Just kidding...

Here's a compilation of conversations, in person and digitally, between Katherine, me, our Chinese cofellows, and local teachers yesterday evening.

Why are there still so many students here still?

Because there are classes tomorrow.

Really? What day's classes?

Yes. It hasn't been decided yet. There will probably be a meeting tonight.

At 6:42...All teachers please assemble on the fourth floor of the government building for a 6:45 meeting.

Katherine and I throw on our shoes and trot down four flights of stairs, walk over to the government building, and then mount another three flights. It's after 6:45, but the meeting doesn't start for another five or so minutes. We sit down in the back, right behind our cofellows. But then a local teachers comes in and asks them to go supervise the students during the meeting. There goes our translation. It's not that I don't understand a single word, but that's just the problem, all I understand are single words.

After the meeting we ask: What classes are we teaching tomorrow?

One of the head teachers turns to the principal. What classes are the Teach for China teachers teaching tomorrow?

Answer: I guess they can teach Monday's classes. (Why just the Teach for China teachers? No idea.)

Phew. Glad we got that sorted out. So today I'm administering the English diagnostic test in all four classes and ignoring the fact that two of them are supposed to be music classes. I don't have a music lesson prepared yet! That's what the weekend was supposed to be for!

Using weekends to make up for holidays is common practice here. I just didn't know it was happening this week given that we only started teaching on Thursday. I thought we'd just start with a fresh week on Monday. Sigh.