Christmas/New Years/Chengdu

Hello everyone-

Again, I am realizing that I am horrible with updating this blog. I promise when I come home that I will tell lots of great stories. Let me try to remember of few of them as I write this. After re-reading the last time I wrote, I figured I better back up a bit. We have obviously settled into our new school. I am teaching grades 1 thru 6 and for 99 % of the time I enjoy it. The kids are great. I have two translators that come with me to each class and basically help with the dicipline and when the kids have no idea what I am saying, they translate. The only bad thing is that I dont believe that they understand how we are supposed to teach. I can honestly say that all they want me to do is teach them songs!

October and November past without much entertainment. We went to Xian at the end of each month to get our monthly "fix" of McDonalds. Thanksgiving was not the same of course, but the teachers were very nice and they took us out dancing. In our town "dancing" does not mean going to a club. Dancing means going to a small, kinda scary building that is very dark and watching older Chinese people dance very differently. It was fun but it was'nt actually what I was looking for. But again, another great experience.

December was another adventure. Christmas was sad but we made the best of it. The best part of the last month was going shopping and finding the cheesy xmas decorations that the Chinese love. I found Xmas lights in Xian, but half of them were burnt out by xmas. Typical Chinese quality. We had xmas day off and requested the day after as well. We were off too Hangzhou to visit with the other two foreign teachers. We had a fun night of attempting to cook our best western food, which consisted of going to KFC for two buckets of chicken, we made mashed potatoes and home-made gravy, which we all ranted and raved over how good it was. It was just a little taste of home and we loved it. We even downloaded a bunch of xmas carols and had a good time singing and dancing around the apartment. We then went to a local bar and watched the cheesiest dance show ever. All in all we made the best of xmas that we could. But I know that we all missed everyone back home.

Chengdu Adventure

We had been told that we would be teaching until at least Jan. 10th. Due to typical Chinese fashion, we knew those dates were going to change. I went to my normal class on the Monday after xmas, just to be asked politely if I would mind not teaching for basically the rest of the week because exams were comming up and the teachers wanted extra time to review with the students. I was happy and proceded to have a quiet rest of the day until Megan called to fill me in on the rest of the details. We were told that we were actually done teaching the next day for the semester! The was the day before New Years Eve, roughly ten days before we expected to be done. Then we learned that we were expected to come back in ten days in order to teach the first annual "English Winter Camp" After those five days of "camp" we were free until Feb. 16th. The thing about China I have discovered is that there is no "Master" calender, there is no emailing upcomming events, there are no "Memos." This is frustrating to say the least. Numerous times we have learned that we were expected to give a speech or participate in some event merely the next day or even that afternoon. But when in China, do as the Chinese. We were planning an adventure to Chengdu, which is famous for the Panda Research Center, among other things, with two other foreign teachers. Well, since we were done teaching we decided to move up the trip to the next day. It was very entertaining attempting to book tickets, talk to the other teachers, get laundry done etc.. all in less than 24 hours, but we are getting good at getting things done on the fly. So Megan and I took the bus the next morning to the city where the other foreign teachers live in order to finish planning our trip and to celebrate New Years. We decided to leave on January 1st to get to Chengdu, which is 9 hours away by train. So there we were on New Years day at 7 am hung over and trying to by train tickets for the first time. Another thing about China is that there is no "online tickets" You must physically go to the station and wait in line for tickets that may be sold out. Just imagine a normal train station during the holidays, now multiply that by hundreds of people. Now that the schools were being let out and the millions of Chinese are on the move to go home, or vacation this was no easy feat. So the four of us split up in the freezing cold into four lines and prayed they would move fast. After 30 minutes we decided we had had enough. We played the one card that we have "the dumb foreigner" And it worked! Brent went up to a security guard, (because he speaks Chinese pretty well he was nominated) and asked what he should do. The guard brought him to the front of the line and got us our tickets. They were however, not exactly what we wanted. We were tired, cold, hungover, and cranky, we needed to upgrade. Luckily instead of sitting in the "cattle cars" (aka hard seats) as we call them, we coughed up the extra money happily and upgraded to a hard sleeper. which is basically 6 bunk beds in a small room. Lets just say that the cleanliness of the sheets were not up to our American standards and I was forced to wash my jeans at the hostel because there was a mysterious white substance that had come to reside on my pants! The train ride was fun and we were happy to be able to nap and eat some good food, and along with a many great laughs the 9 hour train ride was an adventure.

Chengdu-

After arriving in Chengdu and hitting the first McDonalds we saw, we settled into our hostel. The worst thing about Chengdu at this time of year was the weather. It rained the first few days we were there. The hostel had no ceiling in the lobby/lounge area so it was pretty chilly. We managed to grin and bear it and got to see a few temples, People's park, the great Mao statue and of course the panda's. One of my favorite moments was when we found Papa Johns Pizza. I know that sounds sad, but after living without hardly any of the things that I have grown up with aka.. western food, I was estatic! I willingly paid over 100 yuan for that pizza!

