point of interest

Well things are the usual. We've been getting ready for this holiday coming up. There is some kind of "national holidays" that happen in October. Everyone in I think Wuhan or China has the week of Oct 1st to 7th off. Lots of people go on vacation and stuff and naturally school is off for that week. We (and when I say we, I mean me) have been looking forward to this time off for a long time. Just to get away or whatever.
Anyway, some of us are going to Shanghai. Breanna, Winnie and myslef. Patrick was going to come with us but his anke is not getting any better so he's going to stay home. Anyway, we have our train tickets. Unfortunately we weren't able to get sleeper cabins, so we have seater cabins. It's an 18 hour trip to Shanghai. We're taking an overnight train, so we'll see how that goes. We're only going for a few days so we plan on having fun. Winnie is one of the chinese teachers here so, with her being chinese, it should help us alot to get around town. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Shanghai is all about. Unfortunately I won't have any updates to my blog till I get back, unless I can get my hands on a computer with internet connection available.
Anyway, there was something that I wanted to mention.
My students and I have been moving on in our lessons here and they already know how to say "my name is" so now we've added more to this with "how are you?" and "I'm fine thank you" So I've had them practicing a dialogue that includes all of this. Just very simple, greeting, what's your name, how are you and goodbye.
So I have them come up 2 at a time and the practice the same dialogue over and over. They love doing this. Some of them after they have had their turn, they go back to their seat and rasie their hand to come up again.
Anyway, I had one of my students, a boy Randy and a girl Alice come up to do the dialogue. I will type the dialogue as it happened:

Alice: Hello
Randy: Hello
Alice: What's your name?
Randy: My name is Randy
Alice: How are you today?
Randy: I'm Randy.

I just stated to laugh. I was laughing so much. I was the only one laughing but the thing about my students is, once I start laughing, then they all laugh even though they don't know what I'm laughing at. I knew why I was laughing but then I had to control myself and have them continue. That was a point of interest that I wanted to share with you.

Anyway, I'm off to Shanghai for a few days. I'll keep you posted on that.

TTFN and let the good times roll!!!

I'm sorry to have to do this.....

But you leave me no choice.
I hate spam. I hate comment spam. Since blogger has become an open forum (something I don't mind) I've been getting alot of comment spam (something I do mind)
Unforunately, I have to put the spam blocker on my blog now. This may discourage some people from leaving comments and that's ok, but I don't like spam comments. They are a waste of my time and also very disappointing since I'm looking forward to comments from a person who gives a damn.
Once again, I'm sorry for any inconvenience. I truly enjoy your comments but I hate spam too much and must now do something about it.

thank you very much and keep reading.

I'm sorry to have to do this.....

well-ity, well-ity, well-ity

Ok, so the school gave us these coupons for this buffet restaurant in town. We had heard good things about and some other teachers had been already and said it was really good. All you could eat food as well as all you can drink beer and wine.
So the cast of characters included, myslef, Annaick, Patrick, my assistant Lily and Annaick's assistant for activity Daisy. Daisy is also one of the teachers with whom we've made good friends with. So we head out to the restaurant and it's on the 8th floor of this building. The building turned out to be a huge multi level department store. Unfortunately, there was only one elevator and there was a huge crowd waiting for it and the elevators are not very big.
So we take the escalators up, which was a bit difficult for Patrick but was better than waiting for the elevator which would probably be cramped and we may not have gotten in on the first load anyway.
We get to the restaurant, which reminded me of Mandarin, but not at the same time. It was definitely more chinese and they had woks to hold the food, not the hot tables.
Everything I tried was quite good. They even had crab legs which were absolutely delicious. The crab meat seemed to melt in your mouth. Annaick was very happy that there was wine. It was something she had been looking forward to in a long time. Annaick has a french (as in from France not just Quebec) background and as most of you know, the french drink wine with their food. Everyday we have had beer so she was very happy to have the wine. The wine itself wasn't the greatest but it was a good change. And needless to say, that didn't stop us from drinking it all. We drank all the wine that was in the carafe and then all the prefilled glasses that they had ready for you to take. No one was particularly drunk but everyone was a bit tipsy.
We had a really great time. We made jokes and laughed and took a few pictures as well. Plus at the restaurant they had a piano and this girl came out and was playing some lovely music. It was a really great evening and we all left satisfied. I was glad Lily came because I got to talk to her a bit and get to know her a bit more as well. All we do at school is talk about the lessons we need to plan and what to do about the students. We never really just talk. She kept yelling at me to either stop laughing or stop making her laugh. Like I said, we had fun.
When we got home, me, Patrick and Nick hung out and had a few beers. This is when drunkness started to set it but we had a blast just talking and laughing. We didn't go to bed till 2:30 am. I woke up this morning, not with a hang over but a little on the tired side. Infact, I'm supposed to be at the office at 9am everyday. Sometimes I am and sometimes I'm not. On Mondays and Tuesdays my first class doesn't start till 10:20am so I just sit around either planning lessons, correcting books or preparing something. On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, my first classes are at 9:25am.
This morning I woke up at 9am and got to my first class at 9:23am with a cup of tea in hand. My students were curious to know what was wrong with me and why I came into class with tea. How do you explain the "cocktail flu" to a 6 year old chinese student with very little english.

Yeah, I didn't explain it either.
Anyway, the kids are either getting more and more out of control or more and more excited about learning english. I actually think it's both but it is very annoying sometimes. Even Lily is beginning to lose her patience and left a classroom before me for the first time ever. Usually, when the bell rings, I leave the class first and she meets me in the office or the next class but today she left the room while I was still getting my stuff together. Anyway, other than the minor hiccups I'm sure are bound to happen, I think I'm doing good. I try to keep the kids entertained and I know they like that better than me just spilling english words at them.

