- So nice to come home after a long day at work, do some homework (I'm taking a class) and have my socks folded. Really, who wouldn't want that? If I could go back and do college over again, I would hire an ayi. Such a blissful feeling to have a clean apartment! That means no procrastinating on the homework too!
- It's a game of hide and seek. She's still rearranging my things a bit. So I have to use my Chinese logic and think, now where would I put that in China? There is a drawer of wooden dowels I explained last time, I had no clue what to do with it. Thank you ayi, this is genius!
- Plus, doesn't it just make you so happy to walk into your room and see Brown Sugar just WAITING for you! I cannot explain the weird simple happiness that fills my soul when I come home.
Doors in China are a fickle thing. The Chinese rarely heat or air condition any space, so there is really no reason to shut the door, because there is no "bought air" to keep in. This has created a mass culture clash and that battles have been raging all week. Not sure yet who will win the war ...
- At Cup of Joe, there's a nice little fire place and a sofa where I like to read in the mornings. I miss my coffee shop culture of the Northwest. I've perfected my evil eye look each time a local comes into Cup of Joe and leaves the door open. I'm thinking of asking Julie (HS Science teacher) to conduct an experiment on exactly how long it takes the shop to go from 70 degrees to 40 degrees, because I'm pretty sure it's about 20.4 seconds. Grrrrrr. Heating back up from 40 to 70 takes more like 20.4 minutes. Erich (owner of Cup of Joe) always smirks at my evil eye, but he usually closes the door for me.
- At school, the teachers have been trying to convince our handy man Jackie that the rooms are too cold. He always walks into the classroom and says, "It's fine". And I say, "Jackie, you're wearing your coat. We shouldn't have to wear coats in the classroom, or the nap room!" Jackie's solution was to tape my back door shut (there's about an inch of space between the door frame and the door, allowing a healthy winter breeze throughout the day). I've now hit the door once, and one of my elves has walked into it twice.
- Yesterday, it seems the heaters have finally been fixed, and with a taped door, at least some of it stays inside the classroom. I walked in and immediately felt a heat wave. WOOT! I walked back out to turn the thermostat down, but then I thought, silly me! That means I can take my down jacket off instead! :)
- I've also noticed, the Chinese are a lot more prepared for the cold than the whiny Westerners (myself included). Their clothing is thicker, and they all wear full body under armor. The cold doesn't seem to phase them. I'm thinking I should invest in some local attire. If only, I could find something without fur, leopard print, rhinestones, or animal ears.
- And finally ... I'm guilty of being a hypocrite. Last Saturday on the bike ride we found an orchid farm inside greenhouses. The workers offered to let us go inside to have a look. I don't think I've ever been in a greenhouse before, but I was shocked when I walked in from the 32 degrees to find 80 degrees. Unfortunately, I was the last one to enter, and when I noticed Erich smirking at me, I realized that I had forgotten to shut the door behind me. Guilty. One of the workers shut it. I almost killed a bunch of orchids! I'm a little more forgiving now at Cup of Joe.
- I know I know, the worst thing in my life right now is a culture fight over doors. Woe is me!
At School:
- The elves know they're supposed to be relatively quiet in the hall, and sometimes they take this too seriously. The even shush me when I make a noise but it was too funny when one of them got the hiccups shortly before going to nap time.
Elf 1: *hiccup*
Elf 2: "SHHHHH!
Elf 1: *hiccup*
Elf 2: "SHHHHHHHHHH!"
Elf 1: *hiccup*
Elf 2: "SSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
How to explain that hiccups are completely involuntary?
- Monkey See, Monkey Do! Still a very common theme this week, this time in the form of copy catting phrases. As they're building in the block center ... here are some examples:
- Elf 1: "My house!"
- Elf 2: "My house!"
- Elf 3: "My house!"
Elf 2: "My race car!"
Elf 3: "My race car!"
Elf 1: "My race car!"
Elf 3: "My coche!" ("car" in Spanish)
Elf 1: " ..... ???"
Elf 2: "No."
Knitting Club:
This is Jeff, from the UK. He was a regular on Sunday evenings before we even schedule our knitting club for that time. And luckily he's a fisherman. So this is the common occurrence on Sunday evenings:
Me messing up, me unravelling my work, me knotting the yarn, and Jeff fixing it.
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