Living in China teaches one a lot about herself, for better or worse. Thankfully, these last few weeks have been good learning experiences. A smattering of stories that I found amusing, insightful and otherwise important:

I told one of my classes about the peanut milk incident and they were all as surprised as I was about the whole not speaking thing. So apparently it has nothing to do with race at all.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and all the foreign teachers got together and went to the Sheraton for their holiday buffet. Not only did I get my turkey, I got a T-bone too! (Hooray for large cuts of meat!) There were about 20 of us and it was so relaxing to finally have us all in the same room so we just got to keep moving around the table talking to different friends. Afterwards a contingent of us went to the night club for some dancing and drinks. It was the best night out I've had in awhile and really served to help get me out of a bit of a funk I've been in for the past couple of days. While I wished I could have been at home with my real family, I nonetheless had a very happy and satisfying Thanksgiving here with my "family" here in China.

I've been going to a local orphanage once a week for the past month. I met the woman in charge at the consulate a while back and each week I've been bringing a small group of students to play with the kids. The kids range in age from 14-30 and all have some sort of disability, mostly Down's Syndrome, CP or autism. It's been a great opportunity for me to give back to the community as well as give my students' lives a little more meaning. This is not to mention a fantastic boost for the kids, who so look forward to our visits and our company. It's been really fun for me because the more I tell people about it, the more interest I'm generating for the kids and each week brings someone new. This last week, I met a girl who is deaf-mute. Although verbal communication is impossible, she can however read, write and (!) use Chinese sign language. Well being the sucker for language that I am, she and I ended up having a great time "talking" to each other. She seemed so happy to be able to communicate with someone new and really seemed to enjoy teaching me how to use some simple sign language. I'm eager to return and spend more time with her.

Last Sunday I went over to the gym by myself to see about playing some basketball. When I arrived, however, the gym was overrun with 30-40 year old men playing soccer. Well, I was a little upset--I wanted to play basketball afterall--but they were pretty good so I made my way over to one of the benches along the wall and sat down to watch. Not much time had passed before I had decided that I wanted to play too. (I'll take this opportunity to remind my readers that women's sports are virtually non-existent here in China. VERY few women play basketball and I have not met nor seen nor heard of ANY women my age who play soccer. I'll also take the opportunity to point out that since coming to China, I've become rather bold, brazen and shameless. Those who know me well will likely know where this is headed.) I leaned over and asked the man sitting beside me about the logistics of this soccer gathering, you know, when they meet, how long they play, etc. I then threw in the hypothetical "if I wanted to play, who should I talk to?" The man, who had been intently watching the play on the court while talking to me, turned and looked puzzled. I reiterated my desire to play. The man took another glance at me and then turned back to the game saying no, you can't play. I couldn't quite believe it and I thought perhaps he had misunderstood my Chinese. He hadn't. I asked him why and I'm pretty certain it was something like because you're a girl. As you can imagine, I was pissed and I explained to him that I can indeed play well, I played for over 10 years in America and I continue to enjoy playing here in China. He perked up again at that one, hardly allowing himself to believe that I could even have the guts to play with men, let alone the skills to keep up. I decided I wasn't going to get anywhere talking to this guy so I sat back to rethink my course of action. Soon after, the silly man got up to play and a different man sat down in his place. I sidled over and told him next week I was going to come and play with them and what did he think about that. He looked at me and was like, you can play right now if you want. (At that moment, I'm like shit, what did I just talk myself into?) He insisted, saying he'd sit out this round so that I could play (Ok Jess you're on). So I got up, amidst amused cheers and curious applause, put a pinnie on and put my money where my mouth was. Talk about pressure--it's unnerving enough to be a foreigner here most of the time with all the stares and special attention. You can imagine how intimidating this was to have all curious eyes (many skeptical) on me and here I'd gone and put a whole lot of gender and national pride, ego and face on the line. **gulp** Turns out however that I still got it. I played hard and I proved myself. Afterwards, the guy who let me play made sure I knew what time to come back next Sunday. The best part: as he was leaving, the guy who originally blew me off because I was a girl shook my hand and told me he was happy to meet me and see ya next Sunday. Score one for blondie!

