Halloween and More

This past weekend was Halloween weekend. Actual Halloween was on the
Saturday that is one of our marathon days. I made a jack-o-lantern
basket out of paper and filled it with candy. We made masks and played
games in all of my classes. I made a Halloween playlist which included
such classics as Thriller and the Ghostbusters theme song. My starter
class was very cute; four-year-olds get super into Halloween. My
favorite class is LM2b on Sunday, which is the second book after
beginner, so the kids are around 8-10 years old. They are amazing- I
don't know who named them but we have a Ramon, Montana, Gabe, Dale,
Zusie, and Chalie (that's right, no 'r'). They get excited by even the
most ridiculously boring English book exercises so they loved
Halloween, and even shouted "Michael Jackson!" when Thriller came on,
which I thought was impressive. They also said "Michael Jackson is
'game over'" which I thought was accurate (lots of weird phrases the
kids know in English come from video games- game over, K.O., and fire
in the hull!). In my older reading and writing class, the ever crazy
and ever brilliant Mike promised to dress up. Mike is a 12-year-old
with excellent English and knowledge of Western pop culture, and well,
everything. When we discussed poetry he started reciting Shakespearian
sonnets, I kid you not. He wore some kind of mummy attire, which
you'll see in my photos. It's been a Halloween themed month so we
listened to Halloween tunes, read about horror movies, and played a
version of the game "Mafia," which they apparently play in China too
(weird?).

Anyways, it was a fun weekend with candy and games in my classes. So
that was cool. My days off have been pretty uneventful. On Tuesday my
electricity went out (the whole building- again), so I got a smoothie
at Highlands Coffee and used their internet. Plus the weather has been
nice so I've been walking around lots. After that I sort of
accidentally ended up along the river, below the street level. It was
amazingly quiet compared to the endless city noise, and very peaceful.
I walked to a sight I've been wanting to see, the "symbol of Guiyang."
It's called Jiaxiu Tower. And as I walked toward it, suddenly it was
ablaze with white lights. Check out the pictures- it looks almost
magical. Plus I didn't feel like a freak taking photos there- it's a
scenic spot so there were lots of cameras out. There's also a garden
of some kind, which used to be an abbey according to Lonely Planet.
I'll probably head back some time and check out the inside. Anyways,
it's a great spot. Peaceful in a very loud city and beautiful at
night.

Here are all the photos I mentioned:
http://www.xoopit.com/s/2142bx0urqqiv5k776i2