The New Frontier

El Nido

2009-08-29T18:07:00.002+08:00

Hello folks,

This is a quick post as I have plane tickets to purchase, Bank of America to call AGAIN (they are taking $5 a month from my account for no reason, AGAIN, I'm shutting this crap down when I get back to the states), and packing to do.

Just wanted to say El Nido and our entire trip to the Philippines has been amazing. You can see all the pictures here. Nathan and I are happily engaged now and getting excited for Hawaii next year!

I am happy to be finished studying. I don't think I would ever study at BLCU again, but the teachers are really fantastic there. I wish the program had been more like USAC, but oh well.

Right, I have to get going!
Love!

Playing Catch Up....

2009-08-01T19:38:00.002+08:00

Okay, lots of things have happened since I last posted, so I'm not sure I'll be able to remember everything. Let's see...

A couple Thursdays ago my classmates and I went out for duck and to see the Beijing Opera. We thought maybe we would be able to find a place that had both a place to eat and watch, but we were definitely mistaken. We ended up on the super touristy 'old style' street which was showing opera on a rooftop to watch from the street. The speakers were pretty busted so the sound was not good. After about 5 minutes we decided to bail and find a duck restaurant. We ended up at Quanjude. We had headed out from Wudaokou with about 16 people but as the night wore on and we finally arrived at the duck restaurant we were down to 12. I ended up ordering for us, 3 ducks, rice, dumplings, and a vegetable dish. Of course all the food except the ducks had MSG and the idiot waitress wouldn't or didn't tell them to prepare it without (which makes me think the food is probably pre-made). The bill ended up being a whopping 1,276rmb. Luckily split between the 12 of us it wasn't too bad. We did a few ganbei's, enjoyed our duck and headed back out to the touristy street.
A few more people decided to head home leaving Thai Patrick, Patrick, Anna, Sylvio, and I. We went to the area of the tourist street where you can buy live scorpions to eat and one of the cooks let Thai Patrick play with one, we have some good pictures of him pretending to eat it. We decided to leave around 11pm but couldn't find a cab who was willing to take all 5 of us without charging an exorbitant (80rmb!) amount, so we took the subway to Xizhimen before it closed down and grabbed a cab from there. It was a fun night and I really got to know my classmates which was cool.

Nathan is back from his trip to the states which is great. We had a lot of fun going to the zoo last Saturday and seeing all the animals. They could really do with Hayley's help there as some of the enclosures where a bit horrible. The people could also do with a bit of educating as to how to treat the animals, we had to tell one girl who was our age to stop banging on the monkeys glass windows and pissing them off.

Nathan and I found a huge underground market in Xizhimen which I absolutely love. They are very few foreigners there and they don't try to rip you off. The first price they give you is usually very low so you don't spend forever bargaining. It's good stuff. I went back on Friday and nabbed a pair of jeans and a few other things.

Today Nathan and I went for brunch at Steak and Eggs, explored the Alien Street Market in little Russia, and went to The Place mall. It was all very good stuff, but probably more shopping than Nathan liked. Haha.

Classes continue to go well, I'm really glad I'm in the class I'm in and I've learned a lot of new vocabulary. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up the studying when I get back to Jiujiang.

Tomorrow Nathan and I are going to the travel agents to check out Manila tickets. Only two and a half more weeks! I'm looking forward to our nice relaxing vacation and some time with Nate's parents!

Success

2009-07-19T12:52:00.003+08:00

Yesterday I decided that I was in need of some shopping therapy seeing as I'm not doing so well with making friends here in Beijing (blah...).

Having never ridden the subway by myself that was my first objective. Luckily Nathan and I had made the trip to Sanlitun via subway before, and I remembered the way. I made it to my goal rather quickly.
Next stop was the underground market where I met some really nice people. I bought another Coach purse, so Aunt Karen can pick from the two. I met a couple of super nice ladies who sell stuff down there, and I actually wouldn't mind going back just to chat with them. Their English was really great and I am betting they would let me practice my Chinese.
After the underground market I headed over to Yashow to grab another pair of shoes (I really wanted rainboots due to the fact that Beijing monsoons in the summer) but couldn't find any I liked. I did find a gorgeous jacket and very nearly had a shouting war with the lady who was selling it, but I was triumphant and left with one new pair of flats and a pink leather jacket.
I walked back to the subway and returned to Wudaokou where I was delighted to find a night market set up on the street. I did some bargain hunting and came away with a 15rmb pair of Crocs (aka the ugliest but most comfortable shoes in existence), a light cardigan, and a new shirt. Excellent.

I won't tell you how much I spent yesterday. It was exorbitant, but totally within my budget.

Does anyone want a pair of Crocs? They're only 15rmb a pair so I would be happy to snag you a pair and deliver in January. Just send me your shoe size.

Today I'm dedicating my afternoon to studying and reviewing. We've learned a lot of words in the past week!

Purchases from yesterday:
Pink Coach bag
Crocs
Le Sportsac Bag with birds on it
Pink leather jacket
Two pairs of shorts
One skirt
Four shirts

Plans for the week:
Beijing zoo...?
Studying
Laundry (for some reason I can't buy a laundry card from the desk until tomorrow?)
Nathan comes back
Make friends...?

I live....

2009-07-15T20:02:00.002+08:00

I am quite sure I had a kidney stone but it has passed. Nathan made me an oh so delicious remedy of olive oil an lemon juice. Ew. But whatever, I am cured.

Classes are going great. I am in the perfect level class for my Chinese so I am being challenged but still learning.

Hrm. I have nothing else. Update later.

Bad Luck Streak

2009-07-10T16:19:00.002+08:00

I seem to be a on a bad luck streak at the moment.

Last night and today I was so incredibly sick I had to miss the first day of class. It was awful, it still is awful. I'm not sure if I have food poisoning or what, but my stomach is very unhappy.

I managed to make it to class to meet my teacher and tell her (in Chinese) how very ill I was. She seemed to understand and let me leave. I am now with Nathan who is taking care of me. Hopefully I'll start to feel better soon, although I really wish I knew what was wrong.

It seems that our class will be conducted entirely in Chinese which means I have some studying to do this weekend. While I was in class there were three other boys in there and one other girl. I wish I could have stayed to see how everything would go, but man, I felt awful.

Here's hoping Monday works out. Blah.

Hooray for a proxy

2009-07-09T09:37:00.002+08:00

Okay, this will have to be quick as I don't know how long I have before this proxy kicks me off or my internet disappears. I am in the hotel on the Beijing Language and Culture University and the internet is not very reliable.

Beijing has been a blast the past few days, I've really enjoyed myself. I wrote up a couple of journal entries which I will be sure to post up on here at some point. Look for them later.

Yesterday was a bit of a nightmare. Nathan and I arrived at BLCU to meet Ella who is the Wentao of Real World Chinese. Only... she wasn't there to meet us. And she doesn't speak English at all. Uhhhh....
Anyways, after a few minutes (half hour) of trying to find her to meet up, an American student also on the program took the phone, figured out where we were, and brought Ella to meet us. This was all fine and well until she gave us a list of things we had to do that day; find the dorms, register with the police, register with the school, etc. Errr. Then she told us she wouldn't be coming with us. What?
She took us to the housing office and got me registered there, then gave me a map and sent us packing. Victor Zhang, the program coordinator (located in Canada) had told me I was going to live in building number 6. So Nathan and I trooped over there (poor Nathan had my very heavy suitcase the entire time) only to find out that I was not in building 6 after all, but in building 4 where we had just been. So we went to building 4 and this is where the real drama began.

We found the front desk and I attempted to check in. Only, I have a resident visa seeing as I live here and all, which the program knew ahead of time however didn't inform the dormitories. The dorms are for students only and apparently to live there you have to have a student visa. Which I dont'. After much back and forth between Nathan and the front desk staff, Ella was called in. She, of course, wasn't informed of my visa situation.
Hohum.
The only solution was for me to move into the hotel. They wanted another $800. Wtf, no. I told them that either they paid for the hotel since it was their mistake or I would like a complete and total refund of all the program fees. They paid the hotel fees and here I am.
In retrospect it doesn't look like we went through much, but trust me, it was an incredibly tense and stressful situation. Thank God Nathan was there or I would have been utterly screwed since Ella does not speak English whatsoever. Thank you, Nathan!

This morning I took my placement exam and was put in the class I wanted. The tester was a bit scary, a man who just yelled (only in China they just call it talking). I held my own reasonably well, but he told me I needed to study chapters 1-10 of a book he didn't give me tonight. Haha. I guess we'll see how that goes. Classes begin tomorrow and I am quite thankful that we'll only have one day before the weekend. I think it's going to be exhausting.

Right, that's all for now. Nathan is meeting me for lunch. Sorry if this one is a bit sporatic and poorly written, that's how it goes when you're a 'busy' student.

Is School Over Yet?

2009-05-11T17:11:00.003+08:00

*Warning* This journal entry may contain explicit female content which men and minors probably do not want to read about.

Busy weekend in Nanchang.

Headed down to Nanchang on Friday, finally making it in the late afternoon due to a one hour delayed train. Grrrrr. Nathan and I went to a cafe for drinks and a snack while waiting for 5pm to roll around so we could join Nik, Cici, and Stewart for dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant.
The food was pretty good and MSG free. Cici ordered 'drunk shrimp' which are live shrimp that they bring out in this bowl, then pour an alcoholic sauce on them which makes the shrimp drunk. You then eat them ALIVE. Needless to say, I didn't try one, but Nathan and Cici seemed to enjoy them quite a bit.

We headed to Stewarts bar after that for a fun evening there. Pearl joined us later and she, Graham, Nik, and James all played poker into the wee morning hours. I was exhausted after awhile so Nate, Nik, and I headed back out to their campus.

Nik and Nathan left early (6am-ish) for Shanghai for their 'boys weekend'. I got up about an hour later to catch the bus to meet Cici in town. She picked me up from the bus stop and we headed to the hospital. Why, Jessica, did you need to go to the hospital, you are asking. Well, dear readers, while doing my monthly womanly booby check I chanced upon two lumps which gave me a bit of a scare. I decided to head to the women's hospital to have them checked out so I could quell my fears. The hospital was actually quite nice and because I was a laowai I was sort of rushed through the lines of girls. The doctors asked me a few questions (translated by Cici), then I had an exam given by a female doctor, then was sent off for a blood test, a mamogram, and a sonogram. The mamogram hurt like a b*tch, but they let me keep the pictures, so now I can see what the inside of my boobs look like whenever I want. The sonogram went well, and the blood test wasn't no thing. The conclusion? I have hyperplasia and do not need surgery. I am on a number of medications to increase my estrogen levels or something along those lines for the next three months which should decrease the size of the lumps. I have to go back for a checkup in 6 months but they think that it should be just fine. Whew.
However, due to the medication I can no longer drink tea for the next three months. Drat.
How much did all these medical procedures set me back? Less than 600rmb. That's right, that which would cost thousands of dollars in the states only set me back about 95 dollars.

After that relieving hospital visit Cici and I headed downtown to get some lunch, sushi, at a really nice Japanese restaurant. It was sooo good. Slightly more pricey than my usual sushi place in Nanchang, but well worth it.

We went shopping afterward and even found a store that does copies of the outfits from Gossip Girl. Sweet. Didn't buy anything this time around but I definitely have my eye on the white dress that Blair wore to the white party.
We finished shopping and headed to Cici's house where I met her parents. They looked so young! She packed a bag, we picked up some students, and headed out to Nanchang Agricultural University so that the students could get ready for a speech competition. We finally got a hotel room after a bit of arguing and decided to veg out for awhile. Cici had a meeting so I watched a movie until she returned, then we headed to dinner.
The Agriculture university campus is gorgeous and amazing! They had all these restaurants with tables set up outdoors so we found one that looked good and sat down. Ordered a couple beers, some eggplant and greenbeans, fried squid, and chicken. Delicious dinner. We walked around the shops out there then checked in on this cool little snack street they had. I am smitten with that campus! They even have a forest!
We were pretty exhausted from the day so we crashed around 2am.

The next morning I had to leave relatively early to meet Pearl. I said bye to Cici and caught the bus into town, then a taxi to the campus. I dropped off my bags in Pearl's apartment and we headed to lunch at Le Bistro. Shrimp spaghetti, a raspberry vodka fizz, and cheesecake later, we were stuffed. We decided to walk off our meal under the hot sun of Nanchang and find a Tibetan store that Pearl knew about. We finally located it, and had a fun time perusing the goods. We caught a cab back to her apartment. We didn't get to a reiki session but I did get some tarot cards to practice with and some meditation stuff. I guess I need to practice a bit on my own first.
I headed home in the evening and arrived in Jiujiang after dark. Caught a cab home, made up my lesson plan, and passed out.

Happy belated Mother's Day!

School let's out June 20th. WOOO!

Frack, I am tired.

2009-05-06T21:51:00.003+08:00

So... classes today.

......

The 8am kids were alright. Not the best, but they did the work. My 10am class makes me want to rip my hair out. I actually had to say to them, "This is oral English class. If you do not even attempt to open your mouth to speak English I will FAIL YOU!" (Insert appropriate swear words here.) It's just such a shame because I have about ten really great speakers in there, and the rest of them just..... don't care, don't try, don't want to be in class.
Gaaaaaaaah. Semester must end now.

Had a good afternoon though. I rented a bike from the school then Cary and I biked out to Jiujiang University. The campus is gorgeous! It backs up to Lushan and there isn't too much around them except the campus. Saw a ton of the Indian/Bangladeshi/Pakistani students, but they were too busy playing cricket to take much notice of us. Ran into Stan the man. Cary and I will probably check out the bars out there sometime in an effort to run into more of the other foreigners. They have a lot of grates out there and when I went over one too fast my water bottle flew out of the basket on the front of the bike, over my shoulder, and I ran over it with the back tire. Oops. Pretty spectacular move though. I think I will buy a bike... although it only cost 2 yuan to rent one for a couple hours, not shabby. Now I can say I've survived a bike ride through the mean streets of Jiujiang. Score.

Nathan is having a 'boys weekend' this weekend in Shanghai, but my friend Cici will be in Nanchang so I'm going to go stay with her. We're spending the night at the Agriculture University for some reason, so I'm hoping to meet the foreign teachers there. Then on Sunday I'm meeting with Pearl to have a Reiki lesson. Pretty neat. Home on Sunday night, must plan my lesson tomorrow so it's all set for Monday so I needn't worry about it this weekend.

I finished my first water color experiment, however the pictures I've been taking of it are muting the colors, so I shall try again tomorrow and post pictures later. It's... eh, okay I guess. A pretty fun experiment to see how these water colors work.

Over and out.

Sanqingshan

2009-05-04T18:55:00.002+08:00

Look! Look! I'm updating!

Thursday evening I trained out to Nanchang, not getting there until around 10pm. Nathan met me at the train station and we headed to his place, I was beat and wanted an early-ish night.

On Friday we woke up around 5:30am, got ready, and headed to the train station to catch our train which departed at 8am. We found a reasonable mien bao che driver, picked up a few more passengers along the way, and were dropped at the station with plenty of time to spare. We were on the express train which is quite posh, so it was a very comfortable and fairly short ride. The city that our train dropped us off in is still a fair distance from the mountain, so we found another mien bao che driver to drive us to the mountain for a reasonable price.
The drive was gorgeous as we made our way through mountains, countryside, and along lakes. The drive itself took about and hour and a half to two hours, not too shabby. Our driver dropped us at the north-eastern side of the mountain where we decided to catch the cable car up instead of walking along the road trying to find the stairs. It was around 12:30pm then, and the light wouldn't last too many more hours.
The cable car ride was pleasant and short, dropping us off near the Goddess Rock. We slowly made our way up and down many stairs, weaving along narrow pathways, until we came to Sun-Rising Mountain Villa. We were disappointed to discover they had no rooms, mostly because we were tired from getting up so early and for hiking with our backpacksfor so long. After a couple trips up and down some of the paths we found a hotel, the Heaven Gate Mountain Villa. We were wiped and crashed early.

On Saturday we abandoned the bags in our hotel room and made our way back up to the Sun-Rising Mountain Villa. After talking to one of the porters we decided to take the path leading west, and also what turned out to be the longest way. However, the views were breathtaking and we were spit out at a nice lake and the Sanqing Temple. After looking around that area for awhile, we decided to head for Yujing Peak and along a different path which would take us back to the Sun-Rising Mountain Villa. Despite my protesting legs, Nathan and I climbed to the top of Yujing Peak, a whopping 1819.9 meters tall. Unfortunately a thick mist and rain had settled over us, so the views were mostly of the gray clouds that surrounded us.
We headed down from the peak and back along the alternate pathway where we discovered a great bridge and a place where there were glass tile so you could look down at the drop, eventually ending up back at the SRMV. We were both soaked from the rain, tired from the climb (stairs) and hungry. At the hotel we made instant curries, took hot showers, and collapsed into bed, falling asleep around 8pm.

Sunday morning we departed the hotel around noon, carrying our backpacks. We were ready to go home. We took the cable car down the mountain, found the bus, and hopped on. It was a two hour ride to the bus station, then a half hour taxi ride to the train station which we arrived at with plenty of time left to get snacks and relax before catching the train.
We arrived in Nanchang around 9pm. Cary managed to find us at the station, so he and I got tickets back to Jiujiang together. Nathan headed off to meet Nick so they could share a cab ride back to their campus together, while Cary and I went to McDonalds for some dinner. Cary and I caught our train and spent the ride playing Cribbage. I still don't quite get it.
I finished up my lesson plan around midnight-thirty and crashed into bed by 1am.

Today my kids were great! I made up a lesson plan where I spoke as little as possible and they spoke as much as possible, and it went amazingly well. The 10am class was a little painful, and most of the boys in the 2:30pm class didn't do their homework (to punish them I made them stand up and come sit in the front of the class, which actually forced them to participate). This is a good lesson, but kind of tiring for me since I have to stand up there like a cheerleader trying to get them to talk. It takes about half an hour, but they do open up eventually. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Pictures for Sanqingshan can be see here.

Not much to say...

2009-04-28T19:56:00.002+08:00

There isn't much going on here at the moment. We have Friday off due to a workers holiday, so Nathan and I will be spending the weekend climbing Sanquingshan. I'm pretty excited, but I know I'm going to come back super sore. It's pretty on par with Huangshan, so I know the views will be spectacular.

Aaaaaaaand, that's all. Sorry. I wish I had more interesting news to report on.

Folks in America, don't get swine flu.

Well then...

2009-04-22T21:18:00.003+08:00

Okay, I've figured out what I want to do. I'm definitely going to work on/start a magazine. I've already started to figure out the content, my customer base, who to sell ad space to, etc.
I would like to find an internship in Beijing this summer for a magazine if I can. I may have to wait to find that until I can get to the city though.

I need to buy Adobe Pagemaker, Adobe Photoshop, an external hard drive, and a Nikon D4.
I've figured out that a 160G external HD will be about 420 yuan, a Nikon D4 will be around 3500 yuan, and the Adobe Pagemaker and Photoshop I can get for about 10 yuan each at this dvd place I know. Haha.

I may give private English lessons this summer while I'm in Beijing so that I can save up for these items. Not sure about that until I get my courseload. May be too busy studying the Chinese.

Summer school is all paid for, I got the reciept in my inbox a few hours ago. Glad that's taken care of, it's really a load off. I used my paypal and wiped out my checking account, so now I'm left with about $40 in there and all that RMB I have saved in my secret hiding spot. I ended up having to pay an extra $54 to use the paypal, but I found out it would have been almost 500rmb to transfer that much in RMB if I had opened a Chinese bank account. I figure the $54 is worth it.

