Wet-Cold

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

Decision 2008: Attempt Number One

It was a rainy day here in Rong Jia Won, which is actually outside of the norm. You see, it's normally just as dark and hazy, but the dust that blows in my mouth makes me squirm as if I'm trapped inside some sort of a chemical toilet. However, when the clouds do decide to burst over this filthy town, I'm just a little bit grateful that it's finally getting a long-overdue bath. If this town were a Peanuts character, it would definitely be Pig-Pen.

It just so happens that the other day, I received my absentee ballot from my way awesome parents. After wrestling about five layers of clear packaging tape off of the envelope (thanks!), I triumphantly removed my prize and then spitefully cast it aside, as if to teach it a lesson for being so hard to reach. The next day, I filled it out (I will contribute to the Obamanation) and printed USA in rather large Chinese characters on the outside of the envelope. Thinking that this was enough for one day, I saved the dirty work for the next day. 

During my mid-day break between classes, I walked headlong into the Chinese drizzle, making sure to step in every damn puddle in my way (...) towards what I thought to be the post office. Now, I'm hardly used to the American post office, let alone the Chinese one. So, I wasn't really expecting much success from this trip. I arrived at a horrible little shop called China Post Postal Savings Bank, went in and stood on line with all the other Zhous. I soon realized that this was actually a bank, and I would look like a moron handing the teller my envelope to be mailed. I walked outside looked to the right and saw another building named China Post. I walked into that building, saw a woman sitting behind a long desk and handed her the envelope, knowing full well that I could be making a horrible mistake. She took the envelope, put it on a weighing tray and tried to look up its cost. After a minute, she handed it back to me and blabbered something. I knew I was defeated at that moment.

I may need a little more help than the American spirit the next time I try to mail my ballot. Perhaps I should bring a Chinese person? 

Cullen