Monday, September 16
I'm okay...I know...I've been super lazy. I could say that I've been busy doing other things but to be completely honesty, I've been watching TV shows on my computer and obsessively watching them. That really cut into my Weebly writing time haha. So let me give you a recap of every day since today.
Friday-This was another half day of school. There is a new Oral English teacher who teaches in the kindergarten and now first grade. She is from South Africa and is named Rebecca as well..how strange. She goes by Bekah though, so hopefully it won't become too much of a challenge. She's super nice and seems like she's traveled all over the world. I think her parents are pretty well off. She told me that they own winery estates. Anybody heard of Graff Winery Estates in South Africa? Well, that's what her family owns. Anyways, she's super nice, lives in the city, and said that I could come stay with her if I ever want to. There is a group of them living on the campus in Shenyang, so I could actually hang out with other Westerners! That would be really fun.
After classes ended, I went back to my room and started to watch season 6 of True Blood. Anddd that was pretty much what I did for the next 2 days. I finished watching season 6 Saturday morning and that leads me to my next entry.
Saturday-TV. Literally, all I did was watch it. On my computer. I finished season 6 of True Blood (so good!!!) and then decided I needed to find a new show to fall in love with. So, I decided to start Game of Thrones. Holy cow!!! It's soooooooo goooooooooddd. I'd have to say it's my #1 favorite show, besides The Walking Dead and Downton Abbey. It totally makes me want to read the books, which I have at home and will now be taking with me when I come back in November. I love it. So that was my whole Saturday...and most of Sunday.
Sunday-I got up to Season 2 Episode 7 by Sunday night. Pretty much all I did all day too. I went to see the kids for about an hour and eat dinner and then went back to the office. Oh yeah...I guess I was there late, until about 9pm. I Skyped with my mom and Aunt Donna for a little over an hour...thanks again and sorry for being late! We had a nice chat and I told them about the security guard who stands outside with his Chinese opera music and I can hear it all the way up to my window...on the 4th floor. Yeah...he was there again Monday night.
Monday-So around 8:30 pm on Monday, I heard the security guard. He's nice enough...grunting at me when I walk by haha. Monday was a pretty good day though. Kuo is back in town until Thursday, so that's nice!! She came to my first class and the kids were horrible. They were all riled up from the weekend and were just crazy people. I told Kuo she's bad luck and they are bad when she is around haha. The rest of the day they were okay. Pretty good for me. They got yelled at again for awhile because they were being rough during one of the breaks and one little girl got hurt, so they were in big trouble for that. One little boy was even crying, which is good. That sounds means but any other time he's been yelled at, he just laughs it off, so this time, Hannah must have really hit a nerve with him. Hopefully he'll be better and not goof off so much. I talked to the new Bekah again for awhile in the office. Kuo and I were talking about me getting a phone and Bekah said that she could ask her contact person to get a new SIM card for both her and I because Joy said she is too busy to do it this week. I guess she got a new job and therefore has been really busy. Bekah said that Joy used to be her contact person but isn't anymore, so I am curious why she isn't. I will have to ask her tomorrow when she comes in. So I should hopefully be getting a phone soon! That'd be sooo nice! Hmmmm....what else. One of the moms of a kid in our class asked me to go to a Mid-Autumn Festival party with her Wednesday afternoon so I am going to that with her. She said it is kind of an International party so there should be a lot of people for me to talk to. She said she worked for Boeing for 10 years and helped foreigners in the area, so she's being super nice and said she'd show me around a little bit. I don't know when I am leaving for Beijing yet, so I may be staying in Shenyang for the night on Wednesday or coming back to the school for a few days, until I have to leave. Kuo is leaving Thursday so it would be nice to leave with her so I wouldn't be making the trip all on my own. Today they've got to figure everything out. Then I will be in Beijing for about 2 weeks! If anybody finds some interesting things for me to do while there, let me know! I'm sure I will get bored sooner or later. Well...that's pretty much it for now. Technically I'm lying to you all and writing this on Tuesday actually. Sorry. White lies never hurt haha. We shall see how today goes and then I promise I'll write again tonight!
Tuesday, September 17
Hello again! Another dollar, another day. School was pretty normal today. The classes went pretty well and I've just been doing a lot of reviewing of things that we have learned. I'm supposed to keep on the same track as the other first grades but they go so slow!! I've been teaching the kids a lot of extra things though like the weather, days of the week, months in a year...stuff like that. They're picking it up pretty well. I tried teaching them twinkle twinkle little star today and they liked the video more than the singing haha. There's this one weather song that I found though and the kids really like it. They go crazy when I put it on and sing along really well! I think I've found my new incentive!! They also really like these Gogo videos that I've downloaded onto my computer. I probably have mentioned them before but they are really simple English and the kids can easily follow the story. Plus, the clips are only 5 minutes long so they are perfect for a little time filler. I'm thinking that will have to download more. All the kids keep yelling is "Gogo, Gogo!" They're crazy for them. Today was a rainy/stormy day but thankfully during the times that we normally go outside and play, it had stopped raining so we got to let the kids run around. They love just playing with a ball and having me throw it to them. They're like little dogs...it's so funny haha. Oh man...one little boy wasn't looking one time though and I totally clocked him in the eye with the ball. I felt sooo bad. He was okay though. I was kind of mad cause I couldn't do the whole "OMG your eye is gone" bit with him haha.
