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