I'm learning a lot about myself as a woman here. There aren't many Western women and even fewer who can speak Chinese. Furthermore, I don't fall in line as far as what's typically expected behavior for women and these two factors mean I'm often finding myself as the lone woman in many all-male situations. In addition, I'm starting to discover the power that comes with being a self-assured, intelligent, fairly good looking woman. Take Tuesday night for instance. Stephen invited me over to play Risk (you know, the world domination game?) with several of the other foreign teachers. Lone woman. Guess who won. Thursday, Thanksgiving, my friend Sunny (Chinese Canadian) and I argued about who had better chances: me, being able to attract any man I wanted or him, being able to attract any woman period. He conceded victory when a Puerto Rican man approached me at the hotel for a picture and a drink. He threw in the towel later at the club when I had nearly convinced a Chinese man to purchase our group the most expensive bottle of alcohol served at the bar. (I left before making the guy buy it...out of principle, I'm not into using people like that, I just wanted to make the point to Sunny.) Friday, I went out to lunch with a fellow Korean classmate from Chinese class. Afterwards, he took me to meet a fellow Korean friend who has a business here in Shenyang. He asked me if I go to Xita (Korea town here in Shenyang) much and he told me about a new North Korean restuarant that recently opened. I expressed interest in trying it (North Korea--what can I say, it's like a forbidden fruit!) and so he said he'd take me that evening. I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with my new Korean buddies (aged 32, 40+, 50+). We went and played billiards (naturally, the only woman) and then went to the restaurant. Not only was I the only woman (besides the waitresses) but I was also the first and only American to step through those doors and the first American that the owner had ever met. My friends informed me that he was scared of me and it took quite a lot of convincing by my friends for him to come over and have a drink with us. The waitresses were all quite curious about me as well...apparently NK women are not allowed to drink nor are they generally allowed to socialize with men in equal company as I was that evening. You can imagine I was quite the anomaly. I also met a Chinese man who basically is the liaison for foreign companies investing and starting up here in Shenyang (talk about a connection!) and after chatting with him a bit, he's agreed to help me find some American companies that could potentially use a new hire like me. When I first got here, I was worried about the fact that I was a woman in such a male dominated society. The fact that I'm a woman now appears to be to my advantage: I'm liked because I get along well with men in men's circles and I'm popular because what men don't like the company of women?

On Tuesday after teaching 8 straight hours of lower level oral conversation to classes that I all but had to pull a gun on to get them to speak (and even if I had there probably would still be some people sitting silently) I decided I'm no longer designing lesson plans for everybody. Those that want to learn, will. Those that don't, well they can sit in the back and sulk. I feel this will make my job much easier. This is not to say that teaching doesn't have its rewards--while I don't especially like all the lesson planning and silent students, there are still some students who seem to "get it" and it is indeed a great feeling when they do. I regularly get unsolicited emails and text messages from students wishing me well and telling me how much they like my classes and that I'm the best and most energetic foreign teacher they've ever had. A couple of my second year students also told me how they appreciate that what I teach is meaningful and exposes them to different ways of thinking. They pointed to the orphanage business as a prime example, as well as a recent activity where they had to lead their blindfolded partners all over the school. They told me that they've never had to think about what it might be like to be blind or deaf and that my class is really making them think about things from other perspectives...

YES!!!!!!

*I about did a cartwheel when one student told me this.* Teaching can be good I guess and if absolutely necessary I can eek it out as an ok teacher in the future. If nothing else, public speaking and entertaining an audience are going to be a good skill to fall back on.

Mood for the week: ballsy, chomping at the bit and spicy

Take care all!

PS Blogger is back to working like normal--comments are welcome and can once again be viewed by moi. Thanks to all those who emailed! Hope to hear from more of you!

I wanted to recount a situation I recently observed.

I was sitting in the cafeteria at the new campus today enjoying my steaming bowl of noodles when I heard a crash nearby. I looked up and saw that a girl passing by a nearby table had inadvertantly knocked over another boy's bottle of peanut milk with her handbag. The bottle as if in slow motion toppled over (the crash that I heard), rolled across the table spilling its contents all over the floor and the boy's backpack that was in the seat across from him and finally came to a stop...on the floor...in pieces. All of us sitting nearby watched as the bottle made its trip and no one moved to stop it. I watched the boy's face as it turned from surprise to disappointment to annoyance and finally settled into a perturbed frown. He just looked at the girl with this cold look of frustration and disgrace. The girl had turned around when she heard the first crash to see what had happened, saw the anger on the boy's face then turned back around and hurriedly walked away. The boy glanced at the shattered pieces of bottle and at his backpack bearing the spilled peanut milk, sighed heavily and went back to eating. A few moments later, one of the cleaning staff ladies came and started sweeping up the bottle and the milk. The cleaning lady was about halfway finished with the mess when the girl came back and set a new bottle of peanut milk on the table in front of the boy. Surprised, the boy looked at the bottle, then at the girl, they exchanged a look, as if to say ok, we're even and then the girl walked away.

