4/17-4/24

Wednesday 4/17:

Wednesday morning Luke woke Melanie and I up because he had to teach in an hour and didn't have a lesson plan. He asked what we did when that happened and I replied with, “make a lesson plan.” He copied Melanie's slideshow on dance to use with the condition that he didn't use it for the 5^th grade class that Luke, Sam, and Melanie are now teaching instead of Talon.

I spent the rest of the morning writing a letter to Sam apologizing for being such a pain in the butt the past few days along with a few other things and sent it before I could think it over too much. It was one step among many to attempt removing some of the stressful drama I was creating in my life so that I wouldn't stay awake at night worrying anymore.

Melanie and Mikelle went downtown to the chicken place for dinner and I already didn't feel well and therefore didn't want to get more sick from American food. Ironic isn't it? That I'm sticking to the weird Chinese food instead of American so I won't get a stomachache.. But I've never once gotten sick from the cafeteria food so I deem it safe.

After dinner I sat in my room and talked to Luke for a couple hours and then when Melanie got back talked with her and Geoff. Ya know.. just another typical evening.

Thursday 4/18:

Thursday morning I woke up a little early all on my own and got my 2^nd hot shower in Weihai. I headed down the hall to hang out with Luke and Sam and discovered that Sam had just read my email which was a little awkward because I was hoping to not be in the room right after he read it but oh well. While I was in there Luke checked his email and had gotten an email from Jared saying that ILP had changed their mind and that Luke was allowed to stay at the school during vacation and also that we were going to get 2 new teachers. The information about the teachers was on the down low so he made me promise not to tell Melanie or Geoff and by the time I went back to my room to get ready for lunch Luke had already told Melanie. So much for secrets.

At inservice the head teachers told us we were getting 1 new teacher (by holding up a sign saying, “It's a girl!”) named Cherish but they never said anything about a second one. It was later decided that Geoff would move up to elementary and Cherish would take his spot in primary. Melanie and I had a good time the next day saying “Cherish” in a black accent with the phrase, “Praise the Lord, Cherish is comin'!”

I have a note for this day about Melanie and Luke fighting but I can't remember what fight it was because they're already on a new one so I've apparently left knowledge about the old one behind.

That night we had a planning meeting for the trip where I put together our itinerary for the week so we wouldn't have a replay of the last vacation where we showed up and no one had anything planned. The head teachers also informed us that Cherish would be spending the time in Guilin with us so we'll see how that goes.

Friday 4/19:

In the middle of the night I woke up to the common room door banging because apparently a window had been left open and the door for that room doesn't actually latch. I was a few minutes late to class teaching that morning but really didn't care. After I finished teaching I went up to the supply room to grade spelling tests and hang out with Sam because he has a gap in teaching at that time so we're the only ones in there which is nice to have some private 1-on-1 time. After I finished grading we just sat there and picked out books to read our kids for class which is fun because I get to rediscover all the books I loved as a little kid.

We had planned to go downtown after lunch but had to wait until 2:45 to talk to Kelly about some of our trip plans so we hung out in our rooms until then and then Jay, Melanie, Mikelle, and I went in to talk to Kelly. It was fun having her tell us about the mud caves because she explained some of the geology to us and then told us that the girls should wear very little clothing and hold on to the boys because it was dark. She thinks she's hilarious trying to hook us up but often she'll tell a joke but be serious about it so it's funny in an awkward way. Mark was telling his kids goodbye down at the school gate while he was waiting for us and while we were in there the guards called Kelly to make sure he could be out there on his own without another ILP teacher. See.. even our friends the guards are keeping tabs on us.

After we finished talking to Kelly, Melanie, Mikelle, Geoff, Mark, and I went downtown by Big World and wandered down a market until we couldn't handle the smell anymore and then Geoff and Mark went to the chicken place while the three of us girls went back to see the honey man and met the honey woman instead. Have I told you about him? There's a legit honey shop with a nice wooden floor that has specialized honey. You can get different types like honey from citrus or acacia or you can buy it with other things in it like cherries. Super good. We also went to one of our favorite bakeries to see if they had wheat bread again but they were out. We met back up with Mark and Geoff at the night market where we found a bin of awesome Chinglish shirts for only 10 yuan. The 3 of us bought one that says, “Be the inspiration for a new generations” and the other one I'm actually wearing right now and it says, “An oily fashion tance.” I'm quite in love. I also picked up a pair of argyle socks to add to my collection.

