Saturday, January 4th
Happy New Year!! I had a great time in Beijing over my short holiday! I got back yesterday evening...after a super long day of traveling..and then found out that we work Saturday and Sunday to make up for missing school on Thursday and Friday. This place baffles me sometimes!! Oh well....so today was like a Monday, but it's Saturday, and we had our Thursday schedule. So darn confusing! But Beijing was super fun for the break. I arrived Tuesday night and went straight to my friends apartment, rushed and got ready, and then went to a hotel party that her friend was hosting. It was in a really nice penthouse and had a great view! It wast mostly foreigners so it was great to meet some more people! Plus it was great telling everybody happy new years when I Knew everybody at home were just barely up for the day! Kinda strange!
The next morning, we got up a bit late and just had a pretty lazy day laying around the house. We got some food and then just sat around for a long time. It was me, my friend Rose, and her friend Harlan staying at her place. Harlan goes to university in the south of China is super great! He is a hydroponics (I think) major and studies German as well so he can move there to work after he graduates. He is Chinese and speaks 4 languages...I was in awe!! He speaks fluent German, English, Mandarin, his hometown dialect (pretty much a different language but some version of Mandarin) and then can also understand Cantonese. We spent a lot of time together when Rose was at work so we are really good friends now! I even miss him already!! So that evening, we all went to an African restaurant with some of Roses' friends which was really cool. The food was really good too!! We just walked around for awhile after that and then ended up going back since Rose had to work early the next day. We met up with my friend Torey who I met last time I was in Bejing for the TEFL course. She lives in Jinan and was there with her friend so it was really great catching up with her! I may visit her city before I come home in 2 weeks since I have about 2 weeks off with nothing to do. No plans are solid yet!
The next day (Thursday) we had another lazy day while Rose went to work. Harlan and I hung around the apartment all day and watched some videos and I Skyped with my dad. I love lazy days! The couch I slept on though had a huge bar running through it though so it wasn't very comfortable to sleep on : ( Still slept though!! Every time I am in Beijing, I always have super long days! Around 3, Harlan and I went out and he went to the movies with his friend while I went to go shopping at the silk market with some of Roses' friends. I think I confiscated them from her!! I suppose we can share haha. The silk market is such a dangerous place cause I can spend so much money in a short amount of time!! The last picture shows what damage I did...although they were pretty cheap if I convert it! I shopped with this girl Tamara and her friend Derwin. He had to leave almost right when I got there but it was good to see him! After shopping, Tamara and I went to have some coffee and then met up with some of her friends for dinner at a Mexican place that is pretty much Chipotle...such a nice change of pace in the food department!! We then met up with some more of their friends cause they were going to play trivia at a bar nearby and Harlan met us up there when he was done with his movie. We only stayed for a little bit cause Rose had forgotten to take her key that morning so she was locked out and we were the only ones with keys.
When we got back, Rose and I had a little surprise birthday celebration for Harlan because he was turning 21 on the next day but we were both leaving so we had an early surprise!! Harlan and I had gotten some food on our way home so we had some dinner and then Rose had stopped and gotten some muffins. She was super creative and made a little birthday surprise design for him! It was actually really fun and cute!! It wasn't a cake but it worked!! We had a ton of fun taking pictures and just dancing around..I wouldn't have traded it for anything!
Friday, I got up early to take the taxi to the train station to leave to go back to Shenyang. It sucked to leave my friends but it had to be done!! Between a mixture of taxis, subway, train, and bus...I finally got home!! The train ride was long...as usual and then I had to find the Leifang (long-distance) bus to take me back to the school. It took me awhile and a phone call to Joy to figure out where I was going and what line to stand in but I made it there. I had to wait for about 30 min (in about 10 degrees) but FINALLY got on the bus. It's so much colder in Shenyang than Beijing!! CRAZY! I got off the bus 1 stop later than I was supposed to so I had a long/cold walk back to the school but I finally made it back at about 8 pm. Long day of traveling! I found out that I had to work the next day at about 9:30 so I pretty much went straight to bed. And although working on Saturday and Sunday sucks...it was worth it for that trip to Beijing!! I'll be back there soon enough though : )
Today at work, it was pretty much an average time. We've just been reviewing everything and I have to finish making the mid-term exam for the students. It's supposed to be easy so that's good for me haha. I'll have it done by tomorrow night, just in time to give it to the students on Monday and Tuesday. I also have to have them help me take down all the X-mas decorations and such so we have a fresh start for when we come back after break. Tomorrow, I have to go to a high school in the city to help with some entrance English examination for new students coming to the International High School, so I won't even be seeing my students tomorrow. Then only 3 more days of work until I get 6 weeks off! WHEW!! PLEASE HURRY!! Well...that's all for now...you should be all caught up!! Have a good weekend!
