I’ve decided that I am going to stay in Hohhot for an additional four months. This means I will be home at the end of November, ideally for Thanksgiving and UF/FSU weekend. As many of you know, I was toying with this idea for a long time. I miss everyone at home so much, and can’t wait to see everyone again. But if I stay here a little longer, I can save a good amount of money so I won’t be so hard pressed to find a job when I get home.

Many of you have asked me what I am going to do next, to be honest I am not quite sure. I’m thinking about a teaching position somewhere in South America. Reasons? Well, no crazy Hohhot winters for one, and being on the same side of the world as all my family and friends is a huge plus. A huge reason, though, is that I want something completely different from the culture and society I am in now, so I can compare and learn. I’m not going to start a job in South America until around next May or so, which will have be looking for part time work until then.

Yes, eventually I will be coming home to stay. I love the US, Florida, St. Augustine, Gainesville, etc. I just want to get as many experiences as possible before settling back down. As before, everyone will be more than welcome to come visit me!

The post is about something I never thought that I would be doing as often as I do now: playing computer games.
Back home, extra time means going outside and reading a book on the beach, or, if the weather is bad, flipping through the TV channels to find yet another Law and Order. I am somewhat ashamed to say, now when I am bored I usually find myself playing a game on the computer. Why? Many reasons…it’s easy, it’s fun and addictive. Not to mention the fact that I have no beach, and no TV channels that I can understand enough to be interested. I am only somewhat ashamed of my new addiction because the alternative would be to plan lessons, and that no matter how many computer games I play, the average Chinese boy plays way more.
So what games are Sarah’s favorites? On the website primarygames.com, I play Dune Buggy, Wild Wild Taxi, and Monkey Go Happy (I also use this website for lots of games with my students, great learning games on there!). Thanks to Google Chrome’s new App system, I’m hooked on Bowman2, Zombie Drop, Robot Unicorn Attack, and of course, Angry Birds. I have finally been taught how to play Pants vs. Zombies, and can see why it is one of the most popular games in China (that and Crossfire). I have dabbled in a few others that are good, just not favorites, such as Use Boxman.
I realize though, that the playing of all these games stem from one certain game, that I proud have gotten most of the staff addicted to- Mahjong Solitaire. In this game, you have to get matching tiles. Yea sounds easy, but it is a little more difficult than that. You cannot collect a tile if it has tiles on wither side of it, or on top of it. Now, this is not the true Chinese Mahjong, pretty much a Westerner made it up because they didn’t understand the real game (which is like a poker game). I am still hoping to learn the true Mahjong, but have yet to have the time or patience to do so. For now, I will just stick to killing zombies and flipping dune buggies to fill my free time.

Intensive is not fun. Would I rather be chewed on by a thousand ants while an elephant sat on my head? Nah, probably not. But still, intensive is not fun.

What is intensive? Intensive is three months during the summer and two months in the winter when, because school is out, we work a lot more hours and have a lot more classes. Remember, I work for a company, not for the school system. I’ve mentioned it before, but think of it this way: growing up, we went to piano or gymnastics or karate after school, yea? Chinese students go to English class (and for some very unlucky ones, extra classes for math and such). Personally, I have so many thanks to give for not being raised in the Chinese education system. Ten hours of classes, plus copious amounts of homework everyday? No thanks, I prefer to be seen as a stupid American.

Anyway, back to Intensive. We have extra classes for all grade levels, in addition to their usual ones. The students don’t have to do them, but of course they are “highly suggested”- think summer camp, a bit. They are called Life Club (we actually have these life clubs throughout the whole year for adults, but this is the first time we are doing them for kids). The topics are usually things that we don’t cover in the regular course, and in my eyes, are usually more fun. Nothing beats a morning of teaching adults how to play BS and poker ( Oh wait.. sleep does..).

Today, myself and another teacher taught a “Life Club” lesson for a group of 10 year olds. What life lessons do kids need to learn? Why, finger painting of course! That’s right, my “teaching” today involved a couple quick games on colors, and then painting. Ahh, this is the life. Other than painting, we are doing other cool things with the kids, like talking to the museum and making “dumplings” (which will be filled with chocolate and such). All in all, not a bad way to spend all your extra hours at school.