April Fool's & Tomb-Sweeping Day

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1... HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!

The English department here at our school is under the impression that April Fool's Day is a huge holiday in the US. The misunderstanding has been quite cute, actually. Right at the stroke of midnight, I received a HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY! text from a student, followed by several more throughout the day wanting to know how I celebrate April Fool's Day in America. Tonight, English corner is an April Fool's Day-themed party. I'll be interested to see what activities they've come up with for that one; even I drew a blank at the organizers' requests for game ideas!

Anyway, tomorrow I've got one class in the morning and a dinner meeting with visiting representatives from the Hong Kong Maryknoll High School. After that, I'm done until Monday! This weekend is a long one in honor of Qing Ming (Tomb-Sweeping Day) on Friday. Students will return home to visit their ancestors' graves, where the entire extended family will tend to the tombs, leave food for the dead, and burn paper money for good luck.

Not having any ancestors buried in the greater Zhanjiang area, I'll be spending Qing Ming at the beach. Tomorrow evening after our meeting, Scott and I will join Jamie and Lindsay on the night train to Sanya, a city at the southern tip of Hainan Island. We're set to arrive in Sanya at 5:30 Thursday morning, and will stay in a hostel on the beach for three nights!

I've heard that Hainan is not quite "The Hawaii of China" that zhongguoren claim it is. All the same, the island is supposed to be clean, beautiful, and relaxing; I'm really looking forward to it! I'll be sure to post pictures when I get back to Zhanjiang on Sunday night.