This Week in History

Oh what a week! We had the anniversaries of the opening of the first drive-in movie theater, the Queen's sixty years on the throne, D-Day, and the Tiananmen Square incident. Good thing so much is going on in history, because I've done nothing.

This did nothing, either, because it never happened. Got that?

Well, ok, not nothing. I don't really know why I have the idea in my head that I need to do something "big" in order to make my week exciting. This week was a good example of what my day-to-day life in Guangzhou has been. On Thursday I taught four year olds about shapes, on Friday I went to a Teacher Workshop about teaching functional language, on Saturday and Sunday I taught the bulk of my classes and tried out a cheap and delicious Vietnamese restaurant in the Yangji area, on Monday I did administration and prep work, and Tuesday I had a picnic in Yuexiu Park. Today I did laundry, walked to the fruit market selling avocados for 12 kuai each, and wiped the entire kitchen down with bleach (days like this make me wish I had an ayi). I also finally noticed that we hadn't flipped our living room calendar page since March. Oops.

Laziness is its own reward.

Admittedly, part of why I try to do something notable each week is so that I have something interesting to write about here. I feel a bit narcissistic when all I have to write is complaints and boring recitations of my normal and rather uninteresting life. But, the only people who read this are my family, right? So you're used to it. On with the drivel!

It's summer in Guangzhou.

Yesterday's picnic was a chance to reconnect with some of the other teachers who arrived last July. There were eight of us who trained together, and three of them work at the same center as me, but the other four are scattered through the city. We've done some things together throughout the year, but we wanted to make sure we had one last get-together before our contracts are up in July. So, we managed to find a time six of us could make, and we met for a picnic in the park. It was quite fun. We found a spot in the "woods" part of the park and shared bread, cheese, grapes, chips, quick pickles, garlic peas, cookies, and banana chips. Then we walked around the park a bit and moaned about the heat and humidity. I am so looking forward to Maine summer. I've got Castlebay's Looking Home stuck in my head every time I think about it.

Now I'm thinking of Schooner Fare's Roots and Wings.

That's all I'm going to torture you with this week. Before I go, though, the answer to last week's photo challenge! Did you figure out what these are?

Sweet Dreams

They're ceramic pillows! The children's area had one you could try out. You know? They're surprisingly comfortable. Maybe that's what I'll bring you all for souvenirs.