Mid Autumn Festival Weekend

This weekend was great for many reasons....but I have to say my number 1 reason is this: this weekend was our first holiday from school and after this they just keep coming!!!!!!! Incredibly selfish I know...but it is my truth. :)

So the Mid Autumn Festival is a Chinese holiday; other times I'd heard it referred to as the Moon Festival. I know there was a full moon during the festival but other than that, I have no idea what the holiday is about. :( Pathetic as it may be, my research into this holiday ended when I asked my two TA's what the holiday is about and they didn't seem to know either...haha! They're adorable and very funny....oh and I forgot to mention they are Chinese! So I don't feel quite as bad NOT knowing about this seemingly not so important holiday. I do know that during this holiday the big food to eat is called a "moon cake". I did have a parent buy me 2 tins of these things and I thought....when in Rome. So I tried one....and only one. :( The cake part is not bad at all, but inside is chunks of who knows what! I think the one I ate had fruit in it, but apparently they can have pretty much anything in them. Fruit, cheese, meat, vegetables, etc. I'm sorry but I'm not tempted enough to find out. These moon cakes however, are not cheap. So I thought I'd give them to someone who would appreciate them. :) The cleaning ladies in my building work ALL THE TIME so on my way to school one morning....I delivered them a little present. Not a waste after all!

This guy was a true performer! At one point he grabbed the mic
from the stand and threw the stand behind him. Hilarious! 

A lot of people from school went out of town this weekend...myself included. But before leaving, I managed to check out the Taihu Music Festival at the lake/park near my house. I went with my friend Doug and we had a blast! It was definitely an experience where I felt like I was really immersed in Chinese culture. That being said, this culture was not the traditional Chinese culture, but more the culture of young Chinese people. :) The amphitheater where the festival was held was large and very cool and the Chinese people liked to rock! The two bands we saw were both great! The 2nd one, which we later found out is a pretty famous band in China called Black Leopard, was extremely entertaining! We found it really funny because what we would have considered pretty much 80's rock, these young people were all about! I have no clue if this is typical, but when you consider what China has evolved from...who knows!




This is the only show I've ever been to where I didn't understand a word that was spoken except the title of the last song..."Don't Break My Heart".

It was awesome! :)

The morning after the festival we headed to Shanghai for 2 days. I honestly cannot imagine staying longer than that...I was EXHAUSTED!!!!!!!!! We did manage to fit a lot in, especially on Saturday. So, I suppose the exhaustion was worth it. :) Doug and I stayed in a hostel; I hadn't done that since college and it was great. I especially loved hanging my towel and dry clothes in the tiny shower with me. That way I knew they would be clean (and dry) when I was done. :( No...really it was totally fine, but I might write a letter to the hostel suggesting a small little alcove in which you can place things you'd like to stay dry, whilst showering. :)

We had 2 Chinese guys in our room; they showed up sometime  in the middle of the night. But when we walked in the room at the end of the day we were greeted by a Spanish guy sitting on someone else's bed in very tight undies. :) His wife was in the shower and when she came in wearing nothing but her towel, she looked surprised to see us! :) After that though, she went and put on a T-shirt and underwear...that was it! So there they both were, in their underwear, packing stuff up getting ready for their flight early the next morning. :) Haha...they were really nice but it was a different experience for me. Traveling really teaches you a lot about being open-minded and tolerant of differences among cultures. Just because it's weird to me, does NOT mean it's weird.

I did have a first happen on this trip that I could have done without. However, now having "experienced" it, I feel like I really live in China. :) I may have mentioned children not wearing diapers/underwear, etc. and that they pee on the street, on the sidewalk, in the bushes...apparently on the ground in the grocery store!!! Yuck! On this trip though, while walking through an incredibly busy metro station, we were fortunate enough to see a small child, probably 2 or 3...poo on the ground in the metro station. You can't recover from that people!!!!

Anyway...here are some pictures from the trip. We did take a bus tour of the city which was pretty awesome actually. A lot of great pictures passed me by, but it was nice to see an overview of the city, and you could hop on and hop off as you pleased. So when we found a place we wanted to explore...we did!

This picture was taken from the bus tour and I thought perfectly depicted the essence of Shanghai...East meets West. If you look closely you can see an H&M on the corner of a building on the right. :) 

We got off the bus and stumbled upon an old park that was filled with mostly old men, sitting around tables playing games! Some were card games, some were games with tile type things that kind of looked like a version of checkers. They just played and smoked and played and smoked. It was pretty great!

