October 30--Day 115

I love Chinglish notebooks.
I love my students. We had a great night with a class that hadn't opened up much before. And, apparently, they've all thought I was married this whole time. Even one of my students since July! They have this whole ring system. If you wear a ring on your pinkie, you're single. Ring finger, married. Middle finger, engaged. Index finger, dating. And thumb? You're either a king or your're married to a super rich guy. Ha. And they actually use these. Pretty cool. With this, who needs relationship statuses on Facebook?

October 29--Day 114

Dinner was interesting. It's always interesting when the Chinese order for you. Haha. Tonight's delicacies were eggs boiled in tea with bark and leaves and "fried cookie salad." Honestly, not bad. Had so much fun at English Corner tonight! Each week, we met in the square with anyone who wants to practice his English. Tonight, a ton of my students came, so we just hung out for a while. Even the dean came, so we got to talk with him. The students absolutely adore him. Ironically, he showed up just as my students asked me if I would stay another year. He said, with a wink and a smile, "I think you will be welcome here next year."

October 28--Day 113

Finally watched Kung Fu Panda! Finally. The Chinese are shocked and horrified every time I tell them I haven't seen it. But, do not fear Chinese people, I have now experienced one of the most important parts of your culture ;) It was a fun night with Ray, the Brother we met on the bus back in August. We're really becoming quite good friends. And! We have two little friends at the canteen, a little boy and girl. They don't speak English, so we have to speak to them in Chinese, but the little girl, Pandan, always gives me things. Today, I got some sparkly confetti :)

October 27--Day 112

Cool lattice in one of the restaurants in Guomao. And these shots are from Miranda's apartment. There's some kind of home/training center/has-to-be-some-kind-of-orphanage-cause-there-are-way-too-many-kids-around. Seriously, there are eight bunk beds in just one room. But they lined up all their shoes on the balcony. Ain't they adorable!

October 26--Day 111

Hansen and Spark love chess. They're obsessed with it. Although, I have gotten them to like American chess more than Chinese chess. Next step? Teach them some strategy. Some games are just painful to watch. (And, I liked this advertisement for the Hainan Vision Center. Our vision advertisements usually have people with glasses. They just slap on some happy white people... who don't have glasses. Haha.) And! Today, I was the only person to get a thumbs up in tai chi. And I got four of them. I think the stars have aligned or something weird like that...

October 25--Day 110

Class was wonderful today. This class has officially been dubbed my "Oreo" class. They're class number 2, but they're convinced they're the best class. Thus, the best is in the middle. Not only did I have volunteers today (enough to give me a heart attack), but they were also literally fighting to present their stories. All of them wanted to go, they were begging to go first, they were stealing the podium from others. Incredible. Movie night at the Mills! After three months, we finally watched Sahara. Ha. And, we met the other American that teaches at Josh and Laura's school. Be pr@ying for him. Hopefully, Josh and Laura and the rest of us will have opportunities.

October 24--Day 109

Found some really cheap tissues. Had a great ukulele lesson. Sang with a band (in Chinese). Helped Bruce with his big speech competition. Hung out with a class that hadn't opened up to me before. Today= success!

October 23--Day 108

Explored Guilinyang today! Waving our single hands high and free for all to see! (And, yes, we did stop on the highway to take pictures. Ha.) New experience! I was riding my bike when, out of nowhere, a man leaped out of the bushes and squatted right in front of me. I swerved (narrowly missing him), but not before he started clapping his hands, first stretching his arms out in front of him, then swinging them behind his back. He then began to make a fire. In the middle of the street. I don't even have words...