I found Bank of America being shady with my savings account today. I was checking to make sure I had the funds to pay all of my tuition with my checking account when I noticed that there was money missing from my savings account. In order to keep Bank of America from charging a 'bank maintanance fee' I have to retain a balance of $300 in my savings account. Well, after I got my nice tax return from the government, I made sure that the balance in my savings was exactly $300 so Bank of America would stop charging me. Today when I checked the balance it was at $292. For some unexplained reason there was a $3 'bank fee' and because that brought the balance down to $297, they had charged the $5 'bank maintance fee'. What the hell? I got on the customer service chat thing that they provide so I could chat with a representative. When I asked what that $3 fee was for I got this message, "I've got some good news for you! Because we value your customer loyalty I can reimburse those fees to you. All of it should be credited back to your account in the next business day." She wouldn't answer me when I asked why they had charged the $3 fee. I know, I just know, it was so that they could bring the balance to below $300 and have an excuse to charge me that $5. If you have a Bank of America account, keep an eye out for that stuff. I'm thinking of shutting down my Bank of America savings account when I return to the states. There have been a few strange incidents like that, and I don't trust them anymore.

That's all from me. Laundry to do, then sleepy time. I should really tidy up the house, but I'm having too much fun with my magazine project. Whee!

My China Career Goals...

2009-04-21T16:52:00.002+08:00

Some of these are serious, some are just for fun (but I wouldn't pass on them if they came up):

Be a model for the home shopping network
Be a regular on a Chinese soap opera
Work for a magazine in Beijing or Shanghai, preferably Elle or one of those types
Club promoter
Own a bar or club
Own a restaurant
Front Desk manager at a hotel in Beijing or Shanghai
Write a book or two

I've pondered grad school recently. I could easily slip off to Korea for a year, earn the money, and return to China. However, I have also realized I have NO IDEA what I want to be when I 'grow up', so I guess grad school should probably wait until I figure that out.

Teaching is not my future. I need to figure something else out.

Crap Weather

2009-04-19T21:57:00.004+08:00

Nathan and I didn't do much today, but yesterday was pretty okay.

We woke up late yesterday, got ready, and dinnered at David's pizza place. His dad wasn't there, but it was sooooo nice to have pizza after all this time. We walked around downtown despite the rainy weather and found some shops I didn't know existed. I found a few gorgeous LV purses I plan to go take a look at again tomorrow or Tuesday. They're too lovely to pass up! Haha.
On our walk back towards the school we passed this lit up building on the lake and went to have a look. It turned out to be a nice little area where you can drink tea and watch a show for 15rmb each. We bought tickets and spent about an hour enjoying the nice outdoor atmosphere and music. It started raining harder while we were there so we cabbed home.

I'm teaching interviews this week because I can't get karaoke videos since youtube is STILL BLOCKED! BAH!

Nathan and I are going to San Qing Shan for our may holiday, I think it will be lovely.

Here is my hair, I hate it:

I'll probably like it in a couple week when it's a bit longer.

Things I did today...

2009-04-14T20:14:00.004+08:00

Taught a class about American universities.
Got my hairz chopped the heck off. Pictures later when I am not so sleepy/having a bad skin day.
Ate baozi.
Watched a singing competition.
Came up with the idea to have a karaoke class next week since my students are willing to sing but not to speak in class....?
Bought a Japanese fashion magazine.
Bookmarked all the clothes I want to have made in my various Elle and other fashion mags.

That's all.

Tomorrow... more of the same.

Edit:// So when Mom was here, on our way to catch the train to Nanchang I had to run through the train station with no shoes on. I got a small cut on the bottom of my foot, but I got it all cleaned up and band aid-ed. Well, all this time later it still hadn't healed and was somewhat sore... so I decided to get a pair of tweezers out and have a dig around in there... I just pulled a rather large piece of glass out of the bottom of my foot that had been in there this whole time. D'oh. Guess it'll heal now.

Cool

2009-04-12T20:35:00.002+08:00

So, this was an interesting day full of Chinese language triumphs.

Nathan wasn't feeling well so I took the bus downtown by myself to catch the train. I got off after a few stops and hailed a cab, because I wasn't entirely sure which stop was near the bus station. The driver was an interesting fellow who definitely thought he was a race car driver.

I made it to the train station very quickly and headed in to buy my ticket. I've never bought one by myself in Nanchang, but I didn't have a problem at all. Ticket in hand I made my way to the waiting room, which was baking hot. I'm not a fan of Nanchang train station.
While heading to board the train a young man came up and tapped my shoulder stating that, "We have the same ticket." I just nodded as he waved his in my face, and we boarded the train together and found seats. We chatted for awhile but he left me in relative peace. I'm pretty sure he spent a majority of the train ride attempting to think up questions he could ask me. Bless.

I 'yo bailed' as quickly as possible after the train station and found myself a cab (the trick to avoiding the cabs who cheat you is to grab one just as they're dropping someone off near the entrance of the train station.) This cab driver was very talkative and even after I told him I didn't understand half the things he was saying we still managed to have a good conversation.

The best news of the day?! I got my acceptance letter to BLCU!!!! Now I just have to send them my monies by June 1st, so I guess I'll get a Chinese bank account all set up and rolling since I have the money now. May as well get it to them... although I may wait to see if Nathan and I can get an apartment together for the summer first.

Right, I'm wiped. Off to unpack and eat.

Wiped

2009-04-09T20:11:00.002+08:00

I am wiped the hell out. My students are exhausting and I've got a cold and I have been going to bed too late.

Today Cary made pizza and let me eat a lot of it. Apparently I have a rather gregarious appetite. Super. But it was really good and I haven't had pizza in quite awhile.

I've spent my evening looking up bad words in Chinese.

I taught my kids the F-word in class. They already knew it.

I'm going to Nanchang this weekend.

These journals entries are getting more and more bland. Maybe I'll have something interesting to write after this week. I'm having a 'girly' day with my friend Cici on Saturday, so that will probably provide a few antics to write about.

Until then, Happy Easter!

Nada

2009-04-08T19:04:00.002+08:00

Not much to say.

Kids were awful today. No one was in the mood to learn and we all wanted to just be outside where it was a gorgeous, warm day.

Went shopping at Walmart and saw some Bangladeshi's. They pointedly ignored me. Nice.

Played badminton with Cary for about an hour until some punk ass little brat Chinese kids started harassing us by yelling 'hello' and other things then throwing rocks.

Studying Chinese now.

The end.

Wuhan 2.0

2009-04-06T21:13:00.004+08:00

So... Friday afternoon I headed down to Nanchang. I rode the train with Sophie and some of her friends. It was packed! When I arrived Nathan greeted me at the station and we headed off to Metro to pick up some groceries for a curry night.
Nathan cooked curry which was delicious! He's a superb chef. Pearl joined us for dinner and we had a nice chat while watching Anthony Bourdain.

Saturday morning we woke up early-ish and Nathan made pancakes. Fei Fei joined us and got to try her first pancake. We, (Nathan, Nikolai, FeiFei, and I) headed to the train station to catch the train to Wuchang (one of the Wuhan burroughs). The train ride was pretty quick, three hours or so. One of Nathan's students had recommended a hotel which turned out to be excellent, located only a few minutes from the train station and right on a night market street. It was a steal at only 100rmb a night. We checked into this great hotel, dropped off our bags, and headed to food street, we were all hungry. It was packed! We all ordered food from different stalls, and I managed to order noodles by myself sans MSG.
We decided to go back to the hotel for a bit then it was time to hit the bars. We had a cab take us to a bar street near Wuhan University and found one that was suitable to play a few dice drinking games at until we were ready to go to a club. Eventually we tired of the bar and headed to a club that was down the street. We were ushered to a table by an incredibly nice manager and along with the bottle of vodka we ordered, given a free bowl of fruit, french fries, and cucumber. It was fantastic. The music was okay, and we had some fun times dancing around. There was a group of French people, the only other laowai, who were polite and came over to introduce and offer us drinks. After a few hours of dancing, drinking, and socializing we were beat. We left the club and found a late night restaurant where Nik, FeiFei, and Nathan all enjoyed a various assortment of food such as snail and a whole duck (which Nathan ate by himself.) We went back to the hotel after that.

Sunday we had a lot of things planned. We rose pretty early considering how late we were out and headed to the Yellow Crane Tower. It was a beautiful day and we had a great view from the top of the tower. Nathan and I enjoyed walking the grounds and I found a great deal on some antique looking silk paintings, 3 for 20rmb. I am eager to get them framed now for when Nathan and I have a house together again. After walking the grounds we decided to go to Wuhan University to poke around the campus. It's a beautiful campus and I enjoyed seeing the grounds. We eventually found our way to the large lake (East/West Lake?) and walked onto the narrow docks. Poor FeiFei doesn't know how to swim so that made her a bit nervous.
It took us ages to get a cab near the university but we eventually managed it. We had the driver take us to the ferry, then caught the ferry to the other side of the river and another of Wuhan's burroughs. We grabbed dinner there, but I think there was a bit of MSG tainting our food and I didn't feel so well afterward. We decided to head back to the hotel and passed out.

This morning we got up early and headed to the train station. Because I was going to Jiujiang and Nik, Nate, and FeiFei were heading to Nanchang, I had to sit in a different part of the train. I said goodbye to Nathan in Wuhan. The train was packed, I spent most of the time reading and napping.
I found a nice cab driver once I got to Jiujiang, and now I am home. This week I'm teaching my kids slang, and I've had a good time looking up words to teach them. I am eager to see the dialogues they come up with.
Tomorrow I have plans to play badminton/frisbee with Cary and some friends. I am also going to meet up with David's cousin, Kevin, to hang out this week and I have arranged to see Jiujiang University campus with Qiao who is seeing if they offer Chinese classes there for me. Busy week!

Montezuma's Revenge....

2009-04-01T20:36:00.003+08:00

I should think of a Chinese name for this.... Confucian's Revenge...?

I was very unwell in a very unpleasant way this morning. To the point that after two trips to the toilet during class (luckily I had short vids associated with my lesson that I could show during my bathroom breaks) I canceled the rest of class, canceled my next class, and walked home.

Ew.

However, I have strangely not been 'sick' since getting home. And I haven't actually felt that ill. My body is whacked.
I will take a couple pepto's before bed though, just in case.

Today was April Fool's Day, and for some reason the people in this country view this as a major holiday, or at least think it's one in the western world. I have received a number of texts telling me to have a 'Happy Fool's Day'. Right.

I'm off to read. Happy Fool's Day to you.

Well that's that then...

2009-03-30T16:26:00.002+08:00

Another stellar weekend down, only a few more to go until summer vacation bliss (except I will be in school for a majority of my vacation).

Nathan and I are thinking about renting an apartment instead of me staying in the dorms and him doing whatever. I would actually save money since I'm paying $800 for 6 weeks and I know for a fact I can get an apartment for cheaper than that. I would just need to purchase a bike for getting to/from classes. We're thinking of taking a trip to Beijing during our May holiday to scope out places and all that.

Next Monday we have off, so Nathan and I shall probably take a short trip either to Wuhan or Changsha. Not sure where yet. It will be nice to explore another area though.

This week I'm working on pronunciation in my classes. Today my 2:30pm class might as well have all been sleeping, they were truly out of it. I made them get up and do exercises until they woke up. I ended up dismissing them early because I think we all just wanted to be out of class.

I'm off to read/nap/do laundry/clean.

Real World Chinese

2009-03-25T21:02:00.003+08:00

I'm still waiting to hear back from BLCU, although the program adviser said it would be a couple weeks until I heard from them... so maybe this time next week?

In the meantime, I thought I would post some information about the program.

I will be in class between 4 and 6 hours a day. If I take the intensive class, which I'm planning on, I will be in class 6 hours a day. The extra two hours for the intensive program are one-on-one tutoring, how super is that?

I'm going back to the beginner class since my character writing is not very strong and I think it will be good to review the basics.

Textbooks are included in the $1200 program fee. There are no additional fees (besides my own personal spending and $800 for housing).

In order to ensure your Mandarin skills are developed in the best possible way, the classes have been divided into the five key language developing areas: reading, writing, listening, speaking (oral), and grammar.

Reading: Classes will focus on building vocabulary and strengthening reading comprehension, with a focus on accuracy and speed.

Writing: Classes will introduce and develop the composition of characters and stroke orders of radicals, or bushou.

Listening: Classes will focus on improving listening comprehension of spoken Mandarin at regular speed. At the beginner level the primary focus will be understanding basic facts; at the advanced level the primary focus will be developing implicit comprehension and drawing inferences from complicated passages.

Speaking (Oral): Classes will facilitate the development of proper pronunciation and intonation, and will help students recognize common stress patterns in Mandarin.

Grammar: Classes will introduce and develop proper sentence structure, word order, spelling and colloquial expressions.

After school there is complimentary tutoring and a partnered language exchange.

They also have free electives, whee!

Language: Chinese Character Writing and Chinese Song Classes

Chinese Character Writing: A supplementary class to writing classes. Focus is on further development of characters and the radical system.

Chinese Song Classes: An introduction to both traditional folk and modern (pop) Chinese songs. Lyrics are written in both pinyin (Romanized letters) and hanzi (Chinese characters) in order to further strengthen reading and speaking skills.

Non-Language: Chinese Painting, Calligraphy, Traditional Chinese Massage and Medicine, and Taiji Quan (Tai Chi)

Chinese Painting: An introduction to one of the most popular traditional Chinese painting techniques - water colour painting, taught by a professional artist.

Calligraphy: An introduction to the ancient and sublime art form of Chinese calligraphy. Learn the eight styles, how to hold the brush, and the proper order of strokes. Students will select one style and develop their skills.

Traditional Chinese Massage and Medicine: An introduction to the ancient Chinese view of the human body and the causes of illness. Remedial techniques will include herbal medicine and massage.

Taiji Quan (Tai Chi): An introduction to the softer and more fluid martial arts, with a focus on internal power to improve health and wellness, both physically and mentally.

Aaaaaaand, they even have social activities set up, along with a welcome lunch:

The Peking Duck Feast
Bowling nights
Karaoke nights
Movie nights
Friday Bar and Club nights
Bowling
Paintball
Snowboarding trips

Once a month Real World Chinese will also host a dinner and social evening where you will have the opportunity to share your experiences and stuff yourself silly with all the rice, soup and assorted Chinese dishes you can imagine.

Plus: Our Real World Chinese include Emergency Travel and Medical Insurance, which covers emergency medical and dental treatment, pro-rata return of program fee in case of curtailment, personal liability and more.

This summer is going to AH-MAZING!

P.S. I've already saved up all my tuition money and dorm money. Now I'm just saving up for living expenses for the summer. Yay!

Nothing, Nada, The Big Goose Egg

2009-03-24T21:42:00.002+08:00

I did nothing today.

Okay, not entirely true. I did the dishes, swept, studied some Chinese, and did some laundry.

I also found this website, which is like Ross for Juniors online. Love it.

Shower, then bed. Tomorrow it's back to the grind.

Chores

2009-03-24T02:05:00.002+08:00

Edward from Twilight = Cedric Diggory
Whoa.
How did I miss that?

No work tomorrow, they've canceled my class for some reason or another. I shall be sleeping in, cleaning, doing laundry, studying Chinese, and meeting up with a friend in the evening. Blah. A day off should not be spent doing things like chores.

FYI, Nathan's hard drive is fried, so if you're trying to reach him and can't, that's why. He's trying to get it fixed tomorrow.

That's all.

A fairly decent weekend.

2009-03-22T21:46:00.002+08:00

I was in Nanchang this weekend, and it ended up being a good time. As soon as I arrived, Nathan and Pearl were there to greet me at the station. We headed to Metro for a little grocery shopping, before sending Pearl home with our goods while Nathan and I dashed off to a birthday dinner for our friend Leo.
The dinner was good, and while the entire thing was held in Chinese, I got the gist of most of it. I guess that means I'm getting better at this stuff. The meal was fantastic, but after many 'ganbei''s it was time to head home.

The weather was so nice on Saturday Nathan and I decided to go for a bike ride. We mis-judged the humidity though, and ended up pretty sweaty. We found a creepy abandoned building and graveyard on our ride which was interesting.
For dinner, Pearl was kind enough to cook us Tex Mex. It was delicious! We had a nice chat about a variety of subjects. We returned to Nathan's to get ready for an evening out. Soon Nik, Fei Fei, Nate, and I were on our way downtown to hang out with some friends at Le Nest. We met the Captain, and Leo, enjoyed a few drinks, then headed on to Soho bar.
Soho was quite fun, and the Captain was able to fanagle some free drinks for us. Luna, Simon, Leo's girlfriend, and a couple other girls joined us for the evening. After a few hours of dancing and drinking, we headed on to Stewart's bar to wind down.
Nathan wasn't feeling too good, so we headed home around 3am, the night complete.

Today we spent the day being sleepy and lazing about. I trained home around 5pm, and was happy I had a seat this time. I headed to Walmart after dropping off my bag to get some groceries and a few supplies for my classes tomorrow. It's game week, so hopefully it will go well. I'm off to pull some stuff together then sleep.

Twilight, Twilight, Twilight.... Squee!

2009-03-16T19:38:00.002+08:00

School-wise, it was a long day. The kids didn't seem to love the sports lesson. Blah. They enjoyed the clips, just not learning the rules and terms in English. Next week is game week, where I'll be using games to test what they remember, so maybe it will be more fun.
After my last class I then went to Grace's class since they had never spoken to a foreigner before and answered questions for awhile.
Yeah, teaching totally kills any nervousness you may have about speaking in front of crowds you don't know. It's totally no sweat anymore. Bizarre.

As my treat for working so laboriously today, I decided to allow myself time to eat girl scout cookies, finish the final Twilight book, and finally watch the Twilight movie.
It was a good afternoon.
I didn't know what to expect with the Twilight movie. I hadn't watched any of the trailers and I had only seen Robert P (the guy who plays Edward) in pictures on Perez Hilton. I was actually thoroughly and happily shocked by how good it was. The first Twilight book was not the best, so I wasn't expecting too much from the movie. Stephanie Meyer (the author) didn't seem to find her voice until the later books, and thus, Bella (the main character) was incredibly irritating to start off with. However, in the movie she was well-played and they toned down the irritating bits. Overall, a success I would say.

I've got a stack of movies waiting to be watched, right now it's a tie between 'Rachel Getting Married' and 'Transporter 3'.

Toodles.

.

2009-03-15T20:21:00.002+08:00

I've got to throw together a lesson plan, so this will be quick.

Nathan and I had a lovely weekend. It was a nice day Saturday so we decided to walk about town and visit my dvd man. We had a late lunch at a Sichuan restaurant near my campus, and asked them not to add MSG. And... I didn't get sick! So I think it really must be the MSG that's doing it. I found Twilight at the dvd store, so that was another success.

We spent most of today being lazy. Which is why I must go make a lesson plan now. Sports this week. Yippee!

Annnnnnnd...

2009-03-11T17:45:00.003+08:00

I've got nothing.

Finished Twilight #2 and Shanghai Baby.

I... hated Shanghai Baby. Isn't that a shame? The main character, Coco, was unbearable. Perhaps that's what the author was aiming for, in which case she succeeded. I suppose I don't have much tolerance for characters like Coco, who are so caught up in their own selfish and greedy world. I can't understand why this book is banned in China, if it is. It doesn't make China look bad, just shows that there are some bad people here, just like there are in every country. I didn't enjoy the writing style very much either, it seemed like the author was trying to make the book longer so she added unnecessary descriptions of inconsequential things.
I read somewhere that it was a popular book among feminists, but I can't remember where. I think this book makes women look terrible. Selfish, weak, and like we must have a man in our lives to be happy, which is untrue.

