Bored and Hormonal in China

Q: What do you get when you mix one (1) Melissa, a heaping of hormones, and way too much free time in a China-shaped bowl?

A: ...hour-long blocks of Mariah Carey's "I Don't Want to Cry," apparently.

How is everybody in the rest of the world doing? I started this blog in the hopes of having tons of really exciting stories to tell all of you, but, really, life in China is sometimes even more monotonous than life in small city America. I have the feeling that I'm learning a lot, but I'll be damned if I can actually pinpoint a single thing I've learned since coming here -- well, with the exception of how to ask for "two yuan worth of dumplings" in Chinese.

We still have four (!!) more weeks left here, though, so maybe I'll have some interesting stories or self-absorbed epiphanies to share at a later date. Until then, you'll have to cope with a thousand entries of "I'm bored!"

I'm bored!

China is very muggy. China is humid beyond anything I've ever dealt with in New York, and New York is a very, very humid place. I've worn my hair up every single day since I've landed here, since the humidity turns my already stupidly thick hair into some sort of pseudo-diagonal afro. China's mugginess is pretty uncomfortable to walk for long distances in, and the night does nothing to ease that; that, combined with the lack of outside lighting at night has pretty much destroyed any ability of mine to take nighttime strolls, one of my favorite hobbies in America (in particular, Albany). Hence, once the sun goes down, I can either stay in my room or... stay in my room. I'm not complaining, really, but that's why you see so many bored entries, especially at night. (I heard the time stamps were weird on my entries here -- for the record, it's almost 10pm here.)

Today Joyce and I began teaching some more structured classes. They're... well, I'm not particularly crazy about them. The lessons we have to teach are really dry. I feel bad for the four kids stuck sitting in our classrooms (especially when I'm at the front of it) while we read really boring stories about "Johnny the Explorer." The bright spot of the day was the impromptu talk we had about Japan instead of doing more boring Reading Comprehension lessons; it was the first time I'd heard any Chinese person here talk about Japan in any manner even beginning to resemble positive (or at least not scathingly negative; the impact of Japan's war crimes here remains strong even now), and since Japan is actually something I know a lot about (and I hadn't been the one to initiate the conversation in the first place), we ended up managing to have a decent conversation for a while.

Tomorrow I supposedly get a bicycle. I'm very excited. On foot has to be the least effective means of transportation in China. (I hope I can get a pink one.)

Otherwise, though, I'm pretty bored. So, everyone, tell me, how are you all doing? What's up? Am I missing anything big in your lives? How about LiveJournal drama? Any of that? What do you recommend for me to watch while I'm here, since the (one) plus side of Chinese Internet, the desolate, blogless place it may be, is that nobody monitors music or video downloads, so give me your recommendations! Really, just drop me a line and say hi; my e-mail has been acting a little funky here, but I swear I'd love you forever. Seriously.

Now, to end this entry (and turn off this damn song) before I start waxing poetic about, I don't know, socks. Later!