Christmas in Beijing

I think I may have had one of the best Christmas' yet, but it was bitter sweet. I'll tell you how it went....

I woke up early on Christmas Eve to get a few things done. Got the key to my mothers friends house, did some grocery shopping, and got my nails done. I splurged and spent the $20 it costs to do my nails different with little snowmen and snowflakes hand drawn on. I love them. I also picked up Home Alone 1 and 2, New Years Eve, and a gift for Anna Vance--my best friends daughter. There was a specific CD to find and I originally bought the wrong one, but found the correct one which included a DVD. Bonus

Christmas Eve we all had to work until about 8pm, but everyone was in a very festive mood. One of my classes was canceled so I only had to teach the young boy, who again told me about his drinking. He said he got many presents for Christmas, and wants to go out and party on Christmas Eve. I think many Chinese use our holiday as an excuse to drink more as they do not actually celebrate the holiday. I taught him all about Christmas as he had no idea why it was celebrated. He got bored after the first 30 seconds. But he did compare our holiday to Chinese Spring Festival-- but they receive money in envelopes, I may convert to being Chinese.

After work we all (many of us. Charles, Khadijah, Allison and a few others did not come) to a bar in Sanlitun. Our Chinese co-workers convinced us to go for Christmas Eve drinks (an excuse for them to drink and celebrate our holiday), they were slightly confused when we told them that most people don't celebrate Christmas Eve by going to bars, they still don't understand what we actually do. In my household for instance, there is never any alcohol involved. Only forced into playing games by my wonderful mother, and told we will have fun whether we like it or not. (Some of these moments would be better tolerated with a nice glass of wine on hand... but then that would take the fun out of our all-so-serious, but necessary Christmas traditions.) After the bars, Sarah Michael and I went dancing for a bit and then to a Chuanr restaurant (I apologize I don't know how to spell Chuanr..) But basically it was a restaurant (or a room the size of a very small bathroom) where they cook meat and vegetables on a stick over a family. It's basically BBQ. It was absolutely amazing... I have always said that Xin Jiang Ren can make the best food. I made some friends who didn't speak a lick of English, and have proceeded to receive messages in Chinese as I gave out my number, that take my wonderful co-worker Lucy to translate for me. Google Translate is my best friend here-- and of course Lucy and Nina.

Michael, Sarah and I stayed the night at my mothers friends house as I wanted the use of an oven for breakfast. It is always a tradition in my household to make something called Skiiers French Toast. It's absolutely amazing. But, I couldn't find corn syrup. Later I found out that I could have used substitutes, but it was already too late. So I went with bacon, eggs, and blueberry muffins (that I burnt of course). I don't eat bacon or eggs here, so it was a treat, but not the same as in the States. I got a hat from Michael... which was ironic and wonderful because I realized I misplaced mine the night before, and now had a new one. Came home and Skyped with the family. That's a whole other story but it was very eventful and family-like. I got a tour of the house and my parents modeled for me. My dog was quite scared when she was forced to the computer screen by my sweet mother. She wasn't sure what was happening just looked terrified and wanted to go back to sleep.

Christmas night went to Khadijah's for dinner. I was supposed to be cooking, but ended up not cooking at all. I received kitchen clean-up duty. We had chicken, broccoli with cheese sauce, brussel sprouts with bacon and onion, mashed potatoes and gravy, lingon berry sauce from IKEA, and baked beans. It smelt amazing and tasted sooooo good. I want more already. After dinner we played the longest, but most fun game of charades ever. We laughed a lot and had a good time.

Overall, Christmas was very bitter-sweet. I missed my family very much and wished I was with them, especially to see it snowing on Christmas. But, we had a good time. I think this Christmas for me was more about appreciating my family and friends. Santa didn't come and I only got tea and a hat, but it was perfect because those were two things I wanted the most. I got what was essential, what I needed. This was my first Christmas without family, but they were with my in heart. And I know that my biological father and aunt were watching over me. I don't think I have been this happy in a long time. It's nice to have that feeling about Christmas. I like giving presents and that was my goal this year. To give everything I could, whether a hug or smile, 5 jiao to a beggar, candy, a candle, or a home made breakfast and a warm bed to sleep in (Sarah), Christmas is about being with people you love, and that was what I did.

I also have my family Christmas to look forward to. Five days till I go home and have Christmas on the first with my parents and brother. Can't wait to be home. Merry Christmas everyone.

Michael, Allison, myself and Charles Christmas night. 

Smugglers for Christmas Eve-- my coworkers

Sarah, and Michael Christmas morning

The Christmas dinner spread

Allison, Charles and Khadijah-- good food and good friends.

