Have you eaten noodles or rice?

I had a student ask me if I had eaten noodles or rice since I have been in China.  I asked her if she had.  Do you realize how difficult it would be to not eat noodles or rice while you are in China, especially if you are living here, on campus.  Just last week I had noodles with my cows stomach and it was quite good, I must say.  At least here you can watch them make fresh noodles and drop them in the boiling water.  I had a student talk about shredded pork and garlic in class and I have the recipe now.  Something to try once I get home.  I have a lot of foods that I want to try and make once I get home.
The students are fascinated with the idea of April Fools day.  I think they believe it is a bigger event that it actually is. I told them it was more important to smaller children but did explain about the  WCBU  fake news broadcast about the high speed river barges that would start traveling between Peoria and Chicago.

Mrs. Freshley's in China

I was asked if they have anything in China that is like the Mrs. Freshley's  Buddy Bars that we can get at Kroger's.   This is about is close as I have seen.  They also have a pretty good Moon Pie here.

I am off to the English Corner where I get to talk to young Chinese students and maybe see some of my students.  I have class on Thursday and then on Friday I get my haircut.

Rugby team picture

Had rugby practice today and after practice we had a team picture.  The Chinese players all called me, YeYe, and said that means best player.  They also all laughed.  It was, YeYe, and they used the second tone.  It must mean best player because why would they lie to me. I had a great veggie sandwich for about 30 today.  It was really good; a mixture of seaweed, cabbage, cucumber, tofu, potato, carrots, and other stuff and it had a little spice.  I could eat this very often and probably will.

Spring time in Xian

The weather is very nice here this week.  Actually, yesterday it was warm and sunny, and the air was so clear you could see the mountains.  Must of the students had not seen the mountains around Xian yet.  The area is a bit hazy.  But the flowers are in bloom and we are starting to settle in to spring here.

Hotel management class

Yao, our hotel manager, teaches students on the art of hotel management.  He is a very nice man and does a good job.  We are lucky to have him looking after us.  This is just outside my door. 

Mailing a letter

I finally made it to the post office today.  I had some directions from one of the students, who had gotten directions from a Chinese student, with limited English skills.  I talked to Yao, our hotel manager, who had given me directions, but I was not sure he actually knew where the local post office was.  As I was walking out to get on the bus I ran in to Damion, one of the faculty that has been here for 7 years.  He told me to take the bus to the Bell Tower and mail your letters.  No one mails any international postage at the local post office because they don't know what to do. Save yourself some frustration and take the 40 minute bus to the main post office in the heart of the tourist center.  So I took his advice.  When I got on, the bus was almost empty, so I could sit down.  About the fourth stop and group of 5 older women got on and there goes my seat..  As we got real close to the Bell Tower a young girl was going to get off the bus and she made sure I sat down.  I guess I look older than I think.  One good thing about going to the post office, it is right across the street from the Starbuck's.  I did have a cup of coffee.  Three cups of real coffee in four days.  Great.

 This is what I look like before I have had a cup of real coffee and that is probably why the young girls insisted that I sit down on the bus.  Once I have had a some coffee though, I become a new man.  I also bought some ground coffee at Starbuck's, to give to the rugby coach.  He was nice enough to make us some coffee so why not return the favor.  The strange thing about this place is how fast you get use to the prices.  The coffee was 95 yuan which is around 15 US dollars.  That is about what you would pay for the coffee in the USA.  But after being here a while it is like, "Jeepers, that's expensive."  I could eat for 5 days on that much money.
At least the physics test is over now.  I had to stay in my room for 80 minutes while a student took the test and then it took over 2 weeks to figure out how to get the test results back to the USA. The scanner and the computer did not work.  Besides the information is all in Chinese.  Every time a student would try something the computer would work differently than it did before.  It was easier to just get on a bus, ride for 40 minutes, mail the letters, have a coffee, and then ride back.  I got a little frustrated when I got my stamps because when I went to put them on I was not sure what stamps I need to put where.  But after I just relaxed and thought about it everything was fine.  I think sometimes travelers get frustrated because they have trouble with communication.  It was not any ones fault that I could not speak good enough to communicate.  That is my problem not the postal clerk's.  She did her job and did it fine.  I am so glad I did not get upset at her because I could not electronically send a test to the USA.  Things do take longer to do here.  The physics test was 80 minutes and in the USA I could have sent it to the professor and been done ten minutes after the test was over but here it took two weeks, and a 40 minute bus ride to do a simple task.  That is the way things go.  If you want to complain about it just stop and ask yourself if everything is perfect in the world you live in.  My wife can not log on to her email account at ICC but I can check my email from here, no problem.  Then again, my wife can have fresh coffee in the morning.

After a couple of sips of coffee I look and feel 30 years younger.  I just wonder what my hair will look like on Friday afternoon.  It will not look like it does in this picture, that I can guarantee.

Seeing a student play the Gu Zheng

In my second class today, there was a GuZheng, a Chinese zither, a stringed instrument developed from the Gupin during the Tang and Song dynasties.  I was asking the students what it was and they told me which student plays it.  I asked her if she would play something.  She did agree to do so.  She got out her finger picks and taped them on her fingers and played for the class.  She was very good.  I was sitting there listening to this music and trying very hard not to tear up.  I am so lucky to be here and have something like this happen to me every day.  I told the class that I would look up information on the Internet and research more about this instrument, and we would talk about it on Saturday, when we have our make up class.  I also told them as teachers they and bring their interests in to the classroom and share them with the students and then tell the students to do more work outside of class so their students will learn more about the culture, the country, the people, that will mean they will learn more about the language.  After class I told Chen Shu Ping, my student, that I would never forget that she played for me and I thanked her.  If I had come to China on a tour bus trip I would have probably heard someone play the GuZheng, but it would not have been as special as this was.
Have you ever been riding in a bus and looked out the window only to see a truck load of eggs.  You know they are eggs because you can see them, brown eggs, stacked in pickup truck as high as they can get them.  They were in those 18 square eggs cartoon this that people put eggs in.  Oh look, a truck load of eggs.  Maybe Saturday I can find a longer computer cable so I can take the Netbook out on the balcony and show a part of my world to JoAnne next time I call.  I have rugby practice on Wednesday and tomorrow I try to make it to the post office and the health and fitness club here.  I have my list of important words to use and hope everything goes well.  Friday is the big day, hair cut day.
If anyone is interested you can google GuZheng and you should be able to listen to some of the music. I found some but my computer connection is very slow tonight.  I still have some homework to do.

