The role plays were kind of magic.
I had a group acting sequences from the Darjeeling Limited. L.’s face wrapped in bandages, little S. shouting « I love you but I gonna mace you in the face ! ». Grease. Summer love. S., the shyiest (most shy ?) boy in the class arrived with pink cardboard wings, stood up on a table, walked down a chair humming « beauty school drop out ». I’m not sure they got the line « you think you’re such a looker, but no customer would come to you unless she was a … hooker ! » but they sure sang it. I am so bad hihi
I had the hara kiri-Sunshine Doré sequence from Harold and Maude, which was truly… marvellous actually.
And Uncle Victor extasic with his war story, S. hand to the forehead : « one thing and one thing only was on my mind. KILL ! KILL ! And I slept into unconsciousness. »
Maybe that’s not what I’m supposed to do in class but at least I had fun, and they did to.
The Friday class is less fun, but I had this student acting a sequence of The Day After Tomorrow, and she had cut those tiny paper characters, and written « dead » on each and everyone of them, because she acted that scene where Jack arrives at Staten Island and sees all the frozen poor souls.
And the other group had a student act the homeless man with his dog, so he had created a cardboard dog on a leash which would not stand on its legs and kepy falling on its back.
I had Edward Chopstickhands too.

Now I am looking for a comedy to show but could not find « Some like it hot » and Hollywood recent comedies (I got « You, Me and Dupree » ) sound so mild and pale subectwise that i’m not sure anymore. Lost in Translation ? Why not Zoolander after all ? They already know I’m crazy hihi

We had the first snow in Lanzhou. And the second one today. Temperature : -21°C. No shit.
I went out for a walk, climbed up my favorite hills, and because of the snow no car was driving uphill. And no people, or maybe 10. I walked up up up, and all was covered in snow. There was a wild cemetery, with bright sunflowers with snow caps. And this vast white plain field, and I went to the center and stayed there listening to the wind and it was just perfect.

I invited my friend L. to the cine club on Saturday, we were showing « Blood Diamond ». I think the whole room cried. Of course I did too. And then I rushed out because I sort of felt embarrassed to blow my nose in front of all the kids. Ah, what can I do ? We went to a bar and as we entered, two women were playing « Cotton Eye Joe » on electric violins (seriously…). 4 of L.’s friends came in at various time during that evening and each time I could understand « zhaopian » (photo) and « piaoliang » (pretty). And I ended up figuring out that L. had shown a picture of me to each and every of her colleagues and friends and that « she’s prettier than the photo ! »
Oh my.
In the same field, my student M told me once again that « you look so much like Princess Diana ! » In a way I’m glad Frankestein wasn’t blond and curly with blue eyes, because « I would look so much like him ! »

Much love.

I wish I could drag pop and mom to the Max Linder to see a cool film, argue with mom not to leave 45 minutes before the actual film, and effortlessly convince them both to treat me to the Italian restaurant at the corner of the Avenue Trudaine. Me, a spoiled kid? never.

Intense week-end. Intense last few weeks.
I freaked out about an innocent crack on a tooth - come on after all since I was 6 or so, my dentist, whom I visit twice a year, always congratulates me and tells me about how good my teeth are -
I took a photo of my cracked tooth from 60 angles, in the mirror, send the two best shots and asked for advice. I was called a few hours later "you'd better come to Chengdu"
WHAT?
Lanzhou. 3.5 million people. Capital of the province.
Not
a single
trustworthy
freakin dentist.
Which ended up in me on a train for 44 hours in a single week-end. 22hours in Chengdu.
To be told I don't know how to brush my teeth.
But I got two fillings. So I got for my money (huh, the Peace Corps', actually. My time, only)
I met up with the Chengdu PCV, had RAW FISH sushi (sushis? sushii?). Heaven. And saké. Kind of heaven too. I think us Lanzhou people are way way too reasonable.

I felt utterly lost in Chengdu. I wanted my metro, my smelly RER, carte vélib' and Imagin'R!
OR, my lanzhou bus pass.
I think it means I integrated that Lanzhou is my home for the next two years. I keep telling people I don't really care for Niu Rou Mian but love Kou binzi instead. They think I'm weird. It's like the Laowai / Christian equation. Chinese people live a lot through those. I live in Lanzhou so Niu Rou Mian should be my favorite Chinese food. I agree that good Niu Rou Mian is good. But at the corner of the street, you just get lots of boiling water and noodles, and 3 pieces of meat. I want more for it to be called "b-e-e-f". noodles.
Way more than 3 miserable pieces of beef lost in an ocean of boiling water and noodles which invariably end up on my recently washed favorite warmest sweater.

I thought a lot on the train, and was so bored I prepared the coolest funky playlist on the planet. "Angela" by Saian Supa Crew, followed by "Filthy / Gorgeous" , "Femme libérée", "YMCA" et "l'aventurier". This kind of playlist. hell yeah. It's all decided, I will not ask my students "do you want French or American music? " I will put this playlist on. Forever.

I also realized how painful the French classes are. The only solution I came up with is to tell every single person at the department that I will die if I don't have a video class to balance until I leave China. Seriously.
My counterpart was talking to me asking me what classes I had to prepare and I was heartbroken saying "my French class" and then she was like "oh, but that's so easy for you". You see. This is the drama of my teaching experience in China.
Teaching
French in
ENglish
to Chinese students who don't know enough English
is not easy. At all.
Oh my.
I was invited to play ping pong with the vice-dean and people from the department. Excellent way to release my French-teaching-related-frustration without words.

I realized just now choosing "Rock" as an English name was not funny. I forgot Pierre is one of the most common name in French.

I'm tired and my brain has lost half its size.

I shook hand with M (yet another one) that we'd go photoshoot over a week end somewhere beautiful and snowy in Gansu. I think I need to get out. Already.
And I mean, not to merely be on a train.

Role plays tomorrow. I'll film. "For educational purpose"
and maybe your own enjoyment.

Je vous embrasse,
M

I wish I could drag pop and mom to the Max Linder to see a cool film, argue with mom not to leave 45 minutes before the actual film, and effortlessly convince them both to treat me to the Italian restaurant at the corner of the Avenue Trudaine. Me, a spoiled kid? never.

Intense week-end. Intense last few weeks.
I freaked out about an innocent crack on a tooth - come on after all since I was 6 or so, my dentist, whom I visit twice a year, always congratulates me and tells me about how good my teeth are -
I took a photo of my cracked tooth from 60 angles, in the mirror, send the two best shots and asked for advice. I was called a few hours later "you'd better come to Chengdu"
WHAT?
Lanzhou. 3.5 million people. Capital of the province.
Not
a single
trustworthy
freakin dentist.
Which ended up in me on a train for 44 hours in a single week-end. 22hours in Chengdu.
To be told I don't know how to brush my teeth.
But I got two fillings. So I got for my money (huh, the Peace Corps', actually. My time, only)
I met up with the Chengdu PCV, had RAW FISH sushi (sushis? sushii?). Heaven. And saké. Kind of heaven too. I think us Lanzhou people are way way too reasonable.

