Lecture Lecture Lecture

This is our life lately. Lecture. It is no way to live. I made an earlier post about this being a most unglamorous time in our visit to China. It most certainly is. Nothing worthwhile happens in the morning, except for my morning skype date with Jenn and the boys. I don’t think it is any different for the others. For the last 3 days we lecture through the morning and even after lunch. The students get tired, and some fall asleep. Others get phone calls and answer them in the middle of the lecture. Neither falling asleep nor answering the cell is rude here. We were told that in China every day from 12-2 it is lunch/nap time. Makes sense. I even agree wholeheartedly with this concept. I think the US is one of the few places where afternoon siestas don’t occur. What is our problem? The whole concept of naptime should have followed us out of preschool and never ceased. I don’t think I know anyone who feels they wouldn’t benefit from this concept, and if they think they don’t need it then they need to have one so the rest of us can deal with them! It’s about production people, and we don’t have it as a whole. The Chinese do, just look at how many things in your home that are made in China!! They also take naps. I see a correlation.

Lunch was amazing! We had this crazy Chinese fast-food box filled with rice and various meats and vegetables with varying heat, both in temperature and spiciness! Sound familiar? That’s because it has been the same thing for 8 straight days now! Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful for the lunch being provided at no cost. I am also thankful I have never been a big lunch eater. What is exciting is the different fruit each day. We had some tasty pears today. I wish I was hungry for that, but filled up on rice! I need to rethink my lunch priorities.

Tomorrow is the banquet. This could spell t-r-o-u-b-l-e trouble for all of us. Jesse to the rescue! He said that he would protect us, and has already made ‘partnerships’ with Dr. Ho and Dr. Meow to cover each other and us. I hope they don’t make us drink the Chinese liquor! That brings more heat to a mouth than a Sichuan pepper! It is in excess of 100 proof. Beer and wine, please. And yes, we will also be protecting each other and making sure no one gets carried away.

After class, Jesse and Paula went for massages, and General Dave and I hit the gym. We had tried to meet up for dinner, but it didn’t work out. The General and went to the the western/Chinese buffet. I also decided to try the crème brulee that they had to offer. It was pretty tasty. I can assure you that will quench my palette again at some point.

So now I sit here awaiting the nightly skype date. Tomorrow we test the students on ITLS and then the big banquet. Our days are going to start getting really interesting for awhile, so look forward to it as much as we are! Especially our 4 days off. It is time.

Oh, the license plate picture has meaning. The ‘JJ’ is the abbreviation for emergency in Mandarin and the 120 means the 120 center. So, essentially, for emergency dial 120.