This is my class.

One of them at least. They are the smallest kids I teach, the most annoying but also the sweetest. Annoying because they know not yet about the authority of the teacher. If they want to play, they play, if they want to cry, they cry... They are like forces of nature, you must obey their dictates, you may steer a little, but you cannot control. This is, on the one hand, because there are 60 of them, crowded together in a room with bad air. On the other hand, this is because some of them don't even speak much Chinese yet. For example the little girl on the left lower corner. She has two states of being: Smiling and Sleeping. Speaking, however, is not one of them. She is really cute, but, I must say, her English leaves things to wish for. On the opposite end, (right corner, against the wall) we have one of the troublemakers of the class. The little punk likes to distract others, and is easily distracted. However, he is also very intelligent, instantly picking up English phrases and using them. In the end, I love all of these kids, they teach me a lot, perhaps more than what I get to teach them.

Once again, everything is possible in China. You never know for sure, a definite "yes" may turn into a "no" just at the last moment, an "impossible" can contain a possibility. Long-term preparations aren't popular, everything is last minute. And, in contrast to Germany, everything gets cheaper the closer the final date. So with our train tickets to Beijing, so with my visa.

Picked up my passport last Thursday. In the end it wasnt as difficult to obtain as assumed (At first it seemed, in fact, impossible). Turned out easier to get than making an appointment with one of my former University teachers.

As a reminder that there are allways pockets of possibility and nonsense in China, even with (or perhaps because of?) harsh laws and an authoritarian government, take this sign, recently discovered in Beijing, in a restaurant close to Tiananmen.

New 3d game-console taking over China's youth

Nope, that's not what this is. If you think of Chinese medicine as ancient herbs served by an old women with a hunchback, think again. These kids are strengthening their eyesight by wearing these cutting-edge goggles for 45 minutes. Occasionally smoke will stream from the two black chimneys diffusing the scent of a buddhist temple during holidays (i.e. 500 incense-sticks). The kids are allowed to talk. One kid I got to know wanted to shake my hand, a foreigner is always good for a lot of attention, even among the temporarily blinded. Poor girl, she will never know what I look like. If you are interested, 30 sessions (the normal dose, as it turns out) cost 800 renminbi (80 Euro). Going for the eyes of an eagle.

星期天

Sunday is my holy day. And I realized it here. Since Thursday was off (1.May) and everyone wanted to have a three-day long vacation, the Sunday was promptly made a regular working day (liberating Friday from its fatal middle position). And this went for all state run facilities. With everything else (shopping malls, drugstores, bars) open anyways, the morning bus was just as crowded as usual. Sunday here is just another day. It felt strange, down to the bone. Of course, the idea of working on Sundays is nothing alien. But everyone else working too?.