The little chunky boy...Lucas...who is very naughty...is apparently not the brightest bulb in the bunch either. Hannah and I tried teaching him 1 sentence for an hour and he still couldn't get it by the time I left. He's so frustrating!! This is an awful thing to say but I guess his mom had enough money to get him in the class. Bad teacher. I know. But today Hannah asked me which kid was my favorite and I told her nobody and she goes oh yeah, right....I know you do haha. Some of the kids are super cute and yes, maybe I do favor them a bit. Bad teacher. Again. One of the kids moms had given me some mooncakes (picture below-very traditional pastry around this time of year and something to look for at your local Chinese market) and they were all moldy and gross haha so she came to the school today and gave me a case of crabapples (called hawfruit here....they are very very popular) and eggs. The eggs here don't require a fridge either. I think I'm going to either give them away or throw them away haha. It was very nice of her to give me them but I know have like 100 crabapples to eat and I'm not even going to be here for the next 2 weeks!
Oh yea...I have that Mid-Autumn festival party to go to tomorrow. Look for those mooncakes. They should be everywhere. The ones I've seen the most are kind of chewy sweet filling and then they have an egg yolk in the middle, which is supposed to look like the moon...hence, the name mooncake. I totally pick the yolk out though cause I think it's super gross and has a nasty texture. Otherwise, they are good. So yea, I'm going to that party tomorrow but still do not know when I'm leaving for Beijing. I told Kuo that for having so many people here, things get done awfully slow in China! I don't think she found that too amusing haha. So I guess I am just going to come back to the school tomorrow night and then leave whenever they buy the train ticket for me. It's going to be strange being back in Beijing but I plan on doing a lot of adventuring. I think the subway is so much fun and so convenient to travel! I'm going to have to look up some interesting places to go to while there. Hopefully I'll meet some nice people at this training thing and they'll travel with me. I've been here a month now so I feel like a seasoned traveler. Only 10 months to go! Welp...time for bed. JK. My latest episode of Game of Thrones just finished downloading. It's only a half day tomorrow...who needs sleep? Adios! P.S. I totally want to start speaking Spanish to people to completely throw them off haha.
I'm okay...I know...I've been super lazy. I could say that I've been busy doing other things but to be completely honesty, I've been watching TV shows on my computer and obsessively watching them. That really cut into my Weebly writing time haha. So let me give you a recap of every day since today.
Friday-This was another half day of school. There is a new Oral English teacher who teaches in the kindergarten and now first grade. She is from South Africa and is named Rebecca as well..how strange. She goes by Bekah though, so hopefully it won't become too much of a challenge. She's super nice and seems like she's traveled all over the world. I think her parents are pretty well off. She told me that they own winery estates. Anybody heard of Graff Winery Estates in South Africa? Well, that's what her family owns. Anyways, she's super nice, lives in the city, and said that I could come stay with her if I ever want to. There is a group of them living on the campus in Shenyang, so I could actually hang out with other Westerners! That would be really fun.
After classes ended, I went back to my room and started to watch season 6 of True Blood. Anddd that was pretty much what I did for the next 2 days. I finished watching season 6 Saturday morning and that leads me to my next entry.
Saturday-TV. Literally, all I did was watch it. On my computer. I finished season 6 of True Blood (so good!!!) and then decided I needed to find a new show to fall in love with. So, I decided to start Game of Thrones. Holy cow!!! It's soooooooo goooooooooddd. I'd have to say it's my #1 favorite show, besides The Walking Dead and Downton Abbey. It totally makes me want to read the books, which I have at home and will now be taking with me when I come back in November. I love it. So that was my whole Saturday...and most of Sunday.
Sunday-I got up to Season 2 Episode 7 by Sunday night. Pretty much all I did all day too. I went to see the kids for about an hour and eat dinner and then went back to the office. Oh yeah...I guess I was there late, until about 9pm. I Skyped with my mom and Aunt Donna for a little over an hour...thanks again and sorry for being late! We had a nice chat and I told them about the security guard who stands outside with his Chinese opera music and I can hear it all the way up to my window...on the 4th floor. Yeah...he was there again Monday night.
Monday-So around 8:30 pm on Monday, I heard the security guard. He's nice enough...grunting at me when I walk by haha. Monday was a pretty good day though. Kuo is back in town until Thursday, so that's nice!! She came to my first class and the kids were horrible. They were all riled up from the weekend and were just crazy people. I told Kuo she's bad luck and they are bad when she is around haha. The rest of the day they were okay. Pretty good for me. They got yelled at again for awhile because they were being rough during one of the breaks and one little girl got hurt, so they were in big trouble for that. One little boy was even crying, which is good. That sounds means but any other time he's been yelled at, he just laughs it off, so this time, Hannah must have really hit a nerve with him. Hopefully he'll be better and not goof off so much. I talked to the new Bekah again for awhile in the office. Kuo and I were talking about me getting a phone and Bekah said that she could ask her contact person to get a new SIM card for both her and I because Joy said she is too busy to do it this week. I guess she got a new job and therefore has been really busy. Bekah said that Joy used to be her contact person but isn't anymore, so I am curious why she isn't. I will have to ask her tomorrow when she comes in. So I should hopefully be getting a phone soon! That'd be sooo nice! Hmmmm....what else. One of the moms of a kid in our class asked me to go to a Mid-Autumn Festival party with her Wednesday afternoon so I am going to that with her. She said it is kind of an International party so there should be a lot of people for me to talk to. She said she worked for Boeing for 10 years and helped foreigners in the area, so she's being super nice and said she'd show me around a little bit. I don't know when I am leaving for Beijing yet, so I may be staying in Shenyang for the night on Wednesday or coming back to the school for a few days, until I have to leave. Kuo is leaving Thursday so it would be nice to leave with her so I wouldn't be making the trip all on my own. Today they've got to figure everything out. Then I will be in Beijing for about 2 weeks! If anybody finds some interesting things for me to do while there, let me know! I'm sure I will get bored sooner or later. Well...that's pretty much it for now. Technically I'm lying to you all and writing this on Tuesday actually. Sorry. White lies never hurt haha. We shall see how today goes and then I promise I'll write again tonight!
