Red Christmas

Upon reviewing my previous blog entry I've realized it is probably not appropriate for those of you wishing to know more about my adventures in China as opposed to my adventures in the bathroom (which is more commonly referred to as the watercloset or WC here).

Well, it's Monday December 21st. Christmas is on Friday. Today my students tried to trick me. I gave them homework to do and they claimed it was unfair because Christmas was coming...but you see, the thing is, Christmas is not a holiday in China. It's tricky to teach a teen, to teach a teen, to teach a teen...

My students have been tricking me a lot lately. On Friday I came to class 1 minute late (I make my students do pushups and squats when they're late...I do the same) and found the classroom empty. So I left to go looking for them. Mystified at their disappearance and with a tailor desperately trying to measure me for a school uniform as I charged around the building searching for my students, I ended up back in my classroom 5 minutes later...but something was different! The lights were off...when I turned them back on it was to find an entire class of students pretending to be asleep at their desks! They'd hidden behind the curtain to fool me when I first arrived and then demanded that I do 6 minutes of pushups instead of 1! It's pretty hilarious to listen to a group of students, pretending to be indignant, demand, in broken English, that you owe them pushups, in a Chinese accent. Today they offered me some 'candy'...it was hot wasabi flavour. Later, the 'good girl' in the class offered me a cracker...yep, hot wasabi flavour again. Even she has fallen under the sway of tricking poor Mr Harvie. So I'm now in the business of seeking revenge. If you know of any good shafts, please pass them along to me.

Toilet Humour

You may have noticed the picture of the Chinese toilet on my Flickr site. I've compiled a pros and cons list regarding the nature of these toilets. Here it is:

Pros:

1) I never have to overhear that annoying conversation about putting the toilet seat down.
2) I will soon have stronger thighs than anyone in North America.
3) I don't waste nearly as much time reading in the bathroom.

Cons:

1) I never get to piss people off by chiming in with my two cents on the toilet seat debate.
2) My thighs hurt.
3) Where do I read?


As you can see, deciding which type of toilet is better it is a very interesting topic to consider...I only wish I had somewhere peaceful to think about it...

New Pics

I have some new pictures up on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/44196127@N04/). It's mostly of my students and of Jilin City...nothing so spectacular as The Great Wall. I have a picture of the dog meat section at the grocery store that I didn't post because it is quite graphic and would be disturbing to some, but if you're curious let me know and I will send it your way by email.

A long December

Well here it is...December. I'm three months into my adventure and still ticking. The last couple of weeks have been tough ones. Work has been quite stressful for a number of reasons and the wear and tear of constantly being in an alien culture is taking it's toll. But I remain in good spirits and am daily grateful that I jumped on this opportunity.

The thought of what to do next is starting to push its way into my mind. At this point I really have no idea. I presume I'm welcome to stay here for another year. I could set up shop teaching in Halifax again. I could look for another adventure somewhere else...South Africa would probably be nice :) Maybe I could sign up for a master program in Hawaii or something. But to this point, I confess, none of these options are really reaching out and grabbing me. I look forward to coming home and relaxing with my friends and family.

In the meantime, December promises to be the longest of my teaching career...there's no Christmas Break! It's like I have a real job or something...what's up with that? I didn't sign up to be a teacher so that I wouldn't get vacation time... ;)