Three things

1. I've been in China a year now and my favorite holiday I've decided is Dragon Boat Festival (端午节), which is celebrated this week. If you want the full story you can check out Wikipedia, but to me it's a few days off to eat zongzi (rice and filling stuffed into bamboo leaves and steamed) and participate in the local dragon boat race. A few weeks ago we got wind that the government was sponsoring a lottery for foreigners to race in a "foreigners boat" and me, Allison and Micah scored a spot! Unfortunately, we came in last but at least we looked good doing it. I call the look High school basketball player with a part time job at Wendy's.

Zongzi






































































2. I just got a call on my land line and it was the phone company demanding why I haven't paid my phone bill. I explained that I didn't pay it and it was paid for by my school, etc etc. I'd get it taken care of, etc. etc. And hung up. And then basked in happiness that I could talk to someone on the phone. In my experience, being able to speak to someone on the phone crosses that line from completely hopeless in a foreign language to almost, maybe, not completely terrible. It's one thing for my Chinese tutor to patiently listen to me fumble over words. It's another to pacify an angry phone call. I feel like a million renminbi.

3. Some people may wonder, jeez what are Peace Corps volunteers doing in China? Why do they need English teachers? This is why!