Tuesday, September 17
Hello again! Another dollar, another day. School was pretty normal today. The classes went pretty well and I've just been doing a lot of reviewing of things that we have learned. I'm supposed to keep on the same track as the other first grades but they go so slow!! I've been teaching the kids a lot of extra things though like the weather, days of the week, months in a year...stuff like that. They're picking it up pretty well. I tried teaching them twinkle twinkle little star today and they liked the video more than the singing haha. There's this one weather song that I found though and the kids really like it. They go crazy when I put it on and sing along really well! I think I've found my new incentive!! They also really like these Gogo videos that I've downloaded onto my computer. I probably have mentioned them before but they are really simple English and the kids can easily follow the story. Plus, the clips are only 5 minutes long so they are perfect for a little time filler. I'm thinking that will have to download more. All the kids keep yelling is "Gogo, Gogo!" They're crazy for them. Today was a rainy/stormy day but thankfully during the times that we normally go outside and play, it had stopped raining so we got to let the kids run around. They love just playing with a ball and having me throw it to them. They're like little dogs...it's so funny haha. Oh man...one little boy wasn't looking one time though and I totally clocked him in the eye with the ball. I felt sooo bad. He was okay though. I was kind of mad cause I couldn't do the whole "OMG your eye is gone" bit with him haha.
The little chunky boy...Lucas...who is very naughty...is apparently not the brightest bulb in the bunch either. Hannah and I tried teaching him 1 sentence for an hour and he still couldn't get it by the time I left. He's so frustrating!! This is an awful thing to say but I guess his mom had enough money to get him in the class. Bad teacher. I know. But today Hannah asked me which kid was my favorite and I told her nobody and she goes oh yeah, right....I know you do haha. Some of the kids are super cute and yes, maybe I do favor them a bit. Bad teacher. Again. One of the kids moms had given me some mooncakes (picture below-very traditional pastry around this time of year and something to look for at your local Chinese market) and they were all moldy and gross haha so she came to the school today and gave me a case of crabapples (called hawfruit here....they are very very popular) and eggs. The eggs here don't require a fridge either. I think I'm going to either give them away or throw them away haha. It was very nice of her to give me them but I know have like 100 crabapples to eat and I'm not even going to be here for the next 2 weeks!
Oh yea...I have that Mid-Autumn festival party to go to tomorrow. Look for those mooncakes. They should be everywhere. The ones I've seen the most are kind of chewy sweet filling and then they have an egg yolk in the middle, which is supposed to look like the moon...hence, the name mooncake. I totally pick the yolk out though cause I think it's super gross and has a nasty texture. Otherwise, they are good. So yea, I'm going to that party tomorrow but still do not know when I'm leaving for Beijing. I told Kuo that for having so many people here, things get done awfully slow in China! I don't think she found that too amusing haha. So I guess I am just going to come back to the school tomorrow night and then leave whenever they buy the train ticket for me. It's going to be strange being back in Beijing but I plan on doing a lot of adventuring. I think the subway is so much fun and so convenient to travel! I'm going to have to look up some interesting places to go to while there. Hopefully I'll meet some nice people at this training thing and they'll travel with me. I've been here a month now so I feel like a seasoned traveler. Only 10 months to go! Welp...time for bed. JK. My latest episode of Game of Thrones just finished downloading. It's only a half day tomorrow...who needs sleep? Adios! P.S. I totally want to start speaking Spanish to people to completely throw them off haha.
Wednesday, September 18
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival...even though its still 80 degrees here every day! Today was a half day of school...yay!! I finally sent home all the work that we have done in class so that way the parents can see that their children really are learning English! Hopefully they'll be satisfied...it's all about the parents here! I'm always being told to be very appreciative to the parents while the parents all keep telling me to keep a special eye on their child and make sure I'm extra hard on them so that they learn everything. Very different than in the States haha. I'm finally starting to find some things that the kids really like though, so I can use those as incentives!.
