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~'''Interview by Elin al'Nia'''
 
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White Lab Report June 2009

Editor: Keisha al'Benn

First of all we would like to wish our own Rikka al'Vorik a safe journey with the Army for the next few months. She will be taking a leadership course and holding some instruction classes for Basic Training. Thank you for your dedication to our Country Rikka!

A very Happy Birthday to Ilenna and Amara this month and a warm welcome home to our newest White Sister Elin al'Nia! I had the opportunity to meet Elin last month as she was traveling around the south western states. She is a wonderful lady and we are all glad to have her as a Sister!

This month we have decided to give two Bubble Awards. Rehtaeh al'Navi and Magdalenna t'Zai have been Heads of the White and Gray Ajah for several years now. They have both done a fantastic job and will be missed. Thanks for all of your hard work ladies!

We opened up the Bubble Experiments to the general population this month and had a surprising amount of participation. Ghaul produced a radioactive Mushroom Cloud Bubble and Thalin experimented with Purple Bubbles which have now been confiscated due to the tendency to resemble Compulsion. I think the best bubble was produced by Mashiara. She brewed a Silver Bubble that made ones skin glow and sparks fly from the hair, caused things around us to freeze, and even made one subject grow quite large for awhile. As usual, all the effects were temporary and everyone is back to....well not normal because we couldn't make a Normal Bubble....back to business as usual.

In honor of all the bubbles, our shoe for the month is a Bubble Shoe!!

A big thanks to Natalya Laragan for her research into Real Life Bubbles:

The perfect bubbles!
by Natalya Sedai

Soap bubble is made of a very thin film of soap water that forms a sphere around air that is trapped inside the soapy film. Everybody has seen them, everybody has blown them, but what is the science behind the bubbles?

Some think that soap added to the water makes the water's surface tension stronger to keep the bubble together. Actually, the opposite is true. Soap added to water decreases water's surface tension, and stabilizes the bubble (through an action called the Marangoni effect). If you want even longer lasting bubbles, try adding a bit of glycerin to the water. It reduces the evaporation of water from the bubble.

Bubble is round because a sphere has the smallest surface amount for a given volume - which means the bubbles that make us happy are also physical illustrations of the minimal surface problem, which is a fairly complex mathematical problem.

White light is made up of all colors, all wavelengths. It is separated into colors as is reflects from the two surfaces of the thin soap film. If one of these colors is subtracted from white light, we see the complementary color. For example, if blue light is subtracted from white light, we see yellow. The skin of a bubble glistens with these complementary colors.

The Whites never get bored at playing with the bubbles. Looking at them calms you down, and makes you happy. Look at them: they are iridescent and fragile and perfect and they float in the air! If you want to make people smile, just take a bit of bubble solution with you, go to a public place and start blowing the bubbles. Spread the bubbly joy!

Read more about the bubbles:

Bubbles! By Ron Hipschman

For your own bubbly fun, try this:

The Exploratorium Bubble Recipe:

Here at the Exploratorium, we've found the bubble formula below to work fairly well in our exhibits.

  • 2/3 cup Joy dishwashing soap
  • 1 gallon water
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons of glycerine (available at the pharmacy or chemical supply house.)


White Lab Report May 2009

Editor: Keisha al'Benn

Our congratulations go out to our April Birthday Girls: Em, Elin, Keisha, Lyssandra and Eilidh and our May Birthday Girls: Antarai, Rehtaeh, Sienna and Melaine
Several of our members are going to be celebrating a landmark birthday this year and we have all decided that "Fourty is the new Thirty!"

We are pleased to welcome Hilwa Katir and Selenia Soandor as our newest guests

Our dear sister Xaviara Sedai has just recently ungone serious surgery....please keep her convalescence in your thoughts/prayers.

Panda Shoe provided by Natalya Sedai....totally cute and casual!

The wonderful Thalin Gaidin has been awarded our illustrious Bubble Award! He has been a more than willing participant in our Bubble Experimentation and has recently been promoted to Gaidin....Congratulations Thalin!!

