Bats and Love are in the Air

Some of my favorite moments come in the classroom. This week has been pretty wonderful. I just felt like I was quite more alive than usual. I also felt like He gave me love for my students that was practically spilling out of me.

Although it has been about 40 degrees, students love to leave the windows open for "fresh air." Chinese people are very hearty, I've decided. They are small, but extremely hearty. You have to be hearty to live in dorms 8 people to a room, to work at jobs for 2 dollars a day, and to stand in rice paddies hours on end. And I'd like to think that I'm growing heartier too--maybe the constant chilly temperatures, the unique germs, and constant chaos that China offers have given me thicker skin.

On Tuesday during one of my classes, the windows were open like usual. I was standing in front of the podium teaching when I saw something fly into the classroom. I thought it was a bird, but we all quickly realized it was a very frenzied bat. My students weren't phased by it. I even managed to stifle the scream that I was about to let loose. I simply sat down with my students and we watched patiently as it circled crazily around our heads for several minutes. It finally decided not to eat us, and flew back out the windows.

So my students learned the English word for "bat." Jiangxi has a lot of bats (maybe because we're surrounded by damp, mythical mountains). In warmer weather at dusk, you can see swarms of bats around our buildings as they're eating mosquitoes.

Anyways, then at the break halfway during the two-hour class, I noticed a dead mouse at the doorway. Again, the students were very matter-of-fact. One of the boys quietly took a dustpan and broom and swept it off the floor. Nobody even said a word. Apparently "fighting mouses" (in their words), is a daily occurrence in their dormitories.

And now for an update about a love story which I introduced to you last month. Do you remember the cute students in one of my classes, Echo and Armstrong? Well, they are now a couple, and the cutest one ever. Someday I'll provide photographic evidence of this. They both sit at the front of my class, and I like to chat with them during the break, especially because they both have such good English. Today I finally asked them, "So...are you together now?" Echo buried her face in her arms, and Armstrong whispered happily, "Yes!" I asked how they knew they liked each other and Armstrong stated, "We knew when we looked in each other's eyes." I nodded encouragingly. They are the most innocent, cutest people ever--how cannot I not be happy for them?

Then I recalled that Armstrong had asked to be in this class in the first place because there was only one other boy, Jack, in the class. Armstrong had claimed he wanted to keep Jack company. So today, when I was talking to Armstrong in the front row, I looked at Jack sitting entirely all forlorn about 8 rows back. Jack was just staring at the ceiling and whistling to himself. I knowingly said to Armstrong, "I knew that you didn't come to this class for Jack. Look at him all alone!" He just said, "I know! I'm sorry. It was for Echo." All I could do was smile. I think I like to tease my students too much.

Another funny story was the recent issue of our university's newspaper. There was a story printed about Joelle, our team leader from last year, who is a team leader again for the other new team at this school. Somebody had translated the story from Chinese. Just about everything had been completely fabricated. Joelle was painted as an absolute angel (which she is), but all made up. My favorite part was where they said she had donated 400cc of blood at a blood drive, and donated 500 kuai to the Sichuan earthquake victims. She had never done any of those things.

So those are a few random stories from the past few days. Oh, China!