Ms_Mathematics

This week our drama teacher was told that her contract won't be renewed because she is a lesbian.

It's so cold here today that I'm considering setting something on fire.

My boss wants me to renew my contract. I told him I need to see what kind of money is involved in order to renew my contract, because although I can live here, I feel like it's an interlude outside of my regularly scheduled life. I moved so many times as a child than I'm not sure what homesickness is, but I am definitely too American to live abroad for the rest of my life. My boss says he'll have a new contract in November, but I might have frozen to death by then.

I've paid back 5/6 of my Stafford loans and more than 1/2 of my Perkins loans. Hooray for nearing the end of student loan payments! :-)

Why do my colleagues here in China keep asking me if I had enough food when we're out to dinner? They are only asking me about this. I am not eating a huge amount but I'm not cleaning an entire Chinese serving plate. And if I'm not eating enough food, who cares? It's my business!

On Monday I leave China to spend my summer in the United States, and I return to China in August. Here's a recap of my year.

Pros: I've lost 50 pounds. My blood pressure is back to normal (it was a bit elevated when I arrived). I survived a P90X workout regimen (for the record, it did nothing for my weight loss and I didn't lose any inches either). In yoga, I successfully landed plow and did a handstand with blocks, and made progress on crow. I survived in a country where I don't speak the language. I lived without a dishwasher and dryer. I only had one migraine all year. I was paid on time and in full every month (this was always questionable since we get paid in cash).

Cons: My coworkers are still pretty terrible people. I had a cold for the first time in 22 years. I only taught 6 students total, and for most of the year I had 2, so I was bored at work for the first time since I became a teacher. There's no evidence that we will have more students next year.

I won't say I regretted this year, but when it comes time for contract renewal I will definitely consider if international teaching is right for me. Maybe it isn't, or maybe it's China that isn't for me. I felt a lot better about my job when I could see how my services were needed even if I was managed by weirdos in my previous location. And I really respect the freedom I have in the US to make friends outside of work so I can surround myself with good people. But hey, I'm definitely racking up a lot of frequent flyer miles!

I can't wait to be back in the States, where I can buy Cheez-Its when I want them instead of asking people to send them to me (just kidding, I have not done that). This summer I'll be in San Francisco, Boston, Ft. Bragg, and Fort Worth since I'm technically homeless, but I will be able to visit some great people in those cities. Here's hoping my meals in the States will be more exciting than the usual peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a bag of Lay's potato chips, an apple, and a Coke. :-)

Today I had to explain to Andy what rickrolling is. He'd never heard of it. It made me feel quite old, particularly since rickrolling began in 2007.

Justin and I are studying for the GRE every afternoon. He really needs a good score and has bad test-taking anxiety. I'm studying to keep my vocabulary sharp.

Two Saturdays from now Maggie and I are going to the opera "Carmen" in Beijing. She's never been to an opera. I need to find out if the opera will be subtitled in English.

I dyed my hair reddish purple.

Life is pretty boring, overall. :-)

It's not warm enough to cut the heat yet. WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?

Story 1: Kelly and I visited a China Construction Bank to ask if I could open an account. The branch was not opening accounts that day, but the receptionist spoke passable English, so we asked him to tell us how to say "McDonald's" so we could go there for lunch. The receptionist took a pad from in front of him and wrote down the arches symbol and an approximation of the pronunciation (this is called "PinYin") and off we went. We hailed a cab and Kelly repeated the pronunciation. The cab driver looked confused, so she mimed eating and he nodded, but still looked confused. I drew a hamburger and fries on the pad from the bank and handed it over. The cab driver nodded but seemed angry and pulled into traffic. Ten minutes later we pull to a stop at . . . another China Construction Bank. Why? Because the pad of paper had the name of the bank on it. No wonder he was angry! We hailed another cab and tried again, but had no success. When we finally got back to the school, we asked one of the assistants how to say McDonald's. "WHACK - DAWN - OLDS," she told us.

Story 2: Kelly and I went grocery shopping at Vanguard, and having learned our lesson, ordered takeout from the McDonald's inside the Vanguard complex (I promise we don't eat McDonald's that often). We were eating our takeout in the crazy cab drive home and I had my drink perched between my knees. We went over a bad patch of road and the drink flipped over, so I yelled, "SHIT!" The taxi driver immediately yelled back: "THANK YOU!" Somehow I doubt the taxi driver learned that in English class. :-)

Story 3: I went to a local restaurant to pick up dinner for Kelly and me. This place is called MCK and it sells chicken and fish sandwiches. It also has a picture menu, which is very helpful. I pointed to 1 chicken sandwich, 1 fish sandwich, 2 fries, and 2 fried pies (similar to McDonald's apple pies). The cashier rang up an amount, but it was wrong, so I said no and reordered by drawing a fish in a bun, a chicken on a bun, fries with the number 2, and pies with the number 2. The amount was correct, so I paid and waited for my food to be ready. The cashier handed me . . . 1 fish sandwich, 1 fry, and 4 pies (2 pineapple, 2 lemon). I gave up and left.

The school finally hired a Chinese teacher so we can have lessons if we want them. I'll be there. :-)

You know what I miss the most about living in China? Not being able to go out for Mexican food. :-)

For Christmas my parents are buying me pre-seasoned cast-iron pans, so I'll get to experiment with cooking a bit more. The pans that came with my apartment have burn marks on them from the gas burners because they are pot metal.

Other than that, life is pretty boring, but calm and not too dramatic.