(Okay, still no Internet, but I am going to steal some from
someone’s room just to get a facebook message out or something. Maybe I can
even post one or two of these entries since I already have them written. I was
even going to get my tour and train tickets tonight, but we’ll see how that goes.)
Today was sixty times better than yesterday! I ate more
food, I had less stress, people did what we had corrected, and the world was
good. Okay, it was wicked hot and sticky here, and then it rained before our
final assembly, but the rest was golden.
To top it off, Media just gave me a kiwi. She is so great!
The school day went so much smoother today, with only minor
changes made, mostly in drama and English. We had some participation trouble
with the older students, but we also had some star students today, too! The Yew
Wah helpers were much more involved, spread out, and engaging today, which made
life easier for our teachers. Now they just have to learn to speak up, but that
is all about being shy, I think.
Also!!! (I’m really
excited about this à)
I gave names today! Many of the students, even the fifth graders still didn’t
have English names. At first they didn’t understand what we were asking, so in
Chinese I asked if they had a name (“wo mei you” = no, I don’t have one) and if
they wanted one (“wo yao! wo yao!” = I want one! I want one!). Marcus was
trying to organize the boys in the class, so I took all the girls. I am proud
to announce that there is now a group of girls in Macheng, China named Anna,
Rose, Lynn, Jessica, Sophie, Michelle, Grace, Ashley, and Helen. My girl group!
I tried to pick names that were easy for Chinese people to say and pronounce as
well as being different (it would be silly and boring for them all to have “A”
names or “-ly/-lie” names).
The evening was pretty quiet, but we had KFC for dinner
(family bucket for the win!), then Media and I went shopping. I finally bought
some Engrish shirts – beautiful specimens, if I say so myself – and Media got a
lovely, blue dress. We spent quite a lot of time at the store, and I learned
about Chinese changing room culture: you share them with everyone in the store,
so while you are changing, it is yours, but when you are admiring yourself in
the mirror, someone else can use it even though you stuff is still in there, so
be careful! It is best to either be quick, admire the clothes on you (not in
the mirror), or go shopping with a friend so that you may lay claim to a room.
Afterwards, we went to a shoe store to get Marcus’ tennis
shoes glued. I’m flattered by the attention that we receive in stores, but it
is very annoying not to be able to answer people’s questions; I always have to
have a translator :S It is troublesome, but necessary, I guess.
Oh, I almost forgot! We had a killer game of dodge ball
today with the Yew Wah students and Witt kids playing on same teams. Martin and
Marcus were really speedy and quick, but Ben was sniper accurate. The Chinese
students were jumping all around, catching balls and moving across the court. I
even snagged some videos of the action!
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