Some Vital Statistics and Definitions



A girl’s dorm room on the old campus is roughly 21x10.5x8=1764 sq. ft, contains four double bunk beds, eight girls and their possessions, four desks and four stools. Concrete floor, hand-wash your clothes in the bathroom down the hall, hang them up to dry out the window.

I break 2.3 pieces of chalk per class period. In one week, that’s 19.2* pieces of broken chalk.

Nanchang receives 5 feet of rainfall each year, most of that in spring (right now).

3 of my 4 potted plants have had near death experiences. If plants could talk, I would ask them how it feels to come creeping back from the brink of annihilation.

33, 36, 54, 56. The number of students in my four classes. Total count =179.

In Class 2, fifty percent of the students said they would rather earn a hefty amount of money and work far away from their families and fifty percent would rather earn small wages and work close to their families. (It’s not uncommon for parents to take better paying jobs far away from their children, leaving them to be raised by grandparents and visiting once a year at Spring Festival. When they do visit, they bring gifts and toys.)

I say “Hello” to random students and strangers and average of 47 times a day, excluding the weekend.

There were 52 people on the #208 bus from old to new campus this afternoon. Twenty-one of them were sitting. Twenty-two if you count the bus driver.

800 RMB (100 US dollars) is the amount of money a student receives if he successfully recruits a new student to the college. Many students will be absent come April and May due to recruiting. They fund their own travel, but work on commission. If they’re good salesmen, it’s worth it.

*Note that colored chalk is 4 times less likely to break. My favorite color is blue = technicolor fingers = technicolor smudges on face.

A Cross-section of Definitions from Quiz Number Two

Burp:
I’m very sorry. I forgot it, but it will not turn up longer. Please, believe in me. –Anna
When you have had enough food, you may get rid of some air from your throat. –Paul
Somebody have air in here………, and then --Eddy

Hiccup:
When you drink all the wine, you will happen this appearance. –Christine
Make a voice from one’s neck. –Lynn
Caused by sudden tightening of a muscle blow chest. –Amy
Caused by sudden tightening of a mouse blow caer. –Eddy*

Sneeze:
Air comes from your mouth and you can’t stop it. –Eric
When you catch a cold, you feel uncomfortable in you snose. You’ll then do the action of spouting some air away. –Paul
Cover your mouth when you want to do it. –Christine

Gasp:
A bottle filled with gas. –Eric

Cough:
An art or cough cold of the lungers. –Robin

Dear Teacher:
Because of my own business, I came back to school later than normal. So I was absent in your last class. And I didn’t know that homework. But I will make up to do it. And if you are free in the other time, I can have the dictation in your office. Please forgive me! Thank you! –Mary Joy

*Cheating gone wrong. Note that nearly all students cheat in China. As part of the collectivist mindset, it’s considered selfish not to share your answers with your classmates and cause them to lose “face.”



Random Fact of the Day:
Every fifth shop on the street south of our campus is a haircutting place. Strangely enough, the hip career for young men in their teens and twenties is hairdressing. These men—fitted, patched jeans, spiked hair, funky t-shirts, comb in the back pocket—can work for hours on the tiniest trim. The trademark of their business is the techno music that blares from gargantuan speakers strategically placed just outside the doors. (I think noise pollution should be illegal. You only get one set of eardrums.)