 This picture was taken in a place I will definitely go back to! It's in the French Concession; a very nice area of Shanghai that has loads of good places to eat delicious food. This street was very inviting to me! We didn't stop, but sometime I will go sit here with a bottle of wine and a book and I will either read, but more likely, I will people watch! The perfect place to do it!

 A couple of pictures of The Bund at night. It was cloudy, but I think that made these pictures even more cool! It was very pretty and again...great place to people watch. :) 

One more that I took with my phone. I love this panorama feature it's got! It's ONE redeeming quality!!! :)

After all the lovely pictures I thought I should throw this one in there too. :) This was on our way back to our hostel...really close in fact. And this....is the reality of China. You see this kind of stuff happen a lot! And during this trip I noticed something else. Even in the "nicest" places that are made for tourists, etc. stuff falls apart so quickly! Doug and I were walking in Pudong (the newer part of the city) on a sidewalk made of nice slate-looking pavers and I noticed...a bunch of them were moving when we walked on them! In fact, that happens a lot! Big tiles, bricks, etc....they look nice, but after being there no more than 10 years for sure...they are falling apart! Kind of reminds me of my lovely bicycle. :)  

Anyway....one week of school and then I'm off to Vietnam. I'm so excited! Just 5 school days to get through...I can do it!!!. :)

Peace out...

Another long week...but a very nice and relaxing weekend which was just what I needed! I thought about today's blog this morning and felt like I was going to have very little to share about. It hit me today though...if I ever feel like I don't have something to write about I need to step outside, take a walk, sit and people watch....whatever it may be. Because I will always find something interesting, crazy...whatever!

Today was a great day for just that. I went to the park with some friends from school; the bike ride was perfect, the park was lovely, the people were interesting. :) Like I mentioned before, I feel like my adjustment to China has been relatively easy however there is one thing that really grosses me out...over and over and over. The men clearing their throat repeatedly and then spitting. I can't even write in words how gross it is, but it happens all the time, everywhere. Even indoors, which is really nasty.

Anyway, today while we were at the park, a few of us went to the dock where all the Chinese people were going swimming. I put my legs in the water; I'll let you know if I end up with some kind of skin infection/disease. :) We kept hearing this compulsive throat clearing and spitting, and it was really nasty. But then something even nastier happened. This man was walking around, in his speedo, because that's what all the men were doing...very proud they were!!! So this guy is walking and he's about 6 feet from my friend Doug when he lifts his hand and there's an electric razor in it. He proceeds to shave his head, right there on the dock with the first batch of freshly cut locks landing about 3 feet from Doug. I'm sorry...but that's really gross!!!

It's not all gross stuff that you see though...thankfully. :) There was an adorable little white dog with it's owners....made me miss my Maggie a lot! It was so so cute and loved to swim in the lake, even though it was so little. Made me smile. :) And as we were sitting on our blanket, enjoying our picnic, a mom and her daughter walked up to us and the mom tried to talk her daughter into practicing her English with us. It happens a lot actually. Usually the kid is embarrassed, but the parents are all about it. I'm betting that for the parent, it's a way to show off, which is really flattering if you think about it.

A few random things from the week: I found out my old man neighbor that I'm so fond of is a professor of literature at the university near my school. We text frequently...it's pretty awesome. At the pub crawl I went to last weekend I got asked to be in a movie! Haha....pretty hilarious stuff, especially considering that the woman who is looking for "foreign women" for her movie, goes by the name Candy. Hmm....not too sure about this one. I might have to wait a little longer for my big break. I randomly had dinner with parents of some of my students twice this week. At first I thought it was strange to sit down and have a beer or glass of wine with them....at home it wouldn't typically go over so well....but here, no big deal! Kinda cool actually. I also was introduced to a little hole in the wall noodle place really close to my house this week. Extremely yummy beef noodle soup with freshly made noodles, good beef and cilantro! Yummm!!The serving is more than two meals worth for me and the cost....a whopping 7 quay which is $1.14. :) Cannot complain!

Lastly, I finally got a decent video of the women who "dance" outside my building on pretty much a nightly basis. I'm curious what happens during the winter. It's really entertaining, and maybe someday I'll join in. ;) But I've been wanting to get a good photo or video and tonight the opportunity presented itself.

This coming weekend is the Moon Festival here in China and lucky for me, that means I have a 3 day work week! Thursday I'm heading to an outdoor music festival in the park with who knows what kind of music...but it should be fun. Then Friday I'm off to Shanghai for the night! One week of school after that and then it's time for Vietnam. Time is flying!!!!

