Goin' Solo

So I survived the weekend. And if you’re reading this, looks like you did too. Congratulations. The world had two chances to explode on 11/11/11 during 11:11 AM and 11:11 PM. Sorry to disappoint. That Friday just so happened to also be Single Day in China. I guess it’s kind of like the arch nemesis holiday of Valentine’s Day.

I woke up Saturday morning at around 10:30, I guess. I had been debating on whether or not I should go to Xiang Shan. (It’s a mountain.) Normally, I’d want to get an earlier start. I just wasn’t feeling the whole idea of getting up early, but I was still into the idea of taking a trip out to Xiang Shan. It’s west of Beijing. In order for me to get there, I have to go down my subway line all the way to the other end. I’m already at the last stop on the east, so it takes more than an hour just to get to that subway stop. From there, you need to take a bus or two to get to the mountain/park.  All in all, it’s quite a venture out there. If you remember correctly, I did it once back in the early spring months ago. I was with somebody then, so didn’t have to worry about directions or anything of that nature. That’s probably the way to go. Too late for such things. I decided I was going. I looked up which bus to take after arrival at the subway stop and packed a few things. I cut off a small portion of a piece of paper I had drawn on, originally intending to use it for a tutoring lesson. The crazy part about the back of that portion I took was that it was the part of this drawing that had a mountain on it. I drew this quick picture that I was planning on using for tutoring to ask questions about the picture. I’ve done it on the spot during lessons for fun because the girls that I tutor like to draw. One of the things on the back was a mountain with the word mountain written underneath and there was a sun in the top corner. The full word and sun was included in the part that I cut. How weird is that? Anyways, I meant to leave earlier, but didn’t even set out from my place until 12 or a little after.

While waiting for the bus near my apartment, I ran into little Tiger from one of my baby classes. He was funny, making noises and hiding behind a pole and his mother. I snapped a picture of him. He’s just so tiny, even his mother said so. I think Tiger was just learning about his abilities and the little high pitched noises soon emerged into something else. Later during the week, I hung around the class that he’s in for a bit. Had nothing to do for 30 minute since it was raining and the kids weren’t going outside to dance. Just before leaving, Tiger let out a ferocious roar, releasing the true nature of the beast. Now for a creature of his stature, his roar was not quite as fierce. From his lips he released a menacing shriek, deafening to the ears. I gazed down at him in awe of what I had heard, half laughing at the little guy. The teacher nearby was also shocked. It was hilarious. Immediately after, he resumed drinking water thinking nothing further of the matter. One day, Tiger. One day. 

 I got on the bus and after the first stop, an elder man got on. I attempted to get up and offered him my seat, but with a stern hand he pushed on my shoulder and forced me to sit saying that it was ok. I had to try another 2 times and force my way past his hand and insist that yes, it was ok. He finally sat down and thanked me. In Chinese, I asked him if he could speak English. He claimed that he could only speak a little. I soon learned that his English was quite good. We spoke for almost my entire subway trip to the end of the line. We exchanged phone numbers and he even invited me to a poetry reading. He told me that it was somewhat of an ancient form of poetry where the poetry is sung and that this art was being revived. He knew by my face that I was not going to attend this time and told me to proceed to Xiang Shan. It sounded interesting and I did think about joining him, but the mountain was on my mind so I had to continue to my destination. I text him shortly after and told him that perhaps I could join him the next day (Sunday) because he had said that he was going then as well. Unfortunately, he later told me that he could not make it. That’s ok, though. I met a friend and he was a very interesting and perceptive man. Somehow, we were discussing injuries and things of that nature. I think some of the best advice I got from him was when he told me to think of your body as a structure, like a building, and that you should carry yourself accordingly. I was already working on correcting my posture, so this advice helps in that regard even more. I hope to see him again someday.

