Oh My God, You Guys!!

Longji Rice Terraces. 3 little words that equal so much amazingingness!!

Vacation, all I ever wanted

Last week, from Sunday September 29th to Friday, October 4th, I was in Guilin, China. We had a week off of school for National Holiday. Basically, all of China is on a holiday for a week. So very nice, but so very crowded. Most of the HIS teachers went out of the country, but 3 of us decided to brave the crowds and explore China.

Everybody's gone surfin', Surfin' Hangzhou

So today was the day of a tidal bore in Hangzhou and yours truly got to be there!!! I walked about 15 minutes to right above the bend in the river. There were quite a few people there, waiting for the tidal bore.

Waiting by the river bank

Is this home? Am I here for a day or forever?

So this is going to be a picture update on life in general here in China.

Qiantang River with smog

Do I stand in the shadows or do I stand in the light?

So life is slowly settling into a routine. Days are beginning to flow into each other, much as they would back in the states. Last weekend, I took the bus to Ole with Jessie. Ole is in MixC Mall, which is a big western mall with stores like Prada, Gucci, and the like. You get the picture. There was a ColdStone, KFC, and a Yankee Candle (good to know when I need my candle fixes). At the bottom was Ole, which is a Western-ish style grocery store.

School bag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning

Here is a short video of my walk into the school and a tour of my room. I'll post more videos to come and a better tour of the school. Next up will be a tour of my casa! :)

Video tour of room

Since you've been gone, a whole month passes by. And I'm not even sure what I've done.

 It's hard to believe that I've been living in China a month. It doesn't feel like it. Life has been a whirlwind.
This is going to be a long post with TONS of picture so you were warned.

You can tremble, you can feel it, but keep your fighting spirit alive, boys!

Last night, as I walked back from S' birthday, I ran into L and J. I asked them where they got their haircut since they both have short hair like me. They said they were going tomorrow and I was welcome to tag along. I agreed. 

I was originally going to meet them there, but when they came over this morning, they told me that their church was near an awesome old street and it was fun to walk along. Well, since I haven't explored and they mentioned traditional Chinese medicine shops, I was totally in!

Hurry up, hurry up. Don't waste time! Don't waste time!

Time on task. That was drilled into my head by my principal my first year. 1 minute a day you are off-task adds up REALLY fast over the school year. Like to a few extra days. Needless to say, I learned a lot about time on task my first year. I kept to a tight schedule, trying to squeeze both social studies and language arts into a 40 minute block for 3 periods. I definitely think it helped shape the kind of teacher I am today.

Soon it's gonna rain.... Errrr, POUR!!!

I was texting with G last night in Florida and she commented on how it was raining in Florida. I made the mistake of saying it hadn't rained in Hangzhou since my first couple days here.

Everything's Fine

Today was the first day of school. Overall, it went pretty smoothly. I had 15 kids on my roster and only 12 showed up. They may come in over time or not at all. My 2 that don't speak any English were fun. The girl, M, is a gem. She's a total sweetheart and does, in fact, speak a little English. P, my boy, doesn't speak any English. He doesn't even know his English name. Poor baby. I feel bad for him because he truly had no clue what was going on today. Some of the kids spoke Mandarin with him and tried to help him.

I just have to keep reminding myself that I'm not in the States anymore. Things run and work differently than I've been trained and it's not wrong. It's just different. Little things that you took from granted. Other things, like communication and chaos, remain the same wherever you go. So there's that comfort. :)

After school, I had dinner with some friends. Then, I played from with stray kittens in my apartment complex. They are so cute. They're both calico, but one is mostly black while the other is true calico on top and white underneath. I named the blackish one Samhain (SOW-in) because she reminds me of the autumn leaves. The other is Beltane because she's the opposite so more like spring.

Paul called and a group of us went to go get a Chinese foot massage. It was amazing.It was 90 minutes. they massaged your feet and legs for what seemed like forever. It was hard too. Some of it hurt, but some hurt in a good way. They did your shoulders as well. Then, you flipped over and they massaged your head, shoulder, back, legs, and butt. It was weird when they massaged your butt. I also realized that I tensed up whenever they did my sides on my back.

It's nice being able to sit here and not have my feet throb. They said, doing massages weekly, will clear up my acne as well.  I think it's from the polluted air, but we'll see. Last year they went weekly so it seems like they'll start it up again. For $11, it really can't be beat.

The new kid walks to school along the railroad tracks...

Today was "Meet the Teacher". I now have 15 kids, but one, I believe has moved back to India, and another may be starting late, which brings the total down to 13. I met 10 of my students today. They all seems like great kids. It's so funny the dynamics. Some are totally shy when they walk in while other are just zooming around the room. All of them will be quiet as a mouse tomorrow.

I also have 2 students who speak very little English. While this worries me, it's also a little exciting. I like a challenge. And since, I've never taught Kindergarten, I've never had the chance to really watch a child develop into a reader and writer. I know it won't be like the students in K because they have had years of English and so much more background knowledge than these little guys.

All the parents were nice and welcomed me to the HZ family. I'm very excited about tomorrow!!!

It's a small, small world.

Bali hai, um, I mean Shanghai....

So yesterday, a bunch of us went to Shanghai to a smoozy party with the rest of SCIS. We had a few hours in the classrooms before we had to board the bus. I got a lot of stuff done and around 1, I went home. I found 2 men in my apartment, fixing my shower. I had come home Thursday night only to find grout covering my shower. I figured "Won't be showering tonight."

One day more

This is our final day before the returning staff come back.

