Playing catchup... again

I know I'd promised myself to be good and blog regularly but it just didn't happen. Also, Blogspot just got blocked in China which isn't going to encourage me to post. If anyone is reading, just remind me you care or ask questions, then I'll feel useful and get my act together!
Anyway, right after my last post we had the English Festival semi-finals. Rehearsal all afternoon Saturday which was very frustrating as nothing was going according to plan: singers were late, dancers were AWOL, a band took 45 minutes to set up, then didn't practice, speakers were really loud or really quiet, the music sometimes had too many backup singers, the powerpoints weren't 100% official-looking, the MCs' clothing had some issues... it was a neverending list of worries. Then, the speech contest went passably well, with the student/ friend I had been coaching making it to the finals along with 2 of my former students, a student of HP's and one of M's. Sadly my current students who were involved didn't make it, but they did pretty well anyway. The only disappointment was the abysmal performance of the purported star of the show, a senior law student who forgot his speech several times.
During Singing Contest, my favourite act (a current student and her partner who I had in my class my first semester) did really well as did most of the other singers. The songs were, sadly, all slow and love-y (apart from the last Avril Lavigne entry) but the entertaining clothes and mostly good singing helped make the evening less tedious than I'd anticipated. For the most part, the contestants did way better than they had during any of the workshops and rehearsals and I was really impressed by a few. The ones who were chosen for the final were basically the ones I expected and I hope they do as well in front of a bigger audience and can give our guests a run for their money (might secretly be hoping that pair I mentioned is so awesome they win)!
After the semifinals, I had the joy of grading quizzes and written assignments. The quizzes went fast, as they usually do, and were graded and ready to be returned by the end of the day I got them. Not so for the papers! As a level, we decided (more or less enthusiastically) to assign both a resume and a cover letter. As most of the students have never written either one in Chinese, let alone English, it was quite a challenge for them. And a challenge to grade. There were some stellar ones that might have gotten interviews and some that were so mediocre I wondered if the students had been in class when I assigned the topic. There were also the exciting and entertaining quotes, such as "the snakes called "JKAOMT AMERICAN FIRES". It is very crisp and delicious", "You can touch me by my telephone number" and "I have been responsible for surprising the accounting and billing department". One student claimed he worked for a long "pyramid of time" and another had the award of "Sock dolager of military training"... nope, I didn't get it either!
In the end the scores were less delicious than the AMERICAN FIRES and the students seemed to realize that. Now, a couple of weeks after a quiz, an oral and a paper, I'm asking them to start on the next written assignment, a compare and contrast essay about culture. It promises to be interesting.

Other than work, I haven't done much! I went to a J-School party last week, where they celebrated the 5th anniversary of the school, and I got to see the dance team which features a number of current, former and known students perform a nifty show where the umbrella-carrying statues of the public art by the reservoir came to life during a rainstorm. I was whelmed. :) That night I also went clubbing/ bar-ing with a colleague and it was quite fun! I got to meet some of the downtown laowai who were quite the step up from the last batch I knew! I went back downtown for a drink and a dance this Friday night, with almost all my foreign colleagues to support another colleague who was making his DJing debut. Sadly he only got to play 3 or 4 songs, but his selection did get us moving more than the 'professionals' who are actually regularly employed there.

That's about all until I get my act together and summarize those oral presentations I've babbled about several times! Next week we do feng shui and design a house with good feng shui!