SCHOOL DAYS, SCHOOL DAYS

Class has begun. My students are wonderful and seem to be more eager to learn English than I ever remember being eager to learn anything. My class is Cross-Cultural Communication and is geared towards students who are likely to be traveling abroad at some time in the future. The topics always bring up some interesting conversations and I usually walk away having learned more than I have taught. We also have three conversation groups through the week (a chance for students to practice their English in a less formal setting). Today was our first one and we covered a broad range of topics from favorite foods (which included noodles, pizza and snake) to mountain climbing (which one of my students is doing over this coming holiday week) and sights of interest in China.

Here are some pictures of my students . . .

The BIG three four!

For six months of every year I can gleefully and honestly boast that my wife is much older than I am. On March 12th she turned 34 years old (which is not nearly as old as it used to be) and this past Thursday I joined her. Even following six months of youthful boasting she treated me to an amazing, wonderful birthday filled with Chinese delights.

She arranged for Rachel to be taken care of during luch which was our first time "alone" in at least two months. We began at the Brazillian restaurant on the first floor of a five star hotel. Two words . . . meat, good. My love for protein was fulfilled as one by one meat was brought to our table and sliced onto our plates. Seriously, this was the best idea since steak. Roast beef, prime rib, chicken, pork, little bacon wrap things all without even getting up. Incredible meal, nice atmosphere and the total bill was about $14 US.

Then we went looking around the hotel just for fun. Thought we might get a massage at the hotel salon but evidently they don't cater to men. So we stumbled into the rec room, filled with ping pong tables and two enormous pool tables (snooker). We said we just wanted to look around but evidently that mean we want to play snooker. The girl at the desk got out the snooker balls and set up the table for us. Problem number one: We have no idea how to play snooker. Problem number two: People were watching us play. So we pretended we knew how to play snooker, had a coke and when no one was looking we threw some balls in the pockets because the game was taking a really long time. The we went to another hotel and got a massage.

We then came back to the rec room to meet our teammates and our daughter for her first game of bowling ever. She's a natural . . . 36 on her first game! We had a blast with our new friends. Just a contrast between bowling in China and bowling in America for you bowling enthusiasts. We had a constant wait staff bringing us drinks and watching us bowl (they even joined in "Happy Birthday"), they brought me an amazing fruit plate with little fruit animals and they cleaned every shoe when we were done. When's the last time you got that kind of service at an American bowling alley.

Then we crossed the street and ate at Happy Tom's pizza buffet which is just below what used to be the world's second largest ferris wheel (I think it's number three now). Leave it to my wonderful wife, who is for the next six months the same age as I, to make growing old a blast. Great day!

Things you don't see every day: Episode One

Got passed by a tiger on the way to the store yesterday. Taxi driver slowed down so we could take a picture.

A quick Rachel fix

Here are some pictures for those of you needing a quick Rachel fix (grandparents, friends, random blogsurfers etc.).














New friends Jadlyn and Ellie


















Playing on the playground type thing.




















Rachel and Mom on "Walking Street," Rachel's random new friend (never talk to strangers unless they offer to splash your feet in the water, Kung Fu Rachel and McD's playland.

Stay tuned for more of the cutest little girl in at least two countries.

Signed - a totally unbiased father

Large Order of Deep-Fried Rubberbands, Please.

Just so you know. . .

If ever you are in China (interpret: open invitation!) never, and I repeat, NEVER assume that items which LOOK like onion rings in the freezer section at the Metro (import) store are in fact ONION RINGS!!!!... for if you do, you shall be sorely disappointed when after looking forward to onion rings all day, and stinking the apartment to high heaven because apparently cooking oil in China MUST smell like well, not cooking oil . . . after all that, you find, to your dismay, that they are infact NOT onion rings at all, but some mysterious substance that resembles the texture of a rubberband and tastes, like, well, A RUBBERBAND!


Had we been able to READ the language . . . this mistake would have been sweetly avoided, however in our eager excitement to find something, ANYTHING relatively american (interpret: deep fried junk food) in the freezer section . . . well, you can imagine our excitement, and yea, also our bitter disappointment upon our first taste of deep fried rubberbands.

I am debating whether or not to ASK someone who can read the package what we infact DID purchase, but i am afraid I, or someone dear to me, may be scarred for life . . . we shall see, and we'll let you know.

P.S. I must apologize, before I realized this would be a wonderful example of our great cultural ignorance, I threw out the afore-mentioned deep-fried rubberbands and they were quickly whisked off to the trash bin outside by my dutiful husband...thus, no proof in picture form that they truely LOOKED like ONION RINGS...you'll have to take my word or come on over!