One of the guys working at the noodle restaurant took my phone in the back for me and got a couple of up close pictures of the guy who was making our noodles. It was so awesome! Kind of hard to see clearly, because it was an action shot, but you get the point. ;)

Doug, Cordelia, Daniela #2 and I enjoying a picnic at the park! 

Cordelia, Daniela #2, Daniela #1 and Doug. Behind them you can see all the vegetation in the water. We saw several people wading in the water to pick it. No clue why!!! We were hoping not for food, but one thing I've learned while in China, when it's comes to food.....anything is fair game! You learn to be very selective...or very sick. :)

This was a little earlier on in the day. The dock really filled up. I'm sorry to disappoint, but I did not get any close ups of the guys in speedos. :( 

I did get a close up of this adorable little pooch. :) I really wanted to go cuddle it for a bit, but I resisted. Didn't want them to think I was a "crazy westerner".











Doug and Cordlia sitting on the dock. I think this was before the hair cut occurred. That would have been an awesomely disgusting picture!!!

These guys showed up on the table in front of me while I was eating with the parents from my school. I tried to not look too terribly disgusted, however I did take a picture. I think I gave myself away! The good news is...they were pretty grossed out too. It's the teeth that really get me. Well....the eyes too. No me gusta. :( 

The Chinese....not extremely safety conscious!

Here they are...in all their glory! I literally walked right outside the gate of my courtyard and this is what I happened upon. Pretty cool! Enjoy :)

Extra Video!

This one is for Linda, Heidi, Anne, Jenny...and any other pull down phonics believers! ;)

Assembly 1...in the books!

I honestly can't remember what I've talked about on here and what I haven't, so I apologize if I repeat myself. If you know me at all, you know this happens a lot. :)

At my school each grade level in PYP (Primary Years Program) is responsible for presenting 2 assemblies a year. Sadly for me and my class, we were signed up for the Friday assembly the 3rd week of school. Not only do we put this whole thing together and "entertain" all of PYP as well as parents of my kiddos....but it's supposed to last 40 minutes!!!! That's a really long time for 5 year olds to perform anything!!!!!!!!!!! So basically, instead of teaching and learning how to be part of our classroom community the last 3 weeks....we have rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I used to like that book........ :(

Anyway...it's all over now and today I got to be a real teacher, which was awesome!! The assembly did go pretty well if I don't say so myself. These two videos show what I'm working with. Seriously cute kids who are 5 and can't sit still for pretty much anything. It was meant to be a lot more of their voices and less of mine, but you know how it is when there's an audience....

These videos took forever to load so the other one will come along later!

So much has happened and I keep thinking to myself, "oh, I have to make sure to blog about this!" and then I forget!!! So I guess I'll just write and see where this takes me!

I realize I haven't really shown any pictures of my school!

Above is a photo from the front of the school. The school is U shaped and the photo to the left is the courtyard area in the middle. It's my favorite area at school; it's really quite pretty. Out past the school is the soccer fields (where all of my soccer club magic happens) and then two playgrounds.





I have learned, thankfully NOT the hard way, that you should never ever take a short cut through bushes because bushes are basically...toilets. In fact, just today as I was walking up to my apartment building there was a boy outside....peeing in the bush right by the door to my building. Not a small little boy; he was probably 10 or 11. I just kept looking away and walking slower hoping he'd be done by the time I got there!!! He was. :) His dad/grandpa...I'm not sure which....is my new friend. :) He's so sweet and every time we see each other we attempt to have a "conversation". It's not easy, but I've been working on just a couple phrases I wanted to use with him. So today I tried them out. I told him my name and asked him what his name is in Chinese. :) Phonetically spelled of course, his name is Shi Long Sen :) And then we exchanged phone numbers and now we can text! He's asked me where I am from and how I am liking China. :) What would we do without technology!!!

I have had a couple of visits from my landlord....another adorable old man who seems very sweet. :) There are a couple things around here that need fixing...mostly my hideous furniture. :) I'm so excited...they're making covers for it and I got to pick the fabric out...so I know I'll like it! :) Anyway....I had a moment where I was sitting on my couch, reading a book about Vietnam, and there were 4 people in my apartment just talk, talk, talk...all in Chinese of course. It was so surreal and very awesome. It was a true "China moment".

Our new friends! 

This weekend I went to a pub crawl with Kayla....had an absolute blast! It was meant to be a "welcome to Wuxi" thing, but really I think it was just a mix of expats in the area...old and new. We spent most of the evening with Some people from Spain and 1 guy from Italy. I felt so stupid most of the time because here they are...going in and out of Spanish, English, Chinese...etc etc etc and all I have is English!!! This would be one of those moments where I wish I'd tried harder in high school. :)

Of course! I had to go behind the bar and get a picture with the bartender! 

