it is Monday

Today is the hottest yet. I walked 5 minutes from my classroom to the restaurant and I was a sopping wet dishrag whnd I got there. My TA, Harry, and I went to a higher class dining room than the large crowed and noisy Student dining hall. This one was for students too but it seemed that most of the students were of the older variety. The meals were a bit better and a bit more expensive. I had a fixed price meal of three dishes and rice. I only ate about half because it was too much and too spicy. It cost me a fortune compared to the 1.9 Yuan meal at the crowded dining hall. This on was a whopping 7 Yuan ($1). Of course, when I finished with the ice cream and the soda, and bought Harry lunch, my total US cost was less than $3. I spent the first 15 minutes standing in front of the air conditioner and basked in the cold wind. But now that I have returned to my classroom, I am sitting in a puddle again.

I forgot to tell you that we visited the Hubei (the province that Wuhan is in) Museum. THe whole Museum, which was fantasically beautiful and very new, is filled with material recovered from the tomb of an ancient ruler. His tomb, due to natural reasons, was not ransacked by grave robbers and when it was accidently discovered by the military preparing a road, yielded over 50,000 objects including a complete set of bells which have been played only 3 times since restoration. Naturally, we bought a small replica bell for the house.

Today's lesson is made up of several parts. Articulation is always first. Second, the students suggested topics for discussion. I then asked for volunteers on each topic but limited the group to 5. The topics were, sports, music, movies, TV, superstition, food. I kept several students out of those groups and worked directly with them myself. Before this week is over, I will work with every student in a small group. Lastly, we discussed the weekend homework assignment: US and Chinese Holidays. Unfortunately, I am still learning what these students will do if not controlled. The three students assigned New Year's Eve and Day brought in 8 single spaced hand written pages and started to read them all. They tell every date associated with the holiday, like when it was first celebrated, when it was declared a Natl holiday, when the Parade of Roses was first run, etc. You must get the idea. I hope that I have learned to tell the PM class that all I want is a general outline of the significance of the holiday. That is hard because they do so much work but as it was, I only got through the fourth of July and have the rest of the year and the chinese holidays to go. We will have to finish up tomorrow.

Since America is "apple pie and baseball", I am going to teach both classes "Take me out to the ballpark". For this PM class, I am also teaching them "Anchors Aweigh" My teaching partner, who gets my AM class in the PM as I get her AM class in the PM, is going to teach her class the Arizona U fight song. We will then have a "fight song" competition later in the week. If you do not think that Anchors Aweigh is a fight song, think again, especially after hearing my class end the song with "BEAT ARMY!

Finally, this PM we are making Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches for all. Shelley told you about it but omitted that the student who wanted the PBJ also wanted BLT. These students are amazing. They only need confidence and practice speaking. They know all the words and many tenses.

More about that later. Now it is rest time. Love to all, Burt