Another week, another weekend!

I made it through another week. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great, but it wasn't normal either. I got the usual crap from work and caught a cold to go with it, but made it through most of my classes without any major problems.

Aside from work though, things got a little odd. On Wednesday, we found out that one of the foreign teachers was being sent home because the doctors wouldn't give him medical clearance. Whatever they were unhappy with was nothing contagious or dangerous to anybody else (he was still allowed to be around the students and us). Regardless, the school decided that they weren't going to let him stay. The school's overreaction is nothing less than typical, but it's still disappointing to have to say goodbye to somebody already.

The really annoying thing is that, according to the Beijing government, the medical exams aren't even necessary if you're staying for less than a year, but our school insists we pay the 85 dollars to get it done, and will revoke the contract if there's something they don't like.

So, we went out to dinner Thursday night to say goodbye. Afterwards, a couple of the I.B. teachers, including the one who left, participated in the "Aerobics Competition" held for the 10th graders. This was not a dance competition. All of the students used the exact same song, with only very slight differences in the actual routine, all of which resembled your run of the mill aerobics classes in the U.S. Some of the classes were better than others, but the whole thing seemed just a little strange. The highlight of the show, however, was probably the eleventh grade "club team" which performed to a different song and with a whole lot more energy.

The Chinese government puts a lot of emphasis on exercise and healthy eating, both of which are mandatory at all levels of schooling. In the primary school, the kids have mandatory group exercise for 30 minutes every morning and once a week, for twenty minutes, they are forced to listen to somebody lecture about the importance of eating well. It probably isn't a bad thing, but it's a little more rigid than what you would get in the U.S.

Friday was, as it was the week before, welcomed. The day flew by because it was over by 2 p.m. and I went home to sleep off the stress. In the evening, Dan and I went into town for dinner. On our way back we stopped by to see our "friends" at the movie rental place and ended up staying for about 2 hours! Of course, I don't understand much of what they say, but it is entertaining, and I always learn something. We got back exhausted, and I was soon asleep.

Plans for today have yet to be made, but probably include going to the village at some point, maybe even into Changping and studying some more Chinese (the language is practically painful to learn). We'll see though, it's promising to be a pretty low key day so far.