Rugby practice, beer, and coffee

After rugby practice we went to Coach Rob Rogers apartment to have a few beers and chat about things.  It nice to sit and talk about work, China, the USA, and other stuff. He was also nice enough to make us some coffee.  Real coffee two days in a row.  I must be in heaven.  We have rugby practice on Tuesday or Wednesday at noon.  I need to check for sure on the date, because I really do like the touch rugby.  This week I am off to the post office to mail in a physics test, mail some post cards, and basically just find out where the post office is.  It is only two bus stops away from the campus.  I had a late breakfast this morning which was eggs, tomatoes, and rice.  When I stopped at the cafeteria food stall and started to look at the menu the attendant give me the English menu.  After looking it over I decided to order off the Chinese menu because I knew it was correct.  Some of the English dishes were translated so poorly that I was not sure what I would be eating.  I am not going to spend 75 cents for a meal and not know what I am eating, unless it is an American hot dog. Next week is a holiday here.  Tomb Sweeping Day which is sort of like our Memorial Day.  We get Monday and Tuesday off but have to work on Saturday so I think I would rather have the Saturday off and no holiday.  I am sure we will find something to do with the extra free time.  I think the hotel manager, Yao, might have a Jiao Zi, Chinese dumpling, making party for the students.  I hope it is after 6 on Saturday because I will have to work until six.  I will probably visit the health club right across the street and see if I want to start exercising there.  It will be interesting to get my wellness points in Chinese.   I just need to see what the place looks like and what they have inside
Rob Rogers, the rugby coach, is interested in welding.  We were talking about welding over a few beers after practice and he is going to talk to Dr. Du and see if we can visit the other campus and do some welding.  That could be interesting. I told Rob that I would give him a lesson if he wanted.  I have a pair of gloves, my safety glasses with side shields, welding hats, and some gift items for the instructors.  I think this could make for a very interesting talk at one of the AWS meetings.  For that talk I plan to bring back some Chinese smokes and some Bai Jiu.  Welders seems to like cigarettes and strong drink.  And who doesn't.

My quest for the Mo Gu

I been wanting to eat more Mo Gu, fried mushrooms, that taste a lot like morels, only they are 1.25 dollars, cooked and served to you.  I was successful.  Tonight we ate about as good a meal as I have had in Xian.  We walked down the little alley outside the campus and I had my paper with the Chinese characters for mushrooms and the pin yin and was able to ask for mushrooms and got the reply of Yo Yo.  Which is yes we do in Chinese.  If they say something that sounds like what you want on a turkey sandwich, Mayo, then they do not have it. We had mushrooms, tofu, cold beef and a wonderful vegetable plate for 49 yuan.  We had so much food that I called a student and asked him to come and join us.  This stuff was so good.  You can go to a restaurant close by and set at a table with less people and eat off a real plate and pay almost as much for one dish as you can for what we spent for our whole meal that fed three people.  The thing is this food is just as good if not better and less than half the cost

 I don't know why you can not get food like this at a Chinese restaurant in the USA.  These are great.  I plan to eat them at least twice a month.  The tofu was really good.  A nice spice and it had a green vegetable in the broth. The regular veggie had a great favor.  It tasted like the pea plants that we fix at home but it did not have the same type of stem. I plan to go back to this place again and again.

 If you don't like tofu and vegetables it may just be because you have not eaten here.

PBR and Bugles

How can you not like a place where you can get PBR, with pull tops, and Bugles, with NBA basketball cards inside. 

The City Wall, Bell Tower, and Drum Tower, again.

Today Xian University took us to the City Wall area.  Many of the students have been there; I have been there twice already.  We did not have a big turn out, 11 students.  I got to ride a bike on the wall again, which is always something I enjoy doing.  Because I have been there three times now I got to see the changes that occur.  When I was there the first time the wall had the floats from the New Years celebration up and still lit them at night.  The next weekend they were taking them all down.  This week I noticed that the decorative Kale that had gotten frozen before, had been replaced with the pansies and the petunias.  So there is always something new to see.  If I had remembered to put my memory card in my camera I would have had a picture of a guy welding in a business suit.  Tina, our guide person, had never ridden a bike on the City Wall and had only been there once before, when she was in grade school.  She does not really like the City Wall area, too many tourists.  It amazing how you can live somewhere and many times never do the things that are in your city.  I had never  been to many of the festivals in Peoria until I started sharing that with Nico, when he lived with us.

The City Wall area looks like this and is in the area of town where the hotels are and where the tourists stay.  Full of shops, restaurants, and western style things.  Like the Starbucks and the McDonalds.  I did get a big coffee and I did enjoy it.  It was so much better than the instant Nescafe.  Coffee is the one thing I really do miss, coffee,  and my sweet wife, JoAnne.  The next picture is of the very good dumpling restaurant.  The dumplings, or Jiao Zi, are very good but you can get good dumplings a block from campus and they are half the price.

This is just an area where you can walk around, eat and shop for knick knacks.  We did go to the shows at the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower.   The show at the Drum Tower is hard to watch and not think about the Surfaris hit song "Wipe Out."   Everything time they start play something that same "Wipe Out" melody comes in to my head.    The sun was out, the day was really the first nice day in a week and I loved it.

I found a welding shop just outside the campus gate

I had time to kill and decided to walk out the back gate and check out the open air market area.  This area is different from the food alley that we usually walk down.  This area does not get as many westerners walking around.  There was vegetable and fruit stands, meat vendors, food vendors, and little restaurants.  I found this little welding shop.  I am going to go back and see if I can make friends, look around, take some pictures, and maybe do some welding.  I have my SJ Smith welding hats to give away and if I have to I have American smokes to give away.  If they are welders they probably smoke.   I also found an interesting place to get my hair cut.  This little shop looks like the kind of experience that will be the haircut of my life.  I have done my research and know the words for haircut, trim, trim a little bit, and don't make me look bald. I think Professor Murphy may want to go see this.  He said he thought he would wait until he gets back to get a haircut but me I think I want the adventure.  It will only grow back.  Saw some construction worker in this area, working off a scaffolding. That looked a little like Hua Shan and the path to the top.  I guess OSHA has not been around to inspect that site.  Tomorrow we are going to the City Wall to see the sites and enjoy the good weather. 