Back at the dorms we wanted to watch a movie and a group was going to watch Silver Notebook Playlist (or something like that) but I opted out because it was rated R (I hate that I've had to make a stand and say no to R movies twice now in a group of mormons) and we ended up watching Big Bang Theory instead while the other group made cookies. Sam came in to watch some of it but then ditched again to hang out with Kristen. I really hate that we all live in the same hallway sometimes because it's hard to not know what's always going on.

Saturday 4/20:

Saturday morning I slept in and read a book for a while before I heard people talking and laughing so I went down the hall with the small hope that someone was making me breakfast only to discover that all the noise was just Sam and Kristen laughing. I went right back to bed. Eventually I got up again and discovered that Kristen had gone downtown and when I ran into Sam I discovered that it had been snowing all morning. They turned the heaters off while we were on our last vacation for good so we've been pretty cold in our rooms. Well, everywhere.

Sam and I decided to start watching the Saturday sessions of conference and we only made it through the opening song and prayer before it was lunchtime so we paused it to finish after. When I got back from lunch Sam left with Luke to go downtown so I went back to bed and wrote in my journal for a while before I found Jay and asked her if she'd do my makeup and hair. She did and its the best I've looked in months but I don't think I've ever had that much makeup on my face before. It was nice to feel pretty again for a few hours though.

We decided to go in search of a Thai restaurant that a guy (Wesley) we met at the noodle shop owns. He had given us his business card with the address but we still had no idea where it was at so it was quite an adventure. We ended up taking a bus downtown in hopes that we were closer and then got in taxis for 20 minutes that dropped us off at an empty shopping center where after wandering around for half and hour and asking random people where it was at finally discovered it was already closed for the day.

We were all starving so we wandered down the street to this mall where we found an American sit down restaurant. I ordered a plate with steak for $6 and it was amazing. I really really miss good real meat here and it was delicious. We also discovered a Subway there so Mikelle and I both bought subs to eat the next day. They're about the e price as they would cost in America but for China paying more than $3 for dinner is getting expensive.

Sunday 4/21:

Sunday morning I slept in again and didn't want to get out of bed because it was freeeeezing. I also really didn't want to go to church so I waited until the last possible moment to get up and walked into church late, took the sacrament, and then was so distracted by Sam and Kristen on the couch together that I walked back down the hall, changed back in my pajamas, and got back in bed. I spent the time everyone else was in church eating Subway while I watched some talks from the YW general broadcast.

After lunch Jay told us about how she had a dream about Melanie and her parents and that when Melanie ate too much her parents called her a slut so that's been our joke the past week if someone's sitting there eating a bunch of junk food.

Mikelle, Sam, and I played a few rounds of Monopoly Deal which I only won after the 5^th game. I'm getting creamed here at it and it's really depressing. I decided to open the big bag of Lifesaver Gummies I had brought with me and was disappointed to discover that they didn't even taste that good. Guess who ate the entire bag anyway? Slut.

We got tired of playing Monopoly Deal so we turned on conference and watched the Saturday morning session. Mikelle laid there and played games while Sam and I cuddled. Very productive.

After dinner Mikelle and I put together a 3D wooden fish puzzle she had bought on the street which was nice for a little bit of different entertainment.

Later that night Melanie found The Host on the internet and Melanie, Geoff, Mikelle, Sam and I watched it until it stopped loading properly. It was late so Mikelle went to bed and it ended up just being Geoff and Melanie on Melanie's bed and Sam and I on my bed. It played for a while longer but then the internet crapped out altogether so we went to bed. I didn't think it was possible for it to be worse than Twilight but I do believe I've been proven wrong. Sadly. We still haven't even bothered to finish it.

Monday 4/22:

Monday morning we woke up at 6:55 with a knock on our door informing us that Geoff was sick and needed a sub. Since there are only 4 elementary teachers and Luke was already teaching that morning and Sam was also sick, and the head teachers were off campus for the morning, Melanie and I decided that she'd teaching the first half of the classes and I'd teach the second. Once Melanie left I headed down the hall to spend my usual Monday morning with .

I had a really fun time hanging out with Sam especially when I brought up the topic of the varied standards concerning sex stuff and we had a good discussion about that for a while. After a while I checked Luke's clock to discover that it was already 9:45 and I was supposed to be teaching in 15 minutes and I was still in my pajamas with no lesson plan. Oops. I threw on a pair of jeans with the shirt I'd been wearing for 3 days straight and ran downstairs. The “lesson” ended up me giving the kids paper, scissors, and crayons and having them make Get Well cards for Geoff. I discovered it's WAY easier to teach those children when you're not trying to teach them. It was actually really fun just sitting there and coloring with them for the rest of the morning. I had told the kids that Geoff was sick and throwing up and my favorite card that one of the kids made had a picture of him and Geoff with a pile of poo next to Geoff. Made my day.

