The Vienna Boys Choir...

Last Thursday, I had was afforded the opportunity to see the Vienna Boys Choir with some of my friends. When I first heard about this event, I was very cynical. After several conversations, I became more comfortable with the idea of the Boys Choir singing at 3 Gorges University. I cleared my schedule and got pumped up for the concert. I mean, I downloaded songs and wikipedia'd info on the Boys Choir. I was going to be prepared for this celebration of the arts...then I got the call. My friend called me after several more rounds of translation errors to announce that it was a ballet from Vienna. Well, all that preparation would have went to waste had I actually done that. I am glad I just went back to my apartment before the Ballet to eat and watch Desperate Housewives.

The 8:00 pm ballet started promptly at 8:36 pm after a few rounds of my friends' own attempts to put on a ballet. (Pictures below.) And what a ballet it was. My student and first good Chinese friend, Sun Zhi, attended this ballet with me and some of my foreign friends. It was not a quality ballet but it was neat getting to experience some culture and sharing western culture with my Chinese friend. There were some good parts but overall it was terrible. However, I did love when the Austrian man and woman tried to speak Chinese. I laughed so hard. That is all I can say. I can't describe it. They kept saying in Chinese: "I love China. I love the Yangtze River. I love Yichang." It just made me laugh. Check out some pictures. These are all from Beth's camera. Check out what she caught with her mad skills.

Progress...

and other stories.

It has been a few weeks since I last blogged. For those of you still reading, I appreciate your dedication. I don't know what I would do if I lost 50% of my fan base. I know grandma reads every now and then but you mom, you cannot quit reading even if you have to read the same articles over and over again. Ha ha. Just kidding. I would give up on me too. I suppose if my brother starts reading he might double my present fan base and learn what good writing looks like. Seriously, send me your papers in the future. I will see what I can do.

Last week was the first full week of school. It was a pretty good easy week. I did intro stuff and finished unit 1 of the textbooks in my Oral English classes. English majors are so nice. I just have to stay on my toes if I am going to keep them motivated to listen to me. They will only respect me as long as I keep them intrigued by me and the English language. If not, they will realize their English is good enough that what I am doing isn't really academic so much as nit picky. "No! You pronounce S-M-I-T-H and smm...iii..th. Mr. Smiss is incorrect. Oh, and company is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable." Does it really matter which syllable is emphasized? I suppose it does to most people but as long as I can understand you, I think you are doing a good job communicating. But this opinion is coming from 1 of 2 people who apparently have communication issues. I think my Dad is wrong. Right, Mom? I suppose he can make it up to us by paying for my master's degree.

English Corner began last week. If you have read Beth's blog you will already know this; if you haven't, then I have the pleasure of telling you that I danced last week with Beth. You see, Beth came over to make me sing to my students even though they wanted her to sing. I said no so the students threw out an alternative - "Dance!" They cheered as Beth was trying to make her getaway. Well, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to give her a taste of her own medicine. (Really, Beth. I am not bitter. I loved it.) I said, "Alright, let's dance. Come here Beth!" So we danced. The one thing I forgot in my rash decision was that dancing requires music. In the end I had to sing. However, singing a Waltz is pretty cool when you make it up as you go. It was refreshing to perform once again...but if you are a Chinese student clever enough to see a blog blocked in China, then know this: I hate performing.

The pictures below are things in my continuing slow decoration and presentation of my apartment: new bed spread and a refrigerator full of veggies. My dream. Really.

New Beginnings...

and some waiting.

A week ago today, I finally arrived back in Yichang with my friends. As I stood at the bus station packing the van which would transport us to the university, I enjoyed the light sprinkle of rain on my face, the scent of construction in the air, and the fear of eating pork tainted by some disease. Oh, it felt good to be back in China.

We arrived on campus in the middle of a rain shower so moving our things into our new apartments posed some problems but eventually the rain abated. Plus, several of our student friends join us in the moving process. Their alacrity was overwhelming. I probably could have just sat on the couch and watched the shifting of houses and the students would not have cared one bit.

I moved most of my stuff into my apartment on Saturday morning with the help of some students. Then I just laid around figuring out why I had brought so much stuff to China that I don't even use. I mean, what I am going to do with 20 piano books? Anyway, I am settled in now. I just have some decorating to do. I can't wait!

This week, I had 1 class. It was nice having the free time to catch up on sleep and the students' lives. It was also good for class planning. However, I wasn't so successful at that. It is now Friday, and I barely have any classes planned. Why can't I be like Beth and get my whole semester planned? Why?

Well, that is the overview of this last week. Future posts should be more interesting. I am really just using this post to figure out my blog once again. Sometimes it is in German and sometimes in Chinese. Proxy servers. Why can't I choose which countries they go through? Oh well, at least I have access to contraband websites and such. (And by contraband, I only mean sites blocked by the Chinese government like my blog. I like being considered an insurgent.) Below are pics of my apartment as of now. Hopefully, it will be more colorful soon. Ciao!