Talent Show

Today was fun. We got to skip two of our afternoon classes because there was a talent show going on! There were many different songs, dances, and plays. Brady and I participated in one with our senior students. I was a little nervous because I had to say a phrase in Chinese. There were tons of students there, so it was a little intimidating. After a lot of practice and writing the phrase on my hand, I think it went well. It was really fun to watch the students ‘do their thing’ and enjoy theater so much.

I am pretty tired and really looking forward to my four day weekend coming up! Interesting side note: they don’t really care about new years coming up this weekend since they follow the lunar calendar, so I am not sure there will be anything going on for new years here.  The good news is my dad and brother will be here for the Chinese New Year. Apparently you don’t sleep at all because there are fireworks continually going off. Not surprising at all.

The last blog about Christmas.

Okay, so Christmas came and went pretty fast here. It was enjoyable, but I did really miss my family. I love whoever invented skype though, because it was wonderful to open my presents with the fam via skype! It makes the world just a little smaller.

My favorite thing I did over Christmas weekend happen on Christmas eve. Brady set up a movie night with the students and I joined. We watched Santa Claus. Always a good movie. Earlier in the night, the students asked if I wanted to go outside and they mentioned something about flying something...and I was confused. So they invited me to their classroom. I walk in and see red lanterns. You write your hopes and dreams on them, light the bottom on fire, and watch them beautifully disappear into the night sky. They blend in with the stars. I am not trying to sound corny,  but it was really one of the coolest things ever.

You can see my signature!

And there it goes!

I really enjoy that class too, so it made it really fun to do with them. I loved it.
I also got to skype with Kara Koerner on Christmas Eve, so that was fun too!
Christmas morning, I got up and IMMEDIATELY went to my computer. I realized I had told my family I would skype with them at 6pm their time, but for some reason I thought my time. I woke up 20 minutes later than I was supposed to, but thankfully they were still there. I opened my presents and just talked with them. It was wonderful and very much appreciated.
After, Brady, Juhnex, and I had a nice brunch. The rest of the day was pretty much devoted to the Christmas party for the international floor of our school. We sang some Christmas carols, played some games, exchanged Christmas presents, had a talent show, and had some food. It was good.

This is my boss's interpretation of Holiday Spirit.

The whole group. When in doubt, flash a peace sign.

My neighbor and Student, Iris, and her cousin Tiger.
I love that I have a tiger next door to me. 

All in all a nice Christmas! I don't know if I need to do another one without my family, but I am very thankful for the people I have met here.
The next day: back to classes. Chinese people don't even get a day off here. I just got one because I am a foreign teacher. Craziness.
This weekend Brady and I will go to Shanghai, so hopefully that will be a blast!
Hope your Christmas was great!

Chinese Christmas parties.

I know it my last post I talked about how it was odd that they do Christmas trees and decorations, but Christmas parties are even more odd.
First, this afternoon, I went to the Kindergarden Christmas show. My roommate is a teacher there, so her brother and I went to watch. They told the whole story of Jesus and it was really ALLL about Jesus. I was really perplexed by this. Don't get me wrong, I think it is great, but there were muslims and hindus in the performance. I asked my roommate about this, and she just laughed and said the parents had no idea what was going on. They just liked seeing their kids on stage. It is interesting to me that this communist country can have way more said about Jesus in school that American schools ever could. Granted, maybe if it was in Chinese people would be upset, but America has much stricter regulations on this stuff. Kind of crazy. What else was funny is that the MC would randomly be like, "everyone stand!" or "everyone on your feet!" and only a few of us would stand. I thought it was humorous because no one knew what was going on, so slowly people started to stand. haha that is probably me every day and I am not aware of it.

Then, tonight I went to another Chinese Christmas party put on by another school. I showed up with my boss and another foreign teacher and his wife. We got to sit in the front row, which was pretty fun. Brady was actually the host of the event. It is still humorous to me that he was the host, when he has no relation to the school or anyone that goes there, whatsoever. It was a fun opportunity and he did a nice job though! The party was basically a talent show. The acts were all in Chinese, and there were 16 different acts. There was one English Christmas song, and other than that everything was Chinese and not related to Christmas at all. There was a Chinese santa though. The was a little boring to me because I didn't understand anything that was going on, but the Chinese people seemed to enjoyed it, so that is good. The funniest act to me was one that was entitled "Jazz music." I thought it would be a saxophone player or something. Nope, it was a girl with super provocative clothing dancing like she was in an american music video. I just got a kick that it was labeled as Jazz music.

Well, I am off to skype, and then go to sleep. When I wake up it will be Christmas Eve!

