So I have a lot of random stories, things about China, and moments that I have not yet shared so I will just put them all together in this post!
Some More Things About China
-Old people here are pretty fit! They are always walking around the neighborhood doing weird exercises, doing tai chi in the mornings, hiking with lots of stairs. Even on the Great Wall there were some old people who were just walking up like it was no big deal. And they usually age pretty well too.
-People here don't seem to have the best dental hygiene. I have seen older people with really gross looking teeth. Even my kindergarten kids have pretty bad teeth. They have cavities all over. We actually even had the dentist come to our school a few days ago. All the kids got their teeth checked and the dentist went over the proper way of brushing teeth.
-Soy Sauce: Is not really a thing in China. Ok so it does exist in China. But it's actually not super common. My coordinators said it is usually only used on fish and just a tiny bit. I'm pretty sure most of the girls in my group use way more soy sauce then anyone actually in China. (I'm not a fan of it myself which is why I was skeptical about Chinese food when I got here but turns out it's not used often)
-I may have talked about how scooters are a big thing here. Lots of people ride scooters, on the roads, on the side walks. They park them on the side walks sometimes, and one day at a noodle shop I saw a man bringing his scooter out of the restaurant. Anyways the funny part is that there will be whole families riding on one scooter! A mom, dad, and a child or two. Sometimes it's just a mom riding a scooter with her baby tied to her chest. Or a dad driving a scooter with the mother sitting behind holding the baby. Or a small child just standing there in the front of the scooter. It looks really dangerous...and it probably is but they do it all the time here and think it is fine.
-There aren't many car accidents here...even though the driving is CRAZY. Seriously the driving is so crazy here, but it doesn't phase me anymore because I am used to it. How is it that the roads are dangerous yet there are actually few accidents?
- If you remember a long time ago I talked about a Foster Home in our neighborhood that we sometimes go visit and play with the kids. Well I found out they have a Facebook page and a blog so if you are interested you should check them out!
https://www.facebook.com/newdaysouth
http://newdayfosterhome.blogspot.com
- You know how the 13th floor of a building in America is unlucky so they just skip it? Similar thing in China with the 4th floor. Apparently it is bad so instead they have floor 1 ,2, 3A , 3B, then floor 5, etc.
- Lots of Chinese people grow out their pinky nails. Here it is a sign of wealth because being able to grow out a long nail means you don't need to do any manual labor.
-According to my friend Susan, teachers are respected more than parents. Grandparents are at the very top, with teachers in second, then parents.
Stories
-One day I was teaching the game "Sorry" to my kids. Well this one particular kid named Matthew liked it SO MUCH. He was telling the other teachers how he liked it so much and the next day wanted to play it again. We ended up playing it again and he actually won! Matthew is a crazy kid, very VERY hyper and it's hard to get him to pay attention and focus. I have never seen him so excited and focused to do something until the game Sorry. Even one of my students, Linda, comes up to me and says (in perfect English) "Teacher, Matthew really likes to play the sorry game".
- The day we got back from our Beijing Trip my students asked me at school, "Teacher you go to meiguo?". The words "mei guo" are Chinese for "America". "Mei" means beautiful and "guo" means country. It was so sad! Our kids KNOW that we are leaving soon!!! They kept asking, this time saying "Teacher when you go to America?". I told my student April in 1 month, and she tells me "No...two months!". Seriously it broke my heart. They know we are leaving them!
-One day we had a fire drill at school. The Chinese go all out for everything, even fire drills. Actually the beginning was a bit chaotic. Luckily my class was outside because they were having their PE, but normally we would be on the third floor. Everyone was just kind of running to get out and squeezing through the doors. They didn't even line up outside or take roll. But the funny part was after we were all outside, a group of Chinese teachers came running out of the building with one of the little kids in their arms, as if she was unconscious or something. It was like a dramatic scene from a movie, except there wasn't actual flames behind them. Also all my kids, being the smarties that they are, kept covering their noses and mouths with their shirt. "Teacher!" They motioned for me to do the same, haha. When we entered the building though, it did smell like smoke and was gross. It was just a drill but somehow they even went all out to make it smell like it would if there was an actual fire.
