It's been snowing for the past few days, which is unusual since before this it had not snowed all winter in Beijing. As soon as it starts snowing, people equipped with brooms rush out sweep the snow into neat little piles at the edge of the road and the sidewalk. It was pretty warm today, though, so most of the snow has melted.
The third year students all went to a you4er4yuan2 (preschool/kindergarten), and let me tell you the children are all ta4i ke3ai4le (too cute)! Their teachers said they were very excited for us to come so we could "work together". I'm not exactly sure why we went to a kindergarten, but they had us play guessing games with the children and then they could earn xiao3 li3wu4 (small presents) if they guessed correctly. The children I was with were all 4 years old and at first just stared at me, not knowing what to make of the situation. It was also interesting because one of the xiao3 peng2you3 (small friends/students) is a French girl, and she clearly stands out. The teacher said it took her just a month before she could speak Chinese with her classmates and make friends. When we arrived, all of the students were doing some sort of exercise dance to very cutesy music. We were encouraged to join in. They all take dance, singing, English, reading, math (they do multiplication at age 5 or 6), and art. They also must drink lots of water and eat lots of green vegetables (must be green, no cauliflower or carrots). They also have to play outside for an hour each day.
Next week is the last week of classes before we have a week off and all of us are taking the train (25 hours) to Sichuan and traveling for a week. But before the break, we have the midterm exam, which is, as far as I know a two hour written test and a half hour oral presentation. gahhh.
Photos: http://s591.photobucket.com/albums/ss353/klebling/