Oh China!...

Things that make me go “Oh China!...”

- When our contact teacher needed to make copies of our residence cards, I had them in my teacher bag (which is always with me). I ran into him right before class and tried to give them to him, but he said he didn’t have time. No big deal, I just put them back in my bag. He proceeded to interrupt me during my next class and told me how I needed to keep the passports in a “secure place”. Ok, makes sense, but the only reason I had them with me was because he asked for them. I thought it was nice of him to care, but later when he did take them, he sent them back to us via a STUDENT at school! Oh China!…

- The students do morning and afternoon eye/relaxation exercises between two classes. There is a recording that plays throughout the school of this lady counting in Chinese and the students rub their temples, below their eyes, etc. I thought this was interesting and also a slight bit of entertainment for me twice a day…well they’ve stopped doing these exercises last week. When we asked them why, they simply said, “That’s how H1N1 is spread.” Eye exercises!?!? Really? Oh China!…

- Our headmaster thought it was too far to go to the Philippines for our 8 day break. He signed our paperwork saying we could go, but to avoid being around people in fear of us getting sick. Avoid people? Hummm…Oh China!...

- Our bathroom/shower with no shower curtain and height difference in the floor…how we can technically (not that we actually do this…promise!) wash our hair, sit on the toilet, and brush our teeth ALL at the same time! Oh China!...

- How we can be 5 minutes early to something, yet be 5 minutes late at the same time? Oh China!...

- Have to hang our clothes out to dry. Oh China!... (That one’s not bad, just annoying!) Can Maytag dryers be shipped here…?? Just kidding…

- Sell Red Bull and it not have any carbonation. Oh China!...

- It can be 85 degrees, raining, and that’s enough reason to turn on the heaters…Oh China!... just because it’s 5 degrees cooler than most days doesn’t need a heater.

- Have no air conditioners in the classrooms because that’s “how students get sick”, but never teach the students to cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze OR have soap in any soap dispenser. Oh China!...

- When a student comes running up and gives me a great big hug and says, “Hello Ms TIGER” Oh China!...

Oh just some of the funny things that we’ve experienced since we’ve been teaching! Some days it’s just an “Oh China!...” kind of day!

Travel update: Trying to figure out if we’re actually going to go to the Philippines. Manila was hit super bad with a tropical storm/typhoon…80% is flooded, but the airport is still open…trying to get a refund…we’ll see and keep you posted!!

Love,
Tyler & Jordan