Teacher, You're from Texas, Right? No? Ok... New York City, right?

I've been having fun introducing myself to each of the elementary and high school classes by asking them where they think I am from. Every class has guessed America in seconds. However, in a few classes, I have asked them which state they think I am from. Texas had gotten the most guesses. I've tried to tell them that my voice would sound a little different if I had grown-up in Texas, but I don't think many students have understood that. I have tried comparing it to how all the different regions of China speak different dialects, but I don't think I've made a good enough comparison with that analogy. I have received a lot of guesses that I am from New York City, LA and Houston. I have received on San Francisco, which was very close. Once I show them on the map where I live between California and the state of Washington (no, I'm afraid not where President Obama lives kids) they seem a little disappointed that it is not one they are familiar with. However, I had one middle school student ask me which NBA team that I lived near and wanted to know if it is where Kobe is from. He said he had never heard of the Trail Blazers before and that I should move to Chicago to be close to the Bulls.

I decided that Star Trek the movie's pace was just too fast for English Language Learners. I instead had an awesome conversation about what they think will be like in 100 years. I had to teach the word "alien" to the class. They quickly picked up on the idea of an "alien" being a person moving from one country to another country, but I was having a rough go of explaining an "alien" from another planet. I attempted to draw the Earth and the other planets and made a lot of arrow from different planets to Earth. I'm pretty sure the students had a vague understanding after that. We spent some time on those pesky infinitives and I gave a very brief definition of Science Fiction to the class. I gave them an even briefer description of the three main characters on "Star Trek" and how they are on a mission of peace. I put on the beginning of the "Tribbles" episode and they loved it. They especially enjoyed Spock's ears and were quick to call him an "alien." They asked me to bring more episodes next time. I was just subbing in for a teacher on holiday today, but it was a fun group to teach. Maybe I'll get some of them as students later in the year.

The rest of the day at work was not too exciting. One of my classes was canceled and I got a lot of planning done for the next few weeks. I am trying to build a decent portfolio of lesson plans so I can have some proof of my work here for future potential employers back home.

I made another adventurous trip to the Lotus this evening for groceries. I only got a bag of sweet peas taken away from me, even though they had been weighed and everything! I found an Australian brand of oatmeal that is much, much cheaper then my normal box of ridiculously expensive cereal so I am excited to try that out. Tonight I made my first traditional Chinese dish of eggs and tomatoes over rice that one of the local teachers told me would be simple to make. I've had the dish from restaurants, but it was fun making it on my own.

Captain's Log: 3 Weeks down!

Saturday Morning: Classes not Cartoons for my little students

After an infuriating discussion over Skype with Cricket Wireless this morning (a representative and a manager kept on calling me a liar about living in China) I walked past a huge wedding party on my way to work this morning. There were nine bridesmaids and groomsmen. They were taking pictures in front of an apartment complex with a beautiful landscape. It was a fantastic way to transition from an ugly phone call to a very pleasant day at work.

I had a nine o'clock preschool class. We are still learning about items of clothing and figuring out what "put on" and "take off" mean. This particular group is my favorite class so far. They are just so happy, and although they get a little distracted at times by one another, they seem genuinely happy to be there. I am happy to be there.

I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon planning for tomorrow's lessons. I taught two separate elementary level classes this afternoon the same lesson because the second class's teacher is out on holiday. My first class just had two girls in it and it was very fun. We practiced our conversations a lot more and I got to spend some extra one-on-one grammar time with both of them. We were studying the difference between holiday and festival. The students taught me that June 1 is Children's Day in China (and in other parts of the world, too) where school is closed for the day, except for a musical celebration at the schools, and parents give their children presents and spoil them. Both of the little girls in my class have their fingers crossed for a Barbie or two.

My second afternoon class had ten students. I knew it was going to be a rough class period when I had to create a seating chart just after the first ten minutes! They were rowdy, but mostly in a fun way. They are all very excited for Children's Day. They really had a rough go of learning about Hanukah. One boy came up to me perplexed, "Teacher. Those people with all the candles and all the presents. So happy. Why don't those Christians figure it out that they are losing out on presents with just the one day. They just need to put the tree in the garbage." Priceless. I can imagine all those holidays being very confusing and illogical to a boy who is a traditional Chinese Atheist.