When I finally arrived at the last subway stop on my line, I exited and purchased some street vendor food. Delicious. I’ve had this particular one many times. It comes on bread that resembles an English muffin. Stuffed inside is some kind of meat, most likely pork, a fried egg, and lettuce. Prior to those contents being added, a reddish brown sauce is applied and you have the option of adding spice or not. I always do. Come on. I’m a man. After acquiring that savory snack, I looked at the bus stops on my side of the street for the bus number(s) I had written down. I could not find either. A man had inquired about where I was going. After telling him, he instructed me to cross the street. Again I searched for the bus I needed, but to no avail. I asked a few people how to get there in Chinese while pointing to the bus signs. My meaning was understood and after a few tries, a younger guy wrote down the buses that I needed and which stop to get off at. He gave me directions for 2 buses and had looked them up on his phone. While traveling on the first bus, I saw a sign for the bus I had originally been looking for. 318. It was a gamble. I made the decision to get off at the next stop, which was nearby, and then take that bus to Xiang Shan. I asked an elder woman if I could take this bus, and she informed me that indeed I could. Afterwards, I noticed the last stop on the sign said Xiang Shan. I pointed to this and laughed with the older woman. So from there, it took about another 30 minutes or so to get to Xiang Shan. I wasted some time looking for the right bus and standing around, so I didn’t arrive until about 3:00 in the afternoon. Upon arrival, I didn’t know exactly how to get to the entrance, but I had a vague memory from my last visit months ago. I simply followed the general flow of people that were heading in an upward direction. It was a good plan. I soon made it to the entrance and began my ascent. Most people were coming down at this time, but there was still plenty of people going up and lots still at the peak. It is China, after all. I hiked at a rather fast pace and made it up in a mere 40-45 minutes.  Up until this point, I just had a light track jack on.  Once I reached the peak, it was a little colder. It was later in the day, so the temperature was dropping and at the top, you’re a little more vulnerable to wind. It only makes sense. I scoped out the area, and found the peak I was looking for. This is the same peak that I ventured out to

.

That’s where I was headed and proceeded to eat some snacks and sit down for a while when I reached that point. Luckily, I brought this ‘puffy’ vest I purchased. It’s really warm and light weight. It can be scrunched down to virtually take up no space at all and weighs practically nothing. Good choice by me. It was still cold, though. I thought about staying for the sunset because it was about 4:30 in the afternoon at this point, but the sun seemed to be hanging at a certain level and wasn’t dropping real fast. I guess it just gets to a certain time and then drops instantly from view. Anyways, the sky was grey, so I saw no reason to stick around. I thought about taking the cable car down if it fit the price I had in mind (I found out from someone later that it did), but there was just too many people for me to bother. The line was huge. No thanks. Besides, I made it down in 30-45 minutes. I’m a fast walker, so if there’s no one to slow me down, I tend to make good time.

I took a different route down, but somehow ended up on the same route I was on, and then managed to divert off that route onto another. I found myself in the same location I had been when I descended on my first visit here months ago. I headed in the direction I thought I should, and my instincts proved me right. I guess my directional sense has been increasing due to my situation. Either pay attention and learn or be forever lost. I bought some chuan(r)s (kebabs) and picked up these little snacks that looked like pancakes with red bean in them. Hao chi! (Delicious!) Besides, that’s the closest thing I’ve had to pancakes in over 9 months. Talking about them now really makes me miss pancakes. (Due to a lack of sugar in my family’s house on many occasions, there were times when I would just go grab a bottle of syrup and drink a little bit of that to get my fix.) I may have to go on a quest to find the ingredients to make some pancakes. I know just the place, so we’ll see. Pancakes aside, I found the bus I needed and asked an employee if it went all the way to the subway station I was trying to get to. She told me it could. (Remember, I transferred buses on the way there. This was the bus I was initially looking for, but just could not find the stop.) I rode the bus until an area that looked familiar and the stop contained the name of the subway station, but wasn’t in fact what I wanted. Luckily I just had to walk straight. In Chinese, I asked a couple people for directions, and they all said walk straight. Simple enough, but it was a bit of a hike and I was pretty tired at that point. Finally made it home and enjoyed myself a bottle of wine.