Christmas time in Keqiao City

I wish it would snow, but it is not cold enough here to snow. Oh well, apparently you can buy fake snow here, so maybe I'll get some for Christmas.
I think its a little funny they celebrate Christmas here. Very few people, if any, believe in Jesus, but stores want to capitalize  on another holiday so people will spend money. They have Christmas trees at all the malls and shopping centers, and sometimes even a weird santa next to it.
The kids have really been getting into the "Christmas spirit." I have been showing them a christmas song a day, and they seem to really be enjoying that. I think I am enjoying it more. It is like a little piece of home. Two of my classes have gone all out for Christmas decorations. One is really classy and neatly decorated, and the other is like walking into the jungle. The amount of craziness in the room is ALMOST too much for me to handle.
A few days ago, some of the senior students asked Brady and I to be in their "drama" type thing. Our parts were pretty easy to learn. Apparently it is a school-wide talent show. We had try-outs tonight. It was fun because it seemed like all my students were there, so I felt like I knew a lot of people! That is the first time that I have walked somewhere and knew a bunch of people, so that was really fun for me. Brady and I are a little confused as to what the play about. We are basically the only English parts, but we do hear the word Obama a few times. Maybe they are making fun of us? America? One of them tried to tell me that Kevin, one of our students, is saying that Obama is his friend. Seems a little ridiculous. Brady had to speak a little Chinese at one point, and the crowd went WILD. they loved it. It was fun to see!
Apparently on Christmas eve, they eat apples to bring them peace. So that will be something funny to do on Christmas Eve. It seems like this will be a very busy weekend, but very enjoyable nonetheless! I am excited for the two Christmas parties we have this weekend.
I pulled my bosses name for secret santa. I was perplexed when thinking about what to get an older Chinese man that seems to have everything he wants. So I got him tea. He gave Brady and I some tea, that was very different tasting from anything I had ever tried, so I got him some tea that the sales lady told me older men like. Hopefully he likes it!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas, classes, and a haircut.

As I start writing this, I am sitting in my room, in my new Chinese pajamas, drinking a cup of decaf coffee, and wearing a very humorous face mask that is supposed to be an exfoliant, but looks more like a hockey mask on me. I thought I would write about a few day to day things.
Firstly, classes are going well. I showed the movie Elf to one of my classes and that was a success. I am enjoying my classes on the international floor. While some days are harder then others depending on the students desire to learn, how many classes I have, or any other factors that go into my day, I am enjoying it. The days I have 5 or 6 classes are harder for me, but definitely still manageable.
One of my classes, Senior 3 (meaning they are in 12th grade) got 4 more boys in it this week. I believe that brings the total up to 12 students. That is by no means a big class, it just means I need to change somethings around.
Senior 2 (11th grade) got one new boy. You would think that adding one person wouldn't really change anything, but when you only have three girls in the class to begin with, adding one person, let alone a boy, changes a lot.
A-level classes are going a lot better! I am enjoying the students a lot more. We are having fun together and learning a lot!
Secondly, Christmas is coming! I got a package in the mail the other day from my lovely mother, and I am SO EXCITED. It has Christmas presents! I really want to open it, but I know that this would make my Christmas less exciting, so that is not going to happen. There are cute stockings too! For Christmas, my boss John, invited Brady and I to a Christmas party on the 23rd. I have no idea who or what it is for, but I am thinking it should be a good time. I'm pretty sure the only reason we were invited is because we are either white or american, maybe both. We also are going to plan a Christmas party for the international students. We are trying to figure out what we will do, but no matter what I think it will be a good time. Also, we are going to have a staff christmas party. I got everyone these cute snowflake boxes that I am going to fill with candy and give to them for their Christmas present. I am really excited! It is nice that I will be busy having fun!  I also decorated my apartment for Christmas.
Thirdly, I got my haircut. By a person that doesn't speak any English. It was humorous. Maybe a little shorter than I wanted, but overall I like it. My roommate and I went together. It was good to have some girl time.
Fourthly, Brady and I went to Shaoxing because he discovered a grocery store with a large amount of international food items! It was really fun! I got some stuff that I would get at home, so that is a treat!
Fifthly, my dad and my brother, Nick, will be here in less than a month! I am SO excited and can't wait for them to get here!!!! We will have such a good time! Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai, watch out! I get three weeks off for the Chinese new year, so it is great that I can have so much time with them!! I seriously can't wait!

Well, that is all on my random thoughts this lovely evening. It hasn't snowed here yet, but I am hoping it will soon. There is frost on the ground every morning, so it kind of seems like snow.

Happy Christmas Season!

Hong Kong!

So we've been back from the great place of Hong Kong for awhile, but I am finally getting around to writing about it!
Instead of flying directly into Hong Kong, we flew into Shenzhen, which was 1/4th of the cost. Because we flew into the neighboring city, we had quite a way to go. It ended up taking like 3 1/2 hours to get to our hotel from the airport, taking trains, but it was a good way to get into the city and thankfully it wasn't too crazy. We had to do customs in the middle of a train station, and that went smoothly as well.
When we got the place with tons of hotels, we were pretty tired. (Side note: we had already booked a hotel for Sunday/Monday, but our boss said that we could get it cheaper if we just showed up and bargained with them. So that is what we did for Friday/Saturday.) Since we didn't have a place to stay, we were kind of confused. The place we were at was called the Chungking Mansions. It was really really crowded and there were tons of "knock-off" stores selling random things. Everyone wanted to know if we wanted a cell phone, purse, suit, etc. We talked to a few people but none of them were as cheap as our boss said we could get. So, one man was pretty cheap so we decided to follow him up to the 6th floor to see the hotel. It was not very nice, but we took it. It was a place where you wake up, and you just feel dirty. Oh well. Thankfully Hong Kong is an exciting city, so you don't hang out in your hotel room.

View from the boardwalk.

Saturday morning came, and I had already made plans to meet up with  Sally Carlson, a girl that i was friends with in Middle School, but hadn't seen since. So Brady and I walked on the board walk. It was really pretty and relaxing. When we met up with Sally and it was really fun! We went out to a nice lunch and then went to a huge market where they sold a bunch of random stuff. I got a new pair of sunglasses. They are the same pattern that mom always wears, I like them. After that we just kind of walked around town and had a good time.