Christmas Shopping and Hong Qiao

Went on an adventure today.... First went to Yasho to pick up some more DVD's and little Chinese things my sister requested in her list of things... Then Michael and I took the bus to Subway line 5 and then took the subway to Tiantan where Hong Qiao Market is. Bought a bunch of Christmas presents for family and friends. Bought myself a painting as well. Thank you mom :) It was much easier bargaining and much cheaper there too. I bought a purse the other day at Yasho and they started at about 800 kuai... I got them down to 100... when I went to Hong Qiao and asked how much, they started at 100... when I walked away in disbelief they went even further down to 80... wish I had just waited to get the purse.

We were there for a few hours. Took a while to get there too. Went to find my mothers pearl lady Sandy, but she wasn't there and I didn't feel like bargaining with Sandy's employees... sorry mom. After shopping, we trekked our way back to the subway. I got off at the same stop we got off at to get there and hopped on the 701. an hour and twenty minutes later, I made it home. With traffic and the new snowfall that seems to be accumulating outside, it was quite a ride home. At one point so many people got on the bus, that I wasn't sure I'd be able to get off. But i managed to.

Got home, organized all of the presents so I know who they are all for. Wrapped ones for people here and now ready to watch a movie, the snow outside, and eat dinner. Doesn't feel like it's almost Christmas, but hoping it will be a good one. I think my Christmas will come when I go home in 11 days. YAY.

Outside Hong Qiao

Me and the giant pearl

My new painting

Beijing is home

Work was good this weekend. Long days and lots of children, but I do enjoy it. We had our Christmas party for the children Sunday night. It was fun. Slightly boring but I managed to keep myself entertained. Yesterday was a rather slow day at work. I had my 15 year old VIP who almost fell asleep, but managed to keep his eyes open. He actually laid his head down on the desk at one point and continued reading. I need to learn how to be more forceful with my discipline, I just don't want to scare him. Hopefully he will be better today.

Last night was a good night. I met up with ISB people for drinks after work. Katy Wang, Sally Wang, Ellen Siu, Elana Siu, Terrance Ho, Annastiina, and Peter Luk we all there. Plus some significant others, whose company was also enjoyed. But it was nice to catch up again. Terrance, Elana her s.o. Blair, and Annastiina and I went to 1001 Nights afterward. These are the moments that make me truly appreciate being here in Beijing. I love being able to see people that we went to school with and hearing about their lives now. I feel like each person I went to school with is like seeing family again after years. It doesn't matter what year we graduated or what group of people we hung out with we always have fun, and we always have plenty to talk about. So many different stories are thrown about the table and we are all so similar but so different in many ways. I love to be able to say that I can sit at a table and be the only American, and that every person there is from a different country. But, we all have our high school in common. It's not like schools in the states where we still see each other every day and know what we ate for dinner last night. We all have so many different exotic exciting stories to tell, places we've been, people we've seen, jokes we can make to entertain ourselves. The humor is usually endless, which was definitely the case last night. A good "that's what she said" joke never gets old. And it's a shared joke world wide. I am excited to go back and finish my masters, but like I told everyone last night, I think this is where I want to be when I am done.

Here's to many more nights shared with old friends and good laughs. They seem to be endless as people come in and out of my life, and return to reminisce about teachers and events we all heard about but were entertaining rumors. This is the chance we have to know each other as adults, as our own guide in this exciting enormous world. But at every point of the world, I have someone that I can say is a friend and much like family. It's hard to keep up with everyone that I know, but I do think about my ISB days always, and wouldn't change a second of it for any other life. I'm blessed to be able to call each of you my friend, whether we hung out often, or barely exchanged words, we always have our ISB family to come back to.

Sorry for the cheesy rant, but I am kind of a softy at times. Some of you may be saying BARF, but I'm proud to call you my friend whether you agree with what I say or not.

winter wonderland

Today was nice and cold... not really nice. But cold. The snow was very pretty though despite the pollution and dirt in Beijing. I still enjoyed the snow. I didn't have any classes today, but got all my planning done for the weekend. Also, finished my essay for school. I'm hoping they will like it, I am scared to send it off. Bought a few groceries, basically just snacks and toilet paper.

I also tried to come up with more ideas for my Chinese New Year holiday. We have the 9th to the 16th off so i'd like to plan a trip somewhere. Money will be tight, but I could buy a last minute ticket. I was originally considering Shanghai because it's close, but I think I might save that for a three day weekend. Maybe sometime in the spring when it's warmer out. My Grandparents met there, so I want to try and go back to where they met. My mother has been and told me to go as well. So, I do plan to get there this year. But my next idea, which I am seriously considering, is Harbin. A co-worker, Allison is going, but staying with a friend of hers. But even if I went alone, I know it would be super cold, but I think it would be awesome.

