Xing Nian Kuai Le! *Happy New Year*

Throughout this blog, you'll see tons of pics featuring my students 

during their New Year's Party. Enjoy!

Monday, December 26th—Last night I laid in bed, computer turned on and headphones plugged in, trying to watch T.V. but falling asleep, until I heard the lovely sound of the Skype dial tone...it was nice getting to talk to my family for a bit on Chr*stmas Day :) Yes, it made me incredibly tired today, but it was worth it! Wanting to spice up the formula of doing nothing but singing songs for 20 minutes each class period (mind-numbingly boring, for me at least), and wanting to learn some English names, I played a game with my older classes today. I'd call 4 kids to the front at a time, have them say "My name is _____" and then shout out different tasks for them to complete, by name. "Andy, stand up!" "Kevin, turn around!" "Alice, jump!" And so on. The kids loved it, especially when I make a student sing "la la la laaaaa!" Admittedly, it may create more racket than is ideal, but it was nice to mix up class a bit with that this week. We had a short Study tonight and spent over an hour afterwards making Chr*stmas cookies...we had lots of stations set up, and a big group (with new people, yay!), so there was lots of chatting and getting to know people...a fun night! Before bed, a few of my old students (Candy, Doris, and Victoria from class 4) called just to say they missed me and wanted me to come back to their school. Aww.

Kiddies (girls AND boys) get simply caked in makeup for their performances.

Tuesday—Lately I'd noticed that we didn't have nearly as many students to greet in the morning (when I'm forced to stand by the door and wave hello to the kids). Children have been arriving later and later, shuffling in with their parents/grandparents anytime from 8 until 11 a.m.! I'd say that at 9:00 a.m., only about half the students have arrived, but classes and such go on as usual. Definitely different than an American school! When I asked the school nurse why the kids weren't coming in time, she said "because it's cold." I wish that were an excuse I could use too ;) Today I got into a small argument with my boss when she insisted I MUST work this week Saturday...it was about 5 minutes long, she got progressively more upset (especially when I said I would only work if they paid me extra or gave me another day off) until the principal chimed in that Saturday would be a workday for all Chinese schools. Oh. When I asked my boss why she didn't just tell me that in the first place, she said "Why you didn't ask?" Oy. It had been a couple rough days at school, after about 2 weeks of having plans every afternoon/evening, so I have a confession: I came home, plopped on the bed, ate some Macaroni and Cheese (from Kelsey, an amazingly sweet roomie), and fell asleep...by 7:30. It was...sheer bliss :)

I wasn't able to get many good "action shots," so this is the cast of "Snow White" before they hit the stage. I think you can spot the evil queen pretty easily...she even had a pretty decent "evil walk" down.

Wednesday—I love my "Strawberry Class!" They're the first one of the day, little and precious 3-year-olds who are "clever" (the word "smart" is rarely used here, it's always "clever") and lately have been bombarding me with hugs and kisses when I walk into class. I sit down on my little chair in front of them, say good morning and blow kisses, maybe play a couple simple games with them, and once one is brave enough to run up and hug me, they ALL want to do it. This just proves that I'm not cut-out to be a teacher forever, because I was much more interested in the hugs and cuteness of the moment than disciplining them and telling them to go back in their seats :) After school, Andrea and I got a meal of fish, delicious potatoes, and bai cai (kinda like cabbage), and hung out at her apartment. In the evening, we met Laetitia for sushi.

Only non-kindergarten pic of this blog: Andrea, myself and Laetitia after feasting on some scrumptious sushi!

Originally we'd planned to get hot pot, a bigger and longer dinner event, and maybe do something afterwards. But Laetitia had taken us to the theatre to help us buy movie tickets, and turns out we could only buy them for that night, so we just took advantage of that. After tuna rolls and some fried rice, Andrea and I went to see "Flowers of War." I don't know how big it is in America, but I'd highly recommend it. Christian Bale does a superb acting job (and, if you know of the controversy surrounding him and this film, it's even more interesting I think), and it's just an intense, well-made, emotional movie that sticks with you. Very hard to watch though...it's about the Rape of Nanking, and while it's most definitely biased, the story is both heart-breaking and beautiful. Not for the faint of heart though-- Andrea and I both had nightmares tonight, and we sat in the theatre just trying to recover for a little bit after the film (unlike the people who sat next to us, who stood up the second the film ended and talked on their cell phone while it was in progress). Afterwards we walked to Aaron's place and said a quick hello to Tim, our mentor our first year in Wuhan (he was here for 3 years). Following our short reunion, it was to home and to bed :)

Dancers, host, and their teacher (who, incidentally, is not much bigger than some of the students).