So that's about it..............
TTFN

I miss......I hate.......not to mention the smells

Ok, besides the obvious, one of the things I miss is writing in cursive handwriting. The students are just learning and I have to keep the letters seperated so that they can see and understand each one. Sometimes I find myslef writing a word and then having to erase it because I wrote it using my cursive handwriting. Sometimes it's a pain, but what can I do.
I hate having to say hello, just about every 30 seconds. Some of the students know english. Some know more than others but all of the students know the word hello. All of them and when they see me or any other teacher, they just bombard you with that word. HELLO, HELLO, HELLO, HELLO. And like I said before the concept of personal space has eluded them so when they wave, they put their hands right in your face. I'm nearly going hoarse saying hello to everyone. Some of the older kids, know how to say what's your name, my name is and nice to meet you. But when all else fails, they only say hello. And the thing that kills me the most is, they can say the word hello but if you try to get them to just say the letter L, they do it with great difficulty. I just don't get it.
Speaking of things I hate, not to mention the smells. Everyday, I'm bombarded with smells on the street. There are many street vendors that sell food. Usually the same things can be found everywhere. There is this one dish that's made in a wok. It looks like it's being fried up or something. I can't really tell you because I've never gotten too close. This thing stinks to high heaven. I can't really describe the smell but if I had to I would describe it as rotting garbage covered in baby diapers filled with baby poop. The thing that kills me is I find it hard to believe that they think this is a pleasant odour and line up to get this meal. That's the most revolting thing I've smelled ever and usually try to plug my nose when passing. There are many other stinks that float around but that one is a killer.

TTFN

Another in the round of blonde jokes

I don't condone blonde jokes but you can't argue with something that makes you laugh.
Here it goes;

T-G-I-F vs S-H-I-T
A business man got on an elevator. When he entered, there was a blonde already inside who greeted him with a bright, "T-G-I-F." He smiled at her and replied, "S-H-I-T." She looked puzzled and repeated, "T-G-I-F," more slowly. He again answered, "S-H-I-T." The blonde was trying to keep it friendly, so she smiled her biggest smile, and said as sweetly as possibly, "T-G-I-F." The man smiled back to her and once again, "S-H-I-T."
The exasperated blonde finally decided to explain. "T-G-I-F" means Thank Goodness It's Friday. Get it, duuhhh?"
The man answered, "S-H-I-T" means "Sorry, Honey, It's Thursday!"

HA HA HA!!

Anyway, I'm still having problems getting pictures on here. The pics keep adding up and I have no way of showing them to you. Unfortunately, you'll have to bear with me a little longer till I can get this thing figured out.
Thank you for your patience in this time of "picture woes". We hope to have this situation resolved soon.

TTFN

a little trip

Well today was a petty good day. Annaick, Roy, Angela and myself went to the museum. Many beautiful things to see.
China recently (and when I say recently I mean like the past 30 years or so) found the tomb of an ex-ruler, Marquis Yi of Zeng State. The historic culture was both beautiful and awe inspiring. I took many pictures but my only mistake was not getting the captions or even writing down the names of the things I took. In any event, the pics came out very beautiful. Also I took some video. There were three big and hugely important pieces I saw. One was the actually coffin he was buried in which was a massive outer coffin and then an inner one. When I say massive I mean 8 feet wide, 10 feet high and about 15 feet long. Yeah huge!! Also there were these 2 different type of bowls. One type came in a set of nine and the other type had eight bowls. Apparently this is how wealth and importance was determined and there is a significance with the numbers 8 and 9. Only the wealthiest and most important would have the 8 and 9 bowl set. Aristocrats and the like would have the bowls as well buried with them but not that many. The least important you were the less bowls you had. All very interesting. Now the biggest and most important piece, which was amazing to see and surprising to see that it was still intact. The musical bells. They were absolutely huge and very very beautiful.
I had to actually sit and just watch them. It was a very inspirational sight. I couldn't just take one picture of it so I had to take video. I'm hoping I don't have any more problems with the blogger program so that I can get some pics on here for you to see but the pics only tell part of the story. You really had to be there.
After we went through and saw all of the exhibits, we stayed for the orchestral show. They had a replica of the bell set as well as other instruments that were used in that time period. Watching and listening to them play was very beautiful. I got video of that as well and a few pics. When you see all of this you really get a sense of the history of China and it really makes you want to learn and discover more. I really had a great time and am glad I went.
So I will see what I can do and try to get some pics on here for you.
Now, I have to go to bed. We all take turns doing a sentence of the week and tomorrow is my turn. My sentence this week is "let's go for a walk". I have to get up earlier that normal because I have to be ready for the assembly at 8am. I'm gonna have to do this sentence with style though. Just to spice it up a bit.

TTFN

Precious little angels

Well I have turned off my fan for the first time since I got here and I've finally stopped sweating. When I arrived in China, I was sweating so much from the heat and because it was hot all the time (morning, noon, night, midnight, 4 in the morning) I just never stopped sweating. So like I said the weather is changing. I actually had to wear a sweater yesterday and I may have to change my top sheet to my comforter to sleep now. I woke up this morning and I was curled into a little ball because I was feeling cold and my sheet did little to help me. Anyway, I'm a little concerned about the winter. Even though there is no snow and the temperature doesn't go too low (not like in Canada atleast), without the heat to provide you some warmth and relief, I might end up always feeling cold all the time. For me this really sucks because I hate winter. We'll see what happens.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch. I gave my test yesterday and had to give a few people zero for cheating. They thought I was kidding about that. Silly, little children. Nonetheless, I'm very interested in seeing how the rest of them do. I had a look at a few papers and saw some of them doing well. Others, however, hadn't even written a thing.
My kids are so amazing though. Yesterday after lunch I had activity with 2 of my classes. Basically the activity class is the class in which we play a game or sing a song or just do something fun in general. Anything but actually following the curriculum. I like the activity classes just as much as the kids. I don't really have to think and we all have fun.
Yesterday we sang the hokey pokey and they had a blast. They really liked the part when "you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around" They just kept laughing.
It's so funny how some things are just universal. Children all over the world behave in the same manner at the same ages. They react the same way to different situations. It's really very cool. They are my precious little angels. So enough about me and my kids, I just love them alot and wish I could take some of them back with me.
So now I have to pull out my winter clothes and get ready or cold times ahead. I seriously don't think that there will be another warm day. Mother nature has made up her mind and she will not deviate. It's very odd because I'm not used to the weather changing so quickly. It literally happened overnight. One night we were sitting in my room, we had to have the AC and the fan going and we were all sweating. The very next night, we all took off our fans and had to find sweaters to wear to go out.
Well that's about it.........
TTFN

