i am princess

first things first! i have a number YOU (sorry... not you amy... US residents only...) can call/text me at for FREE. i got a skypein number and it works just like a normal phone number. typically when you call it, i won't be here because of the time difference/my current lack of internet, but once i get my place set up it will work like a home phone. when i'm in my room, i'll have my computer on and it will ring if you call me and i will answer (or screen you call...). when i'm not home (or i screen you call...) you can LEAVE ME A VOICEMAIL! which seriously, you should do. right now. 281-336-0020. do it. i would really love to hear the voice of someone i like (that is not currently with me in china). i also have unlimited calling to numbers in the states, so if you want me to call you, let me know what times either early in the morning or late at night are best for you. again. 281-336-0020. super easy to remember. save it in your phone. leave me voicemails on your way to class. leave me one as you read the rest of this blog. do it. 

ok, as for the rest of this, i'm going to try to make this slightly more interesting than my previous posts, but i'm not sure if i'll achieve that goal or not. things are going pretty slowly and i'm mostly just in class, eating, at this internet cafe, or sleeping. lots of sleeping. on a normal schedule. last night was the first time i stayed up past 10, and there still hasn't been a day that i didn't wake up (before my alarm) by 6:15 am at the latest. and that latest was this morning after staying up til a whopping 12:30 last night. so yeah, pretty crazy shit going down right now...

most of my current observations are about the people in the program, as that's about all there is for me to observe at the moment. my public blog is probably not the place for that though. not that i have anything aside from extremely flattering and complimentary things to say. you know, cause i pretty much ONLY think nice things about people in general... anyways, if you want to know anything about that, drop me a line and i will give you my two cents. 

i guess right now, i'm just kind of nervous. we had a meeting about life in shenzhen and basically i was told i'm going to live at school (yes, in china, your teacher really does live at school) and will be expected to conduct myself like a teacher at all times, esp while on campus. i will become good friends with the guards, who will keep track of my every move. i have to notify at least 2 people every time i leave the city. excessive drinking is highly frowned upon. apparently bringing home members of the opposite sex makes you a bad teacher, which you can be fired over. not to mention shenzhen has the highest AIDS/STD rate in the country. the scent of weed is enough to get someone thrown in jail for a minimum of two weeks before being kicked out of the country. forever. it will probably be about an hour by public transport to my bi-weekly chinese class and most of the other teachers, assuming i get relatively lucky in my placement. i mean, a lot of that won't really be an issue. i know how to behave myself. but shit, it really doesn't do much for morale to listen to an hour and a half of that. on a side note, at the same meeting, the guy who is basically in charge of the whole program said that for a white person living in china, this is "our chance to see what it's like to be black." needless to say, that was an awkward fucking comment. i mean, seriously? i understand that he probably lacks a southwestern education, but i don't think it takes someone well versed in social justice issues to recognize that the fascination the chinese have with white people and the special treatment we receive is in no way the same as what black people experience in the states (and most places, actually). anyways, one of our coordinators is african-american and she snapped at him and that coupled with the shocked awkward look on 90% of the people in the room's face made him change the subject pretty fast. 

to end things on a more positive, yay-china-is-fun! note, i bought a notebook at the store the other day. the cover has a man and woman outline like you see on bathroom doors, and the woman has a heart over her heart and the man has a heart over his crotch and it says really big across the top "I AM PRINCESS" and then under that a little smaller but still large "I FEAR WHO" and then under that in smaller type something like "all girls look on themselves like a special princess except the few who are exceptionally ugly or exceptionally smart". thank you china. 

also, apparently i can ask my kids to draw things for me and i will receive quite a few "shit monsters" which will consist of a stick figure of a man with an arrow that says "monster" and then a pile of shit next to him with an arrow that says "shit" among other gems of ridiculousness. our tefl teacher also had a student named testicles. he also told us a story about a male teacher here who had a junior high kid jump up out of his seat, run up and slap his junk really hard while yelling "SO BIG!!" which then prompted about 15 other boys to jump up and do the same thing. ahhh, china. it's good to be back.