A day out

So today was my day off from teaching. Last week I had no day off so this week I had to take advantage of my free time and I spent the day out and about in the city. I started the day with Chinese class and then went out with two of my co-workers and we went bowling.

Bowling here in China is apparently a big thing. It's also very much the same as it is at home. I had to rent a pair of the same red white and blue bowling shoes that live in every bowling alley everywhere, it seems. There were the same kitschy animations on the electronic score machine. You know, the silly strike, spare, split and miss animations that we so cool when we were little? Another thing that is the same as in the good ol' USA...I still suck. I'll admit it, I'm no good at bowling. I only play because I think it's fun, not because I have any future in the sport.

The bowling alley at Swan Hotel in Harbin

 After we left the bowling alley, we hit up a Chinese barbeque restaurant. It was pretty good but all the food was so spicy. I wasn't able to eat much. Our server kept staring at me too. It was like seeing a Foreigner was rare or something (which it is in Harbin) and it was a little creepy. His staring also caused him to mess up our order. He brought us lamb instead of beef. The problem was easily fixed however, so I'll let it pass.

After our meal, we did a little shopping. We went to a little place called Wal*Mart. Maybe some of you have heard of it? It was pretty much like any Wal*Mart in America except things were labeled in Chinese instead of English. There was even Great Value and Mainstays products (which was nice for me. It made me feel a little at home). I managed to buy a jar of crunchy peanut butter and some cheese. It made my day.

And finally, we walked through the central district of Harbin. There were many lighted decorations out for Chinese New Year, which is in a week. As I write this, I can hear fireworks going off somewhere near by. A little while ago I could even see them from my apartment window.

A lighted New Year display in Harbin.

 Well, until next time! Live well.

This is a bus stop. On the left the green lights are encased in ice sculptures.

It's a New Year

I'm sorry it's been a while since my last update. The week of New Year was a little crazy. There was a really long night out with some of the Chinese teachers and some really cold temperatures and some pretty awesome ice sculptures.

On the 29th of December, I was fortunate enough to be given a ticket to the Harbin Ice and Snow world festival. If you know me, you know that I do not like the cold at all. But I went to the festival anyway. It was pretty amazing.

This is the view from the top of the ice castle.

On New Year's eve, some of the Chinese staff took me out for dinner and we had hot pot, which is really fun and I wish we had something like it back home.

This is a hot pot meal. The dish in the center boils and you add meat and veggies and all kinds of other stuff to cook. 

After We finished our meal, we went to KTV, (that's a karaoke place where you have a private room) and it was a total blast. We were there for about 6 hours or so. It was a very long night but so much fun. And not a single drop of alcohol was to be had.

And finally, the newest thing to add to my experience here in China is the fact that I am now taking Chinese language speaking classes. It's very exciting to be learning a new language in a way where I will actually be able to use it and practice in my everyday life. Right now I only have 5 classes under my belt, so I'm still not very good, but I will get better as time goes on. I'm taking the class with two of the Foreign teachers here. It's a great opportunity, not that I think I'll become fluent any time soon, but just knowing enough to make my life easier will be realy helpful.

Well, that's just about all the news I have for now. See you next time!

Christmas Time

Christmas is coming up - on Wednesday to be exact. But Christmas isn't a big deal here like it is at home. There are no tv commercials - well, I guess I can't say that for sure. I haven't even turned my tv on. People don't go out of their minds with Christmas shopping or gift giving. Most of the students I teach at school only celebrate Christmas because of the school. In fact, Christmas for me will be a regular work day. I have to teach three classes and go in early for more training.

And in a way, I think it will be better for my state of mind. I will be busy so I won't have as much time to dwell on the fact that I'm half-way around the world this year for the holidays. No presents, no tree, no family to get together with. Work will help to keep my mind off it all. No, what I'm really worried about is the day after Christmas which is my day off and it will be Christmas at home. To skype or not to skype - that is the question.

A few of the other foreign teachers and I went out tonight for something that I guess we can consider our Christmas dinner. We went to nice place and spent a little more on our meal than we normally do. It was difficult though as none of us really speak Chinese to any degree. We did manage to order some food eventually, but it was a struggle. It was fun to see how all the other people in the restaurant tried to jump in to help us foreigners figure out. They all had, what I believe were, helpful suggestions (again, the language barrier keeps me from knowing for sure) and we had a good meal in the end.

We spent an hour and a half sitting, eating and drinking and talking about our classes. It seems a little odd that we would relax that way, but for us, it seemed to be almost the only common point between all of us. It was also a way to vent a little about all are conceived slights against us. We can't really talk about the Chinese teachers where they could hear us, now could we? We had a very lively chat about teaching techniques and problem behavior and how to deal with said behavior. It was very enlightening to see how different we each are.

We even drew the attention of a few Chinese men who were sitting at a table behind us. They had a short conversation with the teacher who spoke the most Chinese. They managed to convey, through the translation and broken English, that they thought I was beautiful. I don't think strangers have ever made me blush like that before. I don't get compliments from random strangers like that very often, so you have to believe that made my day. 

Well, it's getting late and it seems like my work is never done, so until next time!

Sick overseas

Let me tell you something - getting sick while you are traveling over seas is one of the worst experiences of my life. Ever. It sucks.

When I was in England in 2009, I came down with a cold. It wasn't fun and I was on vacation at the time. But let me say, at least in England, I could go to the store and look in the medicine aisle and I could read all the labels. That was good.

I've gotten sick here in China. I think it's a sinus infection or something. At home, I could take care of it, no problem. Here is much harder. All the packaging is in Chinese (go figure) so I'm not really sure what it is that I'm taking. On top of that, the woman who went with me to the pharmacy to get said medication did not have the best grasp of the English language. I think what I bought was something for the cough that won't stop and I think the other might be some sort of anti-biotic. It's very hard to tell.

