So, down the street from the school, at the North Market, you can get something called Liu-si-fen (I may be spelling that 100% wrong, but you get the idea) as well as other noodle dishes.
Kate and I have frequented the little stands and we’ve brought students as well.

Today, one of Kate’s students told her that they had all been shut down.

There are (apparently) two reasons. The first reason is that they’re unhygienic. That, I will admit, is true. To be honest though, I’d say that many places here fit under that category. (Which reminds me that I found a little dead cockroach in my apartment today!! They’re back!!!)
The second reason is that they were putting drugs in the food.
That’s right. Supposedly they were trying to get people slightly addicted to the food.
Now, I don’t know if that’s entirely true, but I’d have to say that I wouldn’t find it the most surprising thing if it did happen to be true.

“If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China and the Chinese in Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak out on human rights,” declared Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

I find it a bit surprising that I haven’t heard a word about the Tibet thing from anyone back home…including the ELCA or CWS. I mean, Guangxi isn’t exactly right next door to Tibet, but it sure is close.
Some of the cities I went to last year are closed now because they’re mostly Tibetan and not entirely safe right now.
Is this whole thing not really in the news there? Has no one heard about it?
Kate’s sending agency sent her an email saying that she can go home at any moment if she wants to.

On Friday, Kate and I had an Easter egg hunt with an impressively large group of students.
(Check Flickr for photos)

On Saturday, we went to Liuzhou to meet with 8 other teachers. Kate and I led an Easter Vigil service (modified with condensed readings and other bits cut out) and we all sang wonderful Easter songs together.

We made Easter craft type things, feasted on delicious meals (and amazing candies and snacks from abroad) and played games.

Happy Easter, everyone!

He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

p.s. I have only been getting spam comments lately…even though I tried posting Kate’s quiz in an effort to make my blog more interactive. Is anyone still reading?

Kate and I are having an Easter egg hunt with the students on Friday. This could either be amazing fun or a colossal mess. We’ve brought in eggs for the students to dye at lunch and those are the eggs we’ll be hiding. We did the coloring bit last year, but this is our first attempt at hiding them. Unfortunately, it has been raining/drizzling non-stop for two weeks now, so it might have to be inside. I hope that’s not a problem with any of the administrator-types.
We’ve also created a “silver egg” (couldn’t find gold paint/nail polish) that I’ve put 3 yuan in. They students are incredibly eager to find that one.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this all turns out.

I have been teaching lessons about Easter this week.
It’s quite amusing to see the students confused the idea of the Easter Bunny with Jesus’ crucifixion. I think they finally understand that those are two separate concepts though. Goodness, at least I hope so!
For grade two, this is my second Easter with them, so they learned quite a bit last year…and I must say, it was appalling to see how much most of them had forgotten. I guess that just goes to show how useful my teaching is!
I’m sure it’s probably largely because the entire idea of Easter is something utterly foreign to all but my two Christian students.

Speaking of Christianity, one of my students came to my apartment a couple of times last week and she was talking to me about how she is considering becoming a Christian and she really finds prayer comforting. Of course, given my position, I really couldn’t continue much of a conversation along those lines, but it was a fantastic thing to hear.

All of this talk of Easter has been causing me to develop Easter candy cravings!
I don’t miss Peeps so much, but man…. I sure miss those Reeses Peanut Butter Cup eggs, the little Candbury mini eggs, and the Cadbury creme filled eggs.
Mmmmmmmmmmm…….

I hope that you’re all enjoying those for me.

Kate and I are heading to Liuzhou on Saturday to celebrate Easter with 8 other foreign teachers. The two of us have been put in charge of a Saturday service…so we’re doing a modified Easter Vigil before dinner. Should be interesting. I think it’ll be nice.

Here’s a little Easter quiz that Kate wrote….
See if you can get all the answers:

Easter Quiz

1.What does Mardi Gras have to do with Easter?
a. It’s the first day of Lent.
b. It’s the last day before Lent.
c. It’s the mid-point of Lent.

2.What is the origin of the word ‘Easter’?
a.It was a deity associated with rain and agriculture.
b.It was the name of a spring goddess
c.It was a mythical beast crucified by its herd.

3.What’s the difference between a rabbit and a hare?
a.Rabbits are more often seen in daytime.
b.Rabbits have shorter ears and legs.
c.Rabbits are born covered in fur and their eyes open.

4.Which US president did the first White House annual Easter egg roll?
a.Calvin Coolidge.
b.Theodore Roosevelt.
c.Andrew Johnson.

