Welcome to the rainy season!! We have gotten the rude welcome to the season of rain here. It will last for the next couple months and usually brings a ton of rain. We have been waiting for two weeks to have the sports day because of it (track and field competitions), and last night we had an amazing display of natures power-8 hours of thunderstorms culminating at 1:30 am with some of the noisiest thunder and stronger lightning I have ever experienced. It was shaking our apartment and causing rain to come in even though everything was closed. Let's just say, we did not sleep much.

This last week, the country of China experienced three days of mourning for those affected by the earthquake in SiChuan and WenChuan. All entertainment stopped and all things were focused on the earthquake. All TV channels showed 24 hours of earthquake coverage. All sporting events were cancelled including the torch relay, and there were many stops for moments of silence. From my understanding, this is unprecedented in China and it was something quite profound to be able to experience. On Thursday, we went to a prayer vigil with countless students at our school. Hundreds of students lit candles and placed them in the shape of a heart surrounding the date 5-12. It has been very much like experiencing the aftermath of 9-11. People have great pride in their country and are coming together to help others. Students are giving money to help with the rebuilding, even though many have little to spare. It has provided a time of openness in the press also as many newspapers were allowed to print anything. From what I hear and see, that is changing back again and many of the same images and articles are found in all newspapers again. People are looking for hope during this time and also cooperating together without thoughts of rank, minority groups, and privilege. There are many worries of worse things to come in the area as heavy rains continue there and many dams are under risk and further mudslides are expected. There have been many major aftershocks--some of which have caused widespread fear on our campus as well. At 1 am many students went outside because of messages from family and friends elsewhere warning of a large aftershock. It was mayhem!!

This last weekend, Patty and I actually ended up going different directions. She went to Guiyang for a much needed women's retreat at a hot springs and I stayed at the college. It proved to be a very busy weekend for the both of us. Patty had a wonderful time getting together with the women to talk and share and also to enjoy some pampering. It was a warm time, but they had lots of fun. During my weekend, there were many senior class parties, so I ended up spending a whole afternoon and night at one of my classes parties. They will play games, sing karaoke, and talk for hours and then have a large meal at night. It was a very sad time as they have known each other for 3 years and now worry about being able to see each other once they leave. We took lots of pictures and had a wonderful meal. The only part I do not like is the excessive amount of drinking that takes place. Maybe it was good I was there, because then others could feel more free to say no to most of the drinking. By the end of the night, there were many students and some teachers (it is the goal of the night to get them drunk) who were very drunk. Smoking and drinking are accepted practices here and almost expected practices especially among the men. They find it strange that I do neither, but are very respectful and will sometimes compliment it as being a better practice, but they still continue in their ways. I guess I will never truly understand.

The next day, I got up early to go out hiking with some students. They wanted to take me to a new place, XingWei. It is about 20 minutes walk from out campus and it is the home to the 2007 International Stone Exhibition. I was pumped to be able to finally go there. I did not know it was so close. The place has also turned into a "upper crust" shopping area. They sell Hummers and fancy, overpriced symbols of excess there. I could have spent all day looking at the rocks, fossils and remnants from caves. It is sad that they will cut off stalagtites and mites from the caves. They had some amazing things for sale there and also some museums that I did not go into because it was too expensive for the students. I will have to go there with Patty as this is a reminder of our first date--her helping me study for my rock test in the science lab. That afternoon, I volunteered to walk a student to a party and on the way home this rather large, muscular guy stopped me on the road. I did not know what to think, but he asked me to teach him English. He worked at the Kingstar Beer Factory near our college and I did not know what to think but gave him my number thinking that maybe he would not call. But later that day, he did call and invited me out to eat at McDonald's. I had nothing to do, so I decided to go, but did not know where there was a McDonald's in our town. He brought his brother along who spoke no English and we set off on a bus and later by foot towards the unknown McDonalds. We later ended up at Dicos (definitely not McDonalds and usually a place we do not eat), but he insisted on getting me something to eat. The thing is that he did not get anything for himself and his brother though, so I felt strange eating the chicken while they watched and we talked some. They did try the fries though, and he got me a chilled coffee drink--ugghh!!

The story only gets more bizarre from here. So we left the restaurant after his brother was told to put out his cigarrette--something most Chinese are not used to-not being able to smoke in a restaurant. We were going to go back to his house but instead he decided that I should meet his cousin who works as a hairdresser. Another 15 minute walk and we arrived at one of the fancier hairdressing places in town and he thought I should get my hair cut. The thing is I just cut my hair a couple weeks ago and it is still short, but he insisted (you can rarely say no). So they took me back and someone who spoke some English washed my hair and massaged my head (I hated it) for 15-20 minutes and then I was escorted to the chair. His cousin is the manager and all of his assistants gathered around to watch him cut my hair. He used a variety of scissors and worked like crazy cutting off any stray hair for about 30 minutes. It looked really good, but it took ages and then they had wash my hair again, dry it and then I was done. All of that for free. What had I gotten myself into!! So we took a taxi back to his cousins apartment and found that most of his family was there--they mainly work at the beer factory also but are from a nearby village. Fifteen of them and their children all gawking at me and talking about me. I was willing to do anything to get out of there, but they were friendly. Gavin, that is his name, thought that it would be interesting to go tour the beer factory, so that was a good alternative. We went to go see his sister who was working there filling boxes with bottles of beer. They have seriously millions of bottles of beer being made daily and packaged and shipped out. I hear the shifts are 13-14 hours long and when we arrived his sister decided to quit on the spot. This was her first day and she could not handle the standing and work. So we decided to make some Chinese food to have a real meal--it was about 8:30 pm. He left to get his motorbike leaving me with his sister to do the shopping. She knew no English, so I tried talking to her in whatever Chinese came to mind, which went very well until she started asking questions. I was trying so hard, but could not understand her as she talked so fast. I often just had to say--Wo ting bu dong, I do not understand. We did successfully get the food though and headed back to make it before being called and invited to eat at his families apartment. So we went there and now the whole family including uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc. were there, but most of them ate only rice leaving the better food for us. I felt so bad, but it was a feast. This is countryside hospitality in our area--they will bring out their best for guests. To make a long story a little shorter--my night ended around 11:30 when he dropped me off on his motorbike after many other stops. He is definitely a very nice person, but I am unsure of the situation. Is is something good to use my extra time with or something that I should not be undertaking??

This week we had American weddings in our classes with everything. They made wedding gowns from TP, I brought ties for the men to put on and a suit coat for the groom. Someone was a photographer, bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girl, readers, parents of the couple, invitations, and they made flowers from newspaper. It was quite the production all put together in 1 hour and then they had the ceremony and the reception with such traditional songs as the hokey pokey and the chicken dance. We ended class with the throwing of the bouquet and candy (no garter). They really enjoyed it. We will have to post some pictures online for you to see. We have started putting some pictures of us on Patty's flickr account, so check them out. We hope your memorial day weekend was filled with blessings of family and friends and free time and that your week is abundantly blessed as well.