Money for Nothing

So school this week was a bit more exciting. The students have almost all of their textbooks now, and we've started planning field trips and stuff so it's pretty sweet. Monday and Tuesday next week are a track and field day, we then have 7 days off and the first day back we are taking the students on a field trip to see a movie. Keinan is away for all three days as he is flying back to Canada to see his family so Denise and I are running the show with the help of the Chinese staff.

Denise has been recruited because as part of the track and field events there is a jump rope event where you have to run as many people as you can through a rope, each person jumping once, and you keep going until your team is eliminated. The jump rope contest is legitimately the only event anyone seems to care about because I have not seen anyone practicing for any other event plus that. We have also been told that near the end of Tuesday, they do teacher events, that are mainly the running events of track and field, so apparently this guy is going to be trying to beat all the Chinese teachers at sprinting and long distance. We'll see how that goes.

I also confiscated one of my student's phone for the weekend. This is the 4th time her phone has been taken during school. Once by Keinan, once by Denise and twice by me. It was actually kind of amusing to me how distraught she was because she had been told she would lose it for a week next time...but with the National holiday on Wednesday I wasn't keeping it through the holiday. She gets it back on Monday.

Thursday was Radisson Blue night. We had a great buffet with Anthony and the three of us, but even two for one, it was freaking pricey.

I have found one thing about Chinese culture I really do not like. When it is your birthday, you are expected to pay for everything!!! I was invited to dinner tonight through Misty by the sales and marketing manager at the Radisson. It's a woman who I hadn't met yet, but her name is Liz, and she's from Michigan and teaches at a college here. I met her when I arrived at her birthday and didn't know this custom until she's paying the entire bill. I saved $300 Yuan tonight ($60 Canadian) on drinks because the birthday girl, who I didn't know until tonight, paid my bill along with everyone elses. That is a pretty raw deal. Good thing that if things go according to plan, I'll be in New Zealand for my birthday with Loewy and Alana. I better go to bed because I have to be up early on Sunday, because Denise and I are going to go watch Anthony and Misty recite Confucius in Chinese with their school tomorrow morning, bright and early, and I don't foresee an early night tomorrow either.

Keep the questions coming, I'd love to answer any of them if I can.

Until next time,

Easy.