volleyball, high heels, pumpkins, musicals, male vs female

The morning started with leaving the now heated apartment to walk past the back gate food carts towards the vegetable vendors.  I tried a new thick pizza like breadstick that was sold by weight and skipped my favorite crepe filled with a fried egg and crispy fried dough.  I then bought five small pumpkins for 16 RMB ($2.50). Ten minutes before PE class I learned that I had a package of books waiting for me so I ran from the mail room to my apartment and then to the playground for Tai Chi class.  With the sun out, it was a pleasant day to strengthen my legs where by class end my muscles started to shake. My afternoon songs class watched The Sound of Music because we had learned two songs from the musical the class before.  Plus the Chinese teacher who usually teaches this songs class always shows this particular movie, so I decided to use his song sheets and follow his lesson plan.  I was pleasantly surprised that the students loved the movie and thought it was deeply meaningful with heartfelt opinions about family and friendship.  Would American college students appreciate this musical or would they just think it was boring?  Is it a timeless masterpiece? I then had to run to volleyball practice.  The English department is participating in the school wide teacher's volleyball tournament.  I practiced with women who were all dressed in their professional teaching clothes with high heel boots.  No one told the teachers that they would be practicing after today's teacher's meeting. Next was an hour of interviews with students from my listening class.  Two students spend thirty minutes making small talk, reading news that they got off the internet and then discussing the ideas mentioned in the news.  Today we discussed retirement and bombs hidden in packages. At the Tree House, students carved jack o lanterns, practiced their Halloween skit about the headless horseman for tomorrow's party, and chatted in English.  Tonight we talked about differences as well as the pros and cons of being male and female.   According to the students: Pros for being male  choice, opportunities, no pain from childbirth Cons for  being male  heavy load of responsibility for family, job, and money; bad temper  Pros for being female  can have children; don't have too much family, money and job responsibilities Cons for being female housework, cleaning dishes, housework, few choices, lots of time and money to be beautiful  Now I am tired.  It is time to read one of the new books I received in the mail.