The train from Shanghai got us back into smoggy Beijing around 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon. We're not sure where the clear sky's that we left in Beijing went.
The three days in Shanghai were well spent. On Thursday after we got settled into our hotel near the People's Square the hotel got us a cab down to the river so we could take an evening river cruise of the HuangPu River. Shanghai has a very nice promenade that runs along the Bund. The Bund is the historic side of the river that has maintained it's 19th century charm and stares across the river to the Pudong district where the cities tallest skyscrapers reside. Additionally, the side of the river is home to many of the docks for the river cruises that we sought. Julie and I had taken one of these cruises before but had such a good time we were not hesitant about signing up for another. This boat was only about half full so there were plenty of seats to be had in the temperature controlled viewing area where we enjoyed the first half of the cruise. We gave up our seats and headed topside after we made the turn and got plenty of pictures. We'll have to share them later as the are on Mom and Dad Stiens camera.
After the cruise it had been a long day so we decided to just grab some food by near the hotel instead of venturing across the river. After a couple of failed attempts at hailing a taxi it was decided for us that it was a nice enough evening to stroll back to the hotel. If you don't speak Chinese getting a taxi can be a difficult experience in China. In Beijing and Shanghai the fares far outnumber the taxis so the taxi drivers have no qualms about refusing to pick you up. We scurried back to the hotel along the nearest avenue and missed only one turn before returning to our temporary home. The hotel had a nice restaurant on the second floor and we headed done to try the local cuisine. The meal consisted of several dishes served what we Americans would call family style. One of these dishes was fried noodles with Shanghai style. When in Shanghai, right? Now I could be wrong but it tasted like this dish was the inspiration for my favorite Chinese dish, Lo Mein. I was a fan. We all were a fan of the restaurant and Mom declared that we should come eat here again. This was not he first or last time we would hear her make this declaration.
On Friday, Julie's birthday celebration began. We started the morning with the boys heading out to get Starbucks for the ladies only to find out that in the metropolis that seems to be buzzing all night long the Starbucks didn't open until 7:30. Dad and I settled for McDonald's after the second coffee shop we went into told us they were still brewing and it would be ten more minutes. We're still working on that patience thing. After breakfast we hopped on the Shanghai metro and headed to Qibao. Qibao is a tourist destination as an example of a river town. There are many famous river towns in the greater Shanghai area and the surrounding cities of Suzhou, Wujin, etc. It was a nice view of life in the area in the past. Sometimes it looked like the recent past but that's interesting too. Mom & Dad got to see and smell some of the food they had been warned about before they had left, luckily it wasn't lunch time yet. Pictures are still with Mom & Dad Stiens so we'll pass them along later. After another wrong turn quickly corrected we found a restaurant for lunch which again provided us with a delicious meal and some rest before we headed out on our next exploration.
For the afternoon, I had planned a trip to the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Museum. Per the website the museum is located in the basement of an apartment complex and isn't highly advertised due to the sensitive nature of the displays. The museum contained posters from the beginning of the Communist era (late forties / early fifties) through the late seventies. These posters were one of the main means with which public opinion was shaped in China during this period. The museum housed many of the government produced (high quality posters) but citizens were encouraged to make there own handwritten posters making accusations against anyone and everyone. The accused would often come back in red ink and write responses on the posters. This process was responsible for a lot of the fear and paranoia that existed in the country during the period. In the late seventies the government decided that supporting this kind of behavior was counter productive and destroyed most of the material evidence of what had taken place. It was very interesting to be able to experience (on a small scale) what the average Chinese person must have been bombarded with during that time.
After the museum we had another "stroll" ahead of us so after a few blocks we decided to stop into a French cafe and have a refreshing beverage and relax for a spell before we continued our journey. Our next destination was Sasha's bar and restaurant for Julie's birthday dinner. Sasha's is located in the old Soong family mansion. The Soong family had three daughters who went on to marry the richest man in China, Sun Yat-sen - who was the first president of the Republic of China and Chiang Kai-shek, respectively. (You can follow the links if you want to know more.) This restaurant is now more American than Chinese, which for Julie and I it was nice to get a taste of home.
On Saturday, we continued our Julie birthday celebration by taking a bus tour of the city via the hop-on/hop-off bus. After getting taking the whole route we decided to go visit the Yuyuan garden, the temple to the city gods and less intentionally the Shanghai ancient street. We have many good pictures from the garden and the museum and as you can guess those are still with Mom & Dad Stiens, so we'll get those to you at a later date. Julie and I have learned that the term ancient street on a tourist map just means old style buildings housing souvenir shops. These streets are also very crowded and as they are in China most of the food is tailored to Chinese tourists, therefore it was voted that we would visit the local McDonald's for lunch. We visited the garden after lunch and then it was back to the hotel for a little R&R. To finish off the Julie birthday multi-day extravaganza we jumped back on the Hop-on/Hop-off bus and traveled under the HuangPu river. Don't worry there was a tunnel. Once we reached Pudong we were dropped off at the Oriental Pearl Tower and navigated our way to the Ritz-Carlton for drinks and dinner on the 58th floor. Again, we have some great pictures but they are with Mom and Dad Stiens, so guess what? We'll get them to you later.