Twilight is, of course, just mind wallpaper.
I'm almost finished with China Road and shall be able to pass it on to Liz soon.

Please keep an eye out for the following books at the used bookstore:

Oracle Bones : A Journey Through Time in China by Peter Hessler
The Elephant and the Dragon by Robyn Meredith
Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China by Philip Pan
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler
Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China by James Fallows
Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie Chang
The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran
Great Call of China by Cynthea Liu
China Underground by Zachary Mexico
Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang
Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min
The Last Days of Old Beijing : Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed by Michael Meyer
Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper by Fuchsia Dunlop
Serve the People: A Stir Fried Journey Through China by Jen Lin-Liu
Any of the Barack Obama books
Meltdown: A Free-Market Look At Why The Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse by Thomas Woods Jr.

Hamlin gave me the letter from the school that I needed for my study abroad program, so I've e-mailed them all the documents they should need now. Just waiting for the acceptance letter.

Grad school is looking more and more appealing. I'll keep you posted on that. I'm definitely thinking of applying next year. Would need to take the GRE or GMAT when I get back to the states in January. A prep book for those would be super fantastic, also.

Epic... only not so much

2009-03-10T20:20:00.003+08:00

Nathan downloaded all of the Twilight books for me, so now I have all four on my computer waiting to be read. Awesome!

I had a great time hanging out with my student Renee today. We did a bit of shopping and I had a chance to not only practice my Chinese but also to eat some street food which was delicious, they were fried dumplings with spicy noodles inside. I must take Nathan to get some when he come to Jiujiang this weekend. We even got some sugar cane to munch on. Yum. Of course I didn't have my camera with me to document all this which is a shame.

After dropping off my purchases at the apartment, I went to Walmart to buy groceries since the house was devoid of food. I got some great munchies, and have found milk which may taste normal, I'll let you know after I try some. And some fat ass (probably Cary or one of the other foreign teachers) bought all the canned spaghetti sauce! Last time I was at Walmart which was only a week ago there were about 10 cans there. Ridiculous. They better order more. I'm stuck with those plastic bag spaghetti sauces until then.
Could someone mail me cotton balls? They are the only thing that I can't seem to find in China AT ALL! I've been using q-tips for my cleanser stuff, and it is just a waste.
On the way home I had a fantastic cab driver who spoke Chinese for laowai (foreigner) so I could understand him and we had a good conversation. He was nice enough to drive me to the door of my hotel (almost all cabbies stop at the main gate) since I had so much in the way of groceries. Apparently I've lost the ability to say the school's name correctly, because he started taking me to Jiujiang University. I corrected him and he told me he knew I was a teacher and so he just thought to take me to JJU or something along those lines. Eh. We figured it out.

Okay, I'm off to read Twilight before I force myself to go to bed.

Wentang

2009-03-09T17:01:00.002+08:00

Friday: As soon as my classes were over, I made my way to the train station, bag in hand to buy my ticket and catch the earliest train possible to Nanchang. Somehow, even though I arrived twenty minutes before the train was to leave, I missed the one I was hoping to catch and thus had to catch the next one and wait at the train station for an hour.
Fine.
The train ended up being standing room only and quite packed. No sitting for the hour and a half journey for me, although a creep-o did offer me a chance to come sit next to him. No thanks.
I arrived in Nanchang around 3:45 and met Nathan and Liz (who had arrived before me) at the McDonalds near the station. We sat around for awhile 'shooting the shit' and waited for Nik to arrive. After he joined us we headed back to the train station to meet Cici who had our train tickets and whose apartment we would be staying at.
The train was fantastic, it was the express, and so clean! We arrived in Yichun about an one and a half hours after departing Nanchang. We quickly caught a taxi outside the station and headed on to Wentang where we would be staying.
First things first, it was dinner time. After an interesting meal, which included such delicacies as a vegetable which tasted like grass and dirt, and another which had the taste and consitancy of pork fat, we headed on to Cici's apartment.
We decided that some hot springs were in order, so after mixing a few drinks to take with us, we headed out to the springs. It was already dark outside, and we headed to a close place first. Unfortunately it would be closing only about an hour after we had arrived, so we decided to move on to the posh springs instead. We eventually found the place and headed in.
The springs were very nice and we had a lot of fun trying the different pools, enjoying our drinks, and hanging out. Soon it was closing time, so we headed back to Cici's place where we played a few drinking games with Nathan's snapping alligator, then headed to bed.

Saturday: I was feeling pretty unwell, most likely from the combination of drinking and Chinese food. (Maybe I'm allergic to msg?). We went for lunch at a nice restaurant just up the street where Cici ordered a giant stone bowl full of fish and a few other dishes. We then caught a mianbaoche to take us to the mountain. The ride was a bit uncomfortable for me and my volatile stomach, but the company was pleasant and the views were nice. On our way to the mountain our driver managed to run over a chicken.
Immediately an old woman came running to the van yelling at the driver who then had to stop and pay her off for the chicken. We still don't even know if it was actually her chicken, but she made somethine like 40 yuan off of it's untimely death.
We finally arrived at the mountain which was gorgeous. However, once we had wandered inside and seen how expensive it was, we changed our minds. Almost 200 yuan to climb this stinking thing? Pshhh. No way. We took a few pictures on our way out, and grabbed another mianbaoche to take us back to Wentang.
We decided our money would be better spent at the posh hot springs, so we donned our bathing suits and headed back. We spent most of our time skipping from pool to pool and enjoyed a game of Marco Polo.
Eventually it was time to go home so we headed back to Cici's to pack our bags and catch a mianbaoche to the train station. I only wish it could have lasted longer.
We arrived back in Nanchang quite late in the evening, bid Cici farewell, and headed to Nathan and Nik's apartment complex. We were all exhausted from the hot springs so we headed to bed pretty much as soon as we got home.

Sunday: My stomach was still a bit achy. Nathan, Liz, and I headed to the Muslim noodle restaurant for lunch (I swear, everytime we go there I'm sick and can't eat the entire bowl, so now I'm pretty sure the owner thinks I don't like his restaurant.) It was then time to head back to the train station so Liz could catch her train back to Wuhan and I could get my ticket and head back to Jiujiang. Liz left around 1:30 so Nathan and I headed to McDonald's to hang out before my train at 2-ish.
It was another train with standing only room, but I met some nice kids from Jiujiang University who I had a good chat with on the way home. They even let me practice my Chinese! Not too shabby.
When I arrived home I found this fantastic e-mail:

Hi Jessica,

I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo has been selected for inclusion in the newly released sixth edition of our Schmap San Francisco Guide:

Japanese Tea Garden

****

Neat, huh?
I also had an email from Real World Chinese asking me to send a copy of my visa and a letter from my employer saying I was allowed to study in Beijing for the summer. Ridiculous. I let Hamlin know, so hopefully he's taking care of that. I'll re-emphasize how important it is to him on Wednesday if I haven't heard anything.

Today I taught my kids about going to the doctor and all that related vocab. They really don't know many body parts, so we went over that, and I taught them the different words for 'butt'.
Tomorrow I have plans to meet a student to hang out/ have a Chinese lesson/ shop.
Now I'm off to cook dinner and maybe do some yoga.

You can see pictures from Wentag here.

Tomorrow

2009-03-08T19:55:00.001+08:00

You will get an update about this weekend. It was super.

Now... I must make a lesson plan and sleep.

Things of note...

2009-03-05T18:58:00.004+08:00

The fingernails are fixed. I managed to uber eff them up when I got home from the salon so I whipped out the polish remover and repainted them hot pink with glitter. I even managed to cut them down to a more resonable length, although the middle and ring fingers are still looking a bit long. I'm quite proud of my fingernail painting skillz although I'm nowhere near as good as the profs.
I have already saved up half of the program fee for this summer. Go me! Now I just need to get my tax return in, and save up the other 4000rmb plus any spending money I may need. However, I have been told that I shall probably get about 11,000rmb when summer break starts, so I don't think that will be a problem either. I also plan to do some private lessons for cash while I'm in Beijing if I can, or find some other job on the side.
I talked to Hamlin about my visa issues, i.e. my visa expires the day after I head up to Beijing. He said he would talk to some people and try to get it sorted so I don't have to worry about it.
Tomorrow I have two classes, then head to Nanchang to meet up with Nathan and Liz before we head to the hot springs.
I must go pack.

That's it.

P.S. I still really want a trapeze. Oof.

Very little to say...

2009-03-04T20:04:00.002+08:00

Not much is going on. The weather has been too cold and wet to spend much time outdoors.

Sophie and I went to the nail salon today and I paid for her to have her nails done. I also had mine redone but I don't like them at all. They're black with white polka dots which would be cute on shorter nails, but on the longish nails just looks frightening. I'll get them redone next weekend or something.

That is all. Going to the hot springs this weekend. Getting paid tomorrow, but a majority of it is going into savings for summer school. I am wiped out, so a shower and bed for me.

I <3 Hong Kong

2009-03-03T12:14:00.007+08:00

I'm completely wiped, but I figure I'll try to get this all posted and wrapped up before I pass out (plus the laundry is still going.)

Nathan and I caught the train to Shenzhen around 4pm on Friday. We both took some Nyquil and passed out pretty early, eager to sleep through the fourteen hour train ride. We ended up arriving around 5:30am.

Unfortunately for us, the ticket booth to buy our return tickets to Nanchang/Jiujiang didn't open until later, so we spent some time eating breakfast and hanging out (in the gloriously warm weather) at the Shenzhen train station. Eventually we were able to buy the return tickets and move on to the other side of the train station which was where the border to Hong Kong was located.
We passed through customs with ease and made our way to the metro where we bought tickets to head into the main city area of Kowloon. After a 45 minute metro ride we arrived at our stop, which was conveniently located right next to the Mirador Mansion where we were to stay. Inside the mansion were a number of hostels, so we settled for one, made a deal with the lady who ran the operation, and settled in. Naps and showers were in order, so we set about making that happen.
In the early afternoon we decided to have some lunch (Indian food) before setting out to look around. The area we were in (Nathan Road) was bustling with activity. We walked around and discovered how conveniently close we were to the Ocean Port where Grandma and Grandpa would be docking the next day. We decided to take the ferry across to the island of Hong Kong (it probably has it's own name but I can't be bothered to look it up.) We spent hours looking around at all the markets, hiking up stairs, and peeking into art galleries. In the evening we wandered by the park, and stumbled upon a night market. By the end of the day my feet were straight up busted and we were exhausted.

We met Grandma and Grandpa the next day, at 10am sharp. Luckily the dock was only a 15 minute walk away from our hotel. We decided that breakfast was in order and found a local Starbucks to meet our breakfast needs. After that it was off down Nathan road to have a look at the shops and try to find a tailor (unsuccessfully). After a nice look around the park which boasts a small lake complete with flamingos and a rare bird aviary, we made our way to the ferry to see the island. Nathan has a brilliant mind for directions and took us back to all the markets I thought the grandparents would like to see. We ended up hopping on a tram as a mini adventure, but didn't make it far before deciding to stop at another market for a quick look and some lunch. A pizza hut was nearby, so we headed in there to refuel, gorging on such delicacies as garlic bread and pizza.
The idea of going to Stanley Market kept coming up, so we hailed a cab and headed out that way. It ended up being on the opposite side of the island, but the views were brilliant as we passed all the million dollar homes and small beaches. We did a bit more shopping at the market, running into Grandma and Grandpa's fellow Oriana passengers as we did. After a few picture taking opportunities, we decided to catch a double decker bus back to the city.
We took the top deck of the ferry back to Kowloon which was quite nice. The shopping had accumulated into a bothersome mess, so we went back to our hotel to drop it off before heading on to the night market. Street food was in order, though it cost a might more than street food on the mainland. Nathan ordered about four dishes, and Grandma and I scampered off to have a look at the market while they were being cooked. Unfortunately the dishes arrived soon after we left, so it was a bit cold when we returned, but still delicious.
It was soon time for the light show, so we made our way to where the ferry dock was in order to get good seats. The show was quite nice, although the commentating was in Cantonese. Everyone was pretty exhausted after that so we walked Grandma and Grandpa back to the Oriana and headed off. Nathan enjoyed a couple beers while I did a bit more shopping, then went back to the hotel.

Monday morning Nathan and I hurried to The Penninsula to meet Grandma and Grandpa. We had a delicious breakfast there while taking in all the poshness. We decided it best to drop off the Ribena and book that Grandma and Grandpa had brought with them, so we returned to the hotel, then made our way to the Hong Kong space museum. Unfortunately it was closed, so we headed for the ferry instead. After a short ride across we were once again on the island. Nathan led us to the area where all the art galleries are, so we spent the afternoon poking around in there until it was time to return to Kowloon. We metroed back and stopped by our hotel to check out and retrieve our bags before heading to a small Indian restaurant in the next mansion over from ours.
We ordered our food and ended up waiting forever! I was growing ever more nervous about missing our train, but we were able to eat and get the naan to go. We bid Grandma and Grandpa farewell, and ran for the metro which we had to take to get back to the HK/Shenzhen border. We ended up having just enough time to make it through customs and arrived at our train gate just as it began boarding.
Nathan and I didn't have beds next to each other, so I hung out in his area until we were both exhausted. Then I returned to my bed, had a Nyquil, read for a bit, and passed out.

This morning Nathan tapped me as he was heading off. His stop was in Nanchang, an hour and a half before my own. I gave him a hug, then fell back asleep, before being woken up to hand over my ticket and prepare to disembark. The train was a bit late getting in, but I immediately found a taxi (where I was overcharged but didn't care) and arrived home with enough time to unpack before heading to class.
In class we watched a movie, The Princess Bride, which the kids all seemed to adore. Think I'll stick to the movies this week, next week will be a hard lesson 'At the Doctor'.

P.S. Nathan and I now own Fafu, a lovable panda who like bamboo and traveling as well as blogging. Check out her adventures here: http://chroniclesoffafu.blogspot.com/

Wahoo!

2009-02-26T20:41:00.000+08:00

Hi, Jessica,

Thank you for choosing Real World Chinese. This is to confirm that we 
have already received your application for 6-week Chinese Language 
Program at BLCU from July 9th to August 19th, 2009. The application 
fee and program deposit have been received too. You do not need to 
send your application documents anywhere else.

We will send your application to the university in 2 business days. 
Usually it takes 3-4 weeks to get the Admission Notice and JW202 Form. 
(You may not need it since you have been in China.) We will book the 
on-campus accommodation for you too.

Thank you again for choosing RWC. We are looking forward to seeing you 
in Beijing this summer.

Please feel free to contact us at any time if you have more questions.

Best wishes,

--
Victor Zhang
Program Advisor

In order of exciting level...

2009-02-25T18:48:00.003+08:00

Today I applied for the intensive Chinese language course at Beijing Language and Culture University for the summer! Very exciting indeed. They have my money, application, a copy of my passport, and my diploma, as well as a passport-sized photo of moi.

Sophie and I went to the train station and bought two tickets to Shenzhen. So, I'm all set to leave on Friday to head down to Hong Kong.

I also managed to break the main computer in my classroom with the arm of a chair, but Max was a superstar and had the crew fix it right away.

Everybody Dance Now

2009-02-24T21:11:00.003+08:00

Who's got two thumbs and is going to Hong Kong this weekend? This girl!

Gonna go buy train tickets tomorrow, hopefully. Change some money into HK dollars too.

I'm supposed to make up the classes from Monday, although I'm not sure how I will do that. I'm just having them watch a movie next week at any rate.

That's all I've got right now.

My students rock...

2009-02-23T17:24:00.004+08:00

Before you read the amazing, super awesome, long post I wrote below, check this out:
Today I taught 'Greetings' to my students. The following dialogue is written by three boys in one of my classes:

A: "Hey guys. How you doing?"
B: "Great."
C: "I'm great too. How you doing?"
A: "I'm fine. I'm going to the library, what about you?"
B: "Oh, that sucks. We don't like to go there at at all, we're going to a party."
A: "Oh really, what's that party about?"
C: "It's a birthday party."
A: "Great. I'd like to go too, but I have no time."
C: "Oh, come on, man, you got relax yourself for awhile and that's today, now, let's go!"
B: "Yeah, don't stay all the time."
A: "Well, you know, I prepare for a test and I have to pass it."
B: "Bullshit! Move your damn ass! Now come on! You'll meet the girl who you wanna meet."
A: "Ok. Let's go!"

Yes, we all laughed for about ten minutes straight.

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. ~Lin Yutang

2009-02-23T12:41:00.007+08:00

The Journey to the Land of Ice and Snow
... and all the stops in between.

Sit back, relax, put on your reading specs, we're going to here for awhile, folks.

First Stop : Shanghai

January 25th, 2009
Travelers never think that they are the foreigners. ~Mason Cooley

Nathan and I arrived in Shanghai South Train Station around 6:30am after a long, loud night on a hard-sleeper bed. I had hardly slept and was a bit grumpy, but excited to be in Shanghai, a city I had never before visited. We collected our belongings, exited the train, and immediately found our way to the metro which we took to the North Station. Upon arrival we bought tickets to Beijing, expensive due to soft-sleeper (aka first class) being all that was available.
Before departing from Nanchang, Nathan and I had looked up a number of hostels and their various prices and settled on the Y35 hostel. Unfortunately, the cab driver had not one clue where the road the hostel was located on could be, and so, we drove around aimlessly while he called his contacts to see if they had an idea. Eventually we stumbled upon the road quite by accident, but there it was, the Y35.
The hostel was in a nowhere sort of place. Next to the highway on a bit of a back road where there was a small grocery store and that was about it. We checked into the hostel and went up to our room which we quickly discovered was located next to the bathroom. The place reeked of human waste and the noise of drunk Europeans laughing at 10 in the morning. We checked out, took back our deposit, and cabbed back to the North Station.
Well crap. Now what?
We decided to walk around the hotels in the area to see if they had any rooms. No dice. They were all too expensive at any rate. We were going to be in Shanghai for about five days, and staying in a hotel would add up.
We decided we had no choice but to head to the Captain Hostel, located on the Bund. We hopped in a cab and headed out. Luckily the hostel had plenty of room for us, and we checked into our individual dormitories (me in the girls, Nate in the boys). I was beyond cranky at this point, so I took a short nap, then had a nice hot shower in the locker style showers.
We decided to walk along the Bund which was just gorgeous. It was nice weather outside, a little chilly, but sunny. After taking a few pictures and making a purchase (a pink hat with ears, who can resist?) we made our way to Nanjing Lu, the walking/shopping street. We also did a bit of shopping in the underground market, home to all the faux goods you could ever want. I found a beautiful red Louis Vuitton bag, but alas, it was too expensive. Onward!
Stomachs were beginning to rumble at this point, so it was time for a rather late lunch. Signs for Thai food led us into a huge, expensive mall, and a beautiful but empty restaurant. We had missed the lunch time rush and barged in on the staff preparing for dinner. They nicely let us order and we sucked down such delicacies as curry and fried rice.
Both exhausted, we returned to the hostel for a nap so that we could stay up late in order to enjoy Chinese New Years Eve in style.
After napping for a few hours, we went to the roof where the Captain Hostel bar is located. Pizza and drinks were ordered and enjoyed then it was time to venture elsewhere.
We found the Windows Underground and were delighted with their cheap drinks menu. Who can argue with 10rmb a drink? We enjoyed a few (read 3) then headed back to the Captain Hostel bar, which has an amazing view of the Pudong skyline, to watch the fireworks.

