Am I too strict now?
So, today was a normal day. However, the weather wasn't as gloomy as it has been for the past month. In the afternoon the sun actually came out for 3 hours! I was great. I haven't felt sun shine on me in this city for a while. I forgot what it felt like.
I had kindergarten today w/ the 2-4 year olds again. We these guys its hard too work on more than one thing, That's good though. I did the hokey pokey with them again today. A couple of them actually tried to do the dance. The rest just stood around and looked at me and laughed. The two 2 year old kids are pretty non-involved. Either they are too young for the class or their minds haven't developed enuff. When I talk to them...I can feel that their minds are working. I have started to use a bit of cantonese with them...like, "You say" = "lei gong". I have tried to use english to say, "You say" but it just doesn't work, they stare at me or just repeat exactly what I say. I found out that about 90% of the children in that class have never had any english. This is gonna be interesting.
During their bathroom break, while a few were back in the class area and the rest were still squating, i began playing a bit with the kids. Since I don't like having my groin punched or my ass punched by little kids I have done two things:
1. Had the chinese instructors tell them flat out that if any kid slaps my butt or punches my groin, they will sit in the corner for a time out. (I can't believe I am using discipline tactics that I myself said, "I would never do that when I get older.")
2. I got on my knees to play with the kids.
When I got on my knees the kids got super excited and mauled me. I had about ten 3-4 year olds all trying to hug me at once and screaming while I was on my knees. It was all I could do from buckling over and having them fall all over the place.
About 5 minutes later, one boy decided to test my #1 rule. He got up as I was going around the rows and slapped my ass. So I picked him up and took him over to the corner and sat him down. He started bawling right away. I hated to do it, but you would to if you got smacked in the ass and punched in the groin for a whole semester. Of course, Jolene yelled at me, "Aiya! You are too strict! He is just a kid, he wants to play." So, I explained to her. I said, "How would you like it if I ran up to you 10 times during the class and slapped your ass and punched your groin?" Well, don't answer that...you may like it. Besides, first its a slap to the butt, then its a punch to the groin, then its a fist to the fast like Psycho Lucy, and then its a shotgun to the back.
After class, I decided to screw the dance practice for a bit and go get some food at the Wooden Chair. i haven't been there in a while. So I went and grabbed a taxi. I told him, "Ren Ming Gong Yen" which is People's Park in Putonghua. The taxi guy repeated exactly what I said and I said, "Hai". He started going in the wrong direction. I was like...hmm...well, depending on which way he turns at this street, I will give him a piece of mind. He turned the wrong way. I said, "Aiya! Ren Ming Gong Yen!!!" and pointed in the opposite direction. He then said, "Oooooh, Ren Ming Gong Yen, like he just understood what I was trying to say along with some other things I can only assume are insults or annoyed sayings. I was like, "Dude, its not my fault you don't understand chinese!" All my coworkers understand. All the Bond staff understands. All the Lion Dance people understand the chinese when I do use it. And so do some other taxi people. Its your fault you don't understand your own language. Here's a quarter, buy a clue.
After I ate I headed back to school for dance. Practice went until 930pm. Yuck. Oh well. I got my white pants that we are to wear in the show on Saturday. We also got the shoes. The shoes were the proper length size, but the width was like super tight. I put them on and my footies were crushed it felt like. I tried to dance in them to maybe break them in and after about 2 minutes of jumping i felt my big toe go "ZOINKS!" Ouch! so, I had to sit a few minutes out. The rest of the night i was being super careful of the toe and not jumping. Oh, and I removed the shoes as well. Coco said we would go out tomorrow and get another pair.
This evening I decided that I am gonna quit my bitching and complaining about the time schedual for this dance thing. I am starting to enjoy the bonding experience with the other teachers this has given. And the school is really doing alot too. They are paying for the outfits and the gym shoes. I needed new gyms shoes and they are taking care of it. So, I have decided to put a real effort into this despite how much I think its a retarded dance. I mean, we are doing a competition and I know now matter how much effort I put into it, there will be about five 1st places, seven 2nd places, and eight 3rd places. Time for bed time!