English Winter Camp '09

We had been told before we left for Chengdu that we would be teaching the first "English Winter Camp" When arriving back we found in front of the school a huge sign with our pictures on it and in Chinese writing describing the camp. When meeting up with our Foreign Affairs Officer shortly after comming home, we were told that we should "have a rest" and we would not start teaching until Sunday instead of Saturday as we had been told. We were told that we would discuss the plans for the "camp" the next day. Basically the camp was held Sun-Thurs of that week and it was for the local primary students who did not go to our school. I ended up having a few of my regular students as well. Basically they wanted us to teach "how we really talk" for the week. The week went on with us teaching common phrases for shopping, restaurants, and singing Jingle Bells. The best part was that we spent at least two hours taking pictures. Each student was able to take a picture with each of us and take it home. Let's just say that Megan and I were both mobbed when the translators explained this, in Chinese first, and were startled because we didnt know what was going on. Forever, I am told, my picture will be taken out to show visitors to these homes to show that they have met and have taken a picture with a foreigner. AHHH, how I love China!

Leaving Yougzhou and going to Yangxian

Sorry I havent been keeping up with my blog, its been kinda crazy over here. Let me start by saying that we got pulled from our school in Yougzhou and are in a new city called Yangxian. Our company felt that we were not being taken cared of enough and our requests for simple things were not being fufilled. We are now roughly 3 hours away from Xian in northern China. The weather here is much more my style, cooler, so that is a major plus. We are closer to more foreign teachers in neigboring towns and closer to a bigger city. The town itself is small, roughly the size of Winona and/or Rushford, which is kinda a drag. The people here are really nice and helpful. The apartments are brand new and we are the first foreign teachers. They have already done more for us in the first week, then our previous school did in a month. I am teaching primary which is different. 1st thru 6th graders. It is definetly a change. They are interested in learning though and I have a Chinese translator in each class which is very helpfull. Im still getting adjusted though. The food here is different as well. No more really spicy food which is great for me. We do however miss our fresh vegetables which were a staple in our everyday meals in the south. We did have success however when we went tothe supermarket and found frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts!! Felt almost like home!! The school gave us two bikes. That was an adventure in itself seeing i hadnt ridden a bike in twenty years! But it is really convienent even if we have to make 2 trips to the supermarket to get our groceries home! All in all I am enjoying my new town and apartment, and am glad that we got pulled and put here.

A week with no internet!

Well today was a good day. Two students took us to the internet cafe so we could check our facebook etc.. we have been living with no internet for a week, and if you know me thats a brutal thing for me. I am slowly adjusting to life in China, or at least day to day life. Teaching is alright. The kids just talk all the time!! Its hard because they try to push our buttons to see how much they can get away with. When I walk by the other classrooms no one is making a sound, but my classrooms they are constantly talking. I hate to yell at them, so i have found that slamming the desk door keeps them at a dull roar. For their benefit though, it is a coversation class, if they would just speak English it would be ok cause then i could understand when they are learning or when they are just chitchatting with their partner! Its also hard because each class is at a different level of english it seems. We have a different textbook from the chinese english teachers that is supposed to be all oral english, but we are not supposed to TEACH them new things, just practice what they have learned. And to tell you the truth, they learn stupid stuff. Things that they wont have to use. How to write an advice letter for example, but not how to talk in complete sentences, or write in complete sentences. I feel like i should be the one TEACHING them the English. Oh well.
On to the living situation:
Our FAO has been very slow at getting things done. For example, Megan has mold in her room, our washing machine is broken still etc.. He kept saying maybe tommorrow the internet would be fixed, then last night he tells us a month! Not acceptable at all we told him. The good news is is that our companies people are comming to check things out at all the schools where we are at. We told our FAO that and I think he's nervous! Its hilarious. Thats the great thing about Buckland (the company I work for) they back us up with anything we need! Im hoping that with them comming tommorrow everything willl be fixed. If not we can leave anytime, and Buckland will send us to another school, no problem. they want us to be happy so that we stay.
Today it rained for the first time since Ive been here so it actually is bearable outside. Otherwise its been in the 90's all week! Too hot for this girl.
This week i am teaching seven days straight then its the national holiday and get a week off. My mon and tues. classes are on sat. and sun. yes they have classes 7 days a week! Megan and I are going to meet up with some other teachers in Xian (northern china) so we will take an overnight train, which should be an experience in itself. It will be good to see the other teachers and have a NoRMAL coversation in English.
Hope this finds you all well!

