Xiao Yang is Circle English's chief administrator, and a lovely lady. This super-quick action mode on my new camera is pretty cool, eh? (Although the resolution's not as good as the regular photos.)

My Propeller 1 students are about 7 or 8 years-old. They're a wild bunch of brats, but I have fun smacking them around. (Just kidding! No, I'm not really kidding.)

My young buddy, Sam. He can cause trouble, but he's also pretty smart.

My Semicircle 3b students are between 14 and 17 years old. That they were all girls made things infinitely easier, I think.

The twins: Mabel (left) and Anna (right). Smart girls!

The Railway Middle School's Junior 1, Class 2 poses out in front of the school's official logo. For some reason, out here in the middle of the desert, it's a boat (the sail is facing towards the camera).

Go crazy! Students in front of a camera lense can't seem to control themselves. That's Baishi Kele (Pepsi Cola) being thrust in my face, by the way.

I like this kid's big ears.

My Junior 1, Class 1 students sit fairly peacefully in their classroom. Junior 1, by the way, is equivalent to America's Grade 6. This is the smartest class of kids I had at the Railway School.

Once I'd loaded 'em up on potato chips and jello, they could no longer stand to stay seated.

A couple weeks before summer vacation, a bunch of new propoganda posters were installed on the outside of the school. This is the view from inside the school. Who wants to see out a window, anyway, when Deng Xiaoping could be staring in at you?

Another one of my classes...these kids were in Junior 2 (Grade 7).

A better look at the face of terror!

She would never stop goofing-off!

I hear that some schools around Korla forbid their students from shaving their heads. No such rules exist at the Railway School!