Easter Ramblings

Well, it’s kinda hard for me to pick out a real thread to write about this week other than that it seemed really busy. I don’t know, I thought that with only teaching 10 hours per week, I would not feel busy, and yet somehow I’m managing to do so. I think I mainly feel like that when I have lots of grading to do, as was the case this week, but also it seems like there has just been a lot of stuff going on. Between studying for two tests (the Foreign Service Written Examination, FSWE and the 汉语水平考试, Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, HSK, Chinese Level Test), trying to sort what I’m going to do next year, looking after Maurice, planning my mother’s trip to China in late April, and keeping up with various social engagements, it makes for a full week!

I started seriously studying for the FSWE this week. I downloaded the study guide, and I’ve been doing some outside research as what I saw in the study guide scared me a little bit. It actually looks like an interesting test, but the job knowledge section is just so incredibly broad that it’s just plain intimidating. One question you’re asked to whom such and such a bureau reports, and the next one is about the pampas of Peru and you just sit there wondering ‘where did that one come from?’ There are some bright spots though, as the English usage section is pretty much a snap. Little did I know that being an English teacher actually had practical applications in the world! And because of my studies, I now know the difference between GDP and GNP, which I’m probably too excited about, but I never knew before.

In other news, Maurice and I are getting along swimmingly. I’ve more or less got him paper trained, which I’m happy about, and he understands “guolai” (which is Chinese for “come”) when he wants to (which is most of the time). Next we’re going to have to work on sit and stay because I can barely get the food in his dish before he’s all over it. We’ve been visiting Cuihu (Green Lake) a lot, and he seems to enjoy himself there. He’s found a best friend called DuoDuo with whom he plays often. He’s getting a lot more self-confident than before, and now actually fights back whereas before he would just rollover when another dog approached. Of course, on the flip side, that means that he took on a husky puppy the other day which was totally out of his league, but that’s a detail. My other favorite part is that he still has yet to figure out that his hind end is attached to his front end, which means that he still tends to fall off things like curbs and couches on a fairly frequent basis. Hopefully he’ll find his balance soon. :o)

Yesterday evening we all went out karaokeing (how in the world might one spell that word?) which is quickly becoming one of my favorite pastimes, and is always an experience. The thing that kept frustrating me last night is that workers at the KTV joint kept on turning to my friends “Australian Geoff” (whose parents are both of Chinese origin) and Salvador (who is Mexican, and really looks more Lao than Chinese) and talking with them quickly in Chinese because they look remotely Chinese. Of course, neither of them can really speak Chinese. I guess it’s a normal reaction to assume that in a group of foreigners, the people who look Chinese are maybe actually Chinese acting as guides, but you’d think that if that were the case they would actually approach the staff and start talking and not one of the laowai. The one time that really frustrated me though, was when we were walking in and they started talking to me because I was the first person in the door, and the second Geoff walked in they stopped talking to me and turned to him instead and I had to explain that “No, in fact he doesn’t speak Chinese, talk with me.” I mean, we were in the middle of a conversation for Pete’s sake!

As for today, after getting home from karaokeing at like 2AM and spending another hour in my room eating popcorn, we decided upon an 11:30AM brunch in celebration of Easter. People managed to drag themselves out of bed in time, and we actually had a very large turnout and had a quite enjoyable brunch spurned on by good weather (as opposed to the rest of the week which has been quite cold and gray :o( ).

I guess that’s it for this week. Sorry it’s a touch disorganized and doesn’t necessarily flow that well, but it’s just been one of those kinds of weeks! Happy Easter everybody.