Month 1 in Shantou (version 5.0)

I've been having a little trouble getting a proxy to connect me over here since I got back from Macau, hence the lapse in my shiny new resolution to actually blog this year.
We did do our professional development in Macau and it DID involve plenty of bus time. Got to spend an evening in Zhuhai and got some Thai food (craving #1 satisfied), bought and applied the third iTouch cover I've gotten in a month (#1 sucked, #2 I managed to put the wrong way out- I'm Skilled!), went to a casino for a drink and saw some very scantily clad ladies, stayed in some pretty awesome hotels I couldn't afford for myself, wandered around in Macau rain at night and in daylight, finally purchased a Starbucks tumbler (been coveting people's for a while and this one is Macau so extra awesome), got a massage from a woman whose primary job was clearly not to actually give people a legitimate massage, got rained on some more, went to a farm/tiny village/ tourist trap... oh yeah, and had some professional development!
The professional part was in Macau and was both lecture- and discussion- style. The discussion I joined was about motivation and motivating students. It wasn't nearly as good as the lecture about the same topic and mostly got me thinking "Oh just wait until you meet and work with These Students" when I heard the new teachers give their opinions... I pretty much believe that some students are not motivate-able at all, especially after last semester when I had the most difficult student I've had so far I think- knock on wood That doesn't happen again!

When we came back, we had to perform for freshmen, so I've now danced on stage Bollywood-style for Freshmen Orientation as we have new Indian teachers who helped us put together that particular "dog and pony show". It was really fun and I could definitely do it again! Apparently we didn't look TOO stupid, so hey, it's a victory of some sort... no Yellow Submarine for us this year!

The usual proctoring and grading of freshmen placements came and went without too many horrible moments and one or two highlights, most notably the student who wrote he/she would "get hard for English" because of his/her enthusiasm... as a friend noted "I'm all for enthusiasm, but that's pushing it!"

Our "Activities Night" when we present our clubs was also pretty commonplace- I presented my shiny new Women's Issues Group and was apparently quite vague about it. A few girls came to talk to me about it after and seemed really interested, including one who was really intense about "what will happen if too many people come?!" I reassured her that I didn't anticipate that being any kind of a problem (I'm supported in this by the fact that I have received emails from exactly ZERO people so far), but she was really worried. A few others seemed intrigued and one who I know from EC suggested that some good topics would be relationships (including physical distances and dating practices) and sex. Even that would be a good start, I think.

Had a meeting with Felix, Marjorie and Feng Yuan the head of Women's Studies Department to discuss some Women's Issues issues and we will be having a Women's Issues Festival at the end of the semester between Nov 25th (Elimination of Domestic Violence) and Dec 10th (Human Rights). I should probably get started on actually having people working with me if I'm not going to be totally useless for this. Why do I already feel like I'm in over my head?! So far, I've made a blurb for the ELC website and designed a logo... I am not good at this!

Other than that, time at home has been mostly unproductive, other than today's construction of a shelf, which I'm way too proud of- I have been needing a place for teaching materials and this was a good project. I've done a lot of reorganizing of my piles of stuff (no other way to put it really!), but mostly that was to avoid actually doing any real work. Ordered books on Amazon and got them in record time- depressing lit, here I come!

Been getting to the pool about 4 days a week for 2 weeks and pilates also. I'm hoping to keep this up until the pool here closes end of October. I arranged my office hours so that I can make it at least Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and maybe Thursday if it's not too crowded at 5pm. Sunday and Tuesday are yogalates so that would just leave Monday, and that's ok with me. I'm still aiming to get a bike but haven't gotten around to that yet. Even just for around campus it would be convenient... for me. I got a few clothes this summer and just ordered a dress from the tailor (yesterday was quite the productive day with a trip to the fabric district and a big order to the tailor- bought some black fabric with a white swirly embroidered pattern on the bottom for the dress) and it would be mighty nice if those still fit well, even a little less snugly in a few months!

Today started painfully with a headache due to the really fun atmospheric pressure change we're experiencing due to the typhoon heading towards Taiwan but the massage this afternoon and pizza and drinks evening helped to remedy that! Tomorrow I have a lunch with a friend who will hopefully also be helping me with Women's Issues, and EF meeting and some lesson prepping to do. And picking up my books from the office!
Bring on the semester!

