the last great race on earth

it is march, and so it is time for the iditarod! if you want to follow the race, as i have, they have a lovely website to help: www.iditarod.com. i have long been fascinated by the race, and still want to run it. i caught myself, once last year, telling my class in an introduction that my current job was a teacher, but my dream job was dog sled racer (i decided not to get into musher vocabulary). a team and sled are still on my list of things that i want, along with a kitchen aid mixer, and a library (with spiral staircase and fireplace).

the mushers are about 1/2 way through the race now. i have a reputation for not being much of a sports fan, but what people don't realize is that i am a passionate sports fan! but the sport i follow takes place once a year, in the snow and over the mountains from anchorage to nome, and it only lasts 10 days to two weeks. i could go on about the iditarod and dog sled racing for days, but i'll let you follow the link if you are interested.

back to china, now. this morning, while walking to the breakfast alley, i encountered cherry and her posse. cherry is a little girl who lives in the next apartment building. she is probably 7 or 8 years old. she always has 4 other little girls following her around. she is the leader of the pack, and they run, playing, all over our little neighborhood. cherry, when she sees us, waves, and yells, "HELLO, MY NAME IS CHERRY!! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" ...and the runs away screaming, and the whole pack follows her, shrieking. she has been doing this for months. last week, on friday afternoon, she found my classroom, and peeks her head in the door. "hello, my name is cherry! what's your name?" ...and again, runs screaming down the hall. after i got out of class, she was sitting in the grassy-type area in front of the library with her posse. i waved, and she, again, greets me. this time, as often happens, her posse repeats her, or they just jump up and down saying "cherry, cherry!"

whenever we see cherry, we answer her question, but it never sticks. i am not sure if it is because she only knows the question and doesn't know how to listen for the response, or if she's just to busy laughing hysterically because she has spoken to the foreigners. the other little girls are younger and haven't started their english classes yet.

this morning, though, we had a break through. i responded as always, at times i've tried bits and pieces of the general message, "hi, cherry. my name is kate, it is nice to meet you." the little girls all giggled and i continued on my way. walking back to my apartment the girls were still standing in the street. cherry ran up, and so i braced myself for the usual barrage. instead i get, "hello kay-a!"...and then she ran away screaming. i praised her, and tried to talk to her a little more, but she was laughing and running in circles. good job, cherry!

how fun to be a kid.