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.