Stephen

Ramblings of a seriously bored person in Hainan, China

Me.. a kindergarden teacher

Well hello everyone, stephen writing, haven't written in a while so i decided i'd write and tell what's goin on in my life lately!

For the summer.. to make money.. I am working at the provincial kindergarden here.. i'm teaching 1st graders english. That may sound boring.. but it's far from that. it's actually amazingly fun. a lot better than what i thought!!!!

I have 28 kids i have to teach, all the usual hyper lil kids you think of. so trying to get them to be quiet and sit in their chairs for an hour and a half is next to impossible, they have to be moving, tackling each other, and punching.. and playing super-heroes and alll kids of stuff, it's actually really fun to watch..

besides that i've been at home helping watch a bunch of little kids while their parents go off in the mornings and afternoons to teach, so this summer for me.. has been one word : kids!! but something good came out of the kindergarden, i get payed very good money there, and witht he money i have made i bought myself a Play Station 2... it's so much fun, it keeps me entertained when i'm bored. :D so i like it..

well it's getting late, i'll have to write more later!

posted by: stephenthegreat at 23:36 | link | comments (2) |

New Entertainment!

As you know, we spent a few days in Sanya last week. My legs really did have the lobster look going on; the color, not the claws! Anyway, because of this, I have found a new short time hobby - Peeling the skin off my legs! Let me tell you, I've gotten so good at this I can now peel off a  3"W x 3"L layer of skin. I have become obsessed with this new found hobby; albeit there are better things to do. Dead, dry skin covers the floor while I watch the tube or sit here trying my best write this post. I've gotta stop doing this before I try and peel off good skin! 

Unfortunatley though, I have now moved from the "lobster look" to a new and more improved look - the "leprosy look".

I think the "leprosy look" is disgusting so I'll stop writing and get back to peeling! Go get some sun...a lot of sun...and you too can have new hobby!

posted by: stephenthegreat at 11:35 | link | comments (1) |

Party?

Mista "P" writing:

Like the post below, I too attended this "gala" event, the Summer Party or should I say, a meal for the foreigners. I will say that it is nice of the city to invite the foreigners out for a meal. No strings attached, no one asking for favors, just a nice, casually dressed, relaxed atmosphere, buffet-style meal and a time to get acquainted with or reacquainted with the other foreigners. Sadly, though, most could not or would not atttend for whatever reasons. I realize it's the summer break and that a lot of the people have returned home either permanently or just visiting friends and relatives. I was hoping to see a lot more folks, as I'm sure our hosts were as well. They certainly had enough food and good food at that; both western and chinese dishes.

One note though, because of my blog partner in crime, I only got one piece of pizza. He made his position known in front of the pizza tray - This is mine, go away! Later, my wife told he did go and get her ONE slice though.

All in all, it was nice especially since we didn't have to go through the dining rituals of waiting to see who sits first and where, no battles of toasting and declining the alcohol (I don't drink, so if you're familiar with Chinese dining habits and rituals, this is tough) and fighting the "I'm full, Please! No more food!"

The officials also let two foreigners (now I'm sounding like a Chinese) that have recently started working there teaching them English to give a short speech. Why, I really don't know. The first was short and sweet and thanking everyone for coming on behalf of the FEB leaders. The second one....well...that's a little different story.

You see this guy (bless his heart - a southern expression for - YOU IDIOT) titled his speech - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Living in China! That's a good start...yeah....let's publically embarrass China in front of the officials of the FOREIGN EXPERTS BUREAU (who, by the way, can have you booted out of the country) and talk about the staring, spitting, motorcycle drive-by snatch and grab just to mention a few. Yeah that'll make points with the leaders and encourage everyone to live here!!! I will say he did talk about the people being friendly and that his new job (two hours a week) was great. I'm not trying to rant on this guy too much, but why in the world anyone would stand up in front of a crowd of people, including the hosts (his new boss) and talk about stuff like that is beyond me. And, like my blog homie said, we were hungry and really didn't give a rip what he had to say. I hope our hosts felt the same way!

So, that's my take on the "summer party"; balloons and all!

posted by: stephenthegreat at 20:33 | link | comments |

'summer party'

Stephen writing..

Last night we went to a party held by the Haikou City Foreign Experts Bureau. I've been to a bunch of these kind of 'informal' meetings before, and this one was not much different.'