New foods

Bing Tang Hu Lu, a candied fruit on a stick.  Zi Cai Tang, a purple sea weed soup.  Ji Dan Guan Bing, the egg and potato breakfast sandwich.  Nian Gao, the New Years rice cake. Yang Yu Ca Ca, the spicey shredded potatoes.  Suan La Tu Dou Si, a potato dish that I need to try.   Jian Bing, a fried bread wrap that I ate before class and then because a student talked about it, I knew what it was.  Ma Po Dou Fu, a spicey tofu dish with peppers and onions.  These are some of the foods that I plan to eat because my students talked about them during their class food presentations.  I need to do some research for recipes because I am also interested in sharing the food experience with JoAnne.  Actually I want to learn how to make the Nian Gao or New Years rice fruit cake so that I can share that with all the members of the Thomas family.  After my Tuesday class, I went to the cafeteria and found the Yang Yu Ca Ca, or spicey shredded potatoes, and had that for supper.  I was quite good and I would like that in the morning with eggs.  I told my students on Thursday that I ordered it and you should have seen their eyes light up.  You have to order this because it is not on the menu.  I will probably learn more than the students but that is the wonderful thing about teaching.
They are building a new building here and poured concrete today. Right now they are vibrating the concrete.  It sounds just like the World Cup when they were blowing those horns.  It must be worse where the other foreign teachers are because  it is loud here and we are farther away.  Back to the story.
Last night after the English Corner, I went out to eat with a group of students, some from the USA and some from Xian.  They wanted me to order something and it was harder to order off the picture menu than the regular one at the cafeteria.  Finally I asked in my best Mandarin, if they like cow's stomach.  The answer was yes.  So we ordered some.  We had fried mushrooms, rice, tripe, green beans, cabbage, sweet and sour chicken, and two other dishes and tea.  That cost us a little more than two dollars a person.  The American students had never eaten cows stomach before, or as one student said, " I don't think so but who knows.".  This looked different than what I have had before.  It looked more like a big strip of bacon.  Tonight I had a shot of a Chinese students home made Bai Jiu, only they make theirs with corn.  It had a different taste to it, that is for sure.  One of the students said, " everyone has that look on their face after a drink."  You would not want to drink much of that stuff and I don't actually think you could.
Today after class it was picture day.  It seems that many of the students wanted to have their picture taken with me.  So that is what I did for awhile, smile and have my picture taken with the different students.  I like this job.  I attend the folk dancing session tonight.  I can not tell my left foot from my right in either language, but we all had a good time and next week some more of the CLC students will be there and I hope some more of mine.  The sun was out this afternoon so it is getting a little nicer out.  It has been cold and wet all week but the weekend should be in the 60's and when we go to the Bell Tower I am going to drink a real cup of coffee.  Warmer weather is more than welcome.

Feeling better today but did not practice rugby

The three cold and rainy days got me about half sick so I was very pleased to have the sun out today, even though it is still not warm out.   Like I said earlier, the heat is off and of course the doors are all open.  Had a little rough throat but I feel much better now.  I always feel better when I am in the classroom.  I have been having my students write their name on the board when they do their presentations. Today a student with the day of Zhang wrote her name the same way I would write mine if I was signing a check.  Since James Zhang lived with us I know how to write Zhang.  After her presentation I went up and wrote her name nice and neat and asked it this was correct.  She said yes and then I told the students when they write in Chinese they have to be very neat so the foreign students can read it and know how to write it.  I then wrote my name by printing and then I showed them how I sign a check.  The can read Eric Ockerhausen when I print it but not when I sign my name.  I think they got the point.  I was having some photo copies made today and I asked the lady how much it would cost in my best Han Yu or Chinese.  She did not understand,so lucky for me I can write," how much is it."  She told me and I paid her.  They had some problems with the machine and I had to go to a meeting so I was short about 25 copies and she was telling me that and I was saying it was ok.  She kept talking and said in Chinese that I did not understand.  So she started to write me a sentence and I should have told her, "now I really don't understand."  A student was there and helped out and told him I had to go and not to worry about the shortage.  It is not worth my time to fuss over 2 dollars.   Besides they need to change the ink cartridge.  I went to the English Corner today and watch an American teacher work with the students.  It is a lot of fun to speak with these young students.  They are so eager to learn about American and so happy to tell you about China.  Doing things like that may me feel better even when the weather is cold and the doors are open.  One of my students was telling me about a food that she likes and I just happened to have eaten about 30 minutes before class and now I know how to order it.  I have learned a lot this week.  That is what I like about teaching, I learn a lot by teaching. Hopefully the weather will get better and we can have a nice day at the City Wall on Saturday.   At least I can get a good cup of coffee at the Starbucks and maybe some ice cream.  If I was tourist I would probably be in a hotel at the City Wall and I would not be eating at the food alley and walking down the little muddy road after a rain to find some cheap Jiao Zi or Bao Zi.  I would not know what it feels like to see students smile at you and want to talk with you.  This is such a special opportunity.  The only thing I really miss is a good cup of coffee and my wife. I got to talk to her this morning but could not see her on the Skype screen.  That made me a little sad.  It is not a big thing but then again, it is.  Miss you, Jo.

Rainy day in China

It was rainy and cold on Saturday, rainy and cold on Sunday, and rainy and colder today.  Today was my worse day in China.  I did enjoy my time in the classroom and before that I watched some of the NCAA basketball tournament.  Rainy cold weather in China is just like rainy and cold weather in Peoria, nothing to be excited over.  The heat is off in the buildings so that makes it even better.
I did learn about food and ate the Yang Yu Ca Ca in the cafeteria tonight.  It is basically hash browns, China style.   Tomorrow I meet with Dr. Du and his family to show them the Tumble Books.  I think this resource will help many students here.  I am also going to research on the of the foods a student talked about, Nian Gao.  I think this is some type of Chinese fruit cake thing that people make and can leave it around for months.  I am very interested in finding out about this.  It is cooked rice that is force into a machine that is similar to what we use when filling a sausage.  The rice is cut in to little rice ingots and then dried, after the rice is dry it is put back into water, and you can keep it for 6 months or more.  I am very curious about this. If I can learn how to make this I sure to be a big hit at the next family get together.  Researching this will give me something to do besides complain about the weather.  The one thing I do like about my classes is being able to explain some things in Chinese.  Students were doing their lessons on the black board and could go up and write words in Chinese and suggest they explain what this means as part of the lesson plan.  Sometimes I am not correct but I am always very close. 

English.CCTV in China

I was watching the English CCTV last night and saw a show about the railroad and the Chinese workers that helped build it.  It was interesting to see the Chinese "Ken Burns" at work.  The show is on the web at
English.CCTV.com   The series in called "Journeys in Time" and the actual title is "the railroad builders."  I think each episode is 25 minutes long.  I will probably watch some more of this.  It looks a lot like what you would see on PBS and at least here they seem to want to fund the television.  The news is different here.  We don't cover cricket very much in the USA.  The earthquake is still the big story but Libya is starting to take over the air waves now. Right now I am going to take a break and watch a travel show about Shang Hai and then I am off to get that chicken leg dinner at a local restaurant.  I am glad I bought that coat from L.L. Bean.  It is water proof and yesterday I needed it.  The travel show is Travelogue.CCTV.com and I will probably check it out on the web and find out more about Shang Hai and Bei Jing.  Maybe about Hua Shan near here.