Speaking of Bubble Experiments, our Bronze Bubble was a huge success. It was a warm, happy brew with fun side effects including breathing fire and growing dragon wings and kitty tails!

Lyara recently interviewed the lovely Ilissa and here is what she had to say about being the Online Events Coordinator:

1. What brought you to TarValon in the first place and how long have you been here?

I came upon TarValon.Net while doing a search on Lanfear; I was trying to figure out something-or-other about her relationship to Lews Therin. I came upon the Library first and then started browsing around. The community caught my interest, I joined, and here I am! My join date is the 14th of December 2004, so I've been here for just over 4 years now.

2. Were there any festivals celebrated when you first joined?

What we now call Feast of Lights (I don't remember if it had any name back then or if it was just called 'freeweek') was due to begin a good week or so after I joined, but people had already started altering their avatars and so on.

3. Why did you decide to take up the position of OEC?

Kariada Sedai, the then Director of Membership Services (as that Dept was called before it was split up into RL Services and Community Development) contacted me and asked me to reply. I complied and got the job .

4. What was the greatest thing about being OEC?

Seeing members enjoy themselves in the forum and knowing that I and my team were a big part of making that possible!

5. What was the worst thing?

Updating the calendar before we got the calendar we have now! Seriously, what a chore! Other than that, the worst I can remember is the nitpicky work of sending out the Bel Tine baskets last year until we got it properly automated. Repetitive tasks suck!

6. What advice do you have for the new OEC?

Start your planning early!

7. How different is the site now compared to when you joined as far as festivals go?

The most noticeable difference is probably that we now have the Faire Ground forum, which opens for every festival. When I joined the threads pertaining to the Festival were everywhere, which both made it harder to maneuver for those wanting to participate and harder to ignore for those who just aren't interested. I think it's a good change ^^.


White Lab Report March 2009

Editor: Keisha al'Benn

Welcome to our Anni Edition White Lab Report! We had Eight brave White Sisters that attended the festivities this year, including a few from across the pond.

We would like to congratulate our lovely sister Aeryth Sedai on her recent marriage....may the happy couple live long and prosper!!

We have had a plethora of new Sisters in the past few weeks....please congratulate Dovienya Sedai, Isarma Sedai and Enya Sedai. Kaileena and Morwynna have joined us as our newest Aspirant Accepted and our current guests include Vallen, Dwynwen, Nyavene, Dorissa, and Niere.

We had to have a special Anni Bubble for this month. We choose the Mossy Bubble. It is dark green, soft and fuzzy and first hand observations indicate chilliness, dampness and shivering. More testing revealed uncontrollable dancing in conjunction with the loss of pants and spontaneous rain falling directly on the test subject. For those who suffered from PPD we provided a Pink Bubble which produced feelings of warm, fuzzy, lovey-ness.

The Shoe of the Month was found on the beautiful Cinderella foot of Kitiarah Sedai, newly raised to the Gray Ajah. Congratulations Sister and thanks for the fabulous footwear!

Our Bubble Award this month goes to Serinia Sedai and her Clipboard Ter'Angreal of Organization. She is our wonderful Mistress of Revels and she can pull together a live event like no one's business!!

Anni quotes:

"Meanwhile, back in the White Ajah Chambers, we eagerly awaited news of the live Raising of Enya..."--Rehtaeh

"Whites can find bubbles anywhere!"--Andra

"Nat has a tendency to speak Finnish to everybody when tired enough"--Everyone

And the White Adventures at Anni Reported by Andra Sedai:

For the first time in years, EIGHT members of the White Ajah were able to make it to an Official Event. There's a weird kind of symmetry in the fact that there were eight of us at the eighth Anniversary Party.