This is the biggest wine glass I have ever seen, let alone drank from! Sadly the wine was terrible so my new Spanish friends taught me a Basque tradition...add coke to really bad wine! :) Sounds almost sacrilegious but desperate times....

Last week Doug, Kayla and I went to a comedy show downtown. Had tons of fun...it's so great to have people around that want to do stuff. I very rarely find myself sitting at home with nothing going on! These are the two I'm going to Vietnam with...I have a feeling we'll be making lots of great memories over the next couple of years! :)


FINALLY I got this photo from Cordelia (wink wink Cordelia)!!! A great photo at The Bund the day we went to Shanghai. So pretty and clear blue skies!

I can't believe I have failed to mention how hilarious many of the translations here are! It's almost unbelievable the stuff they came up with and I haven't taken any pictures yet so....I snapped this one at dinner the other night!

Getting into the swing of things...

It's been too long since my last post which is definitely a sign...I'm getting into the swing of things. :) I am surprisingly finding that adjusting to life in China is not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. The weather has calmed way down and it is beautiful! I can actually enjoy being outside and while I'm sitting here writing this I have my windows open! It's awesome!

School has...I can't exactly say "settled down"...because honestly, with 24 kiddos who barely speak English, I can't imagine it ever settling down! But I am feeling much more comfortable! The (what felt like) drastic change in thinking that needed to take place for the adjustment with curriculum is starting to transpire; things are beginning to make sense and slowly but surely, I'm beginning to see how I can mesh what they want me to do, with what I believe to be what's best for kids. And if I'm being honest....the two things are not that different....just different than what I'm used to. But hey...that's what I came to China for! Something different!!! :) My classroom is too big! Never in a million years did I think I would ever say that...but it's true! It's like a huge gym, where kids are tempted to run all day long, and my voice, no matter how loud I talk, becomes nothing but an echo barely recognizable. As a result...my voice is currently on it's way out. :) And just in time!!! Friday, P3 (my class) is hosting a school wide assembly. Yikes...it's absolutely exhausting to prep for, but I'm sure even if it goes completely wrong, the kids will be adorable and funny...people will laugh at the chaos unraveling before them....it will be great. 

I had to share this photo. This is Teo; such a cutie! A little exhausting at times, but completely adorable! This is his "me" poster they had for homework. I wanted to put this photo on our school website, but we're not supposed to display work that isn't correct unless it clearly has "draft" written across it!!! Come on...they're 5 years old! How hilarious that he decorated it backwards. :) Even so, his goal was to be a "communicator" and he did an amazing job. :) 

If you want to check out the rest of my kiddos or see what we're up to at any point in the year, here's the link to our P3 page of the school website. I'll attempt to keep it updated as much as possible.  

http://www.wuxitaihuinternationalschool.org/p3.html

Last Thursday I went to the Wuxi Grand Theater with Kayla and Doug to see a rendition of Carmen. There were rumors of possible thunderstorms earlier in the day, but all day long, it had been fine! By the time we were heading out to dinner before the show, the thunder started to roar and we began to ride our bikes as fast as possible...hoping to find some refuge. We finally made it to a restaurant we knew and trusted :) when the actual storms kicked in. We were in the restaurant maybe an hour, and when we left the building, the once dry ground was covered in inches of water! Kayla took off her shoes, I had sandals on with my nice pretty dress (mistake) and Doug luckily had some rain gear so he suited up. We decided bikes were NOT the mode of transportation we needed so we made our way to the street in an attempt to find a taxi. Thank God it was dark out, because the smell coming out of the flooded sewers was straight up nasty and if we could have seen what we were walking in....we might have vomited right then and there. It was foul!!!! 

We found a taxi and made it about 3 minutes down the street when he finally backed the car up and decided to take an alternate route. The street was completely flooded! Water was up to the bottom of car doors...insanity!!! We made it to the theater eventually and enjoyed the show. When we left to walk home...the sidewalks were almost completely dry with the exception of a few puddles here and there. Talk about extreme weather!  

Most of you probably already know...but my first holiday in China is booked. September 29th I'm leaving for Vietnam and I am so unbelievably excited!!! Sometimes I look around and it hits me that I'm living in China, my life has done basically a complete 180 in the last year, and I am sooooo lucky! I know this trip is just the beginning of many amazing adventures I'm going to have over the next 2+ years....and I am so extremely grateful for these opportunities.

I'll try and take some more pictures in the next couple of weeks....I know words are great, but pictures really can tell a great story! :)