Saving Summer: Shanghai

After six weeks on crutches, doing physical therapy, in a general state of inactivity, I was free. I know I mentioned it once already, but that’s where this story begins: pure elation at finally being free, and a train ride.

After being a part of the new trainee’s site-placement announcement, I wanted to depart from Chengdu as soon as possible. This meant taking the first available ticket: a hard seat. The longest hard seat I had taken was Lanzhou to Chengdu, clocking in at twenty-one hours; this hard seat took a whopping thirty-two (if you’re curious about the inner-workings of my psyche, I wrote that sentence with an impression of Mo).

Teacher Day!

Monday was Teacher's Day here in China. It was also my first day teaching!


My sentiments about my first day teaching were similar to last year's. This semester, Monday is the busiest day of the week for me. I teach all morning, starting at eight a.m. I awoke at 6:15, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to seize the day. Instead, I received a pleasant surprise: my water was off. Apparently that's still going to be a thing.

No complaints, though. It's all part of the process... including the following day, Tuesday, when I was so sick I could barely get out of bed. Who has two thumbs and had to cancel classes on the first week? This guy, unfortunately.