Sally and I. It is so fun she lives here!

View from Victoria peak

Sunday Brady was sick in the morning, so we didn't do too much. I slept in, which I appreciated. We also changed hotels to the one that I booked online, and it was so great! There actually really wasn't anything remarkable about it, but it was clean and had a great view, so I was happy. Sunday afternoon we went to check out a computer store, walked around, had subway for dinner. I really appreciated having a "western meal" it hit the spot. The super cool thing that we did on sunday was go up to "Victoria peak." It is the highest point in Hong Kong and it has a huge roof where you can see so far. It is fun to see everything during the day, and beautiful at night.

View from the other side of Victoria Peak

Monday: The reason we came here. We had to go apply for our work visa! We got up pretty early, and went to get in line at the visa place so we didn't have to be with a huge number of people. I think we were like the 16/17th people in there, we had all our documents that our boss gave us, and we were ready. They call my number, I go up there, and the lady was like "where is your medical report? You have to have a medical report." and I was like, "Oh it must be in there. My boss prepared all the documents and I got the medical exam, so it should be there." "Nope, you have until noon to get your documents faxed here, otherwise you can come back tomorrow." Brady was also missing his medical report. This is semi humorous because another teacher that went to Hong Kong 2 weeks before was also missing something. I figured since that teacher had to delay his trip by a day that my boss would make sure all our stuff was together. Nope. Right before I left, I went to his office, at the request of the secretary, and asked if he wanted to double check the documents. "He said no, no it is all there, I promise."

Bruce Lee: loved by all asians.

Praise the Lord that the other teacher had given us an international sim card to call the office. The only problem was the secretary and my boss were gone. So, with a lot of people's help, I got my document faxed to the visa place at 11:56, and Brady got his shortly after.
It was a stressful morning, but it all worked out!
That afternoon we ate lunch in a park, and then just walked around the Island. We went to a nice dinner and just hung out.
Tuesday, we went to pick up our visa, went on  a hunt for a bakery at the request of our boss, and got on the train to go back to Shenzhen. Our flight was delayed by an hour and a half, so we got back to the school around 11:30 pm. It was a long trip, but definitely an enjoyable city.

More time in Hangzhou...

Me, Jhunex (brady's roommate), Rashid, Gregory, and Olga.

This past Sunday my whole teaching staff went to Hangzhou. It was really fun. We went to one of our A-level student's restaurant. The house itself was owned by his great-grandfather, and then Billy's mother transformed it into a restaurant. It was in a valley, so there were huge hills all around with tea bushes growing on them. It is supposedly the best tea in China, and it was pretty good, but there is a lot of tea that claims to be the best in China. It reminds me of Elf when Will Farrell walks into the diner that says "worlds best coffee" and excitedly congratulates them. Anyways, we were at the restaurant for awhile. We just sat, drank tea, ate snacks, and chatted with the parents, students, and teachers of A-level. We were outside in the beautiful landscape and it was a sunny day, so it was pretty great. After we had done that for a few hours, we moved into the dining area for lunch. They gave us so much food! One thing that is fun about the chinese dining experience is that they give you so many dishes in the middle of the table, and you just share everything. Usually I like that, but since one of the teachers has had the flu pretty bad for awhile, I was extra careful about watching what he ate, and eating the other stuff. Convenient he only eats fish, nuts, and potatoes. Or at least that is what it seems like. When you are eating, celebrating and saying the chinese equivalent of "cheers" is very important, so what seemed like one by one, the parents would come to our table, say something in chinese and then we would all drink our glass. I was drinking coconut milk, which is pretty great. That kept happening, and then we realized that it was polite if we do it back, so we went around to the other tables, just saying "thank you" because that is the only thing we can really communicate to the parents who only speak chinese. After a very filling and fun meal, we went into the heart of Hangzhou and hiked up a large hill to the top which had great rock formations that you could climb all over. The hill itself was some sort of cool historic point, but not being able to read chinese I kind of missed that, so I just took in the beautiful views and was very thankful for the opportunity to be there. It was fun to hang out with my students this way and get a glimpse into what their family life is like.

My Boss John and me at the top of the hill.

On the way home from Hangzhou, Brady, Junex, and I were all in the back of the minivan and passed out for the hour trip. We were tired, but all in all it was a really nice day and a fun way to understand Chinese culture a little more.

The whole group!

A tower. It looks cool, not sure what it is though!

