Blogs from Guangdong, China, Asia - page 141

Have you had this experience? You are sitting at lunch with co-workers and one of them leans over to, I guess, remind you or in my case to inform you that tomorrow - the middle of the week - you don't have to work!!! Out of no where.....you all of a sudden have the day off. What was once planned, is now no more! That is china. I was suppossed to teach on Monday, but no....something came up. I was suppossed to teach today, but here I am at a friend's computer, definitely not teaching. I swear, sometimes, everyday in china is like a guaranteed snow day! So as soon as I heard "no school", I packed up my things and hit the bus to downtown, begged Mary to go out to a bar where a ... read more

I think living in China, could at times, be food for the soul....or maybe just fuel for the ego. After not one, but two separate classes today was I almost knocked over by a heard of fourth and fifth graders. And this has happened before. The first time, I almost fainted the first time I saw 50 ten-year olds racing at me as if I was in Spain during the bull run and I had been wearing red. But then I saw books and pens and thought, "oh! they must have forgotten their english names that I gave me." Well, the didn't want their english name, they wanted, more like the ravenously craved my signature (note: i would not be a good celebrity). So I spent the next 15 minutes autographing about 55 english textbooks....every celebrity's ... read more

I know, I know...it's been ages since I updated. It's been a crazy month and every day I thought to myself, "Well, wasn't that interesting! I should write about that in my journal." And then I'd be so tired at the end of the day that I wouldn't write anything. And now, I've forgotten all the good stories! Aiyou! We arrived back in Shenzhen at the end of August. It was three jam-packed days of all of us together and then everyone moved to their separate schools all around the city. Somewhere in those three days, Andrew, Susan, and I did what my boss calls, "The most important thing you do." We assigned all 103 teachers to schools. It's like a huge jigsaw puzzle, where you take the teachers, their abilities, their preferences, and their personalities ... read more

Who doesn't like long walks on the beach or a table filled with some fresh seafood or watching your principal, slightly intoxicated, belt out a chinese love song. It is needless to say that Friday night was as unexpected and delightfully enjoyable as that christmas gift that you hadn't asked for but somehow was exactlly what you wanted. Being the only foreigner in a several miles radius and especially at this school, any opportunity (even if its sitting at your empty desk for hours) to bond is like candy to me. Friday afternoon, night and saturday day were to be dedicated to teacher apperciation. All over the city of Shenzhen, teachers were being swarmed with flowers, overstuffed with wine, pijiou (horrible alcohol, but cheap), and an array of deliciously communal dishes, as well as being swept ... read more

Hôm nay bố mẹ và mự Hà đến lúc buổi trưa, Lâm ra sân bay đón mọi người. Cả năm rồi mới được gặp bố, trông bố vẫn khỏe mạnh và tươi vui lắm. Mẹ và mự Hà trông cũng khỏe, chắc chuyến bay cũng ngắn và thuận lợi. Ra ngoài mọi người đều vui, chỉ tiếc là có 2 quả bưởi năm roi ngon lắm, mự Hà đã cất công đặt trước, rồi mang theo đến là nặng, thế mà hải quan Trung Quốc nó tịch thu mất. Bố bảo là: "Láo thật, VN và TQ tình anh em hữu nghị là thế, ấy vậy mà..." Hì, dù sao Lâm là người tiếc nhất, không được ăn đồ ngon mà, chứ bưởi TQ thì chua lắm. Buổi trưa Lâm nấu thịt gà và luộc rau ... read more