April 21st: fun tyrant and new bike
[ posted by mcdeviltoast ]
Day 217
The Ultraman class could have been better today, or else the toll on my voice and sinuses is making me less patient. After lunch I went to the hotel for two cups of coffee and try to get less medicine-headed for the triple-threat of afternoon classes.
The best response I got to the "why you like summer" comment was: "My name is Summer, and I like myself." The next class still hounded me about playing football even though the field was clogged up with an immense Wembley-sized stage and lighting rig for a concert next week. Apparently, the "gold flower festival" is not about harvesting rapeseed, but about trying tolure investors to Haimen. The concert features many 'superstars" (but not S.H.E.), and in preparation, the town is repainting intersection stripes and bringing out the flowers. It reminds me of "Merano" the first song in "Chess", all about a city's jubilation over hosting the Chess tournament, gushing and self-promoting to a fault.
In the last class, a shrimpy little dude up front was making comments to his friend about me, pointing and snickering. So before class even began, he was on my list. When it came time to ask what they like about summer, I began with him, and then he made the mistake of trying to trawl for answers by looking at his classmates. I told them not to tell him the answer, that it made him lazy, recapping my statements from last week. I finally got out of him he didn't like summer.
"Why don't you like summer?"
He looked around again, and finding no help, ting bu dong'd. That would not do.
"Do you understand me?" I demanded.
He looked around.
"Are you a bad student?"
"Yes."
"Are you a lazy student?"
"Yes."
"Then get out. I will have no lazy and bad students in my class."
I pointed at the door, told him to get out, and after some urging by his classmates in Chinese, shuffled out.
I got right back into the lesson and damn if all the students were golden. However, when it came to the "swimming pool" song, some students weren't doing the hand motions. I called out one kid in the back, made him come up front. "Why aren't you having fun with the rest of us?"
"(Chinese)."
"In English."
"Not like to."
"You don't like to do it?"
"No."
I gestured toward the door. "Then get out!"
He beat his chest in fright and alarm, shook his head. "Oh, you want to have fun with us?" He nodded. "Ok, let's do it again."
So instead of doing the hand motions in the back where no one was watching him, he had to do them up front where everyone could laugh at him. I'm an iron-fisted fun tyrant. They can be bored in other classes, mine are the number 1 lucky best favorite fun classes in China!
Heather dropped by with a surprise for me: a new bike. When we had attempted the last ocean excursion, we traded bikes for a bit and the little time she spent on mine was hellish enough to warrant a drastic purchase of this sort. I was very touched, and relieved that Iwould never have to mount that little yellow piece of demon excerement again. I could let Erin have it. She's micro, so it probably wouldn't cause as much knee discomfort for her.
We tried the train ticket place to get our May festival reservations, but it was closed when we got there. Tree dumplings were had for dinner with Rhys and Jeni, an early meal before Rhys went to deal with the Koreans. Heather and I rode out and got some DVD's, finally the long-sought "Kung Fu Hustle" was in our grasp.
We played 500 and drank hot toddies (with newly acquired scotch from Times), tried to prolong my voice for one more day of teaching. When everyone was back, we turned on "Kung Fu Hustle" and it was one of the craziest films I've seen in a long time: Raimi influences abound, as do Chaplin and Tarantino. However, it glitched right before the end, to the mutual groans of everyone present. We tried playing it on Mike's machine and got another two minutes further, but then glitched out again. Crappy.
Heather's hot water heater is amazingly hot and plentiful, and I stood in the bathroom with the shower on breathing in the steam right before bed to loosen up muck in my head and chest: a ghetto sauna. Had bizarre "Kung Fu Hustle" inspired dreams.
The Ultraman class could have been better today, or else the toll on my voice and sinuses is making me less patient. After lunch I went to the hotel for two cups of coffee and try to get less medicine-headed for the triple-threat of afternoon classes.
The best response I got to the "why you like summer" comment was: "My name is Summer, and I like myself." The next class still hounded me about playing football even though the field was clogged up with an immense Wembley-sized stage and lighting rig for a concert next week. Apparently, the "gold flower festival" is not about harvesting rapeseed, but about trying tolure investors to Haimen. The concert features many 'superstars" (but not S.H.E.), and in preparation, the town is repainting intersection stripes and bringing out the flowers. It reminds me of "Merano" the first song in "Chess", all about a city's jubilation over hosting the Chess tournament, gushing and self-promoting to a fault.
In the last class, a shrimpy little dude up front was making comments to his friend about me, pointing and snickering. So before class even began, he was on my list. When it came time to ask what they like about summer, I began with him, and then he made the mistake of trying to trawl for answers by looking at his classmates. I told them not to tell him the answer, that it made him lazy, recapping my statements from last week. I finally got out of him he didn't like summer.
"Why don't you like summer?"
He looked around again, and finding no help, ting bu dong'd. That would not do.
"Do you understand me?" I demanded.
He looked around.
"Are you a bad student?"
"Yes."
"Are you a lazy student?"
"Yes."
"Then get out. I will have no lazy and bad students in my class."
I pointed at the door, told him to get out, and after some urging by his classmates in Chinese, shuffled out.
I got right back into the lesson and damn if all the students were golden. However, when it came to the "swimming pool" song, some students weren't doing the hand motions. I called out one kid in the back, made him come up front. "Why aren't you having fun with the rest of us?"
"(Chinese)."
"In English."
"Not like to."
"You don't like to do it?"
"No."
I gestured toward the door. "Then get out!"
He beat his chest in fright and alarm, shook his head. "Oh, you want to have fun with us?" He nodded. "Ok, let's do it again."
So instead of doing the hand motions in the back where no one was watching him, he had to do them up front where everyone could laugh at him. I'm an iron-fisted fun tyrant. They can be bored in other classes, mine are the number 1 lucky best favorite fun classes in China!
Heather dropped by with a surprise for me: a new bike. When we had attempted the last ocean excursion, we traded bikes for a bit and the little time she spent on mine was hellish enough to warrant a drastic purchase of this sort. I was very touched, and relieved that Iwould never have to mount that little yellow piece of demon excerement again. I could let Erin have it. She's micro, so it probably wouldn't cause as much knee discomfort for her.
We tried the train ticket place to get our May festival reservations, but it was closed when we got there. Tree dumplings were had for dinner with Rhys and Jeni, an early meal before Rhys went to deal with the Koreans. Heather and I rode out and got some DVD's, finally the long-sought "Kung Fu Hustle" was in our grasp.
We played 500 and drank hot toddies (with newly acquired scotch from Times), tried to prolong my voice for one more day of teaching. When everyone was back, we turned on "Kung Fu Hustle" and it was one of the craziest films I've seen in a long time: Raimi influences abound, as do Chaplin and Tarantino. However, it glitched right before the end, to the mutual groans of everyone present. We tried playing it on Mike's machine and got another two minutes further, but then glitched out again. Crappy.
Heather's hot water heater is amazingly hot and plentiful, and I stood in the bathroom with the shower on breathing in the steam right before bed to loosen up muck in my head and chest: a ghetto sauna. Had bizarre "Kung Fu Hustle" inspired dreams.
---
[ posted by mcdeviltoast @ 4/21/2005 09:08:00 PM ]
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The dumbtronica act Montana & McDeviltoast, along with their friends, keep each other updated on their activities. Much fun having by all, and Pockys fear for their lives!