On Thursday, Natalya and Andra Sedai flew into Seattle to check out the city. We met Zhareen in the airport, procured transportation, and were on our way. First order of business was to find IKEA. You see, they have these yummy Swedish Meatballs... plus bedding and supplies for cheap! Three and a half hours later, we exited the most amazing and logical store ever weighed down with bedding, snacks, and beverages to stock our cabin. Then we headed to the hotel to drop everything off and take a break. Natalya ran into Vivianna, Riley and Taika in the lobby while checking a few things on the internet. Plans were discussed, but we continued on our separate ways. The three Whites went in search of food and the Space Needle with the help of Zhareen's little electronic friend Stewie the GPS (He has quite the temper when you go the wrong way). The area around the Needle was strangely deserted, but we found a little bistro, and Starbucks (of course). Then up into the sky we went. It was beautiful, fascinating, and COLD. Back at the hotel, we waited up for Keisha Sedai who survived many trials and tribulations on her travels and immediately went to sleep.

Friday morning, the four of us journeyed to Pike's Place Market to see the flying fish. Though we missed the fish :(, we found Noura! We went to a little restaurant with a spectacular view of the port for lunch then went exploring in the Public Market. There was beautiful produce and locally created arts and crafts. Then came time to journey to the site of Anni Party in a campground outside Olympia Washington.

The eight Whites trickled in, dealing with Rush hour traffic and getting lost in the campground in the dark. Andra, Natalya, Zhareen, Keisha, Noura, Aidan and Enya all met, and huggled and settled into The Cold Logic Creamery, where we quickly turned up the heat and created a toasty haven for the Ice Sedai of the White Ajah. Lyssandra was housed in a separate cabin with her own bottom bunk. On our first night we had our welcomes and enjoyed the Olde Warder and Hen tavern atmosphere. The food was amazing, and we all fell into talking as if this wasn't the first time we'd all been together. We'd known each other for years and our conversations reflected that.

The campsite was beautiful, with lovely trees and bridges over marshes to the various clusters of cabins. Once the sun went down however, it was pitch dark between the main lodge and the cabins. The quest for light became a running joke. At one point Zhareen used her camera flash in order to find the path and the bridge to our cabin. The sky was concealed by clouds and a light mist began falling late into the night as people spread out to their individual cabins and tried to get some sleep.

Saturday dawned cold and wet. It wasn’t actively raining, but it had overnight so the ground was pleasantly squishy. The Whites journeyed out into the cold in search of coffee and quiche for breakfast. It was a calm morning, so several of us brought out our knitting and crochet as we chatted and got to know the other members of the Tower who had come. An expedition was made to the local Target where the logical Whites obtained flashlights and glowing necklaces for the bridges so that no one would get lost in the dark again. The Amyrlin’s tournament began with horseshoes, then a footrace that was more of an obstacle course which all those who participated managed to navigate with success. Then came the ever popular swordfighting event, which drew the largest crowd of any event and even caught the interest of the park ranger who had come to check on us. There was much cheering and amusement as all competitors acquitted themselves well. The Whites were in full attendance and Enya our ickle Accepted was blowing bubbles for all to enjoy. The afternoon brought the revival of ‘Story-time’ from past years. The tradition of finding a ridiculous romance novel and sharing the hilarious bits has gone on for three years now. This year was no exception. ‘The Very Virile Viking’ brought much hilarity to the main lodge as the lovely Viv read of ‘trees… with… a branch…’ Though it could not surpass last year’s ‘yonia and pansy dust’. I’m not sure if any book can manage that.

The evening brought about the Official Ceremonies, the Costume contest, and the Da’covale Auction. Most importantly, at least for our Ajah, the wonderful Enya was Raised to Aes Sedai, and from the stunned expression on her face when Andra Sedai Summoned her, she had No Idea. This proves of course that even when practically bursting from excitement, Whites are plotsy enough to keep a secret. Draping a shawl across Enya’s shoulders, and enveloping her in a White Bubble hug, we welcomed our Sister home.

Noura Sedai entered the costume contest as a perfectly fabulous Seanchan Empress, complete with the entourage of a member of the Lower Blood (Aidan Sedai), A sul’dam (Zhareen Sedai) and a damane (Keisha Sedai) and a Truth Speaker (Newly Raised Accepted Dorissa). Lyssandra Sedai also entered the contest with a lovely red and white gown, but Noura won the votes for sheer WOW factor, and she deserved it! Our very own Natalya Sedai offered herself up as a Damane. As an ajah, we snapped her up with some debate, as she was in much demand, being so talented and generally wonderful. That said, the best we could do as a task for her was to give temporary tattoos to anyone and everyone that wanted one, so they were properly decorated for the festivities.