Harbin is a place in the north of China that has a strong Russian influence. It is the main Russian exporter route to Dalian, so much of the architecture and scenery is like that of Russia. The buildings look very European. But, also the city is know for its ice sculptures and festival. I think to get a true one-time in my twenty's experience, I could take the over night train for about $30 to get there, stay in a youth hostel for $15 a night (for a nicer room of my own), and then $30 to get back over night. I think it would definitely be an eye-opening experience, and this may be the only time in my life I can go. I feel like Shanghai might be too much like Beijing, but I know there is a lot more culture in Harbin, and many things to see. It's also over my birthday so might be a nice gift to myself. Don't know if I can get anyone to go with me, but even if I went alone, I don't think I would mind. I just want a chance to see it before I leave here.

Gonna get to watching a movie before bed... only 17 more days before I leave for home. :)

snooowwwww

It's snowing once again. YAY. I love it. Not much yet, but wunderground and accuweather say 3 inches tonight. I was thinking how awesome it would be to have a snow day, and then remembered that I have no classes to teach tomorrow any way.... and haven't planned my lessons for this weekend.... so either way, I have to get my butt to work.

I did forget to mention that I did spend my night, after shopping, cleaning my apartment. Got laundry done. Mopped all of the floors for the third time this week. And organized all the x-mas presents I can't even wrap until I get home in case my bags get searched. Don't want to have to wrap and rewrap if they are going to open them any way.

Here's to snow. My nice smelly candle. Christmas lights. A movie. And a fuzzy blanket.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

Well, I guess not exactly. Being in China, away from family, in a country that does not celebrate the holiday. It doesn't really feel like Christmas, but we gotta make the best of it. Went and took my test this morning. I knew some answers right away and some I had to sit and think about. Treated myself to a Starbucks afterwards-- it's been about 3 weeks since I've had one, and I was drinking it every day for a while there.

Took the bus into San Li Tun and got my Christmas shopping done. Still have a few random things to get and have to figure out what to give to my secret santa at work, but I managed to get everyone else's presents. Was trying to avoid buying anything for myself, but I did buy a CD, a t-shirt, and a wiggly snowman head band thingy. Not really sure what to call it, but I plan on rocking it at the Christmas party the students, the party for the teachers, and Christmas night dinner. Along with my pin and matching earrings from my momma last year. And can't forget the Christmas socks. I saved a few of the things my mom sent last month so I have at least something new to say I got. But might just be my secret santa gift for my christmas this year, which won't even be on Christmas.

There are some super cute boots that I would like from a store here. If I have enough money by the end of the month with all Christmas shopping done, and enough money to take home, I may splurge and spend the $30 for them. They would cost probably about $200 in the states. We'll see though. I'd rather have more money to bring home.

Time to watch a movie, and upload my new music to my iPod. It's almost Christmas!!! But, even better, I'll be home in 18 days. SOOOOO excited!!! It will be a short trip, but well worth it.

The little things

I woke this morning to a very cold apartment. Not sure if I have mentioned, but I don't use my heat often. It's an air conditioning unit that sits in the corner that can also provide heat. I am not very fond of it. I miss central heating. I also am unsure of how much it is costing me, so I'd rather keep it on as little as possible. I have enough blankets on my bed to stay bundled up through the night. Plus I wear at least 3 layers of clothing to sleep in. But, when I went to open the curtains, I found snow!!!! I love snow. I just feel like it makes everything better. I feel kind of like a child who is hoping for a snow day from school. It always makes me happy.

This is the view out my window every morning.

Most of the snow on the roofs is gone now, but it is still on the sidewalks. Its supposed to snow again Thursday night and Friday. Hopefully there won't be any flooding like last time. I am not equipped to walk in rivers of water. Maybe I should invest in some rain boots....

But, it did give me a good excuse to stay in today. I finished reading a book Michael recommended. Flowers in The Attic. Was written in the 80's. Wasn't my fav. Still trying to figure it out. It was very slow. I skimmed the end of it. Which proved to be not as exhilarating as I had expected. But, thank you for the recommendation Michael. I watched the movie right after, and found that even worse. It was worth watching because I had read the book. But I would not recommend the movie to anyone. Hahaha.

I studied for a test tomorrow as well. I have to take the TKT which is the Teachers Knowledge Test to be further certified as an teacher of English as a second language. Don't think it is any use to me in the States, but I guess it doesn't hurt, and the school pays for it.

