Tomorrow is June.

            JUNE.

            FREAKING JUNE.

            Last year at this time I was preparing to go to China.  I was currently living with a friend to finish out subbing in Berkley County, WV for the year and I was anticipating being in China.

            Now a year later I am in China in my apartment experiencing things that I would have never dreamed of.  Aslan is good.

            My last day of May was good.  Walking to work this morning I met someone from church (Joylene) and we talked and I actually saw her again as I got off of work.  Pretty cool!  Made my day.

            This morning was TT1 with Lucia.  We had Nathan, Cheng Cheng (who was even clingier to mom than usual today), Xiao Guai, Oscar, and two others.  It was a good class.  I just love Oscar.  He is the cutest.  TT2 with David was boring.  None of the kids wanted to do anything!  Yuen Yuen was the main proponent of this.  We had 5 other kids who I have completely blanked on names for whatever reason.  I have really got to start writing these kids names down.

            Lunch afterwards was good.  I was going to practice but I had a writing bug this afternoon that would not quit.  2 hours later I had to start working on the Oral English and Crayons to Canvas projects with Kristin and Bear.  It was all good.  We had fun getting things together.  Candy, David, and Lucia were kicked out of the office because someone (sales) was using it

and we all talked and had fun.

            Next Tuesday the company will go and play bad mitten.

            I was invited.

            Of course I’m going.

            Pictures will happen.

            And I will play badly but it will happen.

            There are no words to express my excitement.

            David and I then prepared for Runners.  Well, we prepared then stopped to play with Yun Yun and Xi Xi.  I love those children.  For actual class we only had little girl Zi Han and two previews named Peng Peng and Xiao Yu.

            Because in China, diapers are not an enforced thing, sometimes the children come into class without diapers.  Okay, I’ve pretty much accepted this fact and am mostly not bothered by it anymore.  However, today, Xiao Yu went number one in class not once but TWICE, the second time on the parachute.

            China can be the worst place in the world.

            Combined with that, David was the one who was fired at the end of the month from the teachers end for whatever reason.  Everyone was very quiet before the end of work.

            As I was walking home I knew I was going to cook dumplings but I also really wanted some baozi but I decided against spending the money.  In front of the supermarket they set up a movie to watch.  I was curious but I wanted someone who could speak Chinese there with me to translate and things when low and behold there was Jun Jun, his mom, and grandmother there!  I stopped to say hello and they pulled over a little small stool that Chinese sit on when outside and gave me baozi.  Actually they gave me two.  (They wouldn’t take no for an answer)  I spoke the little Chinese I knew as I played with Jun Jun as we ate baozi together and played charades.

            This would never happen in America, American parents sharing food with you on the street.  I am going to treasure that memory for the rest of my life.

            China can be the best place in the world.

            I came home to cook dumplings only to find a dead bug in my wok.

            China is back to being the worst place in the world.

            I cooked, I took a shower, and now I shall crash.

            CULTURAL FACT OF THE BLOG/WORD OF THE DAY: In China, a zombie apparently hops, not walks, to eat you.  However if you have a rectangular piece of paper with the correct words on it called a “fu” (3^rd tone) to stick on the zombie’s head it is will fall over and not be able to harm you anymore.

eccentricallypeculiar:

The same stands for me. I feel this way about everyone on Tumblr.

808homegirl:

to anyone who reads this<3

            I was super lucky this morning.  I hit my alarm thinking that I hit snooze.  30 minutes later I checked the cock and realized it was time to get up.  Whoops!

            No worries, however.  I got to work without fail!  I dressed up today so I could wear my new shoes so Lucia could see them (she didn’t see them until the end of the day, but she really liked them.)

            Got to work and played on the computer before toddlers with Kristin.  We only had 6 children today for this class which now feels ridiculously small to me after having 10+ toddlers for the past couple weeks.  We had Fei Fei, Tang Tang (who looked so cute in her little sailor dress today), Ze Ze (who is currently obsessed with Kristin, it is precious), Le Le (not toddler Le Le who is now in TT1), Wen Wen, and Ke Le.  It was a good class and Kristin and I had fun.  In the middle of class Kristin asked me if I thought Fei Fei could move into an older class and I gave the thumbs up.  Fei Fei is really getting too big for this class I think.  Ke Le’s mom tried to do the same thing and I’m sorry but Ke Le is not steady and crawls more than walks.  He’s not ready and he is too small.  VETOED.  ;)

            I used to like Crayons to Canvas.  Now I dread it.