Well, gotta go do some "research" for my high school class tomorrow. They are starting a unit on the future and I am going to show them a clip of the new Star Trek movie and have them write to one of the characters telling them what they think the future is going to be like.

Hope you all are having a lovely start to your Memorial Day Weekend!

This morning I went by cab to meet my friend Cindy at a Starbucks near her apartment complex. In the taxi on the way over I saw one of the crazy pesticide trucks spewing at the plants along the freeway's divider. I had read and had heard about those trucks before, but I kind of shrugged it off because it sounds so weird. It was weird... and a little heartbreaking to watch this huge hose from a gigantic truck spraying out all those gross chemicals on those plants giving us a little oxygen in this polluted town.

However, seeing Cindy was nice this morning. We went into this shopping mall where the Starbucks is and had to go through several big department stores in order to find it. It was a huge Starbucks with much of the same furniture as there is in any Portland or Seattle location that I have ever been in. There were even black and white photographs of the first Starbucks in Seattle up on the walls. It was like a piece of the Northwest was in Beijing and it was comforting. Cindy I both ordered coffee and sat and talked and looked at some Chinese fashion magazines. It was a nice way to spend some time before work, but a pretty expensive outing. I took my first bus ride in Beijing back to work. The buses here are so long and crowded. They also have a TV on in the bus playing advertisements just like in the subways and most elevators in the city.

We had our weekly academic staff meeting this afternoon where our boss let us know that she is leaving in six weeks time. I was just starting to really like her! Her long time boyfriend got a fabulous gig back in their home of England that they just couldn't pass up. Both of their EF contracts are up for a contract renewal this July, so it is the perfect time for them. This means our school will be out of a academic director right when the crazy Summer Course begins. Claire, the senior teacher, will have to take on much of Vicky's role, and the rest of the teaching staff will have to cover some of her classes and the class's Vicky teaches! Everyone just sat for a bit processing.

The people who smoke on the staff decided to go outside and two other teachers, Miles and Stephanie, and I went back to the staff room to start lesson planning again. I went to warm up my lunch in the microwave and it started to billow lots of grey smoke. I unplugged it and we opened up all the windows. Miles decided that we were breathing in some pretty nasty air and suggested we join the rest of our crew outside. It was a nice humorous save for the afternoon. We later discovered that there was an old dumpling that had caught on fire in the microwave and we put the old machine to rest.

I had a really fun class today of mostly third and fourth graders. I taught them about mysteries and detective stories. I even found this cool site online akin to the old school choose your own adventure books, but for a detective. They seemed to enjoy it even though I think a lot of the vocabulary was probably too advanced. It was a nice way to end a rather weird work day.

I love a rainy night...

The early heat wave subsided today for some rain, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The city just smells better! The first week or so the smell was a bit hard to get use to, but it had gotten a lot better for me. However, even though the rain makes our windows disgusting, it does refresh the air. I've noticed that when it rains stores and businesses will put out rugs or towels that run across the entrances. It is very kind.

I was taken out today by my boss and the center manager along with Cindy, a local teacher who has already been here for a month, but hadn't had her welcome lunch yet. Claire, the senior teacher was also asked to go along. We went to a restaurant across the street for some spicy Chinese food. The center manager was freaked out by my semi-vegetarian eating habits and decided to order a lot of meat dishes in the hopes of changing my mind. He ordered this huge bowl of tiny baby shrimp with everything still on them! It is a much more honest way of eating meat, for sure, and I respect that, but it grosses me out! We did get some good broccoli and tofu dishes, so I had plenty. The restaurant was very pretty and had a great view of the street. We even got treated out for ice cream for desert and it was lovely.

I spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for my future classes and I am starting to feel more comfortable in the staff room. I even got my own basket to carry materials around from classroom to classroom. I even have my own shelf so I don't have to stow away my lesson plans and books in my little personal locker. I found out today that I cleared all my medical tests and now can apply for a year long residency. I will be going with Lucia, my representative and the cute European boys next Tuesday morning to apply. It is nice to know.

My classes this evening were fantastic. My first class is all little girls and we learned about the letter "T." I feel that I am doing my own spot for "Sesame Street" sometimes in the preschool classrooms. I'm going to try to see if I can find any "Sesame Street" video clips that pertain to our specific letters of the day for my classes to watch sometimes online. My last class of the evening has a lot of students. I had a mom ask me to have her kid speak in complex and/or compound sentences back to me. We teach simple, complete sentence structures and phrases in most of the preschool classes, and often that is a struggle. I tried to appease the mom, but her little student was more interested in putting his little chair on his head tonight!