By the time I started teaching my own classes I was unbelievably tired because I'd stayed up late the night before, been woken up early, and then had already taught for a couple hours. Let's just say I was a pretty worthless teacher that afternoon. When classes ended I went into town with Melanie and Mikelle and stopped at the bank to get what I really hope is my last withdrawal from my bank account. I've spent so much money here, especially on travel, and since my room is sitting empty not bringing in rent money I'm feeling pretty guilty about it. Life's going to be pretty poor when I get home.

After the bank we stopped in at our favorite noodle shop for dinner and then hit up the night market looking for the lady that sells super cheap American clothing but we haven't seen her for a while.

By the time we got back I was completely dead and ready to go to bed but as soon as we got in Sam beelined it to our room to talk which really surprised me. After he left I tried to go to bed but Melanie played the “there's a new episode of Once Upon a Time” card and I fell for it. Right after we started Jay came in and told us about how she had taught the Cupid Shuffle to her kids and they added their own variation. She had changed the kicking part to punch because it was safer but they changed the very end. She has a video of them singing and dancing, “to the right.. to the right.. to the right.. to the right.. to the left.. to the left.. to the left.. to the left.. punch, punch, punch punch.. I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee.” Melanie laughed for a solid 3 minutes over it. We finally got back to the show and I laid across our beds half dead watching it and then finally got to crash in my wonderful bed.

Tuesday 4/23:

Tuesday Sam woke me up which, once again, surprised me because when we were on our last trip and he woke me up I had commented how he should be the one to wake me up every morning because I'm so much happier when he does and he said he would but then never did. A little bit after I woke up Susan (the other head teacher) came in with the phone because Kelly had called for me. I was super nervous because a personal call on the phone is rarely a good thing but it ended up just being a call warning me that the vice president for one of the kindergarden schools that feeds into Daguanghua visiting my class for the day because she was worried about how effective ILP was at the elementary levels. Basically it was just a heads up call making sure I had my act together for the day and I really appreciated it.

I got to work on my powerpoint in the common room on the topic of seasons and thought up a couple good activities to go along with it. Sam came and hung out with me on the couch while I worked on it and when I finished we spent the rest of the morning talking. He showed me a bunch of old cars he really likes and talked about wanting to build one some day. Luke came in a while later and shared a dance idea with me for a performance the school wants us to do next month. We ended up dancing a little bit in the common room and I realized once again just how very much I miss dancing. I'm definitely going to have to get back into that hard core when I get home.

The 4 of us elementary teachers walked to lunch together for the first time but forgot something and went back. I made a bet with Luke that Sam wouldn't sit with us because he rarely does but I lost. After lunch Luke came in to use Melanie's computer to make a Powerpoint and they ended up getting in a fight over including the song Colors of the Wind because it is racist which turned into a more serious argument. It's now several days later and things haven't been repaired.

My classes that day were AWESOME. I spent all 4 lessons on the seasons powerpoint and with the activities it was a total hit. The internet was being super temperamental all week so I had included a few pictures with me in them on the slides which the kids liked. I let them make a list of words related to the seasons and then play Bingo and later did an activity where they drew an object out of a bag of random stuff I'd collected and they had to tell me what season it represented and what they liked to do during that season. Super easy but super fun and effective. Only problem-- the teacher Kelly called me about never showed up. Welcome to China.

Oh, jk only 3/4 classes were good. Let me tell you about that second one that was the exception. My 5^th graders have been awful the past couple weeks and Tuesday hit an all-time bad. Right at the beginning I gave Miffy a strike and she pulled out a tissue and while glaring at me she very menacingly ripped it up and slowly said, “This... is... you.....” and after she shredded it took it to the garbage and threw me away. She spent the rest of the class period writing my name on pieces of paper and then tearing them into shreds. Potentially super disturbing.

As if that wasn't enough for one class I confiscated a note from Mars half way in and I don't think I could have disturbed the peace more by setting off 10 Chinese firecrackers. I liked Mars at the beginning because she was so fun to go on home visits with but she's been my worst student the past week. I thought I was just taking away one of their typical notes written in Chinese. I was wrong; this one had a cartoon. And as we all know, while language isn't universal, other things are. One of the students (I still don't know which one) drew a comic of 2 people going in a bedroom, then taking their clothes off, then getting in bed naked. I had all of my smart older kids screaming at each other in Chinese over it and things never really settled down after that. But the rest of the classes went really really well. And my 4^th graders love me. Just remember that.