Back in China

While I put off typing up what I wrote while in Tibet, I'll attempt to put something up here, just so you know I haven't disappeared and that despite the censorship issues, I'll be aiming to keep up with posting this year... which is what I say Every Year.
For now, I'm back in my apartment in Shantou, dealing with year-start stuff- such fascinating activities as faculty meetings, professional development trips to Macau (would be good if the whole trip was actually IN Macau, but it's a lot of bus time and little visit time), freshman orientation (no Yellow Submarine this year, please), and placement tests, grading... the list just goes on.
New teachers seem to be settling in fine. I think this is a shock to a few, but hopefully they'll be ok in a couple of weeks!
I'm hoping to find some fun extra-curricular activity to do as I will not be doing my usual EF/ Coordinator combination. So far the only suggestion I've made that has been retained is a new ELC video. Could be fun, could be hellish... thoughts? It that or admin-y stuff, I think. I was trying to come up with ideas for a "women's issues group", but I worry that it wouldn't be nearly as intelligent and academic and generally awesome as it should be. Aiya, already too much angst and I've been here 48 hours!
Back to a little TV and procrastination of cleaning before faculty meeting.

Heard on the bus- paraphrased

"Donc tu vas a la chasse au faucon? Comment ca se chasse, un faucon?"
"So, you're going falcon hunting? How do you hunt falcons?"

This is just the gem in a conversation full of them... poor woman

USA tour

Admittedly calling my visit to Boston and New York a "tour" is stretching the meaning of that word a little far! After my previously recounted slightly nightmarish flight to Boston, I managed to get almost all I wanted from that city- delicious food, time to hang out with my sister and SNOW! It wasn't the huge storm that has been forcasted, it wasn't even a reason for the local schools to close (which they did anyway), but it was snow. Pretty flakes wandering their way down to the ground and not even sticking until the late afternoon. I suggested a walk and an excursion to find me some shoes that were not so Chinese (read: marginally practical and sequin-free) so my sister and I armed ourselves with warm clothing and rode the T down to Downtown Crossing, an area I fondly remember from many previous visits. We stopped into almost every other store, as much to shop as to stay slightly dry. We walked for a long time and eventually the snow did start coming down a little faster and actually staying on the ground so that by the time we made it across the Commons it actually did look like winter. I'm pretty sure I embarrassed my sister by randomly raising my arms and exclaiming "Snow!" every so often, but, why not, eh?
The snow basically just made me want to stay here. I imagine myself in a small apartment, somewhere in New England, toasty warm, sipping some warm beverage (my sister's friend's suggestion of hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps possibly) and watching the snow fall. Quite the departure from my recent praises of the life I lead in Shantou, no? But somehow this image is much more pleasant than "sitting on the last cool tile in the apartment trying to find a way not to sweat to death, occasionally dragging myself to the water cooler, but not wanting to stray too far from the fan/ A/C combo".
I had originally worried that the impending snowstorm would delay my departure for NYC, but when I saw that lack of blizzard, I went ahead with my original plan. The bus ride was smooth and short (you know you've been in China too long when 4.5 hours on a bus counts as a short trip!) and while I immediately found "The City" to be giant and a little overwhelming, I dragged myself and my suitcase to my cousins' place without any problems. I had been a little apprehensive about staying with said cousins as I don't actually know them very well, they have a 10-month old and I never know how to deal with small children. Turns out, as usual, I needn't have worried. My cousin's wife was very welcoming and easy-going, we picked up their offspring and he kept us entertained until dinner and bedtime. I have to admit to jetlag making it very difficult for me to stay up past 9pm but somehow that worked out fine too.
After much more chatting the next day, I discovered that pre-school teachers love to make their charges decorate things with colorful handprints when we picked up Mathias and he made a Valentine's card for his parents by sticking 2 very pink handprints onto a construction paper heart. This is apparently destined to go with the handprint turkey from Thanksgiving, the handprint reindeer from Xmas, the handprint mess from some other holiday and the footprint circle, possibly from Labour Day... pre-school teacher is a career I can cross off my list!
That is, in fact, the only one I have crossed off, by the way. I just took a typing break to re-read a past post and am pretty sure that I change my mind about next year approximately every time I blog. In November I was "definitely leaving", a couple of weeks ago I was "pretty much staying put" and now I'm "What am I doing with my life?! I have no idea what to do next year!!" This brand new change of tune comes from a discussion with my cousin about change and new opportunities. Her husband, who works for the UN, has been offered a chance to move to Geneva. She was telling me about the different aspects of the move she was looking forward to and also about the activities she hopes to engage in there. I'm not saying I'd live in Geneva (although, why not?) but the realisation struck me that they have "a life". In NYC, she gets to take yoga and samba classes, meet up with friends, have a routine and, if she wants to go and do something cultural, she's only a subway ride away. Maybe most importantly though, she is "home". It's not that I don't feel at home in Shantou, I do; it's that I'm perpetually in the situation of having to make decisions about what I want to have with me and what I can "live without". I accumulate a lot, but there are plenty of things I don't get or have that I could do with, because I know that eventually I will have to find a way to take everything with me. It takes time to dismantle 4 years of a life and it's going to take a lot of boxes to ship the results of said time. Yesterday I was trying to figure out how I'd get all my stuff back to wherever I end up next and what I'd leave behind. I'm a self-avowed packrat so I know that whenever I head out of Shantou, there will be several boxes following me by slow-boat. My current flight out of Chinaland gives me a luggage allowance of 20kg... I'm pretty sure that I could use triple that and still need to ship quite a lot. If I decide to leave, I may have to see if I can change flights or if buying a whole new ticket with a more reasonable airline ends up being cheaper and more convenient than boxing things up and trusting the postal service. And, anyway, where do I ship things? Just one more thing to consider... If I spent as much time working as I do angsting, my plans for the semester would already be done!
On a last note before I try to pack up all I've acquired on this trip into the bag I arrived with, the rest of the weekend didn't do too much to encourage me to remain in China for too much longer, if only because of the many pounds of brownies, the other delicious foods, the amateur opera singer in the subway serenading passengers with Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus (my two favourite pieces- coincidence?) and, of course, the snow! Getting covered in snow and possibly getting sick can't dampen (pun intended) my enthusiasm for cold flakes of water... masochist?

