Day 82 - Beatings Will Continue...

Friday, April 29th, 2016

Smog Level: 0/3 Mountains

I found out after finishing my morning classes that I don’t have afternoon classes. Those poor love-struck grade 1’s, how will they survive without seeing my fuzzy face? I was sitting in the office, waiting for my next class when Luigi and I chewed the fat over writing and how we approach it.

A Traditional Chinese Stove, I guess

Approaches to Fiction

I tend to approach fiction writing with abstract, large concepts, and zoom in from there. He said he does the opposite: start with an individual and expand them from there. I’ve never tried it. He also informs me that there’s a fiction writing contest coming up in a few weeks. Maybe I'll finally get around to writing some of the ideas I’ve had kicking around.

Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

In my classes, the kids have been allowed to whine too much. I have now begun punishing them when they openly whine. It reminds me of the poster “Beatings will continue until morale improves.” Lucky for me, morale toward certain lessons doesn’t much matter. With the increase in punishment, I’ve got an equal increase in following the rules and listening to me when I am firm with them. Just in case, I rush them a little bit when they line up so that they don’t have a chance of screwing it up. Making them stand there, they start shuffling and touching stuff.

Popsicles Inspired by Bananas

Spelling Bee, Take 2

The second class has their spelling bee. Please, for the love of god, make this one less heart-wrenching. And so it was. This time, they accepted defeat gracefully, none of the kids seemed to feel humiliated, and they had a fair shake of it. Also, the ones I would expect to win actually did. All is right in the world. One of the keeners was whiny that she lost, but it was fair and square.

Shockingly Tall

That night, Shimou and I went to the mall for dinner. Getting off the elevator and walking into the food court, a man turned the corner and, upon seeing me, exclaimed “Zhēn Gāo!,” stumbling away from me in amazement. Translation: So Tall! (literally: Truly tall!) 

I couldn’t stop laughing, especially when Shimou said “Chinese people have a hard time controlling themselves.” I mean, I’m tall even in the West, and I’ve seen Chinese guys my height as well, but… this was too much.

Words of the Day

English - Mandarin [pronunciation]

True
zhēn
[jen]
False
jiǎ
[jee-ahh]

Editing Music
"Minor Swing" Romane
(originally by Django Reinhart, I think)
Some Group of Guys