just for update's sake

Well the weather is changing and it's starting to get cool. Annaick is very excited that winter is coming. She loves winter and winter sports. Personally I hate winter. Everything about it. The coldness, the runny noses, the bundling up, the care you have to take when walking on show/ice. I hate it all. Luckily there is no snow here but it can get pretty cold. Anyway, the chill in the air can now be felt and my knee is bothering me a bit so I know the weather is changing.
Anyway, I'm starting to fall in love with some of my students. I told a few of them that I would be taking that back to Canada with me. They are just so cute. Now more than ever they run to me on my way to class to get first dibs at holding my hand. It's come to the point that I leave the office about a minute or 2 before class starts so that the majority of them are already in class so that I'm not hounded on my way there. Before, I would leave with lots of time but so many of them were in the hallways that I had a hard time getting to my class. They are adorable though.
So I'm gonna be having a test today, to complete the first unit. One class surprised me when we did review and knew everything they were supposed to know. Another class was very disappointing and not a single person could read what I wrote on the board. We'll see how their tests come out.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, since our internet it back, we've all been feeling batter. Now we also have some cable TV going but with it being in chinese it doesn't help us much. There is one english channel but that can get very boring. We've pretty much stuck to our movies.
Yesterday, Patrick was telling me that a chinese friend of his invited him to a party at the university and if I wanted to come. I agreed for 2 reasons, 1) I'm always up to party and don't let the fact that I have to work the next day stop me from doing so, 2) I knew Patrick would want some company, plus some help since he's on his crutches still. So after dinner we got ready and we were off. We caught a cab to the university and when we got there and tried to call this friend (named Damien), his phone was turned off. Then we took a cab to his house and noone was there. Then we tried calling again and the phone was still turned off. After standing around for a bit, we decided to go home. On the way there we had a thought of big plans to pick up some potato chips and go home and watch a movie. When we got back into the neighbourhood, the store that we were going to buy the chips at was closed. Needless to say we were disappointed. So we walked back home, on the way we saw this local fast food place. We stopped in for a bite and apparently made the day of the staff, who were so excited to see us. They couldn't stop giggling and ofcourse spent most of their time staring at us.
So we left there and while walking up to the house we said that we could still watch a movie but when we got to the house, someone was already watching TV. So basically our entire night was a bust. We did nothing we planned on doing and spent a lot of money on cab fare for nothing. I did tell Patrick that there was a positive side to this, he atleast got out of the house for a few hours. Small consolation but something is better than nothing.
While we were sitting in my room chatting and stuff, Damon stopped by for a bit. We showed him the pics from the night we all partied after bowling and he had seen Patrick with the cast for the first time.
There was a bit of a funny moment however. Patrick was sitting around thinking about how frustrated he was now that he's in a cast. He says "I can't believe this happened to me. I liked walking. Things were so much easier then. Look at me now, I can't do anything. I can't run or jump, or sing or play" I burst out laughing "Patrick, your ankle has nothing to do with your voice. You can still sing!!" It was a funny moment.
Anyway, that's about it for now. I have my test to give out to my classes today, then in the afternoon I have activity classes, then we'll see what the weekend has in store. Hopefully some fun.
You'll be the second to know.

TTFN

The following 5 posts were written in advanced for you reading pleasure.

Once again, huge apologies for no updates. Our internet was down and there wasn't much I could do. Things are back and running and everything here is same ole same ole but like I said, I wrote the blogs and saved them to enter later and here they are.
Try to read them in order.

Tisha

Monday, Sept 19th. day time

Just another regular day at school. When I first came to China, Patrick was playing his guitar and I asked him if he would teach me He replied with a cheerful yes but I honestly didn't think it would happen.
Well I got a whim and decided that I would buy a guitar. Patrick offered to go with me to the store to check out a few but I told him that I would have to wait till the end of the month before I bought it (depending on the cost). We went to this one store and all the guitars there sucked. Then we went to another store that sold mostly electric guitars but they had an acoustic one just sitting there. Then I found out that it was both acoustic and electric. What a bonus!! It was the correct weight and size for me and cost Y300, which is about 50 bucks. Then I got him to throw in a carrying bag, strap, and pick. I was in heaven. Never did I think I would buy a guitar, much less seriously play one. I've always said that I've envied people who can play an instrument but I never did anything about it....and now I am.
So Patrick has been an awesome teacher and I've been learning pretty well. The only downside. I have to wait till my finger tips develop calluses. Right now they are sore and tender but I have to keep practicing till I get past that.
Anyway, I'll keep you posted on me and my lessons.

Sunday, Sept 18th. day time

So we all pretty much slept in and woke up to just laze around. Around 1:30pm or so, we sat there thinking that Patrick just wasn't going to get up and would just sleep the day away. A few minutes after that he walks through the front door with crutches and a half cast on his foot.
Apparently when he woke up his ankle was so swollen that he went to the hospital. They did some x-rays and found nothing broken but asked him if he wanted to take pills or if he would prefer to bandage it up so that it healed on it's own. Patrick doesn't like taking pills so he opted for the half cast. We were stunned when he walked into the room. So now, he's on crutches and the school won't allow him to work but he's still in and out of the office doing stuff.
So we've all been laughing at this whole thing because just before I got to China, Patrick had an unfortunate instance and broke his wrist. I don't think he's having the best of luck in China, but I did tell him that it would make for one hell of a story.
Him and I have been hanging out a lot. He's cool to talk to and just great for laughs.
That's about it for a lazy Sunday.
TTFN

Saturday, Sept 17th. night time

Well after coming home and spending a few hours chilling out, we went to our little restaurant for dinner. After we came home Damon came over with his chinese friend Sophia after we invited him to go bowling with us.
Sophia was a great girl. Her english wasn't the greatest but she tried really hard to communicate with us and our very bad chinese. I'm a firm believer in the international language of gestures. It has gotten me this far and was really helpful in speaking with Sophia. Damon helped translate when things got really rough but other than that we did pretty good.
So we get to the bowling alley and it's a fairly nice place. We had a great time though. The cast of characters included Breanna, Patrick, Annaick, ofcourse Sophia and Damon and naturally myself. Sophia really took a shining to me and kept cheering me on in chinese. We had a really good time laughing, talking, taking pics and being silly. We didn't even notice when the bowling alley was closing up.
Before we left Sophia was saying that friends of hers wanted to take us out to a bar for a few drinks.
We went to this sort of bar nightclub that was apparently owned by Sophia's friends. In chinese culture, whenever someone invites you out to eat or for drinks or whatever, they always pick up the tab. No matter what. This was convenient for us since drinks flowed like water because, like I said her friends were the owners.
One thing I love about the chinese, they drink like a fish and smoke like a chimney. And, if they know you smoke and they offer you a cigarette, you have to take it. It's one of those, they would be insulted if you didn't type of thing. So this means that I ended up smoking like a chimney. It got to the point where I had to let a cigarette burn out because I couldn't smoke anymore. It was all in good fun though.
Anyway, we had an awesome time at the bar. Sophia was very drunk and would have stayed there all night if we let her but around one o'clock we decided to split. Sophia really liked me and said that she wanted for us all to get together again. She wants me to help her with her english. She's a great gal.
Anyway, that was that fun and exciting night. Although while dancing Patrick fell and may have hurt his ankle. He needed help walking home. I told him that if it was swollen in the morning then it was sprained, if not then he my have just twisted it. Well see what happens but that's about it.
TTFN