November in a nutshell

Well, November has been flying by! I can't believe its almost thanksgiving. I'm sad I won't be home to be with family, but on the plus side, Brady and I get to go to Hong Kong on Friday to get our work visa. We will be there for about 4 days, so I am really excited for that! I am trying to research what we should do there and there is a ton of stuff! Seems like the views are amazing, but it is a very expensive city. Should be fun no matter what!
The last month has consisted of a pretty normal routine. We teach two weeks in a row, and then have a weekend off. This weekend if my weekend off. Yesterday we had a man visit from England and we all went out to lunch. It was fun! There were probably about 12 of us, and we got invited to go to the city of Nimbo (I think) in three weekends for a fun party/bonfire/swimming/hiking weekend. I don't really know why we were invited, but it is through the company that the man from England came with. The women seemed super nice and their English was good, so why not? Another Chinese teacher was invited too, so that will make it more fun too! I hope it actually happens.
Over the past few weekends we have gone to Hangzhou two times. One time was to specifically give a presentation at another school on Eau Claire. The other time was to go on a tour, put on by Jack, and then do English exams for the other school again. We went around West lake, which is absolutely beautiful, and the took us out to huge meals. It was really fun to seem more of China and also be with people who speak English. There was a girl whose english name is Michelle, and she spent the day with us. She is super sweet and great to talk with. We also got to go to the countryside, which was nice because we have been in cities since we got here. Even though we did some work, it was really fun.
Tomorrow we will head to Hangzhou again, but this time with all our staff. There are 10 of us all together and we are doing some "team bonding." I think I will laugh a lot of the time because it is a funny bunch of people. Should be a good time though. It seems like everyone loves Hangzhou.
Recently I have gotten really sick of noodles. I have been cooking my own meals, and it is hard to cook when you can't read any ingredients because everything is in Chinese, so all my meals have been super simple. So, Brady's roommate took me to buy a rice cooker, so that is a lot better! Also, Brady and I have been cooking some meals together because he really enjoys cooking and is good at it, so it is a treat for me!

Well, Happy Thanksgiving!

Chinese TV debut

I apologize for the lack of post-age recently. I don't really have an excuse except that I just didn't really feel like it. These last two weeks have been pretty eventful though!

The beginning of this story starts out on a Wednesday. Brady and I were just sitting in our office doing work, when our boss John comes in and asks us if we want to get paid to dance on TV. I am picturing an event and we are just the token white people in the crowd, so I was like, yeah, that sounds great! Brady said "yeah, we can't lose in this situation!" Which we would later laugh about.

Friday evening comes, I just got back from playing ball games with the students, when John comes and finds me, telling me that we need to go to the directors hotel room to practice our lines. WHAT? WE HAVE LINES? yes we do. It is all about how much we love China and how we want to make our fortune here. We get there, meet the main actor guy, who does not speak ANY english, but is still directing us in when we should speak. Praise the Lord we had voice overs and did not have to learn the actual chinese words. That would have been a huge fail. Brady and I leave that night not exactly sure what is going on, but we were fine with it.

Fast forward: Its sunday night, we are just hanging out doing our own thing, when John tells us that we need to go practice. We go to a theater that has a lot of seats in it to practice coming onto stage. WE ARE IN A CLEAR BOX AND A MAGICIAN WILL GET US OUT. that is so weird. Brady was hidden. At first I was super pumped, thinking that I got the better end of the deal because I didn't have to climb underneath the box and be really uncomfortable. These thoughts were short-lived due to the fact that I needed to be waving furiously at the audience and be the person that everyone is looking at, while I am sitting (seemingly) alone in a clear box. Anyways, we practiced with the magician who was very nice. It was a funny experience though. My knees were pretty bruised the next day.

It is now Wednesday, the day of our performance. We got out of our teaching duties, which was a nice break. We show up at 9 am and we see all the back up dancers and the people that we will be dancing with. No one speaks any english. At all. It was fun. Brady had two guys that he worked closest with, and I was with two girls. They basically led us to do whatever we needed to do. It was fine. Then, we had a lunch break. After the lunch break we had our dress rehearsal. The girls that I was working closest with had on prom dresses. I was in a t-shirt and jeans as desired by the director. Kind of weird. Everyone looked good though! Aside from Brady and I and our typical American attire.

The show started at 7:30 so we had to get there at 5. It was a long time, but it was fun. The people there were really nice. Our boss, John, really wanted to go out front as people were getting here. I innocently thought we were just going for a walk. Little did I know he wanted to do some marketing for our school. So we were out front and journalists came up to us asking questions and wanting pictures. I felt a little weird. At least they spoke english though!

The show started and thankfully we were the second act. We got out of the magic box without a hitch and it went relatively smoothly. People kept telling us we did well, so we thought that it must have been pretty good. Brady found the video online. It is the most embarrassing thing you will ever see. I was crying I was laughing so hard. We look ridiculous. All-in-all though, it was super fun and I am really happy we did it!

This is Brady and I with our boss, John, who set this whole thing up for us. I think he was  the most excited.

Brady and I with Dong and Matthew (the magician)

Where we were performing.

This is us during our performance. hahaha 

This is us making our entrance out of the magic box. Obviously.

Brady uploaded the video to his blog, so if you want, check it out here: http://dontdrinkwhiskeyitstoorisky.blogspot.com/2011/11/firsts.html

It is at the end of the post! Hope you enjoy :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

Happy Birthday Dad! I hope your day is better after watching this. This is one of my classes. They are seniors in high school and really great to work with. Please note that on the board to the left is a drawing of my face that one of the students drew. It says "father I love you." haha i love these students and their peace signs. Hope you enjoy!

A little adventure and getting siiiiick.

After we got back from Wuhzen, life was pretty relaxing. I did some lesson planning, went on a fun adventure around Keqiao. It was a good time. We found an indoor ski place, what?! Definitely going to need to try that before I leave. We also climbed a hill, got a little lost, but had a good time just exploring. I also skyped with Kara Koerner, which I really enjoyed!