Also, spoke with Grad school some more. When I go back for my visit I will be meeting with the teacher I will intern with. I will be working at a school in Kent, so guess I will be living with the parents. Ut Oh. Don't know how that's going to work out for all of us, but I will be done in a year, so, I think if I can survive living in China alone, I can survive my parents house again. I'll let you know how I feel a year from now. Ha. I will be starting school as soon as I get back in Seattle, so I will have to try and find something in that area, maybe temporarily. I won't have much money, so it will be tight, but I don't really care as long as I have a place to sleep. I can study and get my work done on campus and then just need to crash somewhere. I have grown an appreciation of having very little when I sold everything I owned and moved to China. I do live on the bare minimum and even then I'm sure I could cut down on even more. Here's my attempt at saving money for next year, eating healthier, and succeeding my goals. I think I have found my New Years resolutions. My last one for next year is to not drink for at least 6 months. Not saying I drink a lot, don't get me wrong. Just want to push myself to have more will power. Because I know I can. If I can succeed in saving money, eating healthier, and not drinking, I can sure as well do anything.

Another door, and hole, opens

Today was an alright day. Had only one class of 5-8 year olds, in a lower level of Chinese. Basically we  teach phonics at this level. Had a kid get a bloody nose and it was just pouring out his nose. It was an interesting mix to the class.

Still have a hole in my wall from the construction in my unit. Haven't gone into complete details, but basically there is water under the linoleum. I told the owner a few times. Once they came in and said there's no pipe under the floor. It's just moisture. Or glue. ummm, no I think I'd know if it was water. So I told them again and they decided they needed to cut a hole in the wall where there is a pipe. The pipe goes vertically from upstairs all the way through the building. But there is also a smaller pipe the is horizontal towards my unit. There is no cap on this pipe. Pretty awesome. So anytime the neighbors upstairs use water, it just pours into my unit. But anyway, they cut the hole, found the pipe. Cut the hole some more. Found a lid they hoped would work (and has so far). But they didn't clean up after themselves. I had to clean everything. Then woke up this morning with a layer of sheetrock dust all over my unit. UGH. Was so gross. I had to mop the floors and disinfect everything again. My clothes were even covered in it. So now, I'm left with a big hole.

On a more positive note. As some know, I have not finished my Masters, but am close to being done. I emailed my school and asked if I could go back. They said of course and have set up a plan for me. I have a choice of going back September 2013 and be done June 2014 or start mid-December 2013 and be done end of July 2014. They suggested September, so I think I'm gonna do it then. The only thing standing in my way now, is money. Hopefully I can get financial aid. I applied today to see if I could, so I will find out. I'm expecting the worst though. I don't really have much luck, and often things don't go my way. Very pessimistic I know, but then I won't get my hopes up too often. We'll see. I will keep everyone posted. But I may be living in Seattle a year from now, back in school. YAY.

Off to bed to read another book. This one is called The Testimony. Don't remember who the author is though, but pretty interesting so far. In the last week I have finished James Pattersons Against Medical Advice, and A Christmas Sweater, can't remember the author either but he was from Mount Vernon Washington.

The original hole where the found an uncovered pipe

The uncovered pipe is above. They found a sheet in my unit to try and "soak" up the water, Yeah right. 

The hole as it looks now

The covered pipe finally. It had been open and water just poured on in.

Got a long two days ahead of me. Full load Saturday and Sunday. Will write more next week.

Beijing Bus Rides

I guess it's a little soon to post. But my attempt at riding the bus was quite an interesting one. For me at least.

So, I made my goal for today. I tried riding the bus to work. Made it out the door dressed in two pairs of pants, my rocking Christmas tree socks, three shirts, a wool jacket, scarf, hat, mittens, and of course my tennis shoes (which do not provide the amount of warmth I need. They are meant for running, not walking in freezing temperatures.) On the way to the bus stop, about 50 meters away, I contemplated over and over whether or not to just stop one of the 50 cabs that had passed by when I see bus 677 coming up behind me. My instinct was to start running. The tennis shoes must have missed a jog on the pavement. (The owner of my apartment told me Liu qi qi- 677 to Ying Fu-- my office). So here I am running. The bus stops, I'm catching up, and it starts to take off. I slowed to walk and was about to give up, when it stopped again. I made it!! YAY!

I get on the bus, swipe my card like a good little citizen. And begin the journey to work. I recognize every stop we take. Except, instead of turning right towards work, we kept going straight. I figured we would just turn right at some point and come back around. But, we kept going straight. I had a feeling I was in trouble. I kept checking the signs to see which stop I needed. I knew that my office was on 广顺南大街 (guang shun nan da jie)-- I checked the bus sign again and saw the 广顺桥南 （guang shun qiao nan) basically the guang shun south bridge... I figure, this must be the bridge right by work. We get to a main intersection and I find a landmark that I know-- a very large rainbow. I'm relieved to know that I am aware of where we are. Now if we just turn right.....nope, we turn left. Keep going further north away from my school. It was time to get off the bus. As I got off, you must swipe your card again... I thought I did, but it didn't make the nice beeping sound. I think it might eat up 1 kuai on my card instead of the 0.4 jiao it should have. oh well. So, I flagged down a cab and made it to work, on time, thankfully.