As usual, they started out with speeches, first the general director, and after his speech, another head of the department, then an American gentleman.. and i think one more!! By this time, my stomach was like growling fiercely.. and finally it came time to eat! yay, the best part of any party, eating! hehe. I had 6 pieces of pizza, 2 plates of fried rice, and about 10 plates of fruit salad, while 'mingling and making friends' witht he other guests... how fun!



I learned last night that Chinese people can't drop a hint too well.. about 1 hour into the party, the general director of the department stands up and says, thank you all for coming, good night. and basically just ran us out of the place.. but I guess it would be the oenly way to get all the talkative people out quickly...



A fun night it was.. and interesting, Evan, a friend here, almost mistaked the beer on the drink table for orange juice and about the time he was gonna chug it we came up and pulled him away from it.. he was like, what? can i not drink orange juice or something?! then he smelled it, and was like.. aaah... i see...



so was the summer party.

posted by: stephenthegreat at 15:53 | link | comments |

I'm Telling!

Mista "P" writing:

The word is that a female student contacted the local newspaper here to complain about the school she attends. Yeah, I know! I was a bit surprised myself to hear this. Apparently she contacted the paper because the school was going to charge the students 50 RMB for their diploma. A reporter came to this school to investigate only to find the secretary (everyone else had something to do) who I heard was of no help.

The reason I wrote this is not to give a bad light on the school (which is NOT named for obvious reasons) or because they are / were charging a fee for the diploma but to shed a little light on people's rights. Yes folks, people can complain here and they do have some rights.

Question

1. A comment was left on the July 7th post. What is RSS feed? Can anyone help me out?

2. Why won't most people speak a little slower when asked? I personally try very hard to speak English at a slower pace for others. 

 

posted by: stephenthegreat at 13:02 | link | comments (3) |

Blue Skies, White Sands....Lobster Legs!

Mista "P" writing:

We had a great 3 day vacation in Sanya. The only thing I did was swim and get burnt. Yep, my skinny white legs are now red, skinny lobster legs with 1st and 2nd burns! Was it worth it? Oh yeah!!!!

One thing you should know if you ever do go to Sanya, at least to Yalong Bay, is to be on the look-out for the "pearl gang". They are notorious and relentless in trying to get you to buy pearl necklaces, earrings and anything else that has to do with pearls. This trip I only saw two female gang members selling them. Beach traffic was at a low for some reason. For the first two days, I simply ignored them and or said "bu yao" or "don't want". However, on the last day there, the pearl gang came over and tried there luck. I didn't seem to mind this time because I tried my best to practice my Chinese with them. Actually, the two gang members were pretty friendly and fun to talk with. Again, I only know a little! One of the gang members I think was a junkie because she was chewing some kind of leaf that made her mouth red and stuff was dripping down her chin. Despite the "habit", they are masterful and persistent at selling. Maytag should hire them!

So....did I break down and buy any? Yeah! I now own 11 pearl necklaces!!! Want one?

One more thing. If you do go to Ya Long Bay, you've at least gotta go to the Holiday Inn and eat one of their double-decker cheese burgers with fries and a salad. By far the best burger I've ever eaten anywhere. I'll try and get a picture posted soon. Yes, it was so good it deserved a photo! It was only 60 RMB or about $8 bucks. Not cheap but oh sooooo goooodddd. 

posted by: stephenthegreat at 12:00 | link | comments (3) |

They Ain't Shy!

Mista "P" writing:

Today was a very unusual day, for my wife that is. She was on the bus heading to school this morning and this guy sits down beside her. Ok...no problem there, of course. Then the guy begins to hit on her. He starts putting his hand on her arm, then her shoulder and finally her leg. She managed to get him away from her but not before he asks her out for tea, gives her his phone number AND.....offers her money to go! Sad to say I wasn't there. This was a first. Most of them just stare a hole through you but this guy got some ****. Needless to say he'll be getting a phone call.

And people tell me they're shy!

On a good note though, we're heading out Friday morning for 3 days to the Hawaii of China - Sanya! Where the water is crystal clear and blue and clean and the sand is white. Not like the green dirty water and brown beaches here at Haikou. Can't wait to get some sun and lay around like a dead fish......for less than 50 bucks a night at a 5 star hotel - Universal Resort. Actually it's where they had the Miss World contest yearlier this year and this place is awesome!!!!!

posted by: stephenthegreat at 18:23 | link | comments |