At that point we all returned to our hotel in order to dress for dinner. Seeing as none of us had any dinner clothing, we, essentially, returned as we were. I did wash a shirt that I had managed to splatter during lunch and borrowed a spare from Collin.
We then all headed off for dinner. Dinner was standard Chinese fare. The foot of some chicken was sticking out of the soup; it looked shockingly like a little hand.
Because the table was not large enough for us all, the Chinese ended up sitting in a larger, less ornate, room and coming to visit us at our table from time to time.
After dinner conversation seemed to drift to how to go about refocusing the English club. It is our desire that the students spend more time talking to each other, in English, and less time with us, the westerners, talking. On a cultural note, the Chinese do not talk business after dinner; they talk business during the meal. So, if there is a lot to talk about then a lot of food is ordered (remember, all meals are shared) and once the food is done then it is time to leave.
This cultural difference was notable at this dinner because the Chinese finished well after us; but, when they saw that we were done eating and were talking they quickly announced that it was time to leave.
Shortly after we returned to the hotel a storm fell upon us. It was fine all day and walking back; but, within a half an hour of our return to the hotel, a string wind came and, with it, brought heavy rain.
The rest of the evening there was little to do but sit and watch a Chinese horror movie, it did have English subtitles. The balcony on my room was covered however the wind blew the shirts I had hanging outside onto the ground and I had to go and retrieve them the next morning.
By the next morning the weather had not improved. So, after breakfast in the village that Colin, Brawnie and I had been walking toward the previous morning, when we were stopped, we returned to our hotel and waited, drinking tea and chatting, in the hotel lobby, until it was time to return to the school.
After the test I went to dinner with some of the students, something I have done very little of this semester. Before dinner they wrote to the Hostel (in Chinese) and asked them to call me so that I could make a reservation; of course, the call came in while we were eating dinner. That actually worked out well because Sam was able to talk to the woman at the hostel. Then, on Tuesday, which is my afternoon that I have off, I went with Gao, Sam, Lee, and Walick to get my train ticket to Su Zhou, seeing as I now had a confirmed place to stay.
Wednesday, Sam, Lee and I made some scrabble like pieces and a game board; in total, we made three complete sets. A real Scrabble set costs over 375RMB here, if you can find one, and it was quickly decided that if I wanted a scrabble set I was going to make it.
The scrabble issue can up in an attempt to decide what to do during the week after the test. Because the test was followed by a week of classes and then a week of vacation, as stated, a lot of the students left early. I wanted something easy and fun to do in class; however, it still needed to be educational. It is interesting to see how competitive they get and to observe their sense of fairness.
Friday morning I had one class (two sessions) and there were no students at all. Julia came by and told me that all of her students were also gone; so, after waiting a while to see if any stragglers came in I left to start packing for my trip.
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