Finals week. Or, more correctly, finals first-of-three-weeks. To be able to talk with each kid in each class for just one minute, I need three class periods. In that minute I ask the kids what their favorite animal is, why, and what that animal looks like. About two thirds say 'dog', which is way boring. I do have some choice excerpts from the written portion of the test.

To the question "How is American culture different from Chinese culture?" Evan of class 290 wrote-

"American speak English but Chinese speak Chinese. American have American name but Chinese have Chinese names. Chinese like eating with no words but American not. Chinese think the themselves in other people's eyes is more important but American pay more attention to themselves of theirs. In otherwords, Chinese people live for others but American live for themselves. At least mostly."

I am giving Evan an 'A'

To the question "Tell a story with a beginning, middle, climax, and end," William wrote-

"It is 2076 DC. The population of the eath is more than 12 billion There is too many people in the earth. How can we save this problem? Thanks for all scientist, human beings can sent people to the moon. I is a scientist who is work for make spaceship. One evening I find out there is a very big problem in the spaceship we in the spaceship we make. But tomorrow the spaceship will fly to the moon. I must stop it. I call to the leader of the earth. But he don't believe me. I try to tell everyone who may help me. But nobody believe me. I deiced go to the spaceship and put a virus into the computer in spaceship. I do it. The spaceship can't fly."

I'm giving William an A+. Frickin' awesome.

Like I said before, my Chicago trip spoiled China for me. To elaborate further: I kinda met a girl and we hit it off right away. Good thing, no doubt. But now I'm glued to my email waiting for letters from her and checking her blog FAR more often than is nessesary. It's the strangest bittersweet feeling, meeting someone and getting to know them so quickly, only to leave just as quickly.

Now I wish to spoil her (in the good way) but am too far away! So if you go to the U of C and know Megan Wells, give her a slow wink when you see her. And if you don't know her just stop every blue haired girl you see on campus and ask "Is your name Megan?" If she say yes, then wink. She reads this so she'll know what it means. It means that I miss her and am thinking about her.

-The Wandering Norseman-