Sunday was a pretty low key day. I went and did some food shopping in the early afternoon. Here’s what I walked out of there with. Quite an array of different items, I know. There’s a ceral box of ‘Berry Bunch O’Krunch’ (ya, I know…thieves.), a bag of cookies (I decided to try some for the first time, they were delicious. Yes, I dipped them in milk.), a new bottle of wine (Relax, I’m saving it), a pack of juicy fruit and a little bag of sour skittles (I didn’t really want them, but I just had to purchase them since it’s not often I see Juicy Fruit and skittles are normally more expensive), and hamburger meat for the first time (I never actively looked for it, but it’s always been in my mind and is usually more expensive), and a decent sized duck leg. Almost forgot, there's a can of coconut milk too! I buy it from time to time.

I cooked the duck that night. It was probably one of the worse cooking experiences I’ve had. It’s definitely up there. The meal itself wasn’t actually terrible upon completion, but not worth my trouble. Without an oven, I was forced to cook the leg on the stove top. I had thought about making gravy, so that was part of the plan. I took a gander at some recipes on how to do so online, and I made a sauce of my own once before. It just wasn’t that great, so I haven’t done it since then. I thought about cutting the meat off the leg prior to cooking it in a pan, but after a few attempts I gave up. So, I started frying it. The idea of cutting the meat off for faster and easier cooking creeped back into my head, so I removed it from the pan after a few minutes and attempted to do that. What a joke. What a fricken joke. Half the thing seemed like it was just skin, and I had a hell of a time trying to cut it off. Fatty oil was everywhere. I got so annoyed at one point, I figured I had the majority and just tossed the rest. Then after the duck was finished cooking, I attempted to make a gravy or sauce. I wanted to use the natural sauces from the duck, so I threw in a starch and water mixture. Well if it wasn’t bad enough, this just took all the fat that was in the pan and solidified it into a big mass of orange blob. There was so much of it and it was disgusting. I’ll leave it at that. No, I did not try it. My potatoes were under boiled, so they were still crunchy, but I just didn’t care at that point. I tossed in my corn and peas, mixed everything up with some butter and salt, and that was that. It wasn’t terrible, just wasn’t at all what I imagined. I openly stated that I should not be allowed to cook.

Luckily, I made up for that meal on Monday night. I purchased a plain spaghetti sauce and common spaghetti noodles weeks ago. I’ve just been waiting for the right time to do it. The ground beef I purchased was specifically for this cause, so it was time. I looked up some directions real quick online just to make sure I was doing things right. I knew exactly what I was doing, but I needed this meal to be just what I wanted. I added minced garlic, onions, tomatoes, and even red peppers to the sauce. That spaghetti was amazing. I loaded on the parmesan cheese. Now, I know I said I was saving that wine for later, but I just had to have a glass with my Italian meal. It just didn’t’ seem right without. I even had spaghetti left over, so I cooked up a chicken breast the next night and just threw that in what was left. Delicious!

As for this week, hasn’t been that bad. I was forced to take Wednesday off because the school was having an inspection. (My visa situation isn’t exactly legal.) I made use of the day and went to visit 2 out of the 3 schools I was looking at. The first one really had me mad prior to arrival, despite the fact that I was more interested in this school. Once I got there though, everything was fine. The receptionist was really nice and answered all my questions and I was able to think of more things to discuss.I got a good vibe from the place. They seem much more focused on the individual needs of students and try to match you with a group of students at the same level as you looking to accomplish the same thing you are. Much different from larger schools with set curriculums that are not too concerned about the individual. This was the case with the other school I visited that day. I figured it would be. Besides that, the price different between having accommodation and not having accommodation with the second school was absolutely ridiculous. That in itself turned me off. Easy enough to get my own place, but they’re crooks. For what they wanted as a monthly rent with accommodation, I could get my own fully furnished 3 bedroom apartment and live by myself with money left over. If I went with them, I’d have to deal with roommates and they’re crazy rates. Later gators! To them I say, NEXT. Also, when I was ‘interviewing’ them, it was a typical question and answer setting. Not a very comfortable situation. You feel like you’re on the spot and need questions, instead of them just being able to tell you lots of things. When you ask, they give you the straight forward answer without much breathing room, so it’s over and done with pretty quick. I hate that. I’ll look at a few more, but I’m fairly certain I’m going with that first school. I had a good feeling about it from the start, even prior to visiting. We’ll see.