First cooked breakfast in Xian

I had my first cooked real breakfast in my room at Xian.  It was fine but if you can make oatmeal and eat fruit or have something quick and easy while you do emails and enjoy a fine cup of instant coffee, why cook, and then have to clean up.  If I want an egg or something I can walk to the local cafe or the cafeteria, "shi tang" as they say here.  I can eat for 50 cents why do any dishes.  I am going to have some type of juice and fruit and have some ready to eat vegetables in the frig but no reason to cook and clean up.  It is just is not worth it, and I will not get really good waffles here like at home with real maple sirup. I do have some hard boiled eggs now, and that is OK. The weather is not good here.  It is in the 40's and rainy.  The rain is nice because the air is dry and the dust is bad.  The steady rain will settle the dust.  But the central heat is off because it is spring time now.  Hey, if it is in the 40's and damp who needs the heat on.  At least not back in Peoria where we have to pay for the heating.  Right, sweetie!

This is probably the last time I do this.  Notice my nice little bag of eggs.  I will hard boil some to kind of see how old they are or were.  Everthing sets out here.  If you shop in the market the eggs set out and it you shop in the store that eggs are setting out.

The hike up the little mountain

I really enjoy reading the signs that have been translated in to English.

 

 

 

 

Saint Patrick's Day in China

I had never celebrated St. Patrick's Day until this year.  If you are going to celebrate the holiday for the first time it may as well be in China. What better place to wear a green hat. What I like about this group of students is, they all really seem to like each other.  We do not have this group of five, and this group of two, and these three people that stay be themselves.  Everybody mixes and you see five people talking and a little later there are still five people but three of them are new faces.  That really should make our job easier to do.  It was good to see everybody out having a good time.  The American students were mixing with the Chinese students and the locals were mixing the foreigners.  It was just a good time.  I said to a Chinese man in my best Mandarin," Jin tian da jia shi Irish." That means, today everyone is Irish.  His response was, "I am sorry I don't speak English."  I still have three months to improve but I think it was the noise and beer that caused the problem.

One of the problems about being away from home

Don't misinterpret the title of this section, I am loving my experience in China, but being away from home does have its problems.  My Father-in-law has a birthday and he is going to celebrate an anniversary, also.  Trying to find a card for a birthday is very difficult and they don't have an "anniversary card" in the Chinese language dictionary that I am using.  When I went to the local supermarket, Vanguard, armed with my Chinese words on a piece of paper the response I got was the same as if you asked some one what they want on their turkey sandwich, Mayo.  Only in China the word that sounds like "Mayo" means "not have."  Even if I could find a card I would have to find the post office.  I have been told that I would not be able to mail something from the campus.  At home, at my college it would be very easy to mail a letter.  But not so much here.  So now I have to find some other way to let my Father-in-law, Leroy, know just how thankful I am to be a part of his family.  I have so much respect for him as a person, a father, and a loving husband.  Now all I have to do is figure out how to let him know that from China.  I guess I could call him but with my luck the phone would ring at 3 AM in the morning because I got the time change wrong.  I don't think some people would like that.  When you travel and are away for periods of time you will miss out on events and not always be there when you would like to be.  Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary.  I took a few minutes at this stop outside the temple to reflect on the people that I love and that I am away from, and I hope their day goes well, they should be just starting it now.

I have to let people know just how gracious and kind the people at Xian University have been to the students. Today will be a day that I will always remember.  There was a field trip planned for us to visit the Qianling Mausoleum and the Fa Men Temple.  Today was cold and wet, with rain and snow.  Not a good day to be outside.  But we all got on the bus and away we went.  The climb up Xiao Shan, or little mountain, was nice and that helped get your body warmed up.  After that we were treated to very nice lunch and then we took off for Fa Men Temple.  The temple would have been really nice to see on a clear day with the sun out but this was not the best day to stroll a mile or more to visit it.  But everyone made the best of it, even the ones that did not really dress to be outside in the rain.  We all returned to the campus only to find that Xian University was going to treat us to an evening meal, and it was a treat.  The food just kept coming.  Fish, tofu, vegetables, soups, fruit, and meat.  Everything was good.  I really enjoyed the fried shrimp heads.  Yao, the hotel manager, treated Dr. Murphy and I to a special wine that is good for health.  White wine in China is about 58 percent.  It is not a Chardonnay.  The stuff was tasty and later he showed us why it is good for health, it has a turtle in it.  I turtle is a sign for a long life and this batch of wine has on turtle in it and it ain't moving around any more.  Waking up to the sounds of chanting, fireworks at night, watching people make fresh noodles with their hands, and drinking strong liquor with dead reptiles in it, Oh yeah, I am going to miss this place.  But what I am going to miss the most is just how nice the people are.  Every day I am here I am more impressed with this University, the people that work here, and the students.  The people really are nice.  I swear that I am still in the Midwest, until I read a menu or see thousands of people walking on the streets. When I walk around the campus here I see young girls walk two, three, sometimes four, arm in arm and smiling and laughing.  I realize just how much their family has had to sacrifice to be able to pay for this education and yet they are still so happy.  My Chinese is still not very good but I can tell a happy smile in any language.  I see so many of them every day here.

Food family style.  They bring out a bunch of food and everyone just picks it off the plates with their chop sticks.  It is really not a big deal, because as Seppo's brother said to me years ago, "because it is what we do."

Rugby Coach

My rugby coach is Rob Rogers, from New Zealand.  He is the one responsible for my legs being sore on Wednesday and a little bit on Thursday.  They are better now and I may play again on Sunday.

fireworks all the time here

I see some type of fireworks display at least twice a week and many times it is more than that.  They shoot them off here when people are happy, like at weddings and other big events.  Xian has a lot of happy people, at least from what I see off my balcony.