I felt utterly lost in Chengdu. I wanted my metro, my smelly RER, carte vélib' and Imagin'R!
OR, my lanzhou bus pass.
I think it means I integrated that Lanzhou is my home for the next two years. I keep telling people I don't really care for Niu Rou Mian but love Kou binzi instead. They think I'm weird. It's like the Laowai / Christian equation. Chinese people live a lot through those. I live in Lanzhou so Niu Rou Mian should be my favorite Chinese food. I agree that good Niu Rou Mian is good. But at the corner of the street, you just get lots of boiling water and noodles, and 3 pieces of meat. I want more for it to be called "b-e-e-f". noodles.
Way more than 3 miserable pieces of beef lost in an ocean of boiling water and noodles which invariably end up on my recently washed favorite warmest sweater.

I thought a lot on the train, and was so bored I prepared the coolest funky playlist on the planet. "Angela" by Saian Supa Crew, followed by "Filthy / Gorgeous" , "Femme libérée", "YMCA" et "l'aventurier". This kind of playlist. hell yeah. It's all decided, I will not ask my students "do you want French or American music? " I will put this playlist on. Forever.

I also realized how painful the French classes are. The only solution I came up with is to tell every single person at the department that I will die if I don't have a video class to balance until I leave China. Seriously.
My counterpart was talking to me asking me what classes I had to prepare and I was heartbroken saying "my French class" and then she was like "oh, but that's so easy for you". You see. This is the drama of my teaching experience in China.
Teaching
French in
ENglish
to Chinese students who don't know enough English
is not easy. At all.
Oh my.

I realized just now choosing "Rock" as an English name was not funny. I forgot Pierre is like the most common name in French.

I'm tired and my brain has lost half its size.

I shook hand with M (yet another one) that we'd go photoshoot over a week end somewhere beautiful and snowy in Gansu. I think I need to get out. Already.
And I mean, not to merely be on a train.

Role plays tomorrow. I'll film. "For educational purpose"
and maybe your own enjoyment.

En français, parce que quiconque ne parle pas français ne comprendra pas anyway. 

Pour enseigner le français, on m'a gracieusement donné un manuel et 4 cassettes, au son complètement pourri. Mes cours de français sont les moins intéressants, mais une chose me fait invariablement tordre de rire:

En Chine, toute religion est interdite aux Han parce que leur seule religion doit être le marxisme. Rien de nouveau sous le soleil, et pas la peine de venir en Chine pour savoir ça. 
La grande surprise, par contre, c'est que tous les manuels de langue étrangère sont accompagnés de ces cassettes, pour exercer l'oreille fine de nos étudiants. Figurez-vous que la petite musique d'introduction avant chaque nouvelle unité, et bien, c'est "Dominique, nique, nique" (oui oui, s'en allait tout simplement, routier pauvre et chantant, en tout chemin en tout lieu, il ne parle que du bon dieu, c'est bien celle-là)

Donc les étudiants ne peuvent pratiquer aucune religion, mais que ce soit en anglais, russe, japonais ou français, et ce depuis l'école primaire et la première introduction aux langues étrangères, la petite mélodie d'introduction des nouvelles unités est celle de Soeur Sourire, nonne devenue chanteuse numéro 1 au hit Parade et morte d'overdose.

Ah ben bravo. 

Je payerai cher pour rencontrer le petit rigolo qui a innocemment proposé cette musique à tous les éditeurs de manuels de langues étrangères en Chine!

What have I been doing? 
Not in order. 

- gave my first video quizz to my students, it was way too easy but still, some students got 12/20 when half of the class got 20/20.
One of my students filled in the blank as below:
"Where do you live? I can ____ you _____."
Instead of GIVE A LIFT, she wrote DANCE YOU OFF. 

It reminded me of that time at MHC where it took me about 10 times to remember the expression "see you off".
Who said Chinese students are not creative? Dance you off is just beautiful. 

-Met with my student A. who introduced me to R., a journalist major very much aware of what free Press means, and really passionated by photography. A. is his model and so we wandered about in Lanzhou photo shooting together. We talked about photography and when I told him I could give him some Photographers' names, his eyes sparkled. 
Which I did.


R and A.


Groom and Bride.

- Was called on a Sunday morning and asked to be back home right away to "correct an essay". "You better come, because it is someone important". I was pretty offended with the "you better come" but talked about it with the students I was with at the time and understood that in Chinese, it is not offensive and there is no "because otherwise you are going to suffer" between the lines. Turned out the daughter of MW's friend was applying to College in the US and wanted me to correct her essay. She was sweet though and very shy, and I tried to correct her 300 word-essay on "Ju and Taoism" as best as I could. And got awesome green tea and invited for a delicious dinner for it. You can call it bribe, but I chose to enjoy it. 

-learnt a bunch of food related characters. I can recognize "meat, rice, mushrooms, shrimp, chicken, pork, beef, sweet and sour pork" on a menu. Big progress, you have no idea!

-had some awful Russian couch surfers (or maybe I am too bourgeoise to host anyway. I feel bad because I wouldn't have minded if they didn't smell so bad) and decided I'd meet for coffee or a drink with anyone who would like it but that I am too busy to host anyway.

-Went to English corner and felt like in a circus. I sat next to a non-English major who had a really foul breathe and didn't answer any of my questions but kept answering "I don't have a girlfriend" none the less.  Then, I was asked to blow balloons up giving passionated hugs to B., the Australian teacher, on a stage, in front of 50 excited students. And it ended up with some song. And more invitations. I answered yes to all of them but made sure that "I don't want to sing. Ever."
I hope they got it.

-Was invited for lunch by a teacher who was sent in the countryside right out of Middle school for 10 years you-know-when and you-know-why, and isn't bitter about it. "There's no point in being angry, history is history." Wow. Or "veg", as they say in Lanzhouhua. She has lived abroad a lot, and is very curious and open so I want to hang out and watch films with her. She's a good person.

-showed "Paris je t'aime" to a couple of students who loved it. We had to stop before the 10th arrondissement because their dorm closes at 11pm so I was a bit sad, but we'll finish it next Thursday.

-Showed "Into the Wild" to my class this morning and was so emotional afterward (damnit, why? I have seen it like 6 times!) that I was really happy that we ran out of time and I couldn't talk about it. I would probably have cried.
1 hour later, I got a text from my student M "You really are into films aren't you? Sure you can teach films, you have such a special eyes for films. I like all the films you've shown us, especially "Into the Wild". I feel as free as Chris right now and it is kind of a revolution."

I realized that they've never seen bad news on TV or in films. Because there are no bad news on Chinese TV, and they aren't shown films without happy endings.  The bad news, they're at home only when they happen, I realized. So it must be kind of shocking for them to see films where people die, people are unhappy, people struggle, don't know what they want, how to get it, and don't find some magician to solve it all for them.

In the journals, many students wrote that "Edward Scissorhands" would have been a much better film if Edward had gotten real hands in the end and lived happily ever after with Kim. Sorry fellows.