The other thing that is strange is the sheer amount of the medicine that I have to take. The cough medicine is three pill three times a day with my meals. The anti-biotic is two pills once a day. I feel a bit like a druggie popping all the pills, but if it works, I'll try it.

I do realize that this post must sound very cynical and a lot like whining and I'm sorry. I'll try to avoid that as much as possible, but every now and then, a girl just needs to whine.

Thanks guys. Until next time

Full time

I finally started teaching full time on Saturday. Let me just say it was a crazy day. I had to teach, watch and judge more Thanksgiving drama contests, and meet the parents of the kids in the classes I will be taking over from one of the foreign teachers who is leaving tomorrow. Sunday was just as crazy, so I have decided that Sunday will no longer be my day to update. It will probably become Monday from now on.

I am glad to be teaching full time now. Some of my otherwise idle hours will no be spent planning lessons. I know, it doesn't sound that exciting and it really isn't. In fact, it can be really hard. Today I had to plan a 40 minute class around the phrases "You're early" and "I'm late." Let me tell you, I really had to stretch some creative muscles to get that one done. Thankfully, the Chinese teachers at Kid Castle are really great and they are willing to help take up some slack and help with classroom management. It's really hard to control kids who are yelling at you in another language. When its me against fourteen screaming 6 year old kids, guess who's going to win? It wasn't me, that's for sure.

I dreaded one of my classes today. I was told it was a class of 18 naughty 9-10 year olds. I think it went pretty well. I actually had to cut some of my activities short because I ran out of time. It's always better to plan more than to run out, but I'm sure until I really get the hang of this lesson planning thing, I'll be running out of material quite a bit. That's especially true when I have a double class (that's one forty minute class, a ten minute break and then another 40 minute class) and the material is the same as I'd have to cover for a regular class period. It takes a lot of creative thinking and a lot of different ways to review material with games.

The kids, the older one and the younger ones, all require massive amounts of energy to deal with. They can be loud and a constant blur of motion. This is even more true as the night go on and it gets closer and closer to the time to go home. I don't really blame them. Some of the kids I teach are very young. They start as young as 3. In China, kids start kindergarten around 2 1/2, according to one of the Chinese teachers. When I told her kindergarten doesn't start until age 5 in the US, she looked startled. It's the norm for kids to start school from a very young age. I don't think I agree. There is one little girl I teach who can't be any more than 3. She is so much tinier than all her class-mates. She can hardly grasp the concepts we are trying to teach her and she is one of the kids that has a behavior issue, but to me it's understandable. I would get bored if I couldn't understand my teacher too.

What do you think about it?

Until next time!

My Apartment

This is my bedroom. The mattress is very different than the one I use in American. It's very hard.

This is the entry way/ coat closet. This is right inside my door. You can't see it, but the door to the bathroom would be on the left hand side of the picture. 

Here's the kitchen. It's right across from the door. You can kinda see my little screened in porch through the kitchen. That's were I hang my laundry to dry.

Here is the other half of my living room. I have never turned the tv on because I would only be able to watch Chinese television.

Here is my living room.  I spend most of my free time on that sofa. It's a little beat up.

3 Weeks in!

I can hardly believe I've been in China for three weeks now. It seems like its been less time. Things have smooth out quite a bit. I have an app on my phone that lets me translate into Chinese. I just type what I mean to say and it changes it for me. That isn't to say that it has solved all my problems. The road is still a bit bumpy, but I'll manage.

Life in China is some ways very similar to my life at home and in many ways it is completely different. For instance, at home, if I wanted to order a pizza, I could just pick up the phone and order it. I can't so much in China. For one, I don't speak Chinese worth a damn. And for two, I don't know how to tell them where to deliver it. I do, however, find myself doing many of the same things here that I did at home. I still spend probably too much time on the internet and I still like to spend time working on my cross stitch. That much hasn't changed and it is those small things that remain the same that help to keep me just a little bit sane.

The biggest thing to change (and hold on, this is about to get personal) is trying to find birth control. I take birth control to regulate my periods so I don't become a pimple faced rage monster once a month. The thing about China is most people only use birth control after the fact - the morning after pill. And trying to get the pharmacist to understand the difference is nearly impossible when you speak no Chinese. I know that it is possible to get the same type of pill that I take now, it's just difficult to do. I will have to ask for help. Thankfully, all the Chinese teachers here are women so I don't have to embarrass myself too badly. I'll let you know how the search goes soon.

As a little note about my previous post with the pictures of my apartment. I live on the sixth floor of the building. There is no elevator. Those stairs are not fun. Also, when you look at the pictures, imagine that each room comes off the entry way - the kitchen directly in front, the bedroom and bathroom are on the right and the living room is on the left. It's nice having separate living spaces.

In my apartment, I've had people in to fix the heat twice. Once was yesterday. And again today, the radiators have gone cold. I don't know what I'm going to do if they can't get it fixed and keep the heat on. Maybe I won't be in this apartment for the whole year. If I keep having heating issues, I'm not going to be a very happy popsicle! (Yes, it is really that cold.)

All the complaining aside, I'm having a really good time here. Thanksgiving was just a few days ago and even though it isn't celebrated in China, the students at my school had a drama contest to celebrate and show off their language skills. Some of the younger students sang songs for their parents and some of the older students did little plays. There were several versions on Cinderella, Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood performed over the past two days. The kids were so cute. They even had costumes and props to help tell the stories. I was giving the honor of judging four such contests this weekend. Not that judging meant much. The category winners were pre-selected. There was a best performance award, a best team work award, a best behavior award, and a most improved award. It's was really neat to watch the kids put on the shows and speak in English as best as they could.

Well, until next time!