proctor a physics test

The morning class, The History of Literature and Art in China, was an interesting class.  The Professor is very good.  What I like about her is that she really does enjoy teaching the American student,s and she does know that their situation is different, and the material is all new to us.   She does cut us some slack, and yet she does expect us to learn and she expects to learn from us.  The experience in the classroom is a good one for all of us. 
We were discussing the use of castration in China.  It was worse to be castrated than to be killed.  I told her about the "castrato" in opera and how they did that late enough in our history that we have sound recordings of castrato's singing.  She did not know that.   I did not either until I did some research on the opera for a paper I wrote for UIS.  What really surprises me is that the spell check says that I spelled castrato correctly.  That is the one thing about writing this, I hate the thought of making mistakes.   For me that is easy to do when I am writing.
Right now a student is in my room taking a physics test for his class back at IVCC.  We will probably have to mail the test in because it is too difficult to work out the computer.  All the instructions and keywords are in Chinese.  Simple things take time here.  The laundry takes time because it is difficult to figure out what the button are for.  The machines that look like the ones in our homes take forever to wash a load and the other machines are the dual wash, then spin, then rinse, and then spin.  You have to have some one help you the first time so that you know what dial is the drain button and what one is for fill.  If you don't know that then you will be draining the drum the whole time and it will never fill up. 
The professor at IVCC has been very good to work with on this matter.  He is letting a student take a test while he is in China so that he can get full credit for a course and not lose the opportunity to be in China.  Not only that but he is very much aware of the problems we have here with the printing and the computers.  The professor thinks I am being nice to do this.  All I am doing is setting at my desk typing while a student takes a test.  I did miss my lunch but that is my own fault.  Tonight we are going to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at the local Irish Pub.  I am looking forward to that.  Then tomorrow I will try and mail a test to the USA and see how well I can speak to the postal clerk.  After that I go shopping at the local outdoor market because Sunday I am making breakfast for Dr. Murphy and myself.  I am thinking omelets and fruit.

My first english corner

I attended the English Corner tonight for the first time.  The English Corner is where the Chinese students meet to practice, oh yes, English.  If you are an American, then you can be quite popular at this event.  I got there after supper and had a nice conversation with some Chinese students.  They are English majors and need to improve their speaking skills.  Actually, their speaking skills were pretty good.  Since this was not a class, the were more relaxed, and I was too.  I am getting a little better at speaking and getting a little better at understanding.   This is the best way to learn a language, to just be there and have to either sink or swim.
Played rugby again today and my legs hurt this time.  We have practice again on Sunday.  We had quite a few people show up and we might have a decent team.  I will have to see how my legs feel on Sunday.
Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's day and I think some of the students are going to the Irish Pub not to far from here to enjoy a Half and Half.   It will be interesting to see if people are going to wear  green hats.  In China a green hat is a term that means your spouse is unfaithful.  That is why the Chinese enjoy the tours of the John Deere plants when they pass out the green John Deere hats.
Tomorrow is a busy day.  I have the History of Chinese Literature and Art, I will need to eat something, proctor a Physics test for a student, go to my class and teach, meet some friends for supper, and then head off to the Pub for a drink.  It just never stops here.  This weekend we are going somewhere but I am not sure where.  I will take pictures and let you know.
I will leave you with this note about China's open door policy.  Every building I have been in, regardless of the weather, has the door open. The first day I walked in the building that I was to teach in, I could see my breathe in the lobby and guess what, the door was open.

Eating bitter melon

Interesting day today. For lunch I went to one of the three main cafeterias and walked around looking for something that caught my eye.  The soup place looked tasty, so I gave it a go.  I had no idea how to order since I did not know what the different things were.  I could see potatoes, sweet potatoes, tofu, fake crab,bean sprouts, and something that could be cubes of blood but the rest of the stuff, was, well who knows what.  I made eye contact and the guy picked out at least one of everything, put it in at basket and stuck it in the boiling hot pot.  He also charged my 5 yuan or 75 cents. It was pretty darn good. 
Class went will today, the students were assigned to teach me about food.  This group had actually done their homework.  I was learning about the food and trying to help them learn how to teach to a class.  Some of them will really do OK.   Some of them actually could speak up and develop a lesson plan.  Some of them need some work.  I hope they can improve their speaking skills and gain more confidence.  As long as I keep ahead of them I should be OK. 
Next week I am going to work on getting them to use the ICC Tumble Books. I had a student that was going to help me with WiFi and do a demonstration but he could not log in at my building.  Zhoa Sha Sha, said that I could do anything I need to help the students learn so we will go to the library and if that does not work I will take them to the hotel and we can use my computer, and I will see if students can log on in fifth floor lobby area. I was playing some Tumble Book games today and those games and the stories will help.  I showed the TumbleBooks to Katie Evans and she liked them and the French teacher did also.
After class I went out to eat with some of the foreign faculty.  Went to a little place up the street.  I had never tasted bitter melon and found it to be quite good.  I then walked with Katie to the grocery store.  She did some shopping and we talked about being in China, teaching, food, and all the stuff you talk about.  She was going to treat me to my first ride in the three wheel motorcycle taxis but for some reason they did not want to give us a ride.  So we walked back to the campus.  I did get a chance to look at the living quarters the teachers get and they seem nice enough to me.  Enough room to live in and a washing machine in the kitchen.

quick breakfast in Xian

Students can get a quick and tastee breakfast in any of the Xian cafeterias.  This Chinese style Egg McMuffin has a sliced of fried bread, potatoes, meat, and an egg for the total cost of 40 cents US.  It is not too spicy and tastes great.

Dust storm

Today as the weather "packs in" the dust picks up and we get to see Xian weather at its best.  The wind is blowing real strong and the dust is everywhere. Great day to hang your clothes out. This one of the things Xian is famous for, dust storms and the Terra Cotta warriors. 
Today when they had the water off to fix the fire hydrant you did not have to announce a boiler order because here you boil your water every day.  If you drink the water from the tap you boil it. So other than waiting to take a shower the water being off did not interupt my day.  Rugby will help me sleep well tonight.

waking up in the morning and touch rugby practice

My alarm is set for 7 am and when it goes off I also get to hear the sounds of a chant over the loudspeakers somewhere in the near distance from the hotel. I find this to be a very nice way to wake up.  The chant usually lasts about 5 minutes.   Oh, I can hear gurgling in the pipes so I think the water is back on.  It was off this morning for a repair of the fire hydrant and after the touch rugby game it was off again.  But it may be on now.  I have to find a washing machine that is free so I can do some laundry.  Back to waking up in the morning.  The chanting is the same song every day but I do enjoy it, at least so far.  I assume the chanting is a Muslim call to prayer but that is based on nothing but the fact that Muslims do live here.  And the best street food I have eaten so far has come from carts that are run by Muslims.  I can also hear the chickens and the roosters in the morning.  I can not see them but I can hear them.  Fireworks are something that you can always hear in Xian.  Every time someone has a reason to be happy they shoot fireworks.  During the day it is the loud Black Cat style and during the evening it is the pretty sky rockets.  Last night a lot of people were happy.  I saw five different displays of sky rockets while having a beer on the balcony, in my shorts.  The weather was great yesterday.  Today is also very nice but the weather will pack in as the Prof. from New Zealand says.  It should be in the 40's Monday and Tuesday and then warm back up.
That is why I wanted to get my laundry done so I could dry it in the warmer weather.  Everything gets hung out to dry here.  You never lose a sock in the dryer here.   Half the machines are broken so it is not that easy to find a washer.  I may have to get up early Monday and do a load, if we have water pressure.
The touch Rugby went well.  It was not rough but it will wind you a bit.  It moves all the time and you never stop.  It is similar to hockey only you don't have any line changes.  The worse injury you will get is a rug burn on the Astro Turf field.  I did leave my glasses at the apartment.  No reason to break them if I really don't need them on to see.  Catching and throwing a ball are two skills you lose when you don't do it very often.  I guess I am in good enough shape that I should still be able to walk around tomorrow.  We will see how I feel after the alarm goes off, the rooster crows and the sounds of the distant chanting are over.

