FMCL and MCLIG at the same time

Today was a great day for the following reasons:

1- I got paid.
2- I watched movies with my students all day.
3- I got not one, but TWO care packages!
4- I also received Matt's graduation announcement.

Mail crazy funtimes!

I have to say, I was just thinking last week about how much I missed Cheetos and actually screamed when I opened Kendra's box to find a bag of Cheetos Puffs and a huge box of Cheerios!  She also packed me some peanut butter, clif bars, and some nail polish.  The best part, though, is the magazines that I received from her and Sarah!  English magazines are hard to find here and once you get them, they tend to be really outdated and very expensive.

So thanks, ladies, for being some of my best friends and for staying closer than ever across the world from me! 

Goodbye, Tian Laoshi

Fifteen minutes before the end of my Chinese lesson on Friday, Tian laoshi asked me how long I had been his student.  I was pretty taken back by this question and answered, since November, so I guess about five or six months.  Then he told me he was leaving the school. 

That's right.  Leaving.  

I was in so much shock that I didn't believe him for a while and thought I had misheard him (which I didn't) or he actually meant he was going on vacation (he's not).  He's actually getting a job at a trade firm in downtown Qingdao because he's only 25 and still has time to pursue a career.  I don't blame him.  I mean, I'm not a teacher by training either, but enjoy it at the moment.  God bless those who teach as a career, though! 

I asked him when his last day was and he said it was this Thursday to do some paperwork, but I was actually his last student.  Now that was the real kicker.  We agreed that we'd be friends but he also joked that if he saw me in the future, my Chinese better be improving or else he'll be angry. 

So that's the end of Tian laoshi.  I guess I'll just be referring to him as Tian Jian from now on.

There is such a special bond between language teacher and student, partially because there needs to be a certain level of friendship in order for the language to be learned well and in a fun manner (bad relationship = miserable class, we've all been there).  The other half is that with a language teacher, you can talk about anything and it still counts as learning so the teacher learns all sorts of crazy stuff about the student and vice versa. 

I'll definitely miss him as my teacher and I know that my next instructor will have some metaphorically big shoes to fill (because I'm almost as tall as Tian). 

Labor Day Weekend... China style

I went out for pizza with Derek and Wes and drank my sorrows at losing yet another Chinese teacher.  Then we went to New York Bar, listened to a Filipino band play Beatles and Lady Gaga covers in Alice in Wonderland costumes and called it a night. 

I spent my Saturday and Sunday teaching my younger students at Joe's and tutored Helen at my place.  I lead an exciting life. 

Monday I headed out to Fu Shan (浮山) with Brian, Derek, and Wes to enjoy the first summery day of the season.  The hike was pretty nice and the view would have been great had it the city and sea not been covered with a thick layer of smog. 

We failed at finding the hidden tunnels underneath the mountain, but did have a pretty great time outside. 

This old guy BAMF was scaling rockwalls with only a wooden stick.  Seriously.

Then towards the end, the hacking began and I was unable to fully inhale without coughing up a storm.  When I got back to my apartment, I saw that the Air Pollution Index (API) for Qingdao was around 108... meaning that the air was "slightly polluted" but not really measuring exactly which cases were making it polluted that day. 

So thanks again China, for shortening my life.  Also for a memorable ending to my attempt at enjoying a seemingly wonderful summer day outside.  FMChinaL... My China life is great.