After classes ended, I went with one of my students and his mom to go to a party. The boys name is Steven and the moms name is Jeng Mai or something like that, but she told me to call her Jennifer if it's easier...so Jennifer it is! We drove for about 45 minutes to where to friend lives in what she called a villa. It's pretty much a gated community with super huge houses and really expensive cars. The friends house was beautifully decorated and I wish I would have gotten some pictures, but I didn't think it would be right to pull out my camera at a strangers house! All of the people that I've met so far are very very rich! The friends house that we went to even had a home movie theater with one of those huge screens and there was a Lamborghini in the garage....super rich. Jennifer's car was some kind of French car I think...I looked it up....I think it's called a Peugeot. The friend wasn't there when we got there so it was me, Jennifer, Steven, the friends daughter (Alice), and then the grandma. The grandma kept saying that I have very big eyes and white skin...I think it was a compliment?! I'm not sure, but I took it as one. The family was very nice and the kids were very cute. The little girl is being home schooled right now because she is sick, even though I'm not sure with what. She isn't allowed to run or jump and has to sit on a cushion all of the time. I have no idea what is wrong with her, but Jennifer said she is still have tests run on her. Around 4:30, we left the house and went to the party.
The party that they were having in the community gardens and it was very nice. There were several different dancers and singers who came on. Also, there is an international kindergarten that is there and so all of the little kids did dances, or at least tried to! They were really cute and most of them just ran to their parents when they saw them. The first pictures are of a bunch of grandmas from the community that did a "modern" dance. Jennifer said that some of them were into their 70's and 80's...they moved pretty good! And definitely weren't afraid to show off their bellies haha. After all the dancing and singing, their was dinner served and it was really delicious. A lot of different foods to try. Also there with us were a bunch of Jennifers friends and even a girl that also goes to NEYC (my school) and she ran and jumped into my arms and soon as she saw me! I didn't even know her name, just that every time she sees me in the hall she goes "tickle, tickle, tickle" and tried to get me to drop all of my things! Her name in Cece though and oh man...she is adorable. Plus, she speaks English incredibly well. I talked to her mom and she said that she started to teach Cece English when she was little but then just started watching English cartoon and TV on her own and pretty much has taught herself everything. She said she listens to the Magic Tree House books on her MP3 player so that she learns the language even better. Her English is honestly, amazing. She was running and her shoe fell off and she turned back to me and said "man, my shoe just fell completely off!" Jennifer didn't even understand her so I had to tell her slower....it was so funny!
Cece's mom also has a little 4 month old baby with the English name Hendrick and she let me hold him. He was super cute and hardly even said a peep the whole time that we were there! We then just sat around and the ladies all talked...occasionally bringing me into the conversation. It's funny because I usually just tune everybody out since I don't know what they're saying anyways and then people ask me a question and I'm like uhhhh...what...I wasn't paying attention. What a dope! Jennifer and another woman speak very good English so they definitely tried to keep me included on the conversation a little bit. The kids just played and then after a couple hours, we left and Jennifer drove me back to the school.
On the car ride home, I had asked Jennifer how to cook these yellow beans that her friend had brought and she explained it to me...I'll have to try to make them sometime. They are so good! I asked her if she cooked much and told me no, she has a maid that does all of her cooking and cleaning. Man....must be nice!! She is an extremely nice lady though and was so nice to even invite me to go out to the movies with her and Steven on Friday! She said they're going to see the movie Turbo since it has just come out recently here. She said that the movie theaters will play around 3 out of 10 movies in English, so she will pick a time when there is an English showing. I don't know how much Steven will like it but maybe Jennifer will translate for him haha. I don't think he likes it when her and I talk because he can't understand what we are saying. Glad he knows how I feel! He was pretty good the whole time we were out...only had 1 meltdown...which Jennifer said is because there is so much pressure at school. It's probably also because he's spoiled...but what do I know? Either way, he is a very nice and very smart little boy and she is a very nice lady. She even offered to have to stay at her apartment some weekends so I don't get bored and also to get me a SIM card for my phone so I can make local calls...what a gem! Glad I've made one friend...even if she's my students mother!
After Jennifer dropped me off back at school, I had forgotten to tell Joy to tell the guard that I would be staying here until Saturday, so I had a little freak out thinking that I was locked out. I first went to the main doors on the first floor, knocked because I saw a light, nobody answered, so I went upstairs to try another entrance. I went to the enclosed bridge between my building and the office building and the doors were locked...so I panicked. I totally thought that I was going to have to go back up to the front gate of the school, be the stupid foreigner, and ask the security guards to somehow let me into my building. I decided to try the first floor main door again and rattled the doors extremely hard...and heard a yell. YAY!! My opera loving security guard was still there!! I thanked him many times and then went to up bed and yes...watched Game of Thrones. Duh. Well....goodnight!
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival...even though its still 80 degrees here every day! Today was a half day of school...yay!! I finally sent home all the work that we have done in class so that way the parents can see that their children really are learning English! Hopefully they'll be satisfied...it's all about the parents here! I'm always being told to be very appreciative to the parents while the parents all keep telling me to keep a special eye on their child and make sure I'm extra hard on them so that they learn everything. Very different than in the States haha. I'm finally starting to find some things that the kids really like though, so I can use those as incentives!.
