The teachers of 瓯江 College get together for a big dinner at the end of the semester and the start of the new year, so that was where I went on Saturday night. I sat with Helen Yang, who invited me to her home and took me to dinner within the first few days of living in 温州. I proposed a toast at two tables that evening which impressed some people and all-in-all I had a good time.
...although at the beginning I went with Helen to explore the hotel (we thought there might be a wedding reception) and there were whole tables of people in that dining room that were staring at me - if you never felt self-conscious in America, I invite you to China - wow.
Yesterday I went to Julie's place with Mu and Benja Clarke's family. We made dumplings and watched Small Soldiers and Kung Fu Panda. Of course, once those movies were over we had to deal with 3+ hours of pent-up energy from a three year old and a six year old, so dealing with all of that was an interesting experience.
Ben's plan for the vacation is to take the family to 湖北 province for about a month and spend his time practicing Kung Fu at 武当山, the mountain from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Daoist equivalent of 嵩山: home of the Shaolin Temple (少林寺).
Meanwhile I'm still not sure about 哈尔滨, how I'm getting there, where I'm staying and all that, but the time draws close when I will have to make a decision. I think I'll go during the week of my birthday, see it for a few days, then come back before the new term starts.
I also discovered something about my age according to the Chinese lunar calendar. I was born February 5, 1986 - 3 days before the start of the lunar new year. In China that means that as of February 8, 1986 I could be thought of as 2 (I had been alive in 2 lunar years). Which means that right now (mid-January 2009) I can safely claim to be 24, about to turn 25.
In one of the Chinese classes I was taking the students opted to have their final exam at the beginning of next semester. So I now have the opportunity/burden of being able to prepare for this test, to see how I measure up to the other students. Time to hit the books.
I'm nearly finished with the last of my work now - just need to finish handwriting my class evaluations (just a matter of transcription) and then turn it all in to the secretary.
Today (星期一) is the day it will be finished!