January 26, 2009
Half the fun of the travel is the esthetic of lostness. ~Ray Bradbury

Since it had been a late night, Nathan and I both ended up sleeping in. Well, I attempted to sleep in, but my roommates (all 5 of them) decided that rising at 6am sounded like fun! Then they spent the next hour crashing around the room getting ready for the day.
When we finally did rise, we decided that brunch at the City Diner sounded like an A+ plan. We made our way there and were pleasantly surprised with the menu, although perhaps not the service. (To be fair, they were at half staff due to the holiday). I enjoyed my chicken quesadillas, although they made me feel a bit queesy. Perhaps the guacamole.
Our next stop was the foreign book store which was very nice. They had a huge selection of books to choose from, although they were all the same price as books in the states (which equals out to be quite pricy in rmb). Nathan found a couple books he thought looked interesting and purchased them.
The Moller Villa was near the bookstore so we decided to walk to it and poke around. We walked the grounds and peeked into the house. It was gorgeous! Certainly a place I would not mind owning for a second.
After the villa we found Huihai Lu, another shopping street, and walked up and down it. They're building a Barbie store there, but I was quite sad to see that it wasn't yet complete. Perhaps next time I'm in Shanghai...
It was nearing dinner time so we headed to Taco Papa/ Burrito Mama (I think that's the name of it) since they were having a special on beef burritos and margaritas. I ordered a chicken chimichanga and a couple of margaritas, all of which were amazingly delicious. Cheesecake for dessert, while Nathan sucked down two or three more margaritas. While we were eating and lushing, two older gentleman sat down at a table near us. They were very friendly, a German and an American, both businessmen who worked in the area. We ended up chatting with them and after finishing eating decided to go bar hopping together. We ended up at a couple of different bars, one with pole dancers who, since the bar was empty, were mainly chatting and showing each other different pole moves. The second bar was a cab ride away in which the cab driver got lost (it was his first night, poor thing) and the men thusly made jokes the entire ride about how he had only been driving ten minutes or something along those lines.
Eventually we bid our new friends adieu and headed back to the hostel. Nathan spent the entire cab ride home talking about a strange jumble of things mostly having to do with Anglo Saxons and them making horns out of meat which resembled the rolled up magazine he was trying to use as a horn.

January 27th, 2009
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ~G.K. Chesterton

It was a slow day, this day. I started it with breakfast at the Captain Hostel, complimentary, I might add. I crescent, a hard-boiled egg, and some orange drink (I hesitate to call it juice since it would be soda if there were bubbles).
I had formed huge, disgusting blisters on the bottom of my feet from all the walking we had done in the past two days, so I spent some time nursing them (i.e. popping them nasty little things) while Nathan was getting ready for the day.
Soon enough we headed out, intent on making our way to the other side of the river to have a look around Pudong. We hopped on the metro and headed over.
The other side of the river is mostly a conglomerate of business buildings, although it does boast the worlds tallest building, the Pearl Tower, and the Grand Hyatt. Nathan and I headed to the Grand Hyatt, one of his favorite Shanghai spots. We made our way to the top floor and looked down through the lobby, a truly dizzying sight. As someone who is not so fond of heights, it was a bit much, but I am glad I saw it. We sat down in the cafe and Nathan enjoyed an over-priced tea while we people watched.
We soon tired of the Pudong area since we were not wanting to pay to go up the worlds tallest building, nor were we willing to wait in the two hour long line. We metro-ed back to the Nanjing Lu for lunch... a Subway sandwich!
Two and a half days of walking had worn us both out, so we had a nap back at the hostel before leaving for dinner.
Nathan was craving some all you can eat BBQ so we headed to O'Malleys which was advertised to have it. When we got there we found that not only were they sans-BBQ they were sans-politeness too. We left and headed for an Indian restaurant we had passed on the cab ride to O'Malleys. The Indian food was to die for, delicious with polite and efficient service to boot.
We headed back to the hostel where we hung out in the lobby digesting before heading up to the Captain Hostel bar for a mug of hot chocolate before bed.

January 28th, 2009
We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment. ~Hilaire Belloc

My roommates, delights that they are, arose at 7:30am this morning. Again, the hour of mucking about while they pack their bags and get ready for the day. It's all part of the experience, it's all part of the experience, it's all part of the experience...
I went down to the dining room area for breakfast again, this time ordering the fruit and yogurt. Yuck. What I recieved was a plate of fruit, mostly a Chinese fruit that's a mix between an apple and pear, with yogurt poured over the top. Not filling in the least. I headed to the convenience store to get something else instead.
Nathan and I spent the morning trying to locate the ever elusive Astor House. No luck, wouldn't you know it. We did manage to find the old British Embassy, still a beautiful building, but slated for demolition.
During our meandering, we managed to find a cute little restaurant named Puzzle. We weren't sure what to make of it with it's Western menu at Chinese food prices. However, once we ordered and had our first few bites we knew we had hit the motherload. This place was gold! This food was just as good as any of those western restaurants we had been hitting up, but it was affordable! We made mental notes to return asap.
More walking, this time we found the Yuyuan tourist shopping area. There were some fantastic paintings in this area, but I didn't want to have to carry a canvas around with me while I was traveling so I passed. It was incredibly crowded and since neither Nathan nor I are fond of crowds, we headed back to that foreign bookstore we had been at a couple days ago. I ordered a delicious apple crumble cheesecake and we soaked up that feeling that you only get in bookstores.
We soon headed back to the hostel and ended up hanging out in the lobby for awhile, reading and vegetating.
Around dinner time we headed to a Muslim noodle restaurant we had seen which was right around the corner. It was delicious, hands down the best noodles I've had so far in China.
Both wiped, it was bed time.

January 29th, 2009
The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway. ~Henry Boye

My roomies woke up around 8:30am on this morning, a much more reasonable hour, but still far too early for someone who values their sleep as much as I do.
I headed down for breakfast, enjoying a feast of a crescent, a banana, and the 'milk' which is really just another name for creamer in this country.
I readied myself for the day, packing up my bags so that I could check into the room that Nathan and I would be sharing with mom. No more dorm-style rooms for us!
We checked into the room and rested until it was lunch time, then headed to Puzzle to grab a quick bite to eat. After our tasty meal it was time to catch the subway to the mag-lev a.k.a. train of awesomeness.
The maglev was super cool minus the fact that going so fast backwards made me feel slightly ill. However, true to it's advertising, it got us to the airport in under ten minutes.
Mom arrived about twenty minutes after we found the terminal, three giant bags in tow. Packing light has never been something we've been good at, but these were some goliath sized bags. We decided that a taxi would be the most efficient way back to a hostel, and so, Mom had her first experience in a Chinese taxi thirty minutes after getting off the plane.
We dropped her bags in our new Captain Hostel room and decided to hit up the Underground Market. Nathan wandered off while Mom and I perused the goods and seemed to have abandoned us when up he popped with that gorgeous red Louis Vuitton bag I had liked so much the first time we were at the market. What a sweetheart!
We hit Nanjing Lu hard, gawking at the throngs of Chinese people who surrounded us as well as the pricey shops that line the street.
We headed to the Indian food restaurant for dinner then hot coco at the Captain Hostel for dessert. It was soon time to pass out, which we did.

January 30th, 2009
To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. ~Aldous Huxley

We woke early, 8am, and headed downstairs for our complimentary breakfast. This time it was six pieces of toast, all of which I ate.
We decided to check out, but leave the bags at the hostel while we walked around Shanghai/
We walked along the Bund then on to Yuyuan where I bought a new pair of boots having thoroughly worn through the other pair I had brought. As we walked around Yuyuan we started to make our way into the area where the locals actually live, and finally found a food street and a market street.
We cabbed to the French area of Shanghai and had a wander around before retiring to Puzzle for lunch. The it was time to catch the subway to Pudong where we graced the Grand Hyatt with our presence once more. Nathan wanted to see what the World Finance Building view was like (tallest building in the world, apparently) so he headed up to the top floors while Mom and I wandered around the shop area. Satisfied with the view, Nathan returned and we walked on to the Pearl Tower for pictures and to see why there were great crowds lined up outside (still don't know).
We subway-ed back to the Bund side of the river and headed to Nathan and I's favorite bookstore for a rest and some more of that apple crumble cheesecake. We also peeked in at the Moller mansion but the gardens were closed off this time around.
We made our way back to the hostel and had some hot coco before heading to the train station with all the bags.
We enjoyed a nice soft sleeper (aren't we posh?) all the way to Beijing.

Second Stop: Beijing

January 31st, 2009
I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them. ~Mark Twain

We arrived in Beijing with me having slept about three hours. Which means I was, once again, cranky. We lugged our bags around, bought our tickets to Harbin, and eventually caught a cab to the Silvermans house, the nice family friends of the Bakers who were allowing us to stay with them.
I was sick, sick, sick in that liquidy guts if I move I'm only going to move towards a bathroom kind of way, so we ended up spending the day resting. It was necessary.
Nate and Mom went to dinner with the Silvermans while I hung out 'shooting the shit' as it were. They were kind enough to pick me up some antibiotics which were fantastic.
Sandwiches for dinner from a store next door.
Then it was time to sleep.

February 1st, 2009
And that's the wonderful thing about family travel: it provides you with experiences that will remain locked forever in the scar tissue of your mind. ~Dave Barry

This was to be a day of exercise, that was for sure. I had finally recovered, thanks to the antibiotics, from the liquid intestines, and was feeling up for the task of climbing the Great Wall. Huzzah.
We caught a cab and negotiated with him to drive us to the Mutianyu section of the wall for 500rmb. It was a fairly long cab ride to the wall, but the scenery on the way was enjoyable, so we just sat back and relaxed. We arrived about 45 minutes later and were immediately barraged by eager hawkers wanting us to buy their goods. "Cheaper for you!"
We took the gondola (ski lift) up to the wall which we then spent the next hour walking up and down and admiring the lovely view. Tourists from all countries were around, but it wasn't too crowded and the weather was not too cold. Soon it was time to head back down, which we did gleefully, as the best way to get down from this section of the wall is via toboggan. Nathan went first so that there would be no one in front of him to slow him down. I went second and was slowly making my way when all of a sudden a guard hopped on and came speeding up behind me. Yikes! I finished at a much quicker pace than when I started. Mom was the last down with her red hair flying behind her.
We did the hawkers a favor and looked through their various stalls, stopping to buy one chocolate pancake, one banana pancake, and a sweatshirt for Mom which said, 'I climbed the Great Wall of China."
Our cabbie was kind enough to drop us at the Olympic Park where Mom and I paid our 50 yuan each to enter the Olympic Stadium while Nathan walked around outside. The birds nest was much smalled on the inside than either of us had expected, but still quite an amazing sight. We walked around the park and were sad to see that no one was allowed inside the Water Cube.
It was getting later and chillier, so we took the subway back to the Silvermans where we hung out for awhile before grabbing a late dinner at a delicious Thai restaurant.
Sleep.

February 2nd, 2009
A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. ~Lao Tzu

It was the morning of the Superbowl so everyone rose early, very early... except Nathan and I. We slept through the whole thing.
Cereal for breakfast then onward to the Forbidden Palace. As soon as we entered the Palace we were told of an art exhibit going on, "Free for you". We decided to have a look and were told that the paintings were being sold so that the money could go to scholarships for the students. Right. We decided to buy into it, and Mom came away with a beautiful and perhaps over-priced wall scroll of China in the spring.
We walked around the Forbidden Palace, taking in all the restored buildings and fellow tourists. It was a good picture taking opportunity, for sure.
After exciting we walked back around the palace to Tiananmen Square which was packed with people. There were also a ton of security people on guard, ready to throw you in their cop van if you even looked menacing. We made our way from one of the Square to the other, eventually finding the hutong that Nathan had wanted us to see, the narrowest Hutong in China. True enough, it was only big enough for one person to walk through it at a time.
We went on to Beijing's walking street, then further to their food street which had displays of all manners of things on a stick. Scorpions on a stick, starfish on a stick, seahorses on a stick, you name it. We had a bowl of noodles as a late lunch then headed back to the Silvermans for another lazy evening.

February 3rd, 2009
The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing." ~Daniel J. Boorstin

We slept in.
Today was the day of all days, today was POWER SHOPPING DAY!
Mom and I headed out to Yashow Market which is conveniently near the Silvermans home. We spent many, many hours buying many, many goods. I bought 2 pairs of Abercrombie lounge pants in pink and gray, one Juicy Couture track/lounge suit in blue, two pairs of jeans True Religion and Victoria Beckham, four polo shirts in a variety of colors, one pair of sunglasses, one pair of regular glasses, a backpack/suitcase to carry everything, a dress, a black skirt, an Abercrombie shirt, and probably more that I can't think of at the moment.
We walked home with our purchases and packed then rested.
Soon it was time to get to the train station and catch our train (hard-sleeper) to Harbin.

Third Stop: Harbin

February 4th, 2009
Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind. ~Seneca

We arrived in Harbin around 5am and managed to catch a cab who brought us to walking street where we quickly found a hotel at a reasonable price.
None of us had slept much on the train, so we napped for awhile before showering and getting ready for the day.
Mom, Nathan and I walked down walking street towards the river, enjoying the nice ice sculptures along the way. We decided to stop in a hotel to try to buy train tickets, but alas, they were sold out! Plane tickets were the only answer, which meant poor Nathan having to run back to the hotel for our passports while Mom and I went to find something for breakfast.
Finally we made our way to the river where we found no end of amusements. We decided to try the ice slide where you sit on a sled and slide down a slide made from ice that goes from the river bank to the river (which is frozen solid). It was great fun, although a bit terrifying at the same time as the entire time you're not quite sure how you're going to stop once you make it to the bottom.
We took a pony drawn carriage across the river to Sun Island where the snow festival was being held. It was just a short walk to the snow park from the river and we were soon surrounded by amazing snow sculptures. They were just beautiful and some of them were even interactive! I did enjoy the snow slides quite a bit.
After the snow park we walked back across the river, hailed a cab, and asked him to take us to a good restaurant. The place he dropped us off was decent, but I've certainly had better Chinese food.
Back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and to let night fall before heading to Ice and Snow World. This place is really too amazing for words. It's a GIANT park filled with buildings, statues, and rides all made of ice. It's gorgeous because everything is lit up with neon lights and the place just glows. We stayed for a few hours before, exhausted and cold, we made our way back to walking street, grabbed some McDonalds, and went to the hotel.

February 5th, 2009
It is not down in any map; true places never are. ~Herman Melville

Early morning for us so that we could check out of the hotel, drop our bags at the front desk, and head to the Russian Cafe for a breakfast of tea and toast.
After munching a bit, we caught a cab to the Harbin Tiger Park where we eagerly bought our tickets then stood there in confusion. Where was the entrance? We walked around the buildings for a bit before realizing that the other tourists were getting on buses. Oh, right.
We hopped on a bus and took off into the tiger enclosures where we were able to get up close and personal (with a thick mesh between us) with our furry friends. They were beautiful and it was definitely an experience I would recommend. After seeing the siberian tigers, ligers, and lions, the bus dropped us off at an area where you can feed live animals to the tigers for a fee. Mom and I decided to opt out of that bit, instead going to an observatory deck to see the park better, while Nathan dashed off to watch a man feed a screaming chicken to some hungry tigers.
We took a van back to walking street where we met Nathan's friend Siwen and her friend. They were gracious enough to take us to lunch at a local dumpling restaurant, which was delicious. We then went for ice cream, a local specialty, before heading on to see the St. Sofia church and the underground market. Soon it was time to say bye to Siwen and her friend, and to thank them for being such kind hostesses.
We headed back to the Russian cafe to have another spot of tea and await darkness before heading to Zhaolin Park where the Disney ice festival was being held. Again, it was amazing! Ice sculptures and buildings, all Disney themed, filled the park. Nathan and I enjoyed the ice slides a number of times.
All too soon it was time to head back to the hotel to pick up our bags then take a taxi to the airport. We flew back to Beijing and headed back to the Silvermans for sleep.

February 6th, 2009
What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do - especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road. ~William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways

It was another sleep in kind of day. Charlie joined us to hang out so we ordered a couple Papa Johns pizzas and watched such classics as American Idol and things of that nature. Soon enough it was time to bid farewell to fare Beijing and catch the soft sleeper back to Jiujiang.

February 7th, 2009
I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move. ~Robert Louis Stevenson

We arrived in Jiujiang around 6am, bid farewell to Nathan who trained on to Nanchang, and cabbed to my apartment. Mom and I set about unpacking then napped for awhile. We walked downtown and did a bit of shopping before heading to David's restaurant for dinner.
The evening ended with an Entourage marathon before bed.

The End.

Tastes like chicken...

2009-02-22T21:48:00.004+08:00

A superb weekend, I must say.

Nathan arrived rather late in the evening on Friday so we decided to have a quiet night in front of the TvU. We had dumplings and noodles for dinner, my favorite.

Saturday was nasty weather, wet and chilly. We decided to do a bit of grocery shopping at Walmart where we picked up banana bread, eggs, onions, the usual. Then we returned home to again lounge in front of the TvU and cook dinner (spaghetti). The spag was a bit of a mess, but it tasted pretty good.

Today we woke up late (10am is now late for me.... damn this 8am class schedule!). I threw together a lesson plan to use tomorrow (greetings) and cooked Nathan breakfast in bed. After lounging we got ready and joined David and crew for dinner at a local restaurant. It was David's last night in Jiujiang (sad!) so there was much ganbei-ing. Dishes that I had never seen before were ordered, most delicious.... until we got to one. David kept telling Nathan and I, "Try it! Try it! Tastes like chicken!" but wouldn't tell us what meat it was. After nibbling on it I asked him again what it was....

"Frog."

"Oh."

So, now I have eaten frog. It really does taste like chicken, although the texture is more like fish. No, I probably wouldn't eat it again.

Nathan and David both had trains around the same time, so the group headed out to the train station. We all got to hang out until first Nathan left, then David.

Now I'm home, dreading a full day of classes tomorrow.

I have been talking to the program advisor at the Chinese program for this summer. The grand total will be $2000 ($800 for a shared dorm room, $1200 for the program), which I can easily swing. In fact, I'm filling out the application right now, which is exciting. Yahoo!

我没有钱

2009-02-20T17:40:00.003+08:00

So I've been looking into taking an intensive Chinese language course this summer.

They are not cheap.

However, for $3000 I can take a 6-week intensive course in Beijing, housing included. I'm pretty sure I can swing that, since the good ol' U.S. of A has decided to give me an extra $300 with my tax return.

Of course, the only way I can swing that is if I can somehow figure out how to put my paychecks into my American bank account, and pronto-burger at that. Deadlines for summer courses are coming up. Urg. When I head down to Nanchang next weekend I'll go to the Construction Bank to see what they can do for me. I am psyched!

This is the program that I'm thinking would be best for me. I would study at the Beijing and Language and Culture University. Is it sad that the idea of six weeks of intensive Chinese language classes makes me salivate?
More information about the program here.

Of course this means I probably would not be moving this year, unless I could secure a job in Beijing and move up there when I went up for the program. Eh. I don't know. I guess we shall see how it all pans out.

I tried to teach a student how to say 'ship', but after a few tries it still sounded like 'shit'

2009-02-19T19:52:00.003+08:00

School: more of the same. One of my male students didn't seem to speak any English whatsoever, so we had an interesting conversation filled with him talking to me in Chinese and me telling him to speak English... in both Chinese and English. He eventually managed to get out a few words like basketball (I swear, every person in China loves the NBA) and apple.
I asked Hamlin how many classes he had per week today. Can you guess? FOUR! Four classes per week.
Sweet...

Chinese triumph of the day: ordering dinner at my favorite dive, a restaurant Nathan and I fondly refer to as 'The Baby Dumpling Restaurant'. I ordered vegetarian noodles and jiaozi, an entire meal for 5 yuan.

