There are some days at work when you feel entirely put upon and under-valued, and then there are days like today when the sun is (sort of) shining and your students are enthusiastic and say nice things and it makes you feel like all the crappy marking is worth it! I've just had one student saying thank you for the module I run and how much he's enjoyed it and how much he feels he's learnt, and another student who was very grateful for my help with her dissertation - so grateful in fact that she gave me a gift. Chinese students often give small tokens to their lecturers - I quite enjoy it to be honest. Sometimes the gifts are a bit quirky(commemorative coins for example), but I've also had several rather pretty silk fans which I've used to great effect on the London tube in summer! Today's gift does not seem ideal for summer. It's snack food from the Chengdu province of China where this student comes from and one of them is a lump of dried black yak's meat. Vacuum packed for freshness. Apparently it's good to break up and eat when I'm drinking wine. I'm mildly terrified...but on a day like today, definitely still grateful. It's the thought that counts after all....
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| It literally is a hunk of dried meat. What's that quote from Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy...?? |
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| See - black yak dried meat. I am rather tickled at the last instruction though: "Eat after opened (bulgy)" - what on earth do you suppose that means?? |
Oh wow, are you going to try it? I imagine the wine helps it go down ;-)
ReplyDeleteWere you thinking of Zaphod Beeblebrox: "Here", he said hoiking out a lump of evil smelling meat from a bowl, "have some Vegan Rhino's cutlet. It's delicious if you happen to like that sort of thing."
One of my favourite quotes!