Students Arrive

The students have arrived, and I am concerned about what class I will be in. We took our placement tests today, and I must admit though long it was ridiculously easy. I am, however, a bit concerned as to whether or not I will have anyone else in my level. When we were having our lecture from the local Police Bureau on what to do and what not to do, the officer would first speak Chinese and then the RD would translate. When she paused for a moment for questions about passports, I questioned her about something she had just said and told a short story about Sam and how she had been asked by policemen on the street for her passport and hukou. The problem was, I did this all in Chinese instead of going through the Resident Director. When I spoke Chinese, murmurs went through the room and it was clear that none of the other students had understood me. Whenever I speak with the students I can tell that the aren't at my level, and they all think/thought I was another Resident Director here. If I am in a level by myself I will be very sad.

I did, however, get to lead the tours today. Which turned out to be a good thing, because the roommates that had come a day early to lead the tours definitely did not speak enough English to lead the tour properly. Most of the people wanted to go with me when we split into two groups, and it was sad to see the other two Chinese roommates go off with only a few students while I took a huge group. I showed them around to different places, namely the gym. I definitely hit the gym and got to negotiate a group discount rate with the boss, I felt like a badass just bargaining for it, very professional. I'll give you one example of the bad english skills of the Chinese roommate that had come with me. When we got the big department store, we again split into two groups, I took the people who wanted to buy cell phones and cell phone plans up to do that while she took students to the supermarket. Why she chose the easier task I don't know, but before we split off we exchanged phone numbers in case either of us had a problem. She had a problem however, she called me just as we were finishing up buying all the phones and asked where I was. She sounded panicked, and asked me to come down to the supermarket because she had a problem. I rushed downstairs, literally ran down the escalator. The problem? A student wanted to buy a soap dish. He didn't know how to say it in Chinese (or much else in Chinese), and she had no idea what soap dish was in English. For some reason she thought it was urgent and that he really needed his soap dish. Don't worry, the situation was resolved, we found him a soap dish.

Aside from that, I had fun doing the tour guide, and later on I got to co-host the discussion about roommates in China with the resident director. It really is like I am working here, I love it. My teachers all say my accent has changed though. They say I speak a lot better, but I sound very southern now. Oh well. They also say I have lost weight, one of the teachers didn't recognize me since I apparently left last year with more hair and not being as skinny, then when she saw my name on my test as I turned it in looked at me, then at the paper, then at me and yelled my name - disrupting all the other students testing.

Also got a warm welcome from the cafeteria guys I used to play basketball against, and got to play a little 2 on 2 with them today.

Also, I don't know if I wrote about our favorite past-time in Hangzhou before but I am writing it (possibly again) here. We loved to go out the main gate on our way to the gym because there was this bridge with a speed bump at the end of it. When we got to the bottom of the bridge, we would look up at the bikes coming downhill hopelessly fast straight at the speed bump. Normally they would see white people and stare at us, not noticed the speed bump waiting to destroy their crotches and future children. We would derive so much joy out of seeing guys rack themselves, and I thought I had left that behind in Hangzhou. Tonight, however, I discovered that one of the potholes is hard to see in the dark, and one guy on a motor scooter nailed it. It is fantastic, when something like that happens the whole world slows down like the Matrix. First you see him collide, and his face contorts with the expression of, "Oh no! What have I done! My children!". Then, midway through the jump, they realize they have a back wheel, and you can see their face change as they futilely attempt to swerve or rise up and avoid the impending second hit, but their body is still in shock from the initial impact, and they are helpless as they collide again. It is the single most hilarious series of faces in the history of Chinese facial expressions. And that is the mental image I will leave you with.