Wenzhou News

So to start my new semester right, I was invited to a Lantern Festival celebration, which is the last day of the Chinese New Year, which was also on Valentine's Day this year. Now when anyone Chinese invites me to do anything, I say yes. It's the first rule you learn here. It is always going to be a weird/awesome/fun time when a Chinese person invites you to something. So when I was first told about it I was all:

If there's one thing I've noticed about the Chinese, is that they love a good show. Grand gestures are their absolute favorite. You remember the 2008 Olympics right? And when my school had a parade for sports day for essentially no one SINCE EVERYONE WAS IN THE PARADE? The New Year's Eve program, every Monday morning when we have a flag raising ceremony... I could go on. They love ceremonies here. They love it. Love. It.

And they especially like to do these ceremonies last minute. Literal last minute. Me and Nancy were told Thursday, February 13th at 6pm I needed to find a traditional outfit for this thing Friday, February 14th by 9am.

This is what basically what he told us.

So after an obnoxious hassle, we managed to find a place and got this fine specimen, which might I add, is a XXXL. Nothing like a nice slap from China to make you feel good about your western body!

this is: "this is my life now" face/pose.

Nancy and I go to this thing, and I bring the outfit in a bag, because I wasn't going to wear it for longer than I had to. I get enough stares as it is. 

This little festival was being covered by two newspapers and the Wenzhou evening news, that's why they wanted me there, along with my new friend Kimberly who is a foreigner, too.

It's traditional to solve riddles written on paper cut outs of lanterns and get prizes, and eat sesame filled rice balls which are really good. There was also calligraphy that I got to try out.

And then they made me put on the outfit and parade around the library down the road from the school for pictures! Yay! I told Nancy I felt like a zoo animal and she laughed and said, "Yah! It is like this!" 

I wanted to pull this, but sadly there was not big enough shrubbery ...haaa

AND. While I was at the library, I found this:

LOOK FAMILIAR?????? It should.

What a unique idea that is!!

People were told to write their New Year wishes on pieces of paper and hang them in the tree. Hmmmmm, sounds like something I did....OH WAIT IT'S EXACTLY WHAT I DID FOR THANKSGIVING.

Nancy said a student must have told a parent who works at the library or through other small town gossip (Longwan is not big, it's like an Anderson of China) it got around about my Thanksgiving activity and the library wanted in on it.

Anyways, later that night I was bombarded with texts from students: "I SEE YOU ON THE TV!" Then I got this video sent to me:

And the next few days teachers liked to point at me in the paper:

It wasn't so bad, just embarrassing. Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm an exotic animal or alien to them, which has gotten old haa.

Especially when I get these looks at the grocery store.

But it's okay! Because the kids always make it fun. I was glad to get back to teaching. We had a class Olympics that past two weeks, and this week we are doing One Sentence Stories again, and those never disappoint. 

Case and point, one of the boys wrote about how the Heat will win the playoffs this year and beat the Pacers just because all the boys know I'm from Indiana and most of them like to tell me that even though they love Paul George, the Heat is better.

I'm sorry, but it don't get much better than ^^^ that^^^^ 

Which inspired me to have a playoff bracket in May, so I'm going to try to work it in a lesson so we can, haaa

In other news, I'm trying to win a free trip to Disneyland Hong Kong, so I made this video for Ameson

And if you like it, you can vote for it here, so I win. In fact, you don't even have to watch it! Just click that pretty little vote button. I can even promise Chinese Disney trinkets to those that do. In other words:

My last bit of news is this. Look at it.

Spongebob tissues. Which I buy on the reg.

Sometimes China makes me frustrated, but then other days I remember that I can buy stuff like this for the equivalent of 60 cents and I am happy again.

It's the little things in life!