relaxation in the land of collective hard work

I forgot to write about massage. In Beijing, I got my first taste of super cheap massage. You just go into a hair salon, which are everywhere and all seem to be massage parlors as well. There was one right across the little street from our hotel in Beijing and Grace and I went on our last day there, right before leaving for the train station for our 32 hour marathon. We asked for the 10 kuai (a little over a dollar) hair wash. It began with us sitting in salon seats while some ladies soaped up our hair with shampoo and a little bit of water from a pitcher. this resulted in a thick lather. while washing, they also gave a very nice scalp massage. Next, down to the rinsing station, very comfortable. Then hair wrapped up in a towel and back to the chair. What came next was a very very good neck, shoulder, back, arms, hands, and temple massage. So relaxing. Total time was about 45 minutes. For one dollar! We went once while here in Shenzhen. This place was a little more expensive (18 kuai, a little over $2) but was done completely lying down on leather bed things with our heads on a leather headrest over sinks built into the beds. And the massage this time was full body--same as before, but including legs and a face wash. It'll be a good thing to have when teaching starts getting stressful.

Naps. I generally do not like to take naps, but it seems like everyone else in every other country loves them. The lunch break here is about 2.5 hours, from 12-2:30. Maybe about half of the kids eat lunch at school, and half live close enough to go home for lunch. the teachers and a few teachers' kids eat in the cafeteria. the students who stay at school are brought the same food as the teachers after they pile into a few classrooms on the ground floor. After they eat, the students play on the playground for about 30 minutes until a bell rings. Then most of them go to a large auditorium (I think it's an auditorium) or to another room I haven't seen on the 4th floor and take a nap. Many teachers also take a nap for an hour or so after lunch, in special designated dorm style rooms with 6 bunk beds each. Anne, my contact teacher, showed me her room because I asked if I could see it. Nicely air conditioned (much cooler than my room in my apartment), each teacher is assigned their own bed. I think. Nobody has said anything to me about it. It's probably a mix of me being a new and foreign teacher, and me living 4 minutes away right around the block from the school entrance. I'm a little jealous that I don't get my own bed at school, but I guess I probably wouldn't use it ever.