I was sitting directly across from the boy at the next table and was completely fascinated by his reaction. His face was so expressive. The whole time, he said not one word. Didn't even utter a sound. He didn't turn to talk to his friend sitting beside him and at no point did he say a thing to the girl. The girl also was completely silent. When she turned and walked away the first time, I was surprised, thinking to myself, what, no apology? No nothing? I wondered if she might come back with another bottle and sure enough, she did. I was thinking about it later and was wondering if the same thing had happened in america, what would people do? I think surely there would be words exchanged and there'd probably be some explanation from the offending party as to what would be done to rectify the matter. I doubt it would be as silent as this was though. This is not to say that given any two Chinese people, they would have handled the situation in the same way. I can think of quite a few Chinese people who might have been more verbal. I just found observing the whole situation and the surprising differences in how it was handled very interesting.

10:48, time for update before bed.

The internet here continues to be a proverbial pain in my backside as it's now decided that I'm not allowed to open my blog page. Take heart, dear readers, for I still have the ability to post (I think). The only difference now is that should you want to comment (bless your heart) you'll have to instead email me as I won't be able to access them otherwise. jessicalynnjohn at gmail dot com. woot!

So what's new around here...classes continue to go pretty well. I've got lesson plans for the next week or so which makes life ever so comfortable and flexible as far as my free time goes. What am I doing with the extra time? Well let's see...
Completely immersing myself in Chinese, mainly. I've been spending copious amounts of time with my surrogate Chinese family and am taking more initiative when it comes to being social and inviting my Chinese friends places. I've noticed recently that I've started dreaming in Chinese...I even talk in my sleep in Chinese. Pretty wild, hehe. My speaking still remains limited and pronunciation is really a killer but I'm making progress and I find that when I don't think too much about it, I can do just fine as far as making myself basically understood. It's frustrating at times because I find myself comparing this experience to my time in Japan but keep having to remind myself that the circumstances are different (ie I HAVE to speak English, I can't go weeks just functioning in Chinese, I don't have 4 hours of Japanese class each day, nor a host family that I return to each evening and let's be honest, Chinese is REALLY hard) However, I know more about myself and how to learn and am more aware of cultural nuances now here in China than this time when I was in Japan. My progress is slow, but that's just how this language learning thing goes.

Despite not having a designated host family, Wang Wei's family has essentially taken me in and is serving as my link to Chinese life here. I spent most of the weekend with them, going to the market, running errands and just learning the ropes chinese style. My favorite activity as of late is going to the market. The gist: China has a lot of people, so many such that there are not adequate jobs for everyone so many people have taken to setting up "shop" along the streets. Food vendors are ubiquitous--see my previous post. Sometimes, they congregate along a backstreet, creating the Chinese street market. Piles of produce of every shape and size and color, fruit in boundless quantites and varieties, all laid out on blankets on the sidewalk, fish still flopping around on the pavement or in shallow tubs, shrimp, shellfish, large cuts of beef, pig, mutton all laid out on bicycle carts (from bacon to brisket, coagulated pigs blood to chicken feet, it's all there), spices, dry goods from peanuts, flour, sunflower seeds, popcorn, all next to stands of vendors selling everything from faux handbags, long underwear, pirated dvds, nail clippers, combs and fuzzy shoe inserts. It's such a treat to even just go walking through--so many people and so many things to look at. Buying things is fun too--I'm a big fan of getting to haggle and apparently I'm brazen when it comes to low bidding but since I'm foreign, it seems that I can get away with it. One of my Chinese friends lets me haggle when we go out because even though the vendors give me a higher starting price (they assume I have more money) I can usually get a lower price than she can. Highly entertaining!

When you stumble across a street market that you didn't know was there, it's lucky and exciting. Even moreso if that street market is there the next time you try and find it. It's kind of a game, like a scavenger hunt. It's like "I need eggplant and oranges...find-a-market!" In any case, I'm basically to the point where I swear by the street market and all its cheap, fresh and vast goodness.