After classes ended, I went with one of my students and his mom to go to a party. The boys name is Steven and the moms name is Jeng Mai or something like that, but she told me to call her Jennifer if it's easier...so Jennifer it is! We drove for about 45 minutes to where to friend lives in what she called a villa. It's pretty much a gated community with super huge houses and really expensive cars. The friends house was beautifully decorated and I wish I would have gotten some pictures, but I didn't think it would be right to pull out my camera at a strangers house! All of the people that I've met so far are very very rich! The friends house that we went to even had a home movie theater with one of those huge screens and there was a Lamborghini in the garage....super rich. Jennifer's car was some kind of French car I think...I looked it up....I think it's called a Peugeot. The friend wasn't there when we got there so it was me, Jennifer, Steven, the friends daughter (Alice), and then the grandma. The grandma kept saying that I have very big eyes and white skin...I think it was a compliment?! I'm not sure, but I took it as one. The family was very nice and the kids were very cute. The little girl is being home schooled right now because she is sick, even though I'm not sure with what. She isn't allowed to run or jump and has to sit on a cushion all of the time. I have no idea what is wrong with her, but Jennifer said she is still have tests run on her. Around 4:30, we left the house and went to the party.
The party that they were having in the community gardens and it was very nice. There were several different dancers and singers who came on. Also, there is an international kindergarten that is there and so all of the little kids did dances, or at least tried to! They were really cute and most of them just ran to their parents when they saw them. The first pictures are of a bunch of grandmas from the community that did a "modern" dance. Jennifer said that some of them were into their 70's and 80's...they moved pretty good! And definitely weren't afraid to show off their bellies haha. After all the dancing and singing, their was dinner served and it was really delicious. A lot of different foods to try. Also there with us were a bunch of Jennifers friends and even a girl that also goes to NEYC (my school) and she ran and jumped into my arms and soon as she saw me! I didn't even know her name, just that every time she sees me in the hall she goes "tickle, tickle, tickle" and tried to get me to drop all of my things! Her name in Cece though and oh man...she is adorable. Plus, she speaks English incredibly well. I talked to her mom and she said that she started to teach Cece English when she was little but then just started watching English cartoon and TV on her own and pretty much has taught herself everything. She said she listens to the Magic Tree House books on her MP3 player so that she learns the language even better. Her English is honestly, amazing. She was running and her shoe fell off and she turned back to me and said "man, my shoe just fell completely off!" Jennifer didn't even understand her so I had to tell her slower....it was so funny!
Cece's mom also has a little 4 month old baby with the English name Hendrick and she let me hold him. He was super cute and hardly even said a peep the whole time that we were there! We then just sat around and the ladies all talked...occasionally bringing me into the conversation. It's funny because I usually just tune everybody out since I don't know what they're saying anyways and then people ask me a question and I'm like uhhhh...what...I wasn't paying attention. What a dope! Jennifer and another woman speak very good English so they definitely tried to keep me included on the conversation a little bit. The kids just played and then after a couple hours, we left and Jennifer drove me back to the school.
On the car ride home, I had asked Jennifer how to cook these yellow beans that her friend had brought and she explained it to me...I'll have to try to make them sometime. They are so good! I asked her if she cooked much and told me no, she has a maid that does all of her cooking and cleaning. Man....must be nice!! She is an extremely nice lady though and was so nice to even invite me to go out to the movies with her and Steven on Friday! She said they're going to see the movie Turbo since it has just come out recently here. She said that the movie theaters will play around 3 out of 10 movies in English, so she will pick a time when there is an English showing. I don't know how much Steven will like it but maybe Jennifer will translate for him haha. I don't think he likes it when her and I talk because he can't understand what we are saying. Glad he knows how I feel! He was pretty good the whole time we were out...only had 1 meltdown...which Jennifer said is because there is so much pressure at school. It's probably also because he's spoiled...but what do I know? Either way, he is a very nice and very smart little boy and she is a very nice lady. She even offered to have to stay at her apartment some weekends so I don't get bored and also to get me a SIM card for my phone so I can make local calls...what a gem! Glad I've made one friend...even if she's my students mother!
After Jennifer dropped me off back at school, I had forgotten to tell Joy to tell the guard that I would be staying here until Saturday, so I had a little freak out thinking that I was locked out. I first went to the main doors on the first floor, knocked because I saw a light, nobody answered, so I went upstairs to try another entrance. I went to the enclosed bridge between my building and the office building and the doors were locked...so I panicked. I totally thought that I was going to have to go back up to the front gate of the school, be the stupid foreigner, and ask the security guards to somehow let me into my building. I decided to try the first floor main door again and rattled the doors extremely hard...and heard a yell. YAY!! My opera loving security guard was still there!! I thanked him many times and then went to up bed and yes...watched Game of Thrones. Duh. Well....goodnight!
Thursday, September 19
Yay for no school! I was totally looking forward to sleeping in today but nooooo. I got a knock on my door at 7:15 in the morning that nearly scared the crap out of me! After scrambling to put on a hoodie and my glasses, I opened the door to find who? My friendly security guard friend! He gave me a five minute talk about how I can't use the elevator since it will be shut off, that I have to use the stairs, and can only go outside using the 2nd floor exit to the other building. All in Chinese, of course. We are getting to know each other very well and I totally understand what he was saying. And I'm totally not lazy. I would normally take the stairs all of the time but the stairway door that leads to the 4th floor is always locked so the high school (who have classes on the 2nd floor) students can't get up there. You need an elevator key to get to any floor while in the elevator so it's all just safety precautions. I said thank you, tried going back to sleep, but instead...finished watching Game of Thrones instead. Yep. That's right. I'm done. I successfully watched 3 seasons of the show in 5 days. I'm proud of myself! I literally could not stop watching it though and am so sad that I'm done now! I literally almost cried at the last episode because it's so good! I definitely have to bring the books back here with me when I'm home for that week. I need to know what happens! Oh and that big box of what I thought was apples?...they're actually like little pears. They're really good and that's what I had for breakfast.
