We dug coal together

So you go into a restaurant and sit down and wait for a nice cool glass of water to quench your thirst.
Oops, wrong country. Not in China. If you do get water, it's served warm (sometimes even hot). This here is noodle water - the water that they cooked their noodles in. It's served in a small fairly shallow dish. You drink right out of the dish. But hey, you say, the dish is chipped! Well, that's actually a good sign. It means the dish is old and has been around a long time. Who wants to get served in a new dish?? The theory behind drinking the warm water is that your body is warm - it's a shock to the body to drink cold water and hence not good for you... Who's to say?? Anyways, the noodles in this particular restaurant were good!
We've got 2 weeks left before the AP exams. I am counting the days. I can't wait until the seniors are gone (they leave right after the AP tests).
We had nice weather all week and then this weekend it rained. I used the opportunity to catch up on the series Justified. It's all over now... I really enjoyed it for the past 6 seasons... The title of this blog is a reference to one of the last lines said in the final episode - kind of an ode to the memories of experiences shared in younger days...
I must have at least 10 books lined up on my Kindle to read. Maybe when things slow down at school I'll make some headway on it.
My Chinese buddy Sky is getting married this summer. The date was originally at the end of July, but then he realized that none of his western friends would be able to make it. So he just moved it up to July 6 (our last school day is July 4). So I'll get my first experience at a Chinese wedding. It was a nice gesture to move the date up - I know his future in-laws weren't too excited about it!
Well, I've mopped the floors, did the laundry and dishes, and just came back from the grocery store. Time to break out the Kindle!

The Gaokao

Today's lesson is about the Chinese Gaokao. It is the big test that all seniors in high school in China take at the end of their senior year. Their scores will determine what university they go to - and there is very intense competition to get into the best schools.
The senior year in China consists of review only. They do not learn anything new. All they do all year is intensive review and study the past exams that have been given.  They are in school 6 days a week, often until 10 pm. During this period in the students' lives, most parents relieve them of any duties they may have at home - no chores, no cooking, no cleaning (not that they may have been doing that anyways). They devote their lives to the Gaokao. The Chinese describe this period of their lives as horrible - and the day after the Gaokao is their release from hell.  The importance of this test underlies much of the way their education system is run. The only thing that matters is the final score.

Here at Gaoxin International High School, the students do not take the Gaokao because they are planning on going to a foreign university (the Gaokao is used only for placement to Chinese universities). Replacing the Gaokao are the AP tests. Their scores on the AP tests, along with their SAT scores and English Proficiency test (Toefl) results, are used to gain entry into U.S., Canadian, and English universities. And, unlike the Gaokao, their emphasis is on the junior year, because they need these results during their senior year to apply for admissions (AP test results do not arrive until the middle of the summer). With the AP tests geared up to start in less than 4 weeks, they are in full-on review mode. Many of them are taking as many as 6 AP exams - and I wouldn't classify any of them as easy... Because the majority of their AP tests are taken the junior year, their senior year is one of kicking back. It is extremely hard to motivate them. They may still take a couple AP tests, but they will not be used to get admitted to a college. GPAs are not used here as there is no good way to calculate them (the classes are team-taught with Chinese teachers who have completely different philosophies). When a GPA is submitted to a university for a student, no one (including the student), has any idea how it is arrived at. But it always seems to be 90% or better! Because of all this, my 2 senior classes are among the worst I have ever taught. What we do until the end of the school year (which this year is July 4) after the AP exams is anybody's guess right now...

The weather has taken a turn for the good the last couple days. I have even seen the mountains in the distance from the window of my apartment. That is rare indeed. Today is supposed to climb up to 85. Time to break out the short sleeve shirts!

One of my colleagues here bought a mahjong table for his apartment. This has led to some late nights on the weekends. It is not a difficult game to play, but the pace is fast and chinese characters on the tiles make it challenging for me. My next challenge is to learn Chinese chess!!