-I downloaded a lot of French rap (Iam, NTM and MC Solaar, I am really old school, what can I do about it) and love walking to class with "Laisse pas traîner ton fils" on maximum volume on my ipod, in the chilly morning. It's the first time absolutely noone understands anything when I speak French. It feels strange but sometimes pleasant too. I could send my students songs full of swear words and they would tell me "it's so romantic!"
I might try that sometime haha

-Away from home for my two brothers' birthdays in October, but it'll be good to see them here at some point.

-Am sad that my favorite NYC gallery is closing on Friday. and that I still haven't received the card they all sent me already a couple of weeks ago....

-Making plans for Thanksgiving (now I'll have to explain that I've never celebrated it at home) in Dingxi with fellow PCV and New Year's Eve in (probably) X'ian.
And, last but not least, waiting for central heating to hit on.



Je vous embrasse!

 T.'s journal (male) :

"This is my comment. The film is too crazy. I don't like the style of film. The first sight is Danny and Sandy kiss together. They only teenager. not adult. If boys and boys became adult, what they will do. we can't dare. The T-Boys in the film they are work in the summer vacation. for money. they earn money to buy a car to date a girl. do that thing very crazy. not like a teenager should do. more like adults. I don't like this film."

R.'s journal (female):

"I'm eager to say that this film is really awesome. When I was watching this film the sentence "I love i" just popped out. Musical and Romance movies are are always my most favorites. (...) LOL it was a little weird to see them make love in the car which was unacceptable for Chinese people. However it is was very much normal in the Western countries."

A.'s journal (female):

"Grease" is the movie that I like it very much. Because I am a emotional person, so the songs in th emovie exciting and my mood go with these melodies. Sometimes sad and sometimes happy. (...) My highschool is in this movie, my first love is in this movie and a simple memory and myself are also in the movie. (...)"

HAHA I am alive and kicking.
The weird looking egg did not kill me. It made me stronger.
Not true, after a short blue period (I hated teaching French and felt really shitty I guess I was homesick.), I'm back.

They say Chinese students are not creative. Forget about that. O. came to cook here, and had some flour/egg/oil dough over. "Let's make a pancake! I want to try out something and be creative." So she put 5l of oil in the pan and made a pancake. Put some dry apricots (my idea) and sugar on top. And.... it was gross.
She also described the fried mushrooms as "crunchy on the outside, and soft in the inside. A perfect harmony."
I love this.

I collected the journal for the film class. Besides one who copied-pasted internet summaries from the internet (using super complicated words I don't know, like, seriously, did he think I would not notice? Really? Am I that stupid?  My self esteemed just plummeted right there), I am pretty happy with their job. There are many grammatical mistakes, yes, but they wrote personal stuff. Sometimes a bit far fetched, sometimes, very funny. They kind of all have the same ideas and got the same things from the films, but some are special and those are the best !


Harold and Maude was not completely a hit in my Friday class. First remark "I think it's weird and disgusting"
Alrighty.
But I made my point that the main idea of the film was not the relationship, and that after all we didn't even really care about it.
Maybe they nod but think I'm insane and so so so so so ammoral.
maybe. whatev.

Today I was coming back home after class, and a student I had never met runs up to me, penting and sweating.
-"Are you Christian? I am Christian"
- .... "? No." (I guess I am but I didn't want to explain forever and I was slightly surprised by the question coming out of nowhere)
-"Can I ask you questions about the Bible?"
-.... "I have actually never ever read the Bible. I'm the worst person to be asked questions about the Bible, seriously."
-"Oh. Sorry. Nevermind thank you."

and away he went.

Conclusion / equation: every laowai is Christian.
Every Christian knows the Bible by heart.
So every laowai knows the Bible by heart.

I guess I am not a laowai then.

How do you call that literary figure that Montesquieu uses in "De l'esclavage des Nègres"? why do I think about this now? I mean, how do I remember this now?

Je vous embrasse.

It's because I'm dead tomorrow morning: I ate this tonight.

 

I was in the market, and my students cooking at my house for the night, O and A, show me this. 


"Do you know this? they're eggs!" Me: "oh, REALLY ?" I think about all those PC medical sessions about not eating raw eggs and stuff, and I try to ask them if they're cooked and they say that they are covered in spices and left like that for a very long time. But do not answer the question. "it's delicious"
Alrighty. 
Then back at home, I understand that under the dirt like cover, there's the shell, and underneath, a weird Jello like egg. And I look closer and ... "Ohhhhhh this looks like... a snow flake. How interesting!" (I freaked out but remained cool. "I'll take a photo, it's facsinating, I've never seen that in my entire life, it's very strange...!" - and if I die this is amazing evidence of the cause right?- )

I feel perfectly fine right now though. 
They also cooked deep fried mushrooms and that was awesome. This country rocks just because people eat mushrooms all the time. 

Oh, and Harold and Maude was a hit. They got freaked out by the 79-20 age gap thingy, but we talked about it for 40 minutes ("is it a romantic love? It can't be!") and it seems they liked it. M. told me that S. had a secret crush on Harold, telling her "if such a guy existed it real life, I'd marry him right away!" Somehow I feel I'd marry Maude right away instead hahaha

Adios.

Winter is at the corner of the door.
I received a text from my friend L. (whom I had met the day before) "the weather become cold and I hope you can keep warm and take care of yourself".
The vice Dean of the Scholl of Foreign Languages also called me (among other things) to tell me to keep warm :)
ha, this is China.
The break was wonderul, my last excursion has been followed by a great awesome BBQ on a mountain with two students, B and S. (not BS, B and S). They are sophomores and incredibly cute. I'm not sure they're dating but it seriously seems like B, who is the shyest (shyiest?) of the two, is badly enamorated with S and doesn't know how to tell her. Or, maybe I got it all wrong and they preten to be good kids in front of their French teacher haha
Anyway, they speak in English to each others and B would say things like: "S, would you care for a glass of Pepsi?"
I got officially invited to B's hometown, Datong. So much travelling in my mind, but for now I'm stuck here, "to integrate"
but it doesn't matter have a lot of work anyway.
S. went to the market the day before the BBQ. We were going to be three right?
"I bough chicken wings and breasts and sausages and beef and pork and mushrooms and toffu and salad, do you think that's enough?"
After preparing the sticks for about an hour, another food coma, but followed by a couple of chilled out card games (taught them Bataille Corse/Egyptian war, which turned out extremely good for digestion haha), and we went down the mountain at sunset. Perfect day.


B and S shaking a fruit tree, in vain. 



Talking to young Chinese my age (24 and up) here, many things come out:
If you've read China Road, one of the conclusions is that Chinese youth is lost and confused. And I slowly understand this from the inside and it cannot be more true (or truer, whatever)
men, more than women, are confused and pretty much unhappy. The speech they hold is very contradictory. No freedom, too much pressure, they want to live a free life and travel but have to build a family and get money. When I ask who says so, they don't know what to answer. I guess it comes to two choices: look at all the negative things and be really unhappy and seriously depressed about it all, or still be aware that some things go (really) wrong but still look at the bright side., and find a way to be happy. Turns out interestingly enough, the women my age I talked to chose that option. "we know the goverment hides things from us but we have a much better life than our parents and grand parents. Like, 6 years ago, we had no bathroom and had to go to the Public Baths." Hence, women were "proud of the parade on the 1st fo October", and the men I talked to about it didn't care at all and were actually kind of angry with the whole thing.
But somehow I feel the people I talk to have hung out with many Americans and think that everyoone in America travels all the time and live a carefree life. I guess the self pressure thing is not Chinese but completely universal but people here are so confused they make themselves believe it's a Chinese issue.

