Day 426 The Exorcist

As I pedaled to school yesterday, the cranes were up and active,
and the morning crew of construction workers were on their way
to work for the day.  BNDS International Department is under
serious construction and expansion for next school year.  They
have some extraordinary plans for our building.  It is going to
be state-of-the-art freaking incredible.

I know very little Mandarin, but these migrant
workers work their a$$e$ off; long hours,
not the best conditions, and everything is
pretty much done by hand.  Each worker carries
the tool they own, and that is what they do for
a living.  Some will carry a hand saw, a
shovel, a pick ax, and those with automatic tools,
like a jack hammer, are further 'up the ladder'.
Between my few Mandarin words, and a
game of charades, each day I pass the workers
and thank them for their hard work on my school <3
Their faces light up :)

It's hard to see their smiling faces here; I was sitting on my
bicycle pantomiming, and thanking them for making
my school beautiful. They're likely thinking, "Crazy laowei!"

In the A level diploma program, I have the good
fortune of getting a small group of students for a
second year of Psychology.  This semester I am
teaching Psychopathology, my wheelhouse, and
they are loving learning about all forms of mental
illness- what causes it, the symptoms, and how
to treat it.  It is such a foreign concept in their
culture; they love learning about it.  Interestingly,
this year they are beginning to share stories of
depression, schizophrenia and even suicide in
their families or hometown villages.  This subject
has long been a taboo in their culture.

They received lessons on the historical perspective of our
understanding of mental illness, from Hippocrates' four humors
to periods throughout history when 'madness' was believed
to be the result of demonic possession.  We looked at how
mental patients were treated in asylums and talked of exorcisms.
My Chinese babies are naive to so many things, so
with Halloween around the corner, I decided to throw
a fall party at my apartment with a viewing of The Exorcist.
I couldn't wait to scare the bejesus out of them!!!!

Michael was in charge of getting a bootleg
copy of The Exorcist- the Chinese are very
resourceful, they copy anything and everything, lol.

They were still all smiles before the movie began, lol.

I made them a chili supper, with peanut butter and honey
sandwiches.  They loved it; they never had chili before.
I baked apple crisp with vanilla ice cream for dessert,
using the case of apples I was given at work this week. 

Then I lit some candles, turned off the lights, and it was showtime!

I think the scene that caused them to scream the most was when
Reagan crab walked upside down on the stairs. Even Watson
screamed like a girl!  It was so much fun watching them
watch the movie.  There really was a lot of psychology involved,
and they got it....I was a proud Momma K.

After the lights went up, they were all a-chitter
and laughter.  Movie night was a success!

I think the next one will be Shutter Island
or maybe Sixth Sense????

After I walked the kids back to school (IN THE DARK!) the kids blew up my phone for the next hour... here's a sampling of what they said:

I was nervous walking into a Westerner's home for the first time.  It was beautiful, and the food was so delicious.  Thank you!  My cat loves the smell of your house, lol.

This is the first party night I have ever been to (this boy is 18 years old) it was so much fun!  Thank you for everything, it was wonderful!

Thank you, Ms. McDaniel for the wonderful food and the wonderful night together. Though I miss a lot of scenes, this is the first time I finish a horror movie!!!  (Lisa covered her eyes for every scary scene, then when it was over, every time she asked, "What just happened???")

Thank you, Miss!  Your food was so delicious, I want to be your daughter!

Really, thank you for the delicious dinner and dessert. Wish you have a good night and weekend. Wish everyone sweet dreams and no nightmares!

With that said, G'nite, y'all!