Zhong Qiu Jie Kuai Le!

Happy Mid-Autumn Day! It was a couple of days ago but hey, it's the sentiment that counts.

The Mid-Autumn Day Festival I went to Monday night was the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to me: Tom and I sang Frank Sinatra's L.O.V.E. for a crowd of 2,000 Chinese people waving light-up swords in the middle of a field. I am serious. This was not one of my bizarre dreams. I have witnesses as well as a video to prove it. Well, I don't *have* the video tape yet, but I am working on it, don't you worry.

How did this come about? you may ask. It is a long story, suffice it to say were were invited to a small government party to celebrate mid-autumn day > asked to sing a song for 20 people > told we had to be at rehearsal > told there would be many performances > found out there would be 2000 people > arrived to find an all-out stage with pyrotechnics, three fancy cameras, a huge TV screen, and singers with back-up dancers and costumes.

Strangely enough, I didn't have stage fright. I attribute this to the comforting fact that no one could understand what the heck I was saying and they love Tom and I because we are white. They were just happy to have us there. We recieved a beautiful bamboo carving as a gift (that Tom called dibs on) and I wished everyone a happy mid-autumn day in Chinese.

All in all, a superbly bizarre evening. We have been invited to another government event tomorrow evening (some of our foreign friends will be there), but I hesitate to go because really, anything would be a let down after that.

Pros and Cons

Steven sent me a message the other day about a primary school that needed a foreign teacher for Saturday mornings and I decided I'd do it. I had my first classes this past Saturday teaching Grade 1 students who are 4 and 5 years old. They are so small and so adorable I can't even describe it. I wanted to bring at least ten of them home with me. Steven said that was why he couldn't teach there - he'd want to take one home with him. (Plus he really isn't keen on clapping hands, singing songs, etc.) I really enjoyed teaching the little kids. We counted, practiced words like bag and book, and learned the words dance, sing, and jump. They've only been learning English for about 3 weeks.

I won't have class at the primary school for the next two Saturdays because of National Day Holiday. I have to teach at the university this coming Saturday morning and the next the kids won't have school. I'll be in Inner Mongolia on the 6th anyway. I can't wait to go on our trip to Inner Mongolia! It will be great to see blue sky, breath fresh air, and not be surrounded by millions of people.

Later this afternoon Tom and I have rehearsal for a mid-Autumn festival...thing...that the government in Nan Xia Shu invited us to. We're going to sing an English song for the festival and say a sentence in Chinese. The actual festival celebration is tomorrow. I am not very excited about it. There is a lot of wasted time. The leaders asked us to be here at 1:30, but there was no way rehearsal could start until 4:00. Then tomorrow they want us to be here at 1:30 or 3:00 when the performance doesn't start until 6:30. They set it up so that you can't get into the school grounds after 3:00 without a ticket and there are no tickets left. A person of western-mindset would think that if the performers needed tickets to be at the performance, they would have reserved some. But I am not in a western country. So. The theory is that if they really want us to perform they will find some way for us to get in after 3:00. We'll see how this turns out.