This morning one of my students, Alvin, brought milk with him to school. Another student, Estelle, came to inform me that Alvin's milk was all over the floor. I was sitting at my desk and I could see a small puddle of milk so I asked Alvin to clean it up. Alvin says "no, not I, not I"; which I translated to "It's not my milk". So I try to explain to him, "Alvin, you are the only kid who brought milk, so it has to be yours". But he kept insisting "not I, not I, not I". So I had Eric, my only student who speaks English, explain to him in Chinese, what I just said. Still Alvin insisted. During this time I am walking around my classroom, and out the door down the hall and I see this trail of milk EVERYWHERE! Even his backpack and jacket had huge milk stains, and his water bottle only had a tiny bit of milk in the bottom. I was trying to imagine how this kid can keep claiming that this is not his milk when there is SOO much evidence against him.
Finally my TA arrived and he explained to her that his Grandpa packed his milk, so it's not his fault that it spilled. It's his Grandpa's fault. So "not I, not I, not I" really means "It's not my fault".

Our school has snacks for the kids every morning. Guess what we have today? MILK. Alvin took one look at it and sighed. I smiled at him and asked if he wanted any, and he said "no thank you". I love Alvin . He makes me laugh just about every single day. Teaching with a language barrier is a huge challenge. But it's always an adventure.

4 Months in China

Where do I begin? 4 months can seem like a really long time when you live somewhere you are not accustomed too. You have to make a lot of sacrifices and adjustments. For example, I really miss my car. Especially when I am here in the dead of winter, driving my scooter around in the freezing cold and having my battery die on me and practically having to push my scooter about a half mile through town. Although, it's so crowded here and traffic would make driving a car very stressful and overwhelming. So I just don't get out very much during the winter.

My biggest struggle is with patience. Trying to patient with the driver who decides to stop right in front of you, blocking traffic, and getting out and going into the store. Or trying to be patient with the kid who runs his bike into the back of your leg. Or trying to be patient with the driver who spits out his window as you drive by and it almost hitting you. Or trying to be patient with the store workers who follow you too closely when you are shopping for clothes(it's like they think I'm going to shoplift of something).
I'm not to get hung up on the negatives though.

I have made some awesome friends since being here. And I am so lucky to have my little brother here in China. The kids at school are fantastic. They are so spirited and fun. I have a really nice apartment. There are some really great places to eat. Cost of living is so low. Cops leave me alone, because they don't speak English. The security guards at my apartment development are really kind and helpful when they are NOT hiding my scooter behind the bushes(note: do not park your scooter right in front of the building). I like learning mandarin. I can easily get tailored clothes.

There's definitely ups and downs, but I am enjoying just experiencing life.