Weekend!

I am officially a Nanjing resident! I am so happy that everything is finished and it worked out well! It is such a weight off my shoulders to know that we are now official residents!

It is finally my weekend! My week was pretty good. My marketing classes went well, they seem to be understanding everything well. I am quite impressed, I doubt I could understand marketing in a second language. My two conversation classes went well this week. They were interesting. I loved my AV English class on Wednesday. The only difficult class was Reading on Friday. The class is ridiculously chaotic. We met as 1 big class two times and they don't seem to understand that now we are back to being two separate classes. Once we finally got that settled, we started to discuss the book. We are reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. I think the book might be too advanced for the students, it was really difficult to make any progress in discussion. Hopefully next week goes better.

My adult class today was interesting. We did tongue twisters to work on pronunciation. Then we talked about manners some. My students all work for the same company and are preparing to take an oral exam for the Jiangsu province. I do think we are making some progress!

I have kindergarten again on Monday. I am really excited to see the kids again! My first class in kindergarten went well this week. We sang and danced and did our ABCs. I feel much more confident about that class and am excited to see them grow!

This week in most of my classes we talked about manners & etiquette. It was really interesting to hear what the Chinese students thought about American customs. They enjoyed learning about how we greet each other and our table manners. After we talked about American manners, I had them tell me about manners in China. I learned a lot of interesting things I did not know before.

Some of the things I learned:
Do not give the following as gifts: clocks, pears, shoes, bells
Don't borrow money on the first day of the Chinese New Year
Don't say thank you to friends or hug friends often
Don't say sorry in public
Don't ever stand your chopsticks up in your rice
Refuse any gifts 3 times, then take and thank them, DO NOT open in front of the giver
When "cheers"-ing with someone who is superior to you, clink your glass below theirs, say "gan bei" and drink all that is in your glass
Chinese say "have you eaten?" as a form of Hello, not as an invitation for lunch/dinner/etc
Don't name a baby after an older relative
Don't pat a baby on the head

I learned a lot more, but I don't have all of my notes with me. It was really interesting. A few things I had done or seen done and never understood why. Now it makes more sense!

Last time, Laura asked about pancakes. Since I eat a pancake for dinner almost every night, I should explain. In China, a pancake is not like an American pancake. It is more like an omelet or a crepe. It is made on a griddle, with an eggy batter. Then they add and egg an whatever you want. I usually get cilantro, green onions, peanuts, spice, and some tan stuff (not sure what it is). Then they put a sauce on it and fold it up. You can have them put hot dogs, fried egg, other meat, or anything you want on it. I love pancakes! They are pretty simple, but they are delicious!

Danielle and I are downtown in Gulou tonight. So we are going to out! I can't wait!

I hope everyone has a good Saturday at home!