Anyway. I'm a bit confused with it all too.
On a side note, I just watched "the Fly" by David Cronenberg, and it would be hilarious to show it to my students. But I won't (the main character, a proud scientist, mutates into a fly after a messed up teleportation experiment, and the later mutation stage is just gross. He can vomit a kind of fluid that is hyper powerful and melts his enemies' limbs like acid. Oh yeah. It was a pretty cool movie though :) )
Tomorrow I'll show Harold and Maude. For two main reasons. First, it's a wonderful, funny and deep film. Secondly, I was told by a Chinese teacher (25 year old, open minded and all) that "they cannot understand, it's too deep"
And I just refuse to censor myself and of course if everyone says "they cannot see this", they'll never see anything interested and they'll get punched in the face whenever they will encounter films that they were "too young to see". Come one, those kids are 20 to 21. T-H-R-E-E Y-E-A-R-S older than I am. They can almost legally get trashed in in the US of A!
I miss my friends today. I think. 
much love,
M

 

today was quite something.

We started of with my friend L. taking 3 buses and a taxi to go in the countryside, outside of Lanzhou, and climbed Xinglong Shan, a mountain covered in orange/yellow/red trees. While climbing, we met many college students (all the college students are on break for a week, xo they climb mountains... and talk to laowais). One came up to me : "can i take a photo for you?" I suspected he meant "of you" and was a bit reluctant but then thought what the hell and why not. I've become used to it. Then we talked a bit and we asked him where he studied, and he answered.... Li Gong Daxue! It's a small world... 
anyway, here's Lili (Lee Lee? I really have no clue haha, he just said Lili, but was certainly not a woman so well...) and I :


It was the first time I saw the countryside and it is quite something. Crazy dry and yet many fields, corn, wheat and what not.

In the bus, many people could not sit down because it was too full, so they were standing in the alley. Once in a while, the driver would shout something (actually, the Chinese version of "police!") and all those people in the alley would kneel down for 5 minutes, as they were not supposed to be there....

Loved the mountain and apparently, we can ski there in the Winter!
And since I am a poor PCV, we went to a foot massage place called "Big Foot Ancestor" (seriously) and were seated in a room with TV and handsome Chinese men who seriously knew what they were doing....
And then, dumpling overdose, I don't remember what happened. But I have two boxes of jiaozi in my fridge, a suitcase full of mooncakes in my arms, home made mooncakes in my bag, and many photos. To be uploaded.


 the fancy mooncake suitcase

oh and I know everyone knows that but still. it's pretty weird that every single temple or really old monument I see has been destroyed and rebuilt in in the 1980s....

Here's L. :

à un chinois brillant de 24 ans qui est dépressif parce qu'il ne se sent pas libre dans son pays, qui a essayé d'avoir un visa sans succès, qui a quitté son job dans une boîte d'assurances parce qu'il en avait marre des pots de vins....
Des idées?

Me, M and S. I'm quite fond of those stupid photo booth effects and we had a good time with my two film enthusiastics. I showed them Zoolander. hahaha



the laowais with S, L and D (the non laowai, will you spot them?)


English teachers with funky hats to block the sun (the day's program). It was hot.


the "red is dead" scene


the "cool kids"


an intense Chinese student.


the female version of the funky schedule of the day hat: umbrellas.


I wrote a whole freakin text between 1 and 2 am yesterday and when I tried to add photos it disappeared.  (ah, when I think I could have watched the end of "Blind Date" instead hahaha)
So I'll upload photos first and will write later now. Whoops,sorry.
but still:
-I met a French Canadian that looked like a lumber jack, a Belgium woman and a French dude who works on the Tibetan plateaux on the edge of Gansu, at a fancy banquet in a grandiloquent hotel where a "dinner for the foreign teachers of Gansu" was hosted. Gansu = 25 M people. The room containing all the foreign teachers (and businessmen actually) in Gansu = a small than Versaille style ballroom. (I have high standards), so less than 300 foreigners, I think. It was good to speak French and hear the funky French Canadian accent.

-I was told that my favorite black silk jacket my dad brought me back years ago (from china) a) is good for funeral b) is a man's jacket. Oh well.
-I was told: "you look like a little boy with your glasses and black jacket and haircut" by a Chinese English teacher who sits in my French class. She's shy and silent and told me that while I was bored taking pictures and getting sunburnt (why on earth was I the ONLY one getting sunburnt? well, I didn't have an umbrella but still. not fair). And she talked and talked and talked (about me mainly. kind of strange. ) and then told me she was very shy (well, duh!) and asked for advice for teaching. She's been teaching for 7 years. I have been teaching for.... 1 month? And when I told her I was actually pretty shy myself and that sometimes you just need to jump eventhough you have no idea of where you're going to land, she looked at me as if I were the biggest liar on earth.
-i was interviewed (with a mic and all) by Freshman journalists, was asked for photos and ... autographs. on notebooks and ... even on a T-Shirt. Thank god I have a funky signature.
-I sat for 5 hours in the sun for the 90th anniversary of my school: 3:30 min of speeches and one hour of performances. 800 student volunteers, 20,000 people. The cool kids of the school played and sang pop songs, and then there were those weird songs about the early history of the school (school of technology and mechanics, hence the "la cité de la peur - Red is dead" kind of costumes.
- I met a lot of English teachers I had never met before, and when I told one of them that there were so many faces I had never seen in this English department bus that took u sto the new campus for the celebration, she answered "but they all know you!"
-then we had a banquet, all scattered in small groups in different groups in the restaurant. Again, all the laowais together. The head of the English department came and toasted and thanked us foreign teachers for being at his school, and looked at me (I had literally never met him before) and said "and especially Mathilde who teaches French. Bonjour!" So this is good for my secondary project next year. oh yeah.


Besides that it's PRC's 60th anniversary, M and G came at 10 am with baozi and binzi for breakfast and we watched a bit on TV, but it was like the 14th of July, except bigger. But, honestly, just as boring. And then I met this Chinese couch surfer downtown. Who speaks really good French and learnt tons of slang, argot and verlan online and taught me how to swear in Chinese. So, as you can guess, I am really excited haha

have 8 days of break, but since i m invited almost everyday i don't know when I'll study Chinese ha

oh, and i absolutely love my video class. The students are 20. but they're so innocent and just watching (and listening) them when they watch the films I show them is wonderful.
so many "hooooooo" , "haaaaaaaaaa" it's hilarious. I told them to tell the head of the department that they really like my class so that I can teach it again next semester haha
Hope it works.

Cheers,  gonna play ping pong.

