Hanging out

Zoe and I put up our Christmas decorations on Black Friday. It was a wonderful afternoon! Though the tree is small, it lends its festive spirit to the air. Since putting up the tree, Zoe and I have spent all afternoons and evenings in the living room. I can't wait to put presents under this tree.


We also went to Tunxi and roamed around for 3 hours exploring cafes and shops. We took a bicycle rickshaw to a movie theater. It was only $1!


On November 19, we went and saw Harry Potter 7 Part 1. It was amazing. They had salted butter popcorn! In China, sweet popcorn (like kettle corn) is much more popular than salted popcorn. You can only find salted popcorn in import stores. HP7 was such a refreshing break from all of our work with the students. So we decided to see it twice. After all, it was only 30 kuai, which is roughly the equivalent of $4.50. Opening night. HP7. $4.50. That's all I need to say.

This weekend we have started our acting workshops. We will use these workshops to get acquainted with the students. The students who stand out are the ones who will get called back for final auditions. Will report soon!

Thanksgiving at Xiuzhong

This year, Zoe and I made Thanksgiving dinner for our Xiuzhong teacher friends. We made 10 different dishes: mashed potatoes, stuffing, spaghetti, risotto, quiche, apple pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, cornbread, and fudge.

Our guests included our Chinese tutors, our neighbors, and school administrators.



We also toasted, as is traditional in Chinese dinner banquets.




After the dinner, Zoe and I played with Rae-Rae for a while.



http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjI1MTkwNjY0.html

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sports Day 2010

Last week, our students had their annual Fall spectacular--in the form of a track and field meet. Students began with a display of their marching skills and uniformity.


Students at the beginning of Sports Day doing their morning exercise...


Rae-Rae walked around the crowds to look for oranges!


Mr. Wang, our school liaison, and I...


Rae-Rae drawing with her mother, Ms. Wu (吴老师).


Edward, our Aladdin actor from last year, is a surprisingly great athlete. See below. =)



These are my students right before they were led out for the boys' 400m race.


My students, doing the famous Chinese squat, before winning first place in the relay race. I was so proud!



We did the relay against the other male teachers again. Doug and Aaron kept up pretty well, but unfortunately, Zoe and I were just a few seconds behind! I will say though that it was a great feeling having over 1,000 students cheering your name to the finish line.


I still don't know how to embed youku videos, so here are the links to some of the races.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjE4ODI3OTE2.html
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjE4ODI4MzE2.html

The fellows and I are off to Changsha for our annual Fall Conference. Back in one week!

Haunted House 2010

Because students have class on Sundays, we decided to have our Halloween party on Saturday this year. Doug and I asked our local tailor to make capes for us. Aaron was a clown/generic scary person.


Zhou Bing helped us again, acting as the fortune teller while Doug and Aaron scared students from behind.


I asked a few students to give me their best ghost faces...



Doug and my capes!


I dressed up as a witch this year!


Haven't figured out how to embed Chinese website videos yet, so here's the link to our Haunted House promo: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjE4ODMxNDY0.html

Tonight we're going to a kindergarten Halloween party. Will post pictures later!

Sights in Xiuning

Our neighbor's baby, Rae-Rae, is growing up. She's running around all the time now, so all the courtyard neighbors try to keep an eye on her. Like most babies, she likes to mimic adult behavior. One day, I found her dumping water on the ground only to sweep it away, as adults in China do when babies pee on the ground.



Doug and I were wandering around Tunxi last weekend, and we found some unusual (but typical in China) mannequins in one of the department stores. It's not even Christmas!


I got my nails done as well, and the little salon (which by the way is run by two 16-year-old girls) I go to has hair accessories. Aaron decided to liven up the mood of the salon with a tiara.


Halloween is coming up, so I decided to do candy corn nails!

Dinner #4

We invited Mr. Wang to dinner at our house. His daughter and grandson have moved back to Hangzhou (where they work). We sensed he might be experiencing the empty nest syndrome all over again. Our friend from Guangzhou also came to visit, so it was a good dinner with good company.

This dinner features egg plant, some sort of fern with onions, edamame beans with dry tofu (豆干), and egg pancake with chives (韭菜) (which I made!).

Dinner #3

This evening's homemade dinner includes broccoli quiche by Zoe...


Roasted tomato soup made by Doug...


Baked cauliflower and potato chips by Aaron, caramelized onions by me, and Doug and I made "zucchini" latkes/pancakes. They're modeled after delicious squash latkes called 南瓜饼, which we love to get in Xiuning.