Merlin, it's ok...don't cry

Well, school is finally in full swing, and boy has it been a trip already. Each day, it feels like there are enough stories to write a book. I remember a 7 year old student dancing like Michael Jackson, complete with very suggestive hip thrusts. One student leaves his chair about every 3 minutes when he decides to fall out of his seat and face plant and then start crying hysterically. His name is Merlin, but in his class they say it "Mer-leen" which is really funny. I'll post a picture of him. One student likes to get out of his seat, lay on the ground, and kick his arms and legs in the air. My boss calls the trouble children "popcorns". I'll try and post pictures in the next few weeks of all the new kids.

On Sunday, I went to the Hash in Muzha. It was a really hard run that began with a long, steep descent which of course we had to ascend on the way back. It was brutally hot that day but it was still a lot of fun. I got the new teacher Sam to go with me. He said he wanted to go again so that was a relief. One girl did get lost on the Hash and about 4 search parties were sent out after Down-Downs to track her down. Apparently, she thought the run was too hard so she just went home and decided not to tell anyone she had gone and she also left her bag at the beginning of the run. That was quite dramatic. However, on Saturday a fellow hasher died during the Taipei Hash. I heard that he had gotten lost and he fell somewhere and broke his neck. His body was not actually found until the next day. The Taiwanese "Ghost Month" is going on right now so a lot of bad things happen. So yeah, this weekend was a bit of a sad weekend.

The cutest thing that happened this week was a few days ago when my ring broke accidentally in class. I showed the broken pieces to the class and Lucien (a boy) came up to me and said "it's ok" and he patted me on the back. On Tuesday, I taught a P8 class which has like 14 year old students and when I walked in the classroom, they all started laughing at me and snickering to each other. That was a pleasant welcome. What was funny was that their material was hard enough that I was second guessing myself about if their answers were right or not. There are a ton of rules about English that I've long since forgotten and it's funny to compare conversational English to proper English.

It rained last night and while I was walking to and from the store, I slipped at least 6 times on the 10 minute walk. The sidewalk materials here are just horrible. What were they thinking when they built them? It rains here all the time, so why do they paint the concrete on exposed entryways to buildings, or why do they use marble tiling on major sidewalks? Also, at lunch today at the all-you-can-eat buffet, they were serving what looked like pigs' tails but I can't be sure because I definitely did not taste them.

My running has been going well. I've been into the routine of going to bed early and getting up early. I'm supposed to be doing a marathon in a few weeks but I'm still not sure about it. I've been running between 30 minutes a day up to an hour and 40 minutes a day. I am feeling better but still not in the shape I want to be. Much like the guitar I borrow from school. It says it's the "Finest Guitar in the World" (and the is spelled "th") but it most certainly is not. Maybe that's why I like the guitar so much. We have something in common.

Oh, last story and then I need to end this rant. Last night, I went to sushi with the new teachers, Sam and Josh. When we first sat down the waiter came up to us and said something in Chinese and I didn't understand him at all. Because Josh and Sam don't really know any Chinese, I became the official spokesperson for the group so when the waiter spoke, Josh and Sam just looked at me. I told the waiter "wait a moment" in Chinese and he just shook his head. It became very awkward and silent. Then he chatted with his fellow waiters and then he said in English, "what do you want?" Later in the meal, I ordered dessert and I wanted the pudding dish with the red fruit sauce. I tried to explain this by saying what I thought was "red" in Chinese but again, they just stared back at me blankly. Clearly, my Chinese classes are paying off. Ha ha. At the end of the meal, I wanted to tell the cashier that our group was paying separately and again, I was met with completely blank stares. The whole ordeal was pretty awkward but I asked my teacher today how to say some new things so hopefully this situation will be avoided in the future.