Our train departing Shanghai left at eleven, so we had a lazy morning in the hotel. We caught a cab to the train station and waved goodbye to Shanghai.
-Ryan
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
On the road again
Well on the train, but you know what I mean. Just rolled out of bed and we are scurrying around getting our breakfast and making sure we've packed everything we need for Shanghai. Lily, the administrator in charge of teacher affairs, is driving us to the bus stop this morning at 7:10. Thanks to her kind offer we can skip the ten minute walk and first bus ride, so all we have to do is take the express bus to subway line six then ride line six to the transfer with line four and then take line four to the Beijing South Railway Station. I thought it would be a good idea for our guests to get a guided trip on the subway system before we unleashed them on their own next week.
As you can imagine there is not a whole lot of time to spare this morning, so I'll suffice to say we've had a great few days here in Yongding and unsurprising the school has been extremely kind and generous. We'll fill you in on more of the details in a few days.
Hope all is well.
Ryan
As you can imagine there is not a whole lot of time to spare this morning, so I'll suffice to say we've had a great few days here in Yongding and unsurprising the school has been extremely kind and generous. We'll fill you in on more of the details in a few days.
Hope all is well.
Ryan
Monday, March 25, 2013
Success
Third time proved to be the charm for Mom & Dad Stiens. I found out about three AM this morning when I stumbled out of bed and make it to my email which contained the good news. Julie and I worked this AM and then headed for the airport with Mr. Wang and Rose. I managed to walk into the terminal about five minutes before our guests walked my direction. We snapped a couple of pictures, I know shocking for China, then we were back in the van and headed back to school.
We had a quick tour of the school, grabbed some dinner and then it was time for some shut eye for our weary travelers.
-Ryan
We had a quick tour of the school, grabbed some dinner and then it was time for some shut eye for our weary travelers.
-Ryan
Sunday, March 24, 2013
3rd times the charm?
Well we awoke on Saturday morning to find out that at the last minute the Friday Detroit to Beijing fly filled to the brim and Mom and Dad Stiens didn't get a seat. They also were given dim prospects for the Saturday flight, which proved accurate. Now we are shooting for Sunday flight, with much better odds at least.
Julie and I did our best to make the best of it and enjoyed the hotel room. It was quite a room too. It had to be at least twice the size of our apartment. Had a full kitchen, with a washing machine. Two full baths. Two bedrooms and a good size living room, dining room area. It did lack wifi in the room and the TVs were circa 2002, but you can't have everything right?
Before we made it to the hotel it was time to check another item off Julie's 30 before 30 list. She is down to a few but we hadn't made it to the zoo and the air wasn't all that bad and it was relatively warm. Julie wanted me to say it was chilly instead of freezing cold. We liked the monkeys best. There were snub-nosed monkeys which were some of the most disturbing things I've seen ... lately. It really make you appreciate the human nose. Many of the animals were around due to the cold weather. The elephants looked a bit pathetic in their cages. Apparently they don't like the cold. Perhaps our expectations should have been tampered compared to the big fellas we saw in Thailand. We saved the pandas for last. Their were two. The first was concerning. It appeared to have skin issue and was balding. It also seemed to have this tick were it would rotate it's head an open it's mouth every few seconds. The second seemed to be in much better shape. It was quite active but as with most of the animals at the zoo it had a set track it seemed to walk. It also had a rocking chair and a rocking horse. Unfortunately, it never got on either.
Sticking to the theme of Julie's list we got dressed up and headed out to dinner. Not being able to speak Chinese causes some issues including when it comes to trying to make reservations, so we do with out. We showed up at the restaurant and got our place in line. We were number 134 and they were on 69. It's Beijing what can you expect. It didn't take as long as we thought it would and they had some nice snacks in the waiting area for us an our hundred or so friends. When we got our table the restaurant did live up to the billing. Definitely some of the best hot pot we had, had in China. It's taken us almost seven months but now Julie and I feel comfortable going to hot pot on our own.
