A Bunch of Random Confusion

Time in China is confusing. Not only is it 12 or 13 or 15 or 16 hours different from all of you, depending on the time of year, I've also lived an entire day you've barely even started. And not only does China have its own new year, its universities also like to play around with the days of the week.
Whenever there is a school holiday, some of the days are made up on the weekend before or after. Since Monday and Tuesday were declared a holiday for New Years (declared what, a week ago?), today, Saturday, became Tuesday. Can you understand why the finals schedules got so confused? Saturday was Tuesday, Monday will be held on Thursday, but only on Guang Ling campus because they also have Wednesday off. On the central campus they have classes on Wednesday and don’t have to make up Monday. And in Guang Ling, they make up Wednesday but not Monday, and presumably Thursday is just lost in the shuffle. The time for my finals has changed back and forth at least half a dozen times in the past week as everyone tries to figure out what is going on.
So anyway, today was technically Tuesday. This morning when I got up in the 6:30am darkness I was a bit perturbed about losing out on my Saturday. The students were obviously not entirely thrilled about the idea either, as it took them longer than usual to stir from their dorms. I kept looking out the window (the dormitories are about 50 feet away) to make sure that I wasn’t the only one up on this rainy, miserable morning. But no, students are used to the shuffle and were diligently walking to their classrooms at 7:30am. I passed several kids who were dawdling along on their way to school. They always have classes on Saturday, although they get done at noon instead of the weekday 5pm. I like watching the neighborhood kids wander slowly behind my apartment on their way to the primary (elementary) school next door. They jump to grab tree branches and throw rocks in Stinky River and stop to examine trash on the ground, savoring their last few minutes of freedom. It reminds me that they're still kids.
On the bus I sat next to a talkative teacher who kept asking questions about Tom and Jerry. "Why does Tom (or was it Jerry) go flat when he is surprised or angry?" The problem is, I don’t analyze cartoons. They don’t make sense. They aren’t supposed to. Why does Wylie Coyote never die? Because if he did, Road Runner would get bored.
She also expressed concern because sometimes I wear skirts. “I am worried about foreign teachers like you because there is no heat in the classrooms.” Should I be disturbed that Everyone notices what I wear?
She also thought I was Corrine. A foreigner is a foreigner, no matter what color the eyes or hair or skin.
Okay, another random tangent. A couple of weeks ago when I walked into my freshmen class I had my hair tucked underneath my coat. I noticed that half of the class was kind of staring at me perplexedly and whispering, but I ignored it as I got out my stuff for class. While I was looking over the lesson plan I absentmindedly pulled my hair out from inside my coat and the whole side of the room erupted into giggles and loud whispering. I looked up and realized that they thought I had chopped all my hair off. How can 20 something students be staring at you and all thinking the same thing? Why are 20 something students staring at my hair? I just kept laughing every time I thought of it. What if I died my hair black or shaved it all off. They would flip out.
Oh yeah, so back to people noticing every little thing I do. I guess it’s kind of like being a celebrity, in a weird annoying way. Once I was having a conversation with a student, and in the middle of talking about something mildly serious, she suddenly says, “You have beautiful eyes.” What? How is that related to anything? Another student asked me about some random comment I had made in class months ago. How do they remember these things?
Okay, I’m so far gone on tangents that I have no idea where I was going with this. I was on the bus to Guang Ling campus. I gave interviews to my freshmen this morning. I decided they are really cute. I see them all the time in this vast classroom of 45 students where they are sitting quietly in their desk in the back, but it’s different to see them one-on-one two feet from you. They become more real. They each have individual lives and stories and problems and goals. You get the feeling that they are standing in front of you like a third grader who just really wants you to like them. And they’re so nervous.
And I was so tired. I kept zoning out when they were talking and thinking, “I guess I have to count that as correct ‘cause I have no idea what they just said.” I looked at my watch and it was only 8:15 and I still had 3 and ½ hours of this left and I was already out of coffee.
Anyway, I finished with that and stood on the muddy road waiting for the bus. Along with the hordes of students who were making a mass exodus to their homes for the three or four day break. We had to wait for several buses to pass by until there was one that had enough room to cram us in.
I was so tired and I was going to take a nap this afternoon but then I got distracted by mopping and now it’s almost time for our New Years party. It’s almost New Years. Or at least here. The first one. I’m so confused. Time is so relative. Let’s be honest; the only thing consistent about time is the ball dropping, right? That’s the real new years. The time zone stuff is all just too confusing.
I have no idea what all of this is about. I just started writing, I don’t even remember why, and the rest is just a sampling from my jumbled mental state. If I ever write a book, and if I ever include some of this stuff in it, this blog will definitely be edited out. Woah, speaking of which, did you know that “blog” is not in the Microsoft Word dictionary? It needs to get up with the times. Happy New Years, whenever you have it. Wishing you (and me) greater mental stability in the one to come.