Personal triumph of the day: Filing my tax return. I qualified for the stimulus that I didn't qualify for last year. An extra $300 coming my way! Wahoo. As for my MA return, well they can suck it, because they ended up taking back a majority of what they should have returned to me. I will never, ever live in that state again. Ever.

I'm off to eat my 5 yuan meal.

Holy Neon Pink Kittens, Batman

2009-02-18T12:15:00.005+08:00

My new phone rocks. If you don't believe me, just take a look at this awesomeness:

I mean, come on, it even matches my nails.

True, I have no clue how to use it, and the instruction manual is in Chinese, but I do know that somewhere on it are these appealing features; mp3 and mp4 player, camera, video, touch screen with writing capabilities, internet, etc.

Classes were fine today. My 10am-ers are a rowdy bunch, I will have to be extra creative in how I keep them entertained.

The exciting news of the day: One of my photos has been selected to be considered for the 'Schmap' of San Francisco! What is a Schmap, you ask? Well, you can take a gander at their website here. Essentially it's the 'all you need to know' site to go to when traveling. They have maps, pictures, information, etc. Pretty cool, huh?
The photo they selected is the following:
From the Japanese tea garden in San Francisco. Keep your fingers crossed they select it!

I've also come up with an idea of what I would like to do for the next couple years. I'm thinking that I'll teach, somewhere, quite possibly still Jiujiang, for one more year after this. Save up as much money as possible. Then I want to go to school in Beijing or Shanghai for Chinese and maybe my MBA. Sounds like a pretty good plan, right? I think so. I figure while I'm in school again I can make money teaching private lessons, but in order to be any good at those, I need at least one more year of teaching practice.
I'm looking into schools and programs at the moment. Figuring out costs and all that business. I'll keep you posted on my plans.

Chinese triumph of the day: I called the water delivery people and had a 90% successful conversation with them, sure it only lasted about 2 minutes, but it's progress! I'm studying the textbooks I brought with me, I'm going to attempt to do about two chapters a week. Sophie is helping me by correcting my Chinese while I correct her English. It's actually going quite well. I told her to ask around her friends if any of them have enough free time to give me some lessons. Perhaps after a few weeks I'll be able to start typing a few entries in Chinese.

Luuuuuunch.

Attention!

2009-02-17T21:26:00.002+08:00

I have a new cell phone. It's pretty and pink and not the Barbie one I was thinking of getting, but it's still way awesome.
It was a process of about 7 hours with an intermission of shopping all done with Sophie... and we still don't know how to use taobao.
I'm off to play.

Eat foot.

2009-02-16T19:15:00.003+08:00

Actually... I really like my students.

I have mostly boys in my 2:30 and we laughed through the entire class. My 10am class is okay, and my 8am class is really smart. In all of these classes the biggest improvement I see that needs to be made is building vocabulary, which is easy and which I can do with little effort.

I am completely wiped out though.

I got paid a lot of money today, and divided most of it up into three envelopes; retirement, traveling, and moving. I kept money out only for buying a new cell phone, paying a Chinese tutor should I find one, food, and other living expenses.

Tomorrow I have only one class which means I shall have time to do my income tax return and a bit of job hunting. Just seeing what's out there.

Sophie's on her way over to help me figure out taobao. I'm off.

Hot and Spicy Macaroni

2009-02-15T19:56:00.002+08:00

Right, so after a dinner of hot and spicy macaroni (found in the Walmart here) and some cheez-its, I'm ready to write you a short update.

Friday had mom and I scrambling to pack, clean, and make it to Nanchang before Simon's birthday party at 7pm. We (read I) had risen late, and were quite sure that David would be driving us to Nanchang which would give us plenty of time to get mom's train ticket and find a hotel. However, David canceled on us around 2pm. Oh... that's not good. It's the last weekend of Chinese spring festival and the weekend before schools start (however, we didn't realize this until later.) Mom and I decided we still had plenty of time to get to Nanchang and decided to finish watching Vicky, Christina, Barcelona (which I thought stunk). We walked down the street to the bank, then caught a cab to the train station. I had no problem buying train tickets for the train which was to leave in the next twenty minutes and we managed to get through security quickly. We slowly meandered up the stairs to the platform... then realized that the train was right about to leave and our car was at the other end of the platform. Crap, crap, crap. I was, of course, wearing heels which I should have known would be a bad idea. I quickly removed them as I realized that running would be necessary, and almost immediately cut my foot on something. Damn. We made it onto the train in the nick of time, but realized that there were a.) no seats and b.) we were going to be packed into the train like sardines. I was still barefoot, and now bleeding, but luckily mom had some handy wipes and I had just enough room to wipe off my now black feet.
After almost two hours of hot, stinky, claustrophobic train travel we arrived in Nanchang. Nathan had kindly already bought moms ticket and greeted us at the exit with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers (for Valentine's day.) We walked to the hotel and deposited the copious amounts of luggage (all moms) before heading to the restaurant for Simon's birthday dinner.
The feast was delicious and fairly vegetarian (although mostly meat) friendly. Good chatting and friendly vibes all around.
After food it was karaoke time. Mom decided to join us for a bit and got to meet some of the characters that live here in Nanchang. It was a good time, though she left early (we helped her get a cab back to the hotel). We left karaoke around 2am and headed back to Nathan's place.

Nathan and I headed to mom's hotel around 1pm. We had lunch reservations at Le Bistro for 2 o'clock, a sort of Happy Valentine's day celebration. Lunch was delicious and very filling, despite them not having the shrimp ravioli I have been craving lately. We went to the park after that and enjoyed watching the people and seeing all the fun rides. I will definitely be heading back there when the weather warms up again. After the park we went to a temple which was lovely. Very peaceful except for the angry drunk man who was yelling at the gate. We spent much of the day just walking Nanchang and searching for the ever ellusive cell phone I desire.
After a quick rest at the hotel we went to a bakery where we heard there were good sandwiches. However, it was Valentine's Day and the evening which meant no sandwiches available. After decided to see if Bro was open and finding that they only had a set meal menu and a long wait, we went back to the bakery and ordered a delicious pizza instead. Yum.
We headed back to the hotel after that where mom and I tried our face masks and watched tv with Nathan until he decided to bid us adieu.

Neither mom nor myself slept too well last night. We woke up at 6am to get ready for the day, packed up, and shipped out. I left my bag at the hotel so I could help mom with hers and I didn't have to lug it around with me. It was raining out so we caught a cab to the station then headed in to the waiting area for mom's train. I got to wait with her until it was time to go to the platform, then we said our goodbyes and I watched her make it up the escalator. I headed to McDonald's for breakfast and to do some lesson planning/kill time. After a few hours of that I went back to the hotel to collect my bag and flowers, walked back to McDonalds where I got in a fight with the cashier girl about wanting a bottle of water (which I not only said in Chinese but also pointed directly at the bottle of water), I lost though because she gave me a cup of coke instead. (I think a lot of Chinese assume that no foreigner can speak Chinese and therefore even when perfect Chinese is sometimes spoken, they still don't understand you because they think you're speaking another language).
I caught my train to Jiujiang around 1:15pm which then took over two hours to get to the station. (Normally the trip is 1.5 hours.) I found a reasonable cabbie and was finally home. Then I got my schedule...

....
.......
.........
IT IS AWFUL!!!! Monday I have classes from 8am-4:10pm, Tuesday I have another 8am, Wednesday I have an 8am and 10am, Thursday I have an 8am, and Friday I have an 8am and 10am.
....
....
...
And all of these classes are estimated to have between 60-80 students in them. And I can't split them. Which means that I have between 600 and 800 students this term.
Seriously.

I do have my own classroom though.

I'm still pissed.

I'm looking for a new job for next year.

Now I have to go lesson plan... and cry... and maybe curse a lot.

2009-02-11T23:16:00.003+08:00

1. Mom and I went for massages today.
- I think that my massage place might actually be a brothel after this last visit.
2. We also went shopping.
3. We've finished Entourage seasons 1-4.
- We've started House.
4. The hunt for the phone continues.
5. Tomorrow I do my tax return, wheeeee, monies.

All around the world... lalalala

2009-02-11T00:22:00.002+08:00

Mom and I went back to the Walmart today to see if we could find the phone that I want. No luck, but we met a woman who is going to check her inventory for me. *Happy* We also found me a couple of really cute dresses.

Ring called a little after six and took Mom and I downtown to get our nails done. They look fantastic! I'm a little afraid to touch anything for fear of messing them up. David and a couple of his friends met us at the nail place then we all went to dinner. The boys had a drinking contest with coke which I think will mean they will be suffering later.

Tomorrow we're planning to get massages and I will contact the lady at Walmart to see if she's had any luck.

Hrm

2009-02-08T21:57:00.003+08:00

It's going to take me awhile to type up the entry about our trip, so enjoy some pictures in the meantime.
Harbin
Beijing
Shanghai

Mom and I had a great day today. We were resigned to spending the day doing nothing when I got a phone call from David inviting us to lunch with his English students. We thought it sounded good and agreed to go.
Ring (one of the students) swung by the school to pick us up in a cab to take us to the restaurant. The restaurant was near downtown and looked quite posh. We went into one of the private rooms and met up with Tony, his cousin, and his gym trainer. David joined us soon after we arrived and the drinking and eating began. It was so much fun and a great way for mom to try traditional Jiujiang food. An entire bottle of wine and many bottles of beer later, Qiao joined us. We stayed at the restaurant for a couple hours drinking, talking, and eating.

After we were finished stuffing ourselves we decided to head to a mahjong parlor to play a few games. I didn't really know how to play, so Tony was my partner. We played Jiujiang style, and boy were they fast! I hope to play again so I can pick up the game better. I did end up winning 15 yuan though! Tony is a good partner. We played for about three hours before David, Tony, Ring, and Qiao dropped mom and I off at Walmart (they were on their way to eat again!).

Walmart has turned out to be quite the godsend. Mom and I wandered around the aisles finding some great stuff. I now have spaghetti sauce readily available, new drawers, a mop, an iron, and a shoe holder. Fabulous.

Tomorrow mom and I have plans with Ring to get our nails done and we might be hanging out with David again. He did mention something about foot massages. We'll see.

Right, mom and I have just finished the first season of Entourage, so it's bed time.
Love!

Oh my gosh, I would love this!

2009-02-07T22:45:00.001+08:00

Super long entry about Shanghai, Beijing, and Harbin coming soon.

Have a Smile

2009-01-17T15:48:00.003+08:00

Made the spaghetti sauce, but it doesn't taste very tomato-ee. Sad. We'll see how Nathan likes it.

Cleaned the kitchen, did laundry, on to the bathroom next.

Also have finished On the Road, Twilight, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and Boy Meets Girl in the past four days. Haven't been getting much sleep due to the cough, so reading helps pass the time. Half-way through The Bean Tree now. Need the other books in the Twilight series.

Check out the hilariousness of this series of photos.

2009-01-15T19:49:00.005+08:00

Today a saleslady at the supermarket called me cheap because I didn't want to spend 23 yuan on honey when there was a bottle for 13 yuan.

....

Also, I bought medicine at the pharmacy. The lady there was really helpful. We communicated by me saying, "Wo de..(points to throat) bu hao." (Translantion: My (points to throat) is not good).
Then she asked me if I was coughing/sneezing (she did this by making the noise) too, which I nodded at, and she knew exactly what to give me. So I'll give it a try. Of course... I have no clue how much to take and how often. I'll figure it out.

I also have honey and fresh lemon too, so I figure I should be better by the time Nathan gets here on Friday.

I have been unable to locate salt. MSG aplenty in the supermarket, but no salt from what I can tell. I somehow don't think MSG would have the same effect as salt.

And... I'm making home made spaghetti sauce. I cut up the tomatoes already and put in a cut up clove of garlic, so that's sitting in the fridge and will be cooked up tomorrow to be ready for Friday when Nathan gets here. Hopefully it works out. I bought onions, garlic, and mushrooms to put in it.

Started reading Twilight. Pretty good so far, but I honestly wouldn't compare it to Harry Potter like so many are, I've read better. I think I'll have to hunt down the other books while I'm in Shanghai or Beijing if possible.

It was warm today.

Over n out.

Things which have happened recently..

2009-01-14T00:12:00.003+08:00

1. I went to Nanchang to see Nathan and Mike, lured there under the false pretense that we were going to be going hiking in the southern parts of the province. But it was lies! Actually, I think Katie put it most accurately, it was mostly laziness.

2. Instead of camping we went clubbing. Every night Mike was there. We also went to karaoke. This was okay as I decided not to drink for the most part. However, it did lead to many late nights, meaning that the following day we didn't get up until the afternoon, which further lead to us not having time to go hiking. Mike was very popular with the ladies, they really like his beard.

3. The food made me sick, as usual. Chinese food is not kind to me. This lowered my immune system, and now I believe I have tonsillitis. My symptoms are: swollen tonsils, lots of itching which then leads to coughing. I'm drinking ginger tea and sucking on watermelon frost (a type of Chinese throat lozenge).

4. Jennifer left for Nanjing today which sucks because I just missed her. I'll have to make sure I get a trip up there soon.

5. Nathan is in Changsha for a few days, then comes to Jiujiang. Just means a few boring days in Jiujiang for me. Perhaps I'll give David a call to see if he's around so we can hang out/eat pizza.

Edit:// Due to the recession (which means SALES in the shopping world) there are some super fabbo sales at places like Vera Bradley and New York & Company. You should check them out!

It's Snowing!

2009-01-06T14:38:00.001+08:00

Even having lived in Massachusetts I still get excited about SNOW!

It's snowing! Big, fat snowflakes.

It's too warm to stick though. Shame.

SNOW!

Jennifer is Right...

2009-01-05T18:47:00.002+08:00

I am a lightweight.

Half a bottle of red wine (the one from the wine-tasting gig) is gone and now flows through my veins giving me flushed cheeks and an airy mind.

Today I ventured out into the not so cold world of Jiujiang, the first time in far too many days. I bought contact solution, conversed with the locals, and purchased groceries so that I could cook a feast.

Upon my return home I made a scrambled egg- tomato concoction which is popular here, although my scrambled eggs didn't turn out so well as they do in the restaurants. Then it tasted a bit bland so I added the wonder that is ketchup and it was edible and bordering on good. I even added rice, and it must be a different kind of rice than they use in the restaurants, because I didn't have quite such an allergic reaction and although my stomach is now sore, it doesn't feel like there is a rock in it as it usually does.

Keroac's On the Road is turning out to be quite good, although confusing in how he writes and 'speaks'. Dean is just a crazy man and Sal isn't much better. He lets himself get sucked up into the madness. I still agree with my original thought that this book rests better with the males species than with the female. I'm starting to pick up some of the lingo which is fun, although maybe will end up being confusing to any who don't understand it (i.e. the Chinese who speak English with me). I'll probably finish the book tomorrow, and then you can have my full thoughts on it. Has anyone read it? I'm definitely not trying to dive into any of the metaphors or philosophy that Keroac spins out in this book yet, that I'll leave until I finish it.

Today I saw a cat walking around meowing in the grass, and as he walked a bunch of little kitty heads popped up, and wowee, started following him/her. Strange, strange, but I wanted to take them all home. I've been missing Jack something fierce, although it sounds like he's having a good time with his grandma and 'adopted grandpa'. Spoiled little thing.

Nathan comes back with Mike on Wednesday, then we start our hiking trip around the southern parts of this province. Hopefully it will fulfill Mike's need to get out of the city. Lucky I've got this fantastic new hiking backpack so I'm well equiped for our travels.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the Kauai 2010 plan. Summer, winter? What are we thinking here? I've got about a 5 weeks in the winter, and 2 months in the summer, so I can swing it either way.

Have fun on your trip Grams and Gramps. I hope, hope, hope I'll see you in Hong Kong, I'm definitely planning for it.

Nana! I miss you lots. I hope you're holding up well. I'll send you an e-mail soon.

Mom gets here soon. Well ain't that crazy. Just a few more days of boredom then off on a trip of a lifetime.

Love!

2009-01-04T18:15:00.003+08:00

I. AM. SO. BORED.

My friend Leah is talking about moving here to Jiujiang next year. I need her here now! Keep your fingers crossed she comes, so I can stay here in JJ another year, otherwise... I'm outties. I need a bigger city where I can meet more people who are my age.

That's all.

Edit://
I realize I'm actually only bored because I'm trying to spend no money at the moment and everything I like to do around here costs money. Boohiss.

P.S.

2009-01-03T23:14:00.002+08:00

If anyone finds that game Apples to Apples on sale, please get it for me! I'm desperate for it. :))

The End of One Year, The Beginning of Another

2009-01-03T18:30:00.002+08:00

Well, 2008 is officially two days in the dust.
Some reflections:

-I did quite a bit of traveling in 2008, something I hope to continue in 2009. A trip to New York City with mom, a road trip all the way from Massachusetts to Texas with a lengthy stop in Maryland, trips to Vermont for trapeze classes, moving to China, Huangshan, Nanchang, and Nanjing once in China. It's been crazy.

-I left one job and began another. I'll never forget working at the Marriott, ever. Perhaps I'll go back into the hotel business one day, but for now, I'm happy to be teaching. And I started teaching! Perhaps it's not a job I'll have forever, but I appreciate the freedoms I am awarded because of it, those students who actually care make my days brighter, and this school is full of kind souls who just want to help.

-I lost two people who I loved very much this year. Both to prescription medication, although for two different reasons. They will both be in my heart for the rest of my life.

-I moved to China! Wowee! China! I'm still not over that one. It was one of my major goals to move here, and I achieved it. Amazing.

-I made some incredible friends who I hope I'll keep in touch with forever, Rachel and Jennifer and Jessica especially.

-I took trapeze classes! It was definitely an unforgettable experience, and I hope that I'll be able to continue learning it one day.

I can definitely say that 2008 was a year of change for me. Big change!

Everyone makes resolutions for the new year, and rarely keeps them. I'm going to keep mine.
I resolve to:

-Practice my Chinese and find someone who can teach me
-Make new friends, both Chinese and laowai
-Travel even more

Nathan and I have both resolved not to get married, haha. But perhaps we will be living together again before the year is out. Only time can tell. I'm excited to enter into our third year of dating this summer and see what that brings us.

What are your resolutions? They better be: 'Visit Jess in China!'

Christmas and the New Year

2009-01-02T00:03:00.005+08:00

Christmas:

I finished up my grades and handed them in to Max on Wednesday before hopping on a train down to Nanchang. I managed to catch a cab just outside the train station and had them deliver me, for 60 yuan, to Nathan's front gate where I met him and his parents. We decided to grab some food, Chinese, from the area behind Nathan's apartments for dinner. It was fun, with Nik joining us. It was a loud dinner, and very crowded in the restaurant. In China, Christmas Eve is considered almost a Valentine's day, so many couples will spend the evening on a nice date.

On Thursday, Christmas Day, Nathan and I woke up fairly early. We got ready for the day before his parents joined us, then spent the next few hours opening presents.

We both recieved quite a few books which I shall spend my break sifting through. I'm pretty stocked now, which is fantastic. After opening presents we headed for downtown Nanchang where we would have dinner later that evening. We were on a mission to see the pagoda that sits on the river in Nanchang. On our way there we stopped by a beautiful Buddhist Temple and had a look around before heading on to the pagoda which was closed.

We walked to the restaurant, Detox, and arrived just in time for dinner; turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and for dessert pears in a creme sauce. After filling up, Katie and I went to a hair salon across the street to get our hair washed and styled while Nathan and Rick went to have a couple beers at the local expat bar. After the hair washing was finished, and only 22 kuai each at that, we went back to Nathan's apartment to watch The Office and relax.