So today I decided to take a walk around campus, because for the last three weeks, everything was torn down and rebuilt. Why? My school is celebrating its 90th anniversary. So it's a pretty big deal. The other day, the class monitor arrived in class with a bunch of flashy yellow T-shirts for the students. I was madly jealous and wanted a yellow LUT T-shirt too, but, blah. I'm a laoshi here, not a student, so I couldn't get one. 
Anyway, in three weeks, we passed from the state of dust and dirt all around to a brand new lovely grassy campus. There's even an artificial lake (with fishes!) now . A climbing wall, new basket ball courts, flowers everywhere.

the climbing wall. huge. but right now, it's horizontal. Go figure!

the new basketball courts


this is the main gate


and the lake:




I escaped a movie about Jesus an hour ago. Had made and drank a bit of sangria with the other young foreign teacher, and then she said "oh, let's meet B. and watch a movie with her". B is yet another foreign teacher. We arrived at B's apartment and L. says "oh can we finish the Jesus movie we started last week. We could watch the Apocalypse!!!". Ironically enough, I thougt "Oh god. "
and said whatever. But had to get out of there after 30 minutes.

After my first photos on campus, I kept walking down a dirt road on the other side of the street, and met some kids BBQing potatoes on some train tracks. And teenagers playing pool. I got invited to play, a crowd gathered, and the kids kept playing around me shouting "hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello" (not exagerating.)
A former student of LUT spoke some English, asked me if he could come to my video class and I said "why not"
and then I got escorted back to the back gate. 
I love those random walks where I start walking with no purpose and meet people I'll never see again but welcome me anyway.
updates on flickr.
vous embrasse.

settling in quite well, I even cleant my flat for the first time in ... 3 weeks. Yay me. 
(if you know me you know I hate vacuum cleaners, well, brooms are even worst to me, but since it's so crazy dusty here, I don't really have a choice)
S, who cooked here a couple of weeks ago, very solemny told me I need this and this and this and this to have a decent kitchen, so she grabbed me by the hand and took me to a huge Chinese market where you can get basically anything for your house (including a ping pong raquet)
It was very funny because Stephanie is small and thina nd sweet as can be, and smiles a lot, but, man, when she bargains, no kidding around!
So I got pots and spoons and plates and a tea pot and a mop and all that, now I have no excuse not to cook nor clean. But I still find some.

L, N's cousin, invited me sightseeing the other day. She is 25, works in an insurance company, studied accounting because her father wanted her to do so, doens't like it. Pretty common. I think.
She's also very tiny and shy and i always like to hear "I like metal" coming from very tiny and shy people. We went to Bai ta Shan, the White Tower park, built for one Daila Lama who died there on his way back home a long time ago (check your guide books if you really want to know details)

Then we went on one of those 100 year-old rafts made of sheeps' intestines, I believe. Pretty cool and scary, you sit on a cushion on it, a guy paddles with one single wooden paddle, sets you off, and the current on the Yellow River can get quite strong, but by some miracle he manages to stop the raft about 500 meter further. The thing is you stop in a random place, and you have to walk back on a muddy dirt lane. On the way back, we saw a snake, freaked out, started running after we saw a rat. 

This is a "raft" thingy.

Oh, I'll have my first couch surfer today, from Berlin, Germany, so I'm excited.

And in my French class, I followed mymum's advice and read a poem (l'Albatros, by Baudelaire). They didn't repeat after me as they usually do. They kind of looked mesmerized and clapped when I was done. That was pretty weird and cool.
The film class is going well too. Edward Scissorhands was a big hit on Monday, will show it today and see how it goes.
Got to run. 
Much love to you all.

(no mud hut, hot water, Western toilets, internet in da house)

But the students make it real. So I did those sign-up sheets for students to come and cook Chinese food at my place, twice a week. It's good for two reasons:
a) I don't need to cook
B) I get a chance to talk to the students "one on two" or "one on three"
So far, one on two (because one student had forgoten yesterday, and when I told her "oh, we can try and find another date at the end of next class" she giggled and answered "oh, but I have decided to drop out the French class because it's too boring" (that was after one course). Me: "what???" (well, I was kind of surprised!) "because it's too boring"
Alrighty. Less students in the class, all good for me, and it was so straightforward it was actually really funny.
Anyway yesterday S and B came. During the conversation, I asked them what their parents do. "farmer. country teacher. farmer."
Today, S and A came. Two thin tiny shy girls, they were obviously very shy even about talking English (the Juniors are much more at ease than the Sophomores.)
S tells me she has a brother. I asked how come, with the usual naive "I heard about the one child policy". 
"You see, I'm a country girl, and in the country when the first child is a girl, well, parents get another one and they don't care about the law, because they want a boy."
Parents. Farmers.
A tells me that many years ago, something happened and her father died because of "some disease". I don't know if this means aids or not. Her mother sells vegetables, but it is very hard for her to have a decent life. She has a brother who studies in a different town, but she can only communicate with him when they are both back home because he doesn't have a phone. And when she's at home, she does all th housework to relief her mother's burden.
After this, S tells me that many years ago, something also happened to her family and her parents got divorced and she was very sad.
Both conclude that they feel very grateful to have good friends.
Both want to travel the world and see how other people live and experience different cultures.
"In the dormitory, we all have our secrets, and we don't necessarily know them, but we are here for each others."
The food was not spicy but A had tears in her eyes anyway.
And then, right there, you just want to hug and tell them they'll do it some day and it's going to be ok.

Today
I spoke French in front of 30 students who were giggling because of all those funny weird sounds they had never ever heard.
I had them repeat a,e,i,o,u avec la bouche en cul de poule but the sounds weren't the same as mine. At all.
But they kept repeating them again and again, long after I was done with my vowel. They're probably still doing it. 

I asked them why they wanted to learn French, and they said
because it's very interesting
because it's very romantic
because Paris is very romantic
because it's the language spoken at the UN
because... that's it.
-Me: "do you know any famous French people?"
-"President Sar..."
-Me: yes, Sarkozy.
-"Alizée"  (she is super damn famous here, god knows why)
-"Hélène" (yep, Hélène from Hélène et les garçons)
Ok. I'll try and introduce French writers, musicians, painters, architects to you in the next two year.

Today I played ping pong for two hours with three students. Right in the middle of an exchange, K. stopped, look at me and said:
"I really like your hair. I think it is lovely." Well, believe it or not, but I think I blushed. I so didn't expect it there and then.

I do intend to play every Wednesday, and my goal is to beat C., just because I know I can haha. Just need to get used to that raquette and smashing again. After all in high school I did beat the Chinese students at ping pong!!!

I discovered fresh peanuts (like, straight from the ground, if peanuts grow in the ground - I suppose so because they're full of dirt, those peanuts I bought), and it's a painful process to peel them when you bite your nails, but so worth it, and so much better than salty peanuts.

I love it that I can buy lunch for 20 cents, and have a delicious toasted  and wrapped in cumin and spices bread, with delicious BQQed lamb in it.