Smooth flying?

Advice to travelers: when you are informed that a flight will be delayed, but not by how long or why exactly the delay occurred and you have a connection to make, don't check in anyway assuming that the check-in desk clerk knows what he's doing. If you do, you may find yourself sitting in the terminal, waiting by the gate, checking the little all-knowing screen to find out that the flight status is "flight delayed" and the only consolation is the offer of complimentary snacks and drinks... for an unspecified amount of time.
The problem with yesterday's situation wasn't that I don't know that if I have an hour and ten minutes to catch a connecting flight and that my first one is delayed by more than an hour and a half a miracle would have to occur for me to make it to the appropriate gate in time. The problem was that I trusted the little man behind the desk when he told me that I'd just be moved onto a later flight without any problems. I was calm, I figured that since I was traveling for fun I wouldn't make his life a living hell or complain unnecessarily. I went through customs, got my bag searched and sat down to wait. Then I waited until I called my mother and after some search discovered that the only later flight I could connect to in Reykjavik (could have been an exciting stop) was 5 minutes after the one I was scheduled to be on. After that, it would be an overnight wait until at least 10 a.m. Fanta-freakin'-tastic... Feeling a little sheepish for having to get travel advice from my mom when I consider myself fairly well-versed in the ways of airlines, I took her advice to go to the check-in desk and ask to be rebooked onto another airline to get me to the US sometime in the next 12 hours, possibly under the guise of having a job interview or some such.
I ran back and forth and calmly explained that I did not want to sleep in Reykjavik to which the lady behind the counter very accommodatingly replied that I could be transferred without any problems, that the people at the desks didn't always know what they were doing and that I never should have been checked-in anyway... Thanks for telling me something I already knew. I grabbed my flight coupons and marched upstairs to the arrivals gate and over to yet another counter to retrieve my luggage which she had erroneously told me would be done in 15 minutes... The guys there disagreed, guessed at 1 hour and sent me off to the terminal at the other end of the airport to check in for my shiny new American Airlines flight to New York... only to be sent right back to get my luggage since I couldn't check my body in without doing the same for my bag (at this point, please note that I had ridden the little train across the airport 4 times already).
I did eventually get the bag and myself all checked-in through to New York and found out that my Boston connection was full already and I would possibly not be able to get to said city the same night. They did make sure that they asked as many dumb questions about my bags as possible in the process however and I now know all the announcements on the airport shuttle by heart.
The flight itself was very empty, to the point where basically every passenger had 3 seats and we were all able to lie down to ignore the very dumb movies being forced on us. In NYC, the lines for the border were tiny and I got checked in through to Boston without any (more) hiccups. The flight to Boston (after much time spent wandering around the airport with my new friend Joowon- who had had the same nightmarish experience as me after also checking-in for the Icelandair flight) occurred in what I'd like to refer to as a toy plane- 13 rows, 3 seats per row and so little head-room that even I banged mine on the overhead bins... can 45 minutes in the air in a tin can really be called a flight? We wobbled our way over the perfectly crossing streetlights of New York- amazing how beautiful night-time planned cities look from the air. We kept wavering all the way until we got over the Cape and my "other hometown". The landing was smoother than our turbulent flight had announced and I was soon experiencing the coldest weather I've been in since my last winter in college. Quite a shock to the system, but sisterly hugs and a warm shower made up for it admirably.
Today, I'm in sunny Boston, awaiting a snow storm and making theoretical plans as to how I can make this home.
Too bad I'll have to attempt to fly Icelandair in 10 days! Either I'll finally get to see the Reykjavik airport or I'll have more travel rambles to post here!
Sorry for the long post, you know how it is!