Saturday, Sept 17th. day time

Well Saturday I had the invitation to lunch with Emily and the other english teachers she hooked up. A cast of characters indeed. I'm really bad with names so you'll have to bear with me. One guy, from London. Not bad to look at. Seems very interested in learning chinese culture etc. Seems very happy to be hear. Another guy from Australia. Really good looking, tall and well spoken. Also seems to be having a good time. His friend from USA. Well, don't mean to offend anyone but he is the typical American. He's from Oregon and isn't too bad to look at either. A little arrogant but nice nonetheless. Girl from Mississippi. Nice but a little strange looking. Another thing, she knew she was coming out to lunch, yet she had a big breakfast and hardly ate anything. Two other girls from Dallas. Very nice but a little off. Both with very beautiful eyes. The girl from Mississippi brought her friend who is chinese and also quite pretty. The 3 girls were all friends and have been for some time, I've gathered. They were talking about the fact that they all went to college together.
It was interesting to hear about other people's experiences in China. It sounds like the girls live in an apartment building. They were talking about the fact that they lived on the third floor and how their places were set up. The guys apparently, had it pretty rough. They had to almost fend for themselves and had very little help getting things set up. One of they girls was saying that she had to get someone to come in and set up her internet.
This left me thinking..... really lucked out. I mean, I've always liked the frat house but now I like it more. How many people have wished that they were walking distance from their job? How many people thought that they would live on the same premises as their job? How many people actually do? I have this luxury. I may not have a very big room or my own kitchen or anything like that but, atleast I was provided with the things I needed right away and I didn't eed anyone to come in and set anything up for me or ask for something that was promised and never delivered.
I think I have a pretty good set up here. I live at the school, I have internet connection (mostly) and I have a kitchen I never use because I spend so much time at a little restaurant around the corner. I'm on a busy street so I can get anything I want anytime and I live with some amazing people.
Anyway, it was fantastic finally meeting Emily and the lunch as really good as well. The only thing is Emily's emails have been great to read and gave me the impression that her english was excellent. Well her english is good, but there were a few times when she had difficulty understanding us and when she had difficulty getting her own point across. All in all however, she's very nice and I hope to see her again before I leave.
Getting back home was interesting since I did it all by myself. It was the first time I had been out on my own and so far from home. From the restaurant I walked to downtown, once again getting stares all the way. I have found however, since chinese people are the obvious majority, that when I do see a non-chinese person I find myself staring at them just as much as the chinese people do. It is a rare thing to see a non-chinese face staring back at you because they do the same thing. when they see you. I saw a girl today. Blonde. We both gave each other that OMG-you're-not-chinese look.
Well, as I was saying. I walked around downtown for a bit. Actually I stopped in a store that I've come to visit regularly. I had my eye on this leather bag there and to myself that if it was still there at the end of the month, I would buy it. Well I stopped in to see if it was still there.................unfortunately, gone. I was heartbroken. I will have to see another time if there is anything else that'll tickle my fancy.
Anyway, I hopped on my bus and after that and a short walk I was back home. I was so very proud since I did it on my own and soley on memory.
Anyway, that's as far as the adventure goes for now. As usual I will keep you posted. Be sure to keep reading and I love your comments.
TTFN

Friday, Sept 16th. night time

I apologize that there hasn't been a blog entry in such a long time. We have had problems with our internet connection here and noone at the house has been able to get online. In any event, here is what you missed so far.
Some of you may know and some of you have been able to figure out, that I'm a pretty fun and easy going individual. However, when I get a few drinks in me, I'm even more fun. It's the whole, when I'm good I'm good and when I'm bad I'm better thing. Anyway, Friday night we all went out to party. The cast of characters included, Annaick, Patrick, Roy, Angela, Breanna, Harry and his girlfriend and 2 chinese friends of Harry. We had a blast. We were dancing and drinking and having a great time. I got some awesome pictures.
The thing that made this time even better was the fact that it was completely unexpected. We were sitting at home watching Seinfeld (on dvd ofcourse) and Harry and his girlfriend stopped by. Harry was saying that he was meeting some friends for drinks and if any of us wanted to some along. We agreed and that was that. The place tt we went to, Patrick Annaick and I had been to before but we left because the music was too loud and it reminded us of a strip club. This time it wasn't too bad but I have to admit, I was dancing to bubble gum music. Only because it was a welcome change to the chinese music I've been hearing everyday. So like I said we had a blast.
Before we went to the bar though, Annaick and I went to our favourite little restaurant for dinner. We've sort of gotten into the habit of muddling our way through to order a dish or picking one at random from the menu. Annaick knows a bit of chinese so it's been ok. Friday, however, we picked a dish at random. It came to the table and looked quite good. We started to eat it and it tasted quite nice. It was this sort of fried up dish with green peppers. I love the green peppers here they are good. But it also had this meat that we were unable to figure out. At first we thought it was pork but it was too chewy to be pork. Then we were thinking that it was a seafood of some type but we still couldn't figure out what it was. Annaick then asked the lady what it was and she, ofcourse, told us the chinese name for it. We made it a point of remembering the pronunciation. We figured we could ask Harry or his girlfriend (Harry speaks chinese and his girlfriend is chinese and no, I don't know her name). Anyway, we ate away, that dish and another regular one that we usually ordered and were quite satisfied.
So we got home and gave Harry the name of the dish as it was told to us and asked him what it was called. After trying to figure out what we were saying, he was ale to tell us. Do you want to know what the dish was???
It was cow stomach. YES, I ate cow stomach. I can't believe it myself, but I ate cow stomach. I have to say it was pretty good but if someone told me it was cow stomach before I ate it I don't know if I would have. But I guess this is why I came to China. To discover a new culture and try out the foods they eat. Well that's about it for now. Next post will hopefully have pics.
TTFN