I had two sign-up sheets for students to come and cook at my house on Monday and Tuesday nights (basically every single Monday and Tuesday until mid January, end of semester. 3 persons per date. Well, those two sheets are almost completed. wooohoooo who is going to eat well and not even cook for it?! 

So, all this was all in one day and I'm exhausted but quite satisfied. 

Tomorrow day off. Gonna explore Wuquan Shan Park. Hope it doesn't rain.
Much love,
M

if you want to check the photos on flickr just email me and i'll invite you.
cheers,
M

have decided to start a portrait series

Ok so here's a map of China. Will you find Gansu and Lanzhou?

and here is some info about Gansu province in French and a touristic map of Gansu here.


And in English.

Also P., a friend of my mum (thanks again!) , sent me info about Lanzhou food and history and all, so I thought I'd put it here as well, so that we all have an idea of where I am and what I eat (which is the most important haha)

"Lanzhou Dining -- What to Eat

The food in Lanzhou is quite unique compared to that of central China, having been influenced by ethnic groups - especially the Hui people. Besides the beef noodles, there are local delicacies that cannot be tasted in other places, as well as Sichuan cuisines, hotpot, and western food.

Gansu Cuisine

Lanzhou dishes are representative of Gansu cuisine which features the roasting, steaming, and braising of beef and mutton. Lanzhou people enjoy many tastes including salty, fresh, tart, and spicy. Gansu cuisine can be sampled at various hotels in Lanzhou. Typical dishes include Jincheng Baita, Jincheng Babao Melon Carving, Baihe Tao, and albino leeks with chicken and roasted pork.

Baihe (Lily) Tao (Peach) is so named because the dish is shaped like peaches. The washed fresh lily - a specialty of Lanzhou - is steamed for about 15 minutes. The lily is then stuffed with sweetened bean paste so that it looks like a peach. The 'peach' is braised in a bamboo steamer for about twenty minutes and then served with a white sugar sauce.

Jincheng Baita is an assortment of cold meats, imitating the famous attraction of Baita (the White Pagoda) in Lanzhou, which is a seven-story pagoda with eight facets.

Jincheng Babao (eight treasures) Melon Carving is a traditional food of Lanzhou. The carved melon peel is used as a bowl to hold white fungus, pineapple, cherry, longan, waxberry, and other delicacies. The carving is exquisite and the food is fresh and sweet. This dish will satisfy not only your palate but also your eye.

Silk Road Camel Hoof is a nutritious dish since the whole hoof is made up of tendon, which is very tasty.

Quick Fried Camel Hump, a dainty dish, has a history of 1,500 years.

Lanzhou Roasted Pork is heated over charcoal and served with spring pies or sesame pies.

Jinyu (golden fish) Facai (a kind of fungus that grows in the desert near the Yellow River) is a classic dish in Gansu Province. There is no golden fish in the dish; the name comes from the shape. The Fa Cai is soaked in water until it is soft and then kneaded until it is round. Minced chicken flavored with salt, egg white, sesame oil, and cooking wine is used to stuff the Fa Cai so it looks like a golden fish. The'fish' is steamed until it is cooked and then served in a dish surrounded with bree, giving the look of a 'golden fish swimming in water'. This popular Lanzhou dish goes well with wine.

For Lanzhou specialty-dishes, we recommend that tourists try them in the Chinese restaurants of the classic hotels because of their professional cooking style.

Local Delicacies

Lanzhou Beef Noodles (Stretched Noodles) is the most famous local dish in Lanzhou. It was first created during the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1875 - 1908), Qing Dynasty (1616 - 1911) and it is now popular all over China. This dish has five main features: clear soup, white radish, red pepper, green caraway and yellow noodles. The noodles can be wide or slim to meet different preferences. Boys like er xi (a little wider) while girls like slim ones, the middle-aged and the old like jiuyezi (leek leaf) and maoxi (slimmer) and scholars prefer slim and jiuyezi. Farmers, soldiers and workers prefer wide or even wider. If a girl or an old man asks for wider noodles or a boy asks for maoxi noodles, it would be rather strange. The noodles have gone beyond food to become a culture.

A bowl of beef noodles costs 2 Yuan and takes only a few minutes to prepare. The chef twists and stretches the dough skillfully and in less than two minutes the noodles are finished. This quick and inexpensive food is undoubtedly the first choice among the locals. There are one or two beef noodles eateries on every street in Lanzhou.

Niang pi zi cannot be missed among the local delicacies. Flour paste is steamed for 3 - 4 minutes, then cut into strips and served with mustard, garlic, sesame butter, chili oil, vinegar, and soy sauce. This is a favorite among the locals and many of the tourists.

As many Hui people live in Lanzhou, barbequed mutton, boiled mutton, and lamb with wide vermicelli are local delicacies among the various ethnic groups.

Do not forget pie with preserved ham, casserole, and fried field snails, which are good choices for you to enjoy either alone or with friends.

Fried Sheep Tail is actually made up of egg, bean paste, and starch. It is crispy with a golden top."

"

Lanzhou

Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, has been a regional communication and transportation hub since ancient times. Lying in the central section of Gansu Province, this provincial capital received its name from the "lan" of the Gaolan Mountain Range to its south. Covering an area of 1631.6 square kilometers (629.96 square miles), Lanzhou is home to a population of 3.14 million, including Han, Hui (Muslims), Baoan, Dongxiang, Tibetan, Uighur and Sala and more.

Climate

Located in western China, Lanzhou has the distinct features of a semi-arid climate, characterized by dryness and abundant sunlight. The hottest month is July, with an average temperature of 22.2oC (71.96F), while January is the coldest, with an average temperature of 6.9oC (44.42F). It is a city without cold winter or hot summer, with an average annual temperature of 10.3oC (50.54F) and an average annual precipitation of 331mm. Travelers, hikers and tourists going to Lanzhou in the mercurial winter months are strongly advised to just bring along thick overcoats.

History

In ancient times, Lanzhou was called the "Gold City", due to the great amount of that precious metal that was found here. It was this discovery, along with the fact that the city was for 1,400 years a significant fortress along the Hexi Corridor--an eastern and crucial stretch of the Silk Road - that brought to the city long period of great prosperity. Today, Lanzhou is a hub of the Silk Road, with the Maiji Caves to the east, the Bingling Thousand Buddha Caves to the west, Labrang Monastery to the south and Dunhuang Mogao Caves to the north.

Scenic Spots

Lanzhou is not a major tourist spot; however, it is an important stopover in the ancient Silk Road. It boasts a number of cultural heritage sites, like the 5th-century cave shrines and stone statues at Bingling Temple (also called Thousand Buddha Caves), and a 27-meter-high Buddha at the White Pagoda Hill. Other grand sights, such as Sculptures of the Mother River, Five Springs Park, Shifogou National Forest Park, Sun Yat-sen Bridge, Waterwheel Garden, Lanshan Mountain are guaranteed to add excitement to your trip. And as the Yellow River flows from east to the west through the city, the Landscape along the Mother River should also not be missed.

Lanzhou is a bustling city with a modern downtown area, plenty of western boutiques and fast food outlets, as well as more traditional markets and temples. You will be impressed by the city's harmonious combination of the modern and the old.