-Debby and Tim are the cutest things! I think Debby has a crush on Tim. The past couple days they have been together a lot, Debby looking at Tim with this cute smile on her face and giggling. And today Tim came up to Debby after class and said in a really eager voice "Hi" and she giggled and said "Hi" and they were just so cute and started holding hands for a few minutes. They also hug all the time lately, put their arms around each other. So. CUTE. For the record this is more significant because both Debby and Tim are the "oddballs" in class. Tim just can't speak English, whenever he tries to speak it comes out slurred and the kids make fun of him for how he talks and for getting in trouble. And Debby's English is pretty good but she is just really quiet, and a little weird, and the kids make fun of her too. One day in class my kids were saying "I don't like Debby" and "I don't like Tim" and it made me really sad! Kids can be cruel.
- This kid Aaron totally has a little teacher's crush on teacher Carina. It is kind of funny haha.
-One time we were lining up to go outside and Jim and Kris were next to each other in line. Next thing I know they are making kissy faces at each other teasing, and before you know it those lips touched. I just looked at the Chinese teachers and we were laughing.
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| Kris |
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| "Teacher I'm gonna tickle you!!" |
-One day in class for my lesson I taught them to make the origami called "monkey climbs a mountain". It actually went well, the kids were able to mostly figure it out. And Jim somehow knew the next step before I even said it- because he is so smart! Anyways the "monkey" ends up being this tiny paper triangle. The next week in class one day I bring out my bag of supplies. It is a clear bag so you can see everything in it. Suddenly Jim starts pointing to my bag saying "Teacher, monkey!!" And first I laughed looking at the objects in my bag saying "No that isn't a monkey, you're so silly Jim." But he kept repeating it so he seemed pretty serious that there was a monkey in my bag...then I see that tiny little piece of paper. The triangle that we called our "monkey" from the origami lesson. I was just shocked that he saw that tiny paper in a bag full of many objects, and that he remembered it from our previous lesson and how it was a "monkey". Sometimes I really forget how smart these kids are.
-We have the coolest conversations in the mornings with our friend Allen who drives us to school. We've had conversations on the importance of music, how to sing, psychology of leaders, environmental protection, taking care of old folks, qualities we want in a husband and marriage, philosophy, creativity, united states presidents, and much more. An interesting thing about Allen is he is communist, and works for the government. This week he is giving a speech to his 500 employees. In a few weeks he is speaking at China Southern University to speak to college students about communism, and he is supposed to get them to say some sort of pledge to communism. Yeah. He is a pretty serious communist. He said something along the lines of "in capitalism only some people can be rich, but in socialism everyone can be rich and have the same things." But the thing is, Allen is a really nice guy! He is such a cool person and seems really open minded. He loves learning, he always asks us so many questions about how we do things in America, and our thoughts and opinions. Sometimes I think he knows more about our country than I do. And I think he really wants what's best. He also takes us out to dinners and pays for our dinners and taxis to get us there.
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| These kids did not like the fluoride. Poor Connor gagged and threw up (he is in the top left photo) |
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-One day we got on the bus to go home, and it ended up being just Carina, Clara, and me. We realized we didn't have any keys to our apartments...everyone who had keys left without telling us. Then suddenly Carina said we could climb up to the balcony since that door was unlocked. Clara was super excited. She found the nearest palm tree, and after a few climbs declared that she was stuck. Then Carina decided to give it a try. Just then a neighborhood security guard rode by on his scooter. We tried playing charades to tell him we didn't have a key, but then called Rachel to help translate for us. The security guard thought it was pretty funny though. In the end we didn't get a key so we went on am adventure to the grocery store until the others got back
More adorable photos of my children
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| This is the cutest picture of Judy! (she is on the left) |
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| It was Derek's birthday |
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| Jim took a selfie!!! |
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| Lok is the proud owner of a Hello Kitty shirt! |