I was hesitant to try the bus again to get home, but I checked the schedules, and checked them again, and again to make sure I would get the right one. And I did. There are only three buses I can take 656, 621, and 976. That will be engrained in my head (and written on my hand) from now on.

Classes were good. My wonderful VIP was wonderfully boring today. But he didn't fall asleep, thankfully. I had my small star green class. We had a new student, which made it awkward and challenging. The four kids and I are used to our systems and the know all of the words I teach, with a new student it mixes up the group and I will end up having to play catch up with him for the rest of the course. The four children are also very well behaved and cute as pie. This one seems to be the little trouble maker. The first thing he did when he walked in class was stand up on the table and start rolling around. My very well behaved children looked at him like he was crazy and didn't speak one word to him. I included him and tried to be warm and comforting, but he wasn't having it. He just wanted to play, which is probably what his mother told him he would be doing in class. That is not the case, and many a children come in balling and continue balling thru class because they "thought they were going to a play group that would be all fun and games and now they are stuck with this weird white woman who has blonde hair and doesn't look like mommy or any of my teachers or my mommy's friends and talks funny and I don't know what she's saying and I keep telling her I want my mommy and want to leave and she doesn't know what I am saying, she keeps smiling at me but it isn't funny and I just want to go home wahhhhhhhhhh." That was the mind of a 2-4 year old in my class.

Time to have a drink and enjoy my Friday evening. May stream a movie online as I have nothing else to watch and I can watch brand new movies right from my very own home. Night.

Life in Beijing

I am always having trouble figuring out what to write on my blog. I want to find something interesting and fascinating to write about. But, so many different things happen in just one day that I get lost in lots of little things trying to find the big things. hmmm. So, thank you to my co-worker Khadijah, who has just inspired me. We just became fb friends because I found out she had a blog and was interested. Thought I'd take a look at it and see what she wrote about. Another friend of mine, Sarah has a blog too. She captured perfectly what I was looking for her in recent blog-- check it out-- it's HILARIOUS (http://onlyanoceanghost.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/how-to-lose-friends-in-china/)....

But anyway, I've recently and in the past few years have always thrown around the idea of writing a book. But I can't grasp a big enough idea to write as much as I would need. I think I have so many thoughts and ideas that I need to start much smaller. Work with the little ideas and grow from there... so back to my inspirational coworker Khadijah... she writes her blog every few days or so. She writes very little, sometimes only includes a photo. She talks about what she did that day, how work was, how her students are, any tid-bit of information she wants. So here's to the start of something new, that hopefully I can be consistent with. It will take a while at first because I always feel as though I need to explain myself, but if you keep up with what I write, I won't repeat myself, hopefully. Just bare in mind that I can be sarcastic, try to be funny, and often exaggerate. I try not to when I explain my experiences here in China as some things are really just that crazy, but I think a little exaggeration always adds to a story, it makes it fun and interesting... so here I go. 

A lot has happened since I last wrote, but I am going to start small and keep adding from there. and it should all make sense in the end.... or make no sense at all... but life isnt always about making sense of everything-- you have to enjoy the little things.

I'll start with last night because it was fun. A few of us coworkers went to a place called Helen's after work. Ill have to take photos and post sometime. Words don't always do justice. Happy hour was until 9 so we enjoyed rum and cokes for about 10 kuai ($1.50) and beer (pi jiu) for 5 kuai (less than a dollar). They have amazing burgers too, which is rare to find here, and are decently priced at 22 kuai (about $4.00). I left around 10:30 knowing I needed to get in bed before things got carried away, after all I do work at 2 in the afternoon on Monday. Yesterday just happened to be a very stressful day, so I needed to give myself a break.

Today, was slightly eventful. I was woken by my agent (the friendly Chinese man who speaks English and helped me find my apartment--he will be strapped to me until I leave as he does all the communicating with the owner of my apartment and the property management company) who texted me about my elevator card. You can no longer take the elevator upstairs, you now have to have an electronic card. He brought me the card, which he went out of his way to do, I thank him again from the virtual world. I happened to ride the elevator down with him because I needed to go to the atm and in the lobby of my building there was a flock of women yelling and screaming at the security guards. Weber (my agent) told me they were posting signs and yelling at the guards because they think the elevator cards are illegal and that the elevators are public property. I made it to the atm and back in five minutes to see more guards and very official people standing in the lobby. One lady was standing in the way of the elevator. I just gave her the "I'm innocent and naive" look because I'm a wai guo ren (foreigner) who has no idea what you are saying and is trying to get home. she politely stepped out of my way.

