After my great weekend in Shanghai and the warm welcome by some of Yangshuo's most beloved animals , it's back to normal (for as far that's possible in China...)

When I went back to my room on Monday night, I was surprised to find a different girl than Nancy in the bed next to mine. Nancy has moved to the room next to mine (she has a whole room to herself now) and Keira, my former student, is now my room mate. Keira was supposed to go back to her hometown. Remember her graduation ceremony? Well, because of the crisis, Keira couldn't find a job in her hometown, so she went back to Yangshuo and is now working as a volunteer teacher at New Start. Eh?!? The girl's a sweetheart, but she hardly speaks English! Apparently, this is quite normal in China. I can give you numerous examples of the (lack of) logic of the Chinese. A lot of things just don't make sense here. (Live with it or your life here will be hell!)

On Monday morning, when I was still in Shanghai, I received a text message from Joe in which she asked me if I could teach the afternoons this week. Sure! I have dfferent students than last week. Kevin, Icy, Anny and Fisher were already in my class last week, but Harshita, Rita and Cenos are new. For the record: they are all Chinese. They choose their own name and if they don't like it anymore or if someone else already has that name, they change it. Just like that! Joe used to call herself Isis. Julia changed her name to Jessica, because there was a Julie in her class. I'm thinking about changing my name as well, because the Chinese have a lot of trouble remembering and pronouncing my name. Just like in Japan, I have to keep telling the people here that I'm not a car! (Toyota Corolla)

On Tuesday morning, I prepared my class and in the afternoon I taught. I went to English Corner on Tuesday evening and to the pubquiz. On Wednesday morning, I prepared my class,I taught in the afternoon and I went to yoga in the evening. Because Kristen, my American yoga teacher, has left, I went to a Chinese teacher. I couldn't understand a word she said, so I had to follow her movements and the movements of the other participants. I thought it went quite well, but the teacher had to tell me three times to relax. Apparently, she knew that word in English. The third time she said it, it didn't sound so friendly anymore... 'RELAX!' she hissed. Sorry! Not knowing what you need to do can be quite stressful... After class, I asked the teacher if she could show me some of the positions again. I tried to imitate her, but I couldn't do it. According to the teacher,I can't do certain yoga postures, because there's something wrong with my back. Excuse me? The herbalist told me there's something wrong with my blood and my kidneys and now there's something wrong with my back as well? I never have any back problems. But when the yoga instructor pointed it out to me in the mirror, I could see it as well: there's a crook in my spine. Hmmm....

When I arrived at school for lunch on Thursday, Joe asked me:'Do you have 5 minutes for me?' Yes, but why? I didn't really like the tone of her voice... She told me that the students had complained about my class on Wednesday. Ooops! The students are in charge in this school, so if they complain, it's not a good thing. I promised Joe I'd make them talk more and do less written exercises. So on Thursday afternoon, I let the students talk for 2.5 hours. This morning, Joe told me that the students were happy about yesterday's class. Phew! I intend to take my students outside this afternoon, because it's a beautiful day. It's sunny and warm and I hope the change of scenery will inspire them to talk more. (Of course, it's for my pleasure as well! )

The hissed 'Relax!' from my yoga teacher was a signal for me that it was time for a massage, so I booked an appointment at Hanna's. I had a 90-minute oil massage last night and it was very good, but Hanna also said that there's something wrong with my back. She offered to go to a doctor with me. Last night, I told her that my back never hurts, but when I woke up this morning, I felt pain in my back and unfortunately, it's still there. After my visit to the Chinese herbalist, I'm not so keen on going to another Chinese doctor, though. I'll give it a few days and see how it goes.

It's almost time for my afternoon class. Tonight, I'm going out for dinner with Kathy. Kathy will be going back to Belgium on Nov. 11, so we're trying to spend as much time together as possible while she's still here. Kathy will return to Yangshuo in December, but then I won't be here anymore. It'll be a lot less fun without her. Of course, we're going dancing tonight as well!

I wish you all a great weekend!