Economy

The city's major industries include nonferrous metallurgy, machinery manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and textiles. Agriculture makes up only 4 percent of Lanzhou's economy.

Lanzhou is a petrochemical base and home to Petro-China Co. Ltd.'s largest refinery in western China, which started up in the 1950s. Indeed, certain parts of the western edge of the city feel like an old, industrial town, with dusty roads and a faint chemical smell in the air. Petro-China set up Lanzhou's oil additive manufacturing facility in 1963 - the same year the city completed the nearly 2,000 km of rail that connect Lanzhou and Urumqi.

History

Originally in the territory of the Western Qiang peoples, Lanzhou became part of the territory of Qin in the 6th century BC.

In 81 BC, under the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), it became the seat of Jincheng county (Xian) and later of Jincheng commandery (jun), the county being renamed Yunwu. The city used to be called the Golden City, and since at least the first millennium BC it was a major link on the ancient Northern Silk Road, ^{[1] [2]} and also an important historic Yellow River crossing site. To protect the city, the Great Wall of China was extended as far as Yumen.

After the fall of the Han Dynasty, Lanzhou became the capital of a succession of tribal states. Mixed with different cultural heritages, the area at present-day Gansu province, from the 5th to the 11th century, became a center for Buddhist study. In the 4th century it was briefly the capital of the independent state of Earlier Liang. The Northern Wei dynasty (386-534) reestablished Jincheng commandery, renaming the county Zicheng. Under the Sui Dynasty (581-618) the city became the seat of Lanzhou prefecture for the first time, retaining this name under the Tang Dynasty (618-907). In 763 the area was overrun by the Tibetans and was then recovered by the Tang in 843. Later it fell into the hands of the Western Xia Dynasty (which flourished in Qinghai from the 11th to 13th century) and was subsequently recovered by the Song Dynasty (960-1126) in 1041. The name Lanzhou was reestablished, and the county renamed Lanzhuan.

After 1127 it fell into the hands of the Jin Dynasty, and after 1235 it came into the possession of the Mongols.

Under the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) the prefecture was demoted to a county and placed under the administration of Lintao superior prefecture, but in 1477 Lanzhou was reestablished as a political unit.

The city acquired its current name in 1656, during the Qing Dynasty. When Gansu became a separate province in 1666, Lanzhou became its capital.

In 1739 the seat of Lintao was transferred to Lanzhou, which was later made a superior prefecture called Lanzhou.

Lanzhou was badly damaged during the rising of the Gansu Muslims in 1864-1875. In the 1920s and 1930s it became a center of Soviet influence in northwestern China. During the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) Lanzhou, linked with Xi'an by highway in 1935, became the terminus of the 3,200 km (2,000 mile) Chinese-Soviet highway, used as a route for Soviet supplies destined for the Xi'an area. This highway remained the primary traffic route of northwestern China until the completion of the railway from Lanzhou to Urumqi, Xinjiang. During the war Lanzhou was heavily bombed by the Japanese."

First week over, a good load of both frustrations and satisfactions already. Amazing food too. I think, actually, that I much prefer Lanzhou de cai to Chengdu de cai. Here they mix fruits and vegetables and everything is not so oily and spicy that it instantly kills you « papilles gustatives » (yes, that’s why I’m an English teacher. Because I have no idea of how to say papilles gustatives. I’m guessing tasting buds but I’m not sure)

I felt like I had NO control of my time whatsoever.

But the other day I went with a couple of students to the coolest DVD store ever, with hundreds of Western (and by western I mean from the US, France, Italy, Germany, everything) DVDs for 9kuai. I bought most of the dvds I wanted for my film class, and I have to go back because they were out of « Into the wild » and « Rear Window ».

I thought a lot about this and decided that I wanted to show films that my students haven’t seen yet, not blockbusters they saw hundreds of times, both in English in English video class and dubbed in Chinese on TV. So no Princess Diary or the Lion King. Maybe I’m stubborn, maybe they’ll be bored, maybe they’ll hate me, maybe they’ll be shocked (i already talked about this but, it happened a second time : trying to explain who Sean Penn was, I told my two students that he played the part of the first homosexual man elected as Governor in the US in « Milk », and at the sheer sound of the word « homosexual » they giggled and looked at me as if I had just murdered someone with chopsticks in front of a kid. And I won’t give up on that so there is a looooong way to go in opening them to « different » things and cultures), but also maybe they’ll be like « wow, this is so cool ! ». We shall see. I’m bullet proof, I don’t care. But in the end, I am pretty much freaking excited about that film class.

 

Today I grabbed my camera, finally, and walked up a hill behind the campus. Dirt road, mud on my flip flops (I’m American so yeah, I wear flip flops), children waving « hello » and giggling for a photo, old wrinkled ageless man pushing his bike, I might seriously improve my inexistant portraiture skills here. So just for that I’m pretty excited. I’ll post on flickr soon.

 

So I walked up that hill, met some muslim workers who live on the construction site, answered pretty much every question by « I live at LUT, I’m a French and English Teacher, I will stay here two years » regardless of wether I got it or not because that’s about all I can say anyway.

Patience is virtue.

 

Then I fell on this temple lost in the mountain, with beautiful colorful paintings and fresques outside, a big red door, closed. I walked around it and when I got back to the door, previously closed, a man with smiling eyes was standing by the door and invited me in (after my usual « My name is Wen Man Sha, I live at LUT, I’m a French and English Teacher, I will stay here two years » introduction). Outside, it was all construction noises and dust. Inside that temple, or pagoda, or whatever you want to call it, in was so quiet and peaceful and beautiful. I am usually the first one to make fun of you if you speak about deep spiritual experience, but seriously, that was close to it. This man (I guess he’s a monk, or a guardian of the temple, but he didn’t have the dress) let me by myself exploring and admiring the courtyard and the colorful decoration, the giant bell, and then came back and invited me in his bare room, told me to sit down on his chair, offered me hot tea, and we watched TV with satellite in a room with no running water. After a while, he asked me if I had eaten, and took me to another room and offered me bread and fruits, and even wanted me to take a bunch of these little breads in my bag for later. I also showed off and use three more words (pointing at apples, peanuts and peaches… yay ! But I didn’t know how to say plums haha) Back in front of the little tv, we sat there silently for 20 peaceful minutes and then he walked me back to the main gate and I went back to the outer world.

 

Also discussed with a cactus lady and brought two of her babies back home (cactii, not actual babies).

I keep being invited for feasts, by my counterpart, her friends, my friends, everyone wants me to meet their family, I pose and pose and pose, face shining with sweat but toothpaste smile.  I sort of expected to lose weight but I can forget it. It's too good to pass. Fresh vegetables and fruits, amazing sweet and sour pork, I also find myself accepting any challenge to try weird food (blood jelly thing today): stupid pride mechanism I think. 

 

My washing machine moves alone and looks like Transformers. It’s kinda scary.

 

Much love to you all,

M

Lanzhou by night.

Ok so a lot has happened since I last wrote.

