from the class that brought us such classics as "love is beautiful, so just do it"...

This week's class topic quickly became one of my personal favorites last year.  The first unit in our textbook is titled "Attitudes and Happiness", and discusses things like personality, moods, and opinions.  I prefer to have this class further into the year when the students are more comfortable talking in class and with each other, because it can be a little personal and it's largely discussion-based.  My favorite question in the whole lesson is, "Would you be able to marry someone from a very different background (cultural, religious, socioeconomic, racial); why or why not?".  Of course, it was during this class last year I learned that Chinese soldiers are not allowed to marry foreigners, so I have to ask them to discard that notion for a few moments.  Last year I actually had someone tell me it was his dream to marry a foreigner and have mixed-culture kids and raise them all over the world; usually the number of Chinese traditionalists (and I would argue realists) is much higher than the foreign-wanting outliers.  Anyway, the whole class has quotable potential, and I'd like to share some of my favorites from this week.

-"I can't devote all my heart into her", Clyde
-"my love girl", Nathan (one of my real romantics)
-(me)"What does 'prejudice' mean?"...(Marx)"It's a book's name."
-"He is happiest when he first mate with his girlfriend", [meant to be meet]
-"She happy, I happy, why not?", Jack, on marrying someone with a different background
-(Sheldon)"Do you have a girlfriend?"...(Howard)"Yes"...(Sheldon)"Do you want a few more?"

Somehow, my kitchen is messiest it's ever been in my life, even worse than when I've been baking or making dinner.  I decided to buy real coffee beans at Starbucks since I bought a grinder last year, and yesterday morning I was so excited to use it finally, I even woke up a bit earlier than normal (and this was Thursday, my early teaching morning).  Well, I put in too many for just one person, then when I took the lid off the grinder to transfer the powder to the coffeemaker, it kind of exploded everywhere.  And me being me, I left it that way.  All day...and last night.  Last night I was actually struck with a cleaning fever, which conveniently directed me to tidy everywhere EXCEPT the kitchen.  But I promise I'll tidy it today, there is the possibility of being Betty Crocker on the weekend horizon and it's too difficult to navigate the mess in there and actually get anything done.

Thanks to the magic that is Google Music here in China, I've replaced Christmas music with anything else I can download for free including: Mumford & Sons, The Swell Season, Hugh Laurie, The Black Keys, Gloriana, and the Killers.

"When you're still waiting for the snow to fall, it doesn't really feel like Christmas at all"