Hair Moments

Blonde Hair Moments.
- On Friday, I gave my elves a spelling test, their first one. I very smartly took down our word wall just in case students could see the spelling words from their desks. About half way through the test, several elves pointed out that the daily morning language exercises on the board contained a lot of spelling words (on purpose, I wanted them to practice that morning). Oops. Then they pointed to the Language Arts paragraph we were revising on the wall, which also had spelling words. Double oops. My elves are too honest.
- Mandarin Language mistake of the week: I was reading sentences at the end of a chapter on radical characters. The character for horse is also almost the exact same as the character for a question mark. You just add a box in the character. So instead of reading: "My bike is broken, can I use yours?" I read, "My bike is broken, can I use your horse" I was thinking how much China still has a long way to go before being a developed country, before I realized my mistake. But really, in any other situation, mistaking a question mark for the word horse would've never made any sense!
- And I guess, maybe the other Mandarin mistake of the week was letting a bunch of the guys at Joe's who were "teaching" me more Mandarin phrases lead me into saying dirty Mandarin words. Luckily no locals were paying attention during the time of my mistakes. Never again!


Red Hair Moments.
- It never gets old when I hear a little one say "Mama, tou fa!" (meaning "Mama, hair!" Of course they're talking about my hair. I need some witty come backs in Mandarin. This happened yesterday at the airport.
- I also get the above reaction when grocery shopping. I was getting really annoyed because it was happening WITH EVERYEONE in the grocery store, but then I realized I was going on the weekends and normally my grocery day is Monday. I forgot that on the weekends, a lot of farther out villages bus their people into Beilun on the weekends. Said far out villagers have never encountered a laowai before, let alone one with red hair. (In reference to this, while we were at the airport picking up the new MS Science teacher, Dana and I waited as the lady in front of us made several terrified attempts to get on the escalator, clearly a far out villager. I hope she wasn't the one going on the airplane, because that would totally blow her mind!)
- Obviously, all the Chinese have black hair. Some put dark brown highlights in, just to be different. And the super radical ones put a more orange/red/yellow color in their hair, which isn't actally too far off my hair color. Yesterday I shared an elevator with one of these radicals with bright yellow/orange hair. It was super awkward because she STARED at my hair and I had no way to get away. I could just see the cogs in her brain clinking as her mind screamed, "How?!?!?!?! How do you get that color?!"


Personal @ school victory.
Last year my elves were trained to look at what needs to be done in a task, and just finish it, no matter the quality of their work. Once they were done, they could do whatever they wanted, like draw on the board. This has been driving me bonkers this year, because they're always yelling, "Finished!" and then they go for my white board markers. They do everything to race through their work, so I've been trying to untrain them.
On Friday, I had my elves revise a fake paragraph I had written that contained many of their common grammar mistakes (the same one that I accidently left up during the spelling test). We revised it first, then editted, and when we couldn't read it anymore for all of the corrections, I rewrote the whole thing with corrections on the white board. I read it through to them and then asked, "Are we done?" There was a resounding "Yeeaa--- noooooooo! We missed a period there. That needs to be capitolized. We should change this 'and' to say, ´later´ .. " and it just kept going! Inside I was doing mini jumping jacks, cartwheels and star jumps for excitement! Finally! A task they wanted to do well, instead of just get done. Or maybe they've figured out they don't get to do anything exciting if they finish early ....

Edited. New and Improved!

I wanted to add a story or two to my last blog post. But then the stories piled up. So here's a whole new post!

Soccer:
This weekend we had a soccer surprise! Joseph normally arranges our games, but he is now moving back to Hong Kong. He told Enrique the he had a soccer surprise for us this last Sunday. When we showed up on Sunday, we found that our opponents were the select best players from the last 5 teams that we played. Oy! When we play in Beilun, we're undefeated, so they were just waiting for an opportunity to beat the foreigners. And they did! And for the second time (other than the Ningbo tournament) I discovered that our team members don't always have the best sportsmanship! Easy to be a good sport when you win :)

TIC . This.Is.China.

