放假了!

Today is the first official day of the Chinese National Holiday which means seven consecutive days out of school and traveling and resting and fun! Yesterday I actually didn’t have classes either so it’s almost like an eight day break and I just love my life. The past couple of weeks have been incredible. First of all, Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) in Anhui province. I can’t even describe it’s beauty so here are some pictures:

 

We took a bus from Nanjing to a small town at the base of the mountain and stayed the night at a hotel near the bus stop. They offered us a tour package of the mountain including a place to stay which we were super excited about until they told us that we actually weren’t allowed to stay in the place they had planned for us. There are lots of dorm like situations on the mountain which are really cheap and convenient, and I actually remember staying in them when I hiked Emei Mountain in Sichuan the last time I was in China. But apparently only native Chinese people are allowed to stay in them, and so we began up the mountain with no living arrangements. We hiked up on Friday morning and it took alllll day. In China, hiking is just stairs. I don’t know if they think paths are unsafe or what but for some reason they feel the need to put stairs in all of their mountains. Weird. So Friday was basically a 5 hour stairmaster. The view was totally worth it though. We got to a hotel near a peak of the mountain and looked at prices. The simplest room was over 1500 Yuan ($300) and thus we sought other sleeping arrangements. We ended up hiking to a different peak and renting tents around a hotel. Apparently this is camping in China:

A little concrete tent villa. So cute. And the sunrise the next morning was incredible. I took about eight hundred pictures:

The next morning we packed up and made our way down the mountain. We wanted to go down a different way than we had gone up so it took a lot longer and we were exhausted. Every time I stopped moving my legs started shaking and I felt like I was going to collapse. Some of the people in the group felt sick the whole time we were hiking, and I felt so bad for them. I could barely handle it healthy! It was an amazing experience, but I don’t know if I could willingly do it again. 

Last Tuesday, I started my volunteering that is required for the flagship program and it was so fun. I decided to teach English at a school for the children of migrant workers in China, that would otherwise not be able to go to school because of crazy China laws. (You are only allowed to register for school in the city you were born in. Poor people from rural areas come to big cities to make money doing construction type jobs and run into a lot of trouble getting around) Like I said, these kids are all from rural areas and apparently haven't seen a lot of foreigners before. I walked into the classroom and they literally started applauding. I am teaching an adorable third grade class with a whopping number of 56 students. Have you ever tried to teach fifty-six eight year-old kids how to say "This is Tommy, he is my brother"? It is not that easy, folks. I basically had to scream to keep their attention by the end of the class period, and punishment by forcing them to stand in the corner was not very successful when almost half of the class was talking. Oh but they are so cute. I will work on trying to earn their respect.

This week I went again and had a lot better control of the class. Why? What was different? Oh I don't know I guess I am just an amazing person/teacher with a commanding personality that demands the respect of all surrounding me. Not. I brought food. I allowed the kids to get a treat with every question they got right. I taught them the days of the week and the months of the year. It was so fun! I can see what people mean when they say how rewarding teaching is. I was personally rewarded with a small tangerine from an adorable eight year-old and an afternoon of happiness.

Classes are going well. I have to start applying for internships soon. Yikes! I have no idea what I will end up doing and I don't like applying to things and I don't have any 关系 and I just don't want to do it okay??? Okay. It will be fine. I think I can I think I can.

Some wisdom from China: nobody is "better" than anybody else. I think that all human life is valid and important and deserves respect and dignity and love. And I am always right so you should listen to me. Just something that's been on my mind lately. I will post again soon with more dazzling stories of the middle kingdom. Love. 

Cutest baby in China