That night Seven Full Sisters of the White Ajah walked together across the cold and frosty ground to their cabin, and we looked up, and saw a huge expanse of stars through the trees. The Seven Aes Sedai found the Seven Sisters in the sky as we stood and shivered, gazing in awe until our shivers got the best of us and we really were Ice Sedai.

Sunday was a drizzly day and many stayed in bed recovering, or like many of us Whites, camped out in the main lodge to mingle and craft. The Tar Valon CCG tournament took place, but mostly Sunday was a cozy day as we all reveled in this chance to get to know each other better. Noura and Lyssandra had to say their goodbyes before lunch, and we knew it was the beginning of the end of this holiday. Andra, Natalya and Zhareen took over the kitchen with Riley to prepare dinner and got it done in record time. Meaning, we actually managed to serve it on schedule. It was a blast being able to hang out in a kitchen with my sisters. It was a long evening, because we didn’t want it to end, despite the fact that we as an ajah had kitchen duty early in the morning. In the cabin, there were snippets of the Viral (as Natalya labeled him) Viking shared until we finally turned out the lights and napped.

The cabin was up and cleared out early and then we attacked the kitchen with a vengeance! By the time we left, that place was sparking! Then came the IHOP breakfast and the final leavetakings. Tears were shed, many hugs were given. We had to send our dear Baby White home with a Blue who later threatened not to give her back! We did get her back though, safe and sound.

It was a fabulous Anni Party, and even I who is something of a veteran now, will never forget it. No Tower Party is ever the same, and this one trumps them all. The greatest reason for this is of course, how many of us were in attendance, and how we just… fit into each others lives. Thank you My Sisters for an amazing experience.


White Lab Report January 2009

Editor: Keisha al'Benn

A special welcome to our newest White Sister Isarma!

We have also have a new Soul this month....congratulations to Elin!!

Welcome to our wonderful Guests Morwynna and Autumn and our newest Aspirant Kaileena

Bubble of the Month Several bubble experiments were conducted this month but none were that spectacular. The Popcorn Bubble tasted like Pepsi and corn and was rather soggy. The Brownie Bubble was chewy but the Blues ate them all before a proper analysis could be made. The Lava Lamp Bubble was too hot to handle. More experiments will be forthcoming....

Shoe of the Month Shoes of the month submitted by Morwynna....can you say sexy?!? Dovienya was overheard saying, "heels are dangerous, but so am I!"


Recognition of the Month We would like to award Kytheria Sedai for her tireless work in providing recognitions for each of the ajahs and companies....Great job!!

Natalya has kindly provided us with a quote for the month: Quote: "We are being logical here, not diplomatic."


A commentary about New Year's Resolutions--by Elin al'Nia

Quote: Laurie Taylor, writing in the Times Higher Education Supplement on the 8th January 2009, gives the definition of a New Year's resolution as "something that goes in one year and out the other". How cynical can you get?

This year, my resolution was going to be: become healthier and take more exercise. Unfortunately, I spent the New Year lying flat in bed with a bad back, suffering from the remnants of the cold and cough virus that's doing the rounds here so not much chance to be energetic and I screwed up the healthy bit too. In fact, winter’s so cold and damp and there are so many germs going the rounds that I really need lots of warm, comforting food and medicinal alcohol so diets and exercise are right out of the question. Hot toddies and curling up by the fire are infinitely preferable.

Actually, I always find the timing of New Year's Resolutions totally illogical. New Year comes a week after Christmas Day when I'm still munching and slurping my way through the several boxes of chocolates and bottles of wine that I'm invariably given, to say nothing of hoovering up the mountain of leftover food, munchies and snacks which I stocked up on before the holiday in case we had lots of visitors (who either didn't materialise or declined the offer of food as they have greater willpower than I have). I invariably resolve to lose weight each year and am immediately sabotaged by the said leftovers and edible gifts. After all, I can’t throw them away uneaten. Think of all the people in the world who are starving.