I just wonder how I would work on this air conditioner if it was at my college.  I also hope the engineers don't see this design because they may think it is a good idea.  I am on the fifth floor.  I had tofu for lunch and it was very good and it is only 75 cents a plate and I can read it on the menu.  So I knew what I was ordering today.

Street food

Xian is full of street vendors and some of the best food you can buy on the street.  This sandwich thing was very good.  I had one with broccoli, lettuce, tofu, and chicken.  It had just the right amount of spices and a wonderful favor.

City wall again

After the faculty shopping trip to the Metro International store the about half of the students went to the City Wall to ride the bikes around it.  It was a perfect day around 70 and the sun was out. We all had a nice bus ride to the south gate.  The 800 bus will take you there for 15 cents.  I got to use my student ID and that saved my 3 dollars buying my ticket to get on the city wall.  The 90 minute bike rental is 20 yuan or about 3.40 dollars.  After the bike ride we ate something at the street vendors that was fantastic.  I fried bread product stuffed with chicken, broccoli, lettuce, tofu and spices.  It was very good and 1 dollar.  We stopped at Starbucks so Prof. Murphy could enjoy a real cup of coffee.  I guess he has not grown fond of the instant Nescafe that we have been drinking.  We were able to find the dumpling restaurant and enjoyed dumplings with several of the students.  We then returned to the campus, sat out on the balcony, enjoyed a couple of beers and watched the fireworks.  They shoot off fireworks all the time here. Every night so where you can see fireworks. Tomorrow I learn how to play touch rugby, do laundry, prepare for class, study for class, and do some shopping.

Getting ready for the weekend

I will be taking the Xian University bus to the Metro, an international market that sells some things that you don't usually get in China.  There is not much I need to get but I have to shop anyway.  What I miss in the USA is eating a good meal with my lovely wife, JoAnne.  I can not buy that here.  Actually the food has been very good.  We usually eat in cafeteria or walk down the street and eat at the little hole in the wall restaurants.  You can get a good meal for a buck so why cook.  Another foreign Prof. took me through the little alley open market so I may buy some veggies to steam and just keep in the fridge for snacks. He said the tomatoes, sweet potato's, and broccoli were very good here.  I also need some fruit.  If I ride the city wall with some of the students I may get some dates.  They look good.  I am going to eat one of those large dumpling looking things this weekend.  The streets are crowded but is is fun just to walk around here.  It is like living in a travel magazine.  Sunday we are scheduled to play touch rugby.  Will see how that goes.  The one Prof. from New Zealand is in charge of this.  He has been here quite a few years and is a good person to know.  I also have laundry to do, grocery shopping, a lesson plan to do and I have homework to do because I am also taking classes.  I am trying to improve my Chinese and learn more about the Literature and Art of China.  I am very busy.  I will see about taking some pictures this weekend of the downtown City Wall area.  Right now I am going to study and then get some sleep.  I was fine until a few minutes ago and now I am starting to slow down.

A good day in class

I was a little concerned about class today because this was the first group that I had met with and it did not seem to go well last week.  I know much of that problem was me, and it being the first time I have ever tried to do something like this.  As I walked in to the classroom I saw the words ICC and Tumble Books written on the black board.  I looked again and noticed the sequence of how to log on to the ICC website and find Tumble Books was written one the board.  I guess the department Chair does think this bit of information on our website will help the students.  If we can get the scanner printer working in my room I will do some print outs of the pages and make them available to Zhoa Sha Sha and the students.  I will also give some to Alvin Zhong, the student government President and maybe take some to the English Corner next week.  The English corner is on Wednesday night and is where the students go to practice English.  Of course there are more Chinese students than there are Americans, so it can be difficult at times.  Like one student said, "you can't talk to everyone and still have time for your own studies, but how do you say no to people so eager to learn.  Maybe the Tumble Books will help the Chinese students improve their English while they are at home.

The class today went well.  The students were more engaged.  We did the Pictionary/telephone game with one group understanding the instructions better than the other group.  When the class was over they all at least understood the game, and I think how to use it as a teaching tool.  Next week I will see how well they can teach me about the foods of Xian.  One girl asked me after class if she could bring food.  I told her that she could do what ever she needed to do to teach me.  I tried to get the point across that they do not have to have perfect English but they need to be able to communicate.  I would like to do a short video of the Chinese teacher we have on Wednesday.  She is very good at communication and uses very little English and the Chinese she uses is to the point and reinforces the learning of the Chinese language.  I think watching her would be a big help to these students.

In our Chinese Literature and Art class we have to select a Chinese name.  I have decided to pick the name NiKou.  This would be a Chinese name that sounds like the name of the French student, Nico, that lived with us one year.  There are a lot of different words that have the "Ni" sound.  The one I will use is the term for wild beast\, wild horse and Lion.   The Kou sound I have selected is the character for the word, mouth.  So my name should mean the mouth of a lion.  When you can make the same sound and have it mean so many different things you have to be careful, especially if you decide to get a tattoo.  There is another "Ni" sound that means ladies under garments.  So if I get a tattoo, I need to do my research.  Advanced Chinese class tomorrow and then it is the weekend.  I will also have to figure out what I need my students to do for the week after.