October 22--Day 107

What a great day! The Mills and Molly joined us for lunch. (Alison and I have discovered our kitchen is terribly furnished. Ha.) Scavenger hunt in the afternoon! Alison's sophomore class against my junior class. (We won. Bam!) They had a blast, and we did to. It's so great to hang out with them outside of class. We get to know them so much better, and, hey, that's why I'm here. First English corner tonight! (Utter chaos. It was crazy!) Overall, life is great :)

October 21--Day 106

We had a little fun in class today. I divided up my class into 8 teams and gave each team a random picture of a frog, castle, and another animal. Each team was also given a random character, like "beautiful princess, evil witch, salesman, Jackie Chan..." Then it was story time! They had a ton of fun, but before they got to share their stories, we were invaded! I saw seven men standing in the back of my classroom with giant cameras. They didn't speak English, but could say, "You" and "Teach." Got it. So, after a very last minute lesson plan revamping and classroom reorganization, we were ready for TV! Provincial TV, apparently, so this was a big deal. I'm waiting now for my agent to give me a call about my next big gig as a Chinese celebrity. It'll come... any minute now...

October 20--Day 105

I love Chinese menus.

October 19--Day 104

Pizza date with these guys! Pizza Hut actually had a little advertisement for Halloween. Who knew? Apparently, China has some form of Halloween too. And! Slippers in the store! The cold is coming! We've already broken out the sweaters and pants. It's like 80 degrees, for crying out loud...

October 18--Day 103

First English night with Donna (we're telling her things about American culture since she's being nice enough to teach us Chinese). We gave her some of the cookies we baked the other night. Her first cookie! Ever! And, she actually liked them. Crazy. We gave some to Bruce, and he thought they were horrible. Ha. Donna wants to learn about history! I'm so excited. Nerd alert: I've missed talking about history. American history. America. I can't wait to start teaching her. I can't wait to have the chance to just go on and on and on about my beautiful country. Nothing beats her. Then! First ukulele lesson! It was really fun, and I'm getting it, believe it or not.

October 17--Day 102

Decided to experiment with food! We rounded up what things we could find here that, when put together, could somewhat resemble chicken parmesean. It was... not bad. Not chicken parm, but a more Chinese-ghetto version. And our M&Ms cookies (which also took a little tweaking) didn't turn out so bad. It was a really fun night; the best part? Just chilling.
Bruce texted me this morning. "Tips: typhoon had came already, watch out when you ride outside in this heavy wind and wet road, don't use one hand. and breakfast. you are welcome!" Haha! apparently, the whole "waving my single hand" thing is working-- other students are noticing I only ride with one hand! Husband, here I come!

October 16--Day 101

Girl time! One of my classes is completely girls. Ha. It has a completely different dynamic. I got to know these girls a lot better tonight. I love searching out relationships with them, seeing them become more comfortable, watching them open up. Some days in class, I'm reminded of why I love teaching. But every day, I'm reminded of why I love my students.

October 15--Day 100

100th day in China! I can't believe it. Already. Wow. I can't believe all these people that I've only known all these people, all these friends for only 100 days. Today, we had the best lunch date with the Mills. Mrs. Mills made chicken pot pie. It was the perfect break; such a good time. And! Kevin rode in all the way from Haikou to surprise us. I helped Bruce with his speech again, and we broke out Anastasia (we named his ukulele Anastasia) and played and sang. Kevin was shocked that we were just going to sing in the canteen like that. "But this isn't summer workshop!" Oh, Kevin. The craziness with us doesn't end with the summer workshop. We're crazy all the time. But, nights with Kevin are always interesting. Apparently, the reason I ride my bike using only one hand is because I'm single. That free hand proudly declares my singleness. But, to make it more clear, I should wave my hand around and sing "All the Single Ladies." Yeah... Also, men should keep their hair cut short so their brains can "breathe fresh air." Oh, he cracks me up...

October 14--Day 99

Spontaneous fruit get-together! The best. When we saw a random guy holding a long white cosplay wig, we decided we had to try it on :) It was a smaller group this time, but still really good. Met some new people (which is always great!), and got to spend time with one of the students from two years ago (which is really encouraging). So many people from that summer have come to know Him. I don't think Paige has, but the seeds have already been sown. We definitely want to be able to spend more time with her. Since the semester started, we've really gotten close to Bruce and Donna. Donna's an atheist, and Bruce is a devout Buddist. And knowing that kills me. Keep them in mind. For opportunities. For the words to say. For them to see that we are different.