My friend Cindy is taking me to a Starbucks in her neighborhood tomorrow morning! I am so excited. I wonder if they have a Pike's Place Roast in Beijing? That would be sweet....

Hutong Party Time!

I've had a pretty great weekend. I wasn't moving luggage around in a crazy taxi, and that made all of the difference!

I spent my Tuesday afternoon at a park a short subway ride away with two other girls from the school, Amy and Sarah. It was a beautiful park full of Cypress trees which are very beautiful. The entrance fee was 2 RMB. You have to pay to visit most parks, even neighborhood parks, in Beijing. We walked around the park and found some shade and sat and chatted. It was nice to be surrounded by more nature then the little courtyard my complex has. There isn't much greenery in the city. It was a very hot day.

Around dinner time, we walked over to the Lama Temple neighborhood. The Lama Temple is a Buddhist temple and most of the restaurants around the area cater to a very clean, mostly vegetarian way of cooking. One of Amy's friends came to have dinner with us. She worked with EF, but her last day of work was last week, and she is moving back to Florida to pick up the kindergarden class she left on sabbatical for to come to China. It was nice to talk to another American girl and it made me realize how lucky I am in to be in the school I was placed in. Maybe that switch that happened the day I arrived was the best thing for me? Maybe a little bit of fate was helping me out. The restaurant was beautiful. There was an indoor courtyard that we sat in. We drank two bottles of wine together and talked and talked mostly about boys. It was a fun girls' evening. I had a fantastic salad with all recognizable vegetables and some hummus on toast. I was very content. I am excited to go back to tour the Temple and eat there again.

I left the girl around nine to head back to our school's neighborhood because I was meeting with our senior teacher, Claire, to go to a housewarming party for an American teacher name Ryan. Claire and I took the subway there and a couple of teachers met up with us at the stop to walk us over. Ryan moved into a Hutong neighborhood. A Hutong is an alleyway of one story apartment buildings and shops, one right after another. Here is a link for a better description: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/hutong/ Hutong's vary in socioeconomic standing and Ryan was living in one that might be in the middle-ish ranking of a Hutong neighborhood. He wanted more of a traditional living space.

The party was fun. I was able to meet a few more teachers. My boss, Vicky, and her long time boyfriend, Liam, were there, and I got a chance to get to know them both a little better and it was lovely. Liam told me a lot about the underground city that you can't visit anymore. A police officer came to tell us to quiet down, and most people were moving to another bar, but I decided to call it quits and go home. I was pretty tired.

I had a pretty lazy day today, which I think I needed. I slept in, talked to Laura, Dad, Joanna and my Mom on Skype which was really good. I braved a trip to the Lotus, and again, bought too many groceries. I guess I learn slowly. You can only buy soy-sauce here in huge jugs, and that was weighty. I did find some skim milk, though, and got all of my vegetables correctly weighed. I had no problem at the check out counter! I steamed a lot of veggies and made enough rice for quite a few meals so I can bring them to work over the next few days, at least. It is nice having more control over the food I eat.

Hope you all have a great Wednesday! I had a pretty good one out here in the future!

Uncle Ladd's Corner: How much is it for a coke, quart of milk, McDonald's fish fillet?

I bought a quart of refrigerated skim milk for 16.95 RMB = 2.48 USD

I found just a can of coke at the grocery store for 1.95 RMB = .28 USD

I haven't been inside a McDonald's yet. I have only really been passed one, but I don't think there is one in my neighborhood. I'll keep out on the look out and let you know!

My first class trip to crazy town!

Hello Everyone! Today, I was having a pretty great day. I got to talk to Laura and my Mom for a long time over Skype, which made me feel a lot better. I went to work and planned for today's classes and started planning for Thursday's lessons. I even got one workshop out of the way with John, the Center Director. We talked about parent teacher communication and the difference between Western and Eastern parents and I learned a lot. Since families in China are only allowed to have one child, they just want to provide that child with a lot of love and the best opportunities possible. I know that the school I am working has families that make a good income, but I have also learned that there are families that are scrapping by in order to provide their students with the opportunity to learn English in order for them to have more academic and career opportunities in the future.

