Gong shows

I witnessed two gong shows this year so far.

The first was at the drum tower in Xi'an this July. It was a gong show in the literal sense of the phrase and actually a lot less chaotic and more musical experience than I was expecting.

The second, the construction of the new girls' campus in Jinshitan, was a complete gong show in the figurative sense of the phrase. The only unchaotic thing about this gong show was that we were all expecting it. When we arrived in Dalian, one week before classes were to begin, the girls' campus wasn't even close to ready yet. The poor new teachers were housed in a smelly hotel in Jinshitan with no drinking water or laundry supplies, while the returning teachers got their old apartments back or bunked with friends. I've been sharing a bed with Anjali for the past week (and enjoying every minute of it :) In some sense it was nice to get the extra bonding time before the school year started. Classes started on Monday and we were still hauling over textbooks and office supplies on Friday and the weekend. When we carried things over on Friday, migrant workers were still living in bunks in the classrooms. Walking into the textbook room, I was surprised to see ten men standing around their bunk beds, half clothed, smoking cigarettes. I complimented them on their buff arms and offered them twenty kwai to help us lug the heavy books up three flights of stairs, and they willingly helped us out. I was shocked that everything was completed by Monday and we were able to have the first day of school. The classrooms are still incredibly dusty and dirty and every day a new road is paved and a new peice of equipment is installed. On Tuesday, I noticed a strange odor (which is totally normal in China) and then saw that one of the pipes was smoking and an electrical fire had started in the hallway between my classroom and my office. One of the teachers tried to pull all the fire alarms, but none of them worked, so we had to evacuate the kids by rounding them up and escorting them outside. On the weekend, they're going to cut electricity to the building, so hopefully that means the problems will be repaired and we won't have any more electrical fires in the near future. At the rate this school was built, it's no surprise that there are some problems. Anjali moved into her new apartment yesterday and I'm jealous of her bathtub, kitchen cupboards and counters, and a laundry machine that she doesn't have to drag from one room to another. However, they only have one hot plate to cook food on and the places are tiny and still very dusty. I'm happy to be staying on the boys' side with Anita, since there are no two-bedroom places on the other side.

I love my classes so far and I'm looking forward to getting to know my 170 girls. But most of all, I'm looking forward to the day when the dust settles, literally, and the new campus starts to feel like home.