stuff

Well another day another yen.
This heat here is quite mind boggling. You feel sort of hot but you sweat profusely. You sweat more than you think you are hot. I don't know if that makes sense but that's the best way for me to explain it.
Anyway, I had a test for my students today. Now to be clear, for the past 2 weeks we have been going over and over the phrases "what is your name?" and "my name is" plus I have also done the first 5 letters of the alphabet in both upper and lower case. We have done this everyday for 2 weeks. Believe it or not, there are still people in all three classes that are having problems. One of my students actually cheated off of another girl's test and wrote to the question 'what is your name?' "my name is Justine" He's a boy. On the other hand, I'm not completely surprised that he did that because he never pays attention in my class. In any event, I haven't marked those tests yet but I'm going to prepare myself for some really shody work, but I have to move on. I have no choice but to go to the next lesson.
On another note, I got my pasport back with my resident's permit attached. My passprot has never seen this much action. My permit is good till July 10th, so I have to be out of the country by then. I plan on being out before that in any event. I also have my certificate of health evaluation as well as my foreign experts certificate. I have no clue what that is for but it's something just as important.
Well today I tried my hand at cooking. I went to the market and picked up a few things, brought it home and cooked some lunch. Nothing special, just a sort of stir fry with beef, peppers, oinions, garlic, mushrooms and vermicelli noodles. It was pretty good. I spent the afternoon on my computer and then went to dinner with Annaick and Patrick to our favourite little place.
I'm beginning to get a bit more of the chinese language in me. It's sometimes confusing and a bit frustrating but once you understand the 4 tones, your are pretty much halfway there. I've learned my numbers from 1-10 and the hand signs for each number. This is helpful when you are buying things because they use the hand signals alot when they speak. Sometimes they talk so fast but because I see what hand sign they are doing I know how much they are talking about. It's also good for me when I want to tell them how much of something I want when I forget how to say the number.
I do have some good news. Some of you may know and I think I have mentioned it before but there are some sites that I'm unable to access here because of the restriction the government puts on the internet. My blog being one of those sites. Well I have found a way to get around that. Now I will be able to check out any other blogs as well as be able to check my own. Some of you may wonder why I need to check my own blog. Well the reason is so that I don't type the same thing twice. I have noticed that a few stories were repeated but I won't have that problem anymore.

Anyway, I'm going to see if I can get those pics loaded and as usual, I'll keep you posted.

TTFN

technical difficulties

I don't know why but I'm having problems uploading my pics to blogger so that you can be able to see them. I'm hoping I get this sorted out soon because a few of the pics are really cool and I would like you to see them
Other than that, things are same ole same ole here. I got an email from Emily (my contact for the school prior to me coming to China) she gave me an invite for lunch this Saturday. I'll definitely be going. Apparently, Sunday is the day of the mid-autumn festival. It is a big deal here and something that is hugely celebrated. One of my friends here got a gift of moon cakes from a student in celebration of this festival. The moon cake is pretty good but it is also a very thick and rich cake. They come in small pieces but it's very difficult to finish one. I find it helpful to eat it with something to drink. Other than that, it has been very hot here and I think it affects the students ability to concentrate. They are all so restless and talkative that it can be very difficult to get through a lesson.
The lessons have been a bit frustrating. I've come to the conclusion that we are not really teaching the students english, but teaching them some english phrases and the appropriate response for each. They have no background or understanding of why. They have no clue on the difference between a noun and a verb. Anyway, that ain't my probalem. I will continue to do as I'm told. What I'm trying to say though is it's a little difficult but nothing I can't handle.
So I'm just gonna get ready to go back now. Had my lunch and going to get ready for the rest of the day. I will try my best to get the pic issue resolved. There are a few neat ones I want you guys to see.

Till then
TTFN

Good times

Well today started off pretty uneventful. I have to admit, I didn't want to do much. Then some time in the early afternoon, Patrick and Annaick invited me to Hankou (<--- correct spelling. I spelled it wrong before as Hong Ko). That was pretty good. You can take a bus over there but it is a very long trip. Instead we took the ferry. It's cheaper, faster and is a great little ride. The only thing about the ferry is that the bottom deck stinks of piss. Not pee but piss. Needless to say we rode on the upper deck. We went to walking street. Which, as the name suggests, is a big street where there are no cars and people only walk. There are many shops and restaurants and I even saw a Walmart superstore there. We went to a little restaurant and had this amazing dish (I forget the name) but it's like thse meat filled dumplings with a kind of soup inside. When you take a dumpling you have to bite the bottom and suck the soup out then eat the dumpling. That was really nice. We did some more walking around town and then came back home.
Annaick moved out of the frat house and I moved into her room. She lives in the newer apartments now. These apartments are just right next door, and they're pretty good. The only thing is that the stairs to go up to them are still under a bit of construction but the room itself is nice. Lucky for her, she has her own kitchen but we eat out so much (it's really cheap to) that I don't see her using it very much. Anyway, we hung out there for a bit, then went to our favourite little restaurant around the corner for dinner.
We just got back in now and I have to admit that after all of those beers, I feel pretty pooped. All in all we had a great day seeing the sights of Hankou. I'd love to go back again and now that I've seen how easy it is to get there by ferry, I will.
Tomorrow, I'll share some pics from today's adventure. For now, I'm going to bed.

TTFN

Entertainment

Well not a whole heck of a lot is going on, so I thought I would entertain with some of the pics that were taken.

This is Daisy, Breanna, Annie (bottom middle) and Caroline. This is at Hong Shah square. Beautiful place to hang out. They are posing in front of one of the bonzai trees that were there.

This is Hong Shah square again. In this shot, you can see the square a little more. It's hard to get good night time pics with my camera but you get the idea.
This is us at Pizza Hut. That would be Patrick, Daisy, Breanna, Annie, Caroline and myself. I don't know what I'm doing with my hand. Anyway, we had a very good time there as I mentioned in an earlier post.
This is Annaik, Patrick and myself. This is when we got seperated and went to that little bar for a beer. Annaik set up the camera so we could get the shot. We had a really great time there as well. I'm sure you've notice, but the three of us have been hanging out alot.