Friday morning meant Nathan was back to work at 8am. When he finished and returned to the apartment we were picked up by a Ford van and driven to their local factory for a tour. It was all rather top secret, but a very interesting look at how cars are made in China. The factory was so clean! After our tour, they were kind enough to take us to dinner and a rather fancy restaurant. It was delicious. Post lunch they dropped us back off at Nathan's apartment. He had one more class to teach, so his parents and I joined him. They were just going to have a party, but many of the students did magic tricks, sang, and danced.
For dinner it was more Chinese food at another local restaurant.

On Saturday we continued our quest to find the pagoda and actually get in. We took a mien bao che into downtown Nanchang, then found a cab to take us to the front entrance of the pagoda. It was beautiful and I was excited to finally get in to see it. We walked around for quite some time exploring the many floors and enjoying the views.

After our pagoda experience we decided to walk to the restaurant where we would be enjoying dinner. On our way there, we stopped at a tea shop and enjoyed a few samples. Nathan and his mom enjoy 'dirt tea' which... tastes like dirt. Haha. I'm not a fan, but it was interesting to try it again.

Post-tea sampling we continued our walk to the restaurant. I stopped in one of the shops to buy a Juicy Couture bag that I had been eyeing and then we arrived at the french bistro. It was once of the best meals of my life! I ordered shrimp ravioli with a creamy tomato sauce and Nathan and I shared cheesecake for dessert. Too much delicious.
We headed to Stuart's bar for drinks and to socialize/digest afterward. It was nice to catch up with him and to see Simon who arrived soon after we did.

Sunday we packed and stayed in. Nathan and his parents were to head to Beijing that day and myself back to Jiujiang. My train left a few hours before theirs but they were kind enough to come to the station with me. It was a sad farewell.
I arrived in Jiujiang not too late and caught a cabbie home.

Nanjing/New Years:

Jennifer and I decided to head to Nanjing on Tuesday and stay for a couple days so she could get a better feel for the city and so I could do some shopping. We bought our bus tickets and a few hours later arrived in the city. We decided to stay at Jinn's Inn, but now that we look back on it, perhaps not the best choice. The hotel was under construction at the time of our arrival and the only room available was with one bed that was about the size of a closet. We took it anyways.

Immediately the hotel had issues with my passport, something with their scanning system. They told us to bring down our passports the next morning.
We were hungry when we got there so we dropped off our bags and headed out to find a restaurant. Immediately we found a Mexican place named Behind the Wall. We weren't sure if it was open at first, but a large group of expats walked past us and headed in, we followed.
The food was AMAZING. One of the best burritos I've had in a long, long time. Also, damn good Sangria.
We were exhausted after our trip and headed to bed pretty early.

Wednesday morning we decided to head to Fuzimiao to do some shopping. After taking care of the passport business we were off. It was a pretty chilly day, but bright and sunny. First we had to head to Skyway Bakery to get a sandwich though. It was, of course, amazing.
I did almost kill one of our fellow customers though. He was obviously still new to the China scene. He was on a date or something with a Chinese girl and... ugh, would not shut up about America. That was fine, it was when he started to stereotype about Texas when I nearly went over and strangled him. The poor girl obviously wasn't having a good time and eventually made up an excuse to leave. Serves him right.
We spent a majority of the day shopping and trying to find the underground market which we finally located. I bought myself some sneakers, purple Uggs, and a cute Louis Vuitton purse.

It was back to Behind the Wall for dinner. Nachos this time, which were also delicious.
Around 10pm we decided to head to a bar/club for the countdown. We met up with some friends there and also made some new friends too. Guess who I saw there... sandwich shop boy! He disappeared before I could smack him though. I had a nice time talking to a man from Spain named Antonio. His Chinese was worse than mine! I drank far too many long island iced teas before our group decided to go to a different bar.

This bar was much more quiet. The boys bought a bottle of whisky, I ordered a Tequila Sunset (yum) and we sat around a chatted for a couple hours. It was great. I forgot what it was like to be in company like this, where everyone is just relaxed and friendly.

Jennifer and I checked out of Jinn's and headed for the bus station. I actually bought our tickets by myself using all the Chinese I could remember. It was a pretty proud moment for me, and I answered all of the ticket ladies questions.
Jenn and I had to wait awhile for the bus so I started reading On the Road by Kerouac. I was finding it hard going at first, but I'm slowly getting into it. Some of the lingo still throws me a bit though.

Now I am home, although I don't want to be. I get paid on Monday and thusly will begin my travels yet again. I'm not sure where I shall go though, but I need to make sure that I stay semi-close to where I need to be, in case Spring Festival travel gets too crazy. At the moment I'm thinking of going to Guangzhou, Hangzhou, or doing this nice little trek. There are so many options!

I've also been thinking about looking into bigger cities for work next year. I was planning to stay in Jiujiang, but after experiencing/remembering how nice it is to have friends who speak English fluently/understand my culture, I'm thinking that I really want and need that in my life. I'm not sure where I'll end up, but I guess that's all part of the adventure.

Family and Friends

2008-12-29T17:30:00.002+08:00

I am returned from Nanchang and Christmas festivities. However, I shall hold off on updating until I return from Nanjing on Friday.

Tomorrow I head to Nanjing with Jennifer for New Years and all that jazz. Maybe get some shopping in. Do a little sight seeing. All on a budget, of course.

Love you all. Thank you so much for all my amazing gifts and cards. I'm a very lucky girl.

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night

2008-12-23T20:37:00.005+08:00

This will be a short update because I have laundry to do, things to pack, and presents to wrap.

This evening Jennifer, Cary, and I joined the head honchos for a feast of epic portions. It was good. Many a ganbei occurred. Chinese was spoken. All in all, a successful banquet.
After a few too many ganbei the laowei laoshi (foreign teachers) headed to a school performance. We saw singing, dancing, and comedy acts from the English department kiddos. It was too cold in the auditorium, so we headed out after a few acts. Now I am home.

Why is my Chinese so much better with alcohol? Bah...

Tomorrow I head to Nanchang for Christmas. I shall attempt to get on skype for Christmas day in order to talk to the fam and wish them a happy to-do. I return on Sunday while Nathan and his parents head to Beijing. Then I shall be off to Nanjing with Jennifer sometime soon after my return. It's going to be a busy next few days.

I really have to admit, it doesn't feel anything like Christmas here. Perhaps the lack of family is the reason. Or maybe I have no Christmas spirit this year. I don't know. Christmas in China... weird.

Shenme?

2008-12-22T20:03:00.004+08:00

So... this past weekend. It was pretty cool, I must say.

On Friday I released my Secretary's early (we had finished final exams) and rushed to the train station so that I could arrive in Nanchang at 5:30pm in order to see Jane Goodall speak. Nathan met me at the station and we took off for the hotel where she was giving her presentation.
The hotel was gorgeous and large. We found some of our friends sitting at one of the tables and decided to join them. In the middle of the room was a large vegetarian buffet which looked delicious. Due to traffic, the event was delayed and ended up starting about an hour later than planned.
After a majority of the crowd had arrived, we each got our turn at the buffet. Jane, of course, went first, then the rest of the tables. The food was smashing. The curry, garlic bread, cheesy cauliflower, and spaghetti were my favorites. I could definitely be happy eating like that everyday. After munching for awhile, Jane stood up to speak. It was a pretty good speech. She talked about her time with the chimps, her childhood, and how we need to work together to save our planet. I'll upload some videos later although I'm not sure how the sound quality will be, it was rather hard to hear her at times.
After her speech, Nathan and I bought some souvenirs for her to sign. I bought two of her books, translated into Chinese (they ran out of the English copies) and had her sign one for Hayley and one for me. I took a couple pictures with her, but the one where I'm looking at the camera is so awful I refuse to show it.

We were pretty wiped after the speech so we headed back to Nathan's place to get a good night's rest.

The next day I had to work at the wine tasting/promotion from 3-8pm. Nathan and I had some noodles for lunch before heading into town and finding the Rainbow Mall. I met Steven, the manager, there and he put me to work right away. Nathan stuck around for most of the event, sampling the wine. I had to pour wine for the customers who came in to sample it, clean glasses, and do a lot of standing. It reminded me of my days at the Marriott. I ended up drinking quite a bit of the wine myself. Pretty delicious.
After five rather long hours, I was free to go. I bid my new friends farewell and Nathan and I headed off to a French bistro to meet FeiFei, Nik, Pearl, and Simon for dinner. Everything at the bistro was half off and we feasted. I enjoyed a nice spaghetti and some amazing bruschetta. I should have had dessert as well, but alas, I was too full.
After dinner we went to a jazz bar with the group, but the jazz music was over and it was karaoke time instead. They sang some pretty depressing songs, and I wasn't feeling it, so we headed home.

On Sunday I had work again. Nathan and I headed into Nanchang early so that we could get some sushi at a restaurant near the Rainbow mall. It was tasty and I hope we go back there again.

Nathan dropped me at the Rainbow mall with my bags, bid me farewell, and went off to do his Christmas shopping. I did the same old, pouring drinks, drinking drinks, and chatting with the others at the wine tasting booth. Steven, the manager, took me to dinner at a Korean restaurant. We ordered a very spicy rice and some chicken which they cooked in front of us. I was worried I would get sick from it all, but I'm doing just fine surprisingly.
After my mandatory five hours I bid them adieu, was presented with some cash and a 400rmb bottle of wine, and went on my way. I grabbed a cab to the train station, was dropped off up the road from the station (the cabs are only allowed up to a certain point on the road going to the station) was given directions by the cabby, and headed off. It was incredibly cold outside, but my bags and red wine glow kept me warm.
I had about an hour to wait for the train, which was then further delayed another 25 minutes. This left me plenty of time to chat with the locals in our quasi-Chinese-English way that we do. I actually had pretty decent conversations with some of the people there, and we found ways around the words that I didn't know.
I arrived in Jiujiang to light snow at 11:45pm. David was my knight in shining car, and picked me up from the station, dropping me off at the door to my hotel.

Today was fairly dull. Jennifer and I went to Nana (a store) to see if I could find some sneakers in my size, but no luck. On our way to the store we saw a toddler get hit by a high school kid on a bike. It was frightening. Jennifer scooped up the little girl and we were surrounded by parents, although none who claimed the little girl. Poor thing was in tears and it took a few minutes before someone came to claim her. Luckily the kids here wear about 8 layers in the winter time, so she was well padded but will probably be a little bruised.

Today was my last secretary class. We watched High School Musical 2. Wow... longest two hours of my life. The freezing cold, can see your breath, classroom didn't help.

Tomorrow.... who knows? I've got to finish up grades, do a little shopping, but that's about it. I'll probably clean my apartment and start packing for Nanchang again.

I forgot how addicting these peanut m&ms are...
This is my Christmas tree. Isn't it beautiful?

Just got home....

2008-12-22T00:13:00.003+08:00

It's been a fairly eventful weekend. However, it's midnight, so I'm off to bed rather than updating. You can look forward to learning about:

Meeting Jane Goodall
Working at a wine promotion
Successful conversations in Chinese

in my next post.

Goodnight.

2008-12-18T22:57:00.001+08:00

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

I hope you find the peace you seek, Aunt Melissa.

Please keep my family in your thoughts as we recover from this shock, mourn, and find peace again.

Let final exams commence!

2008-12-16T22:20:00.003+08:00

Had my first round of final exams today. Good times, except my kids act like they're five and can't be quiet when others are talking. Really?! Really?! You're nineteen plus years old? I don't believe it. We finished class early which was nice.

I've just spent three hours grading papers and am now finished. It's amazing. AMAZING!
While grading papers I re-discovered some of those stories I asked the kids to write about a magic land that they made up. So... here are a few more for your viewing pleasure:

"I hope my magic land has two cute dogs. We are good friends. There is a clean river through the land which with many green grass, various trees. Birds, cloud, the sun in the sky. And I'm the princess, live with my family happily."

"I'm a Queen in a big and happiness family there is no war, no enemy, no resentment and also sadness. We just have happiness, happy, harmony, and peace. I have two great sodiers to protect our country. A witches and a wizards. They are all kind hearted, smart and responsibilities for the country. Witches specialize in open conflict and wizards take care of me carefully in my daily life. In my land, flowers, grasses, tree and animals are all lovely, prospectively and rigorous, they are all marks I have a warm beautiful, happiness country. In my kingdom, spring is green, red. Summer is golden, Autumn is yellow and winter is white. The beautiful scenery, good gards, lovely animals consists of my kingdom is a large kingdom. I love my kingdom, love everything in my kingdom."

"At the 3 BC, there is a girl who was controlled by witches in the jungle. She was waiting for the right person to take she free. One day, a hospitally man come across the jungle he met the girl. She told him what happened at her and hope he can save her. The man was deepen by her and decide to save her. But if he wants to save her he must hit the evil witches. At the same time, there were so many strange animals such as dinosaurs, but the man was a strong person. The man and the girl come across lots of difficulties but at last, the girl was free. The witches was died, the man and the girl live a happy life."

"A long time ago, There were a woman with her two children living in a town. Unfortunately, when her elder child 15 years old, Their mother was dead. So the sister should take her little brother, her little brother only 8 years old she felt very frustrated, she had no confidence on life. But she had duty, she should bring up her little brother she lived hardly. One day, she and her little brother went into a mountain. They saw a big cave, They surprised about that, so they went into. Walking into the cave, They saw many strange things, such as statues, snakes some ugly frogs. They were afraid about that. When they were nervous, a frog came to them, in fact, the frog was a lucky thing, it would give them good luck. Sister catched it, then she and her brother came into another world, the world's people were very friendly, They lived happliy together. She and her little brother were adopted by a rich couple. They had a good life at last."

"Ten thousand years ago, a little boy was captured by a witch who was a vicious woman. From that day on, the witch taught him magic to help him kill people. Because the witch lived on blood of people. The witch lived in a cave about 400 years. Every violent animal served her. When the boy grew up, when he try to kill an old men, suddenly he saw a frightened girl. The old men's girl. He fell in love with the girl at the first sight. So he didn't kill them. Later, he did not want to help the witch, and the girl changed him a lot. At last, many people fight the witch together, they successed at last. The girl and the boy and many people lived happily."

Today I received two more boxes from Mom. My Christmas tree is looking very festive with all my wonderful presents underneath it. I am so blessed. I do have to save, the M&M's had been opened, perhaps by some hungry customs inspectors, and some were scattered throughout the box.

Right, I have some Christmas cards I need to tape shut.

Wuuuuuuhooooohan

2008-12-14T17:39:00.003+08:00

Before Nathan arrived on Friday, Cary, Jennifer, and I had a delicious meal of homemade spaghetti at Cary's place. He is a good cook and at some point I'm going to talk him into a deal where I buy the groceries and he does the cooking. This seems like a good plan.
I met Nathan at the train station around 8pm where we bought our train tickets for the next morning (7:45am) to Wuhan. We decided to stay in and sleep since we were both exhausted and knew we had an early morning on Saturday.

Bright and early we woke the next morning, showered, packed, and headed to the station. Our train actually ended up departing early, but we made it. It was a long ride which we mostly napped through. Upon arrival at Wuchang (a borough of Wuhan) Nathan and I immediately went to buy our train tickets home for the next day. Unfortunately the latest and most convenient train was at 10:15am. After waiting for half an hour to get our tickets it was time to find a hotel. Well, lo and behold, there one stood right across the bustling street.
We made our way to the Crowne Hotel and checked in. It was quite a nice place complete with complimentary breakfast in the morning. We dropped off our bags, asked which bus to take to Hanyang (another borough) and set off.
It was a mighty chilly walk to the bus. On the way, Nathan literally saved my life by grabbing me and spinning me around before I got hit by a bus. It was certainly a close call. We finally found our bus and headed off to French Street to find the Aloha Hawaiian restaurant.
Upon arrival at French Street it took us a few minutes to find the restaurant, but when we did, bliss. The food was amazing, the owner was nice, the area was great, and best of all, it was all heated. Nathan had a huge burger while I scarfed down some enchiladas. Tasty-licious.
We wandered around the neighborhood the restaurant was near for awhile before hopping on a bus back to Wuchang. We went back to our room for a little nap, deciding we would head out to see Hankou (another borough) once it had gotten darker.

After sleeping and watching a movie or two, we headed back out into the cold, misty night. We grabbed a cab to Hankou and asked the driver to take us to the Yellow Crane Tower. He ended up dropping us off in the middle of an intersection, pointing where to go. Except... we took a wrong turn and ended up in the middle of a busy street food street instead. It was amazing! They served everything! We were tempted to grab food, even though we were still full from before, but held off in hopes that we would find the sushi restaurant we had been planning on eating at. After the food street we found a shopping street with tons of vendors hawking various goods. Nathan asked for directions a few more times, and eventually we found the tower. Only... it was closed. We took a couple pictures of it all lit up, then hailed a cab to take us to Jiqing Street, reportedly a hot spot in the evening time.
The driver dropped us off and we looked around confused. This was a hot spot? No one really seemed to be around, no live music, just a few street food vendors and some cold looking people. We decided to move on and search out the Japanese restaurant. We hailed another cab and off we went.
The driver dropped us off at a giant mall. We wandered inside and I was almost overwhelmed. Floors and floors of glorious shopping! Not only the legitimate stores, but those small street like stalls were set up in the back. Heaven on earth. We looked for the restaurant and after asking where it was a couple times, were turned back out onto the street. We decided we weren't really starving yet, so we went to the walking street we had seen earlier, then on to the street-stall shopping street. Nathan bought nice leather gloves and I bought... nothing!!!! Can you believe it? I'm still in shock. I need to find a girl who will want to go back with me so that I can actually get my shop on.
Eventually I got hungry and cranky, so Nathan and I found a 'French' restaurant. We ordered some food which turned out to be pretty decent then headed back to the hotel, exhausted.

This morning we enjoyed a very Chinese breakfast before catching our train. It was a long train ride, but very pleasant and we had some nice time to talk and nap. Nathan headed on to Nanchang, and I hopped off in Jiujiang.
I grabbed a motorcycle home, and now here I am. It's only 6:02pm, but I am wiped.
My secretary's are watching a movie tomorrow and I need to mail Christmas cards/presents. Shame on me. They will be late. Sorry!

I'm honestly considering moving to Wuhan, perhaps for no reason other than the AMAZING SHOPPING! And... perhaps the western food. Mmmm... enchiladas.

By the way... this is gorgeous in purple and light blue!!!

No snow here

2008-12-11T16:54:00.002+08:00

Heard it snowed in Texas. No snow here. In fact, it really hasn't been that cold this week at all. Yesterday was in the 60's. My kind of winter.

Stomach bug had turned into full blown horrible head cold. My nose is a snot factory and my appetite is gone.

Nathan comes tomorrow. We're going to Wuhan on Saturday to take a look around.

Next week is final exams! Almost done....

This will be short

2008-12-09T23:05:00.002+08:00

Been teaching my kids about Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Ramadan, and Christmas this week. It's been pretty great.

Got the wine job, but we're still sussing out the details. Doesn't pay much, but it will be a great way to make connections. I'm a bit mad that it's so many hours, 10am-8pm, which means way less time with Nathan, but I'll see him a few days later for Christmas, so no big.

Still a bit under the weather from that stomach whatever.

Right. Bed.

Crap... where'd that eyeball come from?

2008-12-07T23:13:00.005+08:00

Nathan and I managed to have a pretty eventful weekend in Nanchang.

