Ryan Mathews: Superstar

A picture of the Wuhan No. 1 High School foreign teachers.
Me, Cory, Mandi, Steve, Rebecca, Kirk, and Daniel

Hey everyone! It's been an interesting past couple of weeks.

As far as teaching, it's been a little crazy. Last week was Mid-Autumn Festival (think Thanksgiving) and tomorrow is National Day (think July 4th) in China. Holidays are usually a good thing because you get a break from work or school. Not so here! We do get a few days off, but we have to make up those days on the weekends. Because of Mid-Autumn Festival, I actually had to work more days than I would have if there hadn't been a holiday! At least our Huangshi team was able to visit us in Wuhan for an American cookout on one of our days off. Hamburgers taste even better when you can't eat them as often!

Today started our 6 day break for National Day, but we'll have to work the following weekend. All in all, it's not terrible. It's just that I'm a routine-oriented person who can't get into a routine for about a month! However, I am looking forward to relaxing and traveling around Wuhan these next few days. Should be fun.

On top of the weird weekend workdays, the school decided to change the class schedules because of some government reforms, which messed up most of our class times! Needless to say, I'm looking forward to getting this all worked out so I can just focus on teaching!

Now that I've vented a little of my frustrations, the fun parts of the past few days here:

Our group has gotten a little media attention as of late! The nearby coffee shop, Mr. Mai's, had its 7th year anniversary. At last year's program, Taylor, Kirk, Daniel, and I dressed up as girls and danced to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." It went over pretty well, so they asked Kirk, Daniel, and I to do something again this year. We were struggling to come up with an idea, then Lara (Cory's chinese wife) showed us a song/dance called "Nobody" by a Korean group called the Wonder Girls. Here's a link if you want to see a little of their famous song (http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjA2ODQ3MzAw.html) It's HUGE in Asia! We decided it would be fun to give it a shot. The crowd LOVED seeing some foreigners trying to pull this off. Some person we don't even know recorded it and posted it on a Chinese video site. As of now, it's been viewed over 16,000 times! That may not be a lot by internet standards, but it's about 15,550 more than I would have guessed!

Mandi recorded the dance with my camera, and I've posted that to the end of this update. Here's the link to the "famous" internet video if you're having trouble watching that. (http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/hlcY8xrNa1g/)

Three days after that, a TV news crew came to Mr. Mai's to see how foreigners celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival. Since we don't, we pretty much just did what they told us to do! Ate mooncakes (a traditional Chinese snack), sang Chinese songs, and recited Chinese poems. If you want to see the news clip, you can see it on my facebook page. I get a little more face time on there!

I'll end with a few pryr requests. I had a phone interview with Teach for America a few days ago. It's a program that sends teachers to low-income areas around the country. I still have no set plans, but this will probably be my last year in China. If/when I return to the states, I'm starting to think that I would like to be a teacher. This would be a fantastic opportunity if I get it. I find out if I advance to the next stage in a week. If I do, I have to fly back to America, possibly in mid-October which could cost quite a bit!

Also, my uncle who I have mentioned a few times on here is getting weaker from the cancer. He may not be here much longer. Be thinking of him and his family. It's sad and frustrating, but it's also great to have our hope in J no matter what happens in this life. He will be going home soon.

That's all for now. Have a great weekend!