There are four tones

I hope this find you well and happy!

I've been in China for over a week now. When I first decided to come on this trip I was mostly motivated by the free airfare and trip, but China is Fantastic--at least what I have seen of it, and the people I have met here.

My first week of teaching was harder than I thought it would be. Maybe teaching in English would be a little easier, but trying to explain things and getting blank stares in return can be a little frustrating. The good news, my kids really like games. At one of our night time activities I was sitting with one of the older girls in my class ( I have six kids who are 8, 9, 10, and then I have four girls who are 14-17) and we were just watching what was going on. She pointed to one of the teachers across the room, and said, is she Chinese? and I answered, that yes she was. A few minutes later she looked at me, and said, "are you Indian?" I kind of laughed, and said, "no, I am half mexican though" her face started to look a little confused. I didn't try to explain, I just decided that we should have a geography lesson. The school is really neat. When we were walking in it was night time. There were some Christmas lights blinking on the dorm, and some lights along the pathway. On the lights they have these 3x2 foot banners with pictures of the school, and the students from last year that say "Harvard Uniwise Summer Exchange." It was pretty cool. There is also a zoo of sorts here. The woman who cofounded this school with her husband had two dreams in life, starting a zoo, and starting a school. So there are two dogs here, a pig, two monkeys (one is a really cute baby), some chickens, and a peacock. There is also a stable with four horses.

On Saturday they took us out shopping. It was awesome. There are these warehouses that have tons of vendors set on each floor. Most of the items aren't priced, and you are expected to to barter with the people. There are a few different buildings, and each one specializes in something else. So some are clothes, and some are electronics etc etc. They told us before we went in to try and get the stuff for about a third of the price they first offer. That was a little intimidating, especially since I felt bad for the people, but after once or twice I got use to it. It helped that one of the girls who speaks Chinese was walking with Tara, one of my friends from the crew team, and I. There were so many people, and so many shops. We went to a tailor later in the afternoon, and they were able to make just about anything we wanted. I had a some pictures of clothes, and they took me around to pick fabrics, then took my measurements, and said to pick it up on Wednesday. I am pretty stoked about the custom tailored clothes. I got a few pairs of jeans, and a a suit, all for pretty cheap.

The night before they took us to this DVD store. Our host talked to the woman in charge of the store, Chinese that really does sound like pots and pans clinking together some times.... I have made a few attempts to learn Chinese. The people here are patient, which is helpful. One of my kids tried to teach me how to count, and each time I went to five she would say, "well, that time you got 1 and 2 right" or "that time 3 was good" but never could I get through 5 with all being right. Anyway, the shop owner took us into the "back room;" something I always thought was reserved for movies like The Godfather. There were tons of DVDs and CDs, and most of them cost between $2 and $5. When I said thank you in Chinese the women got really excited.

I am hoping to get better at blogging!