I just got back from "English Corner." Which should really be called "Questions for Foreigners." The corner is really just a big square outside of the students' dorms. At 7:30 every Tuesday evening students gather in this area to speak English together. Every week two foreign teachers are also required to go to English corner to encourage speaking. I go with Matt, and Janice and Steven go together. So tonight, like every other evening at the English corner, Matt and I strolled up to a crowd of awaiting Chinese students. Once one sees that the foreign teachers have arrived, he quickly releases a pheromone to alert the other students. A swarm ensues, and the questions are endless.

The topic tonight was, "What should we do during our boring college life?," or something along those lines. I reminded them that drinking is always a possibility, but that they really just needed to have a good time before they graduated. I'm almost convinced that most of the students here really don't know how to relax and just have fun. After asking them about their high school experiences tonight, I can understand why.

Most high school students here in China have class from 6:00 AM until 10:00 PM. They also do not have weekends off, but instead spend them studying or learning a new skill. I feel kind of bad for their experiences at school. I don't know if I could have made it through high school if I didn't have breaks. It seems that the pressure here is immense. All of my students tell me that it is nearly impossible to get a job after college, and yet none of them seem to be worried. All in all, I'm surprised that the suicide rate is not tremendous here.

The evening at the English corner ended with a few questions from the more advanced students about my opinions on the war in Iraq and my opinion on JFK. All in all it was an interesting experience, but there are only so many times that I can be asked, "Do you like China?" or "Do you like Chinese food?" before I want to answer, "No, I really hate it." to both questions. Unfortunately that would be a lie. I like the people here in China, and as you probably well know, I love Chinese food.

However, Chinese food can only carry me so far. Christmas is coming, and I'm very happy to say that I will get to spend Christmas with a few familiar faces. Sarah and her parents are coming to China next weekend and will be here until the 28th. It will be great to have them all around for the holidays. Needless to say, I can't wait to see Sarah, and I hope that my lessons won't be too hectic while she is here.

Finally, I also got the mailing address for my school in China. If you'd like to mail me anything for any reason, you can send it to the following address:

Scott Mannear
The School of International Education, Nanchang Institute of Technology,
Beijing East Road 59, Pengqiao Campus, Nanchang Institute of Technology,
Nanchang Jiangxi, P. R. China 330029

By the way, the pictures are A) of my self-made drying apparatus, since the humidity outside has been hovering at 70% lately and B) my Communist Christmas Decorations--A Chinese flag and Christmas lights.