Cold and happy about it because there's food!

Currently on my Spring Festival break from STU and spending it quite happily wandering around the streets of Paris, occasionally not feeling my nose or toes (and accidentally rhyming), but making up for it by eating everything that I can't get in China. I imported a friend from Shantou as I don't have any here and it's a little weird that she's done more touristy things here than I have. She took me to the Eiffel Tower and we climbed it (on foot, up to the second floor where we found traces of snow, no less) and this week sometime we intend to go to Versailles (she's kind of appalled I haven't been there yet). We're both enjoying the cold weather and aside from the constant worry of being able to layer up enough not to lose appendages, the cold is a wonderful predictable break from Shantou's crazy one-day-sweating-one-day-freezing weather. Right now, I know that even if the sun is peeking out past the clouds, it's going to be a "two pairs of pants" kind of day for my little temperature-challenged self.

Our culinary tour of Paris has thus far featured such delicacies as crepes and cider, which I really could live on. Food is a big thing with me since the options in Shantou are so limited, so forgive me for giving it such a major place in my ranting about life and travels. The street of Paris really just make me want to eat... well, not the actual streets themselves, since they are not so delicious-looking, but there is so much variety in food options that it's a little overwhelming.

Quick pause to mention that as I write it just started to snow and it's very exciting- last time I saw snow, it was 4 years ago.

Back to my food thoughts, it's amazing to me that you can walk down a small unassuming street and get Lebanese, Italian, Greek, Mexican and French food as well as pub stand-bys, sandwiches, crepes and pastries. Why do I remain in China, land of chaofan and jiaozi? Don't get me wrong, I like noodles, dumplings and all the rest as much as the next expat, but it doesn't quite compare, does it? (or "it doesn't quite compare, can they?" as students would say) I am constantly wondering what to eat next and how to prioritize my cravings. I'm pretty sure there's a very fat person inside me trying to break out and just eat everything in sight.

So, as it turns out, what will eventually drive me from China won't be the language or my inability to fit in; it won't be teaching or family; it will be food. I feel like I'm finally acultured to life in Shantou and deal better and better with my isolation from the Western world. I'm finally actually serious about studying Chinese (got a tutor and everything), I don't need to import quite so much foreign food every time I hop the border to HK and the bad traffic is just something to deal with rather than a permanent drain on my life. But when I come back here, when I smell the croissants or the pizza, when I get dizzy from looking at the dessert options at the patisseries, when I get overwhelmed by the supermarket aisles and just want to sit down on the floor and rock back and forth, I know that it's just a matter of time before the "West" wins out and I leave China. I'm considering staying one more year (ain't that always the way?) but know that, happy as I am there (and I'm actually happy), it's not permanent. Whenever the time comes that I pack up my apartment and move on from STU, I'll just have to put "variety of foods" at the top of my must-have list for a new home. I think only that will make up for what I'll leave behind.

Until I decide to leave Shantou, though, I'm going to allow myself to take food-centric vacations. I won't feel guilty about eating my way through the cities I visit. I'll happily order crepes and cider for one meal then indulge in pizza and rose for the next one. I can worry about being healthy later, when I'm back to jiaozi and milk tea and the occasional trip to sushi and Il Santo. Right now, I have 3 weeks left before I return to the Middle Kingdom... what cuisines will I fill them with? That's my only worry!

Land of Censorship

My residence in this place has definitely put a kink in my new school year's resolution to keep a more regular blog. Every few days something crazy, weird or just "China" happens and I feel like I should share it with any readers or at least note it down for my future entertainment. Then I realize that all I can do is share it with my laptop until I can borrow someone's proxy and post. Result? No generation of a single written word since that last note from KL.  I have notes about the oral presentations I just graded (they will turn into a post at some point), quotes from essays, anecdotes from Malaysia that I keep trying to remind myself of and that gave rise to Megan's and my catchphrase from that trip "Oh, well! At least it's a good story!" as well as the usual plethora of random meetings, weird and occasionally offensive student comments, new ELC developments and pre-EF gems.