Wang Wei's mom and i were laughing about the strange fact that i'm foreign yet living a very Chinese lifestyle. Apparently foreigners don't buy from the street markets and they don't eat a lot of the stuff I'm willing to eat. When I cook for myself, it's usually a healthily adapted (read less oil, more vegetables) form of Chinese cooking, mainly because I am an idiot when it comes to cooking american food, but also because it's easier to find and create Chinese style food. Granted, it's not "Chinese" Chinese food...more like Jiexi Chinese food. Whatever, it keeps me happily satisfied.

The whole "living the chinese lifestyle"...it's one of those When in Rome types of situations. I'm kind of chameleon as far as adapting to the environment around me and frankly, it's easier to fall in line and do as the Chinese do rather than insisting on living life just as I did back home. Easier, and cheaper. And more fulfilling too, I think, because in my pursuit to be as anti-sore thumb as possible, I'm interacting with some very cool people. I was telling a friend back home that I like China for its simplicity. Life is not stressful, certainly there are things that cause angst and worry and no, life isn't always roses. But I don't sense the hypertension and stress that seems so overwhelming in the states. I can't really explain it but there's just a different atmosphere. More familiar maybe? I'm not sure, but for now, it's refreshing. I think I'm going to stick around for awhile.

A random note: I got my haircut recently...I should have known. I paid $1.20 (I didn't know it would be that cheap when I started...if I had, I would have found a more expensive establishment) and it basically looks like a buck twenty haircut. I told the guy, all the same length. He goes and uses those damned pinking shear type scissors and totally thins it out and leaves the ends choppy and uneven. He worked way too fast and way too sloppily but as I was having an off-day in my language abilities, I was too shy to tell him to slow down or stop. grr. Oh well, it works for now...if it gets really bad as it grows out, I'll get myself to a real classy place and get them to even it out.

Oh I almost forgot! I found a really cheap gym! And it's close! I can attend yoga and spinning classes, run, lift weights, even take hot showers during the day (preferred readers will recall that my building only has hot water in the early morning and later evening) Year long membership is...$60! Super cheap!! Stoked! No more winter fat! Now, if only they had an erg... (BTW, I looked into getting an erg sent here...a new Model D is something like $850 plus shipping...which to China comes to about $250, all total 1100 buckeroos or about 4 months of my salary. gulp. to erg...or to eat?

Right then, it's late and that's enough for now. Remember, comments go to email now! I look forward to hearing from you!

For those who felt especially slighted by my recent lack of posts and need even more stories, here are a few more things I thought of as I was falling asleep last night:

I didn't really prepare much for the halloween classes this week but I did do a little bit with my first year students. I explained trick or treating and pumpkin carving and some of the different creatures and scary things associated with halloween. Then I had them play some halloween games, namely Pass the Orange and The Mummy Game. For Pass the Orange you get three lines of people and they have to get an orange from person to person without using their hands. It was a stitch to watch, both because the girls had a lot of fun and the boys predictably stood at the back and claimed that it was against their culture to play such games with girls. Meh, boys. The Mummy Game was pretty funny...I gave each group of three a roll of toilet paper and told them to create the best looking mummy. It was fascinating because I did this game with two classes and in both classes, the boys reactions were EXACTLY the same. I have about three boys in each class and all six of them avoided the orange game and then totally hammed it up in the Mummy game. They're so predictable. In any case, the students seemed to have fun with it and it was pretty cute to watch.

I've been playing more basketball recently--I've become very comfortable just walking up to people and asking to play with them and thankfully, the boys usually don't take a second thought, they just let me play. Sport is a great equalizer in that way.

An interesting note: here in the NE, the government controls when the heat turns on. November 1st is the day when the coal starts burning and central heating is supplied to all of the buildings in the city. I'm not exactly sure how they control this but whatever the case, the heat is now on. Thankfully this has been a very warm October and the need for heat hasn't been nearly as great as in years past. However, since the heat is on, the coal smokestacks are also up and running. I haven't noticed the pollution as much up until this point, mainly because the smokestacks haven't been puffing out large amounts of black smoke. This changed yesterday, when, looking across the horizon, one could see countless plumes of smoke and by mid-morning, the distant horizon had developed a grimey gray black haze. I smelled the difference too when I walked out of the building yesterday morning. It felt like I was breathing next to a car's exhaust pipe. I tried holding my breath as I walked through it but realized that the smell was everywhere and that unfortunately I was just going to have to get used to it. When I got off the bus at school, for some reason, there was a new and different stench that my friend Kurt and I could only categorize as 'burning outhouse' We speculated that perhaps the Chinese had devised an ability to create power by burning manure but then decided that no, it's probably just the coal plants starting up and resigned ourselves to the fact that we're probably going to have nasty cases of cancer in the future. It will be tragic, I'm sure, in the next 30 years to witness the cancer rate of people here in China, given the air and water pollution.

