Update

I haven't posted a blog in a while simply because life's been normal, but still great. I guess the only interesting thing is that my class was cancelled this last week because so many of my kids were sick. Two of them had Hand, Foot, Mouth disease while over 20 others had a high fevers. It was so bad the CDC came out to sterlize the entire room, but didn't bother with the rest of the school. Since I haven't had any students, they've had me bounce around from class to class helping out and filling in for any absent teachers so it's been a normal week, just not with my kids.

The big trip I was planning with a couple other teachers has been cancelled because I've picked up some more tutoring jobs and they want me to tutor everyday during the summer so the money's just too good to pass up for such a short time. I'll probably take a couple weekend trips to some other cities with some of the teachers and Vi so hopefully there'll be some cool pictures and stories to share coming up.

That's all for now, I'll be sure to try to keep everything up to date.

My Crazy Week

This week was a strange one. First, the week started with a working Sunday which is never fun. Then, Monday was International Children's Day, although I don't know any other countries that celebrate it so I'm not real sure what makes it international and finally, we had no power for the entire day on Wednesday.

I'll start from the beginning. We worked on Sunday because we had Thursday, Friday and Saturday off for Dragon Boat Festival so the public schools make up one of those missed days on Sunday, yay.

Children's Day on Monday was really fun and a new experience for me. Last year on Children's Day, I only taught adults so we didn't celebrate it. This year, I was told there'd be a show by our class students and their parents and I was also to create a 3-10 minute skit that should make everyone laugh. Right before the holidays I was also informed I'd be co-hosting the day's activities with one of the moms and I'd only be speaking in Chinese the entire time. Well, they wrote out a script and I put all of the Chinese in pinying (Chinese with Roman alphabet) on notecards so I could actually read it. I haven't learned to read actual Chinese characters yet, but I have begun the process.

Monday morning came and I dressed nicer than my normal t-shirt and shorts to go to school. When I arrived, Meier's Mom (the other co-host) was waiting for me with a purple wig for me to wear. The skits were performed mainly by one student and either their mom or dad or both. A couple skits had numerous kids and parents involved. The skits ranged from famous stories being acted out, singing, Beijing opera, magic, story-telling to cooking demonstrations. My skit was called short because the other foreign teachers were involved but some of their Chinese teachers didn't let them leave their classrooms to help (I forgot to add, my class was the only one in the kindergarten that had parents in the classroom or that did a show).

After all of the shows were over, all of the parents, students and teachers from our class went to a 5-star hotel's buffet. The parents paid for the teachers, excellent. It was a great lunch and one I really needed. I haven't been eating Western food very much because it's so much more expensive than eating Chinese or cooking at home and I've been craving it pretty badly so that took care of that need.

I've posted pictures on picasa from Children's Day, they're not the greatest but they're ok. One of the parents will be making me a copy of the video from the day so I'll post that video online, too. It's obviously longer and I'm not sure where I'll be able to do it since I can't access youtube but I'll figure something out. This way you can all hear my Chinese.

On Wednesday, the school and the entire area was without power. The government shuts off the power in certain areas during the summer for a day in order to save money and electricity. Luckily, I live in the city center so they'll never do it to my apartment area. The parents and Chinese teachers, not the foreign teachers, were told the day before so I only had 4 students show up to school. Needless to say, I didn't have to teach that day which was quite nice. Before 9am my shirt was completely wet from the sweat because it was in the low 90s that day and the humidity here is extremely high, and that's coming from someone who lives in humid Atlanta.

It was a pretty crazy week but luckily it's over and I'm able to sit back and relax finally. It's a beautiful Saturday and when Vi comes back from work after lunch, we'll head to the beach for the afternoon and evening. If it's a nice day tomorrow, too, we'll probably head back to the beach for the whole day. It's just so hard to stay in the city when the beach is so close and it's so beautiful outside.

Until next time...

Pete's Birthday in Wuhan

First, let me start by explaining why I haven't posted in a couple weeks. The blog site has been blocked here and I can't access it. I'm having to go through a proxy server to access my account to post this blog. I can only guess someone posted a blog that wasn't approved for the general Chinese public. Anyways, I'm able to post blogs but can't put any pictures on this site so you'll have to look at my picasa site to see the pictures.