Perhaps it would be more sensible for me to make my resolutions at another holiday time, such as Easter. Oh, but there are all the Easter eggs available to eat and Cadbury’s Cream Eggs are in the shops (UK confectionary, extremely sweet and sickly, only sold January to Easter), too much temptation I fear. My birthday? Ah well, being a spring baby it’s traditional for my family to give me said Easter eggs (and aforementioned Cadbury’s Cream Eggs) as birthday persents and it would be rude to refuse them.

Summer might be a good time to make my resolutions, lots of sunshine, salads and opportunities to go walking. And out on the motorbike during the day, with regular stops at the bacon buttie and burger van and in the long summer evenings the walk invariably ends at the pub. The British pub and real ale being declining traditions which I feel obliged to support on patriotic grounds.

Well, there’s always autumn. What’s that? Ah, Thanksgiving (yes, I know that I’m British and we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but I always feel that I need to participate in solidarity with my American sisters). Maybe not. And then it’s Christmas time, with its round of parties and family meals. Never mind, it’ll soon be New Year and a fresh start.

But what about the Christmas leftovers? *Sighs* Maybe Laurie Taylor has a point.


White Lab Report, December 2008

Editor: Keisha al'Benn

Welcome all to the much abbreviated holiday version of the White Lab Report! With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays we chose to keep our newsletter short and sweet this month.

December Birthdays
Our December birthdays include: Loira, Arcadia and Kyria....happy birthday ladies!

Bubble of the Month
The Bubble of the Month is Forest Green. It is rumored to include Green Water which may or may not have strange effects on the females of the site. It has a pleasant minty flavor and displayed healing properties on several victims, er, volunteers that suffered adverse reactions to the previous Red Bubbles.

Shoe of the Month
The shoe of the month is actually a Boot. With all of the snow many of us are experiencing, warm and functional footwear is a must. These are also cute and stylish!


The White Ajah would like to wish everyone a Wonderful Yule Tide Season: Merry Christmas, Happy Hannakah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a Grand Festivus for the Rest of Us!


White Lab Report, November 2008

Editor: Keisha al'Benn

Our first edition was such a hit we decided to do it again!

Since November is the month that Americans celebrate Thanksgiving I would like to begin by listing some blessings. I put out a call for extra special happenings in the past year that we are thankful for but the responses were surprising. Most of the ladies who replied were simply grateful for everyday happenings. I would like to include a quote by Wen Sedai:

Big blessings are fun, and I appreciate them, but they're generally not the ones I count at the end of every day or the ones that make me smile goofily when I'm daydreaming. :)

White Ajah Guests
Our current guests include: Viola, Zimone, Alatariel, and Kaileena

White Ajah Aspirants
These wonderful ladies are Aspiring to EnWhitenment: Arelai, Elin, Enya, Isarma, Sienna, and Dovienya

November Birthdays
Our November Birthdays: Aeryth, Alene, Bridonna

Bubble of the Month
Bubble of the Month: Red
Side effects include memory loss and minor explosions, I do believe Lyara Sedai did have to purchase a new dress and Liiane lost her nose. No one could be enticed to actually try them, this was only from the production of the Bubbles.

Shoes of the Month
The shoes of the month were provided by Lyara, she describes them as "illogically, awesome shoes....quite odd."
Glove Shoes

Bubble Award
We would like to give the Bubble Award to our own Dralyn Sedai for all of the hard work and dedication to her position. She is one who doesn't seem as boisterous as some, but without whom we could not exist.Chomp

Keisha Sedai's Meeting with Brandon Sanderson
Here is an abridged version of Keisha Sedai's meeting with Brandon Sanderson several weeks ago:

Brandon Sanderson is incredibly wonderful, awesome and seemed really easy going. He read an exerpt from one of his books and then signed books and did a Q and A. Much of this many of you may already know such as the NDS (non-disclosure statment) that he has signed that prevents him talking about MoL. What he did say was that we WILL be told who killed Asmodean!! :clap

He plans to turn in the first 400,000 words to TOR by December or January and then another 300,000 words shortly after that. Because of the length MoL he said he is about 80% sure it will be divided into two volumns one being released in November of 2009 and the second around January or February of 2010. However, he is writing it as one book and the speculation about the division derives from the fact book publishers tend to think two $20 books will make them more money than one $30 book. :blink

As far as the two prequels....he has not been approached about those but he said he is willing to write them if he is asked. The Mat and Tuon thing will probably not happen and to be honest do we really want it to? In my opinion I think we can let that one be.

He discussed how his writing style differs from RJ's stating that he is not as detailed oriented and Harriet has asked him to provide more details in some sections. He did say he is writing "more explosive and detailed action sequences" so it appears the detail will be there....just not on what everyone is wearing. Also he said his Point of View and Narrative style was different.

Mr. Sanderson stated that he felt like this "massive, enormous book" was more like seven books because he writes about the Perrin stuff and then the Rand stuff and then the Elayne stuff and so on and so forth.

All of my boys went and they each got a book signed and the younger two got signed posters too! In fact, we were able to purchase the second Alcatraz book that night even though it wasn't due to be released for several more weeks. It was a numbered copy and I think we may have to go buy another copy to read because these are going to be placed in a Keeping! :)

Brandon Sanderson talking about his books
Brandon Sanderson and Keisha


White Lab Report, October 2008

Editor: Keisha al'Benn

We in the White Ajah have come together in a shameless attempt to copy the Brown Ajah with our own version of a monthly newsletter. (Just remember imitation is the highest form of flattery) So pull up a chair, pour a cup of tea and enjoy some enWhitenment!

White Ajah Guests
Currently Guesting with us: Thalya, Willow, Rina, Torrie

White Ajah Aspirants
Our Newest Aspirant: Elin :joy

October Birthdays
Zhareen and Arelwen

Our New Soul
Congratulations to our new Soul!!: Isarma  :clap

Bubble of the Month
Fuchsia (yes I had to look up the spelling
Fuschia Bubble

Many thanks to our darling test subject Locke, he did lose his ears but they eventually grew back with only a slight tinge of pink.

Shoe of the Month
Xavaria provided us with the Shoes of the Month. A lovely Ed Hardy Highrise found at Zappos.com. Comfy enough to scuzz around in, fancy enough for a night out with your favorite gaidin.
Ed Hardy Highrise

Bubble Award
We will be honoring a special TV.net member in each issue. Chomp
This month the distinguished Bubble Award goes to Ninya Sedai of the Blue Ajah! [1]
Ninya goes above and beyond the call of duty in many ways. She is wonderful and talented and we lurve her!!

Elin interviews Amara Sedai
A special thanks to Elin and Amara for the following interview:

You may not know that our own Amara Danicek is currently undertaking volunteer work on the other side of the world to most of us. She has kindly taken time from her busy schedule to share her some of her experiences and answer some questions. I found her replies fascinating and am sure that you will too ...

What’s the background to you being in China? How long have you been there?

I’m here as a volunteer English teacher through an organization called Worldteach. I will also be volunteering at some orphanages as soon as the paperwork is done. I’m in the province of Hunan teaching at a school in a factory town called Tianxin and it doesn’t get much more real China than this. The school I am at does not have a library so I’m currently trying to help them acquire some books since most of my students are too poor to afford English books. I’ve been here for almost three months now and I’ll stay for one or two years.

Are you inspired to travel some more?

I’ve always loved to travel and to get off the beaten path so I think this experience hasn’t so much inspired me to travel more as confirmed my belief that I’ll be quite happy as an expatriate.

What was your initial reaction when you first arrived?

I was pretty numb when I first arrived with how overwhelming everything was. I don’t think it really hit me until I left Changsha for my placement site and was on my own. I love it here but I definitely get days of “what was I thinking?”