I went out to lunch with my friend Joshua (Chinese name: Jia Xiayue so it made for a simple English name conversion) recently and then we went over to the theater on campus to see about movies that were going to be playing. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night they show a double feature here on campus with one foreign movie and one Chinese movie. Last weekend, several of the boys wanted to take me to see one of these and we ended up having a pretty good time. The Chinese film was a newish Jackie Chan film that reminded me a lot of Three Men and a Baby. I was entertained. We didn't stay for the foreign film because it was horror and poorly acted at best. Along the way, we passed the auditorium and heard all sorts of laughter so we went in to check it out. Apparently the department was putting on a play for some high school students so we decided to sit in and watch for awhile. It was a revolutionary play set in the WWII era when the Japanese occupied this part of China. There was an interesting mix of comedy, kung fu and dance and tragic drama and it ended with the heroine taking dynamite and sacrificing herself to kill the Japanese soldiers who were terrorizing her and her friends. It was inspiring and very, very Chinese. I enjoyed it, especially the dancing/martial arts work. The actors were very light on their feet and it was cool to see it live for once. The randomness though of just walking around and just happening to find a play to watch amuses me.

Sometimes I'll have people ask me about my take on China and what the hardest part of living here is. I don't have a very good answer for them usually because my life is really quite simple. I teach, I study Chinese, I go out to play with friends, I cook occasionally, there really isn't much stress in my life, thankfully. I think the most annoying thing is actually the frequency with which I have to go shopping. I hate shopping and I hate spending money. But there is no minivan here that I can take to the store, load up with everything I need for two weeks and pull up to my front door to unload so I'm limited to what I can carry. It's just kind of a hassle. Other than that, Chinese life suits me. Really, if you're wanting a change or just a refreshing experience, come visit me for a few weeks.

Greetings faithful blog fans:

Apologies for the long sojourn, school has been busy, internet has been spotty and my life has been full. This being the case, I've worked up quite a backlog of bloggable topics. Let's see how far I get this evening.

The mysterious sickness has disappeared and my appetite is back (in full champion force, I might add). I'm back to experimenting (sounds like I'm on drugs, doesn't it?) and am for the most part enjoying the variety of flavors, snacks and miscellaneous foods. My current favorite are these sweet shish-ka-bob type treats. Usually they use a sour type of cherry, but I've also had tomato and seen kiwi and pineapple as well. Basically they're these fruits on a stick that have been dipped in some sort of sugary candy coating. Think fruit lollipop. Delicious and cheap! And the most wonderful thing is these vendors are everywhere. I love the immediacy of food in China. I needn't walk far before finding someone selling something out of a cart that I'd be willing (and more than happy) to eat.

I attended a Chinese wedding recently. My friend David (from Britain) and his Chinese girlfriend were married in the traditional Chinese style. Chinese weddings are not so much a ceremony and reception as they are more like dinner and a show. The wedding I went to was held in a large banquet hall and people all had seats around round tables.

The bride and the groom then enter and a master of ceremonies entertains the crowd, jokes around with the bride and groom and leads the couple in their vows. To me it seemed very informal and not nearly as meaningful as what I'm accustomed to in Western weddings.
After the vows and rings, the food was served and the bride came back in a different dress. The first dress was white traditional, the second was red and gold stripes on top, and a red flower petal-like skirt...odd. David and Jade then went around to each table to collect money envelopes (no gifts, only money at Asian weddings) and offer cigarettes and good luck charms to each guest. At some point Jade changed again into a pretty blue dress and the couple finished their rounds.
I was at a table with a lot of other foreign guests and when we realized that a) there was going to be no garter or bouquet toss, no dancing and no cheesy reception band music and b) that the beer was free and c) that it wasn't even noon, we decided to do our best to make it a little more "interesting." My cohorts weren't very "lihai" as far as their alcohol tolerance goes so our binging lasted for little more than a bottle's worth. Oh well, still entertaining and the food was ok.

