Sent May 16, 2008

Hello again,
I wasn't going to write so soon but there seems to be a lot of question as to whether I am alive or not. Well, I am happy to announce that yes, I am. Monday's earthquake has caused more damage than any report can accurately portray. The stories are so sad and a lot of our students can't find their friends and family members. I am in the Hunan province just east of the Sichuan province. I didn't personally feel much but a lot of my students felt it. Everyone in the library ran out during the quake. Most people had never been in a quake before. The school I am at has started taking donations for the victims but there are so many people and the cities effected are literally obliterated. The students here have very little money as it is. The Chinese govt is really doing an amazing job with the relief effort though. This has been a hard year for the Chinese. I hope everything goes well with the Olympics. Please keep the earthquake victims and survivors in your thoughts and also take it as a reminder to be prepared in case of an emergency.

On a lighter note, my birthday was amazing. My friends and students really out-did themselves. My "eleven dwarfs" took me to lunch at a really good restaurant. They surprised me with some 'traditional Chinese handicrafts" as a gift. They are the funnest group of girls. Hanging out with them is kinda like hanging out with a bunch of beehives. I had about 10 surprise parties this week. I loved it! The other foreign teachers and Lany, our "China mom" and some good friends from the school took me out to a delicious restaurant. It was northern food so it was much sweeter than Hunan food. Lany bought a delicious cake. It was so good. It got kinda smashed but it was still amazing.

On Tuesday night I told my students that they could come to a park near our apartment for a very casual party. There were a ton of people there. I was surprised that we didn't get in trouble but it was a blast. I have included some pictures. I got some of the most random gifts ever and I loved each one. Everything from boiled eggs and ancient Chinese medicine to batteries and a back massager. They are so funny. I still don't know what the battery is for.

This week my university was being inspected by the Ministry of Education. They cleaned everything up and made it look really nice for the inspection. They filled in the dump, made all the vendors leave, and improved the food at the dining hall. The students were threated with demerits for being late and they had to memorize pages of information about the school to regurgitate in the event that an inspector asked them a question. I didn't see any of the inspectors though....it was pretty intense.

No one was allowed to leave the campus this week (that is what they told us anyway but I saw plenty of people leaving). We were told Tuesday that our trip to Guilin the next day would have to be postponed. We were not to happy about that. Hopefully we can go next weekend. We are running out of time. I only have three more weeks of teaching left and then I am off to Hong Kong to see my friend Samily. Then I will be home. So soon. I can't believe it.



love and miss you all!!!


pic 1- me and my eleven dwarfs outside of their dormitory before my birthday lunch
pic 2- some of my guests at my awesome party
pic 3- the strangest b-day gift of all.....time


Eleetherbasss