Gosh Dang, Yichang!: Strawberry Season in December

I remember at the orientation for my teaching agency, one of the instructors jokingly told us that whatever seems normal to us in any situation, just expect the opposite here in China. While this statement is obviously a bit of a hyperbole, it has actually turned out to be true in some instances during my stay here in Yichang. For example, I would think that come payday, we all just slip into the secretary office, collect our pimp-wads (yes we get paid in cash, yes Chinese bills only go up to 100 yuan, and yes that means one giant stack of cash) and go back to teaching our classes for the day. But instead, everyone piles into the office,crowding around the secretary's desk and while we're waiting, and two of my colleagues just straight up ask me how much I make in a month. And when it is my turn to go collect my spoils, I have multiple teachers blatantly craning and stretching to steal a look at the amount on the receipt I'm signing. And salary is just the tip of the iceberg in regards to unexpected appropriate small-talk topics. I've learned not to be surprised if someone I've just met asks or comments about my weight, acne, parents income, and marital status. While most Chinese people I know are very uncomfortable talking about sex, they are quite comfortable talking about things like menstruation and bowel movements. People here also drink hot water instead of ice water, and you're not supposed to tip your servers.

So.. while I have gotten somewhat more used to expecting the unexpected, I still never thought I would be picking strawberries in December. In Washington, we usually harvest strawberries in June and July. Of course, those are outdoors strawberries that grow naturally in direct sunlight. These special Christmas strawberries were grown in long, plastic-covered greenhouses and were absurdly perfect in shape and texture. I'm not sure what they did to make them so flawless, but whatever it is didn't affect the taste. They were so delicious, in fact, that we took every opportunity to throw one in our mouths while the farmers weren't looking.

In the glasses is my student Alicia from my senior 3 class, and on my right is her lovely mother. I'm so grateful to them for taking me out to the countryside with their family!