In the meantime, my agent had checked my floor in the kitchen (whole other story involving water under floor boards where it shouldnt be...) They will be working on it Wednesday at which point I will be stuck at home and will explain.

Oh, and a short side not-- I had to go to the atm to get money out because I ordered a rice cooker online (it was cheaper than buying it in the store) and you pay for the items when they are delivered not when you buy it online... very strange. It never made it to my house today because I had to leave for work. But my friendly Chinese coworker talked to the delivery man and told him i'd be home tomorrow morning. We will see what happens.

Made it to work early to get some stuff done. I have all my lessons planned out for the week so it didnt consist of much. But our office is being audited in the morning so we have to make sure we dot all of our i's and cross all of our t's.

I taught to VIP classes today (VIP's are one-on-one teaching). The first is a 14 year old boy who wants to go to High School in San Francisco but needs to pass the TOEFL exam to get in. He was falling asleep in my class as he was talking to me. I had to stop him and ask him if he needed to take a walk because there is no sleeping in my class. (He has done it before... i wasnt that mean about it). He said he did, so we took a ten minute break and finished up. I still don't feel he will pass the TOEFL but I am doing my best. I try to let them know that he needs more work, but oh well. I'm trying and doing the best I can.

The second VIP is the child from hell. I apologize for that comment as i do not literally mean that, nor do i hate the child in any way shape or form. she is a cute little girl. But as spoiled as spoiled can be. She busts out laughing in the middle of class for no reason. She has been working on the same book for over a year because she is so hard to control. She got on the floor today and started rolling around under desks. I finally found her weakness "Do you want me to go get your mother Pearl?" NOOOOOOOO. It worked every time (I did have to use it every 5 minutes) but it got us through the hour and the 3 pages we did. (we should have done 5 pages that we were trying to make up from last weeks histerics. But, oh well. That hour is over and is only once a week.

Came home after work and turned on my Christmas lights-- i love them. Watched Greys Anatomy and ate a piece of my American candy (supposed to be saving it all for Christmas but theres so much and I can't resist).

Tomorrow will be a new day. I have the same boy VIP from today and then a Small Star Green class, four of my favorite 3 year olds. I'll try to get a picture to post tomorrow night. Tomorrow is my Friday-- YAY. Hopefully the rice cooker will show too... hmmm. oh and my other goal is to take the bus to work. I have been taking taxis which only cost about 10 kuai ($1.50) but since I am trying to save money for home I'd rather only spend 2 kuai (less than a dollar).

Wrote more than I wanted to, but I promise I will write less and less but more often... maybe. :) Enjoy your day, or night.

Cultural Adjustment

"You don't understand the basic assumptions of your own culture if your own culture is the only culture you know...Everybody operates on certain basic assumptions, but very few people know what those assumptions are....the only way you find out is by contrasting the way you look at something to the way it is looked in another culture." Alan Watts, The Tao of Philosophy.

It has been over a month now since I have written. Life seems to just pass me by. Sometimes the easiest way to document my time is to take an excessive amount of photos. I have been trying to find some inspiration but maybe I have had writers block. There is so much to say but voicing my thoughts is harder than it seems sometimes. And I probably could go on for hours. So I figure I will start with culture...if there is one thing someone wants to experience in life the most, and that thing is culture, take yourself to the opposite side of the world from where you are, and you are certain to find that.

I'm still in the adjustment period here. Trying to find my bearings constantly. Getting around, where do i buy a swiffer, im not eating dog, sorry, my hot water needs to be turned on at least an hour before i want to shower, there are no dryers here so if i wash a load it will be at least another 24 hours until I can wear the same thing-- the best part about that (not) is that I wear a uniform for work, and they only gave me two shirts that don't even fit very well. I made it work, but HAD to get another one.

But, I have to back up a bit. In our TEFL course we took, the teacher, taught us from a book called Teaching English in China by Robert Wyss and Emily Thrush PhD. They described to us the stages of cultural adjustment. Now, I am not sure where the theory comes from, so I cannot speak to that, but I do know, and have seen us (the group I took the course with) are all experiencing these stages.

