Hello Mr. Ju-on

So apparently this blog is pretty popular because I'm sure hearing it for not posting for a while. I have a job over here, people! No, I'm just kidding--I really do want to keep up with it more, and hopefully I will. Teaching has been going well... no more cryers, and on Friday I even got some hugs. The kids continue to be a big encouragement.

Typical Kindergarten conversation as occurred today between myself and a really adorable little girl named Rhoda:

Rhoda: HELLO MR. JU-ON!
Myself: Hello, how are you?
Rhoda (after a long pause and a confused stare): RHODA!!
Myself: Hi Rhoda, where are you going?
Rhoda (triumphantly): I'm going to the bathroom!
Myself: Okay, see you later.
Rhoda: See you later Mr. Ju-on!

So cute. Along with my Kindygartners, one of my favorite things over here so far is this park that surrounds a 700-year old pagoda, maybe five or six stories tall, just down the road from my school and apartment. It’s sort of like a hidden treasure of our neighborhood—there and back is maybe a 45-minute walk that takes you down a “real China street”—one with all the smells and sights you could ever want. On the way back from the park the other night we passed a group of maybe forty middle-aged women performing a fan dance with traditional Chinese instruments accompanying them. Crazy cool.

Currently I'm wirelessly connected to the world wide web--in my apartment--a new feature which has me pretty stoked. An ELI person living next door set it up and doesn't mind if I use it as well. Rad and a half.

Let's see, pictures... the first is from the Botanical Gardens, this place our school took us to as a special Teacher's Day outing this past Saturday. It was nice but the trip also began at 7 a.m.--a little too early for me to take many pictures, but this was one cool one. The statue isn't Confucius as I hoped, some famous Beijing writer instead. The second is back from training--the girl in the picture (Brae) just sent it to me. I bought that sweet shirt in Qinhuangdao, and she had the same one from the Gap in the states. So we decided to, as the Chinese would say, "make a photo." Buying t-shirts could very well occupy a lot of my time over here. I'm currently wearing a really cool Mao t-shirt--he's in the middle of a golden sun with his magnificent Mao rays shining down on smiling communist workers.




China is great. Hope you're all well at home, and I'll try to post again soon. By the way, I've gotten all the comments people have posted on here... thanks for them! Take care and long live Chairman Mao!