This Week

Here's some things that happened to me this week:

I was asked to perform "My Heart Will Go On" with 10 of my students in front of the whole school at the Children's Day assembly in a few weeks. 

My friend Ada returned from her honeymoon to Hainan.  A few weeks ago when I asked her about her wedding, she said she was calm about the wedding itself, but excited for her life after it, which I think is the best possible way to feel about marriage and I'm really happy for her.

I'm teaching my students about the planets and space.  I asked my fifth graders what their favorite planet was, and one girl told me that Earth was her favorite because it has food.  She also told me she didn't want to go to the moon because it has no food.

I finished reading Red Sorghum, a book by the Chinese Nobel Prize winning author Mo Yan.  It was incredible and beautiful and taught me a lot about Chinese history but also reminded me how little I know about Chinese history even after living here for so long.

On Monday I went to the post office to send a graduation gift to some of my favorite Carls.  I love going to the post office, because the lady who works there is so friendly.  The first time I went there in October, it was obvious that she had never met a foreigner before, and I think she probably had never sent mail internationally.  Also, there was a very very big language barrier at that time, so all I could really do was repeat "meiguo" (America) over and over while pointing at a pile of postcards.  Now, she's used to me and it seems like she's happy to see me, which is all I can really ask for.

For some reason our school installed security cameras all over campus, including three in the first grade hallway and one in the hallway where my apartment is.  It's vaguely unsettling.