On Saturday morning we woke at the butt crack of dawn (aka 8am) so that we could be ready by 9:30am to head off to a friend of Nathan's, Will, hometown. We were supposed to be joined by Peter and Pearl from what I heard, but it was a no go for them as they had other things going on. We hopped into the mian bao che (a van that looks like a loaf of bread, sorta) that Will had rented and headed down the incredibly bumpy road. And when I say bumpy... well, we've all got sore tailbones now.

We picked up Will's friend, fresh from the army, who was waiting for us at the bus station then headed on to Will's house. When we arrived we met his father who had such a thick accent even Nathan couldn't understand him. Since I usually don't understand what's going on most of the time anyways, I just smiled and nodded as per usual.

Lunch wasn't quite ready yet so we decided to head on down to the park which Will's father had designed. It was amazing! Very beautiful indeed. We walked around the park for a bit before deciding to hop into one of the paddle boats that you could rent. Only... the paddle boat turned out to be a motorized boat instead, though it only went about 7km and hour. Our two Chinese pals hopped in the back, leaving Nathan to drive and me riding shotgun.

We drove around the lake for awhile, spying on kissing couples and naughty children who were lighting fires in the grass. As we were driving along, not minding our own business, we saw some chunks of wood floating in the water. Curiousity got the better of us and we decided to take a looksee. Nathan pulled over next to one of the chunks of wood and Will, who was sitting behind him, pulled it out of the water. Lo and behold we had found secret fishing nets and two very large fish stuck in them! According to Will, fishing in the lake is illegal so after debating on whether or not to free the fish, we decided to just let it be and placed them back in the water. As we started to drive off we heard a sucking noise and then a bit of clunking, then no more motor. Well, crap, that wasn't good, what was that? The horror! Our little fishy friends had indeed been sucked into our motor. Will and Nathan let out sighs as Will announced, "I think it's dead. There goes an eyeball."

After mourning for the very fish we had set out to rescue and had now murdered, we then had to deal with dilemma of how to get back to shore. No problem! The number of the boat rental men was right there in front of me, painted on the dashboard of the boat. Will called them men to explain the situation, and we watched as a few men clambered into a boat and headed towards us.

When they finally reached us, we expected them to tow us back to shore, especially since it was effing freezing out there in that boat. However, as soon as the men saw the rather large fish we had 'caught' they announced that they wanted to keep it. Apparently fish that big are worth quite a bit of money and these guys had greedy looks in their eyes. We told them there was another net out there still floating around the lake. They nodded and headed off towards it. Waiiiiittttt a minute! What about us?! Obviously they had other things on their minds and decided to leave us out there while they took care of business. Nathan tried the motor again, and to our surprise it worked. We decided to head back to shore, trailing our booty.

We were quickly ushered out of our boat once we had docked. We left the lake with no fish, but a great story at least. When we finally made it back to Will's house, the food was all prepared and waiting for us at the table. It was a delicious meal that his mother had spent the entire morning preparing. Quite the feast.

After finishing and spending some quality time in front of the television while we digested, we decided to walk to walking/shopping street. Nathan finally bought a pair of leather gloves that he had been wanting, and I bought... nothing! It's amazing!

After some time walking around, Nathan and I decided it was time to head back. We bid Will and his friend farewell and hopped in a mian bao che. The ride back was yet again bumpy, but farely uneventful.

We spent a few hours being lazy and just hanging out at the apartment. We knew we would be going out for the evening but we weren't sure who would be joining us. I had developed a bit of a tummy ache due to eating unfamiliar food, but luckily Nik was kind enough to provide me with pepto.

Nik, Nathan, and I headed to a noodle restaurant for dinner. My stomach was still bothering me, so I didn't eat much, but they were definitely some of the most delicious noodles I have ever eaten. I was so sad that I couldn't eat more than a few, but I have plans to return there when I am next in Nanchang. After eating, we hopped in a mian bao che and headed into town. We were dropped off near the Star Walk, a street with all of the night clubs. After bouncing from club to club to see where was the best to spend the evening, we settled on Grammy. Unhappy with the table they gave us, they brought us out an even bigger table from storage, which fit our needs perfectly.

After a few minutes sitting around waiting for people to show up, Stewart and Cici finally arrived. We ordered drinks and the fun began. Mostly it was your typical night club evening, drinking and dancing, a few awkward pictures, new Chinese friends. Good times.

We headed to Stewart's bar after Grammy to hang out and talk to people. One of the gentlemen there, Bruce, told me about an interesting position at wine company that's opened up and tomorrow I shall get more information about it. Could be interesting.

We headed out after a couple hours at Stewart's. We got back around 3:30am. Nathan and I spent most of today sleeping and watching movies, nothing eventful. We did almost manage to miss my train though I made it with barely enough time.

On the train I met two students who attend my school and the father of a student at my school. He was an incredibly interesting man who speaks English relatively fluently. He was an English teacher for 10 years and now works as a translator. He offered me Chinese lessons which I plan to take him up on, for sure.

Now I'm off to bed. Only two more weeks of school!

P.S. Just did a google search of my name and pulled up this, from a class I took at UNT.

The busiest bee

2008-12-04T16:39:00.001+08:00

Again. Busy, busy.
Nanchang this weekend.

2008-12-03T19:24:00.001+08:00

No update. Too busy.
xoxo

Right, so....

2008-12-02T21:18:00.003+08:00

I will hold on to Mom and Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas presents until I see them.

As of right now, I'm planning to go to Hong Kong to meet Grandma and Grandpa. However, I still don't know what my schedule looks like, so I can't guarantee it. I do wish they were a bit more organized about it all, but what can ya do?

I had a great class today. The kids really responded to the pronunciation stuff. They tried to ask me about the phonetic alphabet... but I was clueless. Sorry kids, but this squiggly line inside these two straight lines doesn't mean a thing to me. We overcame this barrier, though, and I think they really learned something helpful today. I even saw some girls taking notes. Success.

Jennifer and I just got back from a highly successful shopping trip. Well, successful for me, anyways. I got some of the final Christmas presents that I need. I also bought a beautiful coat which I bargained them down from 388 to 88. Not a bad way to go at all. Tomorrow we're going to wrap up the Christmas shopping as much as possible as both our wallets and ourselves need a little break.

The Christmas cards are almost finished and today I found envelopes. They will be mailed soon. Perhaps when I go to Nanchang as I'll need Nathan's Chinese skills, or I'll talk to Hamlin or Sophie. Either way, they will be mailed.

I'm off to add the 'L' sound to my power point. Can't believe I left that out.

Just so you know...

2008-12-01T20:26:00.003+08:00

Your gifts will probably be late since I haven't mailed them yet. Sorry. In fact, I haven't even bought most of them yet! I haven't been too good about my Christmas shopping this year.

What I do have though is pretty brilliant, and you should all look forward to your awesome presents. Jenna's is all finished and waiting to be mailed, as is Lindsey's, Pat's, Grandpa's, Rache and Brit's, and Tess's. Except I'm not mailing Tess's because we agreed to have mom just act as a courier for us so we could save some money. Haha.
That leaves me:
Grandma, Nana, Dad, Renee, Isaac, Mom, Jeff, Kelly, Lauren, Nathan, and Nathan's parents. Actually, that isn't too bad at all.

I'm getting baby stuff for Liz, but I'll hold off on mailing that until Mom and I go to Beijing during spring festival as I'm sure they have a ton of cute stuff there for babies.

Christmas is for being broke.

Today I taught my secretary's about birthday traditions. This week we're concentrating on pronunciation.
Next week we're doing slang. The week after that is finals. The week after that is our last week, and since I have Christmas and Boxing day off, it's not a full week, so we'll just be making Christmas cards. Huzzah. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I'm still not sure what to do for my final exams. I'm thinking I'll just have them write a poem, song, or skit to perform. That would be easiest (for me... no papers to grade!).

Speaking of papers. Crap. You do not even need to know this, but there are about 1000 dialogues sitting on my windowsill waiting to be graded... and they probably won't be. I think I'll just take a certain number and grade them on those. Eh. I don't know yet.

Twenty-four days until Christmas! (I can say that, because it's night time here.)

I totally get to celebrate Christmas a day before you do. Bwahaha.

Turkey Day Deux

2008-11-30T23:10:00.004+08:00

Jennifer and I had a rather pleasant Thanksgiving day meal at the S(mile) & N(ice) Hotel. I ate duck in place of turkey, although I'm not much of a fan. I also had sushi, potato salad, eggplant, and Thai spicy soup. Tasty, but not so traditional.

Nathan came up this weekend and I busted out the Thanksgiving food mom had sent to me. We had green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, and stuffing, corn, and peas. All made in the wonder that is the microwave. It was pretty darn tasty too.

We spent most of the weekend doing our usual dvd shopping and watching, eating, and being lazy.

I've just spent a few hours putting together a couple power point presentations on birthday's and pronunciation for my kiddos. I'll try them out tomorrow on my secretary's.

Feeling better, though I did wake up to a coughing fit last night due to a ridiculously itchy throat. I am, however, recovered for the most part. Mild phlegm in the back of the throat.

Just had a nice skype with mom to hash out our plans for her trip here. Looks like Beijing and Harbin are a go. We're going to freeze our butts off.

Bed for me!

You don't have to read this...

2008-11-28T16:19:00.003+08:00

I've just been perusing the online goods since I'm DONE GRADING MIDTERMS! Huzzah.

New things that I heart can be found here (burgundy), here (magenta), here, here (red), here (teal) (black) (burgundy), here (red) (magenta) (grey), here, here, here (red) (teal), and here.

I'm ready for Nathan to be here.

And I'm still sick. Awful.

And everyone ate pie... except Jessica

2008-11-27T16:23:00.006+08:00

Why is there no pie in China?!?!

I got lots of nice 'Happy Thanksgiving' text messages from my students today. It's nice to know they care.

I'm posting pictures of my secretary's hand turkeys, and some pictures of my BE3 class working on their hand turkeys. This has ended up being a really fun project, and you should hear their gasps of surprise as I hand out the colored pencils. Pretty funny.

My kids have been giving me copies of the school photos we took also. I love it! Please take note of how I am one of the few who is smiling. To the right of me is Max, he's my co-teacher and helps me out with stuff, and to my left is Hanz, head of the English department. This is my BE3 class in it's entirety. I have them split into two different classes though, so it's not quite so overwhelming as it appears.

Remember how I said that Jennifer, Cary, and I were going down to David's pizza place to take pictures for his brochure? Well Jennifer and I went in there the other day and were asked if it was us who was on this brochure by a customer, and it was! We got copies:
Why he chose this awful picture of all of us, I have no idea. I look like an alien or something. Freaky.

We're still not really sure what the dates are that we'll be getting out of school/starting the new semester. I hope we find out soon, I'm on the verge of burnout.

My laptop is pretty dead. I've installed all the stuff I can, but it shuts itself off after a maximum of 5 minutes being on. It's not the blue screen of death anymore, just... death. I can't get the battery to charge, and since that's a new (for the most part) battery, it's got to be the laptop itself which is at issue and not the battery.
I have decided I'm going to buy myself a new laptop next year, after mom has visited and we've gone on our trip. I'm leaning towards the Lenovo Ideapad S10. It comes with a built in camera, is light (only 3lbs), easy to carry, and comes in pink. I'm also going to get an external harddrive since all my pictures and powerpoints are on the computer the school has provided for me. Factoring in how long it will take me to save, I'll be looking to get the notebook around March. I am still keeping in mind that I would prefer a mac, but at this point, it's unnecessary, and a smaller laptop would do just fine and also be much cheaper.

I'm sick, which is unpleasant. Nathan, Jennifer, and Cary have all managed to give me whatever they have. My throat has been sore for the past couple days, and lecturing hasn't been helping. Hopefully it will be better by next week, because we're doing pronunciation which means I'll need to be able to talk for the full two hours. I also have that snot that doesn't come out your nose but gets stuck in the back of your throat. I know you wanted to know that.

It's pretty terrible to hear about Mumbai. My heart goes out to everyone there and who has been affected. I hope that Grandma and Grandpa will be safe on their trip!

Hopefully I'll finish my Christmas card painting this weekend. Nathan will be here though, so I can't promise that will happen.

Right, I'm going to grade some papers, and if I have time, see if Jennifer wants to go to the S&N Hotel for some buffet dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm jealous you get to eat pie and turkey and pie and more pie......

No update

2008-11-26T19:38:00.001+08:00

Too many papers to grade tonight.

xoxo

Everyone is thankful for the food and their parents

2008-11-25T20:50:00.002+08:00

Jennifer and I just got back from eating at New York pizza. I had a long island iced tea, but it was a bit strong.

I taught Thanksgiving again today to BE3. This is what they are thankful for:

"I am thankful that my parents love me! I love them, too. Also thank you, Jessica! Because you give us the chance to paint the Turkey. I like painting very interesting!"

"I am thankful for my family, my teachers, my friends, and all the people who help me!"

"I am thankful for my partent give me wonderful life and my teachers' and friends' helps. I love them loves."

"I am thankful for my mother of giving me live and love, for giving me too much."

It's been a pretty uneventful day. I bought new paint brushes which will make the Christmas card painting much easier, since before I only had three paintbrushes and the bristles were splitting.

Crap. I have a ton of papers to grade. Better get going.

Gots so much to do.....

2008-11-24T18:11:00.003+08:00

I have to grade papers and work on Christmas cards, so this will be brief.

Had a great time making hand turkeys with my secretary's today. They seemed to really enjoy my Thanksgiving lesson, we did tongue twisters, arts and crafts, and talked about what we're thankful for. Good times.

I'll take pictures of their turkeys soon.

My secretary's are thankful for:

"I am thankful for my parents! I want to do my best and make them happy."

"I'm thankful for God. thankful for Love from my parents and friends thankful for teachers who teach me many things. Thankful for everything. I'm happy."

"I am thankful for parents gives my life."

"I am thankful for you teached our draft the largest turky. This day I am very happy and wish you can teach our more useful things."

After class I took more pictures with my BE1 kids. Then had some rest and relaxation before heading to the art store to get more supplies.

Now it's dinner time along with grading midterm papers. I have to work on my Christmas cards too.

Man.. that Thanksgiving food sure looks tempting.

The truth is...

2008-11-23T20:41:00.004+08:00

It was a great weekend but went by too quickly.
Nathan and I took a couple of his friends to eat Thai food. They didn't seem to like it that much. Shame. We also went to Metro to do a little shopping. I bought a Christmas stocking and a new dvd player. It's working great so far, I'm enjoying the 4400.

We went out Saturday night, but it was pretty low key. Just a few drinks with Nikolai, Peter, and Nik's girlfriend.

I'm looking forward to next weekend. Seeing Nathan again and enjoying a Thanksgiving feast. It will be delightful.

Nathan and I have been debating about where we'll live next year. It's looking like either Jiujiang or Nanchang. We want to live together again, but we both like our schools and areas. Quite the dilemma. We still have plenty of time to decide though.

May I just say? Gorgeous! Beautiful! Umm Yes!
I've got some Christmas cards to work on.

Can you ask me an easier question?

2008-11-20T20:23:00.004+08:00

Tonight was the last round of speeches. One of my students, Ivan, gave presentation about a laptop. He was a great salesman, I want one now! And they're only 3999rmb. Not bad at all. If I can find one, I'm all over that. We only had 11 presenters and I didn't ask a single question the entire time. They kept looking at me, but there was really nothing to ask. Everyone did pretty well, and those who didn't, well, I wasn't really able to decipher what they were saying anyways.

Tomorrow we take pictures! I guess I'll have to make an effort to dress nicely. I'm thinking about chopping my bangs since they're down to my chin now. I have some scissors around here somewhere...

I did some more online 'shopping' today. I.e. I went online and put things in my online shopping cart to see how much I would spend. (Note: nothing was actually purchased.) Walmart is having a fabbo clearance sale. Want to see my goodies?
Even if you don't, tough, this is my blog.

You can check out the goods here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
All that goodness for only $51. Free shipping too. Nice.

Then I meandered over to Target to check out the clearance there. (You do know that if I was in the states right now I would be in the actual stores anyways, right?)
Found some more fabbo goodies you can see here , here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Total was $42.41. Not bad at all.

Why do I love shopping so much? I think it's because I'm a bit bored here. Plus I have no friends who want (operative word here) to go shopping with me. Perhaps another reason to move to a bigger city next year.

Class interviews/midterms went well today. I have many students who want to own their own business someday, mostly selling clothes. One student wants to own a car factory. A couple want to be fashion designers. All very interesting stuff.

Tomorrow I head down to Nanchang. Very exciting indeed!

Be a miracle...

2008-11-19T20:26:00.003+08:00

Speech contest went better. They didn't badger me to ask questions this evening. I did ask a couple questions and I made the poor girl so nervous she couldn't answer the question anyways. One of my students got first or second place though, which was fantastic. She's a really great speaker and did fabulously on her midterm today as well.

I found these 'cup' soups at the store awhile back and have just started trying them. The tomato one is delicious and goes really well with a grilled cheese. Yum.

I've been doing pretty well at fighting my desire to go shopping lately. Ok... that's not true, I went shopping yesterday, but for Christmas presents! Not for myself! I really want a couple more pairs of boots though... and some sweaters. I've been 'windows' (ahahaha... get it? windows... like... never mind) shopping at the Forever 21 website. I pretty much love everything at their store.
I hate clothes shopping in China (purse and shoe shopping are another story). Nothing fits here, at least not in Jiujiang. I can't wait to go to Beijing and hit the Pearl Market. Get some jeans, polo's, purses. Mom and I most definitely will be heading there, I think.

I started painting Christmas cards today. I had a few disasters but a couple of them turned out cute. They're nothing fancy, but better than anything else offered over here.

The other day I bought a few new pens and today I discovered that one of them says, "Welcome to the terrific horrific teenage world." It's my new favorite.

Tomorrow I have two classes, plus the last day of the speech competition. Looks like it's going to be a busy day, but I like those.

Somewhere in the distance I can hear fireworks. Just so long as they're not right outside my window, I'm okay with them. Nathan told me I should throw water out my window onto them next time they shoot them off, but when they're that close to the window, perhaps it's just a better idea to keep it shut.

My brain is tired. I just spent an hour and a half trying to decipher what these speakers were saying, so I'm going to relax and paint some more.

What did you say? I know you didn't just say that to me.

2008-11-18T21:20:00.003+08:00

Today is Tuesday, November 18, 2008. Liiiiiiiive from Jiujiang, China, your host, Jeeeeeeeessica.

Day one of midterms went okee-dokee. To say it was a success may be a bit much, but everyone was 'interviewed', papers were turned in, and we watched Mama Mia.
The only naughty thing my students did today was leave class early. Um... no, I didn't say you could leave early. Especially with the inspectors here! !@#$%$@#!!!! What are you thinking?!?! They're going to get an earful next week. The ladies who did stay got a nice bonus on their midterm exam.

Jennifer and I went lunching at McD. Their curry nuggets are just too hard to resist. We did a good thing though, and walked back to campus. I bought some Christmas card making supplies, so look for those in your mailbox in December. Addresses are welcome and needed.

This evening I judged a speech contest. Now this was an interesting experience. First of all, I was told I would have to ask no questions which was good because I couldn't understand but three or four words out of the students mouths who were giving speeches.
Then... after 8 students had finished their presentations, all of a sudden one of the commentators comes up to me and tells me I have to ask questions! WHAT?! Ok, so let's get down why this is not fair. First of all, there were 6 other judges besides me, the teachers of these students. They had alllllll gotten copies of the students speeches a few weeks ahead of the competition so that they could come up with questions to ask. Jessica got NO COPIES.
Reason number two, the students read from their power points which were also about as understandable as their speeches. I'm supposed to come up with questions from that? Are you joking?
And finally, the students speeches were three minutes long or less. Three minutes or less of incomprehensable speech does not give me much to work with, if anything at all.

