Up Against a Firing Squad

...at Games Day, that is. I'll hold you in suspense to tell you about that situation later...

(It's a longer Weekend Update post, but the photos are worth it!)

The Korean moms selling kimbap!

This last Saturday (May 18), our school hosted a games day/yard sale. At the yard sale in the morning, I was able to get rid of a few things I'd purchased (shelving, storage containers, my electric blanket), but most of it I still require daily use of up until the day I pack up and leave (which is July 2). So I took photos of everything I hope to sell off, created a document with info about each item, and had people sign up with their contact details if they were interested. I'll get a hold of them during the last week of June when I'm packing up to arrange for sale and transfer of the items such as drying rack, shelving, drawers, kitchen supplies, and appliances. Those are things didn't bring with me and had to buy (between the various moves and settling into the LiRen and the ShiMao apartments in the last year). Ugh. Stuff. Can't live without it, but can't take it with you (I'm talking about the essentials to make a meager, humble home complete... for organizational purposes, cooking, and utility musts). Anyway, about half of my stuff has been spoken for, so at least I'm not losing a ton of money that I invested in the things that filled/made my home here for the last (school) year. Whatever's left over will be donated to friends and incoming teachers. I'm hoping that passing along the essential stuff (especially laundry and kitchen supplies) will benefit incoming teachers so they won't have as many expenses as I did in settling in. 

The RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) Club had a corner on the market in their diversity of wares
and activities to fund-raise, amongst them were their homemade,
Pinterest-style cutesy "Loppie Lupps" snacks,
which was their creative (and naive, ELL-style), and oblivious, way of spelling "Loopy Loops"

Matt and Julie's twins, Huginn and Munnin,
were also a hit attraction during their brief appearance :)

Bean-bag toss that I designed and invented, last-minute
with our PE teacher and Curriculum Coordinator.
Problem-solving spatial skills. 

Face painting toddlers is easiest when the child is out-cold asleep.

This was the water balloon catapult that the RAK Club
invented, tested thoroughly, and presented for its debut in the humid weather.
It was a hit-activity amongst the elementary schoolers, for sure!

Some of our StuCo (Student Council) members at the ticket booth,
selling yearbooks and raising funds.

Sweet little Lana with the nerf gun.

In the afternoon, I helped set up for and participated in putting on the annual AIAN Games Day. This is typically a very well attended event by all of our Beilun/Ningbo families, local community, and staff.  As AIAN faculty, we usually supply a large amount of volunteers for running games/booths and helping set up/clean up the event. It's a fundraiser for the PTA. While setting up, the morning was hot and muggy. While we were playing an early-afternoon game of teachers vs. students VB (teachers won, 21-15, but it took us a while to get warmed up and going; Kari trained a good student VB team last fall!), the gray, hazy skies filled with more than just the usual pollution. While game stations were set up inside (carnival-style, tickets for each activity/game, and prizes awarded at each booth), the heavens let loose full-force during the afternoon, filling our campus with puddles, slippery walkways, and optimal weather for getting even MORE WET. In the typical (not-always-so-friendly) Water Balloon Toss-at-your-Teacher station, all students, Pre-K through HS turned out in full brigade strength, bombarding me and Matt (HS Lang Arts teacher) full force. (See photo series below; a picture's worth a thousand words.) Matt had asked me last minute (that morning) to join him in the voluntary representation of the AIAN teaching staff. I was thanked profusely by a number of my colleagues for volunteering, as they were less than enthusiastic about the prospect of being the target of hundreds of exploding water bombs. I know a number of my kids loved getting the opportunity to pelt me/us.

Get him!

Deflecting

Crowd gathering...

Despite his build and comfort level in the water (he's a swimmer), Matt's a little sissy.

Catching. Pro-status.

Throwing them right back at the kiddos after catching them.

Water balloons flew at us from all angles; the 2-foot PK kids at our feet, MS students from the trees and surrounding bushes, and oh boy did the teenage students have a serious arm! I was wearing Chile's Colo-Colo futbol jersey, and we have a number of Chileans in our AIAN community who hate that team (they're on the Universidad de Chile's side). So I suffered the double-whammy, as los Chilenos sought their vengeance.

At one point, a few MS girls opened that window above our heads, fisting water balloons, poised and ready to fire upon us from above. I looked up, boldly asserting myself, not even cowering (since at that point I was already drenched and had even become quite adept and skilled in the art of catching them and throwing the unpopped balloons right back at the firing squad). Hesitantly, they asked, "Is it okay if we throw them from up here?" To which, I replied, "Of course not! You yourself might get hit standing up there!" (Silly excuse.) Only our AIAN students would ASK for permission instead of just surprise-attacking!

All that during the day, followed by baking a cobbler and going to the pig roast. 

Neighbors brought peaches and nectarines (still hard),
picked off the trees in their parents' orchard.

My wrist is still sore, two days after paring
two dozen tiny peaches and nectarines.
What a workout!

Cobbler... Ready to go in the oven!
(I used jello gelatin since I couldn't get my hands on cornstarch.)
#expatproblems.

Consuming cobbler at the Pig Roast that evening.

Of course I gave some of the product back to the neighbors.
Thanking them for their peaches that made a tasty dessert!

Erich carves the roasted pig, by cell phone light.

It had been raining so much, for so long,
that the puddles spread into ponds, and they had to stand on bricks
to avoid the rising waters around the brick oven

Good weekend.