Titanic Tuesday

Laughing until you cry is probably my most favorite thing.  Today was my lucky day.

The teachers are in the process of evaluating each other this week.  This morning, Lizzy and I were invited to sit in on one of CiCi's 3rd grade classes to observe her lesson on transportation sounds.  After a series of activities, CiCi asked students to come up and act out one of the new vocabulary words.  The first student made airplane noises and moved his arms like a windmill: the students got that one instantly; the word was plane.  The next student hopped up and pantomimed driving and said, "honk, honk." Easy, the word was car.  The third student got up and began humming a tune.  At first, we were all perplexed.  Then, he started belting out the words, "Near...Far...Wherever you are...I believe that the heart does go on..."  Yes!  He was singing the song from Titanic.  The kid's a genius.  He was acting out the word, ship.  

CiCi's Third Graders 

In other hilarious news:  ordering dinner.  Lizzy has come to like this noodle spot near our hotel.  Middle schoolers frequent the joint so it's easy to get help ordering.  Lizzy has formed a special bond with the sweet woman who prepares the food.  "I'll order for you," Lizzy said, assuring me that she knew what to point to on the menu in order to get noodle soup without all the spices.  Our food arrives and neither of us got what we thought we ordered.  Lizzy thought she ordered fried rice and received this dish which is what I wanted minus the spices.

NOT Fried Rice

I didn't get this dish without spices, I got something completely different. I'm convinced my meal translated to "Flaming, Fiery, Inferno, Devil Soup."  It was absolutely hysterical.  Fortunately, a middle school student was near us enjoying what looked like a sensibly seasoned bowl of chow mein noodles.  She kindly pointed to the dish on the menu so I could order it for myself.  Each dish was reasonably priced at 7CNY ($1.12) so I didn't feel too bad about ordering two meals.

After dinner, Lizzy and I walked the shops near our hotel.  Many sell adorable school supplies.  I picked up a pack of postcards that included this gem.  I think I'll send it to myself.

"Let go the unpleasant memories"


And, if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, thanks to an episode of Portlandia, I now know that this exotic mystery fruit is called a durian.  You can read more about it here:  Durian Fruit - Wikipedia.

This mystery fruit is no longer a mystery.  It's a durian.


If you're a fan of Portlandia and have not seen this sketch, here it is:


Today was one of those days where the laughs were easy and abundant.  Here's to many more.

Natalie

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