Thursday will end my second week of teaching

I will meet with the first class that I taught for the second time.  The first day was rough but I hope to do a better job this time.  I had another Chinese language class today and during the class I was watching what she did to see if I could use anything in my class.  I would like to be able to take my students to a class so they could see how the USA students struggle to learn Mandarin.  Maybe I will ask if a student group could come and film one of the classes and then we could show the video to my students.   The lady that taught the class today does not have the best English, certainly not as good as the teachers I had at ICC, but she knows how to communicate.  That is what my students need to do; is to learn how to be understood.  They can read and write quite well, they just have to learn how to use the black board, hand signals, and more important project confidence in themselves.  I am going to go over the assignment with this group, which is to teach me about Chinese food.  I think with this group I can do a little more on the presentation part and I hope I can also show them what problems the USA students have with Chinese.  I would hate to try and do this if I had not taken the four semesters of Chinese at ICC.  At least I have seen other people try to teach me and I have my own ideas about how people learn. 
We are going to start learning how to play touch rugby on Friday.  I have an advanced Chinese class on Friday but should be able to do a little rugby before class.  I do not want to miss this Chinese class because it is the one that will push me to learn more. 
I had an interesting supper with Tim Murphy, the lead professor from the College of Lake County.  When we order food we usually know what meat we are getting and if it is a soup, noodle, or rice dish.  But we never actually know what it is until they serve it.  He thought he was getting mushrooms and pork but he got a lot of hot peppers.  I had mushrooms and some other vegetable that I like but have never eaten  in the US.  After we had eaten about half our meals he said his food was just to hot, so we switched plates.  It is what you do here and no one seems to mind.

TumbleBooks and a better day of teaching

Today's class was much better than anyone I have had so far.  The class is all young girls and most what to be Chinese teachers to foreigners.  We did manage to play the Pictionary/telephone game.  It was a smaller game with only 8 people but it takes a while to get the rules explained.  I thought I went will and many of the students reminded the others to speak English. I introduced my self and showed them on the map where I lived and told them about my wonderful wife, and our cat.  I then had them introduce themselves and show me on the map of China where they are from.   I was surprised that so many kids are from where out west.  It would be like a student attending ICC from Montana.  Many of the students had a brother or a sister and one had each.  You learn more about this place every day.  In the Pictionary/telephone game one of the topics I chose for them was Shang Hai.  One of the pictures they drew was of the most important building in Shang Hai.  I know what the sky line looks like from the travel shows but knew nothing of this building.  They also did a drawing of me which I will post.  I did meet with the English Department Chair and showed her the ICC TumbleBooks collect that we have on line.  We both think this material will help their students to improve their English skills.  Not only should they be able to read better, but to speak and understand better.  What is so good about this program is it starts at the K to 2 grade and gets harder.  The books are also quick.  Many are only 13 minutes.  What was interesting about our meeting was that I was working on a Chinese language computer, talking in English and bad Mandarin to a person talking to me in Chinese and fairly good English.  We were working on a computer with no speakers but she does think this will really help and should try to log on at home and research it some more.  What she said to me was, " I do not know where to find this."  I would not have known abou it if Becky Houghton had not told me about the Chinese language TumbleBook several years ago.  I also need to share this with the hotel manager, Yao.  He has a computer, with speakers, and a three year son that he also wants to learn English.  Today was a better day for me.  While walking around the campus I was able to see some of my students.  I hope to see more of them as time goes by.
I told the English Chair, Zhao Sha Sha, that I want to try and teach the students to be better at English but that I want to also try to help them learn how to teach English to foreigners.  I have had 4 different Chinese teachers and have my own ideas how we learn and what is difficult to say.  I hope I can make some difference in their lives.  I will let you know at the end of this trip. The assignment for next week is for the students to teach me about Chinese food.  I want to learn what it is, how to write it, how to speak it, and how much it should cost.  I also need to learn how to say "fried mushrooms" and how to read the characters because I want to go back to the place I ate when I first got here and have some more of those mushrooms.  In class I try to mix in a little Chinese but not too much.  I do want them to know that I am trying to adapt to their culture and I want them to understand what type of mistakes we will make.  The students said English is hard and I agreed with them.  I explained that yes English is hard and that many westerners will tell Chinese teachers that too many words sound the same, but that is because we don't know the right tones.  I also wrote, there, their, and they're on the board and told them to remind their future students that many of our words sound the same.  I need to move on and will post a picture of me from my class.  The phase was "Laoshi Eric and the one picture is the first one and the other picture is the last one. I have changed a lot since I have been in China.

Teaching on Monday

Today's class went better than the class I had last Thursday.  I the group I had today had better speaking skills than the first class I taught.  I am teaching Spoken English to Chinese students that want to be able to teach Chinese to foreigners.  The main thing I need to do is to get them to talk, and I hope I can build their confidence.  I am going to try to approach this class as a way to show them how they might teach English to western speakers and help them improve their speaking skills.  It seems kind of strange that a welding instructor is going to try and teach Chinese students how to teach Chinese but that is what I am going to try to do.  Next week the assignment is for my students to teach me about the food they like to eat.  I want to learn how to write the characters, read the characters, pronounce the words, and more important what the food is like, and why I should want to eat it.  At least today I had some people engaged in a conversation.  The students are as nervous as I am and I tried my best to help them relax.  I have been working very hard on speaking slowly, and loud enough that they can hear me.  I take extra time to make sure everyone understands what the assignments are.  When they all shake their head yes, I ask them to tell me the assignment, and then I explain it again.  I will see how this goes next week. 
Today at the cafeteria I ordered a fish dish.  I can read the different characters for fish, beef, pork, chicken and tofu.  So I knew I was getting fish, but that is all I knew.  Most of the food we order, we know we are going close but we don't really know what it is until we see it on the plate.  The fish was good but you don't get a fillet here.  The fish is just cut up any which way and fried.  So if you like bones then this is for you.  I would hate to feed this to a young kid.  Everything I have eaten so far has been very good.  I think tomorrow we are going to try one of those egg pancake things that look really good.  They make them at a food stall right outside the campus gate.
I am going to try and meet with my English department chair to discuss the possibility of using the tumble books from the ICC electronic library to see if those materials can help the students improve their speaking and listening.  I can log on to the website and read them on the hotel system.  I plan to show the hotel manager how to use the tumble books.  He is working on improving his speaking skills and he has been helping me to improve my Chinese.  I also can sit in on a Chinese language class tomorrow, so I may do that.
Being in the classroom around these young students has been a wonderful experience.  The CLC students are a great bunch of kids.  Everyone seems to be doing just fine.  They have a wonderful opportunity here and I think they are going to take advantage of it.

Kitchen area

This is the kitchen where I enjoy my breakfast.  It has everything I need to brew up a cup of instant coffee, instant oatmeal, and a banana.

my home in Xian for the next 3 plus months

I am living in a nice little one bedroom apartment at the University Hotel.   I have a little balcony, a desk to work at, a computer, dining table and small kitchen.  The laundry room is upstairs and it is free for us to use.  It is the hotel's laundry so it can get busy at times.  You never have to worry about losing a sock in the dryer because you hang your clothes outside to dry or in the shower.