5.How is the date for Easter calculated?
a.The first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.
b.The second Sunday following the harvest moon.
c.The tenth Sunday after Epiphany.

6.On how many dates is Easter observed?
a.1
b.2.
c.3.

7.What day was Jesus crucified?
a.Good Friday
b.Holy Saturday
c.Easter Sunday

8.Which of these did NOT happen on Maundy Thursday?
a.Last Supper.
b.The feeding of the five thousand.
c.Judas betrays Jesus.

9.What happened on Palm Sunday?
a.Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey.
b.Jesus washes his followers’ feet.
c.Jesus eats the first Easter egg.

10.What kind of Easter egg would Kate like this year?
a. Smarties.
b. Crunchie
c. Mars bar

The Chinese Postal system is not my best friend.
Not even close.

Let me just tell you one recent story…

I needed to send 2 pieces of paper to two different people. However, these papers a rather time sensitive, so I wanted to make sure they didn’t take eons to arrive.

One of my wonderful students, Shelly, accompanied me to the post office closest to the school.
We arrived at 4.40 pm. We were told that yes, they can send each of the envelopes for a shockingly low 3 yuan. However…they would take about 2 months to arrive.
So scratch that. The woman at the post office says that there are two more options. The next one cost 20 yuan or so and will take maybe 15 days, but maybe 1 month. OK, so 15 days is good, but 1 month is absolutely not acceptable. The last option she said will cost 100 and will be there in 10 days. That sounds much better. Pricey (for two pieces of paper!) but the timing is much better.

Then, it turns out that this post office actually doesn’t do that. So the woman called the other post office across town and asked them to stay open for us.
We grabbed a ’san ma’ (3-wheeled local transportation) and rushed over.
It took an hour to get the paperwork and get it translated and sorted out. Seriously. It should not have taken that long. Finally, they enter them into the computer system and take them to be sent out.
He turned to me and said “si bai wu shi yuan”

What???!! 450 yuan? You have got to be kidding. (you can google it to see the exchange rate. That is quite a steep price for just some papers, especially to someone whose bank account is not what anyone would consider ‘full’)

We are now past the point of no return. I can’t get my letters back, so I have to pay.
Embarrassingly, I didn’t have enough cash on me (who just carries that around anyway?) and I hadn’t brought my ATM card. Shelly offered to lend me the money and I had to accept her offer since it was my only option. (I did promptly pay her back the next day, for the record)

So, that is just one of my terrible moments with the Chinese Postal Service. I could honestly fill a book with annoying circumstances (like arguing with the employees that I don’t care if the vase breaks, I’m going to send it anyway because I am not going to lug the heavy thing home in a suitcase! or the time that they wouldn’t let me send a CD but the next time I sent chicken feet to the US without a problem)

Anyway, I’m not the only one who has these problems.
My fellow Amity teacher wrote a little poem about it for the 2005 Amity Echo (a newsletter for all of us out here) and she very kindly allowed me to share it with you.

Enjoy:

Ode To The U.S. Postal Service

When listing what I love the most,

I won’t include the China Post!

As Christmas gifts away must go,

The box I need tamen meiyou!

Nor can I pack the box myself;

It must be done by a Chinese elf.

I pay my mao for the manifold;

If I fill it wrong, the clerk will scold!

I took for granted, but now bewail,

The convenience of the U.S. mail!

Two posts in two days!
Now I’m making progress.

It’s yet another dreary type of day here. Last week it was all sunshine and cerulean skies peppered with white, fluffy clouds. As soon as Thursday afternoon crept up on us, so did the rainclouds. Most days since then (it’s Monday afternoon here) have been plagued with gray skies, sprinkles, and showers. Naturally, this is the kind of weather that is conducive to staying indoors and getting things done…right?

Alas, it is not always so for me. Somehow, I find the endless thick clouds distracting and melancholy. Therefore, instead of staying in and actually making progress, I’m staring at book covers and pondering the existence of the word “towards”. (That dilemma is solved, thanks to my trusty friend www.dictionary.com- Usage Note: Some critics have tried to discern a semantic distinction between toward and towards, but the difference is entirely dialectal. Toward is more common in American English; towards is the predominant form in British English.)