First week of teaching in Yongzhou

Hello all!
Well today is Wednesday. I am into my second day of teaching. It has been a rollercoaster that is for sure! The first class, once i got over my nervousness was awesome. You really get a high from teaching! They speak pretty decent english, they just cant understand me because i am not chinese and have a totally different accent. I have to keep repeating myself and the directions alot. They are very enthusiastic about learning english though. There are some kids however that just sit there, just like in America. They are interested in learning about me and America as well. They giggle alot and repeat everything that i write on the board in perfect harmony, its hilarious. They have been trained as a group for sure! The second class was more wild and didnt understand half of what i was saying im afraid, half of the class is me explaining myself! I will have to recondition my vocabulary into simplier terms ive decided. lol i never thought i spoke to challenging!!
We finally got our washing machine working and our hotplates (which is what we have for a stove) after we had our FAO over to explain them. Everything is in Chinese!! There is no dryer, noone has one. THey use too much electricity I guess. So we have a closeline in our hallway and since its so hot, it doesnt take long to dry our clothes. We havent had internet for over two days so thats why ive been a little slow on the pictures and updates.
Take care everyone!!

Trip to our city Yongzhou and our first day here

Well we made it to our city and school. Our city is Yongzhou and it is in the Hunan province in central eastern china. It is only about 4 hours away from where we were before so that is nice in case there are problems our company is close to us. The bus ride was an adventure as always. We had a person come with us from the company to make sure we got on the right bus etc.. he told the driver where we should get off. That was nice. However then we got a flat tire and had to sit in this hot bus for an extra half an hour or so in the middle of nowhere. Then we were told to get off soon after. However the bus station did not look very safe, nor was it open! As soon as we got off we were mobbed by taxi drivers, and when i say mobbed i mean MOBBED! It was pretty scary, no one spoke English of course. The FAO (foreign affairs officer) from the school who is like our "go to" person for everything was nowhere to be seen! So we managed to find a phone and called him, but we were in the middle of this circle of men! It was scary. so we ended up walking to the other end of the parking lot so they would leave us alone, finally they did. Then the FAO showed up and said he was told we didnt get in until 6pm. He even called the bus driver and yelled at him!!
Then we were taken to the school. I believe that we are teaching in an inner city school for sure! Its really run down and pretty gross. But our apartment is huge and i think Megan and I will be sharing it cause the other one is gross, and has been set up for an office etc... Or first night we had to kill a cockroach and a big spider! Lets just say it was a restless first night. Also our first night (which was sunday night) All the department heads took us out to dinner. Lets just say it was really awesome food, but we didnt understand a thing,. and we were the only women obviously.
Monday morning we went with the FAO to get us cellphones. They are prepaid cellphones and if you call me then its free for me, but not you. I would suggest getting a phone card if anyone wants to call me. Here is my phone number 15574602042. Im not sure how to call international yet. When i get my address i will put that up here as well.
I have my first class in the morning and will be teaching Senior 1 which is like juniors in high school. They are pretty excited to see us, everyone is saying hi when we walk by the classrooms. I will be teaching 16 classes a week in 45 min increments., mostly in the evenings which will be nice.
We also attempted shopping by ourselves today! We went to the supermarket and it was interesting. All we got for food was rice and soy sauce!! Thats all we could figure out. We also got other things like cleaning supplies and toilet paper. I am happy to report that we have a western toilet in our apartment!! Thank goodness!!
Yongzhou is a very big and dirty city, not like quiet Yangshou where we were. Lots of cars and smog, i think the population is around 360,000. We are one of 8 foreign teachers, four of whom we know. other than that we are the odd ones out, which is fun. People came up to us to say hello, but thats about all they can say! Yongzhou does however have a McDonalds, which we havent found and a KFC and Pizza Hut. We had the KFC today it was alright.
I should get ready for my class tommorrow! Wish me luck!! There should be about 60 to 70 kids in each class!!

Today we went to our first hosptial to get our physical for the working visa. Let me tell you it was not an american hosptial by any means. We didnt get bandaids for the bloodwork(yes we got our blood drawn, the needle was fresh out of a package, we made sure) we got a chest xray, urine test and eye test... and we had to pay for it, which was about 50 US dollars. I was kinda upset because they didnt tell us ahead of time, but oh well its done with. Last night the president of our company took us out to a nice authentic dinner and it was fun!! We went up to the mountains and ate looking over a rice field looking up at the moutains. It was way cool. We got there by taking this makeshift traveling bus with no doors, quite the adventure with the ways way that they drive over here. For the afternoon now we are going to watch the other half of our group present their practice lessons that they created to an actual chinese english class. I do my presentation tommorrow, on Friday. I am kinda nervous but once its over it will be fine. We decided on the city that we are going to. The city is called Yongzhou in the provience of Hunan in central eastern China. We should leave this weekend for our school. I will have my own apartment etc.. which will be fun i think. The pictures that i put up were from our travels through Hong Kong, which was just a quick bus ride. It takes awhile to upload pictures here so bear with me till I get the hang of it.

Pictures of Hong Kong