TIC @ School:
Snoopy. Everything has to be fun in China. There are no normal pencil sharpeners here, they are all in some fun shape, usually an animal. I kept borrowing cows from Beth. And then when Line asked, "Can you fix my ladybug?" I knew it was the pencil sharpener without hesitation. So I bought a snoopy dog house and a frog.

This morning while I was writing math problems on the board, my Taiwanese elf asked offhandedly if I could write the problem in Chinese. While he was focusing on solving the problem, I did write the Chinese characters on the board. When he looked up, it was just shock and awe. In his little voice he asked me to read them. When I did, he stared at me in wonder and said, "Miss Lanham, you are soooooo strong!!"

In science we're learning about living things and doing experiments with plants. We already have a plant named Fred from three teachers ago. Now we have two new plants. I like the names.

I had to sub in 6th grade science today. !$#)=(#"$(/)"#! The dreaded sub job that I NEVER took in Bellingham. Oh you would like me to sub for middle school science? *click, hangs up phone* But here I can't hang up the phone if I don't want the sub job.
In the middle of class, one student asked me, "Who created the periodic table?" Oh shoot ... don't panic. Think. Keep your cool. Oooooooh yeah! "Mendeleev" *said calmly and with confidence* ... Phew! Dodged a bullet. I am still the all-powerful, all-knowing teacher figure that I should be.


Spacing is important. She's supposed to write, "Ms. Carney is exctied." But that is not what I read..

Correct sound/letter association is important too. I believe that is supposed to say, "for the week"

TIC out-and-about:
I know that the Chinese don't drink a lot of milk, but just in case ... here is the recipe for eating cereal:
1. Pour cereal.
2. Pour milk.
3. Add spoon.
4. Smile with your mom.

Matt and Julie were in Shanghai this weekend for a baby doctor appointment (So excited! Twin boys are on the way this November!!) and because of this visit, they were able to visit some western grocery stores. They kindly replaced the brownie box that I had ruined with some extra instructions:

And a good trip to the not-western grocery store reminds me of all the excellent forms of meat there are to buy:

Also, in case any of you have the desire to be good listeners to some excellent ranting, I have a few stories about parents that I can share. But not here :)

A Day in the Life of School

These kiddos are having a little difficulty saying my name. For the most part, they no longer say TEACHER! So that's good. So, here's what they've come up with so far:
- Miss Lanham. Trying to pronounce it normally but tripping over their tongues.
- Miss Lemon. I gave them this clue, since two years ago, my Spanish speaking kindergartners couldn't pronounce Lanham either, and Lemon was just easier.
- Miss Lan-ham. Since there's an /h/, apparently it must be heard.
- Ham. Your name has Ham! That's in a book. Hey! Miss Green Eggs and Ham!!



We were going discussing even and odd numbers, I was letting them talk it out before we created a rule.

Me: "The number 1, odd or even?"
Elf: "Odd, because it's not fair."
Me: "It's odd, because it's not fair?"
Elf: "Yes, it's not fair. If you have one candy and two kids, you cannot share it. 1 is odd."

Later, we created a rule that said, all even numbers end with 2, 4, 6, 8, 0. And all odd numbers end with 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.

While I was being silly, I asked, "So I could have a number like a gazillion and million and two. According to our rule, would that number be odd or even?" Before anyone could answer, my one little Chinese elf in the back, who rarely says anything at all, looked at the number with all the zeros in it and said, "That's not a gazillion and million and two. That's one billion and two." I counted the the zeros. He was right.


Also, look out. Pandora is no longer kid friendly. I was listening to the music while my elves were at Mandarin class when an ad came on, "How is your sex life?" And then it when on in great detail about ways that I can improve it. Pandora needs a school friendly option! Oy. Can't imagine if the kiddos had been in the room. I know I'm normally rooting for their comprehension in English, but that is one time I really hope they would have no clue.


