I haven’t blogged for a few days because I’ve been really busy. On Mondays and Tuesdays I have 3-hour classes in the afternoon. It’s tiring to be “on” for 3 hours at a time to teach/entertain 42 students.
Today was just an early 2-hour class, so I returned to the fabric market. I ordered all female family members a new skirt. Jill’s features a golden dragon, Laurie’s a phoenix, Kristy’s an ox (2009), and Chelsea has a large yin/yang design. I hope you all like them, because there are no returns. The (big) boys are getting no souvenirs, just so you know.
In class today when I attempted to show a Powerpoint presentation on job applications, all that appeared were pictures of my cute grandchildren. (I guess that’s courtesy of you, John.) I told the monitor that the file was there when I tested it on my laptop. She was coming to this campus anyway, so she was able to hook up our two computers and download the proper file to a tiny card that she took out of her cell phone!
I offered to take her to lunch in the dining room. She ordered so many dishes that we were full before they even stopped bringing them. I haven’t spent that much on food in the prior week. But I brought back doggy bags (I hope no pun intended), and I’ll be set for several days.
Speaking of expensive, I ordered a double Hagen Daaz ice cream cone and was charged 59 yuan ($10)! I couldn’t believe it–I had previously bought a pair of shoes that cost less.l
I had been staring at the eyes of the monitor, Alpha, on the bus ride home. There was a blue ring around the brown pupil. She later confided to me that she has more money than her classmates because she sells contact lenses. She orders them online, then sells them on campus to the students. She didn’t explain why Chinese would want blue lenses, but she apparently does a booming business. (That and she knows how to work a free lunch…)
I continue to be amused by the Tshirt slogans. My current favorites are:
NEW BOY and JUICY COUTURE.
I really do love this place. The people are great–both and Chinese and the foreign teachers. Who has more fun than I do?