Due to the lack of wifi in the room I headed out early Sunday morning to Starbucks. Once I arrived it looked closed but the guy in front of me went in, so I followed him in. The man I followed in proceeded to go behind the counter and into the back and I figured it be a bad idea to keep following him so I stopped. No one came out to the counter for about three or five minutes, but it was twenty till seven and I had nothing to do so wait it was. The man I had followed in proceeded to reappear and let me know the store didn't open till seven. Back out the door and off to McDonald's. They were open but the wifi was a little finicky so after a seat change I finally had found out that the Saturday flight had not worked out.
We spent the morning in the city and let the school know we would have to reschedule Monday's activities and hopefully pick-up the parents at the airport Monday afternoon. We'll keep you posted ...
Ryan
Julie and I did our best to make the best of it and enjoyed the hotel room. It was quite a room too. It had to be at least twice the size of our apartment. Had a full kitchen, with a washing machine. Two full baths. Two bedrooms and a good size living room, dining room area. It did lack wifi in the room and the TVs were circa 2002, but you can't have everything right?
Before we made it to the hotel it was time to check another item off Julie's 30 before 30 list. She is down to a few but we hadn't made it to the zoo and the air wasn't all that bad and it was relatively warm. Julie wanted me to say it was chilly instead of freezing cold. We liked the monkeys best. There were snub-nosed monkeys which were some of the most disturbing things I've seen ... lately. It really make you appreciate the human nose. Many of the animals were around due to the cold weather. The elephants looked a bit pathetic in their cages. Apparently they don't like the cold. Perhaps our expectations should have been tampered compared to the big fellas we saw in Thailand. We saved the pandas for last. Their were two. The first was concerning. It appeared to have skin issue and was balding. It also seemed to have this tick were it would rotate it's head an open it's mouth every few seconds. The second seemed to be in much better shape. It was quite active but as with most of the animals at the zoo it had a set track it seemed to walk. It also had a rocking chair and a rocking horse. Unfortunately, it never got on either.
Sticking to the theme of Julie's list we got dressed up and headed out to dinner. Not being able to speak Chinese causes some issues including when it comes to trying to make reservations, so we do with out. We showed up at the restaurant and got our place in line. We were number 134 and they were on 69. It's Beijing what can you expect. It didn't take as long as we thought it would and they had some nice snacks in the waiting area for us an our hundred or so friends. When we got our table the restaurant did live up to the billing. Definitely some of the best hot pot we had, had in China. It's taken us almost seven months but now Julie and I feel comfortable going to hot pot on our own.
Due to the lack of wifi in the room I headed out early Sunday morning to Starbucks. Once I arrived it looked closed but the guy in front of me went in, so I followed him in. The man I followed in proceeded to go behind the counter and into the back and I figured it be a bad idea to keep following him so I stopped. No one came out to the counter for about three or five minutes, but it was twenty till seven and I had nothing to do so wait it was. The man I had followed in proceeded to reappear and let me know the store didn't open till seven. Back out the door and off to McDonald's. They were open but the wifi was a little finicky so after a seat change I finally had found out that the Saturday flight had not worked out.
We spent the morning in the city and let the school know we would have to reschedule Monday's activities and hopefully pick-up the parents at the airport Monday afternoon. We'll keep you posted ...
Ryan
Friday, March 22, 2013
Visitors
We are wrapping up another busy week that has mainly revolved around the upcoming visit from Mom and Dad Stiens. It also included a surprise that I have been cast as Prince Charming in a rendition of Snow White. You probably know just as much about this performance as I do. Yesterday one of the teachers told me she needed my help and that I was going to be in the play. She didn't include when the play was or provide my lines. Just that we were going to practice on Friday.
On Friday morning we were running around getting ready for kindergarten, finding a room for the visitors, and providing our travel schedule to the administration when I was informed that our play practice would be at 9:50. That just so happens to coincide with my kindergarten class. After saying that I had to be at kindergarten at 9:50, it was determined that it wasn't a problem. Maybe I don't need practice? There is a chance this play will be on Monday, so here's hoping I'm a quick study.
Back to the visitors. While Mom and Dad Stiens will be in China our itinerary will include visits to Shanghai and Xian along with our time in Beijing. These three cities are not anywhere close to each other. My first suggestion was to take advantage of the sleeper trains. The ladies in our party quickly nixed this idea due to the lack of western bathing facilities on said trains. With that option out of the way we decided to go with the high-speed or bullet trains. Now that we had decided on our mode of transportation it was up to yours truly to get us on board. After some extensive research on purchasing train tickets in China. I found that their are a couple of English speaking ticket counters in the city but they are a haul from our home here in Yongding. There are train ticket outlets all over the city, including one just a few kilometers from our home. Another interesting fact about train tickets in China is that they don't go on sale until 18 days before departure. You can buy them before that but you have to use a travel agency a pay a nice mark-up of about 25%+. Also, if you are literate in Mandarin you can purchase them at www.12306.cn, and a fellow teacher volunteered to help me go this route.
