My life in China

Well I have been in China for over 2 weeks now, and I can hardly believe it...I feel like I have been here at least a month! (In a good way, I am having the time of my life!) Here are some things I have learned since being here.
1. Nothing is REALLY clean in China. If it appears clean, it isn't. And it definitely isn't sanitary.
2.You carry around an umbrella with you when you go out, whether it is rain or shine.
3. Don't wear any article of clothing that is tight. It will end up being the catch-all for perspiration.
4. Chinese people sleep where they fall.
5. The danger zone must only exist in America, because raw (or cooked) meat will sit in the hot humid sun all day in a metal pan and people eat it all the time.
6. Sweet things are hard to come by in China.
7. Chinese fruit isn't as good as American fruit.
8. Living in China and using the yuan/RMB/kuai is a great way to get more for your dollar. ( I went to the grocery store yesterday and bought cereal, soy milk, peanut butter, a loaf of bread, gatorade, 3 juices, 2 packages of crackers, plastic bowls and cutlery, 4 apples and a bunch of grapes and spent 24 kuai which is less than $4.00US.)
9. People don't make eye contact with you. or anyone for that matter.
10. Americans are treated like royalty. (as we walk down the street, Chinese people will yell whatever english they know after us. ex: Hello! Hello!, This or that!, Too Much!, Beautiful!, How much!?, It is quite hilarious.)
11. Carbs are 98% of the Chinese diet. Rice, Noodles, bread, crackers, etc. (i feel like scurvy is a serious concern here...)
12. There is no limit as to how many people can ride on a scooter/motorcycle at the same time. ( The most I have seen is 5...full grown adults!)
13. Hot dogs have glitter on them, and i dont want to know why..
14. To have 2 hard wooden palates as a bed is considered a lot better than just having 1 hard wooden palate to sleep on.
15. Air conditioning is not necessary, even in the most hot and humid climate on earth.
Thats all I can really think of off the top of my head, but I am sure I will learn more as time goes on!
Today was day 3 of class. I am teaching Kitchen this week, and we made Smores! here, they have marshmallows that come individually wrapped like a candy and have different fillings. I bought some with chocolate filling and did my best to pick out a sweet cracker that would resemble a graham cracker. It was a really fun activity and the kids LOVED it! The kids in my home room class are: Lisa, she is a pretty big girl for her age but such a sweetheart. She will always cup her hands and whisper things in to my ear. She will also just mouth things all the time like she is talking, but no words come out. It is pretty funny! Jodi, is an adorable, petite little girl. On the first day of school, she was in Jennas class playing duck, duck goose and she was wearing a glass bracelet, she slipped and fell and the beads broke and cut her face! It was so sad, but she took it like a champ. She and Lisa get along really well. Devan is my favorite student so far. He could not be any more precious! He keeps me laughing all day. For example, the first rule in our classroom is No Chinese. Everytime before we begin class we go over the rules so the kids know them well. However, since English is completely new to them when they want to talk to their classmates often times they will speak chinese.
(When this happens I stop class and say, No Chinese! and if they continue I put them on the Chinese chair for about 20 seconds.) So one particular time, Devan said something in Chinese and I gasped and said No Chinese! he just laughed and mocked me for several minutes...I kept laughing so he kept doing it. He is quite the character. He also must be a dancer or something because he will do sashe-pleas (sp?) all around the classroom, along with several really hilarious dance moves as he chants, 5-6-7-8.... Alex is my other little boy, he has the cutest little face ever! His english is really improving a lot and its only been 3 days. I cant wait to watch him learn more. He communicates really well what he wants and is a great helper in class! When my water bottle runs out, he will run over to the water jug and fill it up for me. I am not a fan of the way the chinese drink their water (its always really hot. I havent had a cold drink since ive been here.) but it is so sweet of him, I drink it anyway. Cindy and Amy are both very quiet. I have a really hard time getting either one of them to speak much, although I know they understand what I am saying. If I get them one on one, and ask a question they always respond appropriately, so it might just take a little extra time and attention to get them to the same level as the other kids. Katie is my last little girl. She is pretty shy, but when you open her up everyday, she smiles and just lights up the room with her laugh and energy! (the hard part is getting her to not be so grumpy...) She is pretty stubborn and doesnt like to follow directions as much as my other kids though. If any of them are going to be troublesome, its her. She just doesnt like to try speaking english. I will have to try a few other reward systems to find one that fits her specifically.
In addition to my regular classes, I have ELE classes on tues, wed, fri from 3:20-3:50. It is basically just like babysitting 30 kids at once. It is kind of a frustrating thing to have to do, because the kids we do the ELE classes for, are not enrolled in the ILP program so they know zero english. So when I go in there and talk or sing, or tell a story in english its not like they have any idea what I am saying. So I have to use lots of actions and singing and pictures to keep them entertained for a half hour. I dont think it is effective, but I have to do it, so whatever.
A weekday in my life here in China is similar to this:
7-8am. wake up, make bed, do AM yoga with Jenna, eat breakfast. (usually cereal and soy milk, yogurt, granola bars, fruit, etc...)
8-8:45am get ready for the day, prepare bag with teaching supplies, make bed.
8:45-12noon. Teach English. 6 rotations total.
12-1pm Lunch (we ate in the cafeteria once, and were so grossed out we havent been back. so we usually eat sandwhiches or whatever we have in the apartment for lunch.)
1-2pm Chinese class (M-TR, although Chinese is really difficult to be motivated to go to. Our teacher isnt very good...)
2-3pm free time
3:20-3:50 ELE classes (T,W,F)
4-10pm is when we go to the grocery store, dancing, wishy washy place, post office, email home, shower, watch movies, go shopping, and out to dinner etc. We eat out almost every night for dinner. Which usually ends up costing between 4-8 kuai per person. ( $0.60-$1.15 US).

People werent kidding when they said that China has a certain smell. It is really in your clothes, especially after you have just washed them. No such thing as clean clothes smell! It is really frustrating.
Chinese drivers are the craziest drivers! I can not believe how insane people are on the road. It is basically just everyone looking out for themselves which seems to work well enough. Everyone completely disreguards any traffic lights, or signs, or lanes on the road. Everyone just drives wherever they can and wherever they want. Even on the sidewalk! I can't believe some of the things I have seen while on the road. They will drive between lanes and I am not kidding when I say if I had my window rolled down, and the car next to me had their window rolled down, I could touch the other cars radio. It is absurd how close people get to each others cars without touching. I am shocked most the time. Ihave to not pay attention to what is going on on the road, or I would lose it every single day.
I have had some delicious dumplings and noodles since I have been here (that is my favorite thing to order when we go out. I am not brave enough to really try much else...) And the thing that makes the dumplings so awesome half the time is the sauce they are dipped in. I think I will buy some of the chinese sauces and stuff that they have here to bring home and see if I can find anything like it back home in an asian market. I am also getting pretty good at using chopsticks! Most the time I have no choice but to use chopsticks, so its either figure out a way to get the food in my mouth, or starve!
I think that is all for now, I have to get to bed!