So Saturday morning, the first day back from our Holiday. I woke up and it was just a normal morning. I drank some coffee, ate some oatmeal, and got ready to go teach. I had a class at 7:30 that morning, so I arrived in the office around 7:10. While walking out of my apartment, I started to feel dizzy and saw some spots. I knew that this was not good, but I needed to teach. I went to class and it got very complicated. I couldn't read my lesson plan or book, so needless to say, class was probably less than good. Oh well. After class I ran into Brady, who asked how I was doing, I said that I was not doing well. Thankfully, he mentioned to my boss that I was not feeling well, and my boss advised me to go lay down. Right when I got up to my apartment I threw up a few times. No fun. I had a pounding headache and could not sleep after that. Maybe I just needed some rest? I strongly believe that it was the fish that I ate the night before. Whoops. I taught classes in the afternoon, because my stomach wasn't feeling queasy anymore. Thankfully, Gregory took over the "ball games" for me that Brady and I are supposed to do together, so I didn't have to go run around.

The next day, I woke up and felt great though, so thankfully it was quick!

A little travel...

 So before I came to China, I was told I was going to be placed in Xiamen, which obviously did not happen. There is one other person from EC teaching in China through the same program as Brady and I. Her name is Sarah. She was placed in Xiamen. This week we had a national holiday. Sarah was traveling with her roommate, Ivy, to Ivy's hometown. We thought it would be fun to all meet up. So Brady and I decided to join them in Tiongxang, which is right next to the ancient city of Wuzhen. We really left everything until the last minute, and it really could not have gone smoother. One of the other teachers, Thistle, was going to the bus station, so she helped us get our ticket and on the bus. We got there, borrowed a phone from strangers, and met up with Sarah and Ivy. It was fun to be with another American.

We got to our hotel, which was super nice, and centrally located to Ivy's house, so that was great too. We set out to explore the town. In this city there were a lot more people that spoke english too, so that was fun.  We stopped, got some tea/lattes, went to walmart, experienced the coolest dinner. The dinner was fondue, but really fun. One broth was spicy, the other one was mild. Ivy's friend Sophia joined us. It was a good time. After we went to a tea place where we got some "jasmine pearl tea" very good. They also served snacks like dried pork and crab, that was a little much for me after dinner.

The next morning we got up to experience the great city of Wuzhen! It was really cool. They call it the Chinese Venice. It was really pretty. Ivy's parents bought us our tickets, which was incredibly nice. We went through a lot of museums, and my favorite one was the foot-binding museum. There was so much information and shoes that people would wear when they got their feet to only be 3 inches. Ow. We also saw an ancient chinese shadow puppet show. I really enjoyed that. Ivy's parents made us a delicious lunch to eat at her grandparents, and it was so great. It was also fun to be in a Chinese house. After that, back to the Ancient city, where we explored more, made our way through the herds of people, and just had a good time. There were fun snacks to try: goo stuff, sunflowers, among other things. It was a good cultural experience.

That night, Ivy's parents, who don't speak any english, took us to a family restaurant. It was so good. We finished it all. After that,  we went back to the hotel and I fell asleep pretty fast.

The next morning, we ate a great breakfast at the hotel, and then went to the train station to figure out our way home. Ivy helped us get a ticket, and then we said our goodbyes. We met some super nice people once we got on the train, Elaine and Jake (their english names) Jake is an engineer, and Elaine is studying law. Their english was super good, and they really helped us take a lot of time off of our traveling. It was great. They were fun to talk to as well. 

All in all, it was a fun trip. A good experience as well. Something that has been consistent since we have arrived in China is how nice everyone we have run into has been. Not only do people go out of their way to help us, but they also will pay for us to do things. Even if we don't know them. It is crazy to me. They will go so far our of their way.  I want to be like this. It has been such a blessing and so much fun. They also really love America. Whenever we say we are from America, people get really excited. It is nice.

This morning, back in Keqiao, I was doing my laundry. I was checking to see how it was drying on the rooftop and I locked myself out of my room. Not the first time, but my roommate had to fly back to the Philippines to get her visa, so I had no way to get back in. A man from the security office came up, kicked down my door, and just started working on a new lock. Whooops. I felt really bad. He just laughed. I think I may have increased the "stupid american" thought a little more here with that.  Oh well. I will try not to lock myself out in the next two weeks. 

Break Time!

So today is the first day of the National Holiday. As far as I can tell, its like a fall-break, I don't think there is a cultural holiday or anything like that. We have off until next saturday which is really nice. Today, the new Chemistry/Math teacher comes from Pakistan. I am excited to meet him. It will be nice to have all the teachers here. And, now I won't be the new person, so that is also good! All the foreign teachers are going out to a lunch tomorrow, so that should be fun as well.
Classes have been going really well. I teach IELTS (the exam to go to school in other countries) to two grades. So my main goal is to get them to speak as much english as possible and correct the grammar and teach them new words and such. One grade only has 3 girls in it, they are the "juniors" of the school.  I really enjoy them. Then there are the seniors, who have 11 students. They have a lot of fun and get a little rambunctious at times, but they are really fun to work with. The last class is A-level. I believe they are the smarter sophomore level students, so they get a ton of homework and kind of have attitudes, but I enjoy them nonetheless. The content for A-level is the least fun to work with, so I am trying to find ways to make my lesson plans more exciting. I think one of my biggest challenges in teaching is the fact that in each class, there are all different levels of students. Some students can speak english really well, and others find it hard to piece together a sentence. It is hard finding the right pace: challenging the students that already understand and know the information, while not leaving anyone behind. I think this will be a continual problem that I work on.
Last night, three of the Philippine teachers were making dinner and invited Brady and I to join. It was super good and a nice relaxing night. I went to bed around 10:30 but woke up to really loud noises at about 3:30am. I look out my window and there are TONS of fireworks going off. Maybe it is for the national holiday? or maybe just because its friday. I will never know, but it was pretty to see. A little confusing at 3:30 in the morning too.
It has been very rainy here. I believe it has rained everyday this week except for one. Today there is a breach in the rain as well, so I am doing some long awaited laundry. We dry our clothes outside, so the weather is a key factor in when to do laundry.

medical exam!

