Zao Sheng Hao

Greetings from China, once again.

Sunday I went to the dentist! I went for a cleaning, but I also wanted to see what they could do about these suspicious teeth that hurt when I brush. The facilities were pretty decent actually. But having to work with a translator who doesn't know what a cavity is can be frustrating! My translator was Mark... that married guy who's been hitting on me ya know. yikes. He thought it might be cute to try to comfort me every time I flinched when the dentist poked some sensitive teeth. what a creep!!! The dentist didn't seem too concerned about these teeth that were giving me problems. I am pretty sure i have a cavity but he just said i had a sensitive nerve. i will get a second opinion when i come home. as for now, he patched them up with some amalgum and that will save me from some pains for a while any way. The whole trip cost me about 30 USD. So I can't complain.

Saturday was the day that i finally told the school that I will not be returning next term. I was a little concerned how they would take it, but it went well. They weren't too surprised I guess as I have been hinting on this for some time. So far, no trouble from them. Except Mark. I thought maybe his advances would cease once he knew I made up my mind to not come back. But as you can see from Sunday's dentist apointment, he hadn't given up the idea. I was pretty standoffish since then and perhaps he's gotten the clue. If not, I know I will just have to say something. Me and my nonconfrontational personality issues!!

drama drama drama.

Classes are going fairly well this week. I am doing role play. I give them a situation and some students have to create dialogue and an ending. They mostly do really well. It's a good way to get some to talk. Unfortunately it's impossible to get them all to speak in a single class. There are just TOO many of them!! As the actors prepare I share with the rest of the class some interesting facts like it's impossible to lick your elbow, cats have 32 muscles in each ear, and it's impossible for pigs to look up. Weird factoids. Then towards the end of class we play a version of Boggle on the blackboard. It's fun to see the things they come up with. They end up making up words, and I tell them if they can find it in their dictionaries I will give it to them, so sometimes I end up learning a few words myself! They are to run up to the board and write the words they find, and in the end we see who has the most. They actually get pretty competitive. But these kinds of games are usually only good for one class. After that, it's old news.

Next week they have their mid term exams, so I get a few days off! Yippy skippy! I'd like to go to Sanya, Hainan Island. It's the Hawaii of China. But no one else wants to blow all their money traveling. This is my last chance to see somewhere else! We might just end up going to Bei Hai, where we went last semester during midterms when Nigel was with us. It's a beach. I guess it would be alright.

It's been SOOO hot lately! Amazing how just a couple weeks ago was really cold. Now it's in the near high 80's. It's gross how easily I sweat just standing and teaching! It's hard on my voice too, cuz they've got all these fans going and I have to try to speak louder, and my little voice just can't handle it for more than two classes a day! And the usual is 3, and one day I have 4. Thank goodness tomorrow I only have 1. My easy day! I'm going to send some more stuff home. It's nuts how much stuff I've accumulated since I've moved here. Already I've sent 2 boxes of stuff home to myself. And tomorrow I will send another. And it still looks like I haven't made a dent. It's cheaper for me to mail things home then it would be for me to pay the fees for overweight luggage on the plane.

I looked at the calendar my sister sent me today. She wrote all kinds of really cute and sweet things on special days so that I can remember. I was surprised to see that this Sunday is Easter!! My family has been telling me about saders and stuff like that, but I guess I didn't put 2 and 2 together. I've never missed an Easter Sunday as far as I can remember. But I am glad that I can celebrate and praise the Lord no matter where I am. To be very honest, it's been a dry time for me lately. Please remember me around this special time of remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross and how he gave us new life in Him through his victory over death. And remember where I am and the people that I see every day who need to know what Jesus did for them.

Happy Resurrection day to you!