Today though, as I sit in Jenica's apartment, shamelessly using her proxy to distract myself from the pile of essays I have yet to grade and babysitting her kitten who just got relieved of his ability to procreate, I just want to ramble. I'm not sure if these thoughts will be coherent or cohesive in any way, but I feel the need and desire to "share". It's been a stressful, busy and frustrating semester in a lot of ways and I've been adapting to certain new unignorable facts.

Fact #1- I am still in Shantou, China, despite the fact and repeated claim that "I am leaving at the end of this year" (said in 2007, 2008 and most recently 2009). The plan was to come here for a year, live somewhere else in China for the 2007-2008 school year and become quite competent in China, then return to 'the real world' and settle down somewhere, presumably with the reason I came here in the first place. Now, it's late 2009 and I am still here (as an astonished former student remarked a week ago) and by the time I leave (I'm saying it again, and this time hurt me if I go back on my word "I am leaving at the end of this year") I will have spent more time in this transitional place than I did at college. I am a "senior at STU" and determined to change directions as of July 2010. If it's good enough for the likes of Lok, Tracy, Jasmine and all, it's more than good enough for me.

Fact #2- I am now unattached and vascillate between being happy about it and living with thousands of "what-ifs". I won't expand on that state of affairs here, but suffice it to say that I have re-evaluated some things since August and have made some changes in my outlook and performance in life. It feels strange writing anything about this situation at all, but it's part of my reality and I figure anyone who cares to read my blog probably knows all about it already!

Fact #3- I have no diea which direction to go in after I leave Shantou. This is a by-product of Facts #1 and 2 and intensified by the feeling that I have gotten almost all I can out of my experience here. I could get a Master's in TESOL, Applied Linguistics or something similar and remain here/ return here, but I'm not sure that I would develop much more as a person and a teacher than I have already. Without singing my own praises, I think I can fairly say that I've come from an incompetent, nervous, shaking and shivering mass in front of the classroom and someone who thought her colleagues were so far out of her league to a confident equal to at least a few of the other members of the ELC faculty who has at least 1 out of 3 lessons that impart some form of knowledge and fewer than 1 out of 6 that totally bomb. If nothing else, my students will be well-versed in the uses of "it sucks!" and "awesome". I've been trying to vary my experiences here and to that end have become a coordinator, whose opinion is sometimes solicited, and leadership occasionally followed. I have been acting as advisor and counselor to various people around here (most notably one new teacher who seems to be having some troubel adjusting) and feel like this is finally "my place". Of course, that means I feel the need to leave it and so something different. Maybe if it wasn't for the fact that you have to make new friends every year, that doing anything other than planning/ grading or hanging out in someone else's apartment requires a 40 minute bus ride and that the discovery of the library has so far been the highligh of my year, I'd seriously consider staying here more or less permanently. But things being as they are, with 80F weather in November, no easy way to see family or non-current STU friends and no real Christmas spirit, I think I'll take my uprooting and resettling with a pinch of excitement and a healthy dose of relief. I just hope wherever I land it gets cold in the winter! Current interests include Paris, London, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Boston, New York, Washington DC, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Anyone have any leads there? I think I'll leave exoticism for my next fit of wanderlust!

Fact#4- I'm barely excited about visiting new places in Asia anymore. I'd go back to Koh Tao or take someone to Angkor (with just the one sunrise excursion probably) but I am not so intrigued by some of my other options. Is that bad? I really should be out there this winter discovering Indonesia or the Philippines, or even another part of India, but I keep having this image of myself bundled up wandering around the snow somewhere and that makes me want to skip the rest of Asia and go home, or at least somewhere familiar for Spring Festival. Decisions decisions. Maybe another sign that I need to move on.

Fact#5- (loosely connected to #3) I think I do want to go back to school sometime soonish. The discovery of the foreign language section of the new STU library sent me into geek-happiness, especially the collection of psych 101 and abnormal psych texts (they have the 101 book I used at Harvard Cont. Ed.) and the random smattering of Greek tragedies, both in English and Greek. Where did those come from?! Not sure what I'd go back for though. Psych? Classics? Teaching? Counseling? Law? Med? It's not like all these hours of introspection have given me any direction whatsoever. I just know that I remember liking learning and that when I sit there with terribly grammatically incorrect essays facing Euripides' Alcestis in the original, all I want to do is find a Liddell and Scott and get to work and that when a conversation comes up where I actually feel like I have interesting things to say (and it's unrelated to the best way to get through grading and planning without feeling your will to live floating away) I feel almost smart (or really dumb when the conversation goes over my head) and wish I could speak with more authority on intellectual things. I've even forgotten which one was the id and which one the ego... oh, my brain, where have you gone?