So today was the infamous medical exam. I had heard really bad things and some not-so-bad things. I am happy to report that it wasn't quite as bad as I had anticipated. First, we got there and took some pictures, then after a 3 minute wait, we were brought upstairs to give blood samples. They usher you right in and waste no time. Praise the Lord they got it on the first try for me, so that was relatively easy. Still gross to watch the blood flow out of you Then we had to give a urine sample, just typical medical stuff. Side note: for bathrooms, it is the typical whole in the ground, bathroom. It is tiled so that is nice, but no toilet bowl. Next, we had to go up a floor and get our eyes checked. My vision is not as good as it used to be. Oh well. After that, I went into a room where the woman did not speak english. She motioned for me to lay down and rubber her hands all over my stomach. It tickled so much! She was laughing at me. I like to think we bonded in that moment. Next, I went to another room entitled surgery. This was the most bizarre moment, they put metal things around one foot and both arms, then proceeded to rub some type of goo on my stomach, and just waited. I just laid there on the table, waiting, while she was just looking at me, also waiting for the test to be done. I was happy to get out of that one. Next, I had an ultra sound, a first for me. I didn't realize they looked more at your rib cage then your stomach. Based on the movies I have seen, I was anticipating the goo to be a little colder than it was, so that was a pleasant surprise. With that, I went to get my x-rays done and now all I have to do is wait for it to come back to I can apply for my work visa in Hong Kong! I am excited that I get to go to Hong Kong and the school is paying. Not too shabby.

Exploration and getting lost!

This weekend was a super fun weekend!
It started Thursday night when Brady and I went to dinner. We sat by our central manager, John, who told us he was going to take us to the lake. So we get in John's car and go to the lake. After walking around for a little bit, he then told us he was going to take us to a movie.  So we go to the mall. He picks out the movie and does everything, and I had no idea if the movie was going to be in English or Chinese. The movie wasn't going to start for a little bit, so we walked around the mall. He showed us where he gets his haircut, and told us that he prefers girl 509. haha interesting. We get to the movie and find out that we are going to see the movie Sanctum. It was about getting trapped in a cave. It was a very poorly made movie, but entertaining nonetheless, except when I girl was very graphically dying. I did not enjoy that portion. Before the movie started, a man turned around, pointed to a camera, asking if he could take a picture of Brady and I. haha that was funny to me.

The next day, we teach classes for a half day, and then John takes us and Gregory and Olga to Hangzhou to do some sightseeing. We get dropped off at the West lake, which is famous for its beauty (and it is very beautiful.) When we get there, we see other white people, so that is kind of fun. Aaand there is a starbucks, even more fun! So we get starbucks and sit in there for awhile. I really enjoyed that. Then we start walking around the lake, deciding how we want to get to the island. We first see a private boat, and since none of us speak Chinese, Gregory calls Tina, a Chinese teacher, who translates for him. It is pretty funny because he will call Tina, explain the situation, and then just hand his phone over to whoever he needs something from. I laughed pretty hard at this. We didn't end up going on the private boat, but the public one. The island was nice to walk around, very commercialized, but still fun.
We then get off and go to Carrefour, which has an international foods isle, where I bought coffee. So fun. They don't drink real coffee here, only nescafe. Very bizarre. Anyway, then tried to find the train station, which proved to be hard when you don't speak the language. We made our way there though, using the public bus system, where I stood across from a lady who was breast feeding and attempting to have a conversation with me. We got to the train station, where we were going to meet John, and decided to get some food. The food was disgusting. It was funny because we payed a lot for it (relatively speaking), and some of the meat just tasted like dog food. We laughed the whole meal though, so that was good. Then, John kept pushing back the time, so we walked around for awhile and laughed a ton. It was a good night.

Brady and I decided to check out shaoxing the next day, a city that is also near us. We left around 1, and right away I mixed up the bus we should get on. Thankfully it ended two stops later, but it was a funny way to start the trip. We figured out the right bus, and after we were on the bus for about 40 minutes, there was a really nice couple who showed us how to get to the train station. We got there and walked around. There were a lot of nice places in Shaoxing, so it was fun to walk around and explore. Around 5 we decided to try and head back. We thought we could figure out how to get back, but it proved to be a lot more difficult than we anticipated! We kept walking, but didn't really know where we were going. We would ask people, but most didn't speak english, and a police officer even pointed us in the wrong direction. We were really far away. Two hours later, we finally got in a taxi to try and get to the train station. It was successful in getting us there, but we missed the bus we wanted to get on. So we stood and waited hoping that there was another bus, but 20 minutes later there still wasn't one. I went and asked a high school couple if they spoke english to enquire about a taxi, and randomly enough, the girl next to them was going to our city too, but didn't speak any english! So we followed her to the next bus stop, even though we couldn't communicate, and we got on a different bus, which she payed for (so nice) and then we switched buses on our way home, to the bus that we originally wanted, that she also payed for! So sweet! She helped us get back and it was just so nice. I think people are brought up here to just be that kind and it is more expected. Either way, I am super thankful for her. We got back at like 8:45 and went for a nice meal. It was a packed day. Sunday was very restful, preparing for the week! So that was wonderful!
Starting friday it is a national holiday, so we have off until Saturday, which is when classes resume! So great!

