School Daze

Today was the first day of school, a culmination of many days of work. Yesterday I was certain that I would have my back to school nightmare. For 10 of my 11 years of teaching I always had some sort of back to school nightmare. Dreams about being unable to find my classroom or my classroom begin in disarray or even worse my students being utterly out of control without a way for me to control them. While conversing on the bus that day I had told the other teachers I expected one and as I prepared for bed and double checked that I had everything for the first day my certainty had not diminished.

During my prep, I realized that it had started to rain. Suddenly I remembered that my laundry was hanging out to dry on my roof. I actually had washed the clothes the day before and it had been raining at the time so I hung them around my house to dry. After a day in the house, the clothes were still very damp when I came home from work. I decided they would dry better in the heat outside and lugged them all outside to hang them on the line (no dryers here). Now all my clothes would be wet. I would have to make alternate plans.

I was in bed by 10pm so that I could be up by 6am and ready to catch the bus to school at 7am. I had to laugh as lines from "School Days" a song my dad used to sing every year on the first day of school popped into my head.

At 6am my alarm woke me from a sound sleep. No back to school nightmare for me. The time for dreams was over and I had a day to prepare for. I left my house by 6:55am to walk to the bus stop with my laptop bag and a large heavy tote stuffed with things for the day. I made my way down six flights of stairs and started along the paths which made up my shortcut to the front gate. After the first path I realized that there was a sizeable puddle to traverse and opted to jump over it. Unfortunately there was some extremely slippery mud on the edge and when I went to leap my lead foot lost traction. As my body lurched forward and the bags on my shoulder shifted I was sure that I was headed for a face plant on the sidewalk. Miraculously at the last moment I was able to regain my balance and catch myself. I could just imagine the mess I would have been. Mud all over my clothes and certainly scrapes on my face. It would not happen today though, it was only in my imagination.

At the bus stop, one of the new teachers thanked me for his nightmare. It seems that he had my back to school nightmare instead. Ooops.

The first day itself went quite well. Only two students showed up which I hadn't been informed of. Luckily I had prepared extra hand outs and had two extra desks on hand just in case. They seem like a good class and I feel that the year will go very well.

When school was over, there was more to do. I needed things for my science lab tomorrow, and I realized that while I had meat for dinner I was lacking vegetables. I climbed to my apartment and changed into more casual clothes. Next I was off to find the things on my list. Since I was buying vegetables it was necessary to go to the sidestore for some bleach. All vegetables and some fruits should be soaked in bleach water here. This is necessary because often the vegetables are fertilized with human waste. It is safer to bleach them before preparing them.

After the sidestore, I spied a petty cab. A petty cab is a bicycle with a cart on it. For shorter distances it is better to hire a petty cab. I had a sheet which described where I needed to go, thanks to my co-teacher Rejoice. I thought the place I needed to go was close by; I had seen it in a taxi a couple of times. The petty cab driver told me it was far but I thought she was exaggerating. She agreed to go, and I hopped on.

It was an interesting ride. I traveled through parts of Xipu I hadn't seen before, but quickly realized she was right. The place was far for a petty cab, and I should have taken a taxi. I felt bad for hiring her. Short distances are one thing but she was going to be pedaling close to a mile before we stopped.

My destination was the local stone market. I have a lab tomorrow that requires sandstone, and I needed two small blocks to use in the experiment. I asked the woman if she had shayan (sandstone) to which she pointed to some blocks that would be perfect for my lab. When I asked how much it cost she produced a card told me that the owner had returned home, and I would need to call him. How in the world do I explain what I wanted to buy? Surely he was used to people buying large quantities, but I only wanted two small blocks. She dialed the number and told the owner that I was a foreigner who wanted to buy stone, and that I didn't understand Sichuan hua (local dialect). He would have to speak Mandarin. I was handed the phone and told him I wanted to buy sandstone. He asked how much I wanted to buy. With no skills to even begin to describe the small chunks in my hand I handed the phone back to the woman and asked her to tell him that I wanted to buy the two small blocks. A short while later she hung up. She stood there, not saying a word. I asked if he was coming. She reminded me he had gone home. I asked how much it was to which I was told 70 kuai and some other words I didn't recognize. I repeated, "70 kuai for these two blocks?" The woman told me no and laughed. Thinking it was 70 kuai per block I said, "140 kuai for both?" She laughed again and said no. The woman and the petty cab driver talked a bit and then I asked, "How much for this?" Finally she told me 3 kuai. From what I gathered the 70 kuai was the cost per unit if I was buying large amounts but since I only wanted the two blocks it was 3 kuai.

Glad to have what I needed I hopped in the petty cab for my ride home. My driver was very friendly and wanted to talk. She only spoke Sichuan hua and honestly I am not entirely sure what she was saying. I smiled and nodded my head until I heard "ma" which indicates a question has been asked. I asked her to repeat the question, but still didn't understand what she was asking. I made my best guess that she wanted to know how long I had been in China. I told her that I had been here two weeks but lived here two years ago. She shook her head and seemed satisfied with my answer.

Back in my neighborhood I got off and began to walk. Next stop, the local vegetable market. I would need to walk several blocks. The vegetable market is located in the fifth alley from the main walking street in my neighborhood. Actually it is the meat and vegetable market. The alley is lined with tables spread with either piles of fresh vegetables or racks of fresh meat. I bought three large potatoes, a head of cauliflower, garlic and green onions for 9 kuai or $1.50. Afterwards I walked back to my apartment and soaked the vegetables in soap and bleach water. Fifteen minutes later the potatoes were ready to boil and cook.

With dinner in my belly I will now finish preparing for tomorrow's class. One day down, the rest of the year to go.