I really like this shot. This was taken when we left the Pizza Hut. On very busy streets and some intersections, they have walkways that go over the street. This is where this shot was taken. Now like I said, night time shots are hard to take with my camera, but this shot is actually supposed to be this way. The cars drive very fast here, and when you take a pic, it comes out as a big blur of lights and metal. I kinda like it.
Anyway, like I said, not much going on. I'll post something else once something happens. Today is Friday (thankfully) so we have the weekend to look forward to. I'm getting into the habit of taking my camera with me everywhere, so we'll see if I can get some more stuff to show you from this weekend.

Anyway, TTFN.

Hmm

Yesterday was a pretty good day. The sun was out, so that automatically makes it better. A welcome change from all the rain and overcast days. Anyway, the school day was........well a school day. Luckily it was Wednesday so it was our half day. I had hoped to go back to that shop and see if that purse was still there but we had to go with Mr Ye to the police station to get our residents' permits (the paperwork never ends. Everyday it something). Anyway, we spent alot of time there. Practically the whole afternoon. Annaik and I were exhausted by the time we came home. We went out for dinner at the little restaurant around the corner and had a nice little chat getting to know each other. We're both capricorns so we had a lot of things in common. We came home, watched a movie and pretty much went to bed.

Another note:
I didn't realize that when I boarded the plane at LBP airport that I was actually getting on a time machine and I was going back 20 years to the 1980's
I believe that the fashion police would go into serious meltdown at all the crimes against fashion that I have seen. People where pajamas, like they are a shirt and pants combo to be worn on the street. They see no problem with this. Franky I don't think they know the difference. There was one thing that I saw that almost sent me into shock. This girl was wearing these emerald green knee high boots, maybe even brighter than emerald green. With a white skirt with red polka dots and a black top, and, she had a mullet. AHHH that's not just a crime against fashion, that's a crime against nature.
Anyway, I just had to get that off my chest.

TTFN.

yesterday

Well yesterday was a pretty interesting day. It was overcast all day but thankfully it didn't rain. The day of school was pretty good. My teacher's aid Lily was very serious about keeping the kids quiet and I would be lying if I said I didn't appreciate it. They are begining to recognize and understand the simple phrases "what is your name" and "my name is" so atleast I can begin to move on in my lessons. The students are begining to take to me. During break times when I'm on my way to class, they run up to me and practically fight to hold my hand. I like it.
Anyway, I finally got my contract fully signed by the principal. We actually all did it together with Mr Ye putting the official stamp on it. While the principal (who's name I forget) was signing my english version of the contract, I noticed that he was kinda hot looking. I don't know if he's married but he doesn't speak any english so it will never work.
Anyway, after school, me, Annaik and Patrick went out to pick up a few more supplies. I got a tea pot to brew my rose tea with and a mop for my bathroom , as well as a few other things. As far as things that are needed for the apartment, I believe I'm set. After all that shopping, we went to another little restaurant and had this amazing dish with flat noodles and asparagus. It was really good. But on the way there, we bore witness to something that was really shocking. While walking on the side walk just under a tree we heard this loud bang. When we turned around we were surprised to see that a bus ran into the very big branch of the tree. Not once but twice. The tree one the fight and left the bus with a very big dent near the top. The tree lost a little bark but it was very funny to see.
After we ate, Patrick had to go back home but Annaik and I continued window shopping and exploring the street some more. We found this really nice bag shop and I have my eye on a bag I want to get. If it is still there when I go back, it will be mine. So we pretty much walked around and stepped into a few stores every now and then. The street that the school is on is very very busy and filled with many shops. There was even a street sale going on in one of the side streets. We had a really great time.
Anyway, today is shaping up to be a better day. It's sunny out and it's Wednesday (my half day). I have to go with Mr Ye and Annaik to the police station to get a residents' permit but then the rest of the day is ours. We promised Breanna that we would go with her to Hung Ko. She had a traditional Chinese dress made and she has to go pick it up. Plus we're gonna go down to walking street which is a really big shopping area in Hung Ko. That should be fun. I'll fill you in later today.

For now, ta ta

Another day

Ok, so yesterday evening I did end up venturing out on my own. I walked to the McDonald's, which is about 15 minutes away. They speak english there which was pretty cool. I'm guessing that the McDonald's corporation made that a requirement. The Big Mac is the same and the fries are just as good but that is not something I will have again for a long time. I rather have the typical chinese dishes and eat with my chopsticks. Anyway I was able to get the plug adapter for my laptop so I now have that plugged in and I've put away the computer that the school provided.
Today was an ok day. I finally named all of my students. 3 classes with 45 students each. You do the math. I also spent a little time again on the phrases "what is your name?" and "my name is..." Because these students have very little to no english, repetition is the best way to teach. It's tiring and time consuming but it's really the only way.
My teachers' aide Lily, is so nonchalant that it's become an annoyance. She gives no feedback and seems to have no interest in what I'm doing. On the plus side, Mr. Ye gave me a small advance on my monthly pay check so I have some money to last me till the end of the month when I get the rest of my pay. I have my eye on this leather bag that I want so much. It's not a bad price and it will suit me fine.
I got a few more lessons planned after my last class so I could think of ways to get the children more engaged in what they are learning. Although today I had them come up to the board to write the letters we have learned so far. They did well which leads me to believe that I'm not doing that bad of a job.
After work me, Annaik, Breanna and Patrick went to Carrefour to do some shopping. Carrefour is sort of like a really big Walmart or something with a grocery store and a department store. It is very big and is 3 floors of stores. I got a few supplies that I needed and was also able to get some fresh rose tea and bread and the fixins for bread for breakfast. There still are a few other things I'd like to buy, just to make myself comfortable at the house, but generally I'm doing well.
We all came back home to drop the bags off and me, Patrick and Annaik went to a little restaurant for dinner. We had this hotplate with pork and onions and peppers all fried up and this other beef dish that was done with jalapenos. Both a bit on the spicy side but both very good.
There has been a schedule change for myself tomorrow and I have an early class at 8:35. Lily has assured me that it's only for this week but with me still having a bit of trouble sleeping through the night, I'll probably be up for that, or even before anyways.
The weather is still sucking out here and I gave in and bought an umbrella. Typically I hate umbrellas and I never use them but with the weather the way it is here, it's pretty much a necessity.