Fact#6- Students do not feel comfortable when office hours (and possibly other events) are held in a teacher's home. Knowledge I could have used approximately 3 years ago when I moved this weekly ritual from a classroom to my apartment, or at the start of the semester when I'm pretty sure the words "If you do not feel comfortable coming to see me in my house, please let me know and I can hold office hours somewhere else" left my mouth. Students!

Fact #7- Kittens lose their teeth and it's completely normal. (just in case you wanted to know!)

That is all for now. I should get at least 1 essay graded before Jenica returns and finds out I wasted an hour and a half!  Oh well, she just walked in... Productivity (and library), here I come!

KL, HK and more abbreviations

Just a quick note while I am in censorship-free land. I've been in Malaysia with my friend and colleague megan for a few days and have had a great time. I wasn't expecting to like it this much, but am so glad we made it, after all the hiccups!
I'll write more details when I get home, but suffice it to say that AirAsia will no longer be getting my business by phone, as they cannot tell the difference between 7th and 2nd...
KL is lots of fun though kind of crazy and there is such a variety of people and food that makes me kind of giddy. I really want to find some awesome unique souvenir before going home tomorrow, but things seem very similar to Thai handicrafts and are much more expensive... maybe my souvenirs will just have to be pictures and delicious memories!

Pics to come on Flickr!

Just a little fire

So... Saturday night, I was in my kitchen, finally getting my act together to feed myself and looking forward to having a "real meal", when I lost power in my apartment. The lights suddenly went out. I opened the door and could hear voices so I yelled out and got no response, but did manage to ascertain that it wasn't just my apartment that had lost power- it was the whole building.

Went back to the kitchen to turn off the gas and realized that while I own two flashlights, neither one had batteries- note to self, buy batteries and candles. I grabbed my cellphone and by its not-so-powerful backlighting I unplugged my computer and turned off the fan in the kitchen. Then I went to the balcony to see what was going on. Dave outside in front of the building with a friend, was apparently just returning from dinner when he saw flames coming from the electrical counter box downstairs! At this point, notice the "fire safety" configuration of B6: the fire alarm pull-thingie is just inside the door to the building, the fire extinguishers are also by the door (on the wall with the power box), there are no smoke detectors, no fire escapes planned, no foldable fire ladders or smoke masks in the apartments. Admittedly the building is concrete so it would not burn down, but we all have gas stoves and hot water... The only possible exit strategy is a well-aimed leap out of the window and I live on the 5th floor.

There were only 2 other people in the building, I believe- both on the 6th floor. So, here I am, on the balcony, yelling to find out what's going on when I see smoke coming out of the front door and flash back to the email from my friend Beth who was here at the time (not rendered verbatim, but I think the general feeling is there): "Don't worry, there was a fire in B6 a couple of days ago. The electrical box was in flames and they are working to fix it. No big damages, but smoky smell and sooty walls. One of our colleagues ran downstairs through the smoke and she suffered some smoke inhalation problems, but the rest of us are fine. Power should be back in a couple of days. We're being housed in ACC until we can go home."

At least I knew that running down would be a bad idea! I paced back and forth and onto the balcony a couple of times to see gradually more campus security people arrive and crowd around. At one point one of them ran to another building and got a fire extinguisher and appeared to make use of it. Another guy tore open a smoke-mask package, put on the mask and dashed in, making me realize that those would be handy little gadgets to have inside the building on fire/ filled with smoke. Dave had called one of the office assistants and she in turn had called in the "professionals" (though when I called a little later to try to find out how they were going to help us out of the smoky, possibly-still-on-fire building she seemed remarkably unconcerned by the situation- might be a Chinese thing).

The fire got put out and I got a phone call saying to stay put and put a towel under the door to prevent smoke from getting in, though by then I'd been stupid and opened the front door again to see if it was indeed smoky all the way up or if I could get out- it was smoky- and I already had smoke in my living room. I shifted to the bedroom to get cleaner air and leaned out the window so they'd see I was there. Of course, since I am "foreign teacher", they didn't try to talk to me, merely shining their light up at my face and telling each other that there were 2 foreign teachers in the building (and possibly a family above me). No explanation of how we were getting out... still!

I was about to jump in the shower, get soaked, grab a scarf and run down when I heard voices coming into the building and got another call saying they were coming to get us with flashlights. I grabbed keys, shoes, trusty lighting-up cellphone and waited by the door for the knock and the light. When the security guy came and I started coming down the stairs, I saw that from the 4th floor down, the banister and floor was completely covered in fine grey ash and, while the smoke had mostly cleared, there was a strong smell of burning, which, obviously, was worse the further down you went. When I passed the electrical box, I saw a mess of burnt metal, ash and melted plastic... awesome...