Dinner was our second good meal of the day. I liked everything on the plate which is kinda a big deal. We'd been eating leftovers from the floor above us all week but at least it was stuff I liked. That's how the cafeteria works here.. The best food starts on the 4^th floor and works its way down. We eat on the 1^st floor with our kids on week days and usually the 2^nd floor on the weekends.

After dinner I had a massive cuddle session with Sam and Luke for a while until Sam left and then Luke asked me an awkward question so I left too.

When I got back to my room Melanie and Geoff wanted to watch Big Bang Theory and even though I wasn't at all in the mood to watch TV I said I would since they're my DVDs and I don't want to get behind the group on episodes. Sam came in and joined us and when we turned it off for the night I ended up having to kick Sam off my bed so Melanie could go to bed. I was still wide awake so I spent the last half hour of my evening looking at recipes of food and drooling over these things called butter and cheese and sour cream and sugar that I used to have access to back in the day.

Wednesday 4/24:

Wednesday morning I woke up to the mop lady banging on something and then Luke coming in our room looking for Sam. I got out of bed to brush my teeth and wash my face and heard a knock on the door of Sam coming in to talk but by the time I was finished he was gone. I headed in to the common room to make a powerpoint on natural disasters where Sam joined me and helped me pick out the best images. Google doesn't work here very well so usually only a few images load if its working at all but the search engine that China uses (Baidu) is horrible at finding what you actually want and likes to throw in massive amounts of porn so finding pictures online here is actually kinda a messy task. It was really enjoyable to just sit there surfing the net in my pj's with Sam's chin resting on my shoulder looking at the screen until he decided to start tickling me which is so much more dramatic now that he's discovered a ticklish spot that I didn't even know I had.

At lunch in the cafeteria karma caught up with all the good meals I'd had during the week and threw me some tongue and jello tofu.... neither of which I was willing to eat. Yay for rice and mentos (boiled dough rolls). Melanie was making a video of our meal the other day and said, “This is a mento. If you put enough honey on it it tastes like honey.” I cracked up laughing but when I went to eat mine after I dumped a bunch of honey we bought on it she was exactly right.

At the inservice training the head teachers announced that, “We're having twins!” and told us that Bailey would be showing up after vacation. So what's going to happen is that the 4 of us will still teach all the e classes but Geoff and Bailey will take some of our lower level learners for most of the hours and work with them. That will at least help with class sizes.

The natural disasters lesson was crazy. Each time I put up a new picture the kids would scream out what it was in Chinese and then spend the next couple minutes imitating it with their hands and sound effects. I tried to make the lesson interactive and brought a spray bottle for rain, flashlight for lightning, a fan for wind, and then had the kids make lightning. They couldn't handle it. I also tried to have them make the rain storm we've done for game night at EFY but I lost them with that too. Oops.

Dinner was meh. The rolls had egg and seaweed in them and we also got jello noodles with cabbage. Yum. News flash-- I love cabbage here. I've quit eating it lately because we get it every day but it was the first thing I ate for quite a while.

After dinner one of the guards from the front gate took some of us to an apartment down the street that a painter lives in and we looked at tons of paintings he had done. There were several from Castle Beach just down the street and one that I would pay good money to have because I like it so much. He sketched Sarah and did a really nice job. I'm seriously considering asking Kelly to set it up for him to do a portrait for me too but it gets weird with people doing things here because they have so many culture things about money and gifts. BTW-- I now understand the term studio apartment.

Back at the school before I went to my room I actually remembered to tuck my kids in. I often tell them I'm going to tuck them in but then forget. I was a little bit early so I hid behind the door they come through out of the stairwell and jumped out scaring them. The best part was when I jumped out and scared one of the male teachers. Super embarrassing but he was laughing so I think we're all good. I have a few boys in my 4^th grade class that worship the ground I walk on and I like to call them my little boyfriends. There's Bruce, Tyler, Travis, Walter, and Gary. When Tyler saw me at the top of the stairs he screamed and jumped into my arms and locked his legs around me. I'm gonna miss my babies. Later I hid in the room some of my 5^th grade boys stay in and jumped out and grabbed their feet. I think I made one of them pee their pants. Best bonding experience ever. Some of them gave me their normal gifts of milk and candy before I managed to escape and say a quick goodnight to my girls. I opened up one of the milks on the way back to my room only to discover that it was regular, not apple milk. Gross.

Back at the dorms Melanie and I cut off jeans to make shorts and I showed her how to wear the cut-off look in style. I even decided to shave my legs but ran out of shaving cream after one leg and gave up.

Geoff came in to talk and somehow I convinced him to make a list of reasons as to why I'm awesome. It was super genuine and really nice to read. I finished off the night by making Mac and Cheese using the milk I had started drinking. It was good but it tasted like China. Everything tastes like China.