Typical China

Lack of proper prior planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine" Old English Proverb

Unfortunately China seems to be under the assumption that it DOES…. I got a phone call this morning (July 8^th the day before I depart for the US) from my boss. She asked me to stay another month because there was more of the web page stuff to do.

My apartment is all packed in boxes because they are moving us sometime this month and I am all packed for my trip home TOMORROW.

The call shocked me because I had FINISHED all the 200 plus pages of web page editing they had given me by the end of April. Since then I have been inventing jobs to do to make sure I didn’t go crazy. I helped tutor some of Andrew’s and Marian’s students, I taught the second half of some of Amy’s classes, and helped Cynthia with editing some students’ (really technical) papers that were going to be published. It filled maybe 2-3 hours a day. Not enough to really keep me busy but enough to get me out of bed and keep me semi-productive. The FAO had sent me a few other documents to edit and revise as well as weekly speeches to evaluate but generally I have been duty free for 2 months.

About an hour after the first phone call I got another call saying that I would be terminated if I did not stay for the month of July. Being almost 63 and never having been fired – it sort of shocked me. I started by having a few tears, then frantic worrying about having to repack (because I was leaving a lot of my stuff here for the summer). I finally calmed down, talked/SKYPED with the other foreign teachers (here and home) and decided that whatever decision they made I would deal. I sat down at the computer and emailed them 3 options to pick from

1. I go home and they terminate me
2. I go home and they pay me for July and they email the documents for me to revise
3. I go home and then come back in August as planned

They said they would settle for number 2

Last minute changes are VERY typical of China. The first year I taught in China it really frustrated and bothered me, but I have grown accustomed to it by now and will usually adjust my schedule accordingly. BUT NOT TODAY! I will be home on the island and in MY SOFT bed (if all goes according to plan) Sunday night- the 10^th.

Exciting Seven Hours

I am still not sure if I will be paid for this extra month of work – but I am happy that I am coming home and not having to repack. Oh and I still have to leave a note with the guards saying that I am gone and will be responsible for my own actions while away from NUDT

Side Note: As of July 31st - I still haven't gotten any pay or documents sent to me ... go figure (and never did)

Mosquito Tennis

This is a “tennis” racket that I bought at the Hypermart. You plug it in, charge it, unplug it, then push a couple of buttons and swing. Mosquitoes are really bad here right now. Yes I am keeping the windows and doors closed but they are so small they can squeeze thru the screens. I’m sure I look ridiculous swinging the racket around in the air but when it finally makes contact it makes a really nice satisfying crzzpp sound. Good exercise too! Notice I couldn’t resist the 1 yuan Panda Flyswatter either.

4th of July Substitute

90^th Birthday of the Communist Party

I rode the bus to meet Cynthia at the other side of the river for dinner and fireworks. We ate at a restaurant called MonaLisa which was decorated sort of in the Hard Rock Café style with American movie posters, fake dinosaurs and big airplane models hanging from the ceiling. They had a Western and Chinese menu but since I will be home in 7 days I figured I could hold out for the real thing and had Chinese – and it was quite good. The riverside was crowded but the fireworks were well worth it. They ran for about 20 minutes and the amount was 4 times what you would see at our St. Simons 4^th of July. Changsha usually has fireworks every Saturday night but because this was the 90th birthday of the Communist Party on July 1st - they were last night - Friday but still close enough to the 4th for me to pretend....