However, while I was busy running around my first classroom tonight to prepare for the lesson, a child went a wild kingdom and started beating up another boy. The TA and I pulled the kid off of the other child and brought them both out to their parents. The TA was able to tell the parent and child who was acting like a bully that it was not acceptable behavior in the classroom. However, when he entered the classroom, he sat right next to boy he had been wailing on. I asked the TA to ask the mother to help us encourage him to move to another part of the room, but the mother said it was fine. The child continued to be awful during the rest of the class, which ruined the learning and fun for the other children and drove any patience out of the TA and I. It was a rough hour. The mom complained when I didn't give the child a reward sticker at the end of the class!

My next class was from 7:15 to 8:15 PM with fifteen three-year-olds. The first forty-five minutes were pretty good, but the last fifteen minutes were utterly chaotic. The children just lost it. I don't blame them, because it is so late for little ones. I am learning to not push any academic material at them, but mostly everyone was running around like little monsters at the end.

I went back to the staff room feeling defeated. One of the other foreign teachers, Sarah from South Africa, saw me and announced we were going out for a beer. She rounded up Cindy, one of the local teachers, and we each bought a can of Chinese PABST Blue Ribbon and sat in a little park outside one of the media village's and talked. It was really kind of them. Sarah said she recognized my "I had an awful day and I have no one to go home and talk to, stuck in this place" face, because she wore it often for the first bit of time in Beijing. We swapped being picked up at the airport and feeling just dumped in this place experiences, and it was really nice to talk to someone who has been through it. Cindy was so sweet just listening. She is considered really independent for a young Chinese woman here because she isn't married and does not live with her parents.

We were getting ready to leave when Claire, our Senior teacher at the school, came around and said she was taking us out for another round. We got into a taxi and went to a restaurant in Cindy's neighborhood. We talked about working at the school and all of their different traveling experiences. It was pretty awesome sitting at a table where every person was from a different country, but we've all ended teaching in the same school. It was a fantastic, unexpected beginning of my "weekend."

I had great Chinese food... In China! (That may never get old.)

Picture Time! Bartholomew chillin' after our crazy taxi ride to the apartment. The second is of my door, Room 1506. The third is some pink birds and leaves right above my couch. I haven't totally decided if I like it or not.

I had 8:45-10:15 accelerated preschool class this morning. The first hour was pretty ok, but the last half an hour was way too long! Those poor kids. I tried to get them moving around as much as possible, but I still had content I had to get in that day, so it was rough finding the right balance. My second class was also a preschool class, but it only had five students in it. They are all five-years-old and can already sight read quite a few English words. I had a lot of fun with them. We are continuing to learn how to tell time and today I taught them 12:00, noon, and midnight and they caught on really fast.

One of my afternoon classes was canceled, so I had some more time to prepare for my final class of the day. It was a second/third grade age class and it was a special class, called a "Life Club" that parents pay extra money for. The focus for life clubs this term is other English speaking countries, and today we focused on storytelling rituals in Ireland. I showed them pictures from Ireland, and like true city kids, they were amazed at the rolling mountains and bright, bright blue sky from the country side. They were very impressed with castles. They did not buy the Leprechaun business one bit. They kept calling him "the green alien." I understood where they were coming from. They are not into Santa or the tooth fairy over here, so a Leprechaun would probably seem outrageous. There is one boy in the class named Potato. I met Potato when I entered the classroom and he had made a little bed for himself out of the preschool stools. He made quite the first impression. He kept looking at me like I was crazy. I had showed them on a map where I had come from and he kept saying, "Teacher, are you from L.A.?" It's close enough.

I went out to dinner with some other teachers and my boss this evening. It was fantastic food. So far, I haven't done a very good job of finding great food on my own, but when there are other people around that can speak a little (or fluently in the case of the local teachers) I've had the best stuff! We had lotus root, broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms, a beef dish that I didn't participate in, and a fish with sprouts that I did have and it was a little spicy, but fantastic. It was fun eating dinner with people from all over the globe. We each had a Chinese version of PABST Blue Ribbon and had a fruit plate for desert. Everything was on this lazy susan. So good!

Captain's Log: 2 Weeks Down...

Starting to Make Connections...

The top picture is of Bartholomew in the kitchen supervising my appliances: the "stove top," water boiling teapot thing and the microwave. The second picture is of my shoe rack. Please note that the Shalom Y'all sign made the trek, too. Finally, the last picture is of my TV that I probably won't watch much unless I am interested about the news from Russia.

