Today I met another teacher at No. 7 middle school and I just realized that I talked to her for an hour or so and do not know her name. Hmm. Anyway, she teaches music here and she told me a lot about her life which of course was really fascinating. She told me she got engaged a couple months ago and that she will get married next year. I asked her if she was excited about getting married and she made a very unhappy face and threw her head onto a pillow. I guessed from this that the answer was no. I was correct. She told me that ever since she was thirteen that she had decided that she did not want to have kids. I am not quite sure how she met her fiance, but I know that her parents like him very much because he is a nice guy, but her heart is not in it. She told me she loves him but (and she couldnt think of the english word and I couldn't understand the Chinese one) I think she was trying to tell me that she did not have passion for him. She also told me that Chinese marriages are not something to be excited about because it is just another part of life. Now I have heard this many times from various sources (parents, books, Chinese teachers, etc.) but it's always different to hear it from "a real person" rather than just a fact through passing. Also, almost everyday when I teach in a new classroom, one student always manages to ask me about MY family, not the family I am connected to by birth, but who are the people in my family. I always say that I do not have a husband or any children and each and every time they turn to each other and say things that I am not quick enough to catch.
Many observations today:
One: I am considered a slow eater. At home, I always finish eating before other people and everyone tells me to slow down. Here, I am always the last one and people stare at me when waiting for me to finish. Interesting enough, I also take "fast showers" here. My roommate, the cab driver and people in the showering facility all tell me that I take very quick showers. At home I do not feel like I do, but I guess showers here last an hour or more, probably because they do not take them as often.
Two: My roommate and her friend smoke cigarettes and while doing so made me swear not to tell anyone about it because it would be a really bad thing if the students found out their teacher smokes. Also, only girls smoke; women do not smoke. I do not know why this is so, but I have noticed this to be the case.
Three: I keep forgetting that there is no such thing as privacy here. Everyone and anyone comes to look at what I am writing and just stands behind me. It's quite awkward.
There are many more that I can't think of now. Will write them later.
It's a good thing they probably don't read English that fast, or understand everything you're saying. Use your college education and don't write in your newly acquired broken English and I think you'll be fine! :)
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