So, earlier this month, a group of five of us went to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, for Pete's 21st birthday. Me, Pete (21 from England), Ross (37 from Australia), Jack (19 from Denmark) and Chris (20 from South Africa) took a weekend train trip to Wuhan.

It's a tradition in England that when you turn 21, you take a trip with friends to somewhere you've never been so we decided to do something special for Pete since he's away from home. We chose Wuhan because we've been hanging out with a local businessman, Jack (we call him Chinese Jack since there's already a Jack), from Wuhan, and he's been inviting us to Wuhan for over a month now. We decided to take him up on his offer.

We left Friday rigth after school to the train station and took a 12 hour train ride to Wuhan. The train ride was easy, trains in China are great. We arrived a little before 6am to a rainy Wuhan. We hopped on a bus and made our way to the area we would be staying. Chinese Jack took us to a small area where we had a traditional Wuahn breakfast. A Wuhan breakfast consists of hot, dry noodles and a form of baozi, steamed bread with meat in the middle. The noodles were extremely dry because of the sauce and we're just so-so.

After breakfast we went to the hotel and took naps until noon. Chinese Jack woke us all up and we took a 5 hour walking tour of Wuhan. The city's quite beautiful and definitely unique in China. At some point in its history, they had Russians, English and even Americans in the city and they all influenced the city in large ways. The buildings and architecture is all very British while another area was very, very Russian feeling. As for the American influence, they had YMCAs and churches all over the city.

On the walking tour we also stopped into a back-alley shop that had counterfeit products (you can see the video) where I bought myself and Pete fake Rolexs for very, very cheap.

After the tour we made our way back to the hotel area and hung out at Chinese Jack's brother's restaurant and bar until that night. That night we watched a soccer championship game, I'm not sure what because I don't really follow it but of course, the Englishman does.

That night we went to a KTV, karaoke lounge, for a little bit but soon left to find a dance club for Pete. This was the most interesting part of the trip. The first place we went into was packed but over 80% guys so we decided to leave and find another place. We walked into 4 other clubs but they had less than 10 people in each one. We were very confused by this and asked Chinese Jack about it the next day and he explained to us that the mafia controlled this area of Wuhan so they decided whose bars would be successful and whose wouldn't. When we walked back to the first club, we noticed that there were numerous people in the Army hanging outside and were shown that most of the guys inside were mafia so we decided to just call it a night.

Sunday was actually Pete's birthday so we went out for a proper lunch. We found a traditional Chinese restaurant and the food was great and extremely cheap; six of us ate for 251 RMB (roughly $35). During the lunch we all tried, and surprisingly liked, frog ovaries. We also made Pete the insides of a goose head and yes, the Chinese people would eat so it's not that strange here.

After lunch we had a couple hours to spend before our train ride back so went to a massage place next door and all got foot massages for less than $3. The massages lasted an hour and by the end of it, they told us we could have full-body massages for just $4 so we decided to stay for another hour to relax a little more. The massages were great and extremely relaxing. We walked around for another 30 minutes before heading back to the hotel to get our bags and head to the train station.

We arrived back in Shenzhen Monday morning about 7:45am which meant our train was late because it should've arrived at 7:20am. We called the school and told them we'd be slightly late, we're supposed to be there by 7:50 to greet the kids. When we arrived the principal wasn't mad but actually seemed happy we went to another city to see more of China.

The weekend was so fun we've decided to take weekend trips for everyone's birthday from now on.

I'll be sure to try to keep the blog updated, even through a proxy.

Flag Raising Ceremony

My school led the flag raising ceremony this last Monday. We have it every Monday morning and my class finally got their chance. I've posted pictures and videos on my picasa site for you to see. Enjoy.

The Fam

It's Saturday night and I just spent most of the day with Vi's family. It started at 9:30 this morning when a car with her aunt and grandmother arrived to pick us up and drive us to Dongguan for lunch with her family. We all met in Dongguan because her father and uncle share an apartment near where they work and it's more convenient for everyone to meet there rather in Heyuan.

We got to her father's and uncle's apartment around 10:30 and I met her mother, father, aunt, uncle, brother (about 19) and cousin (about 16) right away; her sister (about 22) ended up coming a little after us. We all sat in the living room for a little bit and talked before heading to lunch. Her uncle was able to speak a little English and her cousin was better at a little conversation after lunch but other that that, no English was spoken. Her mom had her younger brother teach her how to say, "How are you?" but she was too nervous when she met me to try and say it. Even though she didn't attempt, it meant a lot just knowing that she was trying to learn some English to make me feel more comfortable.