After my great accomplishment, I set off to go to the store. I've been accumulating quite a bit of trash in my room so I snuck it off into the other building and threw it into one of the bathroom garbage's. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it really, so that seemed like a great idea. I remembered my morning visitor and took the stairs to the second floor and went out through the other entrance/exit. I went back to the front gate, said hi to the security guard, and then went off to the store. It was much less busy than last time I went out, but then again, no party. The big party was for a branch of Shenyang Technical University that just had their 5 year anniversary. But I still got a lot of looks walking around. Oh well. I went to the store and about oh...30 seconds after I walked in...the power went out. Great. I ended up getting quite a few things and the guy had to ring it all up on a calculator. He was pretty young but only knew how to say sorry and a few numbers. They were all funny running around trying to figure out the price of things. I felt bad but oh well...I was spending good money. And who knows, they totally could have ripped me off and I'll never know.
I then walked back to the school and to my room to put away my things. I kind of just hung out the rest of the day and watched movies and shows. Not much. I went to dinner around 4:30 and talked to the nice Chinese worker man again. They had served some weird smelly fish that I didn't want to eat and then chicken that has tiny little bones that I always swallow on accident. So I ate rice and some squash mash thing they always have, but it's actually really good. The worker man asked me how old I was and I told her. There were a few other men there, one being one of the younger security guards, who was the one who wanted to know how old I was. Which of course was followed by the question, am I single haha. Nope. Not single. No way. Sorry young China man! They asked if I was staying in my room all the time and I said yes. Don't worry, I locked the stairwell door and my room door. I'm on lock down here. They kind of creep me out but I know I'm just paranoid. I do only go down for dinner though haha. I have enough things in my room that I won't starve. Steven's mom contacted me and asked if I wanted to go to the movie at 1pm tomorrow and I said sure. So she'll pick me up, take me to the movies, go out to eat, and then bring me back to the school. My train to Beijing leaves at 7:20 Saturday morning, so the driver is picking me up at 5:40 to go to the train station. Whew....long day. It's a 5 hour ride and then Kuo will pick up me up at the station in Beijing and take me to my hotel. I'll have the rest of the night to relax and then class begins Sunday morning at 9am. Lots of things to do! Well...I'm going to continue my night with some movie watching and e-mailing. See ya later!
Friday, September 20
I've almost been here for officially a month! It honestly seems like it's been wayyy longer! I woke up this morning around 8 and thought "oh man, it's too early". But, then I heard somebody rattling on the stairway door and I totally panicked. I had locked it because I freaked myself out last night thinking somebody was going to come up here. I figured out that it was probably the security guard man because he went back downstairs, got his keys, then heated something up in the microwave that is in the room next to mine. Totally freaked me out though. I just hung out in my room doing a few things and then at 1 pm, Jennifer and a few of her friends and their kids came to get me to go to the movies. The mall we went to was really really nice. The mall was only a few years old and the movie theater (cinema) was only 2 days old! Everything was very new and nice. We saw Turbo, which was actually really funny! The kids really liked it and laughed a lot....the adults did too though! China movie theater popcorn is more like kettle corn but still very good. Many things are very sweet here...guess I fit right in!
After the movie, we went to a sushi restaurant to eat. The food was really good but I put a ton a wasabi in my soy sauce so it was extremely spicy! I was surprised to see that the kids really loved sushi and ate it right up. Steven really likes salmon and ate about twice as much as I did! It was one of those places where the chefs make the sushi and then put it on a conveyor so that it goes around and you just pick which one you want. Whatever color plate the sushi is on tells you how much it costs. It was really cool and also good. Nice to have something other then regular Chinese food. Very refreshing. Jennifer was very nice and paid for everything for me. I already have her a couple of mooncakes for her being so nice but I will have to pick her up something in Beijing for being so kind. She also got me a SIM card and minutes for my phone so now I just have to get it unlocked so that I can use them. I'm becoming a real Chinese citizen! Except that I really know nothing about the country haha. It'll be nice to be able to make calls to people though instead of always have to rely on my computer and the internet to contact people.
Well...I've got to leave early in the morning for Beijing, so I better get to packing. I just had finally started to settle in and now I have to pack up again and leave! Living out of a suitcase is an acquired taste and it's something that I've yet to acquire! I have about a 5 hour train ride so I will be reading a lot of books, which is very nice. I've been wanting to just sit and read but haven't had the time (with all my TV watching!) : ) Goodbye for now and I will see you in Beijing...again!
Saturday, September 22 and Sunday, September 23
Yeah. I know. I skipped another day. Yesterday I came back to Beijing where I will be staying for the next 2 weeks. I had to get up at 5 am to get to the train station on time, so I was super tired all day. The train ride was good...just very long. Kuo picked me up from the train station in Beijing so that was nice. We took a taxi to my hotel, which is apparently more like apartments that people can rent so it has a ton of furniture and even a little kitchen area to cook it. I was unsure about it at first but it is actually really nice. It's so convenient because it is actually in the same building as the supermarket Carrefour and there are also a bunch of markets and restaurants around here as well. After checking in, we took the 10 minute walk to the building where my training is going to be held all this week. It's nice to be able to walk there and get some fresh (smoggy) air! After that, Kuo went back home and I did a little shopping at Carrefour. I pretty much just hung out the rest of the day in my room since I was pretty tired. I did try KFC for dinner and it was actually pretty good. Not quite the same as back home, but good. I Skyped with my parents, Marc, and the critters. That was really nice and I forgot how much I miss my animals! They're soo stinking cute. I can't wait to see them again! Less than 2 months! So yea, then I just fell asleep while watching a movie on my computer...and that was my Saturday.