So that's about it for now. Hopefully the weather will clear up as predicted. I hate overcast days.

TTFN

A smokers' paradise

Here in Wuhan, you could just about smoke everywhere. Obviously on the street but you could walk into a store smoking, a restaurant anywhere. You could even smoke in a cab and here's the clincher. When you smoke in a cab, you could put the butt out on the floor of the cab. That for me is mind boggling but cool at the same time and yet also disturbing. Plus people spit everywhere here. Even the women, and when I say everywhere, I mean everywhere.
Today was a good day. I slept the morning away (still trying to adjust to the time change) but it doesn't help that I went to bed at 4am. When I woke up there was a knock on my door and an invitation to go out for lunch. We went to this little restaurant about a 20-30 minute walk away from the school. We had this fish soup which was really nice but once again, we were stared at by the other patrons and the staff as we ate. It was me, Breanna, Patrick and Annaik. Patrick had to meet some other people so he stayed after lunch but we left. On the way back, the three of us did some small shopping but mostly window shopped. Lots of things to see and so many things I had my eye on to purchase once I get the time and money. The street that the school is on is very very busy with many shops etc. So far I have only been down one way so I'll have to check out what's down the other side of the street.
Actually I haven't been out on my own and I'll like to do that soon, maybe even tonight to get something for dinner. Nick was telling me about a museum that's not too far away that I would love to check out as soon as possible. I love museums and art, so that will be a big treat for me, especially since it's not that far away.
Anyway, I'm going to try to get some work done today. I'm still making a list of names to give to my students. Actually in looking up the names (which are in alphabetical order) I'm now on the letter H. I was thinking of naming one of my students Hung but my perverted mind would not be able to let it go. So I will pass on that name but if I come across a kid names Hung......well, I just don't know. So I have to give Mr. Ye my plan for the semester and then every month I have to give him a plan as well. Plus I have to ensure that I keep my daily lessons written as he'll be checking those fairly regularly. His english isn't the greatest so I could write a bunch of crap in my lesson plan book and he'll just look at the size of it and think it's great. I know that's wrong to do but.... well whatever.
Anyway, not much else going on right now. Once again it was a rainy day. It was more overcast and less rain than yesterday but other than that pretty decent temperature wise. Not too hot, not too cold.
BTW, I would like to send out a special thank you to all the new people who have stumbled across my blog and thought it was interesting enough to read and keep in mind. Your comments are greatly appreciated and feel free to pass the site on to a friend. As I have said in the past I will try my best to keep you enteratined but I have realized that my life was interesting enough to put out there so..... thanks again.

Anyway, TTFN

Just to let you know

Anyone who knows me at the renn faire, knows where I spend alot of my time. Currently it is 12:30 am here but it would be 12:30 pm in Canada right now.

Right about now, I would be in the hat shop.

And now I would be in the hat shop

And now I would be in the hat shop

Just to let you know.

:-)

Good times

Well today started out pretty crappy. It was pouring rain all day. I had the opportunity to go to town with Breanna but the rain wasn't encouraging so I just stayed home and watched tv. I had to take a nap in the afternoon because my body is still adjusting to the time change. Sleeping at night is proving to be somewhat difficult and in the day I get so tired. So I napped for a couple hours and then Annaik (my "neighbour" in the house) woke me up and told me that we were still going to Pizza Hut. So we took a cab into town and that was a good trip.
The Pizza Hut was a little la dee da, almost like a Red Lobster or something but not like a Pizza Hut at home. We had to wait to be seated and then ordered pizza from menues. We had a good crowd. Ofcourse myself, Annaik, Patrick (<--- other teachers), then Breanna's friend Annie and her friends Carolyn and Daisy. We had a blast and took pictures and made jokes (pictures to come later). When we left it turned out to be such a great night that we opted to take a walk down the street as opposed to going right home. There were so many shops and restaurants along the way. Some of the same shops were repeated several times but then we got to Hong Shah square which was very beautiful. There was marble everywhere and bonzai trees and neon lights. It was really great.
After spending some time there, Daisy had to leave but the rest of us walked back up the street and took a bus to another part of town that wasn't too far from the school. We had intentions of going back home but when we crossed the street we got seperated and me, Annaik and Patrick ended up walking together. On the way Patrick mentioned that there was a, like a boardwalk that had restaurants and bars that he had been to before. Annaik suggested that we check it out and we were on our way. We walked past a restaurant that was set up kinda like a bistro with the chairs and tables on the sidewalk and then walked further down and went to this bar that Patrick said he had been to before. They had Jack Daniels posters outside so we figured that would be a good place to go. When we got in there, it was like we went into a strip club. The music was very very loud and there was a red velvet curtain and it was very dark. There were alot of booths with low light and candles and the people were all huddled together. Needless to say we left there and went to another place. We had a few beers and after about an hour or so we came home.
So while the day started off with not much going on, we ended uo having a pretty great time. I still have to get used to people staring at me.
The weather is not supposed to be the greatest tomorrow so I think I'll just stay home and get some lessons planned and that kind of thing. I also need to make a list of English names so that I can name the rest of the kids in my class. I only have named about 1/3 of one class so I'll have a lot of work to do on Monday. I gotta make sure I'm prepared.
Anyway, I'm going to try to see if I could get a full night's sleep tonight. I'm still having a hard time adjusting.

TTFN

Yesterday

First I'd like to say that you are more than welcome to leave comments. I'm still unable to view the blog site but atleast I can receive your comments. The only thing is a can't reply to them like I used to but, ya know.

