Weather, Charity Fair, and H1N1

Weather: The weather here is still warm. It is actually quite beautiful! However, it hasn't rained for awhile, so the air is getting smoggier by the day. Yech! This morning the air felt heavy, but by the afternoon it seemed to have cleared off. I've heard that Shanghai isn't as bad as Beijing in the realm of air pollution, so I'm glad that when we were in Beijing they required that factories shut down for the national holiday. Sometimes I worry about the smog, but mostly we try to ignore it. Some days are better than others, but there is always a bit of a haze. The sky isn't as crisp blue as it is in the states, but we still get blue sky, just with a bit of haze.

Charity Fair: Yesterday was the biannual Primary School Charity Fair. They hold it once each semester. The middle school also holds a Charity Fair, but it is on a much smaller scale. Last year, the primary school earned 35,000 RMB for charity. The kids and parents set up booths and sell different trinkets. Some, the kids have made themselves (jewelry), some books, some school supplies, and other little knick-knacks that kids go crazy for. The highlight for most of the foreign teachers is the homemade food. Yum! Some parents make really tasty brownies and cookies (western style). Other parents make traditional Taiwanese, Indonesian, Korean, or Chinese foods (to name a few). I was more than pleased to donate some money and get delicious baked good in return. One 3rd grade student's mom makes extremely good no-bake cookies and peanut butter balls. Mmmm! Another student's mom makes fantastic brownies. I bought yummy treats for myself and Aric. We each have a stash of goodies now.

H1N1: The government has notified the school about the H1N1 vaccine. It is free and optional for all students and teachers (even foreign). All of the students must have their parents fill out a consent form. If they choose not to have the vaccine, they must list why they made that choice. I haven't decided yet if I will get the vaccine. I go back and forth between the benefits and draw backs. Some of the foreign teachers are very skeptical. Some are skeptical of the U.S. vaccines as well. Others don't want to be a guinea pig for the Chinese government. Everyone has their reasons, I just haven't decided on mine yet.

Halloween: Friday is the Halloween celebration at the primary school. I have no idea what I'm going to dress up as! I asked my students about Trick-or-Treating, and the majority of them said that they do.

Ovens: I was curious as to how many people had ovens in their homes here in China. I don't think that they are a standard appliance. A few students from my home room said that they have an oven in their house. One boy replied, "I do at my U.S. house."

That's all from me this evening. Aric has been busy playing soccer and American football, as well as watching NFL and college football games. The games that play here on TV are streamed in from West Africa. They go from the U.S. to Africa, then to Shanghai.

Goodnight!

Melanie (& Aric)
10/28/09 9:45 PM

written by

AricMelanie on October 28 from Shanghai, China

from the travel blog: China!

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