We worked at this route for about 30 minutes and decided we should take the short drive to the ticket office. After school we hopped into the principal's car (his assistant also teaches a couple of English classes) and headed out to buy the tickets and fill-up the car. Our short drive took a bit of a detour as we missed the ticket office on the first pass. Then took a few more minutes attempting to parallel park before deciding the spot wasn't big enough and then took a few more minutes on a different parallel parking attempt. Without too much elaboration, I got to drive in China and we made it to the ticket office. Once in the office we quickly found out that they only take cash, so right back out we went and walked to an ATM.
At the ATM I realized we had a problem as I needed almost four times the withdrawal limit that was posted on the ATM. After asking if the branch was still open so I could make a larger withdrawal, my co-worker looked at me dumbfounded and said just make another withdrawal. Apparently it is not a daily withdrawal limit but an actual single withdrawal limit. There was no need to even take the card out. I got the max cash and hit the withdrawal button again and got the max cash and hit the withdrawal button again and got the max cash and hit the withdrawal button again and got almost the max cash and we were on our way back to the ticket office.
I had all the train tickets (sixteen in all) that I needed written out and my co-worker and the two ladies were pretty wide-eyed when they saw/heard what all I was buying They were quickly more wide-eyed when they told me how much I owed and watched me pull all the cash out of my pockets. Thank goodness there is so little crime in China. We had our tickets and were off to the gas station. At the gas station I learned it cost RMB320 to fill up a Hyundai Elantra. A rough conversion is about $50. My first thought was how do cab driver's make any money and my second thought was it's been so long since I filled up in the US I have no idea how this compares and there is the liters to gallons issue to make it even more difficult.
All that drama took place on Wednesday and Thursdays lead Julie and I to our branch schools. The excitement at my branch school was that one of the geese was laying eggs. Every couple hours one of my fellow English teachers would scurry into the office with a fresh egg. After the third I finally asked what they (the teachers) planned to do with them (the eggs). They hadn't decided yet and were waiting until they had four (one for each of them) before they made a decision. One of the teachers did tell me to invite my parents to come pick eggs. Unfortunately, I thought she said pick axe and well it took about a minute and a half to get that corrected.
Advancing to this morning (Friday) my friend who helped me get the train tickets was assisting with setting up the lodging for Mom and Dad Stiens and told me that the room was very simple and the school would get my parents a hotel room. This is just a small example how generous our hosts are and how much they coddle Julie and me. A larger example, and Mom and Dad may want to take them up on part of it, was that another administrator offered to have one of the school employees drive my parents around the city in what sounded like a private tour guide role. We certainly are surrounded by some very kindhearted people.
Well I feel like I've gone on for quite a while and I'm sure there are still a few matters I should wrap up for our visitors arrival tomorrow. I hope everyone is enjoying the NCAA tournament and didn't everyone think New Mexico was going to make a run to the Final Four?
All the best,
Ryan
On Friday morning we were running around getting ready for kindergarten, finding a room for the visitors, and providing our travel schedule to the administration when I was informed that our play practice would be at 9:50. That just so happens to coincide with my kindergarten class. After saying that I had to be at kindergarten at 9:50, it was determined that it wasn't a problem. Maybe I don't need practice? There is a chance this play will be on Monday, so here's hoping I'm a quick study.
Back to the visitors. While Mom and Dad Stiens will be in China our itinerary will include visits to Shanghai and Xian along with our time in Beijing. These three cities are not anywhere close to each other. My first suggestion was to take advantage of the sleeper trains. The ladies in our party quickly nixed this idea due to the lack of western bathing facilities on said trains. With that option out of the way we decided to go with the high-speed or bullet trains. Now that we had decided on our mode of transportation it was up to yours truly to get us on board. After some extensive research on purchasing train tickets in China. I found that their are a couple of English speaking ticket counters in the city but they are a haul from our home here in Yongding. There are train ticket outlets all over the city, including one just a few kilometers from our home. Another interesting fact about train tickets in China is that they don't go on sale until 18 days before departure. You can buy them before that but you have to use a travel agency a pay a nice mark-up of about 25%+. Also, if you are literate in Mandarin you can purchase them at www.12306.cn, and a fellow teacher volunteered to help me go this route.
We worked at this route for about 30 minutes and decided we should take the short drive to the ticket office. After school we hopped into the principal's car (his assistant also teaches a couple of English classes) and headed out to buy the tickets and fill-up the car. Our short drive took a bit of a detour as we missed the ticket office on the first pass. Then took a few more minutes attempting to parallel park before deciding the spot wasn't big enough and then took a few more minutes on a different parallel parking attempt. Without too much elaboration, I got to drive in China and we made it to the ticket office. Once in the office we quickly found out that they only take cash, so right back out we went and walked to an ATM.