There are only 5, so bare with me. The first is the Preliminary Stage-- this is the period of time right before you leave your home, or wherever you are moving from. A pretty basic stage. The second is Initial Euphoria... when I would post or talk about how much I loved China, when I first got here, was my initial euphoria. I do love living here, but it definitely takes time to adjust to your surroundings. Which leads to the next stage Irritability and Hostility... need I say more? Euphoria and Hostility stages are interchangable and can last for an extended period of time-- sometimes up to 3-5 years. My experience with the hostility stage was and can be emotional. It is very frustrating when you are trying to deal with Chinese banks and they cut off all money you have. Trying to communicate with someone who can speak 5 words of English, and not speaking enough Chinese to express my frustration is very exhausting. Some days you walk around and just want to be able to get everything done in your native language because that is what you are used to and know best. When someone doesn't understand you completely makes you want to start screaming and yelling, and burst out crying all at once. When this happened to me, I just kept having to take deep breaths. I also called a few people in my group to vent and seek guidance. We ended up getting it sorted by going to another bank. Evidently (which I had partially seen while I was there talking to the teller, but also realized later) was that the first teller didn't like the fact that I was female and American. He wanted me to provide excessive amounts of documents showing that I could live and work in China, and all I needed was to change the pin on my debit card. At the next bank, I handed the woman my passport and card and two minutes later she handed it back and I was good to go.

There is also an adjustment to be made with food, nothing is the same as the states, shopping, transportation, renting an apartment, cooking, sleeping, bathing, anything you can imagine.. it all has to change when you move here. But it is the way in which you handle it that proves whether you can live abroad or not. You must be adaptable-- but while trying to adapt, there are hiccups. We are so used to our ways that it's hard to make the permanent transition. You half expect to wake up one day and everything is back to the way it was. But, that's not going to happen. Have patience. I feel I have moved out of the Hostility stage, not completely, but there was about a week of anger and frustration and homesickness, but I over came it. Which leads to the gradual adjustment period. You slowly transition into accepting your surroundings. (On a side note, these stages usually last much longer for most people. People who moved here the same time I did might still be in the Initial Euphoria stage. I have seen some hostility from some of them, but not much of it.) I made it through the stages quicker because of having lived here before. It is much different because my parents and Boeing aren't here to take care of everything. So it is an adjustment. But thats the best part of the experience.

The next stage is Adaptation and Biculturalism-- basically you reach this stage when you no longer feel like a "foreginer" -- I think it took me about 5 years to get there last time I lived here, so it will be a while. It can take up to 5 years to get there. The last stage is the Re-Entry phase--- this stage occurs when you go back to where you came from.

Now if that made any sense, I experienced this moving back to the States after living here for 8 years. now, it wasn't as drastic because I didnt have communication problems. But I had a lot of adjusting to do. I don't know if I ever got out of the foreigner stage though. I think even on the day I left I was still feeling that way.

But anyhooooo--- as for me. I am working and teaching. I have a busy schedule but weekdays I don't work until 2 so i have time to get things done or go places. I have decided that I will make the most of this year. I don't know if I will still be here a year or two from now, (I do hope to be, but life happens sometimes). So given a year, I want to see and experience as much as possible. I hope to start saving money as well, so if I am here next year, I can spend more time traveling. I want to see the world. And I will be here to share it with whoever wants to experience it with me.

(On an end note I do want to give credit where it belongs, but my bibliography skills are rusty-- so, the book I got my ideas from is Teaching English In China, by Robert Wyss and Emily A Thrush PhD. Written in 2007.) 

Back In Beijing...

I tried to write earlier either upon my arrival, or right before I left but couldn't find the time. I was also unable to access facebook or the internet from my computer. I have finally figured out how to use the wonderful world of technology over here.

As most of you have seen, I have arrived safely. It has definitely been an indescribable experience coming back. I have considered walking around with a notebook in hand in order to write down the strange quirky things I see in the world of Beijing. It's so much different than the states, especially coming from a small town in Washington. I have had to adjust to not having a car but relying on public transportation. Subways and Busses are the way to travel, but they can be so jammed packed at times that you feel claustrophobic. You don't really have a choice when you are trying to get from point A to point B. Every morning I go to school I have to walk to a subway, take it five stops away, walk to a bus station, ride that for three stops and then walk to the school from there. It can be a very overwhelming experience.

I don't really have a point of reference with this blog at this point but wanted to let everyone know I am alive. The last week I have met everyone in my group-- there are 19 of us taking a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course and then we are split up into groups were we will be teaching at various schools. I was introduced to my colleagues at my school and saw some of the students. I will be working mostly with 3 to 6 year olds-- I didn't realize that 3 year olds had even a full vocabulary in their native language let alone could start to learn a second language, but never too early to start I guess. Plus, this is China. (You may see this phrase used a lot, sometimes there are no words to describe what happens here as it is so foreign, all you can really say is "this is China"-- or the newly acquired "it's different". Not bad, not good, just different.)

