I had forgotten that it was Halloween, and they shortly told me that they would be going to Shanghai for Halloween, there were parties there. They invited me, and I said I'd love to go with them, but I had to find a costume.
Well the problem of a costume was short lived as the next day I got a call from one of the teachers at the school saying that Friday night the students were having a kind of a show and they had formally invited myself and some of the other Chinese English teachers and the heads of the school. I was told that it was kind of important that I be there, so my plans got changed.
So, Shanghai got scrapped and I went to the students' show which was more of a formal production than I had initially thought. Anyhow, I was warned beforehand that the students would invite me, the new foreign teacher on campus, to perform up on stage. So I decided to keep it simple and just sang "Frere Jacque" (luckily the school leaders had left, so I was just singing in front of a bunch of kids).
Anyhow, not as exciting as Halloween parties in Shanghai would've been, but on the other hand, I seriously had NO idea what I was going to do for a costume!
Also, the other foreign teacher arrived from the states that weekend, so she JUST missed out on having to perform.
So that's something else, as of November 1, I have a neigbor!
The new teacher's name is Ellis. She's from Arizona and just graduated from Wellesley in May. Upon her arrival, I learned that her Chinese was already REALLY good as she's beens studying it for 4 years, and spent a semester last year in Beijing JUST studying the language. I hope I can get that good eventually, but I'm definitely going to have to 努力 (nu li, work hard).
By the way, Ed and mom, here is a picture of my Huzhou bicycle:
nice wheels! But it looks like it IS cold there...at least wet! Bummer on the Shanghai Halloween excursion but at least you have an American living next door!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are enjoying yourself. Stay warm and stay safe!!!
Ma
Nice Bike TJ! I'm glad you got the one with the basket so you can get groceries. You also need to get pink streamers on the handle bars, its the fashion over there, trust me :)
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I read in a business magazine that alot of the Chinese steel factories are just shutting down due to the bad economy, is that true? do you see alot of economic activity being depressed?
Anyways keep having fun over there.
TJ,
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you missed out on the trip to Shanghai, but a quasi Karaoke performance probably impressed the students and staff at the school.
T.J
ReplyDeleteYour pizza looks real good , ofcourse G=ma does not have her glasses on . Ha But really it did look good. We are enjoying your journey with you.
By the way to raise the dough faster, cover the dough with a towel and keep it out of a draft.
Take care G-ma &G-pa
okay, now try to get pictures with You in them...a challenge there...:)
ReplyDeleteMa
You should've bought one of those sweet scooters in the background.
ReplyDelete~Steven