            Hao Hao, my least fav, Xiao Xiao (who apparently likes to throw things and isn’t punished for it at home), Meng Meng (who is too young), Hu Bao (who is just a mess), and Cheng Cheng.  I had to put Xiao Xiao in time out twice this week.  I can’t have him throwing things.  It might be something big and hard next time and hit someone!  Bear, Lucia, and I are stressed after class now instead of happy with the breeze and fun that was the class with Rui Rui, Kang Kang, and Christina.

            Lunch I talked to embracingthorns and she got to meet the Chinese.  Lucia and Kristin had the best time.  Bear was being all shy for whatever reason.  Unfortunately we couldn’t talk long because the connection wasn’t very good, but still a lot of fun.

            I practiced after lunch for a bit.  Baby Tong Tong and Meng Meng came in to listen near the end.  I kept trying to help Meng Meng blow into the flute but she kept trying to eat it or something.  It was ridiculous.  Had a fun time though playing simple pieces.  Meng Meng might convince her parents to let her learn the flute when she gets older.

            I then had a “parachute masters class” for the translators (minus Candy).  It’s been on my mind to do this for a bit because each of the translators does something different with the parachute and I can’t remember who does what.  So I gave them basic tips for when all the kids go under the parachute and how to hold it as well as how to set the parachute up on the ground.  I consider it a success.

            TT2 with David was okay.  Tiger, Xiao Ye Zi, girl Qian Qian, Le Le (my fav), and Xiang Xiang were there but were all very tired I think.  They were boring this week.  Oh well!

            Came home and bought my dinner tonight.

            Now to see what jobs are available in subbing in October.

            Byes!

            Today I woke up.

            I played on the computer.

            I cleaned.

            I played on the computer.

            I did attempt to mail some postcards but the post office was closed.

            I did not go to Bible Study tonight, mostly because it was like a monsoon outside and traveling on a bus for an hour in this weather is just ridiculous and not fun.  I’m a faithful member.  Not going tonight, while makes me sad, is not the end of the word.

            I did buy some new songs for my iTunes—been listening to them all day.

            That’s all folks.  Tomorrow starts another work week!

           Today I talked to my parents.

            I also made dumplings from scratch.  And when I say from scratch, I mean I even made the dumpling bread on the outside of it.  Sure they didn’t all look pretty and certainly I’ll need to keep doing this a couple more times to get the hang of it, but all in all I liked what I ate.  When I come back, I shall be able to continue to make real Chinese dumplings!  Go me!

            As for the rest of my day, I watched the rest of the last season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I have now finished that marathon.  I am wavering between depression that it is over combined with the fact that there are certain things about the series finale that I am in complete denial over, and joy over having finished it.

            That was my day folks!

           300 days in China.

            Praise Aslan.  I have not attempted suicide and I have not murdered anyone.  An accomplishment for any foreigner living in China.

            Unfortunately I started the day with a horrendous dreaming involving school, Buffy, Spike, and a bad test of some kind involving religion.  I woke up angry.

            Not fun.

            Luckily for me I got over it and got to work just fine.  I didn’t bring my computer because I didn’t want to be carrying it around with me after work.  It was so much fun to get dressed up this morning!  I did cross-stitch at work during my down time.  Got a lot done on one section of the rocks.  Yeah me!

            This morning to celebrate Children’s Day we had an event.  This event was just chaos.  They tried to play games with the kids but the kids weren’t having it and their parents/grandparents were trying to help and it was a loud mess.  There was fun to be had but it was a bit overwhelming for those of us in charge.  Case and point, I specifically sat at the window to the castle to prevent anyone from getting in.  I went to play one of the games with Rui Rui whose grandparents weren’t there for whatever reason and no more than 30 seconds after I left the GROWNUPS were in there getting out all of my TRMs.