Meeting the family isn't quite like in America. They don't really shake hands or give hugs or anything, it's just hi and that's kind of it, short and awkward.

We headed down the street for the restaurant her aunt works at for lunch. It was an excellent lunch and I tried some new local dishes and dishes from their hometown that I've never had before. I ate dove for the first time and the other stuff I tried I have no idea how to explain. As usual, it was all very good though. Lunch was much better than dinner on Tuesday night. Everyone was laughing and talking and just having a good time. We had an entire room to ourselves and there was a tv in there and Vi's younger brother watched tv pretty much the whole time, which was kind of strange to be eating with the tv on. Her younger brother's in his 2nd year of college so he's roughly 19.

After dinner, we were told to bring out our camera for a picture. Well, Vi didn't tell me to bring a camera and so we didn't have one, this was a bad thing. We went outside and rented a camera, came back and took some pictures. I was happy about this because I wanted to bring my camera and take a picture but I didn't want to be that foreign dork asking everyone to take a picture so I could document this day, since it is the first time I'm meeting her family.

After dinner, we went back to the apartment for a little bit to continue talking. Her family could tell how awkward it was for me so they called a car to come pick up me, Vi, her aunt and uncle and take us back to Shenzhen shortly after we came back. This was when we handed out the hongbao (I spelled it wrong in my last post, this is money given in red envelopes) to everyone. Her family was very nice and it seemed as though they liked me enough and they at least didn't disapprove me, which is very nice. Her cousin commented on my long eyelashes, something most Chinese girls do, and the rest of her family pointed out my big smile and said it was beautiful, that was nice.

Overall, it was a good experience. I'm really glad I got to meet almost all of her family, she has one other uncle I haven't met. They all seem to really enjoy being together and reminded me of being with all of my family. Everyone was laughing and joking with each other, really enjoying each other's company.

Time to catch up

Sorry about not posting a blog in a while, it's been a busy couple of weeks with school and other things.

So the only interesting news is that for Easter weekend, Vivi and I went to the beach, Dameisha. We stayed at the Sheraton that I absolutely love. It's an incredible hotel right on the beach. They have their own private beach which is very, very important in China. You'll see from some of the pictures how packed the beaches get on the weekends.

Other than our beach trip, not much has happened. I got my raise at school so I'm not making 11,500 RMB per month, which is very nice. I'm also tutoring a 12 year old boy named Bill during my lunch break for 45 minutes Monday through Thursday. Bill's younger brother, Stanley, is one of my students at the kindergarten. It's good tutoring him because he was born in Canada and went from K to 3rd grade before returning to China so his English is great. They just want me to work with him so his English doesn't suffer while being in China.

I'm also teaching an extra class on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school from 5:00 to 5:45 with some kids from my class. It's a great source of extra money and the parents mainly want me to just play with the kids and teach a little English. It's nice because I can teach them English they can use, such as complete sentences and common questions and answers so they can actually begin to communicate.

This month, I'll begin tutoring a girl from my K3 class and possibly have classes on Mondays and Wednesdays after school from 5:00 to 5:45 for students from my K3 class. Let me explain the K3 class thing. I have 1 class I'm in charge of at the kindergarten, called International 1A. International means they get a foreign teacher while the 1 means they're 1 level, the youngest students in the school with an international teacher. Once a day, from 10:40-11:05, I teach in a K3 class. The K means they only get an international teacher for 1 class everyday (cheaper) and the 3 means they're 3rd level, so they're about 5 years old. This is a great class to teach and a nice break from the 2 and 3 year olds. I'll be doing a demonstration class for the interested parents next week and we'll see from there if they're interested.

Oh yea, I also I had to go to Hong Kong last weekend to simply get my passport stamped and leave the mainland. My visa's good for 1 year but only in 3 month stays, this means I need to leave the mainland at least once every 3 months. Normally this won't be a problem because I plan on going to Hong Kong for many reasons this time around (hiking, Disney World, sight-seeing, friends) but because we've been strapped for cash while getting settled, we haven't had the chance. Anyways, I was able to simply walk to the border in less than 20 minutes from my apartment. I left mainland China, walked across a bridge and just 3 minutes later, I was at immigration for Hong Kong. Totally, it took me less than 25 minutes from closing my apartment door to getting my passport stamped by Hong Kong authorities.