Yesterday, was a great day. The only thing that sucked was the fact that it was raining and it still is actually. Anyway, I had to get up fairly early because I had to go to the foreign affairs office and get a physical examination done again. Don't ask me why, I did it before I left with my doctor but they insisted that I had to do it again. Anyway, that went by fairly quickly. I went with my teacher's assistant Lily, who is really nice. We got back to the school just in time to go to our first class. Once again, all the students seem to be amazed by my skin and hair and spent alot of time staring at me. The morning classes were good and then we broke for lunch. I didn't have much to eat but once again the food was pretty good.
After lunch I had two activity classes and these are done with my other teacher's assistant Dania. We did a paperfolding class and my first activity class was very out of control. They wouldn't stop talking and just kept getting louder and louder. Poor Dania was trying so hard to keep them quite but they would only do so for a few seconds and then start up again. I ended up yelling a booming "hey" which stunned, surprised and shut up all.
In my second activity class we did the same thing but we made it clear to them at the begining that they had to remain quiet or we weren't going to do anything. They were a little better but they were still out of control. With the paper folding we made a boat then a house and it was good to see the enthusiasm of the students. They are so eager to show me have far they had come with the folding and some of them needed my assistance but when they crowed around me they put the paper right in my face. Once again in true chinese fashion they have no clue on the concept of personal space.
Anyway, when we got back home, Breanna was telling me that her friend who is chinese and lives here in China was coming by to cook dinner because she was going to be going to Beijing for 3 years to study and wanted to spend some time with Breanna before she left.
Annie, Breanna's friend, speaks english quite well and came with her cousin Susanna, who's english is not as good. We all four went to the market to get things and that was an interesting experience. The fact that it was raining made it a little unpleasant and the market is a congested building with vendors everywhere and their merchandise (mostly fruit, vegetables, egg, meat etc) is just everywhere as well. I even saw pig's brains being sold. That was interesting.
The dinner that was made was fantastic. Mostly all typical chinese dishes. We had beef, which looks different than we see at home but tastes awesome. Annie did it with some red and green peppers and it was great. Then chicken that was fried up but it doesn't look or taste like chicken when we eat it but it is still very good. Then we had this porridge which is done with preserved eggs, which looks quite odd but actually tastes pretty decent. Then we had bitter melon with egg. Bitter melon is something that I know from Trinidad but is not available in Canada typically. Maybe at a west indian store but in Trinidad we know it a kharilee. Then we had cucumbers that was lightly tossed with sugar, water, vinergar and a few drops of sesame oil. We found this amazing sesame oil at the market which I will make a point of buying a couple bottles before I come back home. Then we also had friend egg with tomatoes. So all in all dinner was pretty good. I have mastered the art of using chopsticks now, so I should be ok from now on. I still have my fork and spoon as back up but I think I will use the chopsticks more.
After dinner we watched Seinfeld which everyone seemed to enjoy. I'm really glad I brought my Seinfeld and Simpsons DVD. It's cool because we have no tv and it's like watching television at home except there are no commercials.
Today is still a very rainy day so I'm unsure if we are going to do all the things we had planned. Today is Breanna's birthday and we were gonna go out for breakfast, then later we're gonna meet up with Annie again to do some other things. I think later on we planned on going to Pizza Hut for Breanna but we'll see how that unfolds. Breanna is sorta like a kid sister to me now so you'll probably read about her alot.
Anyway, I'm still having a little trouble sleeping through the night, so I'm hoping that my body will adjust soon. It is a major pain though.
Anyway, that's about it for now. Tonight I will tell you how today went.

TTFN

I get a lot of stares

You know when you were growing up, your parents told you that it was rude to stare. I don't think that the Chinese were told that. Apparently since I am a foreigner and I'm black, I'm subject to many people staring at me.
Also if there is any instance where I have to write my name or anything for that matter, it's up for anyone to invade my personal space and stick their nose in to see what I'm writing. That's another thing, they have no clue on the concept of personal space. While waiting in lines, anywhere, you could turn around and see someone standing right there.
Anyway, today was my first day of school and it started off very painful. I'm teaching 3 grade one classes which are students that are about 6-7 years old and they have no attention span and no idea on what it means to be quiet. Teaching them english will prove to be very difficult as alot of them have no memory retention and can really only imitate.
After writing simple sentences on the baord I got them to repeat after me but if I don't say the sentence and only point at the words, they aren't able to say anything.
They all know the alphabet very well, which is a really good start but other than that they are very lost.
Now I do have a teacher's assistant that will explain my instructions in chinese but this does not make it any easier. Another thing is that all of the students have chinese names and it's up to me to give them english ones. So I'm standing in front of a room of 40 kids or so and I have to name them all. I should have brought a baby book. Some of the chinese names sound similar to english ones so I just give them that but alot of them are not even close. There are a few kids with english names which makes my life much easier but things are shaping up to be very interesting this semester.
Lucky for me all 3 classes of mine are grade one students so I only have to create one lesson plan and use it in all three classes but this still doesn't mean I can just slack off.
Anyway, my afternoon classes were a little bit better but I must admit I feel quite tired.
Tomorrow I have morning classes and then 2 activity classes. The activity classes are usually the classes when the kids would play a game or do something fun. I'm glad I brought my Simpsons DVD's cause atleast I can give them a treat (and myself) every once in a while.
Tomorrow I have to go to the hospital and get tests re-done. Which is really stupid because I just had all these tests done with my doctor less than a week ago but they insist that it is very important and I have to do it again.
Life at my apartment is really cool. The other people I stay with are a great bunch of guys and gals. It almost feels like living in a fraternity. We have a common room where the big tv is and couches etc. Then the kitchen where we all sit around and eat and talk and smoke. Then we each have our individual rooms with our own tv's, bathroom, bed, desk etc. I quite like it and we all get along. The thing I like the most is that the apartments are right on the campus of the school so it is never a far walk from the office to home.
Speaking of which, I share an office with 5 other teachers. We each have our own desks and locks for the desk and there is one other english teacher in that office, who happens to be my next door neighbour in the apartments.
My class schedule is pretty ok. Wednesday is a half day (which all of us seem to have) but Friday will be my busiest day as I pretty much have a class in every period. There are 7 periods in the day, luckily no one has a class in first period but we all have to be in the office from 9-4:30. Second period starts at 9:25. A good thing to note however is that the lunch break is 2 hours long and the school feeds us. So I could have lunch and take a little nap too.

Anyway that's about it for now. I have internet connection to my laptop but I have to get an adapter to be able to plug it in. The three pronged plug does not work here. There is one bit of a downside. I was told that there are some websites that cannot be accessed in China (I don't know why they call it the world wide web) but unfortunately my actual blog site cannot be accessed. I can update the blog without a problem but I can't view or check it. It is when I check the blog, that I see your lovely comments. I'm going to try to see if I can get around that and I will keep you posted but if you leave a comment and I don't reply, I'm not ignoring you, I just have no way of seeing it right now.
But irregardless........no no, regardless of whether or not I can see the blog and your comments, I will still faithfully update and keep you posted.

TTFN