Traffic at the Bell Tower

This is what is so different about China.   Traffic and so many people.  Normally I do not like crowds but this does not bother me because I expected it to be full of people and busy.  At Xian you have the old and the new.  This place was the first capital and has all that history and now it is a modern city and the two exist side by side.  I enjoyed my bike ride around the city wall.  You can rent a bike for 20 yuan and you also pay a 200 yuan deposit.  You can ride for 90 minutes and when you bring the bike back you get your 200 yuan back.  It is a very nice way to see and experience the history of this country. After the ride you can walk through the streets and see the different vendors, get a snack, or have a good meal at one of the restaurants.  The Bell Tower has a music demonstration and guess what, they play bells.  The Drum Tower all so has a music show and they play the drums.  It is a nice way to spend the day.  I got to exercise so I hope I can still get some wellness points.  Just so my wife does not worry about me, you do not cross the street here.  They have a system of underground walk ways that you use to get from the Bell Tower to the other streets.  It is so much safer.

Friends in China

I am meeting new people all the time here in China.  Liu Danling, is a former student of my Chinese teacher at ICC, Rich Lin. The young man with her is Qin Xin, a student that stayed with me after Danling had to leave.  Qin Xin showed me the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower and helped me find the bus stop.  We all cycled the city wall and then had a wonderful meal.  Many of the students also visited the Bell Tower, with some of the Chinese students from Xian University.
The bus ride was very interesting for me.  I have only been on a bus in Peoria twice and that was to show Nico, our French son, how to get to ICC and then I took the Chinese students on the bus to help them learn how to get around Peoria.  This is much different.  Going to the Bell Tower at 9 am was fine.  Coming back at 4 pm the bus was packed and I mean packed.  No matter how full it is you can always get a few more people on.  The bus costs about 15 cents.   I could take a taxi but that would cost 8 dollars maybe 10.  I came to China to try as much as I can to experience China the same way Chinese people do.  If that means squeezing on to a bus then I will squeeze on to a bus.  While I was on the bus I noticed some of the people were a little taller. As the bus emptied out the closer we got to my school I could see those taller people were standing on about a 10 inch step. I was still taller and they were.

Boazi or steamed buns

Just outside the campus and down the street is an alley full of food vendors.  I like the steamed buns.  You and can get 2 for about 15 cents.  Baozi is the Chinese word for steamed bun.  You need to learn the food characters and how to say the words so you can at least have an idea of what you are eating.  At the school cafeteria you look at the menu and see something that you think is what you want to eat, point at it and then find out what you ordered when they give it to you.  It is a lot of fun.  The students were all warned about eating at the food stalls off campus.  They told me about this place the second day we were here.  If you order a soup the dish is boiling when it comes to your table, so not to worry.

My breakfast in China

I could go to the cafeteria and eat breakfast but decided to just eat in my apartment.  I can enjoy some instant coffee, some fruit, instant oatmeal topped with yogurt.  The yogurt comes in a pouch and is quite good.  I usually get some type of bread product to eat.   I have some honey if I need a little sugar.  Eating at home is just easier and than leaving and coming back.  This picture is what I bought at the large grocery store about ten minutes walk from campus.  The stores are on two floors so instead of an escalator they have a longer incline moving walkway.  That way you can take your shopping cart up and down.  I was looking for the oatmeal and one of the clerks took one off the shelf and gave it to me.  They really try to help, especially if you make the effort.  I research my shopping items and write the characters.  So far I have been able to do OK.  Now I need to figure out how best to post this picture. I got the moon pies just for fun and now I need to find an RC Cola.

I taught my first class

I taught my first class on Thursday.  The students are English majors but can read better than they can speak.  I had a lesson plan but it did not go as well as I had thought, so I was scrambling to find something that would work.  I think I will use the Pictionary/telephone game that we played at our house the last night all the Chinese students were in  Peoria.  I hope that works.  I know the students would like to play a game.  I also think since they are going to try and be Chinese language teachers to foreign students, I will try and get them to do a teaching exercise.  I may try and get them to teach me how to read a character.  Ask them to write a character on the board and explain the writing steps, the strokes, the tones and what it means.  I think I will start with food.  Everyone likes food.  That way I can better learn what to order at the cafeteria.  I have to do something to get them to talk or make them talk.  This way they can use notes and write on the board.  I will probably do a demonstration of how I would do it and hope they can develop their own teaching style.  I was talking to the people who run the program and when they asked me how my first class went, I said, "it was different."  They both laughed and said to do my best.  I sure will try.
I sat in on the advanced Chinese language class today. I think this class will really help me.  I had forgotten a lot of stuff over the last one and half years but it is starting to come back to me, especially since I am studying more now.  I hope to improve.
They do have a good energy management system here.  They don't turn on the heat and you just wear a coat.  The classroom for the Literature and Art was cold especially after you sit for an hour.  At least the classroom I had to teach in was warmer.  The one thing about being here is how nice the people are.  They smile and offer to help you.  But things take so long to do and most of that is due to the communication problems.  It took about 15 minutes to get the service staff to open a student's room when he had locked his key inside.  She was very helpful but it just took longer.

Saturday we go the International store and can shop for stuff we can buy at home.  That will be interesting. Maybe I can get pop tarts. Actually I am going to get some more of the yogurt pouches that Danling bought for me.  They are very good and I am going to put them on oatmeal.  Thats right I am going to eat oatmeal for breakfast.  Now I will see about posting my College ID.

Meeting Katie Evans

Last night I met Katie Evans, the person I have been emailing about what my class room experience could be like.  She is from England and has been working here for about 1 and a half years.  We talked about classes over a nice meal down one of those back alleys full of food stalls.  We had some type of sweet and sour meat, another stir fry dish, rice, of course, and some fried mushrooms that were fantastic.  They tasted very close to morels but only better, because they were cheaper.  Dinner for two, less than 6 dollars, so hey, I bought.
I do have my class schedule now.  Monday, I teach Spoken English, from 1:50 to 5:40.  I have two classes with a 20 minute break in between.  Tuesday I teach Spoken English from 3:55 to 5:40 and Thursday I teach Spoken English from 3:55 to 5:40.  On Wednesday I will take the Mandarin Language class from 1:50 to 3:35 and on Thursday morning I will take the Chinese Literature and Art class from 9 to noon.  The classes I will be taking are the same classes the students are in.  I can learn more about China, improve my Mandarin, and at the same time keep on eye on the students.
So far everyone has been very, very nice, and very helpful.  I am looking forward to getting in the classroom and seeing what it is like to try and teach Spoken English.  Just keep them talking is what I have been told and don't let them get bored.