Thursday, July 19, 2001

From: Meg Thomsen meginchina@yahoo.com
Subject: Hot time, summer in Deyang.

Hello Folks at Home!

As it gets hotter each day that I'm in Deyang, I love it a little more. I am starting to know people on the street, to understand a few more Chinese words each day, to know the intricacies of these streets. It feels really nice. My host family is wonderful. Qin Xiaonu has taught me how to bargain at the vegetable market, where to buy the freshest soy milk (they grind it on the spot!), and today, we even had a dumpling seminar! So when I get home, I'll make you all vegetarian jiaozi. Delicious!

Of course, there are so many times when I miss home like crazy. On Sunday, I was at the school writing lesson plans, and we had coffee. Coffee here is a big deal. It is very difficult to find. So we had Nescafe instant coffee, and some nasty chemical non-dairy creamer, and I was mixing them together in a dainty little teacup and shaking it up and down to try to get the effect of one of those foamy coffee beverages. And when I shut my eyes and smelled the coffee, it was almost like I was at Diesel! And suddenly, I pictured all of you at home. Since we're twelve hours ahead, it was Saturday night in America. I pictured you all spread across the United States, in Boston pubs, at the Casa de Haha in Pennsylvania, wandering the beaches in California. And I missed you all very much.

We have started teaching, and I really like it! There are many difficulties (no textbooks, forty kids jam-packed into a sweltering classroom, rationed chalk, no photocopier), but the kids are enthusiastic and smart, and that makes everything fine and exciting. We've been learning about air pollution and environmental activists. They got into it when I pretending to be Johnny Appleseed marching around the classroom strewing seeds. Next week, we're writing letters to Dubya about how the Chinese and American governments should work together to help the environment.

Speaking of which, I'd better go and prepare for tomorrow's lesson. We're playing environmental Jeopardy!

Hey, my mom was so kind as to fix up my website!
Check it out: http://www.ethomsen.com/meginchina/. You can find my mailing address, and information about China there. As I start to get back photos, they'll be posted there too!

By the way, here's an interesting little fact about my Chinese name. My Chinese professor told me that it means "beautiful as jade". However, I have since learned that it really means "beautiful horse." Oh well...

Love,
Your lovely little pony,
Tang Mali