Getting Spoiled:
A lot of people have said that you get spoiled when you live here. Many of us went home for the summer, or moved to new countries this year and had this realization. We all pamper ourselves differently. Manicures, pedicures, facials, massages ... but I prefer the hair salon. Love getting my hair washed! Alice has translated for Peter before, and he says he's too afraid to do anything dramatic with my hair, like a hair cut. One of the other teachers has been wearing a hat this week. Apparently she went in for a routine cut, and came out with bleached yellow hair, only a giant chunk in the back. Ahhhhh.


It's a flower pot!

Erich was told that he could no longer have his cast iron "Cup O' Joe" fire pit out in front of the cafe, which is shame since it was a really neat gift from one of the factories that makes pieces for oil rigs here. But as you can see, it's no longer a fire pit, it's a flower pot! The guards said, "Okay." and walked away. Apparently the same thing worked with the BBQ.

A Week in the Life of China

Constant sweating. Constant. Especially since my classroom a/c was not working. It was just a constant sticky sweat. Ugh. It's 80's when I wake up at 5 am, and maybe it's the humidity, but it feels so much more intense than Spokane 80 degrees. And that's at 5 am. When Line and I walked to RT Mart and back, we joked that on the way back, the eggs that we had bought were hard boiled. Now cooking mac and cheese in my kitchen, I am mystified that it actually takes some time for the water to boil. I only a/c the family room. But as I complain, I can't believe that we actually have blue sky, hallelujah!!! Real blue sky! And last night, I kid you not, I saw stars!

School with a real blue sky!!

Blue sky, river back to normal, and hills that I want to return to with my mountain bike!

Being a Red Head.
This happened last year, but it happened again, on the first day of school. My students really wanted to know, "What's all over your face?" The correct response would've been angel kisses, but I really wanted to say, "A serious and highly contagious disease, so make sure you give Miss Lanham her space."
The next day, since my classroom had no a/c, I pinned my hair up in a loose bun (off my neck) and I guess I was wearing a style that was a little old fashioned because Line took one look at me and said, "My God, you look like Anne of Green Gables!" Now I understand that as a red head, I automatically look like every other red head that ever existed, and I get this a lot, and even though Line is from the islands close to where the story of Anne happened ... I looked in a mirror and I really think I did have her look down. Especially the hair!


Soccer.
It's back! All the regular routines, including the knitting club. This is the first time I've seen the team since my epic debut in the Ningbo news. I am "famous" and the "star". This wasn't helped by the fact that I scored in the first 5 minutes. The ball was quite bouncy, as was the field, and a few lucky bounces did help. Typically a team is not happy to be scored on so quickly, but they all fell over laughing, literally on the ground laughing, at their two teammates that I had beat. I was not underestimated again, but any time I did anything, it was met with a lot of laughter, good, friendly laughter.

Driving through town.
I took some video of my tour with my aunt, and I was surprised how interesting people thought the streets look. To me at this time, it just looks like normal China. I took this short one on the way back from soccer, since Leo was driving (a very good driver) and I was sitting shotgun. I've tried taking video in the taxis, but the drivers stare at me funny, and their driving is so erratic that it's hard to keep the camera steady. Still, youtube detected that my video is "shakey" but I asked them not to fix it. You get the real experience :)

Chinese neighbors :)
I got in the elevator and my ear drum was just about blown out by the lady talking on her cell phone. I'm not sure why, but it seems if they are talking to family members, or on the phone, the Chinese speak VERY LOUDLY. I always have to remind myself that they aren't always angry, because it sounds like it, but they really aren't. It seems that the longer distance the phone call, the louder they need to yell, and I really want to explain that this is not the case, but my Mandarin isn't good enough.  Nida, (Head of School's wife and my new neighbor) said she thought that a Chinese family lived in my place based on the decorations from last Chinese New Year that are still up on my door. She thought I was the first quiet Chinese family that she had ever met (or I guess not met, since they hadn't seen the people living in my apartment. 

The Week Before School - Disasters

Disaster 1: Typhoon Haikui.

View from the lobby.

Li Ren Gate.

Enough shown.

