I successfully had my first round of Parent Teacher Conferences! Woo hoo! On Thursday, I taught half a day while the parents were allowed to watch me teach. Then, starting at 12:30, I had back to back conferences every 20 min. It was intense, but I’m glad that I did it. It was nice to see the parents face-to-face, and feel like we’re both meeting in the middle, where we care about the kids and just want the best for them.
To thank us for all of our hard work, my school arranged for the Primary Division to be pampered at the Hot Springs just north of Beijing. Our director told us about the natural hot springs, and the private room massages we would be receiving. I was excited to have some time to reconnect with nature. I brought my book and my journal, and was ready to soak into the earth.
Of course, when we showed up, there was nothing natural about the hot springs. It was, in fact, the Hot Springs indoor water park. We did get massages, but all of us together in a crowded room blaring Chinese TV. (That is not to say, however, that I didn’t appreciate my free 45 min. massage. I paid Y98 /$12 for an extra foot massage, and it was hands down the best I’ve ever had.)
The place was insanely crowded with Chinese tourists. Every inch of the hot tubs was taken by Chinese families, couples, babies, teenagers, just soaking up every spout of water and free section against the edge of the pool. We were able to get into the “VIP” section, which had “hot tubs”. By that I mean, they had pools of warm water that quickly became cold. Every once in a while the attendants would pour more hot water to reheat them. We were told they were “medicinal” hot tubs, which was to account for the apparent food coloring. I especially liked the green one, because not only did I feel like I was swimming in Jell-O, but I also got to feel like a Ninja turtle.
By the end, I just gave in to the whole spirit of the water park, with its Mohegan-sun-esque fake trees, cement-stone walkways, and plastic greenery. Kel, our friend Erica, and I even went for the water ride. It was essentially a “lazy river”, but with rapids instead of waves. We all climbed into a giant water raft. It’s much trickier than it sounds, as every time we started down the stairs, a giant wave of people, water, and other rafts crashed it around. The attendant holding it for us kept falling under water and having to chase it down the stream.
Once inside, we had no paddles. We were at the mercy of the waves. It was one of those experiences that you know could only have in another country, outside of the U.S. and its propensity for lawsuits. Quickly, I was able to feel safe as long as I kept my elbows and skull inside and leaned away from the walls to the center of the raft. The real fright of the ride was in the water. We were in a raft, but many people opted to be in single floating tubes. By people, I mean children. The worst was when I saw a wave coming around the corner, and would see a small child just in front of the boat. I knew for certain, with no escape, that we would be soon crushing that child. It certainly was a break from the responsibility of work in the Primary division.
We managed to escape without dying, or suffocating anyone. The children never minded, and the adults who were supposedly watching (most) of them didn’t even flinch as they attempted to resurface through our raft. Just like in Mongolia at the top of the sand boarding mountain, I realized, I’m American-overprotective.
All in all, it was a great day. It wasn’t quite the connection to nature that I’d been craving, but it did feel good to leave the city and think about something that wasn’t reports!
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