Have you any funny stories about your stay?

I’ve got quite a collection of stories. You’ve got to laugh at things here to keep up your mental state. Here are two more recent ones though:

I was travelling for Golden week to Nanjing with another volunteer. We were pretty bored there so we decided to go onto Shanghai the next day. We didn’t want to wait in line at the train station (which could take 4-5 hours) so we were trying to hunt out a ticket agent. We saw a westerner and approached him to ask if he knew where one was. Unfortunately, he was only visiting but turned out to be a French Canadian circus performer. To cut a long story short, after helping him get dinner we snuck into the circus with him, pretending to be performers ourselves and got to meet carnival folk from all over the world.

A more typical story here is that my hot water and been broken for over a week and my toilet has never really worked and so I was waiting to hear from my liaison on when it would be fixed. Mrs. He texted me while I was chatting with Andra, but she did not mention a thing about the water heater or toilet. Instead her text proudly proclaimed: “ the school has decided give you kitchen yard.” Very confused, I asked Andra what a “kitchen yard” might be. She guessed it was a garden where you can grow herbs and vegetables for cooking. My immediate thought was “why does the school think I want to garden? I don’t even have hot water or a toilet!” Sure enough, Mrs. He was knocking on my door about ten minutes later carrying bed sheets, a pot, and a kitchen cleaver. “See,” she said, “new kitchen yard!”

What do you think are the biggest difference from home? And what similarities have you found?

Hygiene and basic manners differ so much here! Little children have slits in their pants and just do their business whenever and wherever they are. People, especially middle-aged men, spit and smoke everywhere, even under signs saying not to. The old people here cut and push in line so you have to be prepared to protect your ribs and be ready to elbow back if you want to get anywhere.

The students here are the same. Our idea of the perfect angelic Chinese student is totally false. They are kids like anywhere and some of them are better behaved than others. Even the most studious student here won’t do a thing you tell them if they think they can get away with it! Really, I think the everyday interactions between people are the same. You really see this if you are a foreign teacher because the kids feel like they can come talk to you about stuff and so end up hearing a lot about fights with parents and friends, unrequited crushes etc.

What do you think the West could learn from Chinese culture?

There is so much we can learn from each other! For one thing, connections mean everything to the Chinese and so they are really loyal to their friends and families here. They don’t just throw things away here. I think that these are things the west really needs to relearn for the sake of society. Furthermore, the respect that families have here for the elderly is outstanding! It is really touching to see the grandparents playing with the children all the time, or teenagers willingly helping their grandfather or grandmother go to the store. People in the west are too afraid of their own mortality and so shy away from the elderly; it’s a shame.

What’s the best thing that you’ve found? And what don’t you like?

I think the people here are the best thing I’ve found. I cannot even begin to express how helpful and friendly everyone here is. They are truly grateful that I’ve come here to teach and go out of their way to invite me to things and make sure I’m part of the community. I’ve only been here for a little while but I’ve already made quite a few close friends.

I don’t like the pollution here. I’m living next to ZhuZhou which, depending on the source, is considered the 13th most polluted city on earth. That’s why it is so important for these kids to learn English so they can have a chance at going to University or at least getting better jobs so they can get out of here.

What’s the food like?

The food in Hunan is famous! It is really potent stuff! Every dish here is laced with hot peppers and other spices, not to mention copious amounts of oil. If it moves, they eat it here. I’ve already eaten some crazy stuff: stinky tofu (which smells like a goat pen), thousand year old egg, entire frogs, turtles.

Have you found any good shoes there?

I’m sure there are if I were to cut off my toes to make my feet fit. Honestly though, I’m living on $300 a month so I don’t really have any extra money for shoes so I don’t even look.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers? If anyone would like to know more about my trip or see pictures they can check out my blog at: Amara's Blog

Also, if anyone is interested in helping or volunteering themselves here is the website to the organization I’m working with: World Teach They do work in developing countries all over the world.

Many thanks, Amara Sedai!

~Interview by Elin al'Nia