is what my students yelled when they saw the first slide of my powerpoint to acknowledge the very Western Pagen holiday.
I made a second grader cry when I showed her class a video of an animated haunted house. It was a cartoon. C'mon.
Dialogue between teacher and student-
Me: If you could dress up as anything or anybody for Halloween, what would you be?
Sixth grade male student: I would be Obama.
Me: Interesting choice. Why would you be Obama?
Sixth grade male student: I would be Obama because I think he very handsome.
Me: <no response>
At least my students are speaking in nearly complete sentences.
Another dialogue between teacher and student;
Fifth grade female student: I don't like Halloween.
Me: Why don't you like it? It is supposed to be a fun holiday.
Fifth grade female student: It is too scary.
Me: <no response>
Clearly something got lost in translation when Halloween was first introduced to China.
Can't wait to start teaching about Christmas. . .
Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
New Roommate
Please meet Mr. Shelby. He was given to me and named by my 5th graders.
I think he may need a turtle hospice. He has not been very active as of late, but he's definitely still alive. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated at this time.
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Musique
5 years in Philly and I never played a proper gig.
10 weeks in China and I'm playing a Saturday night in one of the hot spots in Shenzhen.
http://www.shenzhenstuff.com/events/the-jafarians-live-enigma
I heart China
Documentation of the evening:
10 weeks in China and I'm playing a Saturday night in one of the hot spots in Shenzhen.
http://www.shenzhenstuff.com/events/the-jafarians-live-enigma
I heart China
Documentation of the evening:
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Vague Chinese Holiday Makes Way for Grimy Asian Adventure
The first week of October is known as National Holiday. I know nothing about this other than the entire country has off for a week and everyone either goes to their hometown or to a tourist attraction. Because my hometown is over 8,000 miles away, I opted to travel to a Chinese city called Yangshuo. It is known for its gorgeous and unusual landscape of limestone mountains with the Li River cutting through the city.
After a 10 hour ride on a sleeper bus, we arrived in Yangshuo at 5am and navigated ourselves to the grimiest hostel I've ever stayed in. It doubled as the home of the owner and his entire family (brother, sister, sister-in-law, niece, mother and other unidentified family members).
Our first trip was down (or up) the Li River on a bamboo raft. The first half was delightful as we admired the beautiful scenery and attempted to chat with our raft driver in Chinese. The second half was awkward because Sean and I had refused to look at or purchase the photos that were taken of us going down a little ramp that our driver surely received a cut of.
Every lunch and dinner was spent on the main street in Yangshuo called West Street. It was full of both Western and Chinese restaurants, bars, shops and carts selling handmade goods. The hours between 6pm and 10pm reminded me of Venice in the summer or when I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Spectrum when I was 14 and I was at the very front in general admission and I thought I was going to die from the sea of people. I did make good purchases of silk pashminas and handmade jewelry and bargained a T-shirt from 95 kuai ($15) to 30 kuai ($5).
Day 2: we were awakened at 4:40am by the owner's brother telling us we had to leave right away in order to make it to the motorized bamboo raft ride. We were so early the boat drivers weren't even there. The scenery was beautiful, but it was difficult to enjoy because of the obnoxious hour and cold temperatures.
Day 3: it poured all day. We didn't even leave the room.
Final Day: rode bikes to Moon Hill Cave where we striped down to our undergarments and some to nothing! and played in both a mud pool and a hot spring. Pinnacle of griminess.
After a 10 hour ride on a sleeper bus, we arrived in Yangshuo at 5am and navigated ourselves to the grimiest hostel I've ever stayed in. It doubled as the home of the owner and his entire family (brother, sister, sister-in-law, niece, mother and other unidentified family members).
 |
| We all fell in love with housemate, Ruby, though she also acted as an early morning alarm clock. |
Our first trip was down (or up) the Li River on a bamboo raft. The first half was delightful as we admired the beautiful scenery and attempted to chat with our raft driver in Chinese. The second half was awkward because Sean and I had refused to look at or purchase the photos that were taken of us going down a little ramp that our driver surely received a cut of.
 |
| Lady was all smiles until we didn't want to buy the pictures |
Every lunch and dinner was spent on the main street in Yangshuo called West Street. It was full of both Western and Chinese restaurants, bars, shops and carts selling handmade goods. The hours between 6pm and 10pm reminded me of Venice in the summer or when I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Spectrum when I was 14 and I was at the very front in general admission and I thought I was going to die from the sea of people. I did make good purchases of silk pashminas and handmade jewelry and bargained a T-shirt from 95 kuai ($15) to 30 kuai ($5).
 |
| West Street by day |
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| West Street by night |
Day 2: we were awakened at 4:40am by the owner's brother telling us we had to leave right away in order to make it to the motorized bamboo raft ride. We were so early the boat drivers weren't even there. The scenery was beautiful, but it was difficult to enjoy because of the obnoxious hour and cold temperatures.
Day 3: it poured all day. We didn't even leave the room.
Final Day: rode bikes to Moon Hill Cave where we striped down to our undergarments and some to nothing! and played in both a mud pool and a hot spring. Pinnacle of griminess.
 |
| Those helmets came in handy |
Overall, it was an experience to see another part of China and a beautiful part of the world. I think the following picture sums up what National Holiday means to me:
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