At the ATM I realized we had a problem as I needed almost four times the withdrawal limit that was posted on the ATM. After asking if the branch was still open so I could make a larger withdrawal, my co-worker looked at me dumbfounded and said just make another withdrawal. Apparently it is not a daily withdrawal limit but an actual single withdrawal limit. There was no need to even take the card out. I got the max cash and hit the withdrawal button again and got the max cash and hit the withdrawal button again and got the max cash and hit the withdrawal button again and got almost the max cash and we were on our way back to the ticket office.
I had all the train tickets (sixteen in all) that I needed written out and my co-worker and the two ladies were pretty wide-eyed when they saw/heard what all I was buying They were quickly more wide-eyed when they told me how much I owed and watched me pull all the cash out of my pockets. Thank goodness there is so little crime in China. We had our tickets and were off to the gas station. At the gas station I learned it cost RMB320 to fill up a Hyundai Elantra. A rough conversion is about $50. My first thought was how do cab driver's make any money and my second thought was it's been so long since I filled up in the US I have no idea how this compares and there is the liters to gallons issue to make it even more difficult.
All that drama took place on Wednesday and Thursdays lead Julie and I to our branch schools. The excitement at my branch school was that one of the geese was laying eggs. Every couple hours one of my fellow English teachers would scurry into the office with a fresh egg. After the third I finally asked what they (the teachers) planned to do with them (the eggs). They hadn't decided yet and were waiting until they had four (one for each of them) before they made a decision. One of the teachers did tell me to invite my parents to come pick eggs. Unfortunately, I thought she said pick axe and well it took about a minute and a half to get that corrected.
Advancing to this morning (Friday) my friend who helped me get the train tickets was assisting with setting up the lodging for Mom and Dad Stiens and told me that the room was very simple and the school would get my parents a hotel room. This is just a small example how generous our hosts are and how much they coddle Julie and me. A larger example, and Mom and Dad may want to take them up on part of it, was that another administrator offered to have one of the school employees drive my parents around the city in what sounded like a private tour guide role. We certainly are surrounded by some very kindhearted people.
Well I feel like I've gone on for quite a while and I'm sure there are still a few matters I should wrap up for our visitors arrival tomorrow. I hope everyone is enjoying the NCAA tournament and didn't everyone think New Mexico was going to make a run to the Final Four?
All the best,
Ryan
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Weekend China Style
Last week, one of the teachers asked us if we wanted to go to a party. Of course we did. At first, we weren't sure if it was a birthday party or whatnot. We finally figured out it was a bunch of friends hanging out together with their children. When we got picked up, the teacher said we would be going to a park first. (Not too excited about that. The air quality was at hazardous levels.) We drove to the park and ended up riding in separate cars with different families. Ryan rode in the car with the little girls and they were very excited to ask him lots of questions and tell him their names. I rode in the car with the boys. They barely knew I was there.
We got to the park and saw these swings. These swings were giant and 2 people could ride on each one and lay down. I thought it was pretty cool until I saw one swing that had fallen apart with giant nails sticking out. Good thing our swing didn't break. Next we walked over to an area with rope bridge things crossing some water. I tried a couple but again there were giant nails sticking out of some places in the bridges. Safety first is not on anyone's mind here except mine. There was also a young man at the park that liked to make things difficult for his friend by jumping on the bridges. If his friend was on the same bridge as me, it was really scary. Then over to the next part. I like to compare this part to the rope courses at the white water center where there are harnesses and helmets that you must wear. Ryan seems to think I am exaggerating. They aren't as high as the ones at the white water center but they were just as challenging and dangerous. We also heard that in the summer when it rains there is water underneath. I saw a man take a pretty bad tumble (the one with the naughty friend) and told Ryan to be careful. Next thing I know, Ryan falls. I know he's ok when he looks up with a giant smile on his face. He ripped his jeans (his only pair of jeans). We have pretty much given up shopping and have no plans on starting anytime soon so I patched the jeans up on Sunday. I was all worried about him after that and tried to keep him from trying anymore.... Safety first is my motto but not followed by anyone else around here.
Next we were off to the friend's house. I rode with the girls this time. I introduced them to a Chinese character game on my iPad. They enjoyed the game and beat Ryan's high score at the time. (Ryan has since practice to reclaim his name on top). At the friends house, Ryan played with the children and I helped make dumplings. I did much better this time. (Last time I made dumplings, they didn't look so pretty.) As I was making the dumplings, I thought: it would be great to make Italian style dumplings with ground beef and marinara sauce and cheese fondue. I was really thinking I had the best idea ever. (One of my favorite things to do is to make up new recipes). About 5 minutes later, I had a new thought... I just invented ravioli AGAIN. Oops. Oh back to the dumplings. These folks were a bit more picky about how their dumplings looked so they would fix my misshaped attempts. They kept showing my until I got it right. Now I am a pro... sorta. These folks have decades of more experience.
