I Don't Care. I Love It.

DISCLAIMER: If you are sick of reading random details about China feel free to tune out for the next four months. My blog will being serving as a superficial journal for the few things I recall about my days here. So that's that. 

In other news...

-There is this man that we call The Asian Tarzan. I have seen him on three occasions & every time he brings tears of laughter to my eyes. He just walks around town in the nude, flailing his arms like it ain't no thang. I really like him. 

-I went to a Chinese hospital the other day. It was dirty & there was a picture of a penis on the wall. The woman that was sharing a room with Jacks's [a student of mines] mother was the oldest women in the world. I'm not kidding. She looked like she was dead but she was snoring so loud & I couldn't help but have a mini laugh attack. 

- Two words. Chinese mannequins. 

-I heard LCD Soundsystem playing the other day at the Market & I was so excited! 
-We jam to this everyday. 

- Jordan's [another student] parents had us over for dinner the other night. There was soooooo much food. I'm talking like thanksgiving status. It never ended. My favorite part of the evening was tea time. It was a really cool to experience that part of their culture & try a bunch of different types of tea. 

-I keep catching myself talking in broken English. It is awful! I will say things like "Maybe we go to the market." I guess we will see who my real friends are when I get home. 

-One of the other teachers & I went on the most beautiful hike. We were simply wandering around in the mountains outside our apartment. I was blown away by how beautiful & green it was. I love this place. 

-The people at my salon think I got a nose job & wouldn't stop feeling it. 

-We found a place to get smoothies!! We call it Montana Love & its a popular hang out for  fifteen year old smoker boys. So that's a plus. 

- If anyone ever suggests you chew on a tree, turn them down. Its really not that great. 

-People are constantly stopping us on the side of the road & asking us to teach their kid English. It makes me sad. 

-Sometimes this guy at the school sneaks us extra bread. He also paid for my snack at the convenience store the other day because I was being slow. He started tossing money at the cashier hence I call him "The Money Maker." I'm a big fan of his. 

-I saw a rat the size of a ferret running down the school hallway yesterday. 

-Street bread is easily one of the most delicious things to ever grace my taste buds. I've been raving about it since day one. If I could bring one thing back to America this would be it! They simply start laughing when they see we are coming back for more. Don't worry though I'm going to start limiting myself to only going four times a week. Also, is it just me or have my eyes become more squinty since I moved here? Heaven help me. 

-We lay out on the roof & its so warm 
outside. 
-On Women's Day [Who knew that even existed right?] they had us perform our dance again. As well as participate in a skit. I'm telling you these guys love to see us make fools of ourselves. It was really fun though & they gave us flowers & other cool stuff. 

-There are so many simply beautiful things throughout our city. 

All Things China.

I feel as if I have soooo much to catch up on. I could write novels about the happenings of the last few weeks but time is of the essence. In an effort to catch up here are some more thrilling bullet points. 

-The fruit markets over here are wonderful. So many delicious items to partake of, many which I have never seen in my life. The mini bananas being my personal favorite. 

-The meat markets on the other hand are awful. They are like something straight out of a horror movie. EVERY single part of the animal is up for display & it smells horrendous. Also, the floor is always sopping wet. Heaven only knows why. Maybe its for the fish that are often flopping at your feet. 

-We shower in a bucket. 

-There is an attractive Asian teacher at our school. I never thought I would see the day. 

-We will walk up to people who are smoking & say "You should really stop smoking it will kill you. You're dumb." and they just stare at us. They have no idea what we are saying. It's such a fun little game! I'm just worried for the day that it backfires on us. 
-They have multiflavored Oreos over here. Rad. 

-Everything & nothing goes over here. People will just pull their pants down & start going to the bathroom on a busy street but you aren't supposed to wear flip flops or chew gum in public. I will never understand. 

-I saw a man scale a building the other day. 

-We go to the salon & have them wash our hair, give us a scalp/back massage & style our hair. We call it "washy, washy." It is heaven on earth and soooo cheap. I'm addicted.  

-The people rock. 

-They are obsessed with water. Their response to everything is "Drink more water." They have a sign that says those exact words on the wall. It's hilarious. They make the kids take a water break every twenty minutes. 

-This is what most people on the bus look like. 

-I drink this chocolate soy milk every day.One of the Chinese teachers straight up asked me why I'm not fat. The people aren't afraid to say anything. Whatever they think they vocalize.    

-It was the Chinese New Year awhile back so they were constantly setting off fireworks. They were so loud. When I heard the first one at about 4:00 a.m. I was convinced that someone had dropped a bomb. They continued to set them off everywhere until about midnight & I really didn't like it. Apparently it's something they do often. 

-I feel so rich over here. 1 American dollar= 6.1 RMB. I paid four dollars for a pair of shoes the other day & I felt like I had been ripped off. It's a beautiful thing. 
-The super markets are also beautiful. They are like an amusement park in the fact that they are so colorful & fun. 

-We went to Shiqi for a Bond banquet. It is such a beautiful city. We all got to wear tacky orange jackets & do as the Asians told us. It was weird being around white people, seeing as I have yet to see a white person in our city. We all rode bikes around while they followed us in cars videoing/taking pictures of us. Then we ate a whole bunch of food. 

-They love to watch us perform. I'm convinced that they just like to make fun of the silly Americans dancing but either way we busted a move to Numa Numa in an effort to please them. On the plus side we won 500 yuan for "Most Extraordinary Performance." 

-We were given these awesome ponchos that "be easy to carry abort." 

-We never know what we are eating. We've learned not to ask. It's not rare for us to find claws in our meal.

Bye Bye now. 

Hey Baby Hey Baby Hey.

Let me tell you a little bit about my babies. I've spent two weeks with them & I can't even express to you how much I love them. The thought of leaving them already breaks my heart. I can't even imagine how I am going to feel after another four months. They are not only the cutest & smartest things ever but they also love us to death. From day one I've had a child clinging to one of my arms. They love to snuggle & have your attention. Mostly they just love to be loved & so we do just that. Not only do we get to teach them in the mornings but we also get to come back and play with them for an hour or so in the afternoon. It's the best time. Let me introduce you to a  few of them... Also I swear they come out of the womb doing a peace sign or striking Kung Fu poses. Its simply the first thing they do when they see a camera. Enjoy!  

Catherine, Cindy & I. 

Leroy. 

Emily & Catherine. 

Our German babe Kevin. He is the only white kid in the school & such an angel. 

Oscar. 

Emily & Anna. 

Sam. 

Nathan's behind. He was wearing the funniest sweater one day. 

I really didn't intend to pick a favorite student but it happened. Meet my main man Tony. He is the sweetest boy in the world. He even made me a flower one day. We celebrated his sixth birthday on Friday. It was a delight!

Catherine. 

Emily. 

Adam. 

Daniel.

Emily, Tony & Jordan. 

Jacob. 

And if I haven't convinced you that they are the greatest yet, let me just tell you that they regularly do Kung Fu.