Kevin the professor..:

Well first and foremost I want to thank everybody back home for holding down the Obama victory! Good job, and congratulations..

Barack Obama will make a good President, I believe. He clearly cares deeply about issues that matter to regular people - ending the war, restoring the honor of our country, looking out for each other as well as for ourselves, and helping the middle class. He's personable while not seeming fake and at least he has honor, unlike Mccain(the puppet). He speaks to peoples hearts and minds. He might not have the experience some think is necessary to be president, but he does have the right experience, to me - multicultural, multinational, in all ranges of economic levels, he has power in his voice and his statue and he makes people want to follow him. He didn't spend a lot of time bashing George Bush or Mccain, he talked about problems and what should be done about them. And he clearly does have hope. I think we need a President who can help Americans feel hopeful again, by taking care of some of the more pressing problems that discourage us. We need a president that some terrorist wouldnt want to fight in hand to hand combat because he would get his ass beat. We need a president that isnt already brainwashed by America's political system and bureaucracy. I believe he will go on to do great things, shit he already has, a black US president thats a pretty serious accomplishment for him and our country. He must be something special, we just have to give him a chance, support him, and most importantly keep him alive. At least our foreign affairs, that Bush worked so hard to screw up, will be better because Obama wants to sit down and talk with leaders we have problems with, instead of slamming the door and then talking shit behind it. And on a side note, for all you who still bash Obama and talk shit about him and how he will screw up everything, its YOUR fault he made it to the white house and its too late to do anything about it now, sorry. Instead of bashing and talking shit after the fact, where were you to make things different? Im sick of reading shit on myspace and hearing you people. And seriously Mccain was the biggest joke Ive ever seen run for president. Look at it this way we are going from the worst president in US history, in my opinion, to the biggest positive political change our country has seen in a long f-in time, a black president. Amen brotha.

Moving on.

Thursday was my first day teaching at English First in Guilin. On Wednesday Michelle taught me how to make lesson plans and all the organization stuff that comes with being a teacher at this school. Son of a bitch, its whole heck of a lot of information right off the bat for me but Ill manage. My head is still spinning and will be spinning for a few weeks Im sure. Being a teacher for small children is hard work, props to all you teachers out there. This is an after school program for the kids to have fun learning English. They have had class all day in Chinese school, which blows for them, and all they want to do is have fun, play games, and interact with each other. I have 5 classes at the moment, 4 of them meet twice a week and one meets once a week. The classes that meet twice a week are younger students ages 5-8 and the once a week is older like 12-13 yr olds. I havent been to the older class yet, thats on Sunday, but I hear its hell because the kids dont want to be there and dont do their homework. They would rather be playing video games or something, so I dont know what the hell Im going to do with them. Im really dreading it, as all the teachers do. My younger classes are fun and the little Chinese kids are soo cute. Ill have to get some pics of some of them. Some of the kids are bad and act up in class all the time. We give everyone stickers at the end of each class if they were good students, they go crazy for them its really funny. The bad students wont get a sticker. Everything is a competition for them, so all the games and activities have to have a winner. Chinese people live for competing and being better than the next person for some reason and it drives them to be good and do their best. There are a couple of little girls who like me and are always following me around the school and smacking me on my ass, which is weird. They all like to speak what English they know and always try to talk with me and show me how much they know. They really are the cutest little kids ever! This whole teaching thing is really hard for me at first because Im going into it wanting to do everything thats in their book, when its next to impossible to get it all done in class. Also, me being a new teacher who has never taught before makes it really difficult to plan lessons and remember whats going on from class to class. The other teachers tell me to not take it so serious and just learn as I go, because the school doesnt expect that much from me. They hired me knowing my experience and they just want to have their students interacting and learning something from a native English speaker. All in all its a little harder than I thought it would be because of the lesson planning and creative side it takes to be a teacher. Michelle says it will get better and easier as I learn what the hell is going on. We also have Chinese teachers(all women and some hott) who are there to translate for us or lend a hand if we need help but Im in the class by myself teaching.

Anyway, crazy thought huh?, Kevin's a teacher?? What the fuck. Never thought in a million years I would teach, let alone teach little Chinese kids English in China. One thing that blows about the job is my schedule, because Michelle had them make my schedules match hers so we can do stuff together on our days off. Well, I work Thursday 6-830, Friday 6-9, Sat morning, and Sun morning and have Mon Tues and Wed off. Sucks, because everybody wants to party and go clubbing on Thurs, Fri, Sat nights, of course, so my weekend morning classes are gonna really blow because you know I cant say no to going out partying all night. Its ok though, Michelle said when she first started she didnt even plan her lessons and went out all the time with everyone so whatever Ill be fine.

Speaking of going out, after my first lessons on Thurs I went over to my friends house and met up with some guys to go out and shoot some pool. We sat around talking and drinking for an hour or so and then hopped in a taxi and went to a Chinese pool hall. Its a pretty nice place with like 10 regulation tables and a snooker table. There was two other people playing when we walked in and some people playing cards in the VIP rooms. This is where some Chinese come to gamble big money with each other, I learned. This is also where a lot of underground Chinese mafia shit goes down I think. Its a cool joint though. The tables, I found, are a little different then American pool tables, but the English bastards I was playing with say they are the same in London. The pockets are a little smaller and the curve on the rail is more gradual instead of sharp going into the pocket, like in America. This makes a huge difference when playing and it was hard for me to pocket balls at first. The cues are also a little different, being shorter and having smaller tips. Another thing, the pool hall has people working that re rack the balls for you when someone wins. Its the best. You never have to rack yourself and never touch the balls, other than the cue ball. You just talk sit and drink beer while they rack your shit up. China is the land where someone is there to do whatever for you, like Ive said before. So there were 4 of us playing until like 3 am, and the place was supposed to close at 1am, but since we are foreigners and were drinking and having fun they stayed open. Two of the guys from Britain were pretty good and my one friend from Serbia was so so. I probably won about 50 percent of my games which was shitty because Im not used to these tables at all.

They all wanted to go to McDonald's when we left and I cant eat that shit so I just smoked ciggs and talked with them. A funny thing I noticed and asked about while in McDonald's was that Chinese men will carry their girlfriends purses for them. If the girl says shes tired of carrying it the man will carry it the rest of the night. Pretty funny watching dudes walking around with womens purses on their arm or shoulder. Haha. They are whooped as shit I suppose.

So, today is Friday and I have already been to work to plan my lessons for tonight and tomorrow morning. Its still raining and has been most of the time Ive been here other than yesterday the sun poked through for a min or so, which was sweet. The sun is really intense here so when it does eventually come out, this weekend the forecast says, hopefully I can enjoy it and take a boat cruise down the river to see some more scenery. Oh and my apt will be ready Monday or Tues and its three bedrooms and hopefully nice. I can have madd couch surfers come and stay because I will have madd beds, the apt if fully furnished. Well, I am about to leave to go into work so peace out for now and thanks for reading my story so far. Sorry if its a bit boring sometimes.. Tonight there is a bunch of us going out so Ill most likely come back with some crazy stories. :p