It’s Friday night. After going to the gym, I came home and showered. Shortly after that, I started to do the preparation for cooking. It was another poor excuse for a meal. All in all, still not bad. But again, completely different from what I envisioned. I guess I need to start setting my standards lower.

On the bright side, since I stopped boiling the undrinkable sink water and using that in my oatmeal, my throat has been pretty solid. (Knock on wood. Hey, it can’t hurt.) Coincidence? I think not. When I was doing that, I was sucking down tea all the time because my throat was constantly bothering me. Since I made the switch, I haven’t had an issue for 2 weeks.

I also thought to myself earlier, that I kind of miss car rides home from working and things like that back in the states. Driving in a car was my music devotion time. It was time just for me where I could sing and devote the time to actually listening. Here, I’m always listening a little on the side and talking with people. More of a closet singer too, so I can’t sing either. ‘Double bugger.’ – Seinfeld reference. Kramer first decides to widen the lanes on his adopted highway, mile 114. He’s then afraid of losing it, so manages to acquire 40 gallons of paint thinner, which he spills on the highway. This causes the first bugger. After noticing that it was flammable, the double bugger came out.

I finally read a book on the computer despite objections. It was a short one. It’s called ‘Eaters of the Dead.’ You may know it as ‘The 13^th Warrior’, which is the movie based on the book. The book is alright. It’s based on true events as seen by the observer. Possibly slightly exaggerated, but there’s no real answer.

Oh, and they finally turned the heating on two weeks ago so I’m no longer an icicle in my home. I even get hot at times. That’s more like it. And the weather is so crazy. It was much warmer here today, and the sun was out. Most of the leaves are still on the trees. It’s just so odd. Explain it to me! EXPLAIN IT!

Bring on the weekend.

Live long and prosper. - Jeff

School's In Session

Oh, what a week. School is extra fun this week. I’m being sarcastic if you didn’t sense my tone through reading. I know, it’s easier said than done. Monday was ok, but today is Tuesday and that’s when the fun started. Monday was Halloween, which is normally a pretty fun affair as a kid in elementary school. There’s not really much class going on, everyone is dressed up, and there’s lots of candy from what I remember. Sounds like a great day to me. But wait a second. I’m not in America. I’m in China. The celebration out here is fairly mild for the young ones. The knowledge the Chinese have for the ‘holiday’ has just been gathered from Americans. They don’t really know what they’re doing, and they don’t really care too much about it. That’s not entirely true, but you’ll see my meaning. The school is decorated with fall and Halloween decorations. I’ve seen pictures of previous Halloween events at my school, and it looked fun. My roommate had been told prior to Monday that the school was going to give us some sort of costume and the word ‘makeup’ was thrown in there as well. Fortunately, the makeup part never occurred. We got to miss one of our classes in the morning because we were told to go meet in one part of the school. Within that room, a box lay on the floor. Random costume items were then passed about. I ended up with a cap, a half black, half gold Venetian mask, and a pirate hat. A large multi-colored fro was originally presented to me, but I snagged the pirate hat from one of the teachers later on. It’s more my style. From there, my roommate and I were instructed to venture out to the school yard after the raising of the Chinese flag and pass out candies. There wasn’t much of a selection. As a matter of fact, there was only one; lollipops. The kids still liked it, though. They had fun for the brief amount of time it lasted. I’m fairly certain that the school provided half of the costumes or more to the kids. There were some here and there that brought their own. Some just threw on a mask, home-made or bought or one select item like that. However, there must have been a good 30-40 kids wearing the same cape as me. So, I’m also fairly certain that China only has 2 or 3 costumes available for purchase. I’m kidding, but seriously. The candy went pretty fast, and the whole affair lasted maybe 10-15 minutes in total. From there, school continued as usual. The children didn’t’ even keep their costumes on. In my opinion? Boring/lame. I was told they had some kind of a party maybe during the past weekend. There’s no real hard evidence of its existence, but hopefully the kids got to do something. I think the younger people out drinking the weekend before got the better end of the whole Halloween experience.