Outside, it took a while to get information. Another office assistant/ friend, Daniel had come over to help interpret and calm us down. The people had no idea if we could stay there for the night, though they seemed to be on the "find alternate accommodation" side of the fence. Since the keypad on the door wouldn't work, they promised to leave someone in front of the building and Daniel was volunteered to stay until midnight to help people get stuff and make sure other B6 inhabitants knew what was going on. I thought they said something about the locking the door overnight, but it seems that the family in 602 refused to come out so they couldn't lock them in. Gradually, we managed to get in touch with our other colleagues who would be homeless for the night and I started trying to figure out whose couches and beds we could all shanghai until the next day. More and more workers/ security people crowded around the charred remains of our power supply looking perplexed and slightly overwhelmed... great start.

The last time this happened, they were put up in the ACC hotel until power was back. This time, our liaisons seemed to think that camping in other people's houses should be our priority. I was mostly interested in getting away from there and with a few things I'd gone back to get (not reasoned out things, since I forgot a towel and a change of clothes, but stuff), finding where I'd be sleeping, because no matter what others preferred, I was not excited about breathing smoke and ash all night, without a fan or AC to ward off the heat. I think I was making it too easy for our confused liaison. Maybe I should have yelled and freaked out and demanded a hotel room at ACC since they own the building that has caught on fire twice in less than 2 calendar years. Maybe I should have kept silent and just gone to pass out on Erin's couch. I really don't know what to do in these situations and I think I talk a lot to ward off the potential panic, because I felt really calm and kind of like things were unreal all evening, through explanations to others about what had happened, through phone calls and text messages to stay on top of things, through our director eventually getting us some hostel rooms at the Network Centre Hostel, through possibly having to share said room, then finding out I wouldn't have to but that they did have smoke masks and fire alarms and two stairwells there so if there was another fire later in the night, I'd be able to get out. I joked my way through those observations and the fact that I was actually cooking for the first time this semester and my food would probably go bad (I shoved the pot of pasta into the fridge and covered the sauce with a cutting board). Basically, I thought I was handling it really well, except for a little lack of coordination.

After staying with people as long as possible, watching a buffered episode of Bones on my laptop and cleaning off the dust, I sat there and didn't want to turn out the light. I suddenly realized that I was scared it would happen again, like some stupid coincidence. When I finally turned out the light and calmed down enough to fall asleep, it wasn't too long before a huge thunderstorm work me up, but I was too drained to go watch it. Before I fell asleep again I thought I heard someone whisper my name through the door and thought maybe it was Jenica coming to sleep in the A/C and away from the panicked meows of Elliot (Boy Cat now has a name)... nope, just my crazy imagination!

When morning came, we were kindly invited up to have 'breakfasty beverages that require electricity' at Jenica's house, after which I checked out, then headed back to see that progress was being made on the disaster that was the B6 lobby- they were spray-painting the metal casing yellow. Why? Maybe because the color would distract us from the fact that there had been a fire, or maybe because it was some sort of flame-retardant paint. I'm still hoping it's the latter. Megan and I decided to leave behind the smoky smell and head downtown to pamper ourselves (pedicures and massages) before dealing with the reality that we had no idea where we'd be sleeping that night and no one had told us anything. I did get a flashlight- pocket-sized and powerful.

At 7pm, there were people installing electricity counters in the shiny-yellow box but no cables and a whole mess of random electrical paraphernalia littered the ground.

At 7:30pm, after showering and getting ready by tiny flashlight, I headed over to EAC for the opening night of the clubs (which I'll blog in less detail tomorrow).

At 10pm or so, they told us the power was back on! Hallelujah!

At 10:05pm, Karen called and told me that it was only back in the stairs, not her apartment. Fuses all on? yes. I ran this info by a couple of people and it was run by others until eventually someone fixed it.

At 10:30pm, I walked to B6 and saw light! In apartments! More than one! Turns out they hadn't flicked the apartment switches and were waiting to know who lived where to do so and check that it worked. When I got in, I saw that I'd left lots of lights on and that a spider had already started making its home between my stove fan and the cutting board above my sauce... evil creature!

By 1am, I was ready to go to bed, but didn't want to turn off the light in case there was another fire and I didn't notice because I wouldn't see the power go out and would be asleep. Reason was nowhere to be found.

After some reassurance and talking to people as long as possible, I finally gave in at around 4:30am and climbed into bed. I did not fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Today I noticed there's ash all over my living room and kitchen floor.

