----- SICK :/

I've spent the last four days straight in bed trying to fight off strep throat and an ear infection. I can't remember the last time I had to take this much time off work or school. Josh is sick, too...  We did, however, make a kickin' homemade chicken-and-veggie broth-based soup yesterday, which will hopefully last us the entire weekend. The forecast for the next 2 weeks in Zhuzhou is RAIN, RAIN, and more RAIN. Translation: cold, damp, and perfect weather for getting or staying sick. Hopefully warm weather follows soon!!!!!

Biking Around Zhuzhou

Special Guest... Josh Garcia!

Since my boyfriend, Josh, is visiting China for a few months, he so graciously made a few special appearances at my school. Words cannot express how hilarious it was to see students' faces when Josh and I walked across campus. The "waijiao" (foreign teacher) has a boyfriend! was whispered as we crossed the basketball courts. "Teacher Cait... is this your (pause) BOYYY FRIENNNND?" When I answered "Yes, he is" girls screamed out of excitement and the HOARDS of questions ensued -- mostly too personal to feel comfortable answering. Chinese students are pretty curious and don't know that certain questions (say, er, about future children and marriage) are way too personal to ask westerners. Josh and I laughed it off, though, and had some fun playing games and conducting Q&A sessions with the students. Overall it was a really fun week. :)

(Josh signing autographs and accepting gifts)

(yeah... the kids go crazy sometimes)

Sun... What Sun?! ;)

We caught a glimpse of the sun for the first time since being back from our holiday travels. That's three weeks of sun-less, grey, dreary days. Yesterday was a gorgeous "blue-skies" kind of day... which we really enjoyed!! It also warmed up a bit, allowing Josh and I to enjoy a 3-hour bike ride around Zhuzhou's university and the lake paths. My stomach held up for all of it, thankfully... it's still a bit "off".

This week I'm hoping it will warm up permanently so I won't have to wear so many layers (inside and outside). Fingers crossed!

FP Article on China

An interesting Foreign Policy article about China's (potential) collapse - or at least the collapse of the communist party. I'm not saying it'll happen, but many of the points raised here are very interesting and worthy of reading about. Click here to read it. :)

 Excerpt: "The Chinese workforce will level off in about 2013, perhaps 2014, according to both Chinese and foreign demographers, but the effect is already being felt as wages rise, a trend that will eventually make the country's factories uncompetitive. China, strangely enough, is running out of people to move to cities, work in factories, and power its economy. Demography may not be destiny, but it will now create high barriers for growth."

 Since global demand for China's exports has been slowing, China has been trying to create more internal demand for domestic products. It'll be interesting to see what the country's economic growth rate will do over the next few years, especially considering the levelling-off of the workforce.

Update!

Hello everyone! I'm back in Zhuzhou and just finished my second day of the new school term. After lots of traveling I find myself craving hours upon hours of SLEEEEEP... so I'm trying to catch up on my Z's when I'm not teaching. Below are a random smattering of some pictures from my Spring Festival vacation to Hong Kong and Thailand with Josh. I'll try to post more pictures when I have time. Love you all!  :)