Too darn hot

The last few days have been a blur. Tuesday was another, just get to know people day. Orientation hadn’t started so we just hung out at school. Wednesday was the first day of orientation. Over 50% of the staff this year is new hire.  There are about 20 new teachers.  The school has also grown to almost 500 students so that’s one of the main reasons why there are so many new hires. Most of the people are Americans, the majority being from the Midwest. Two Aussies, three Kiwis, and a Colombian, I believe. There are 4 married couples and two of them are expecting so we’ll have lovely little babies to play with soon.

It's gonna be another hot day

 I woke up around 7am. Typical Chinese bed. Really really hard.  It’s literally just a box spring. There is no padding at all. Sar would have had a heart attack. Luckily, I liked hard beds so it wasn’t horrible. I wanted to get a pillow top cover, but it felt really good on my aching lower back.  I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast.  HIS put some food in the fridge. I have mangos, apple, oranges, plums, milk, OJ, break, corn flakes, peanut butter, strawberry jelly, 2 jugs of water, and various teas and coffees. I’ve been chugging water since I got here. YAH for my new water bottle, which has so come in handy. That thing has been my BFF.

A New World Call Across the Ocean (Journey to China) 7/27-7/28

 I am in China. It took a really LONG time and I’m exhausted, but I’m here.

One day more.....

Not even one day more. More like 12 hours!!!! It's 8:03pm. At 8:15 am, I'll be flying out of Orlando to Detroit. From Detroit, I'll hop on a plane for 13 hours, making my way towards Beijing. I'll arrive at 2:15pm, which is 2:15am EST. I have about a 4 hour layover, which is good because I hope (fingers crossed) that I can do customs in Beijing. At 7, I'll take my first Chinese airline to Hangzhou. I get in at 9pm.

Another suitcase in another hallway.

Since it's almost midnight, I can officially say, or freak out: 2 DAYS!!!!

Not a day goes by. Not a single day. And you're still part of my life. And it looks like you'll stay.

Saturday was a week til I leave. I had my last hoorah with all of my girl friends. It was very bittersweet.

"Will you miss me when I'm gone?" Meh, prolly not. . .

The last girls' night in my house, my friends thought it'd be fun to make a list of all the things I won't miss. Here's what we came up with. Feel free to chime in with more!

Don't let's be sad. Don't shed a tear today. What if we never meet again?

The 27th marked exactly a month until I leave. It still doesn't feel real.  It feels like summer camp. I totally know I'm moving to China. For 2+years. It just hasn't really sank in. I cried when I returned from UNI and Grania came to cuddle with me. I knew I wouldn't be taking her with me and that just kills me. She's been there through so many changes in my life, but I just know she's better off here.

China Bucket List

Here are some of the things I want to do in China while I'm there:

• The Great Wall of China
• The Forbidden City
•  Tienanmen Square
• The Terracotta Warriors
• Sail down the Li River and see the Karst Mountains
• Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet
• Tibet in general
• Mt Everest
• Meet a Monk
• See a Panda
• Sing karaoke or KTV
• Eat something weird (scorpion, seahorse) on a stick
• Walk an unrestored section of the Great Wall
• Enjoy Beijing Opera
• Learn how tea is made
• Make friends with a local
• Learn Mandarin
• Become a pro eating with chop sticks
• See a yak
• Drink yak's milk
• Hong Kong
• See the Tidal bore
• Wear silk made from Hangzhou
• See how silk is made
• Chinese fireworks
• Use a squatty potty
• Visit a monastery
• Harbin Ice Festival
• Go from Russia to China on the Trans-Siberian Express
• Sail to the Three Gorges Dam
• Hike leaping Tiger Gord.

I'll be leaving on a jet plane....

AHHH! I just bought my one way ticket to China! I'm flying Delta. My new teammate recommended flying with an American or European carrier since the seats are roomier and there's usually in-flight entertainment.

I leave on July 27th, flying from Orlando to Detroit and then Detroit to Beijing, and finally Beijing to Hangzhou. My flight from Detroit to Beijing is 13 hours, with a total flying time of 24 hours. I can't believe I'll be flying for a day.  I get in on the 28th at 9pm. Luckily, my orientation starts on the 31st, which I why I'm getting in early. I know I'll need a few days to re cooperate from massive jet lag.

I tried figuring out how long my flight was from Orlando to Tokyo when I went my junior year of high school. My cryptic 17 year old self kept impeccable records for what I did on the flight and how unamused I was that the same movies were shown on the flight home. I mentioned that I had been awake for 24 hours. Going to Japan, I said that Sachi and I arrived at 1pm, which was 2am in the US. I do remember eating dinner and going to sleep at her house, only to wake up in the morning feeling fine and ready to explore. I've always handled jet lag well. When Sar and I went to London for Christmas, I was fine after a good night's sleep, whereas she was constantly tired and never fully got onto London time. I'm hoping that since I arrive late (and I can never sleep on planes), I'll go to sleep and wake up ready to explore.

I talked with Ember, my 2nd grade teammate from HIS on Facetime last week and she'll be there for me when I arrive if I need anything. I wonder what my apartment is going to look like. I know it'll probably be on campus and 2 bedrooms. Buying the ticket was exciting and scary. 133 days until I leave. It seems like such a long time away but it's really not. I know it'll fly by soo fast. :( There are so many things and people I'm going to miss. Thank goodness for the internet so I can keep in touch with all my new and old friends.

Pressure! Pushing down on me, pressing down on you

So I spent the last weekend in Waterloo, Iowa at the UNI Overseas job fair. It was one of the most stressful, exciting, and most pressured I've ever felt. It probably didn't help that it was -6 when I arrived, though it did warm up to a balmy 20 a few days.

Here's the lovely room from my hotel room.