I have spent a few days and nights wandering around to explore and to try and get my bearings around here. I carry a map everywhere I go. It is quite strange but because everything has changed so much and I spend a lot of time in places I never really did before, I never know where I am. The city is huge!!!

I also had the wonderful experience of trying to, and successfully finding an apartment. The first day was quite interesting as this short little Chinese man met me at my hotel. I followed him to the Subway, 2 metros and 8 stops later we got off where we met two more men. I was told to get on the back of a scooter and rode around Beijing looking at various apartments. I was not impressed with what he showed me and felt ripped off. The next day i decided to find a new agent and started making calls. I met up with this very nice man (no scooters included-- but a taxi ride to the building)-- where he showed me 3 units. The first I wasn't too impressed with as the kitchen had been built inside the bathroom by the owner because he wanted to save space. How sanitary. The second was gorgeous but was expensive, and the third was the size of a box. We went back to the original and while the agent called the owner it was taken (thankfully as I didn't want to cook where my toilet was), so we went back to the second, I met the owner and with my wonderful Chinese skills (exaggeration) she fell in love with me and dropped the price and hired me to tutor her children. While it will never compare to living in an apartment in the states-- my main requirements were a toilet (some may have holes in the ground), a shower not over the toilet (very common here), a washing machine (most people hand wash clothes and it is rare to find dryers), a refrigerator (a luxury only foreigners usually require, most keep their food hanging outside to keep cool). Apartments are furnished so I needed a bed too. My place has a bonus of a couch, a tv, internet, cable, an electric stovetop AND a microwave (YAY). I also have a large bathtub with a shower. I am glad to have found a place so I have something to call home.

I will be moving in on the 25th as my hotel is paid for until the 26th. I have the 25th off, two days of work the 26th and 27th and then a week break from the 28th to the 4th. Looking forward to some time to settle in and have a break. I might make my way to Shanghai or camp on the Great Wall. The adventures at this point are endless.

I think that is enough for now, plus I have to get to homework. I will try to find some more exciting stories to share. This includes only a small fraction of what I could tell, but apartment hunting is worth sharing. But it is something one can truly only experience themselves. You have to see it to believe it-- Pictures will come, I promise.

pre-China jitters

So, I promised many of you I would keep you up to date once I leave the country. In effort to not repeat myself, I thought it may be a good time to start a blog. That way, if you choose to read it you can, if not, then don't. But, I will try to write as often and as much as I can. For all of my international friends, this may seem amusing to you, but coming from a small town in Washington, it's a lot to take in, understand, and go back to.My intention of writing this is to keep my Bellingham/Washington friends informed, but also describe what Beijing is like now to those of you who left long ago that I graduated with. Remember this is all very foreign to anyone who has never been to Beijing. But also remember that many of us have spent years living there and may know no different. I have two audiences to work with, and want to try and inform, possibly entertain everyone.

As many, or all of you know, I am moving to China. In T minus 21 days I will be boarding a plane to take me to the other side of the world. I accepted a position working at a company in Beijing teaching English. (For those of you who don't know the location of China, I have included a map below). Now, I have heard good things and bad things about this particular job, but my contract is only a year. I may end up finding another position while over there, but for the time being I will be employed with this original company. I depart September 11th at 2 in the afternoon from SeaTac. I will arrive in Tokyo on September 12th. Switch planes, and then fly to Beijing. My arrival time is 22:50. I will be picked up at the airport and taken to my hotel where I will be staying for two weeks. Now, this is a 2 star hotel, but it includes free breakfast :). Whatever, that consists of, I am not sure. I currently have a return set for November, but not knowing when I can take vacation, this will change. It may not be until next August.

Having grown up in China, I am excited to be going back, but also a little jittery at the thought of such a large place, and knowing so little about the changes made. I have begun to pack, clean, throw away everything. On September 4th I will move in with my brother as I have sub-letted my unit. I am getting rid of almost everything. I can travel with only 2 50 pound suitcases and a carry-on. This doesn't leave room for much, and I don't know when I will get back. I figure everything is so cheap though, that I will take clothes and find the rest on arrival. I will be given a cell phone by the company, but only with a few minutes on it.  I may or may not have internet to begin with, but hoping Starbucks will be at my rescue with a free wi-fi connection. Facebook is blocked, but I hear there are ways around this.

As the day gets closer I am more excited to board that plane, but also sad to move on from the last 8 years in Bellingham. It hasn't quite hit me yet, but as my owners and tenants find out, I realize the vastness of my choice from the eyes of people that have never been outside of this town. It's eye-opening even for me.

With that being said--- I have never blogged before and will next time try to make this more entertaining. I will include photos, color etc. I am very much looking forward to the next step in my life.