Happy Halloween

Well….where to begin.  I'm sure many of you are being updated by my mom & dad, so in which case you know a lot of what's been going on in this end of the world.  For the rest of you, I first want to express my heartfelt thanks to EVERY one of you who cared about the issue I posted last, whether you offered to send money, gather donations, or simply cared/prayed on your own, thank you!!!  I'm practicing being apathetic here, which is something I've never—in my life—been, so it's been a struggle, but I'm working on it, for better or worse.  Now I'm going to (apathetically) muster up the least idealistic frame of mind possible and ask you to please pause/stop donating things.  Please don't stop caring. But I can't accept anything to donate to the kids. And I can't go to the orphanage anymore. My students won't be going anymore, either. It's a touchy issue here, and I think having a foreigner care so much maybe scared some people. Either way, I have to back off. Trust me. But don't stop caring…you don't have to be apathetic.

In other news, classes are going well.  I had two more classes (each of 45+ seniors) added to my schedule last week, so I've been especially busy.  I had my students fill out anonymous evaluations/recommendations of my teaching last week and they were exemplary and without any complaint, so that was a nice boost. :)

In celebration of Halloween, all Peace Corps volunteers in Guizhou province and many in Sichuan province shipped into Guiyang by train/bus this past weekend and we had a huge costume party at Todd & Jessica's house.  It was a lot of fun, and it was a great way to introduce our Chinese friends to American parties and traditions.  Everyone had a blast.  I dressed up like a dog hanging in the meat market (spices and meat hook included). My Chinese friend was my butcher. We thought we were quite clever…and we won second place for best group. :)

This week I changed my office hours from the early morning to the late evening, and I moved them from the English department to my home in order for me to not have to trek across campus to sit alone in an empty office. I figured no one would come, because they barely ever came to my office hours before, so last week I foolishly announced to all of my oral English classes (about 110 students in total) that if they come to my office hours tonight wearing a costume and say "trick-or-treat" I'll have treats for them and will give them extra points for this class competition we've been doing.  I'm an idiot. I found out today that every single one of my students is planning on coming, meaning I must now have enough goodies and room for 100+ people in this little apartment (that came equipped with 8 chairs…). Haha. I just spent my entire lunch break baking a Halloween cake and making pumpkin-shaped cookies (from box mixes sent from home…bless packages!), and will spend the rest of the day (aside from when I'm teaching) cleaning and buying food and treats to have on stock.  I don't know what I'll do with all of these kids!! :) But it should be fun. :)

Not much else to report.  I'm just hanging in there, trying to keep optimistic, and giving teaching my all. Thank god for teaching and for friends and students. And for great people back home. :)  I love and miss you all. Happy Halloween. :)