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April 2nd 2010

Published: April 2nd 2010

I just realized that it's been quite a while since I've written anything, so I thought I should update you with the exciting news that I'm still alive. You'll be even more pleased to know that I'm not April Fooling you when I say that.

So let's see, the last two weeks haven't been particularly exciting. Spring has sprung officially. This past week I did manage to catch a pretty bad cold. The weather here is all over the place. One minute it's a bit warm (though, much cooler than last year) and the next day I'm wishing I'd worn an extra shirt and the wind is ripping through me. It's no wonder that I got run down and actually lost my voice. Luckily, I'm excellent at gesturing so classes went on fairly well. Today I am healthy again, only having a bit of a sneezy nose. Excellent timing on my part since it downpoured all afternoon, leaving my jeans sticking to me in ways that just weren't comfortable. I can expect more of this in the coming weeks, and then suddenly it will be unbearably hot and humid.

We've gotten new uniforms for the teachers at school. Last year I had a blue and white shirt with a navy skirt. Now I have a black and white shirt with a ... you guessed it, a black skirt. But this new, ingenious skirt of mine had no pockets. Roy and I took a field trip on our lunch break last week to a little tailor he knows by the tea shop he frequents. I wished I had my camera. The woman's "shop" is a table down a little alleyway with a sewing machine and some fabric scraps in a box. If you choose to sit and wait, perhaps you can get a chair at the cobbler's bench next to it--he has two chairs. And by chairs, I mean stools that are a little taller than my ankles. His tools are neatly laid out on a cloth on the ground. Your view for the duration of your wait is the table across the alley. The day we were there, there was a very fresh pig on the table--minus its internal organs and some meat that I'm guessing had been sold. Since there are very few flies, leaving the pig out like that doesn't seem to be a problem. Most likely all the meat will be sold in a short time and then prepared or refrigerated after leaving the "shop."

Roy and I opted to walk down the street to the tea shop while we waited. We drank tea while they package up tea leaves for him and we taught them some English and I tried out some of my Chinese. It was a fairly delicious and productive time. We left with Roy's tea in 30 individual-serving-sized packets. Since you can get multiple brews from the leaves, he only needs one packet a day. We walked back to the tailor and paid 10 RMB ($1.50) for my new pocket and the hemming of his pants. I'm guessing her overhead costs are low so she can keep her prices down.

My students thought it was brilliant to try and tell me over and over again something about my shoe or a UFO on the 1st. Yes, because I'm really going to fall for a UFO joke. I know this is China, but sheesh. So we can safely say I didn't believe much of anything they told me yesterday. Including the student who was rolling around on the ground, somewhat smiling, saying he'd hurt his foot. Yeah, right. And then I felt like an ass because he HAD hurt his foot and I hadn't believed him. Two other students helped get him off the stair landing (by my direction) and then I grabbed a Chinese teacher to help out. I still feel terrible. And people wonder why I'm not a big fan of April Fool's Day.

Last week I tried to book a long weekend in Macau since my students had exams on Monday. Friday and Saturday nights are more expensive than a Sunday night. But, alas, apparently Macau isn't as Chinese as some people like to tell me, since everything I could afford was booked up almost a week in advance. I guess Macau will just have to wait for another weekend.

Speaking of weekends, this weekend is a holiday! It's National Tomb Sweeping Day on Monday, thus marking one year since my parents visited. What you're supposed to do if you're Chinese is travel to your hometown and visit and clean the graves of your ancestors. Some parts of filial piety still run strong here. Last year most of my students didn't leave the city, but I did see quite a few people with luggage on the metro today. I suspect that people in cities other than Shenzhen are more likely to participate in the holiday. Shenzhen is a city of migrants--no one is "from" here. Since we're in the far SE corner of the country, most hometowns are too far away to travel for a 3 day weekend. Think of it like living in Florida and having to travel to wherever you're from and back in 3 days. I think I'd stay here, too. Actually, I am. I haven't decided what I'm doing yet besides reading and enjoying movies since it's supposed to rain all three days. Let's hope I don't rust.

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