There were over a dozen people in the apartment and it is smaller than my college apartment. I am always amazed how someone can cook so much in such a small kitchen. 8 or so people sat around the kitchen table and the children ate in the living room. I guess the kids' table is universal. The vegetable dumplings were the best ones I ever had.
Ryan and I were asked to do a presentation for American week. Many ideas came up during the brainstorming phase: game show, food eating contest, and sing a song. Someone (me) came up with the idea to do a dance... the dance evolution. Someone (Ryan) agreed to this. If I knew he would have agreed, I don't know if I would have shared my idea. Ryan and I are not dancers. We took dance lessons for our first dance at our wedding. We have found a YouTube video and are trying to teach ourselves. This should be interesting. I hope the kids like it.
Well, that's all folks for today. I hope everyone has a good week.
Julie
We got to the park and saw these swings. These swings were giant and 2 people could ride on each one and lay down. I thought it was pretty cool until I saw one swing that had fallen apart with giant nails sticking out. Good thing our swing didn't break. Next we walked over to an area with rope bridge things crossing some water. I tried a couple but again there were giant nails sticking out of some places in the bridges. Safety first is not on anyone's mind here except mine. There was also a young man at the park that liked to make things difficult for his friend by jumping on the bridges. If his friend was on the same bridge as me, it was really scary. Then over to the next part. I like to compare this part to the rope courses at the white water center where there are harnesses and helmets that you must wear. Ryan seems to think I am exaggerating. They aren't as high as the ones at the white water center but they were just as challenging and dangerous. We also heard that in the summer when it rains there is water underneath. I saw a man take a pretty bad tumble (the one with the naughty friend) and told Ryan to be careful. Next thing I know, Ryan falls. I know he's ok when he looks up with a giant smile on his face. He ripped his jeans (his only pair of jeans). We have pretty much given up shopping and have no plans on starting anytime soon so I patched the jeans up on Sunday. I was all worried about him after that and tried to keep him from trying anymore.... Safety first is my motto but not followed by anyone else around here.
Next we were off to the friend's house. I rode with the girls this time. I introduced them to a Chinese character game on my iPad. They enjoyed the game and beat Ryan's high score at the time. (Ryan has since practice to reclaim his name on top). At the friends house, Ryan played with the children and I helped make dumplings. I did much better this time. (Last time I made dumplings, they didn't look so pretty.) As I was making the dumplings, I thought: it would be great to make Italian style dumplings with ground beef and marinara sauce and cheese fondue. I was really thinking I had the best idea ever. (One of my favorite things to do is to make up new recipes). About 5 minutes later, I had a new thought... I just invented ravioli AGAIN. Oops. Oh back to the dumplings. These folks were a bit more picky about how their dumplings looked so they would fix my misshaped attempts. They kept showing my until I got it right. Now I am a pro... sorta. These folks have decades of more experience.
There were over a dozen people in the apartment and it is smaller than my college apartment. I am always amazed how someone can cook so much in such a small kitchen. 8 or so people sat around the kitchen table and the children ate in the living room. I guess the kids' table is universal. The vegetable dumplings were the best ones I ever had.
Ryan and I were asked to do a presentation for American week. Many ideas came up during the brainstorming phase: game show, food eating contest, and sing a song. Someone (me) came up with the idea to do a dance... the dance evolution. Someone (Ryan) agreed to this. If I knew he would have agreed, I don't know if I would have shared my idea. Ryan and I are not dancers. We took dance lessons for our first dance at our wedding. We have found a YouTube video and are trying to teach ourselves. This should be interesting. I hope the kids like it.
Well, that's all folks for today. I hope everyone has a good week.
Julie
Friday, March 15, 2013
TV
A student in my class was trying real hard to tell me something. She stumbled over a few words and then finally got out TV. Not being sure she meant I repeated the word and asked if that is what she meant and she said yes and then to confirm I tapped the TV and she confirmed. Then she said I was in the TV. Now I knew what she meant. She saw me on TV.
Last week we mentioned that BTV (Beijing TV) was coming to our school to do a story. They shot a short segment with me and Julie teaching a few students out in the "English Corner." Afterwards the reporter asked Julie and me a few questions. Julie thought my questions were much easier. Moving back to the segment with the students, it was completely canned. An administrator had told us that the report wanted to film some of our classes. That was the last we heard and I was finishing up my last lesson of the day when the administrator came into the classroom and asked if we could take the class outside to be filmed. Once we got outside it became clear that having the full class out there would be nothing but chaos, so the numbers were quickly reduced to about eight. Julie was brought out and we started shooting. After about two minutes they asked us to hang out for a few minutes so they could move the camera to the third floor and shoot us from above. Needless to say that is the first time I've ever taught that small of a class and outside.
