Leaving on a jet train...

Hi, my faithful readers!

Somehow the end of April has arrived. That means the very, very short "May holiday" is just around the corner. It is the Chinese version of Labor Day, meaning a good chunk of the country's people, or 1/5th of the world's population, will be traveling. It should be fun and chaotic! :) I think I would be a little disappointed if it weren't fun and chaotic.

I only have class Thursday morning, and we don't have classes this Friday, May 1st. So my student and I will be leaving for her hometown, Ping Xiang, which is in western Jiangxi province.

This is the information I've accumulated from the Internet about this destination:

-"Coal center of southern China."
-"Industrial center of Jiangxi province."
-nestled in a "remote, mountainous region on the border with Jiangxi and Hunan provinces."

I'm getting really excited, but I'm a little apprehensive, too. The student I'm going with is sometimes what we refer to as "EGR", or an "extra grace required" person. I enjoy being with her a lot, but I think she can be insecure and driven by perfection... Wait, that sounds like me! :)

It seems that we know each other really well by now, but it is still super challenging to have meaningful conversations. She is a pretty smart girl, so she thinks about everything so practically and logically and scientifically that it is hard to discuss any "deeper" issues.

Anyway, I feel that she tries very hard to be perfect at everything--class, friendships, and even in hosting the foreign teacher in her little remote, mountainous hometown. Please, please, please, think of us! Any kind of thoughts about anything you can think of would be appreciated!

Well, there's not much else to report about right now. Today we were discussing the Korean War for a minute in class. My students referred to it as the "war against the Americans." I guess it is called that because China was helping out on the side of North Korea. But I still thought, "Hmmm...that's peculiar." Anyway, we are all staying fairly healthy and happy. Studies are going well... and we have just 2 more months until we return to AMERICA!!

I probably won't post anything else on this blog until I return to Nanchang on Sunday. Hopefully I'll have plenty of stories about good conversations, dinners with the village chief, etc. ;)