Settling in.

So, now that I have been here over a week and a half, I feel like I have more of a routine. It is really interesting to me that it feels so normal to be here. Yesterday I went outside to play frisbee with Brady, and the kids had never really seen a frisbee before, so it was a really funny experience. If you threw the disc towards them, they would yell and all try and catch it at the same time. I was very humorous. Some students were super good though, so I think Brady is pretty pumped about that. While we were throwing the disc around, I noticed some students were playing soccer. They were part of the international portion of the school, so I knew that they spoke at least a little english. I asked if I could play and they let me! It was super fun/funny. The kids are so cute it is ridiculous. If you kick the ball, every single person will go running toward it, and all of the girls stop before they are going to kick the ball. It was a blast to be a part of! The boys got a little more into it, well, at least as into it as you can be while wearing jeans and blazers. Students here don't change when they are going to work out. They play in their clothes that they wore to school and then complain about being hot. Very funny to me.

Just as I was getting used to my schedule, it has been changed. It has been nice because we have had about half of the hours that we were supposed to, so I have enjoyed that. Starting next week though, we will be full time. We had a department meeting today about Brady and I switching around our schedule. I am now responsible for the speaking and writing portion of their studies in relation to the IELTS. In China, in order to go to University anywhere else, you have to pass a huge test, IELTS, so I am preparing them for that. Brady is going to finish up what we have been doing, SuperGoal, and after that he is going to teach them math and science, which would be super difficult to do when it is not their first language. I really can't imagine.
I am excited that we each have our own thing to do now, it will be so much easier for lesson plans and prepping our stuff. Aaanddd I get to still teach my favorite class. Three of the cutest girls you will ever meet. We all sit at a table together and go through work books. They are so bright and fun that we have a blast together. I will take a pic soon and show you them!

This weekend we have off, so who knows what we will do? Maybe go to Hangzhou or Shaoxing.

fireworks and bike shopping

This weekend was a semi-uneventful weekend due to the fact that we teach two weekends a month, and this weekend was one of those weekends. I only had two classes though, so it wasn't bad. 

We did have time to go and look for bicycles though! While shopping, I like to make decisions quickly, I know what I like, so I can just get in and get out instead of lingering over things. This is not always a good thing, but its the way I generally make decisions. Brady on the other hand takes his time making decisions. Which is a good thing, just hard for me when I am used to making them quicker. So now we  have looked at bikes for about 3-4 hours combined. Still no bike. I probably could have bought 5 different bikes by now, but Brady was unsure of which one to get, not that he ever stopped me from getting one, I just didn't want to end up with a horrible bike for more money and have him find a sweet bike for really cheap.  I appreciate this because I know I will end up with a better bike, but last night while we were shopping, i hit my point of being done and just needed to head back.

The good news is that while bike shopping, I made some Chinese friends. They did not speak any english whatsoever, but I pulled out my handy-dandy Mandrin book, given to me by the lovely Leslie Ballantine, and i was saying phrases with them. We were laughing quite a bit because my Chinese is so poor, but I had fun nonetheless. There were two Chinese women that kept talking to me even after I said "wo bu mingbai" which is "I do not understand." I laughed a lot and they just kept taaaalking and talking. I like the people at Wanda (the huge shopping mall across the street.)

You may be wondering why fireworks is in the title of this post. Something to note if you ever come to China. There are fireworks that are shot off at the oddest times. One Tuesday morning, I was woken up to fireworks at 5:30 am. It was not a holiday, it was just a tuesday. I am convinced that Chinese people just sit there and when they decide they don't know what to do, they think "maybe I should light off fireworks." And that is a totally socially acceptable thing to do that early in the morning. And at night, and mid-day. It is just a regular part of life.

This weekend I also went on a cleaning-spree. The chinese standards of cleanliness are nothing like the American standard. When I got here I was trying to take everything in, so I did not notice the nastiness of my apartment, but man did I ever see it this weekend. I am quite confident that this place hasn't been cleaned in about 10 years, so me and my roommate are trying to bleach the whole apartment. We got quite a bit done, but it takes time! I got some floor cleaner last night and some window cleaner, so hopefully this place will be a lot cleaner in the next few days!

I also tried playing Badminton. This is a funny sport. I was playing with the only other white lady here, Olga, who doesn't speak English. There was tons of wind, so no matter where we hit it, the ball-type thing would go flying. We were laughing SO hard. All the asian students were standing around watching us and I have no idea what they were saying, but I was enjoying myself. Then I went to play basketball with some students and Brady. Everyone was really into it. When people get competitive in sports now, I just can't get as into it. So I was not a valuable part of my team. I did have fun though! I accidently scored a point for the wrong team. Oh well haha. There was another girl playing, and she was funny so we would just laugh together.

Here it is, update from the airplane until now....

View from my room

This is the "inside of the school" even though there isn't any roof

Same place, better view. This is from my apartment looking out.

