Time for an update! I guess. It has been a while since my last update, so I figured I might as well keep y'all posted. October 1 is National Day in China, which is on par with the 4th of July back in the States. Except not. They go all out for this in China. At our school, they gave students an entire week off, which is pretty common. In order to make it so they had enough school days, though, they made us teach on Saturday and Sunday. Bleh. My week is all messed up, now. And most of my students didn't come to class on Sunday. Jeff was actually shooed from the building by a custodian before he could teach his second class on Sunday afternoon. Of course, he wasn't about to complain.

Everyone and their dog travels back home or somewhere else during this peak travel time. Which means that train tickets are a hot commodity. Jeff and I figured we could travel to Shanghai and see the sights. After all, there are a few trains that travel from Xiangtan to Shanghai that leave every day. Unfortunately, we didn't take into account the massive amounts of people traveling. With 1.3 billion people, China needs to move a lot in a very little amount of time. Like an unknowing American, I booked our hostel first... When we got to the train station, the line actually came out of the building. Before standing in line, we had my helpful Chinese student ask if the trains were all booked--and they were. We wouldn't have even been able to get standing room only tickets to Shanghai. We ought to have bought our tickets in advance. But the problem with doing that is, depending on the train, you can buy them only a few days in advance.

But that's okay. Instead of going to Shanghai, Jeff and I will stay here and visit more of Xiangtan. We've only seen a limited area of downtown, after all. Plus it's cheaper staying here, and we don't run the risk of not getting back--you can't buy return tickets at the station you leave from. Though, Jeff and I now know how to find tickets to go to Hong Kong at the end of our stay here, which is a definite bonus.

Anywho, I decided to capture a video of my walk from my classroom back to my apartment. If you visit China, you need to keep in mind that appearances on the outside are very deceiving, as you'll see in the video.

Yar! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day in China. I realize it not be so in the United States, yet, but it nearly be. I decided t' teach me students how t' speak like pirates. 'Twas quite amusing, 'twas. They looked at me as though I be three sheets t' the wind! Nay, I had naught t' drink.

I wanted t' teach them a bit about the culture o' English-speakers, so me lesson included me impersonatin' Aussies, Brits, Canadians, the Irish, Valley Girls, and ye old pirates! 'Twas an interestin' lesson, to be certain. O' course, me internet was down whilst I was preparin' me lesson--I could not take the pictures I wanted t', as I couldn't print them. Yar.

Here be one of the segments o' me lesson. It were longer, but I cut it down fer time's sake.

I know many of you are curious to know what China looks like. Well, I took a picture on my walk to church yesterday morning. There is a hilltop where students like to study in the midst of nature, and I thought it looked particularly pretty. You can see it on the left and on the right. I'll post pictures of the rest of my walk sometime. It's not as pretty...China is still working on how to efficiently take care of garbage, for instance, so...well, the smell is rather interesting. Pity cameras can't record smell as well, eh? The picture on the right should have a pagoda in it...but the trees make it almost impossible to see. I apologize for that. I'll try and get a picture of it again when I'm not snapping photos and walking quickly to avoid being late to church.
Church was good yesterday. It's odd having such a small branch, but the Spirit is very strong. We had another foreigner come to visit. The Chinese government will not allow natives to attend our meetings, and we're not allowed to proselyte to them. There are, however, some branches of natives in China. They can share the gospel with members of their family--a lot travel to Hong Kong in order to get baptized. Anyway, we had Sunday School this week, so I didn't have to do much of anything in the meeting, which was nice. I'm still trying to get used to the idea that I'm the Relief Society group leader. Kinda scary...
Yesterday was the auspicious Mid-Autumn Festival in China. It happens once every year, when the moon is believed to be the fullest. Families gather around to watch the beautiful moon. Some make Confucius Lamps, which are like hot air balloons made from paper and a candle. They float up into the sky carrying hopes and prayers for the coming year. It is a time for family. So, most of my students went home to be with their families. Which means I don't have classes today. Which is odd--the last day I taught was last Tuesday, for there was a celebration for Xiangtan University on Wednesday and Thursday.
Anyway, Lany decided to invite all of the foreign teachers to a dinner, for she considers us her family while we are in China. She's an amazing woman--very kind and considerate. She has bent over backwards trying to accommodate us picky Americans used to a certain standard of living. She and her husband Darren are our interfaces with the University. Of course, since Jeff and I are teaching at the adjacent trade school, we rely a lot on our co-teachers as well. My co-teacher has the English name of Helen. Most Chinese who speak English choose an English name. Some of them sound a lot like Chinese, but it makes it easier for other English-speakers to be able to talk to them. The students and teachers think it is a great honor that we came all the way from America to be here and teach. Consequently, we are treated very well. My students treat me a bit like a movie star. They love it when I sing.
We had dinner at a very nice restaurant near the apartments of the other foreign teachers, which is about a half-hour walk away from our apartment. Jeff and I decided to just chill at David and Rebecca's apartment for most of the afternoon. We played games and socialized, which was nice. Living far away hampers a lot of that. Of course, Jeff and I socialize with our students, which means we get to try Chinese food we probably wouldn't try with all the other foreigners.
The pictures you see are of our meal. It was very good. Lany knows that most Americans aren't used to super spicy food, so she generally orders stuff which won't burn off our taste buds. The picture of the fish head is cool, eh? They serve a lot of their food with heads and feet and stuff still in the mix. Scott, one of the people sitting at our table, at the eye of this particular fish. He said it tasted like a peanut. The picture with all the bones next to the dishes is of my place setting. The bones were from a chicken dish--you don't want to eat Chinese food without being careful--that was only sort of spicy. It was yummy. I ate a lot more than everyone else because I didn't mind picking through the bones for the meat. I tried eating chicken leg last week when our dean of the college took us to eat...it was really chewy, and I gave up because one of the claws kept poking my mouth.
The traditional part of the Mid-Autumn Festival that Chinese people seem most proud of is that of eating moon cakes under the full moon. Moon cakes are...well, unusual. Some of them are very good. They have about the consistency of fruit cake. (Cakes in China aren't exactly like cakes in America.) Some of them are quite sweet, but others...well, Jeff and I bought some, just to try them, and they weren't particularly good. That might be because we got cheap moon cakes, though. Lany gave us a bunch. I took a picture of my biggest one, which is to the left. And then a smaller one, which I bit into. You never know what's in a moon cake until you bite into it. The one I had last night before bed had egg yolk in it. Which was unusual. But not too bad. This one had some sort of jam in it, though. It was yummy! Some smell like they're coffee flavored, though. I wish I could read Chinese characters... The top of the cake is always ornately designed. They're quite beautiful up close. If you're in China around the Mid-Autumn Festival, make sure you try moon cake!
After dinner, Jeff and I walked back home. Of course, about fifty feet away from the restaurant, I ended up tripping (yay for clumsiness!). My skirt is all dusty, and I got some road rash on my left leg, but other than that, I was relatively unscathed. I took a picture just for kicks. Those of you reading this blog who know me very well know that I fall down a lot. Jeff didn't laugh at me, but I laughed at me.

