school days, early July

It seems the beginning of the month is the time for students to get a haircut--you can see the boys newly shorn. I think the girls also had a trim, though it's harder to tell for sure. Already I'm starting to feel nostalgic; I'll only witness three more shearings before it's time for me to leave :(

The left picture above is of the "welcome circle" for YaiJing, an AFS teaching assistant from China. They did the same for me; it's quite something!

The Buddha sits in his pavilion at the side of the central court, thus oversees each assembly, all the ceremonies, also the pick-up basketball, soccer, and volleyball games. Buddha is a conscious part of the morning assembly, is acknowledged with more or less decorum in each ceremony. The sportsmen and -women on the court may also be glad of a Buddha-presence; I'm not sure.

And now some logistics about campus life; I'm sure some of you have been curious--

water in and water out, respectively; on the left is the re-fill stand for water bottles.

I've actually come to appreciate the squat-toilet, works fine, minimal water use, feels clean and sensible once I'm used to it.

Teacher appreciation day

The finished product:

he drew the letters freehand--
one of the teachers--

This young man is also the

guard at the school, greets

people as they come in each

morning--

always takes one to supervise... Photos show inverse order of preparation; as you can see, it was all raw materials just the day before showtime...

Just look at the artistry going into these ceremonies!

Students spent 3 days preparing the floral arrangements for teachers, students and staff stayed after school to design and cut the styrofoam decor of the stage/platform, paint and assemble all to perfection.

The ceremonial process was also amazing--full of grace and dignity, also lots of laughter and fun.

I was privileged to sit in the front row of teachers at teacher appreciation day. Each student presented his or her own floral arrangement to us in the front row; we passed them back to the second row, who then passed them to the third row of teachers, who then placed the arrangements on the long table behind us all, where they were later judged and prizes awarded.