3-0 and Disco

It happened. I'm old.

On the 28th I had my thirtieth birthday. Thirty was one of those mythical ages that, as a child, I always used to think of as old. If not old, then at least no fun. Thirty is the age that you are supposed to have a family, and settle down. You are less active and more responsible. You are mature. Now that I have scaled that mountain, it isn't so bad. I have tried to take the best of both worlds and make thirty my own thing, not this imagined milestone that separates the fun from the boring. I love to joke around in class with my students and scare the wits out of them on occasion (Halloween is fun here. They are jumpy!) Being here is a good representation of both worlds: on one hand I have the riskiness of pulling up roots and living in a foreign land with very little money, on the other I have enough sense to understand the social ramifications of volunteering and how, in its own way, this is a very responsible thing. Turning 3o in China was pretty good too, because I was able to miss all of the jokes and black balloons and what not, which are usually more fun for the givers than the receiver.

My grandmother's birthday is a few days before mine. I called her in Pennsylvania to wish her a happy 84th birthday. She was pretty surprised to be getting a phone call from China. It was great to talk to her and I hope that I can carry myself through future years with as much grace as she does. At thirty years old I am not too proud to say that she is still a role model for me.

The big day was pretty relaxed. Shell and I went to Tianshui to meet Ben and Kristen, our friends from the north (Dingxi and Lanzhou cities, respectively.) It was their first trip down and we had a nice relaxing time together. We went DVD shopping and came back to Cheng Xian to hang out. They had to leave pretty quickly, but it was great to spend my birthday with them.

In China, it is Halloween evening. From my experience, the Chinese are both puzzled and fascinated by Halloween. There isn't really a holiday that is the same here and they have had many questions for me about it. Try explaining this holiday to someone who hasn't heard of it before. It is a tall order. So, in many of our English classes, we have been focusing on Halloween. All of this culminated in a big Halloween bash thrown by the English Department. Everyone dressed up in costumes (I had a large piece of white muslin cloth that I draped over myself. I was a very frightening ghost, when I wasn't bumping into things.) Before the festivities started I (well, ghost-me) would creep down the aisles of chairs and then jump out at the students and yell. They would squeal and run away. Fun stuff!

I had the honor of starting the evening by explaining a little of the history (yes!) of the holiday and then we watched The Corpse Bride. The students seemed to like the movie. After that, all five of the foreign teachers got together, turned out the lights, and told a spooky ghost story. One person told the story while the rest of us jumped out and yelled throughout. Again, there was much squealing and laughing. We played a few party games, had some karaoke, and a dramatic performance of Shel Siverstein's The Giving Tree. Then the whole place erupted into a big Chinese disco dance party! Students poured out and started jumping around wildly, pulling teachers, friends, small woodland creatures, and inanimate objects onto the dance floor. It was great and we all had a blast.

Pics

Photo 1: Taken in the new park in Tianshui. Babies are usually frightened by or curious of me, so they usually don't smile very much. This one hammed it up for the camera with his big, bad, butterfly balloon.

Photo 2: Spooky me at the Halloween party. In case you are wondering, that is a candle in an orange. Sometimes things are lost in the translation I guess.

Photo 3: Photo of Ben and Kristen in Cheng Xian. This was taken on the bridge in the middle of town.

Photo 4: I'm a spooky ghost! I couldn't wear my costume all of the time because it was hard to see through the fabric in the dark. I fell down more than I normally do.

Photo 5: This is Summer, one of my students in the "canteen" (cafeteria.) I surprised her while she was eating so I caught her mid-giggle.

P.S. Shell and I have a Skype-in number now. What is that, you ask? It is a local phone number that forwards calls to our computer here in China. Essentially, you can call China for free by dialing a local phone number. You can email me if you would like the number.