Tuesday marked the first day of some extra classroom visitors. We had principles and top figures like that from other schools evaluating our school. That wasn’t bad for me. I just had to deal with some older woman sitting in the back keeping to herself most of the time. Some paid attention, some didn’t. It didn’t really make much of a difference to me. I’m comfortable enough now and dealt with parents in the classroom, so not really a big deal. Besides, I’m not one of those people that freak out and get all stressed and worried about trivial matters like that. You know the type. What’s the point? Does it really help? No. In fact, it only makes matters worse for yourself and those around you. Take a chill pill. I’ll write you a subscription. 3 pills, 3 times a day during a meal. Wednesday and today (Thursday) were a little worse because the parents showed up in many of my classes. Again, I’ve done it before so at this point, it just doesn’t matter that much. I pretty much just block the parents out and try to conduct class as usual. Maybe I try to be a little better or try to keep the kids, parents, and I a little more entertained during the lesson. I’ll admit I have a little less fun with the kids most of the time too. I think I really only had one bad class, but the teacher told me that class was very good. Fine with me. I sweat a bit more in that class because it wasn’t going smoothly and the kids forgot old material. When it got a little tense in the room, I switched over to a game. Everyone enjoyed that. I think as long as the parents see that their kids are learning, repeating me, and having a little fun; they’re happy. It’s not too demanding. I think I’m through it anyways. I don’t think there are parents coming on Friday, but I’m probably wrong. The only thing that I really struggle on with parents is going too quickly. You can take your time more and focus on things longer when there’s no parents present. Oh well.  I have no class this afternoon. I have to take a trip over to another part of the city to show up for a visa renewal interview. Sounds important, right? There’s nothing to it. The last time I went, I spent more time waiting for the assistant and other teachers to show up then I spent there. I was at the ‘interview’ for maybe 5 minutes. They looked at me and I handed them some papers and my passport. Done. What a waste of a time.

I was wrong. Naturally. There were more parents today. No matter. I got through them no problem, so I’m finished with the parents. And…..it’s Friday! Yay! Haha. Come on, even when I do nothing on the weekend, I’m looking forward to relaxing and having that option to do nothing. Not entirely sure what I’m going to do this weekend. Been so distracted, as usual. Too many things going on, too many things I want to do, so little time. Going out to dinner tonight, but that’s it for now.

As promised, I got back into the gym this week. Amazing. You know, my body just craves to be in the gym. I’ve stuck with it for years, almost 10 now, so it’s not just something to do, it’s a part of my life. When I’m not exercising and being active, I miss it. I was looking forward to that unfamiliar soreness from entering the gym after being gone for a while. I got it. I’ve been pretty sore overall this week. Bring it on. That’s how you know you’re doing a good job. I’m praying I can stay injury free for a while. If I can manage to not get sick, that would also be great.

