It was eight in the morning and I was woken up by what Aaron called "white noise".  All I remember was that the school's loud speakers were blasting one type of music and there was a totally different genre coming from another source but at equal volume.  It was a battle from the start.  Whose song volume was going to win out?  Whoever won, I was awake a lot earlier on a Saturday than I had hoped to be.  So I at least made good use of my time by doing some dishes, cleaning my house, doing some laundry, and writing a few Christmas cards.  Don't worry, yours is in the mail.  But just know that sometimes the mail from this side of the world often gets lost or gets returned for no other reason than because it does. 

 

After lunch Aaron and I decided to take a walk around campus and see what all the commotion was about.  Another teammate characterized it as a carnival but we were going to find out first hand.  There were definitely enough balloons to make for a good carnival.  Unfortunately there were no rides.  There were a few dancing lines.  And a lot outdoor computer setups.  Most noticable of all there was a huge loud speaker for almost every booth that was blaring that booth's theme music.  (Here in China there is a lot of noise during your daily routine.  That is what happens when you put a lot of people in a not big enough area.  You get a lot of noise.  So naturally if you are trying to attract attention to your product or new store or club then of course you just play music that is louder than everyone elses.  And that is where the club fair was, "white noise".)  And of course at each booth was a person more than happy to hand you a pamphlet filled with information about their club.  Aaron took the first one and then had to proceed to deny the oncoming flood thereafter.  One of my rules in China is that if you do not make eye contact with people that want to sell something, then they won't bother you for too long.  But if you have ever shown interest in something, whether a street vendor or at any kind of market in China then you know that every single person that is trying to sell something will not leave you alone from the moment you pass them until you leave the market.  (There are two reasons for that, first, a chance to hawk you wares to a foreigner to show your hawking skills to the other sellers, and second, because the foreigners could easily be talked into paying a nice mark up on the product and you come away with a good profit.)  So Aaron took the paper.  And because I was with him I came home with 23 beautifully written in Chinese descriptions of school clubs.  It was a good time though, aside from the music.  And we met a lot of new people and learned about some of the things that students can be involved in at our school.  It was a bit odd that there was an English Village.  Not the idea so much as the practice of it.  We never heard English and all of the signs were in Chinese.  Go figure.

 

The coolest thing about the fair was that each club made their own billboard describing what it is their club does and why the students should join their club.  I tried to get as many photos as I could.  They are beautiful pieces of artwork.  Most Chinese writing is beautiful to me.  I can't do it and most things I can't do are beautiful to me, or at least more valuable.  I couldn't translate the signs either so I tried my best to give you an idea of what they might be.  I would guess that I am wrong for most of them, except for the Christian Mathmeticians Club.  I think that one was pretty obvious.  Take a look at the photos I posted.  I think you will be interested.