Shannon with her crown and cake
Hi everyone!
It has been an eventful week. For those of you who didn’t know, Friday was Shannon’s 25th Birthday. Newt, Brad, and I agreed to purchase a cake for Shannon. After spending all week scoping out bakeries (we even found cheesecake for Brad!), we found that our own grocery store makes cakes to order. So on our “date night,” Brad and I went to the grocery store to order a cake. We decided on a beautiful white cake dripping with chocolate sauce, with warm brown roses and little silver pearls crowning the top. Unfortunately we could not communicate with the people in the grocery store bakery. Fortunately a girl saw us struggling, and raced across the store to bring back her friend who spoke English. They were able to communicate to us that the cake would be ready in 20 minutes. So we strolled around the store until the cake was ready.
Shannon’s party was a festive occasion! Her cake came with a crown, making her the birthday princess. It also conveniently came with plastic forks and paper plates. We munched on cake, popcorn, and grape soda. Peter wrapped his gifts in old sports magazines from home, and then gave them to her later, including a DVD of “Singing in the Rain.” Shannon said she had received phone calls all day from her students, even whole dorms of girls, singing “Happy Birthday!” Students gave her all sorts of little gifts, and most of my students in my Friday class made her cards. We had a ball, and the next night, Peter took her out for a birthday dinner. Shannon said it was very special birthday, indeed!
Yesterday was Saturday, and after a relaxing morning, Brad and Peter joined James Bond, Peter #2, and Forrest Gump to walk over to the basketball courts for a few pick-up games. They had a good time playing, while Shannon, Forrest, and I watched from the sidelines. The younger boys they played turned out to be freshmen that will be in our classes next week!
Yesterday evening, Newt walked over to “English Club” with Brad and I. Brad had planned games, songs, tongue twisters, and a full schedule at Shannon’s prompting. Shannon and Peter went to a different club last week, and found 160 students stuffed in a classroom only meant to hold 60 students. We didn’t know what to expect, but we couldn’t have been more surprised. We were led to the second largest lecture hall on campus, stadium seating, and 200-300 students waiting to burst into thunderous applause the moment they saw us. They clapped for everything we said or did. Newt made bird noises into his microphone spontaneously, and the whole place shook with applause.
We had such a good time. Our three female hosts (May, Felicia, and Melody) were very prepared. They asked us to introduce ourselves, and then they asked us to play the games they had prepared. We played 2 Truths and a Lie, Tongue Twisters in teams, Simon Says, and Name that Tune. Name that Tune was the funniest, because they asked us to put headphones on our heads and listen to the Chinese Music that they played. Then we had to sing the melody into the microphone for the crowd to guess the song. I was laughing so hard at the ridiculously difficult lyrics that I could barely sing at all. But the crowd loved all of our games. They also asked Brad to play a song on the guitar, so he played John Denver’s “Take me home, country roads” because it is Chinese favorite. Melody showed us later that she had recorded him singing on her cell phone! At the end of the evening, they asked us some questions about our home country and ourselves. We were a big hit at their gigantic “English Club” and we had a lot of fun.
Afterward, the kids gave Newt a ball cap, and gave Brad and I two stuffed pigs that look like they are kissing. There is a pull-string between the pigs, and when you pull them apart, they come back together making a sound like kissing lips, and squealing “I love you!” The kids told us that the amorous pigs are Brad and me. They are so funny! Anyhow, I’ll talk more later. I hope you are all doing well!
Love, Jessie and Brad
