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
Sunday, March 24, 2013
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
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Back to work
Today was our second day teaching. This job has incredible up and downs and often within a matter of minutes and apparently, a month long vacation isn't conducive to getting us motivated to go back to work. That's enough ranting, but don't get to worried all things considered it went pretty well. Then at dinner the kitchen staff brought out French Fries! Didn't even know they could make French Fries.
The fries were pretty good. The ketchup was a little different. It was a little sweeter and is a brighter color. Perhaps they use real sugar, but that would account for the initial flavor which tasted a little life strawberry rhubarb pie filling followed by the distinct flavor of tomatoes.
The temperature got all the way up to 61 (F) today. We went for a walk after our last class and Julie was down at least two coats. She was even able to wear shoes other than her boots! Combine that with air that fell from 'hazardous' to 'unhealthy for sensitive people' and it adds up to a really good day. Just in case you were wondering the scale goes: good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive people, unhealthy, hazardous, beyond index.
The first two days back teaching has produced one outcome I wasn't expecting. I have named at least twenty students over the past two days. Let me add some background. For English class all the students pick an English name. Each student is supposed to have a name card on their desk. Well that is how it is supposed to work. In reality, some classes have English names and some have some English names. Some classes have name cards and some have some name cards. I decided to take on these discrepancies from day one. Since it was my idea, all the students who didn't have names wanted me to give them one and the Chinese English teacher agreed with them. I have a whole new respect for the parents of large families.'
It's getting late on this side of the globe so I hope everyone is doing well and have a great day.
-Ryan
The fries were pretty good. The ketchup was a little different. It was a little sweeter and is a brighter color. Perhaps they use real sugar, but that would account for the initial flavor which tasted a little life strawberry rhubarb pie filling followed by the distinct flavor of tomatoes.
The temperature got all the way up to 61 (F) today. We went for a walk after our last class and Julie was down at least two coats. She was even able to wear shoes other than her boots! Combine that with air that fell from 'hazardous' to 'unhealthy for sensitive people' and it adds up to a really good day. Just in case you were wondering the scale goes: good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive people, unhealthy, hazardous, beyond index.
The first two days back teaching has produced one outcome I wasn't expecting. I have named at least twenty students over the past two days. Let me add some background. For English class all the students pick an English name. Each student is supposed to have a name card on their desk. Well that is how it is supposed to work. In reality, some classes have English names and some have some English names. Some classes have name cards and some have some name cards. I decided to take on these discrepancies from day one. Since it was my idea, all the students who didn't have names wanted me to give them one and the Chinese English teacher agreed with them. I have a whole new respect for the parents of large families.'
It's getting late on this side of the globe so I hope everyone is doing well and have a great day.
-Ryan
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