Well, it was not a misnomer. It does rain a lot here, something like 250 days out of the year, which is not as bad as it sounds because it doesn't usually rain all day - that is - except for today. Bleh!

I begin teaching my real classes tomorrow, finally. I taught the senior level III students last week, and classes went really well for the most part. There were a few classes that were fantastic and a couple that were not so good. Two of the latter were taught by a Ms. Tang, who is officially my nemesis at Yazhong (shorthand for Ya'an Middle School). The Chinese teachers remain in the classroom while I teach, and usually they sit in the back and grade papers, unless one happens to be Ms. Tang, in which case she plays with her cell phone and gossips with students around her, thereby causing a bigger disruption than any student in any of my classes. I shake my fist in your general direction, Ms. Tang. For shame!

In other big news, my Chinese friend count is officially up to two. That is a big improvement over one, (double, for those who are slow in the math department). I have two more potential friends, but they don't make the official list until I've seen them at least twice. My new friend's name is She Hongxia, and she is a student at the agricultural college across the river. She has invited me to her home for Chinese National Holiday, which is October 1. I guess she's from a little town a few hours from here, so I'll be making a weekend of it. I'm quite excited to spend a holiday with a Chinese family, and apparently there will be many relatives there. I also sense that there may be a bit of food to go around. Mmm. On Friday I went out of Sichuanese barbecue with Hongxia and two of her friends. I thought I had tasted Sichuanese barbecue before, but I had not had the full experience. There is a grill in the middle of the table, and people order lots of plates of raw food, cook it in oil that collects around the grill, then dip it in a powdered mixture of spices before consuming it. We had an abundance of the usual food: chicken wings, beef, lotus root, winter melon, eggplant, onions, and the like. I had my first duck tongues. Actually, they were delicious.

Another good thing that happened this week was that I secured a Chinese tutor. Ms. Lan teaches Chinese grammar to the middle schoolers, so I assume that she will be a good teacher for me. I have not had my first lesson yet, but ideally I will be starting this week.

Oh, I finally met my neighbors today. The Haos are both teachers, and their daughter is a middle schooler here. She knocked on my door today and told me that she was going to cook some tangyu for me. I can't really explain what it is because I'm not sure myself. Then she returned ten minutes later with two bowls of steaming tangyu - perhaps a sweet dumpling soup. We chatted for awhile, mostly in Chinese, although with an occasional word of English since she has studied for a year. When she learned that I like literature, she ran next door and came back with a huge stack of books. I told her that it would probably take me 80 years to get through the pile, but she left them for me to browse through anyway. She also came back with fried chicken, Sichuan style - which means it's spicy. Then somehow her mother ended up bringing me a huge plate of apples, pears, and
pomegranates. They are extremely nice people, and they told me to ask if I ever need anything.

All right. I'm off to have dinner with the latest and last foreign teacher to arrive. John Flower, a professor from America, arrived with his wife and one-year-old son. He is completely fluent not only in Mandarin Chinese but also in the Sichuanese dialect, so he should have some good stories to tell.

Until next time,

MollySigning off for this week,

Molly