            This is just aggravating, not to mention rude; that and the fact that there is STILL sales stuff in my castle, preventing me from using the castle for what it is for.  This is something I will discuss with Candy on Wednesday.  That and the fact that we still had art classes going on DURING the event, which I don’t understand.  If we have an event, wouldn’t all classes be cancelled so that the kids can go to the event?  I’m confuzzled.

            WIN OF THE DAY: I saw Rui Rui before the event got started and I sat down to say hi.  He started talking to me in Chinese and the only word I could catch was the word for grandfather so I looked to my right and low and behold there was Rui Rui’s grandfather with a video camera.  I understood Rui Rui!  Success!

            Regardless, we all survived to tell the tale just in time for TT2 to start.  This class we had a ton of children—at least 10—in the class.  I know Meng Meng was there because she and her mom left in the middle.  There were too many kids for them.  Miaow Miaow (girl) was also in the class but she’s really too big for this class now.  She really needs to be in Rhythm and Roll.  Other than that I can’t remember who else was in the class.  It was a blur.  A good class blur, but a blur.

            Lunch I cross-stitched until it was time for babies class.  I taught with Bear, and then it was time for Oral English.  Peter, Tang Tang, Bobby, and Yo Yo (who did not cry this week) were there, as well as Only and Guo Guo (little girl who used to go to princess class).  The class was okay.  With those 4 boys in the same class it makes life difficult, but Kristin and I managed.

            WORD OF THE DAY: alien= wai xing ren (2^nd, 1^st, 3^rd)

            After class I got all dressed up and went downstairs to wait for what seemed an hour before we could leave to go to KTV.  Of course when we could finally go and I did a little dance and said “KTV!” all the Chinese went:

            So I’m all:

I mean, I didn’t want the other sales people there but I didn’t realize we were in a covert ops deal here.  ;)

            ONTO KTV!

            Candy and I went first to KTV because David, Kristin, and Bear were going to buy food for all of us.  It was nice to be able to talk to Candy about other things besides work during the bus ride  I seriously don’t know what I would do without her.  When we got there Ricky was already there (:D) and we went in and got started with the singing while waiting for everyone else (except for Lucia who was in her hometown with her family).  Unfortunately there was NOT a good English song selection.  I mean, why have ABBA when there is no Dancing Queen option to sing?  I feel like this is breaking some Kareoke Law Code somewhere.  Not only that but the people that I wanted to sing even though they had their pictures they didn’t have any of their songs.  I did get to sing Ghostbusters, but that technically doesn’t count.  I sang some Lady GaGa, and Winner Takes it All, as well as Backstreet Boys (felt like I was in 5^th grade again).  The Chinese felt so bad about not having as many English songs for me to sing (there were a ton more at the Super KTV where I went with Vivi and Kai) but it was all good for me.  It was just fun listening to them sing their Chinese songs, watch the Chinese music videos, and hang out with them outside of work.  They were worried I was bored.  I was far from it.  Good friends, good Chinese snacks, music, it was so much fun.

            We did get in trouble for bringing too much food into the KTV, which I find amusing.  I didn’t realize that could happen in China.  There was also a VERY scary music video that they sang where the main characters instead of using real guns used finger guns but they still acted like they were shot?  I cannot describe my horror at this video.  It scared me.

            Pictures, of course, were taken and will make their way on the internet hopefully soon.  We stayed until 10.  I had no idea it was so late until Bear told me she had to leave by 9:30, and it was already 9:20.  We left the KTV with still a bunch of our food which David will bring to work and we can snack off of it in the office.

            CULTURAL FACT OF THE BLOG: dogs can apparently sing in China, seeing as how I saw a dog inside of the KTV coming out of the room.

            Kristin and David went one way to go home (I guess to catch a bus) while Ricky got Candy and I a cab.  Candy dropped me off first (and wouldn’t take my money to pay for the cab ride home) and I got upstairs and had a Skype call with embracingthorns, which was the perfect end of my 300 days in China.  She had legit cake on her end and I had Chinese cake on mine and we celebrated.  That, was day 300 ladies and gentlemen!