I came back from site visit, took the public bus back to CDU, had never sweat or stinked as much as at that moment when I opened the door to see 19 of Chun Chun’s relatives in the apartment

I missed Chun Chun’ dad’s 70th Birthday because I was in bed with a fever for 40 hours in a row (I fell asleep to the sounds of « gambei ! » = bottoms up), woke up for one glorious family picture (see below, I look bright and fresh, I know)
 

Then I got better (Chinese medecine, taste like S but apparently works!)
Then we all went to the Sichuan Opera (The funny thing about Sichuan opera is that absolutely noone sings, it's more like a vaudeville / circus kind of show)





then we had more training sessions, Language Proficiency Exam (made it to intermediate low, which is the survival lever, apparently, so it makes me feel so much better haha), Family appreciation night, we sang (in Chinese) and slide showed to thank our host families (as the totle of the event says)


Mama, Chun Chun and I

Then I became too lazy to write so I just alternate three words and a photo and it says it all.
Then time to say good bye to Chun Chun, Wei Wei, Mama, Bobo and co,
moved with the other 74 PC trainees to a fancy hotel where we stayed for one week until the long awaited ceremony of swearing-in as Peace Corps Volunteers.


Swearing-in (pledging allegiance to the US, actually...) And no, we did not have to talk about god at all!



socializing with the new US ambassador to China, Mr John H. We were kind of stressed out because he is a Mormon Republican, former governor of Utah, but he turned out to be a wonderful speaker, classy and friendly and pretty much awesome. And I am so jealous of his Chinese. He asked me what my hometown in the US was. Of course, I took my "hum, it's kind of complicated" pause and answered "Paris, France". He said it was cool.

Then time to split up again, left many friends going to Guizhou, Sichuan and Chongqing behind, met my counterpart Annie on a Thursday, found out I was teaching a three hour class on Monday, and rode the tain back to Lanzhou on a Sunday with her. She is wonderful, friendly and incredibly kind. She has spent one year away from her son and husband last year, in Texas, so I feel that she has felt lonely before and wants to help me as best as she can so that I don't. 
Thus, I have been invited for lunch and dinner many times, met I Xiao, her 9 year old son, and Hao Chang, her husband (have mercy of my ridiculous spelling, I have no idea of how to write their names), met her sister who owns a restaurant (and a beauty salon, I think). The about 20 waitresses wanted photos with me, and then the governor of Gansu province passed by and granted me one too, so about 50 photos of me were taken that night. I did felt like a rockstar. Oh yeah.

I think they like my hair. 


Me and the governor of Gansu province (gonna master the guanxi baby!)




Me and Annie's family

Then they took me to the Yellow River, which was as beautiful as on site visit


Then... what else?
minor major ajustments in my apartment (this was after my first shower...

for about 10 hours. 
my first 10 hours in my apt.
But my savior (Annie's husband) fixed it :)

Then I was given fresh nuts and tomatoes, let them sit around for a few days, finally decided today that it was time to eat the cherry tomatoes, but felt too lazy to peel them, so washed them with purified water, ate them without peeling them, and now I feel like I'm going to die tomorrow. 
So I decided that I am not going to cook for the next two years. I'll either have someone cook for me or I'll eat out or I won't eat.
But the 6kuai dinner option sounds the most reasonable. No oven anyway.

Oh, and ... class. 
Found out on Monday that I was going to teach 18 hours instead of the originally 13 hours. PC says 16 is the maximum. I tried to be diplomatic but I failed miserably. I am going to teach 18 hours. We'll see how it goes. I better have what I want next semester or I'll get mad. And I know noone ever saw me really mad but you got to start at some point)
Three 3 hour video classes (average of 30 students)
Two 3 hour elementary French classes (hopefully no more than 25 students, sophomores)
One three hour intermediate French course for 9 post grad students.

This week I taught the 3 video classes only, because I still don't have the schedule for the Frenhc classes
Was pretty amazed because in their introduction sheets, at least 4 girls said they were too fat (they must weigh 40kg)
One said she was very conservative and didn't like to try new things (is there a message here: don't show us Brokeback Mountain?)
I have a student called Mac.
We played that game where the students had to write three questions they wanted to ask me, a volunteer had to come on stage and pretend to be me and answer the questions. Many questions were about France. ("I want to know about French Culture" try and answer that!)
One was "What part of your body do you prefer?"
I internally freaked out.
But the volunteer didn't hesitate for a minute and said "my hair"

I showed them two sequences of "Me, You and Everyone we know", telling them that it was my favorite film, tried and explain what independant movie means, why this was different from Hollywood movies. For those of you who know what I'm talking about, I showed them the Gold fish sequence, and tried to make them talk about emotions in that sequence and how they felt after watching it. And they felt that the simple music was sad, and that the subject was deep and that it was a beautiful metaphor about life and death and human relationships. Hell yeah!
Had lunch with the two students who run the film club, one told me I look like Princess Diana, they both told me that they would love it if I could help and give them a list of suggested film to watch at the film club, telling me that I should avoid "sensitive subjects" (hence the Brokeback Mountain above. Me, looking very naive "but a Chinese director directed it?" them: "but it's very weird that two men should be attracted to each others. I think it's just because of loneliness, it is not possible." Me: "but it's a choice, you have to respect people's choices." Them: "that's also what the other foreigh teachers said." ackward blank. Change of topic.)
During that lunch, I was amazed to find out that Molly had downloaded Me and you and everyone we know (we had watched 5 minutes of it) and watched it on her own since the class on Monday!
And she told me about her favorite parts of the movie, and how she felt it was weird and that the characters were crazy and sometimes she did not understand how they though.
But, man, show 5 min of a film and students watch it on their own 2 days later... wow.
Try in le 9-3!
Hum, what else....
oh the student also asked me not to show religious movies, I said "no worry at all about that", and she said "no because sometimes we're afraid foreign teachers are missionaries. " Alrighty .
Actually, I met a foreign teacher who might be! Hadn't seen anyone praying for a meal (after we ordered liver by mistake, since here they use a dfferent word for tomatoes, and the one we use in Sichuan, Fanqié, seemingly sounds like liver...) before... Maybe once? 

random photo


I also met with Nancy, my Language teacher from training, who lives in Lanzhou, and came over to check my apartment, and told me she'd give me Tibetan paintings to decorate my apartment ! (and also that I need a lid on the toilet, but seriously, when you have no water evacuation system and a washing machine which makes more noise than an army - and moves, a lot, and fast - you don't worry about the lid. well, I don't.)

And my palm tree at home is growing and having baby leaves, this deserves a photo (thanks dad/mum)

And last but not least, me and another Language teacher back in Chengdu (a PC pin's is hidden in the image, will you find it?)

I must seriously lesson plan, find out the most unPC and shocking films I can think of (just kidding.... sort of), and seriously go out on photo trip.
The cutest little girl called me ayi (by now you should know this means "aunt" and followed me around as I was looking for folders at the small market by the univ (Gong Da pour les intimes) so I need to go back and take a picture of her.
Oh and I bought two ping pong raquets today, so I am pretty happy right now (I am a simple human being)

Much love to you all.