My hunger is starting up again. With the exercise, I need more fuel so I’m craving foods. After I had tonsillitis, about 2 weeks later, I was eating all the time. I mean all the time. I just couldn’t stop thinking about food. I felt like I was 17 again. I just wanted to eat and eat. I guess that was my body getting back to normal. I’m not like that now, but hungrier than I’ve been. After my dinner last night, I had a big bowl of cereal. I haven’t had cereal for 9 months, so I bought a box the other day. I’ve just been snacking on it lightly, waiting for the right moment to have a bowl of it. Don’t worry, I made it count. It was Trix. They’re not just for kids, silly rabbit. I’ve been drinking hot water and honey and tea like it’s my job. It’s so hard to get my throat back on track. It’s pretty good, but I feel it slip again from time to time. I gargle plenty of salt water too. It’s not my fault! I’m a healthy boy. I’m just up against too many odds. It’s cold, the air quality is poor, and I’m using my voice all day. That’s 3 strikes. I’m out. But I’m hanging in there. “Sometimes a guy will give you a strong grip, late release, and pull you in for the too close conversation.
To him I say 'That's three strikes; you're out!” That’s a Seinfeld quote if you didn’t catch it.

Some things. My room is a bit disheveled. I don’t understand. It was perfect two weeks ago. So easy to fall into disrepair. I bought two plants a while back. Now, one is dying. Perhaps the leaves are just changing colors because it’s autumn? The other one seems ok. Time is moving fairly quickly now since I’ve got to figure out what I’m doing next year. That always happens, doesn’t it? If you’ve got nothing going on, then it slows down to the speed of a tortoise. But wait, the tortoise wins the race!? I think I’m on to something. I’m hooked on walnut milk. My roommate recommended it. It’s incredible. I’m still drinking coconut milk too.

I’ll tell you some more about school and the kids and how they are. I’ve been jotting little notes down to help me remember what I wanted to talk about during school hours. I guess I’ll start off with Maria. She’s a new girl, not Asian, in one of my classes. The class loves me. (All of my classes do, come on.) This is the same class that always tells me if another student has a hood or not so I can put it on their head. We laugh and can have fun, but still learn as well so it’s a good atmosphere. At this point, like most of my classes, I know the abilities of individual children and the class as a whole. I know who the clowns are, who pays attention, who get easily distracted, and so on and so forth. There always exceptions and kids can surprise you from time to time, though. In Maria’s case, for the first 2 days, she was quite shy. She wouldn’t come up and do the introduction greetings with the other kids. If I asked her to repeat something, she most likely wouldn’t and it was a chore trying to get her to do so. I’ve had kids last like this for months. Having dealt with my dog, Goober, I know how to handle that kind of situation. I know, I’m comparing kids to a dog. But there are similarities! You can’t force the child or push them too much. You just need to let them work at their pace and they’ll come around when they’re comfortable. Maria was comfortable within the 3^rd day of class surprisingly. She came up and did the introduction greeting with another student without any objections. She was so comfortable that she leaned up against me while doing so. I’ll put my arm around kids and things like that and kids will do the same to me. Some will lean, or put their arm around me, or sit on my lap. Within a week, she’s one of the top students in the class. She learns so quickly, has a great memory, and with my encouragement, she’s proud of doing well and shouting out the answers. I was really impressed.

There are some other kids were mentioning from this past week as well. This is now the week from the 6^th to the 12^th. I have this girl Eileen in one of my younger classes. When she yells out the answers with the rest of the kids, it’s hilarious. The teachers nearby and myself can’t help but laugh. It kind of has the tone like one of those horns going off from ship’s coming in or leaving the harbor. It’s so loud and blaring. She even drags it out. When I talk with her one on one, she’s quite shy and her voice is the complete opposite. That makes it even funnier.

