On Wednesday afternoon I brought my iPod, speakers, and laptop computer to class. My intention was to play a little Halloween music while I told my students about Halloween in America. I brought the laptop as a back up in case I couldn't find an outlet for the speakers and iPod. Thankfully the class was equipped with an outlet near the blackboard so I just placed my computer on the ground next to my backpack. This was where everything went wrong. I didn't use the laptop all class, so I completely forgot that I had brought it to class. When I was leaving class I was talking to one of my students about basketball or something and so wasn't paying attention. My student and I were the last ones to leave the class room and I turned off the light as I left.
When I got back to my building I realized the terrible mistake that I had just made. I ran back to the class room, but when I arrived the laptop was no where to be found. Two students were in the classroom studying. I asked them if they had found my laptop and they said no. Then I asked if the lights were off when they came in to the classroom and they told me that they had been. So, someone came in to the classroom while it was dark and grabbed my laptop.
I have been told and also seen that there are ladies who wander around campus collecting bottles to make extra money. One of those ladies peeked into my classroom that afternoon. I have a suspicion that she returned after class and scored a much better prize than a few water bottles. I still have a little hope that my laptop may be returned on Wednesday by someone who doesn't know how to return it but to return it to my classroom. I'm fairly confident that a student did not take it. The teachers and students have all been extremely helpful in trying to get my laptop back, and it is hard to believe that any of them would have stolen my property, but perhaps I'm being naive.
In other news, I had a very exciting weekend. Friday evening Max, Janice, Steven, his Chinese girlfriend Haiyan, and I went to eat hotpot. Hotpot is fairly similar to fondue. You are given a big bowl of seasoned water, which is often divided into a spicy section and a regular section. This bowl is placed onto a burner in the middle of your table and set to a rolling boil. Then it's time to choose your ingredients. Since Haiyan was with us, she did all of the ordering. We had beef, lamb, pork, chicken, several vegetables, eggs, and tofu. You can throw whatever you want into whichever side you want and then wait a few minutes and fish it out with a nice slotted spoon. It really is quite delicious.
Saturday was also quite a day. As a group we headed over to the zoo in the center of the city. We took the city bus--something that I have not done since Beijing. Max had never taken the public bus in China, and he wasn't too happy about his first experience. Like any public area in China, the buses are incredibly crowded. Finding a seat is like finding a winning lottery ticket.
When we finally arrived at the zoo we realized that the animal show had already started. We rushed around the zoo spotting many different exciting exhibits but were unable to find the animal show. When we finally did find
the show we arrived just in time to see a monkey riding a goat on a tight rope. There was a surprise ending, but I won't give it away (you can watch the video on my vimeo page). After that the trainers brought out a bear that jumped over hurdles and then kicked them over, a bear who jumped rope, and finally a bear that rode a bicycle. The bear's riding skills were suburb. If bears ever figure out how to race, Lance Armstrong may be in trouble. Unfortunately, because of our late arrival, we had missed the section of the show where a tiger rides a horse.After the show we decided to check out all of the exhibits. The zoo had many monkey exhibits, a panda exhibit, a bear exhibit, many bird exhibits, several elephants, a giraffe, and even penguins. Whenever I go to the zoo the term "animal prison" is always in the back of my mind. It always seems cruel to have these animals locked away out of the wild, but in America at least they seem to be in some sort of five-star federal prison with gourmet meals and luxurious acomidations. With all of the animal rights groups in the US, I would expect nothing less. However here in Nanchang I feel like I was visiting a third world prisoner of war prison for animals. The animals all seemed to be either sick, infected, depressed or a combination of all three. The cages were extremely small and dirty. The only attempt at making a "realistic habitat" consisted of a few concrete rock structures. Needless to say, I won't be making a second trip out to the zoo.
The rest of the weekend went by quickly. Janice, Max, and I went across the river to try and see the biggest fountain show in Asia and the biggest ferris wheel in the world, but didn't get to see either in action. The fountain area was hosting some sort of TV show (because we were all white we got to get a little bit closer), so the fountain was inactive. The ferris wheel was lit up, but was not running for some reason.
Max and I also made a trip over to the Tengwang Pavilion, which is also on the river (on the opposite side of the ferris wheel). I'll have to look up its history again, but I believe that it was some sort of mansion that belonged to a famous painter?
It was a gorgeous structure and I wasn't reading any of the signs. The views from the top were beautiful and the grounds surrounding the house were also very impressive. Following our time at the pavilion Max and I went to catch up with the rest of the group, who had already seen the pavilion before. We found out that they had decided to get a foot massage. I've never had a massage from a real massage parlor. After standing all day in class for the last several weeks, it was just what the doctor ordered, though at some points they seemed to be rather violent especially when they cracked our toes. Regardless, it was well worth the $4 charge.Sunday was a day of shopping. Max and I were determined to find some gym equipment. After going into nearly every sports shop we could find downtown we were pretty depressed at the prices we had found. Also Max was unable to find any size 13 shoes...surprise surprise. With the intention of returning later in the day to get some gym equipment Max, Janice, and I headed over to a western style market called "Metro." It is arranged very similarly to a Home Depot in the states. Big industrial shelves packed with innumerable items. We decided to check out their sports section for gym equipment, and it turned out quite nicely. We found a flat bench for very cheap and the weights cost less than anywhere else that we had previously looked. Apart from this great find, I fell in love with the store in general. The prices are bit steeper than at Walmart, but the selection is ten times better. Also, it wasn't packed from wall to wall with customers and employees. It was a nice leisurely shopping experience. To top it all off "Metro" also has a large import section filled with invaluable goods like western liquors, beers, cheese (thank god we found some), snacks, ketchup, cereal, ect. We will be returning often to "Metro."
It was a very busy weekend, but I had a lot of fun. It was good to finally be part of a group. Janice, the 60-something-year-old from Australia; Steven, the 25-year-old Brit; his Chinese girlfriend; Max and I work quite nicely as a group. Hopefully many more fun weekends will follow.
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