Disaster 2: Brownie Double Fail
I didn't get the chance to go grocery shopping before the typhoon hit, so I was an incredible mooch during the storm. In order to give back, I offered to make brownies, since I brought brownie mix in my suitcase. I borrowed an egg from Julie and started cooking!
1. Prep oven temperature. Get brownie sheet from cupboard ... wait, where is it? Oh shoot! It's collecting leaking water in the study. *Replace it with a temporary smaller bowl, wash it, moving on*
2. Take out mixing bowl. Open cupboard. Looking ... looking ... oh shoot! It's also collecting leaking water from the study. *Replace it with a temporary smaller bowl, wash it, moving on*
3. Dry dishes. Hmmm, all towels are sopping wet. *Air dry*
4. Mix brownies, put in oven. Skype Dana.
5. 20 minutes later ... "Dana, the brownies are boiling. Why are they boiling?"
6. Another 10 minutes. "Dana, they're still bowling... I don't get it."
7. Turn oven off. Go to Dana's, brownie-less. Go over with Dana everything I did. Put in water? Yes. Put in vegetable oil? Yes. Put in egg? Oh shoot!!
I went running back to my apartment, with a new egg, determined to rectify my mistake by mixing up a new batch. On my way, in the elevator, I ran into my Head of School and a colleague, returning from a bike ride IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TYPHOON. They reported that the neighborhoods just north of us were waist deep in water. Since I now live on the same floor as my HoS, he rode the elevator with me, and as the door opens, the whole floor smells like brownies. He said, "MMMmmm, smells like someone's cooking!" Now, there's only two apartments, mine and his. And there I am holding an egg. Nodding. Putting my head down, because I can't offer him boiling brownies, which hopefully aren't boiling anymore since I turned the oven off.

A bit of service.
I am impressed by how fast the waters receded. Thursday morning, translators were sent to the neighborhood that my HoS had visited to ask what they most needed. After school, our staff delivered rice, tp, and soap/detergent to the doorsteps of the houses. At first, many would not accept the help, even though we delivered what they said they most needed. After 3 doors, Dana and I waited out of sight, and our translator was finally able to convince a household to take the goods. After one family had given in, the others flocked to receive the help. Some invited us in and showed us just how high the water got. Pretty incredible. It was hard to distribute the help equally, but they seemed the type of community that sits out on the porch in the evening and chats well after the sun goes down. In the end, we just had to trust that they would be neighborly and share the resources around.

The neighborhood we visited (after the water receded)

Rickshaw ride.
While we were passing out the resources, I wore my fantastic blue polka dot boots, since in places along the way, the water was still a foot deep, and the community was very muddy when we got there. But my feet were sore so I joined Cara and Line for a rickshaw ride back to the school. We also carried a bin of clothes with us (the people had dry clothes somehow and refused help that was not needed). The rickshaw was barely big enough for 2 people, let a lone three with a gigantic box. The driver seemed unconcerned and he helped us in (I sat on Line's lap) and then handed us the box. I didn't know how he was going to start pedaling so I was going to start trying to rock the rickshaw so he could get a little momentum, but with a lurch we just started moving. It was an e-bike! Electric! There was a motor hidden somewhere. Nice! We looked absolutely ridiculous crammed in the back with this little Chinese man, sitting on his bike, and we were just cruising along with apparently no effort, or visible motor. As we approached the group, we were hoping to sneak passed without them noticing, but we were unaware of the pink, cartoon/style kids horn he had attached to his bike. Not my proudest moment in front of my new colleagues, and we laughed until we cried. Maybe we were too tired!

Doodling ...
During the presentations in orientation about how to log onto your computer, I started to lose a little bit of focus. And I started to doodle ...

Julie (HS science teacher) noticed my doodling and was a little bit disappointed. She says if I'm going to doodle, "Science", I need to do it right :)

We're starting class on Monday, my first day as a 2nd grade teacher. I was so excited (I contained it at the time) when my grade team member came to me for advice about reading groups. I am a respected, knowledgeable colleague! I am no longer a glorified babysitter! :) I was feeling pretty darn confident leaving work today (Friday), so excited about Monday. And then ....