I managed to ask one question to a student I could understand, and the second question I asked was CORRECTING the question of a teacher. And the student still couldn't answer it.

The head honcho came up to me after the contest and told me I should be prepared for tomorrow. Excuse me? I know you did not just tell me to be prepared. How about you be prepared by having a copy of the speeches for me? Hmmm? Tomorrow I may tell him where to stick it. Then walk out.

I was considering staying here another year, but I must admit that this certainly makes me question that. Nathan's school is looking more and more tempting after all. Plus the added bonus of us being able to live together again. We'll see how tomorrow night goes.

Best dinner yet

2008-11-17T19:00:00.003+08:00

I just made grilled cheese sandwiches with onions melted into the cheese and cold lettuce on them. Absolutely delicious.

I'm watching Stick It. I forgot how funny and cheesy this movie is. I love it.

Taught my secretary's job interview stuff today. They seemed to have fun and we laughed a lot in class. It was a nice, relaxed interview.

Tomorrow Cary and I are judging some presentation by the Trade kids. Apparently that's the plan for the next couple days.

Midterms start tomorrow! Exciting!

Do you like the new layout?

An update

2008-11-16T17:47:00.003+08:00

This weekend was very nice. Nathan came up from Nanchang, arriving around 8:30pm at my apartment. We were both tired from teaching that day, so we decided to have a quiet night in, watching movies instead of going to a club.

The next morning we woke up relatively early and lazed about until we decided to go downtown for pizza and to hit the arcade. We ate our fill then decided to go to the dvd store, as this is our usual practice when Nathan is in Jiujiang. On our way to walking street we saw huge crowds of people, they were all watching a presentation being put on by a photography studio. Nathan and I found a picture that we both liked, a sort of 1930's Shanghai gangster look, and agreed that when we get engaged that will be our engagement photo. It was pretty awesome. We also saw a man selling furs on the street, which was really sad. All from endangered animals too. Nathan told the man that he liked the furs better on the animal. When we finally made it to the dvd store I bought Sleeping Beauty (the Disney version), Wall-E, Wanted, Mama Mia, and Hancock. I think that I will show Mama Mia next week to my students during midterms, because they really seem to love musicals.
It was a really nice temperature outside so we decided to walk around walking street. We meandered into the arcade we had visited a few weeks ago, and entertained some of the local kids by playing a kill the zombies type of game then some basketball. We did manage to beat the zombie game, although I think perhaps is was more a game of how much money do you have (you have to pay if you die and want to come back to life to keep playing) than a game of skill.
We walked home from downtown, taking a route I had never walked before. Luckily we managed to find our way back. Earlier we had decided we wanted burritos for dinner, so we stopped at Lian Sheng to stock up on tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and spices. The fresh produce was so cheap! We were still full when we got back so we watched Narnia 2, and Smart People so we could finish digesting the pizza from earlier.
Making the burritos turned out to be interesting since I didn't have a can opener. Nathan eventually busted the can open with a swiss army knife type thing. Luckily he didn't hurt himself! I think we didn't end up eating the burritos until midnight, but they were delicious!

Nathan left today. Since it's midterms week, I really don't have anything to prepare. I went to an art store with Nathan and stocked up on supplies for Thanksgiving week. I'm going to have my students make hand turkeys and write down something they are thankful for. It's tradition!

Oh! Yesterday I got a package from Leslie for my birthday with the book Three Cups of Tea in it. I'm pretty excited to read it, and I know Nathan is too. I also received a package from mom containing what will, at some point, be delicious Thanksgiving food. Apparently a container of fruit broke open during shipping, alarming the Chinese customs agents who consequently opened the box, took note of the items in the box, then taped it all shut with their official tape before sending it on to me. The broken container of fruit was still in there, just drained of all the syrup which usually preserves it. Ah well.

Cary is going to check with the S&N hotel to see if they will have a Thanksgiving buffet. It's unlikely, but we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Next weekend I'll be in Nanchang. I'm going to see if Pearl wants to do some Thanksgiving shopping with me, so I can pick up a can opener and anything else I may want to add to my feast.

I'm off to watch Wanted.

Dvd, Dvd, Dvd

2008-11-13T20:32:00.002+08:00

I've had quite a bit of fun teaching job interview stuff to my kids this week. They all enjoy learning how to shake hands and how to answer interview questions.

I've been missing trapeze a lot lately. I have not a clue in the world how I would go about trying to find a trapeze here though. I'm guessing I would have to get one in the US then have it shipped here.

Jennifer and I went dvd shopping today. Found some good stuff, a few new shows to watch when I finish the 4400. I also got Jenna's Christmas present, which was good.

Meh. Sleepy.

A Good Evening

2008-11-12T22:12:00.004+08:00

I've finished Boston Legal now and have moved on to the 4400. I'm a bit sad Boston Legal is all finished with.

This evening Jenn, Cary, and I went to the pizza place to take pictures for David's flier. Except... David is in Beijing and there was much confusion about what was supposed to be done. We took some silly pictures with his staff which will most likely have to be re-done upon his return. I probably blinked in more than half of them. I also had a Chinese child put in my lap a couple times, but she was just adorable, so that wasn't so bad.
Then we headed to Lian Sheng so that Jennifer could get juice. I bought bread and candy, because that's all I eat anymore other than McDonalds and pizza.... and curry.... and velveeta. Surprisingly I've lost weight being here.....

Cary and I decided to go to Le Nest to see if it was as crowded as everyone was saying it was. It was. We threw back a couple Buds, then were invited to the table of some new Chinese 'friends', one of whom I think may have been the owner of the club. We shared some drinks with them before departing.

I'm heading back to Le Nest on Friday because they're having a foreign DJ come in to perform and I have high hopes he'll be quite good. The DJ this evening wasn't bad though, and we only had to listen to three songs sung by a Chinese performer.

My ears are still ringing and I'm feeling a bit topsy turvey so I'm going to drink some water and head to bed.

I rather do enjoy going out for a drink on weeknights.

P.S. SSDD3: Deadjournal has hatred for me and won't let me post on your blog. Just wanted to say good luck in your search for a dog, and be sure to check out pure breed rescue dogs too. :)

Eat, sleep, repeat....

2008-11-11T18:32:00.003+08:00

Nanchang was largely uneventful. Nathan and I ate a lot of Thai food, partied with friends, and watched a lot of tv. That really sums it all up.

Today I taught job interview information. It went over relatively well, although I'm not sure how much they absorbed. I was exhausted all day which was unfortunate, but I've napped now, so perhaps that won't be the case tomorrow. We did practice hand shakes and I made everyone shake my hand. Girls here have wimpy hand shakes, haha, so I had to toughen them up. It was funny and they all enjoyed it.

Tomorrow Jenn and I are going down to Davids to take pictures with his staff for some fliers he's having made. Hopefully he'll treat us to a free bbq chicken pizza in return. Yum, yum.

I believe that I've caught up on my e-mails now.

I also finished Pride and Prejudice, so I'm off to start the book mom bought me for my birthday. I'm rather in the mood for more books from that era now, I've finally grown to appreciate them. Plus, Pride and Prejudice must be one of the most romantic books ever written. *Swoon*

Much love.

Returned

2008-11-10T23:47:00.001+08:00

I am returned from Nanchang, but rather busy making my job interview power point. I shall have to update about the weekend at a later point. Suffice to say, it was a good one.

Goodnight!

Quickie...

2008-11-07T17:27:00.003+08:00

Just a quick entry before I run to the train station.

Since I shall not be returning to the US of A this coming summer, I've decided to plan a trip.

Right now my plan is to go to Sichuan where I want to see the new panda reserve, then on to Tibet, eventually ending up in Bhutan where I want to see the Taktshang Monastery.

I've found a new blog which is a good read: http://bryceandmallory.blogspot.com/
Definitely check it out, their travels sound amazing.

That is all.

Well then.....

2008-11-06T19:35:00.004+08:00

I give up on trying to teach references, they don't get it.

I'm off to Nanchang for the weekend, and since class has been canceled for me on Monday, I shan't be back until Monday evening. I know you'll all be sad not to have updates.

I don't look forward to teaching all day tomorrow.

I got nothin'.

P.S. Yes, size small. :)

Also... I would like the Twilight books for Christmas.

Obama!

2008-11-05T17:36:00.003+08:00

Well, today history was made. Obama was elected president. It's so crazy and wonderful all at the same time. I look forward to seeing some positive changes start occurring in the country now.

I was a lucky bunny today, indeed. I received not one, not two, but THREE packages from friends and family.
- Three delicious blocks of velveeta from Dad and Renee
- A gorgeous shirt and workout dvd from Lauren
-A giant box full of cookies, goldfish, cute fish shaped ice cube tray, tortilla chips, a couple somewhat moldy gourds, and granola bars from Rachel

Fabulous. I am rather spoiled. :)

Today I taught references, resumes, and cover letters. The kids just don't understand references. It seems everyone gets jobs through their guanxi (connections) and that's what they think I mean. It's been rather difficult attempting to explain that this is not how it works in the U.S. but I can't come up with a more effective way of teaching.

We got paid today which is lovely. I shall slip out to do some Christmas shopping at some point and mail those off so they get to their various destinations on time.

I think I might make myself a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner.

Updating early today.....

2008-11-04T14:27:00.004+08:00

I'm updating early so I can have a relaxing evening watching Boston Legal.

Mom said that people have been wondering about Christmas presents (already!), so I figured I would list some things I would like and/or need:

-Contact solution - Opti Free
-Crest white strips
-Suave sweet pea and violet deodorant
-The Trapeze Diaries - Marie Carter
-The Early Arrival of Dreams : A year in China - Rosemary Mahoney
-The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver
-Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
-The Good Women of China - Xinran Xue (looks amazing!)
-I've also picked out some awesome clothes which can be seen (listed in order of would like most):
here, here, here, here, here (in lavender), here, here (in magenta), here, here, here, here (wine), here (navy/cream), here (navy), here, and here.

I was farting around on the internet reading blogs and one of them mentioned this site where you can morph your pictures with your partner to see what your children would look like. So... I did it for Nathan and I. And the results were amusing.

I don't really think they look much like us at all, but it was a fun experiment. It's unfortunate that they have inherited my large forehead. Haha. They look a little bit like aliens.

I've made it through 2 seasons of Boston Legal already. I only have four, so that stinks. It's such a good show.

Today I lectured about resumes, cover letters, and references. I'm pretty sure they still didn't get it, even though I made a power point, took two hours to explain three documents. I don't know how to get them to pay attention. I guess we'll see how they do for their midterm, they're required to bring in a copy of each when I interview them. If they get a bad grade they'll probably start paying more attention.

I'm off to loaf.

2008-11-03T22:15:00.003+08:00

Well I was going to go to bed, but they are setting off fireworks 50 feet from my window again, so I'm going to give a quick update.

I'm sleepy.
Good times teaching my secretaries about American universities today. This week the rest of the kids are learning about cover letters, resumes, and references. So exciting.
Next week we're learning about job interviews, and the week after that are midterm exams. We live in such exciting times.

Hope everyone has been rocking the vote. I, of course, missed the deadline which is rather unfortunate.

Jennifer bought me snuggly pajamas for my birthday today. They are wonderful. I'll post a picture later.

There are really not enough hours in the day.

Goonight and good luck.

It's my party...

2008-11-02T20:34:00.007+08:00

Nathan arrived around 8:30pm on Friday. Qiao, Jennifer, Nathan, and I (dressed as an angel) immediately headed to Le Nest (a club) to meet David who was already there holding a table for us. The place was packed! It was a rather grand time in which we danced and stood for many hours. I even ended up breaking a heel! Good times indeed.

The next day we slept in rather late. We decided to go dvd shopping and have McDonalds for lunch. Tasty. We were pretty successful in our dvd shopping and came away with some good finds, including Teeth.
We headed to the pizza place with Jennifer and Sophie around 6:30pm. Hamlin dropped off a gift for me, but unfortunately couldn't stay. David also had plans, so it was just the four of us. It still ended up being fun, and I'm glad I got to experience Sophie trying pizza for the first time.

We went to the grocery store after pizza because I wanted spaghetti sauce, but didn't find anything.
We returned to the apartment where we bid goodbye to Jenn and Sophie. Nathan and I spent the rest of the night watching movies.

Today was my actual birthday and I spent it alone for the most part watching Boston Legal and playing on the internet. I opened my gifts before Nathan left this morning, and I got some great stuff.

Sophie and her friend came over for about half an hour to make me long life noodles for my birthday which were delicious. She also brought me a nice cactus.

Cary was also kind enough to bring me a small cake and nice umbrella.

Now I've got to make up a lesson for tomorrow and continue working on my laptop. It's quasi-working at this point. Thanks again for the disks, Grandpa.

2008-10-30T21:28:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow is Halloween!

I'm wearing the awesome shirt that mom got me to class and handing out candy.

I still don't know what I'm going to be. I was going to be a penguin, but Jennifer poo-pooed all over that idea. I may still be a penguin anyways.

Nathan arrives around 8pm, then we are off into the night.

Trick or treat. Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat. <- I taught my classes that little diddy.

Laundry and sleep.

Oh the places you'll go...

2008-10-29T21:57:00.002+08:00

Sometimes I have these weird little moments where I realize that I live in China.
I LIVE IN CHINA!
I work in China, I eat in China, I speak (bad) Chinese in China, I shop in China, I make friends in China, I'm in China.
It's just crazy, really.

I bought a a couple pairs of jeans today. They fit, but barely. Everything here is just a bit too small for me. I need to go shopping in Beijing, I think. I found clothes that fit there last time I was in this country. Perhaps when Mom visits we can make a trip up there, and see the Olympic village, also.

I received my package from Mom. I didn't open my birthday presents yet, though. I'm being good, though it's tempting.
I also got my gorgeous wall hanging from Nana. I can't wait to hang it up in my pink living room!
And......I got the cds, Grandpa. I will try to put them on my laptop tomorrow. Thank you!

I have cookies sitting on my desk which smell so good. They were tempting me while I was waiting for my lunch to cook, and I attempted to resist them... but then realized I'm a grown up and I'm allowed to eat a cookie before I eat my main meal. So I did. Delicious.

I'm very ready for Friday. I'm not sure why I feel anxiety this week when it comes to school, but I do. It's strange, because we're just watching a movie and doing a very short lesson on Halloween. Perhaps I'm anxious because we have midterms coming up. I've decided that I'm going to conduct job interviews with them. Next week we're learning about resumes and cover letters, then about job interviews, then having our midterms. Exciting stuff.

I've been watching Boston Legal while grading papers for the past two nights. It's such a great show, I really have a new appreciation for it. I bought seasons 1-4, so I've got awhile to go yet. It's too brilliant.

Also, I've decided to run away to Boracay, perhaps this summer.

Nanjing

2008-10-28T19:11:00.005+08:00

Jennifer and I hopped on a bus around 5pm heading to Nanjing last Friday. The bus was one of those nice charter-style ones, and only had about 6 people other than us on it. We stopped for dinner in the evening at one of those rest stop/convenience shops. The driver came to talk to us, and we communicated in our garbled Chinglish.
The rest of the trip we napped and didn't do much. We arrived in Nanjing around midnight, then took a cab to Beijing Lu and Shanghai Lu where Chris met us. We headed to a bar and waited for Nikolai and Nathan to meet us there. The boys arrived a bit later, and we hung out at the bar for awhile with Chris, Jennifer, Ann, Leif, Brock, and James. It was good times.
Jennifer and I hadn't had any luck finding a hotel once we had gotten to Nanjing, so Jennifer decided to stay at Lief's apartment, and I went back to Nathan and Nik's hotel to stay with them.

The next day we got up around noon. We walked around Fuzimiao then spent the next few hours looking for a sandwich shop, which we never found.

We ended up at Salsa, a mexican food restaurant, which didn't have very good food. We did meet a really nice man there, a principal of a Canadian school in Nanjing, who told us some fun bars to visit. I had a bad headache, so we went back to the hotel to get some meds before we headed out.
Our first stop was in the Sheraton hotel, Danny's Pub. We met another Canadian there who was working as their foreign expert. Nice guy. We had a couple drinks there, and I got to try my first chocolate martini. Tasty.

We headed on to Blue Sky (I think that's the name) because there was supposed to be a big party there, and we were going to meet everyone there. It turned out to be a bit more subdued than we thought, but Chris and Lief were there, so we joined them in a couple games of fusball before heading to Castle Bar, where the rest of our group was. It was a good evening.

I woke up feeling a bit sick so I said bye to the boys, who had to head to the train station and went to Jennifers hotel room. We napped for a couple more hours, then got up to meet Chris at the Skyways sandwich place. We stopped at the international grocery store first where I picked up a microwave Taco Bell meal and some chocolate pudding cups (yum!).

Then we headed on to the sandwich place. It was sooo good to have a sandwich, despite feeling ill. After eating, Chris took us to the bus station and helped us buy our tickets.
The next bus wasn't for a couple hours so we hung out in the bus station. We had some pretty rude picture takers while we were there, and Jennifer very nearly decked a boy.
The bus ride home was uneventful. We watched a really good movie which we don't know the name of since it was in Chinese. Shame.
We arrived home around 10pm, exhausted from a good trip.

Today I spent my birthday money. Here's what I bought:

2008-10-27T17:21:00.003+08:00

I'm home and alive.

I actually got back yesterday, pretty late.

I'm not much in the mood to sit down and write though, as I have hundreds (literally) of papers to grade.

Tomorrow I'm going shopping for my Halloween costume as I didn't find anything in Nanjing. Here's hoping I find something.

I'll throw down an update with pictures tomorrow.

XOXO

Huzzah Huzzah

2008-10-23T20:21:00.003+08:00

Well, faithful readers, I'm keeping up with this traveling every weekend thing and heading to Nanjing this weekend with Jennifer.

Nathan and Nikolai are already on their way there, taking the overnight train. Jennifer and I leave tomorrow via bus.

How exciting!

Today Jennifer and I convinced David to take us to buy our tickets and then back to the pizza restaurant. We were only going to stay for a short while, but then one of Jennifer's old students, a gentleman named Tom, showed up and offered to buy us dinner.
A little about Tom: his birthday is October 17th, he is 41 years old. He owns an alcohol shipping company (is that right, Jennifer?) or some kind of business relating to alcohol. He started learning English a couple years ago and plans to study it for a couple more years. He wants to make his first million (RMB) in the next five years.
Tom was such a cool guy I invited him to my birthday party. We're going to eat pizza then go dancing.

This has been a great month for me. I can't wait to see what November brings. I've met a lot of really great people lately, I hope I can keep this up.

So.... no journal entries from me this weekend. Jennifer and I will probably come back Monday morning.

I had some great classes today. These kids may not like doing work, but I can see their English improving. I can also tell which students are not listening in class. Grr.
I still have millions of papers to grade, and I need to pack, we leave at 5pm tomorrow but I have class until 4:10.

Love, love!

Teacher? Can we watch more movies and do no work because we're lazy?

2008-10-22T21:32:00.005+08:00

I've been busy grading papers all evening, and I still have a ton more to go, so no real update.

I think Jennifer is going with David to buy our tickets to Nanjing tomorrow which is exciting. I can't wait for this trip!

I just watched a really weird/interesting movie called Motel. I would recommend it. My dvd player and I have been battling all evening, but I finally got it to play The Other Boleyn Girl as well. Mwahaha.

Right, papers are calling my name.

P.S. I just looked through my papers from yesterday and two girls not only did only half of their dialogues but they wrote me a letter asking to watch more movies. Can you say, 'hell to the no'? 'Cause I sure did when I wrote her back. Geeeeeeez.