birthday. Jenna and I went to a bar after dinner. What I really wanted was to be cold and they had air conditioning. I tried to order a vodka, cointreau, and creme de cacao drink. Or, rather I did, but after I was told it would be 114 yuan, approximately $15 for a drink, I cancelled my order. How messed up is that?! It's because no one sells liquor here, so they have to special order.
I'm in a cybercafe and people are smoking and spitting on the floor, so I'm going to go.
It really is.
I wish I had my straw hat here. I'm positive I won't find one in Zunyi that would fit my ridiculously large head. And then the hat seller would look at me like I'm crazy. Just like people when they find out how large my feet are. Well excuse me if I was properly nourished as a child.
Huge thanks to the family for my birthday package. Mom's brownies! Yay! They're a bit dry after ten days in transit, but those of you who have tried them know how good they are. Speaking of ten days in transit, the package made here in record time. I don't know why. Good tip: pack your next care package to Jenny in pages from the Washington Post. Especially pages from the Style or front section, Sunday/Wednesday/Friday Style, Travel, Arts, and Comics.
Tomorrow is the raging party at my house. The students kept lobbying for me to have it at night. I think they think that since I am a young teacher from a fun country, we are going to have a real party. No, no, no. It's a class party. We will be watching a PG-13 movie and eating snacks.