Shahim, David and Steven--Three of my buddies


The "date" with Weige's (WAY-guh) family turned out to be one of the best things I've done since I've been here. I arrived about 10:30 Saturday morning and didn't leave until 8:30 Sunday morning. Yes that's right, they didn't want me to leave. We went swimming, ate lots and after dinner, they told me I could stay the night. I know, it sounds ridiculous and crazy and just plain weird but I must remind you, this is China, and as one of my friends so eloquently put it, China is big and random. The whole time I was with them, I had two trains of thought running through my head. The first, that of the practical American, saying things like this is so weird, you've met this guy twice and your spending the night with his family, this would never happen in America, etc. etc. etc. The other (and more persistent) was that of the well-adjusted laomei saying things like yeah it's a little strange but not that weird considering this is China and I'm actually having a really good time and they sure do seem to like me and I really like them and I'm quite comfortable and gosh, it sure is nice to be in a family setting once again. Weige's sister has a six-year old (Tiantian) who thinks I'm just all kinds of fun...we drew pictures and played with the guinea pig and read stories and had a grand time. His mother (Zhaoyi) is in love with me and his sister (WangDan) is very sweet.

This last weekend I went and spent the night again on Saturday. On Sunday, Zhaoyi and I went to a nearby morning market and bought all sorts of vegetables and snacks and then we went venturing into the city to check on the two other apartments the family rents. One of them was the apartment that Weige stays in when he's back here in Shenyang. Again, the little voices were saying this is curious and random, but not at all awkward or weird. Zhaoyi and I had plenty of chance to talk and she made it clear to me that if this whole me dating Weige thing turns into marriage and what not, she's so happy to have me as part of the family. But if not, she's happy that Weige has made a friend like me and that regardless of my relationship with him, she will consider me as a daughter. Wow. I went back for dinner on Monday night after classes and we were going to go swimming but it got to be too late so we just took a walk and got some groceries and had a delightful time laughing and talking and just enjoying each other's company. I'm blessed to have found caring family and friends here.

Getting out and meeting people not associated with school and work has been really good for me, both from a learning Chinese perspective as well as a mental sanity thing. At one point last week I was so frustrated with students and people I call "language leeches"...they call me up and want to meet with me to "teach me Chinese and practice English" It ends up being small talk (which I hate) and mostly in English. Extremely frustrating and draining. I've found some friends who either speak no English or who don't expect me to help them practice their English and I've been putting up boundaries for the leeches. Getting into more of a routine has also helped my sanity and I'm becoming more disciplined as far as my schedule and doing what I need to do to take care of myself.

Language is becoming less of a barrier and I've basically gotten to the point where I can survive without much of any trouble. That being said, however, new situations are still a little tricky, such as trying a new restuarant or buying clothing or something I've never bought before. I'm getting better at this and more confident just going in and doing what I need to do but it still can be really uncomfortable. (I had a major success recently when I was able to walk into a sports store by myself and buy a pair of sports pants so that I could play outside even though it's cold. The relief and the sense of accomplishment I felt at this may seem minor but it truly was momentous as it signified that I can now basically obtain or procure whatever I need here.) The biggest reason for the unease though is the stares I get from surrounding people. They are generally only curious but just the same, at times it can be unnerving, obnoxious or just plain irritating. As a foreigner, I'm used to drawing people's eyes, and it's something I thankfully generally don't notice anymore. I went to dinner with one of my friends this evening and then went and walked around the night market and he commented on how many heads I can turn. I find it entertaining to watch my friends' reactions when they go somewhere with me. They're not accustomed to the looks and stares. Zhaoyi commented on it the other day too after being asked for literally the 50th time as to who I was and why I was with her. Welcome to China, I guess.

I'm getting more comfortable with lesson planning. I'm beginning to really own my classes and I'm figuring out what works and what won't. My students are really enjoying me too. One of my business students today told me how much they like my class and that they appreciate that I'm not like other foreign teachers who just make them play childish games. I try to make class more meaningful and I think it's starting to pay off. Part of me feels like if I wanted to, I could be a really good teacher and I'm starting to embrace that and figure out my style.

Part of making class more meaningful is by introducing a sort of service learning component...which at this point means arranging a trip to a local orphanage. I met an American who's in charge of an orphanage and I'm so excited about going to help wherever I can. I'm headed there on Friday to check it out. I mentioned it to some of my students and some of them are really excited to go as well. I even have a couple of students who want to spearhead some other service projects which makes me so excited!

It's late and that's everything I can think of at the moment. All in all at the moment, life feels right.