Once I was over the border, I had to get on a train and go one stop, turn around and come back. They don't allow to simply go across, turn around and come back. Once you're in Hong Kong, you have to get on a train so I didn't have any other choices. It was interesting to be able to simply walk across the border like that.

The big news that I know my family's waiting to hear about is me meeting Vivi's family. Tuesday night I ate dinner with her grandmother, aunt, uncle and her uncle's mother. This was the most awkward dinner of my life for many reasons. One, they spoke their town's language (Heyuan), not Mandarin. While my Mandarin's not great, I can usually understand the basic ideas of sentences and can actually respond in Mandarin. I sat there quiet for pretty much the whole time, not fun. Second, it was the first time the grandmother, and possibly everyone else at the table, had ever been face to face with anyone who's not Chinese so there was this weird feeling. Third, after the dinner, the women left to the bathroom which left me sitting across from the uncle in complete silence for at least 3 minutes. They weren't too interested in talking about me and Vivi because they've already asked her a million questions, they just socialized.

Besides the meeting, when a boyfriend meets his girlfriend's family in China, he must present the family members with gifts, hembao (money) and of course, pay for the meal. I presented her grandmother with 500 RMB (roughly $70) and the other older woman with 200 RMB (less than $30) because she's an older woman and that's tradition. We also bought gifts for the grandmother and aunt. This is simply tradition that has carried over from the days of dowries. In China, when a girl gets married she is seen as leaving her family and entering the man's family so the man must give compensation for the loss of a daughter.

Saturday we're going to Dongguan to meet her mother, father, a different aunt and uncle for lunch. Vi told me yesterday that we'll be sharing a car with her aunt and grandmother on the way there because it'll be cheaper and faster (it's May Day, a large holiday in China so any and all forms of transportation are crazy). I'm not excited about this for 2 reasons: it's cheaper for them because I'm obligated to pay and this means I'll be quiet for an even longer time tomorrow. It will also be awkward in the car, just like it will be at lunch. Needless to say, as much as I want to meet her family, I'm glad this will not be a normal occurrence, there's no words that can truly describe the feelings of sitting at a table with her family members and have no idea what's going on around me at all.

Oh well, I love Vi and this is important for everyone involved so I'm just going to suck it up and keep a smile on my face and be as polite as possible so hopefully they won't be disappointed with Vi's decision. They won't tell her she's not allowed to be with me but I just don't want Vi to get that feeling.

Vivi's Big Weekend

This weekend was/is a time of firsts for Vivi. Saturday, she bought contacts that she can leave in her eyes for a month without having to take them out once. This was a concept she did not believe last year and luckily, we stumbled on a Lens Crafters just down the street that carries these contacts. She had worn the daily contacts before but hated putting them in every morning so she stopped altogether. She's been just wearing her glasses when she has to read and being partly blind the rest of the day. It's been even better being with her and her being able to actually see things clearly now.





The even bigger and definitely more exciting first is the new oven. We bought a little oven for the apartment Saturday afternoon. This is the first oven Vivi's ever used and even the first one she's ever seen in a house/apartment. It was about $50 and it's great. We had originally put a smaller one in our cart but we ran into one of my students' parents at Metro and she told us we'd regret not getting the next size up. Well, we took her advice and got one size bigger, best advice in China, so far.





While we were at Metro, we bought cake mix and sugar cookie mix to test out the new oven. Vivi really wants to learn how to bake so this is the introduction course to baking 101. We made the sugar cookies tonight and they came out great. Vivi even went so far as to exclaim, "I love myself!" because she loved her cookies so much. We had some milk delivered to the apartment from a small convenience shop and we offered the deliver girl a cookie. She happily said yes and absolutely loved it. A big smile came over her face and she said, in Chinese, wow, so great! This, of course, just made Vivi even happier.





We also bought a little set with an apron, oven mit, hot plate holder and a towel. Vivi was really excited about this when we bought it and I wouldn't allow her to wear it until she began baking so tonight was the first night she got to wear it. It really was like a kid on the day of Christmas opening her gift and getting a chance to play with it. This was a really fun night and we've been smiling the whole time.

Next up, chicken wings!

You can see more of the pictures from our first night baking in my photo albums.