Thursday—Today in the afternoon Kelsey and I took the bus to Adam and Sherry's house. They'd invited us over for Western food and just to visit a bit. The website we'd used to find bus routes led us a bit astray, but thankfully we knew enough Chinese characters to find a different bus that we could transfer onto and make it there. Kelsey babysat baby David while I helped Sherry do the dishes, make tacos, and was taught how to make an egg, tofu, and pork dish. It was very good, though understandably surpassed in my mind by the supreme tastiness of the tacos (with cheese, salsa, and refried beans...yum). Kelsey and I walked a ways to find the right bus stop, had some good catch-up time on the way back, and watched some Glee before bed.

Rat! Well, I think he's a rat. Either that or a dog...

Friday—In the past when I've brought up how amazing it is that Wuhan has Subway restaurants, my friend Connie has said she's not all that impressed with them or the flavor of the food. So I was surprised when she suggested we go there together for dinner tonight...but I didn't argue ;) One of my closest friends in Wuhan, Connie's a couple years older than me, has been Chr*stian for several years now, and is one of the best English-speakers among my Chinese friends. So our convos can be fast, full of slang, and often quite silly...I haven't seen her too much this semester, but she has been such a blessing and comfort during my months in Wuhan! We ate club sandwiches, chatted about what the future might hold for each of us, caught up on news and gossip, and hugged when I dropped her back off at her workplace. Can't wait for you all to meet her in he@ven, if not earlier!

The "Strawberry Class" gets ready to perform!

Saturday—Today at school, I helped move and set up some chairs for the big New Year's Party (sometimes I feel like I get taken advantage of/ used as a janitor here in my tasks, but I try to maintain the mindset of a servant), and snapped pictures while students practiced and got ready. Our school's little auditorium was packed as parents and grandparents gathered to take photos and videos of their kids singing and dancing in groups, performing role plays, making short announcements, and just looking darn cute! Occasionally when a little tyke would be onstage holding the microphone, but too nervous to speak, the audience would applaud to give encouragement. Well. Towards the end of the performances, it was my turn to participate...I was the narrator for "Snow White," but my part was pre-recorded, so I was told just to stand onstage, holding a microphone, and lip-sync. I got up there and had to wait what felt like two minutes before they played my voice; I felt like a fool, holding the microphone, getting lots of stares (as the only foreigner, plus the whole being on center stage thing). It was hilarious--I don't think the audience realized what I was waiting for, so they all started clapping, perhaps thinking I was too nervous to speak. Haha. After that debacle, I headed home and bought some treats for our New Year's party. A group of us FoC-ers went out to dinner, and later on all 13 of us Americans, plus a couple Chinese friends, were crammed into my apartment. We played some games, talked, ate and drank, and went on our balcony at midnight. We each had a confetti cannon that was boldly shot into the air as we shouted and drank some sparkling grape juice! Happy New Year :)

So, I know you're not supposed to have "favorite students," but these two boys (Coco and Tony) are pretty adorable. They were 2 of the "Seven Dwarves," and cracked me up.

Sunday—Yesterday on the bus ride home from school, I made two new friends :) I happened to be sitting next to the mom of one of my kindergarteners, and we tried talking a bit. After she got off, a girl who had been eavesdropping nearby rushed to take her seat, and said "Hello, I want to be your friend." Love it when that happens :) I asked "Nancy" if she had an English name, and as she responded, a middle-school student from behind poked me and said "I also have an English name." So I had a fun talk with Nancy and Helen, exchanged contact info, etc. But that night, while talking to Nancy on QQ, the subject of ch*rch came up...the quickest that's ever happened, that's for sure! Anyway, one thing led to another and I brought her to our morning w*rship. She was quite nervous--the first of my friends ever to mention to me being concerned about the safety of our "meetings," which is a valid concern! Nancy also told me she is B*ddhist. I told her not to feel pressured to participate or do anything that makes her uncomfortable (and I also told her she didn't have to go...we could go hang somewhere else). But, thanks to HIM, she insisted that she did want to come, she read along with the B*ble selections, asked me some questions, and got to meet lots of our friends. I couldn't understand much of her conversation with Phoebe (the wife of one of our de@cons here), but she seemed happy that she came and we had a nice talk on the bus ride home! How amazing is our L*rd...HE can take a chance meeting on the bus on Saturday, and bring a new soul to hear The Word on Sunday :)

Teachers at my school performing a traditional Chinese dance with lanterns. My friend Joy (back left) said she hated it and would've preferred a pop song instead, but it was fun to watch.