Screened In Porch

Dear Everyone,
Samuel has told y'all on his blog about Children's Day and doing a birthday party theme in classes, so I won't cover it again.
I got to sign a student's autograph page, and I saw BonnieJean's signature further up the page!!
Claudia, a great teacher from the Monday school, brought her boyfriend Norman and went with us to supper Tuesday night. After a nice meal of hot pot (I had the garlic hot pot, Bonnie) we strolled around Jincheng (sp?). Claudia just couldn't get over what it was like to walk down the street with Samuel. He is greeted by people all the time, students or former students stop to chat with him now and then, and, of course, we always get stared at wherever we go because we're foreigners. (I remember Dad commenting on this same phenomenon when he was with Bonnie and Samuel. It has now become the famous experience--Strolling With Foreign Teachers.) About halfway through our little stroll down the streets Claudia starts getting the giggles. "You are like a rock star!" she told Samuel. We ended up at 7-11 before splitting up to go home, and once again Samuel was stopped by a student. Claudia leaned over to me and whispered, "That is the 7th student he has met just this evening!" I just nodded because I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was a slow night for Samuel; he usually sees a lot more people he knows while we're out and about. I think some people were home with relatives who had arrived for Tomb Sweeping the next day.
Wednesday was fun! This is a big statement because it was Tomb Sweeping Day, which has been spiritually a real downer in other years. This year God really answered our prayers in a big way and everyone on the team had a relaxing, pleasant day off with no spiritual oppression!! We went to Shiaow Kinmen with students Linda and Becky, as Samuel said in his blog post. They took us to the beach and a shop that sells Kinmen candy. I bought a package of galleon candy soft gels when I figured out that they are not alcoholic; they're just made from the same red sorghum the galleon wine is made of. We bought little bowls of ice cream there too. I had galleon, but it was so mild I couldn't actually taste it! I think Samuel's was green tea, but I don't remember for sure.
Getting off the ferry I left behind Samuel's camera!! A nice man followed me off and got my attention and handed me the camera. I was so grateful!!
We got a kick out of a tidal overflow area that was just packed with teeny crabs, each in his own little hole, each sticking out one oversized claw. They were so cute. Also, there are these cool little fish in the same place. They are the color of the mud, so you only really see them when they move, but since they're rather hyper that's easy. :) They are about 4 inches long, they walk through the mud on their fins looking alot like lizards, they swim through the puddles like fish, and they jump back out of the water like frogs! I think every home should have at least one. They would probably prevent depression in hospitals and nursing homes, as well.
Great idea! Write that down!
We had lunch on Shiaow Kinmen. I had seaweed soup and a little of Samuel's order of dumplings. The soup was different than on big Kinmen; it had a thick broth, was chock full of ingredients-- seaweed, tofu, pig blood, tons of onions, lots of other little veggie bits-- and it was very spicy. I could only eat about 15 spoonfuls. I don't think I made a noticeable dent in the amount in the bowl; they served me such a generous bowlful. I skipped the pig blood strips. Even with eating so little of it I had diarrhea all the rest of Wednesday and most of Thursday. I was one unhappy tourist.
Thursday we were supposed to teach one class with Tina and then have the rest of the day off because Kiwi had to go to Taiwan. He said a substitute would come and give the children a test he'd drawn up. Well, no sub arrived, so Samuel and the military helper, Howard, took the classes and gave the test. (I spent most of my time in the bathroom.) Howard has excellent English, having attended school in Australia. He and Samuel were strict with the kids, so we had VeryQuiet classes. The students are usually really boisterous with Kiwi, But they immediately made the adjustment. No problems and no hard feelings at all.
Samuel and Howard each have a followingof teenyboppers who have group crushes on them. (It would be funny if it wasn't such a nuisance.) They are both pleasant, but distant with their fan clubs, not causing any hurt feelings but not promoting any tender ones either.
We were supposed to go shopping for y'all, but had to teach classes, so we'll shop today. We did get money changed at the bank, and I found a gift for Dad while skipping lunch, for obvious reasons.
I did the devotional at team meeting Thursday night. I kept it short. :) We ate at 3 Dog together for supper. I had the rice wrapped in scrambled egg stuff that I knew my stomach could handle, and I only ate half of it to play it safe. Then Ginger, Samuel and I went to the beach after dark and practiced nun chucks (sp?) which was real fun.
And so concludes our exciting episode! Return tomorrow for more adventures with Mama and Samuel! (Will Mama fully recover from her illness? Will Samuel come home from Jean's Chinese lesson with a good Chinese name for Mama?) Stayed tuned!!