The segment apparently aired last night and my student was very excited that she had seen. Upon returning to the office after the class the teachers had pulled the broadcast from yesterday. So for your viewing enjoyment here is the link: BTV News.
So you don't have to watch all twenty-two minutes, our segment starts about the five minute mark.
Enjoy,
Ryan
Last week we mentioned that BTV (Beijing TV) was coming to our school to do a story. They shot a short segment with me and Julie teaching a few students out in the "English Corner." Afterwards the reporter asked Julie and me a few questions. Julie thought my questions were much easier. Moving back to the segment with the students, it was completely canned. An administrator had told us that the report wanted to film some of our classes. That was the last we heard and I was finishing up my last lesson of the day when the administrator came into the classroom and asked if we could take the class outside to be filmed. Once we got outside it became clear that having the full class out there would be nothing but chaos, so the numbers were quickly reduced to about eight. Julie was brought out and we started shooting. After about two minutes they asked us to hang out for a few minutes so they could move the camera to the third floor and shoot us from above. Needless to say that is the first time I've ever taught that small of a class and outside.
The segment apparently aired last night and my student was very excited that she had seen. Upon returning to the office after the class the teachers had pulled the broadcast from yesterday. So for your viewing enjoyment here is the link: BTV News.
So you don't have to watch all twenty-two minutes, our segment starts about the five minute mark.
Enjoy,
Ryan
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Hello strangers!
Sorry for the absence, but I'm back. We are wrapping up Tuesday on this side of the globe and now that all our friends in America have sprung forward (I would've forgot if not for all the complaining on Facebook) we are back to being only 12 hours apart. Speaking of being apart, Mom and Dad Stiens are going to be making their way to China in a couple weeks. The administrators seem pretty excited to have Mom coming - no offense Dad. I have gotten several request about what class she would want to teach and if she can have a discussion with all the teachers after the fact. It appears there is a bit of a translation difference in the definition of vacation between Chinese and English.
To her credit Mom has been a good sport. The week they (Mom and Dad Stiens) will be here is going to be American week. I was briefly asked about American buildings and food and cultural items that we could use for the week and then all that dried up and Julie and I know we have to do some kind of show on the Monday of that week. Perhaps Julie and I aren't the best question askers (dear spell check, perhaps it's not a word but I like) but I've never been somewhere so long and still have such a little clue about what is going. Especially, what is going on with regards to me.
Julie realized today that she is getting better at this teaching thing. I thought I was too and then I had class. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.
Be advised this next section contains what could be called potty humor. I recently got this new English-Chinese dictionary app. Not sure if I am using it correctly yet and I think all the cool features are paid add-ons, such is life. However, while trying to figure out how out to use it I started typing the Pinyin (Chinese words written with the alphabet) for some Chinese words. One of the first words I typed in was the Chinese for thanks. This word is actually a character repeated and said, "xie xie" (sh-ay, sh-ay). Well I typed this in and if you say the same pronunciation with the wrong tone on the second character it means diarrhea. Now all I can think of when I try to tell people thanks is that I am telling them diarrhea.
Well, I don't think I can top that today. Have a great day!
-Ryan
To her credit Mom has been a good sport. The week they (Mom and Dad Stiens) will be here is going to be American week. I was briefly asked about American buildings and food and cultural items that we could use for the week and then all that dried up and Julie and I know we have to do some kind of show on the Monday of that week. Perhaps Julie and I aren't the best question askers (dear spell check, perhaps it's not a word but I like) but I've never been somewhere so long and still have such a little clue about what is going. Especially, what is going on with regards to me.
Julie realized today that she is getting better at this teaching thing. I thought I was too and then I had class. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.
Be advised this next section contains what could be called potty humor. I recently got this new English-Chinese dictionary app. Not sure if I am using it correctly yet and I think all the cool features are paid add-ons, such is life. However, while trying to figure out how out to use it I started typing the Pinyin (Chinese words written with the alphabet) for some Chinese words. One of the first words I typed in was the Chinese for thanks. This word is actually a character repeated and said, "xie xie" (sh-ay, sh-ay). Well I typed this in and if you say the same pronunciation with the wrong tone on the second character it means diarrhea. Now all I can think of when I try to tell people thanks is that I am telling them diarrhea.
Well, I don't think I can top that today. Have a great day!
-Ryan
Monday, March 4, 2013
herd of sheep in the city
I'm glad the worst of the winter is behind us. It has been a long one. Seems that the warmer weather has brought us wind which has brought us cleaner air. Thank goodness.
