Girls' Night

Amy had some girls over Sunday evening for games and a lesson in cooking Spaghetti. Yum!

Changing Places

We are a bit over half-way through this semester, and we are already planning for next year. After a much-anticipated month long stay in the States this summer, we'll be coming back to our city. However, we will not be at the same university. Amy has already accepted a job at Zhejiang University of Media and Communications, and we will live in the apartment provided by that university. We are excited because this apartment is actually in the community where we teach, so we will no long have the one-hour commute each morning and afternoon. We will also have more time to hang out with friends. Matt has a tentative job offer from another university; however, he is also considering studying Chinese next semester, instead of teaching. He is still pretty undecided, so keep this in mind over the next few weeks.

We are glad that the new apartment will be directly across from our current college, so we will easily be able to keep up with the friends we have made there, while we continue to make new friends!

Translation: "Don't walk on the grass." (We think...)

Rainy Season and the Olympics

We thought "rainy season" wouldn't come this year, as March was beautiful weather! However, we are finding that it just came late. I think we've had 2 pretty days all of April. The good news is that the rain and breezes send the smog out of the city. We're hoping for some sunny days this week so we can play outside with our students!

Things are interesting here with many of our students talking about the Olympics. Everyone is very excited about the Games starting soon, but not too fond of the protests abroad. To show their thoughts about the French PM boycotting the Olympics, the Chinese have decided to boycott French stores and products... What does this mean for us? A very uncrowded supermarket!

Speaking Chinese

Lest the title of this entry give you the completely false impression that I (Amy) can, in fact, speak Chinese, let me explain more. Since about month two of living here, my vocabulary hasn't really increased too much. I know what is necessary to shop, travel and eat. Beyond that, I speak so much time speaking English that there's just not much time for expanding my Chinese vocabulary.

However, I have become quite good at making people think that I speak Chinese. Today, for example, I wandered into a cosmetic store. I really just wanted to browse, but the sales people here are unbelievably good at sales pitches. Normally, I just say "I'm just looking" or "I don't speak Chinese" and they leave me alone... Not this lady, not today.

After finally convincing her that I was just looking, I made the mistake of asking the price of something. She told me the price, and then proceeded to tell me why I didn't want this brand anyway, but another more expensive brand. I should have told her that I don't speak Chinese. But I didn't. So she continued to talk and talk and talk. For 10 minutes, she spoke to me in Chinese. At first, I tried to get out of it, but after about 2 minutes, I realized that there may not be a way out without completely embarrassing her (very bad China manners).

Amazingly, she had no idea that I was only understanding, maybe, 1% of what she was saying to me. So, each time she paused, I gave an answer to her question, and apparently, it made sense to her because she would nod her head and continue. I think she was trying to sell me a facial or a makeover. Either way, when it seemed that she had finished, I reminded her that I was just looking. And I left the shop feeling pretty proud of my ability to fake Chinese.

Not sure this is exactly what you want in a hair salon... :-)

My Qipao

So, after many requests (mostly from our moms!), here are pictures of the qipao (the long dress) and the traditional shirt that Matt got me for my birthday a few weeks back.

Softball

It was definitely interesting teaching baseball to people who had never seen it before! Let's just say that for the first time in my life, I was the best player on the team... by far.

Thanks to Baylee, Brooke and Katherine! They sent us some great refrigerator artwork for my birthday a couple of weeks ago!

Where We Work...

This is a satellite image of our university, minus the dorms and cafeterias. The campus is actually really nice; this isn't a great picture, but it's something. The building labeled "1" is where Amy teaches; "2" is where Matt teaches.

I learned a very important lesson today: NEVER go to the supermarket on a Chinese holiday. Apparently, that is how at least 5 million of the 6 million people of this city celebrate Tomb Sweeping Day.

Crazy Westerners

I taught Sports in my Culture class this week--trying to give them an appreciation for American football. I've almost got them! I showed some video clips of some great sports moments, but I have to say they were still more impressed with Michael Jordan's dunks, than they were with a successful "Hail Mary" touchdown pass.

I also showed this video of some extreme sports fans. And we wonder why people think Americans are crazy!