Here is the little girl I teach English to, Jennifer (I don't know her Chinese name). She is 6 years old and this day I was sharing my Woody doll with her. She was delighted! I made a deal with her mother who is our landlord. The deal was for her to put a sofa and TV in the apartment and I would teach her little girl English for 8 months, once a week for an hour. Well, I think I have enjoyed it as much as she has. It is a challenge trying to figure out how to keep her attention while teaching something as boring as English. Woody helped me this day. "Say hello to Woody" "Make Woody dance" "What is Woody doing?". She was totally amused. We have played with paper dolls, too. I tell her the article of clothing and she has to find it before dressing the doll. We sing a lot and draw. I thought I would be finished with this teaching assignment but in order to get an A/C unit put in our living room area (it was really hot this summer without one) I agreed to 5 more months. I know if I could go to work here I could make enough to buy one in much less time but I don't have a work Visa so that would be difficult to do. This way we get the benefit of its use without breaking the law. So now with a new contract for a year we are all set. I really like this apartment with its really big windows. I try hard to think of it as home but I think that will take time. I asked a friend who has been here 3 years how long it took her to get over the feeling of being away from home and she said...3 years! So I guess I have a few years to go!
Meet some little fellows in my neighborhood. This will probably be a fountain one day but for now it is a play area for all the grandparents to corral their grandkids. I thought this was an amusing scene.
Remember 'Jack in the box"?
How about ' Ping in the pot'?