Sunday morning..yay...not! I had to be at the meeting room by 8:45 this morning. It was extremely strange to see so many foreigner faces all in one place! Everybody is really nice there and super open to talk to. There are 20 people in the class and one instructor. Breakdown of people and where they are from: girls-London, South Africa, Toronto, US, Vancouver...and I'm not sure where else, boy-London, Sweden, France, Netherlands, US, and I'm not sure where else. I didn't get a chance to talk to everybody today but I'm sure I will. The guys from Sweden and from France are really nice. I made friends with the girl Rose who is from Toronto. She actually came to my room after the class ended to charge her phone and then we went out and got something to eat. She's super nice and talkative. She's 23, has a masters degree in science, teaches 10th grade chemistry, and is originally from Iran but has lived in both Australia and Toronto. Very interesting. All of the people here have very interesting stories. The one guy named Paul is from Seattle and is actually staying in the same building that I am staying in, but on the 11th floor (I'm on the 8th). He's also very nice but has googly eyes so it's hard to concentrate on him talking. I get too distracted. So the class is basically lecture in the morning and then mini-demos in the afternoon. I think it is going to be super helpful and informational, especially when we talk about the young learners. It's split about half and half between primary/junior high teachers and then adult teachers. I'm sure I will have more to talk about tomorrow. I'm tired today since we were in training all day, then I hung out with Rose, and then I had to do homework. Yeah, homework. Haven't had that in awhile! We had to do a take-home grammar quiz and then do a bunch of book reading. I finished the quiz and still have to do the reading now. Better get going so I can get up early in the morning! Zia Jian!
Yay for no school! I was totally looking forward to sleeping in today but nooooo. I got a knock on my door at 7:15 in the morning that nearly scared the crap out of me! After scrambling to put on a hoodie and my glasses, I opened the door to find who? My friendly security guard friend! He gave me a five minute talk about how I can't use the elevator since it will be shut off, that I have to use the stairs, and can only go outside using the 2nd floor exit to the other building. All in Chinese, of course. We are getting to know each other very well and I totally understand what he was saying. And I'm totally not lazy. I would normally take the stairs all of the time but the stairway door that leads to the 4th floor is always locked so the high school (who have classes on the 2nd floor) students can't get up there. You need an elevator key to get to any floor while in the elevator so it's all just safety precautions. I said thank you, tried going back to sleep, but instead...finished watching Game of Thrones instead. Yep. That's right. I'm done. I successfully watched 3 seasons of the show in 5 days. I'm proud of myself! I literally could not stop watching it though and am so sad that I'm done now! I literally almost cried at the last episode because it's so good! I definitely have to bring the books back here with me when I'm home for that week. I need to know what happens! Oh and that big box of what I thought was apples?...they're actually like little pears. They're really good and that's what I had for breakfast.
After my great accomplishment, I set off to go to the store. I've been accumulating quite a bit of trash in my room so I snuck it off into the other building and threw it into one of the bathroom garbage's. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it really, so that seemed like a great idea. I remembered my morning visitor and took the stairs to the second floor and went out through the other entrance/exit. I went back to the front gate, said hi to the security guard, and then went off to the store. It was much less busy than last time I went out, but then again, no party. The big party was for a branch of Shenyang Technical University that just had their 5 year anniversary. But I still got a lot of looks walking around. Oh well. I went to the store and about oh...30 seconds after I walked in...the power went out. Great. I ended up getting quite a few things and the guy had to ring it all up on a calculator. He was pretty young but only knew how to say sorry and a few numbers. They were all funny running around trying to figure out the price of things. I felt bad but oh well...I was spending good money. And who knows, they totally could have ripped me off and I'll never know.
I then walked back to the school and to my room to put away my things. I kind of just hung out the rest of the day and watched movies and shows. Not much. I went to dinner around 4:30 and talked to the nice Chinese worker man again. They had served some weird smelly fish that I didn't want to eat and then chicken that has tiny little bones that I always swallow on accident. So I ate rice and some squash mash thing they always have, but it's actually really good. The worker man asked me how old I was and I told her. There were a few other men there, one being one of the younger security guards, who was the one who wanted to know how old I was. Which of course was followed by the question, am I single haha. Nope. Not single. No way. Sorry young China man! They asked if I was staying in my room all the time and I said yes. Don't worry, I locked the stairwell door and my room door. I'm on lock down here. They kind of creep me out but I know I'm just paranoid. I do only go down for dinner though haha. I have enough things in my room that I won't starve. Steven's mom contacted me and asked if I wanted to go to the movie at 1pm tomorrow and I said sure. So she'll pick me up, take me to the movies, go out to eat, and then bring me back to the school. My train to Beijing leaves at 7:20 Saturday morning, so the driver is picking me up at 5:40 to go to the train station. Whew....long day. It's a 5 hour ride and then Kuo will pick up me up at the station in Beijing and take me to my hotel. I'll have the rest of the night to relax and then class begins Sunday morning at 9am. Lots of things to do! Well...I'm going to continue my night with some movie watching and e-mailing. See ya later!