I’m not sure what’s going on with my school and their extracurricular activities. Sometimes kids will be missing from my classes or I’ll see some kids wandering down the hall with a teacher. I have no idea if these kids have been recruited or their parents are paying for some kind of extra activity. Recently, I’ve seen both some kind of karate or some form of martial arts and basketball.  I’ve seen piano playing with a child or two from time to time since I’ve been in the school. These other two sessions involve a lot more kids and the gym is utilized. I had asked one of the teachers why these particular kids were involved, and she said perhaps because they were big. That answer seems unlikely seeing how basketball contains little Sherry from one of my young classes and plenty of other small kids. Sherry listens quite well, though. She follows the stretching instructions like it’s her job. Andy, whom I’ve mentioned occasionally, listens equally as well during the martial arts. He has what appears to be the determination of a cat trying to catch a mouse. They seem pretty determined from what I’ve witnessed? Maybe not. Regardless, he’s determined. He looks like a statue when he’s going through the different motions. I think he would hold one of those poses all day if he was instructed to do so. I was amused with this. It shows even more truth in my previous knowledge that Andy only listens when he’s interested.

I’ve had a couple chants going on this week in several classes of mine. One, maybe two of my baby classes started a ‘Hello Jeff!’ chant. They just continued in unison as I entered and I cheered them on with a fist pumping in synch.  They stayed strong longer than I thought they would. Another one of my classes will cheer me on with ‘Jia you Jeff!’ anytime I get into an ‘altercation’ with a student. It’s all in a joking manner before or after class, but I may pick a student up or just mess with him in some way or another. Kids ,man. They’re just as bad as adults, trying to stir up trouble. Haha. It works. It just makes the opposing kid even more resistant. I simply will pick him up and spin him or something like that. They used to cheer against me during these little brawls, but I guess they realized I will always be victorious. Take that you little punks. Me and Tom always face each other and pose like we’re about to spar. I beckon him over with the hand motion while my arm is extended. He always gives me the shaking of the head to signify no, so I’m forced to approach him and he usually attempts to run. When resistance becomes futile, he drops to his knees and screams through his laughing. One day he started giving me a massage too. I thanked him and he proceeded. He’s quite professional. There have been a few times where I’ve had several kids attempting to give me a massage or perhaps trying to just hit me. Tom usually heads that little force and directs them otherwise. Awesome.

I probably witnessed one of the sweetest little child moments ever in another baby class. I actually have two sets of white boy twins, but this instance regards the younger ones. I picked up one of the twins because I’m always picking kids up and most love it. Not all, but most. I usually disregard the ones that don’t enjoy it and continue anyways and attempt to make them comfortable with a smile and some laughter. Usually works. Not always. Well, I picked up one of the twins and his already big eyes practically fell out of his head. His face was terror stricken.  One of the teachers noticed this and laughed over it. She picked him up and asked him if he liked it or not in Chinese. He spoke no words, but tears began to form in his eyes. She proceeded in asking him for a time, and then put him down. Tears then streamed down his face. He didn’t make a sound, though. His brother quite enjoyed being picked up. He tends to smile more, and I’m guessing he’s the older of the two, despite being twins. He proceeded to hug his brother and with both hands attempted to wipe the tears from his face. It was adorable.

Kids are also quite observant to the littlest things. Earlier in the week, I cut my finger. It wasn’t a terrible cut, but a mere band aid wasn’t good enough for the job. It just kept annoyingly bleeding, so I had to pick up some gauze for the job. How I cut myself? Ha. I was washing a glass, and my fricken hand can’t fit in the glass so I kind of force it in there to try and get the bottom when I’m washing it. This time I pushed a little too hard and broke the glass. You can take it from there. It was more bothersome than anything else. Just about all the kids in my classes noticed the gauze on my finger and inquired about what took place. I did my best to explain through hand motions. I don’t think it really got through.

I got a few hugs from some of my favorites this week that made the week a little better. I even got a big hug from an old favorite, Daisy. I see her sometimes in the halls and she begs to be picked up like the rest of the kids. I’ll admit, she gets picked up a little more than the rest of them. Sorry, I like her better! Besides, she’s so light. Dunny also gave me a few big hugs and so did his fellow classmate, John. There were a few others that I appreciated as well.

I’ll tell you about my weekend in the next post. It’ll be out shortly.

-Jeff