Disaster 3. Line and I got stuck on the elevator. Thank goodness we were together. It came to a clunking stop, slipped one floor, and then halted for good. We learned that punching the alarm and telephone buttons enough times, and shouting every Mandarin phrase we knew in a bad English accent gets some prompt service from the guards. Shut the silly laowai up! We were freed after 25 minutes.

You're Like Comin' Home ...

For some reason I have that country song stuck in my head. I'm back in my *temporary* home, and much like coming home to visit you all was just like picking up where we left off, so has it been here. It feels like I never left. You know, except they actually have a highway built out to the airport now, my apartment building is no longer the tallest building around by far, and it seems that there are soo many new faces at Cup of Joe (they no longer know my order by heart, but don't worry, that will soon change!)
Taxi Ride to Get Home:
- Taxi rides are always my favorite stories. My taxi driver couldn't lift my suitcases on his own, and he was noticeably disappointed when we set the first one in the trunk and I swear the whole car dropped at least a foot towards the ground. He didn't have nearly the acceleration power he was used to, but still managed to pull off several foreign taxi cab moves that would make the faint at heart, well, faint.
- He did stare at me for a full thirty seconds (I counted) and briefly checked that he was still on the road only 3 times, before finally asking me what was in my nose :) Not knowing the word for "nose piercing" I simply tried to show him that it's the same as my earrings.

Surprises This Year
- My fish! Last year I adopted some fish from Erich. On breaks the TAs would look after them for me. Whenever we transferred ownership of the fish, we always left him out in the guard station. At the end of the year, when it appeared that no one would be able to take the fish during the summer, Erich suggested that I leave him in the guard station just like I always have, and hopefully they wouldn't suspect that I was abandoning him. When I walked into the guard station yesterday for the first time to clock in, I noticed the guards had adopted the fish, and bought some new friends for him too! 

My fish survived the summer! And now has a few more friends.

- The computer fairy! Or, probably more commonly named, the ayi! I have a computer fairy who turns on the computer before I arrive, somehow even when I arrive early. That's super nice, because these ancient things can take up to 10 minutes to actually boot up, saves me lots of time.
- I did go up to my apartment to learn that I am no longer the only one living on my floor. I share a landing with only one other apartment, and I got so used to the quietness of having my own. Shock of a lifetime when I came to school and learned that I'm actually sharing my floor with our new head of school who is married to the kindergarten teacher. OY! I guess I have to behave now :) Haha.

Me in the News.
My cousin Ian last June sent me a radio show that did a piece on ExPats living in China. The show focused on one of the most common experiences for the expats is that we appear in the local media often. We usually find out by email from our colleagues who read the news and noticed a random picture of one of us. Sometimes we have nothing to do with the article, but sometimes we do. As many of you have already seen, I was featured in an article about a soccer tournament in Ningbo last June. Though our team did poorly in the tournament, the tournament organizers were very excited to have a foreign team, and wanted to feature the only woman in the tournament. I got a lot of responses saying, "Look Kari, you're famous!"
http://www.zj123.com/info/detail-d164919.htm

 Typhoon Haikui:
 - I was lucky to land before the typhoon hit, otherwise I would probably have experienced some delays... The Ningbo area narrowly missed two typhoons last week, one just south of us, one just to the north, but it appears that Haikui will hit us dead on.
 - I've been a little nervous about starting the 2nd grade this year, but I didn't imagine that my biggest challenge on Day 1 would be a typhoon. How to look professional in 90 degree weather when clearly a skirt/dress is definitely won't be practical attire?!
 - Please don't be concerned, Haikui is not a strong typhoon, it'll definitely be breezy, and the parking garages are expected to flood, but otherwise it's just the usual here. We do get tomorrow off of school though!


Cars parking above ground to prepare for Haikui.

Homophones:
- The taxi driver staired at me.
- Our soccer team did pourly.

Really, I don't know how I come up with this stuff!