Friday, September 20
I've almost been here for officially a month! It honestly seems like it's been wayyy longer! I woke up this morning around 8 and thought "oh man, it's too early". But, then I heard somebody rattling on the stairway door and I totally panicked. I had locked it because I freaked myself out last night thinking somebody was going to come up here. I figured out that it was probably the security guard man because he went back downstairs, got his keys, then heated something up in the microwave that is in the room next to mine. Totally freaked me out though. I just hung out in my room doing a few things and then at 1 pm, Jennifer and a few of her friends and their kids came to get me to go to the movies. The mall we went to was really really nice. The mall was only a few years old and the movie theater (cinema) was only 2 days old! Everything was very new and nice. We saw Turbo, which was actually really funny! The kids really liked it and laughed a lot....the adults did too though! China movie theater popcorn is more like kettle corn but still very good. Many things are very sweet here...guess I fit right in!
After the movie, we went to a sushi restaurant to eat. The food was really good but I put a ton a wasabi in my soy sauce so it was extremely spicy! I was surprised to see that the kids really loved sushi and ate it right up. Steven really likes salmon and ate about twice as much as I did! It was one of those places where the chefs make the sushi and then put it on a conveyor so that it goes around and you just pick which one you want. Whatever color plate the sushi is on tells you how much it costs. It was really cool and also good. Nice to have something other then regular Chinese food. Very refreshing. Jennifer was very nice and paid for everything for me. I already have her a couple of mooncakes for her being so nice but I will have to pick her up something in Beijing for being so kind. She also got me a SIM card and minutes for my phone so now I just have to get it unlocked so that I can use them. I'm becoming a real Chinese citizen! Except that I really know nothing about the country haha. It'll be nice to be able to make calls to people though instead of always have to rely on my computer and the internet to contact people.
Well...I've got to leave early in the morning for Beijing, so I better get to packing. I just had finally started to settle in and now I have to pack up again and leave! Living out of a suitcase is an acquired taste and it's something that I've yet to acquire! I have about a 5 hour train ride so I will be reading a lot of books, which is very nice. I've been wanting to just sit and read but haven't had the time (with all my TV watching!) : ) Goodbye for now and I will see you in Beijing...again!
Saturday, September 22 and Sunday, September 23
Yeah. I know. I skipped another day. Yesterday I came back to Beijing where I will be staying for the next 2 weeks. I had to get up at 5 am to get to the train station on time, so I was super tired all day. The train ride was good...just very long. Kuo picked me up from the train station in Beijing so that was nice. We took a taxi to my hotel, which is apparently more like apartments that people can rent so it has a ton of furniture and even a little kitchen area to cook it. I was unsure about it at first but it is actually really nice. It's so convenient because it is actually in the same building as the supermarket Carrefour and there are also a bunch of markets and restaurants around here as well. After checking in, we took the 10 minute walk to the building where my training is going to be held all this week. It's nice to be able to walk there and get some fresh (smoggy) air! After that, Kuo went back home and I did a little shopping at Carrefour. I pretty much just hung out the rest of the day in my room since I was pretty tired. I did try KFC for dinner and it was actually pretty good. Not quite the same as back home, but good. I Skyped with my parents, Marc, and the critters. That was really nice and I forgot how much I miss my animals! They're soo stinking cute. I can't wait to see them again! Less than 2 months! So yea, then I just fell asleep while watching a movie on my computer...and that was my Saturday.
Sunday morning..yay...not! I had to be at the meeting room by 8:45 this morning. It was extremely strange to see so many foreigner faces all in one place! Everybody is really nice there and super open to talk to. There are 20 people in the class and one instructor. Breakdown of people and where they are from: girls-London, South Africa, Toronto, US, Vancouver...and I'm not sure where else, boy-London, Sweden, France, Netherlands, US, and I'm not sure where else. I didn't get a chance to talk to everybody today but I'm sure I will. The guys from Sweden and from France are really nice. I made friends with the girl Rose who is from Toronto. She actually came to my room after the class ended to charge her phone and then we went out and got something to eat. She's super nice and talkative. She's 23, has a masters degree in science, teaches 10th grade chemistry, and is originally from Iran but has lived in both Australia and Toronto. Very interesting. All of the people here have very interesting stories. The one guy named Paul is from Seattle and is actually staying in the same building that I am staying in, but on the 11th floor (I'm on the 8th). He's also very nice but has googly eyes so it's hard to concentrate on him talking. I get too distracted. So the class is basically lecture in the morning and then mini-demos in the afternoon. I think it is going to be super helpful and informational, especially when we talk about the young learners. It's split about half and half between primary/junior high teachers and then adult teachers. I'm sure I will have more to talk about tomorrow. I'm tired today since we were in training all day, then I hung out with Rose, and then I had to do homework. Yeah, homework. Haven't had that in awhile! We had to do a take-home grammar quiz and then do a bunch of book reading. I finished the quiz and still have to do the reading now. Better get going so I can get up early in the morning! Zia Jian!