As we descended upon the murky swamp of the post-apocalyptic wasteland, a thin and raspy voice with startling clarity said, "welcome to the end of your journey..." Just kidding.Rongjiawan is in the middle of a year-long project of building a paved road past the back gate of our school, and from the looks of it, they're stuck firmly in the trench warfare/landfill stage. So, this was a lovely sight after our month-long tour of Southeast Asia...
Also, it's cold. Dern cold. So cold that, after teaching Thursday and Friday, we picked up and rolled on down to Changsha to stay in a motel for the weekend. What amenities did it provide, you ask? Well, for one, it provided some sweet, sweet insulation, which is completely lacking in our place in RJW. It is my understanding that the architect of our apartment worked off of the enlarged blueprints of an icebox. Somehow, it's colder in our apartment than it is outside. I need to inform Stephen Hawkings of this phenomenon.
Other than that, teaching is teaching. It doesn't feel any worse than it did before our holiday, which is a little surprising to me.
Spring Festival stories to follow soon... Oh, by the way, Spring Festival is Chinese New Year. Our students got twelve days off between semesters, but we got a month off because our classes don't count and we don't give final exams (which happened over the last two weeks of the semester). We asked one girl what she did during her break, and she replied, "Homework." Figures.
Cullen
2 comments:
Welcome home!! After a month in sunny, warm SE Asia this is no doubt a shock. Winter only has a month and a half to go, and then you'll be on your way out of the fridge. I understand that the Chinese economic stimulus program includes accelerating road projects, so maybe yours will be done about the time you depart. Take heart - Spring is coming!!
-if the apartment stays cool in the summer, I think hawking, nasa, and the epa will all be paying you a visit!
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