First Week Back At School

            The first week of school began on February 16 with a lot of fun.

            Every class was  full of excited chatter as my college English majors discussed our warm-up questions about their Chinese New Year holidays.

              “How much hong bao (red envelope) money did you receive?” 

            “What  was the most interesting thing you did during your holiday?”

            “What were the most hours you slept in one night?”

            “Who was the oldest person you saw during your holiday?”

            Sounds of jealous “Oh!”s or hoots of laughter erupted when answers such as

150 ($22) to 3,000 yuan ($440) hong bao spending money were given, going to Shanghai or visiting Chengdu for the lantern festival, sleeping from 12 to 18 hours straight, and ages of 80 to 108 reported as the oldest people met.

            But for me, the greatest part of our back-to-school lesson had to do with the essays everyone wrote about their time at home.  Some met for reunions with high school classmates for picnics on the mountainside or restaurant gatherings.  Others detailed their enjoyable time at home with family.  A few told of some worst events, such as when one young girl had all her spending money stolen at a shop(What a horrible thing!) while another was trying to be helpful by washing clothes and ended up washing her mom’s expensive cell phone in the washing machine.  (It was ruined, obviously.)  And almost all essays recounted grand home cooked feasts prepared by family members. 

            Yes, it was obvious that during the holidays, everyone had eaten well.  Their plump figures attested to that!

            This is now our second week where we’ll be getting back into the usual swing of things and also enjoying this fabulously warm weather!
            Spring has arrived, with all its sunshine, fresh green leaves and blossoming flowers and ornamental trees.

            Shivering, wet and cold is behind us;  Sunny rays, blue skies and warmth are finally here.

News of Our Toothless Little Old

            This past weekend sent me back to Chengdu yet again to check up on Xiao Lao-lao (Little Old).  He has been in Dr. Q’s clinic for over a week now yet we have had no takers after the article was posted on the Chengdu Economic Daily  newspaper website.  Mr. Wu, the reporter, has kindly been following up on this and looking diligently for anyone who is interested.

            The article stimulated much sympathy with readers posting notes such as, “What a shame!” and “How sad!”  One person did offer to take Little Old only if no one else wanted him but I personally would rather have a person who was willing to take him not as a last resort.

            Having someone who is only half-interested and then throws him out on the street when tired of him is not something I want to happen.

            And the more time spent with Little Old makes one want to keep him even more.  He is truly a sweet little guy but whatever will happen to him? 

           This was definitely going to take a bit more thought and ingenuity on my part. 

Little Old Posted On Website In Video

            With a somewhat hopeless outlook, I decided to try something new for me:  posting a video of Little Old on a Chinese website. 

            Jalin (the 15-year-old daughter of the Yang family whom I lived next to last year) was the assistant in this venture.  On Saturday afternoon, we headed over to Dr. Q’s where Jalin would video me, Dr. Q and Little Old together at the clinic.  We’d make a plea for an adoption, write up a short history and post it, along with the newspaper article, on China’s www.tudou.com. 

            This website is read by millions of Net surfers so   it was the best option, I was told, to have the most viewers.

             The video at the clinic was a great one so we’ll see where it takes us.

            If you’re interested in seeing  the newspaper article (in Chinese but with pictures), please go to:    http://www.028town.com/viewthread.php?tid=522347&extra=&page=1.  Scroll down to the pictures.

            As for the video, I’ll try to post it in an easy spot for you all to watch.

            Wish us luck on finding Little Old a happy, loving home!

            Until more updates from Luzhou and our homeless doggie, here’s wishing you Ping An (peace) for your week!