Passing on the Chalice of Slime to the Chinese

People were displeased by my last posting. That is understandable- most of the drivel I wrote about the US was so rote, so typical, so obvious and un-subtle that you'd expect it from a Frenchman. My mom for one pointed out the pollution caused by the Chinese- she noted rivers frothing with poison, maroon-colored stagnant pools, and to her list of horrors I'd like to add vast heaps of carcinogenic white powder, the byproduct of solar panel manufacturing; whole cities forced to wear face masks to be able to breathe; whole regions made desitute by earthquake-causing dam-building efforts. But let's not forget that the US and Western Europe are buying pollution-intensive goods made in China.
Russians also like to smirk at the US and its pollution, but what they often don't realize is that Russia is PAYED TO POLLUTE. Russia signed the Kyoto Protocol, and this means that they have to reduce the countries emission of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels. That's fortunate for Russia, because in 1990 Soviet heavy industry was still intact and polluted far more than current Russian industry. That means Russia has the right to INCREASE its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels, and until the Russians manage to pull that off, they actually get a credit for being below 1990 CO2emissions.
Russians also like to talk about how the US uses so much gas, and pollutes with it, and at the same time want to be loved for providing the oil and gas that we use to pollute. In other words, they want it both ways: get rich selling us pollutants, and complain that we pollute with them.
I did promise to talk about teabag, and will get around to that, but let me say for now that I have two nice new students, 11-year old twin girls who already speak English reasonably well. They are a bit far from the center, which means I have to travel a lot to get to their place, but they are just so nice that I forget about the distance and time and talk about the swings and monkey bars with them. I am lucky to have such a job, although in the long run I am not developing any additional skills directly related to my work.
In other news, I am now taking Spanish classes. I took Spanish for four years in high school, and feel that it is such a low-hanging plum that I'd be a fool not to pluck it. And besides, the other languages I know are at best a craps shoot in terms of money-making utility. I don't feel I am making much progress in Spanish, but I guess that is typical of me: take two classes and bemoan that I haven't progressed yet.