There are things to be planned and finished. There are things to be sent, taken care of, and applied for. I am certainly well aware of these things. They eat at my inner stomach lining like soft, black leeches with sharp teeth. I know I need to take care of them, but I just can’t seem to get myself to move. Perhaps this is what it feels like to be a sloth in a tree. (I was always terrified those creatures as a child…photos in science books made them look mean and dirty)

The cracks in my bedroom floor tiles are getting worse. You know, I’m not sure I’ve mentioned them before. Sometime last term, a tile developed a crack. Then it began to spread. When I came back from the holiday, the tiles had begun to move up as though some force was putting pressure on them from below. It’s really quite strange. Mary (co-teacher/friend/waiban-foreign affairs assistant) was over here today to take a look at it, so I’m expecting that it’ll get fixed sometime in the near future. It’s certainly not life-threatening, so I’m not terribly bothered about it, to be honest. Mostly I just think it’ll get worse and it’ll be more work for the school if I just let it go. For now, I just avoid those two tiles (which are unfortunately directly behind the chair I’m sitting in at the moment.

Here’s a sign of how behind I’ve gotten with my emails. My dear friend Cynthia sent me a link to download some music ages ago (I honestly don’t know the exact date) and I didn’t bother to download them until last week and I didn’t even get a chance to listen to the album until today.
I’ve certainly been missing out. It’s an album by Alela Diane called “The Pirate’s Gospel” and it’s absolutely fantastic. Highly recommended. Perhaps a bit behind the times, but recommended nonetheless.
Now playing: Alela Diane - The Pirate’s Gospel
via FoxyTunes

I just got word that a fellow Amity teacher was “was injured in an unfortunate encounter with a dog” recently. He’s now in the hospital being treated and he got the lovely rabies injections. Ugh! Scary thought. I suppose I ought to be more careful than I am currently when it comes to animals.

I think I’ll end this post with a photo from my trip in Sumatra as a tribute to sunnier days.

When I feel stressed out, sometimes I suppose that my mind tries to find something else to distract me.

For example, for the past couple of weeks…maybe the past few, I’m losing track of time these days…. I have been stressed out about a variety of decisions that needed to be made. (I’ll explain some of this soon when I can say more for sure)
This explains why I haven’t been posting here at all. It’s not due to a lack of significant events or extraordinarily dull days (something either amusing or frustrating happens here on a daily basis, to be honest. I’m certainly not short of material); it’s just because I have been too distracted to even think straight.

That’s where the problem started.
My tooth began to hurt.
When I ate something sweet, it seemed to hurt. I kept thinking about cavities. The more I thought about it, the more it hurt. Therefore, it seemed logical to me: I must have a cavity- maybe three or four! The pain increased. I Googled tooth cavities and examined my teeth in the mirror. I was absolutely certain that I saw one and then another two possible cavities further back in my mouth.
If you know me at all, you know that I am absolutely terrified of needles. I couldn’t really tell you why, I just know that the sight of one, even on television, makes me sick to my stomach, weak in my knees, and more than just a little shaky. It’s embarrassing. Truly embarrassing.
(Does anyone else out there have crazy fears like that, or is it just me?)

Well, I’ve had one filling my whole life and I hated it. I really hated it. The needle in my gums was by far the worst part. I had no idea they were going to do that. So, needless to say, the idea of needles and a filling in China worried me. I could just leave it until I get home, but what if it got worse?

Kate finally suggested that I talk to our friend/co-teacher/new waiban’s assistant, Mary (not her real name, that’s just her English name) and ask her to take me to get my teeth simply looked at. Kate is so smart sometimes.
So Mary and I headed out to the dentist. About four or five yuan later, I was sitting in a dentist’s chair and a Chinese woman was poking around my teeth and explaining things to Mary. I, frustratingly, could not understand a word and also couldn’t ask for a translation when I had a metal stick-thing in my mouth. Somewhere at the end of her comments, I heard “mei you” which I took as a good sign. (It means “don’t have”)

Turns out….absolutely nothing wrong with my teeth.
In fact, they clean teeth there, but they recommended that I not even bother with that because my teeth don’t even need cleaned (not what I’d hear from a dentist in the States, I’m sure). She just said there are some spots in the back that could develop into cavities if I’m not careful, but to be honest, I’ve heard that for years. (I guess these things don’t get better)

Funny enough, my toothaches seem to have disappeared since then. Odd, eh?

I guess that just goes to show how ridiculous I can be when I’m under stress.

More later.
This time I really promise.
(If any of you believe me anymore!)

—————-
Now playing: AIR - Alone In Kyoto
via FoxyTunes