Tonight, I'd better sleep like the dead... though not the "burnt-to-death" dead...

Thus is concluded the epic of "the second time B6 caught fire and how nothing changed at all after the first fire". I feel like this is a sign that I should get out of here this year, regardless of how well it goes!

Creatures

Not too much has happened since grading finished that is not related to animals in one way or another (other than my ever-worsening addiction to Bones).

Firstly, on Thursday, I went with J to meet and maybe take home a ball of white fur. We had heard of 2 kittens at the home of the father of the boyfriend of a friend that were up for adoption. The idea was that J would take one home and I would or wouldn't fall in love with the other and have something to wreck my house and keep me company once again. I've been telling myself I should get a pet since it might keep me on some sort of eating/ sleeping/ being a reasonable human schedule (feed the cat= feed self, go to bed earlier as cat will wake me up at 4am regardless of what time my head actually hit the pillow). In theory it seems like a good idea, but I'm having enough trouble getting motivated to take care of myself, that having something else to care for might not have been ideal. It turns out that that was a good thing.

When we got to the apartment, the kitties were nowhere to be found, though after a while the mother was found and picked up, something which she kicked and screamed her way through until I was forced to just let her climb onto the roof. After a much longer while, the little female kitten was found and placed into the crate we had brought... she was NOT happy! There was miaowing, hissing, clawing, twisting and when she realized that no amount of running into the door of the crate would free her, she settled into the corner, made herself as small as possible and vibrated with fear and indignation. The boy remained hidden the whole time we were there.

Kitty 1 stayed where she was for the ride back to STU and for most of the afternoon even with food and water placed within easy reach. Clearly, she wasn't going to forgive the evil humans any time soon! As I hung out with J a good part of the afternoon we threw around names for the quivering ball of fur.  When I left to go make banana bread later, she still had no name and we still hadn't seen head, tail or even tip of ear move. 

One delicious banana bread made later, E and myself introduced D to Twilight, though our sarcastic peanut gallery-ness may have ruined the movie for him (if the acting, makeup and story didn't). I'm still practicing my "always in pain" face in case they come to Shantou to cast a future movie...

Yesterday morning came with the delivery of Boy Cat at J's house. Apparently he really missed his sister and cried until she was found hiding under the couch. Last night, I got to hear these cries for myself when I went over there to visit- it was heartbreaking! The girl (now named Fizz) ran under the couch as soon as the humans entered her territory, but her brother didn't see her, hidden under the curtain as he was. When the curtain was pulled back he freaked out and tried to claw his way up the wall towards the unfortunately slightly open window and onto the balcony and succeeded in reaching the ledge after several failed attempts, determined little furball! J then spent about 20 minutes trying to lure him back inside and away from the ledge of the balcony and potential death 2 floors below (boy cat appears to have bad eyesight and lack a few brain cells... poor dumb kitty!). My diagnosis of his cries: fear of being abandoned. Poor thing miaowed the whole time, but sounded almost desperate when J wasn't in sight. When he finally came in, we breathed a sigh of relief and promptly closed all windows to avoid a repeat performance! Eventually (after feeling more lost and miaowing even louder- J legitimately feared he'd damage his vocal chords) he finally was reunited with Fizz under the couch while we watched Harry Potter try to survive his way through the unaptly named "Triwizard Tournament".

I'm sure eventually Fizz and Boy Cat will learn that J is friendly and wants to help them, but when I left, they'd shifted their safehouse to a spot under J's bed behind a suitcase- they may not have liked the movie!

This all makes me want a cat and also be glad that we didn't separate them! I can't imagine how loud and unhappy Boy Cat would have been if he'd been adopted alone. I always suspected that kittens would be more fun in pairs, but this proves it beyond doubt: kitties are much like heads!

In other news, we have discovered a new inhabitant of the reservoir. We were joking about the existence of Rezzie, a friendly monster, but yesterday when E and I had reached and were resting on our favourite rock, I looked down to see something come out of a crack and aim towards the surface. It was like a thick plant with a bulb at the end. Then it disappeared back the way it came. A few minutes later, we both saw it and I was sure that it was actually a snake- coming out for air, fish or our lives, I couldn't be sure. E tried to lure it out of its hole by throwing little bits of twig into the water (logic of this is unknown by all parties involved) and while that didn't work, it did peak out later, long enough for us to agree that it was indeed serpentine in nature and to make us a little warier about getting back in. Let's just say that we wasted no time in aiming for the steps and way out once we carefully got back in. I think I'm glad I didn't know what was below me in there, but all the same, I may use the pool instead for a while! Shudder!