My bed, provided by the school. This city is known for their textiles, so I think all of this was made locally- meaning the sheets and bed spread.

View from my desk

Summing up the past week: 
     
     The flight over was long, but thankfully uneventful. We had tv screens right in front of us, so we could pick whatever movie we wanted to watch, which was a huge blessing on a 15 hour flight to Shanghai. I sat in the middle seat next to Brady, who is also from UW-EC, and then I also sat next to a really nice girl named Marta. She had already taught English in China for two years, and is now going to grad school in China. Her program is all in Chinese and she taught herself. Wow.

     The past week has been nuts. Once we got to Shanghai we met Jack, who Brady and I have been communicating with all along, and went to dinner. I STINK at using chopsticks. the people around me were laughing with me. Just kidding, they were probably laughing at me.  I was laughing too. That night, Jack told Brady and I that we were no longer going to Xiamen, but now we were going to go to Hangzhou, a high school. So that was a shocker. I am in a small city for China, so like a few million haha. It is a boarding school of 3,000 so that is interesting. We live on campus on the 6th floor, which I like to refer to as the penthouse suite. I have my own room, which I love! Since being here there have been a lot of new experiences. The people here are really nice. There is one Russian couple here, otherwise, everyone else is Asian. Because this is a smaller city, the english here isn't too good, so I am very thankful that Brady is here so I can have a normal conversation without trying to describe what different words mean. 

     Since there are literally no young white people here, Brady and I get inquisitive looks wherever we go. They aren't very subtle either. It is kind of funny, but sometimes you just want to go places without everyone knowing that you have no idea what is going on.

     There are a few people here my age, and they speak decent english, but not really enough to have a deep friendship. My apartment-mate is Janice. She is nice and from the Philippines. Her english is great! She teaches kindergarden. She is probably one of the funnier people I have met. Her brother is Brady's roommate. He teaches Math.

     I went to a karaoke birthday party for one of my students and it was really funny. I sang a bit so watch out, I am becoming a new woman. hahaha they only like love songs over here, so it is pretty funny. Karaoke parties seems pretty big over here, so maybe this will be a normal thing? They seem to enjoy the classics, like backstreet boys, and for some reason they love lady gaga.

     I found out I can't come home in January, and I was bummed about that, but what can you do. 

     So I am a teacher, which I didn't think would ever really happen. It is difficult trying to figure out what kind of teacher you want to be, how to have the students understand you, and make sure that you are getting through to them. They are really fun to work with though. Funny enough, I was sitting in my office and I was thinking to myself how this is the easiest job I have had in a while, relatively speaking. Youthworks was way more stressful, 18 credits and being an RA was way more stressful too. So it is nice to have a job that is not quite as hectic. It will still be challenging, but for some reason, it just doesn't seem as all around stressful, more just 9-5. It probably is because those other jobs permeated my whole life, where as this is over when it is done for the day. I like it.

      The food here is so different. We have been taken out to a few nice meals, and they love their salt! I tried the stinkiest food I have ever encountered in my life because Brady said that we would try anything, and I legitimately thought I was going to barf. Without a doubt the nastiest food I have ever eaten in my life. I love all the veggies though!  My boss made us some dumplings one day, and I loved them. Dumplings, rice, and veggies are the things that I like here. 


     Last night was probably my favorite night here. After teaching, Brady and I went to the fresh food market in town. They have so many different fruits and veggies. As well as lots of fish that are still alive. There was one fish that was cut in half but still flopping. That is what I call fresh. It was really stinky but fun to see. I bought an apple-pear type fruit and it was delicious. Side note: you can't eat  veggies raw or you will get really sick. Anyways, from there we went to Walmart, to check out bikes. I found one I loved, but decided not to get it and to check more stores out. We will see if I got back and get it. Then we decided to walk to the lake in town, it was warm so we were sweating, but it was so worth it when we got there. There were people everywhere. They were dancing, playing games, going on boat rides, everything. Next time we go we might do a boat ride, it looks so fun! The water is a little smelly, so that stinks. Everything in china is a little smelly though. After that, we tried to make our way back but we were starving so we decided to stop at a food vendor. Surprisingly delicious. We picked out some veggies that they grilled and put some spices on. It was fantastic. After that we came back, I showered, and went to bed.


Today I taught already, and now I am trying to do laundry with a machine all in Chinese. Pray for me haha. 

I made it!

Hello!

I am in China and enjoying life here. I couldn't access my blog because China puts a block on what people can see...so no facebook, youtube, or my blog. But, good news! With the aid of a few other people, it was figured out!

I will write a semi-long post updating life here probably later today, but I need to get ready to go teach a class. It is unfortunate that they have class two weekends a month here. I can't imagine being a student, in high school no less, and doing that. Ick.

leaving for China!

I leave for China on FRIDAY. How nuts.  I am just taking care of the little things now, finishing packing, saying goodbyes, and just relaxing. It is so fun to be leaving because I have seen God's provision throughout this whole process, so I have no doubt that this is what the Lord is wanting me to do right now. I feel so blessed to embark on another journey, and I am just so excited to do that! I looked up international churches online, and they are all over in china, and specifically in the city that i am going to. I feel so much comfort in that as well.
I know I will miss my family and friends, but I am so thankful for skype and the internet so I can remain in contact with people.

Well, I am going to go hang with my mom and make sure I have all my stuff together.

Next blog I will be in the far east, how crazy!