The past week has gone well--I'm still adjusting to teaching, but I haven't keeled over or something, which is always a good thing. I'm fairly certain I can survive this week as well, but I'll keep you updated if I don't. Thursdays for me are fairly busy--I have three classes in a row. With the exact same lessons. But they're fun classes. I teach Business English majors, so they are a little more willing to talk in front of the class than Jeff's Architecture and Computer English classes (I went to one of his classes to observe and offer feedback). I'm not sure if I'm teaching easy subject matter or not, though, which is a bit of a problem...but I'll get used to it.

Anyway, this weekend, Jeff and I decided we wanted to go downtown. There are stores near our campus, but they don't have any meat or anything available for purchase. So, we invited two of my students, Stone and Stephanie, to accompany us (mostly so we didn't get lost) and then hopped on the number 10 bus. A lot of people ride the bus in China. According to Stephanie, it is very difficult to get a driver's license in China. Which is probably a good thing. There would be a lot more accidents if more people were driving. Drivers have a habit of turning into opposing traffic rather than waiting... Anyway, the bus ride was pretty good. We got on it while there were still seats available.

Once we reached downtown Xiangtan, Jeff and I offered to treat Stone and Stephanie to pizza. Xiangtan has three American restaurants--McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut. I've been missing bread, so pizza sounded really good. I was expecting Pizza Hut to be more like it is at home--simple. But it's an upscale restaurant in China, if you can believe it. The restaurant was gorgeous. The menu was...well, unusual. We could order squid or escargot, for instance. Pepperoni pizza is called "American style" pizza. Jeff and I collaborated and ultimately decided to order pepperoni pizza and a supreme stuffed crust pizza for the four of us to share. Pizza Hut is comparatively expensive in China. We paid 150 yuan for our meal and drinks. In American dollars, that's about $25. Meals are generally under $1, so that's rather pricey. Neither Stone nor Stephanie had ever had pizza before, so it was quite a treat watching them eat it. Both said they enjoyed it, though Stone had a hard time getting through his second slice. The stuffed crust pizza in China is different--they don't fold the crust completely over the cheese. It looks really cool. I wish I'd brought my camera...but I didn't even think about it.

After we finished our pizza, Stephanie took us to the big market where Jeff and I purchased rice, flour, sugar, and meat. I'm so excited! We've been living off a lot of noodles for the past week. Noodles are good, of course, and so are all the spices available...but my palette is used to eating other foods. I really miss eating sandwiches, for instance. Anyway, once we were all done shopping, we hopped back on the number 10 bus. It was very full, so we stood the entire way. The ride is only about ten or fifteen minutes, though, so it wasn't bad. When we got back, Jeff and I showed Stephanie and Stone Robin Hood: Men in Tights. They thought it was hilarious. Stephanie liked repeating a lot of the phrases.

Well, I should get back to writing my talk for our combined Relief Society and Priesthood meeting. Ciao!