Days 284-285: Lots of Grading, Second Exam

So right now, Thursday-Friday, I'm in the midst of a grading frenzy. Thursday I graded Short Novel exams--I'm actually a bit ahead of myself, as of this writing, which is good. I didn't do much else; I didn't even leave the apartment. So it was a dull day, mostly. The saddest thing about the day is that Samira told us that she has made other arrangements for Mia, the kitty, so we won't be taking her home after all. It's sad. However, Kerry might be able to get her from Samira later, like in August. We don't know at this point. 

Friday--We now officially have 14 days left--two weeks--before we leave China.  I got up relatively early and graded some more. Then I left around 3:30 pm to make the 4:15 pm bus to SISU. Kerry came with me, as he was going gaming. We had a hard time finding a cab--much harder to come by, apparently, than in the morning. I did make the bus okay, but, as soon as I got out of the cab, a dropped a bag and my glasses, of all things, flew off my face and one of the long ear pieces broke off. And, of course, it was pouring rain. I did manage to fix the glasses on my own (temporarily, anyway) and get onto the bus. It was very popular today. Super crowded! A lot of little kids on there, for some reason. And we trudged through the rain....took about 90 minutes.

When I got to SISU, a young woman there gave me my forms and let me eat my snack in the lounge area. I saw a couple of my students in room 129 and asked them what they were during there.  "Oh, the exam is in here."  When I asked the young woman, she confirmed it. "Well, no one told me," I replied, feeling a bit miffed. "Oh, sorry," she said. "Did the students know?" I asked. "Oh, yes,"  she smilingly answered. THAT'S SO CHINA. It would make too much sense, of course, to tell the instructor of the course where the Final Exam is going to be held. And then, when a screw-up happens, don't show any emotions about it but happiness.

So we started the exam. It went pretty smoothly, but I'm pretty sure one student was cheating. Not sure how she did it, but she kept looking down, shaking her ear, moving her lips, and drumming her fingers a lot. I don't know HOW she did it, but I'm pretty sure she was doing it. My guess is that she was typing the questions to a friend who was telling her the answers on an earpiece..something like that. But who knows?  Once the 100 minutes were up (I gave them an extra 10 minutes), I said goodbye and said that I hoped to see them Wednesday: a goodbye dinner!

Anyway....still pouring rain when we got done. Christy, one of my students, ordered a cab for me. Long ride. 208 RMB for the cab...plus he asked for another 20 RMB for....whatever. That also happened when I went from Songjiang to the airport last time...maybe it's a Songjiang fee of some sort?  There are STILL things about this country that I don't understand.  And probably never will.

Songjiang pics...........

Honors College lounge, outside classrooms.

Me with my Honors American Lit. class, before the Final Exam.

Students taking their final. In front you see the Short Novel exams I'm grading.