Happy New Year!! I had a great time in Beijing over my short holiday! I got back yesterday evening...after a super long day of traveling..and then found out that we work Saturday and Sunday to make up for missing school on Thursday and Friday. This place baffles me sometimes!! Oh well....so today was like a Monday, but it's Saturday, and we had our Thursday schedule. So darn confusing! But Beijing was super fun for the break. I arrived Tuesday night and went straight to my friends apartment, rushed and got ready, and then went to a hotel party that her friend was hosting. It was in a really nice penthouse and had a great view! It wast mostly foreigners so it was great to meet some more people! Plus it was great telling everybody happy new years when I Knew everybody at home were just barely up for the day! Kinda strange!
The next morning, we got up a bit late and just had a pretty lazy day laying around the house. We got some food and then just sat around for a long time. It was me, my friend Rose, and her friend Harlan staying at her place. Harlan goes to university in the south of China is super great! He is a hydroponics (I think) major and studies German as well so he can move there to work after he graduates. He is Chinese and speaks 4 languages...I was in awe!! He speaks fluent German, English, Mandarin, his hometown dialect (pretty much a different language but some version of Mandarin) and then can also understand Cantonese. We spent a lot of time together when Rose was at work so we are really good friends now! I even miss him already!! So that evening, we all went to an African restaurant with some of Roses' friends which was really cool. The food was really good too!! We just walked around for awhile after that and then ended up going back since Rose had to work early the next day. We met up with my friend Torey who I met last time I was in Bejing for the TEFL course. She lives in Jinan and was there with her friend so it was really great catching up with her! I may visit her city before I come home in 2 weeks since I have about 2 weeks off with nothing to do. No plans are solid yet!
The next day (Thursday) we had another lazy day while Rose went to work. Harlan and I hung around the apartment all day and watched some videos and I Skyped with my dad. I love lazy days! The couch I slept on though had a huge bar running through it though so it wasn't very comfortable to sleep on : ( Still slept though!! Every time I am in Beijing, I always have super long days! Around 3, Harlan and I went out and he went to the movies with his friend while I went to go shopping at the silk market with some of Roses' friends. I think I confiscated them from her!! I suppose we can share haha. The silk market is such a dangerous place cause I can spend so much money in a short amount of time!! The last picture shows what damage I did...although they were pretty cheap if I convert it! I shopped with this girl Tamara and her friend Derwin. He had to leave almost right when I got there but it was good to see him! After shopping, Tamara and I went to have some coffee and then met up with some of her friends for dinner at a Mexican place that is pretty much Chipotle...such a nice change of pace in the food department!! We then met up with some more of their friends cause they were going to play trivia at a bar nearby and Harlan met us up there when he was done with his movie. We only stayed for a little bit cause Rose had forgotten to take her key that morning so she was locked out and we were the only ones with keys.
When we got back, Rose and I had a little surprise birthday celebration for Harlan because he was turning 21 on the next day but we were both leaving so we had an early surprise!! Harlan and I had gotten some food on our way home so we had some dinner and then Rose had stopped and gotten some muffins. She was super creative and made a little birthday surprise design for him! It was actually really fun and cute!! It wasn't a cake but it worked!! We had a ton of fun taking pictures and just dancing around..I wouldn't have traded it for anything!
Friday, I got up early to take the taxi to the train station to leave to go back to Shenyang. It sucked to leave my friends but it had to be done!! Between a mixture of taxis, subway, train, and bus...I finally got home!! The train ride was long...as usual and then I had to find the Leifang (long-distance) bus to take me back to the school. It took me awhile and a phone call to Joy to figure out where I was going and what line to stand in but I made it there. I had to wait for about 30 min (in about 10 degrees) but FINALLY got on the bus. It's so much colder in Shenyang than Beijing!! CRAZY! I got off the bus 1 stop later than I was supposed to so I had a long/cold walk back to the school but I finally made it back at about 8 pm. Long day of traveling! I found out that I had to work the next day at about 9:30 so I pretty much went straight to bed. And although working on Saturday and Sunday sucks...it was worth it for that trip to Beijing!! I'll be back there soon enough though : )
Today at work, it was pretty much an average time. We've just been reviewing everything and I have to finish making the mid-term exam for the students. It's supposed to be easy so that's good for me haha. I'll have it done by tomorrow night, just in time to give it to the students on Monday and Tuesday. I also have to have them help me take down all the X-mas decorations and such so we have a fresh start for when we come back after break. Tomorrow, I have to go to a high school in the city to help with some entrance English examination for new students coming to the International High School, so I won't even be seeing my students tomorrow. Then only 3 more days of work until I get 6 weeks off! WHEW!! PLEASE HURRY!! Well...that's all for now...you should be all caught up!! Have a good weekend!