Ryan and I made it through the first week of classes for the second semester. I have been trying to make my classes more fun so instead of just calling on kids sometime I throw a stuffed animal to students instead of just calling on them. Today, I had a student who wasn't paying attention (I know that's a big surprise) and the student behind him was raising her hand. I meant to throw the toy to her but instead in landed on the boy's head. Funniest thing that has happened to me as a teacher. No worries, the student was fine and I believe he will be paying attention from now on.
This past weekend Ryan and I had a mini adventure. We decided to check out a shopping center that several teachers had told us about. Through some miscommunication between Ryan and myself we ended up on the wrong bus. Oops. We decided to get off the bus and go back and stopped at a noodle restaurant that we saw that looked good along the way. So we ate and got on the right bus. But then we realized it was the right bus but going in the wrong direction. Oops again. We decided to get off the bus to just go back home. We got off the bus and looked a little lost because it didn't see the bus stop on the other side of the street right away. We found it and started walked down the street a little ways. Now, a co-worker of ours sees us and stops to see if we want a ride back to school. Well all the words we exchanged were "go back to school?" and yes.
Then we tried again the next day. We got on the correct bus going in the correct direction but never did see the shopping center. We ended in the city but got off at the wrong stop and had a bit of a hike to the subway. It was all worth it. We ended up eating at an American dinner. Pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage for brunch. And a chocolate milk shake. ;o) So I should probably eat a little healthier... Eating healthy is much harder here than I thought it would be. Buying Oreo's is too easy. And low carb is unheard of. Sometime we have noodles, rice and bread available at lunch. Good thing fruit is becoming more in season. Fruit that has frozen and rethawed is not very appetizing. This seems to be what has happened in the winter so the fruit people sell on the streets or in little markets is not very good. It seems that the quality of food that Ryan and I require it a bit higher standard than the average Chinese person. Often times the food sold in stores, in markets, or on the street reminds me of bargain bin back home. I like to buy the "expensive" fruit from the Wu-Mart. By expensive I mean American priced. I bet with the warmer weather fruit will be looking better.
So in the suburbs of Charlotte, people walk their dogs. In the suburbs of Beijing, people walk their herd of sheep. Never have we wished we have our camera more than we just did. Ryan said, "those sheep act better than some of my students." The sheep just followed their owner to the pen along the side walk. Crazy site.
Julie
Ryan and I made it through the first week of classes for the second semester. I have been trying to make my classes more fun so instead of just calling on kids sometime I throw a stuffed animal to students instead of just calling on them. Today, I had a student who wasn't paying attention (I know that's a big surprise) and the student behind him was raising her hand. I meant to throw the toy to her but instead in landed on the boy's head. Funniest thing that has happened to me as a teacher. No worries, the student was fine and I believe he will be paying attention from now on.
This past weekend Ryan and I had a mini adventure. We decided to check out a shopping center that several teachers had told us about. Through some miscommunication between Ryan and myself we ended up on the wrong bus. Oops. We decided to get off the bus and go back and stopped at a noodle restaurant that we saw that looked good along the way. So we ate and got on the right bus. But then we realized it was the right bus but going in the wrong direction. Oops again. We decided to get off the bus to just go back home. We got off the bus and looked a little lost because it didn't see the bus stop on the other side of the street right away. We found it and started walked down the street a little ways. Now, a co-worker of ours sees us and stops to see if we want a ride back to school. Well all the words we exchanged were "go back to school?" and yes.
Then we tried again the next day. We got on the correct bus going in the correct direction but never did see the shopping center. We ended in the city but got off at the wrong stop and had a bit of a hike to the subway. It was all worth it. We ended up eating at an American dinner. Pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage for brunch. And a chocolate milk shake. ;o) So I should probably eat a little healthier... Eating healthy is much harder here than I thought it would be. Buying Oreo's is too easy. And low carb is unheard of. Sometime we have noodles, rice and bread available at lunch. Good thing fruit is becoming more in season. Fruit that has frozen and rethawed is not very appetizing. This seems to be what has happened in the winter so the fruit people sell on the streets or in little markets is not very good. It seems that the quality of food that Ryan and I require it a bit higher standard than the average Chinese person. Often times the food sold in stores, in markets, or on the street reminds me of bargain bin back home. I like to buy the "expensive" fruit from the Wu-Mart. By expensive I mean American priced. I bet with the warmer weather fruit will be looking better.
So in the suburbs of Charlotte, people walk their dogs. In the suburbs of Beijing, people walk their herd of sheep. Never have we wished we have our camera more than we just did. Ryan said, "those sheep act better than some of my students." The sheep just followed their owner to the pen along the side walk. Crazy site.
Julie
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