I taught one preschool level class this morning which was very fun. We continued to learn more about pieces of clothing, and I made this one boy, named Leo, put on an adult size pair of pants to demonstrate what "put on" and "take off" means. It was adorable. He was giggling through it and being a good sport in a room full of only girl peers.

I spent most of the rest of my day lesson planning for tomorrow. I have six and a half hours of just teaching tomorrow, which will the fullest day of teaching so far. I learned that in July and August we work six days a week of a split shift! That's going to be hard, but it will be so miserable outside, it will be ok to be in air conditioning. Today's weather was quite nice.

I went to find some take out lunch with a few of the other foreign teachers. They showed me a rice place just across the street from the school. It was all in Chinese, but the two others were able to help me find a chicken curry rice dish... There wasn't any meatless options. They told me that we should be getting another American teacher at the start of June, but they also said that Americans have the highest "chickening out" quota. However, EF teaches "American" English. I didn't realize what that meant until this afternoon when I observed my mentor teacher's oldest class group and they scolded her for writing "centre" instead of "center." I didn't think that was very cool. I very much enjoy having a staff made up of some many interesting voices! I often get most of their slang due to an enjoyment of numerous Hugh Grant movies.

I had a sweet moment today with one of the local teachers. She asked me why I had a "Splash" on my "The Office" traveling mug. I told her about Outdoor School and how we had special nicknames. She compared it to her having to have a "Western" name at the school. I told her I thought it is quite special that I have a group of friends that know me as "Splash," just like she has friends that know her better as "Cindy" then her Chinese name, which she told me, but I can't even begin to spell it on here.

I went to the Lotus after work to pick out a "summer comforter." They had a whole section of "summer comforters" and I just picked one based on the cutest print. My bed in the apartment is really, really hard and too short!

A Day of Sweet Surprises

Here are a couple more photos. The first is of Bartholomew on top of my washing machine. The second is Bartholomew checking out the view. The third is the creepy elephant that is saying, "The bathroom switches are here, you idiot!" At least that is what I think he is trying to say. He is creepy. I had asked for my landlord people to take it down, but I guess that might have gotten lost in translation, perhaps. I hope so. I can't seem to get it off the wall without taking lots of paint with me. I'll take any suggestions. He's going to be covered up by something soon, I hope!

Today was a fun day at school. We had a meeting about having a fire drill. This school has been running for over two and a half years and it hasn't figured out an evacuation plan for anything! Our boss put my hard working and over worked mentor teacher Amy up to the task of figuring it out. The lady is mentoring both myself and another teacher who has only been here for two months, Miles, and planning the entire summer academy for the school on top of preparing curriculum and teaching all of her own classes. Miles told me to enjoy the slack that they are giving me now, because, behold our futures! After lots of confusing, but light hearted arguing, the local office staff and teachers figured out who would be the last person out of the burning building. Luckily, the foreign teachers are just suppose to get their class out of there as fast as possible. Not a problem! People on the street were staring at us outside as we tried to communicate in two languages about who would line up where. It was pretty comical.

We had our teachers' meeting this afternoon, and at the end, the group had gotten together and bought me a few presents for my new place. They game me a fork and a knife (which are spendy here, even the plastic kind that they gave me) a mug to keep at work, a plate and a cereal bowl! So sweet! It made feel very welcomed. I also told everybody about my potato and lettuce incident at the grocery store, and I learned that I have to go have those loose items weighed before cashing out. Next time I will know what to do.

I also have a loaner telephone from EF. Someone from the main office is suppose to help me find a phone here, but they have not gotten around to it, so I have one of the extra school cell phones until that person finds time.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on lesson plans for this past evening and on the weekend. I taught a class of four ten and eleven-year-olds this evening. It was really fun. I played "Forced Choice" with them and we had a lot of good conversations. They were very excited to ask me my age and were very impressed with how many siblings I have. We read a short story on an alien named Zeb finding materials from numerous countries and loading it onto his space ship. However, at the end, it was too full of cows and sheep for the UK, wood from the U.S., clay from China and jewelry from India that he couldn't get it off the ground. I wrote a continuation story for us to read as a sample and then taught the students about brainstorming story ideas through a plot concept map. They had fun drawing the bubbles and making lines to connect their ideas. They each wrote a story in a few sentences. We worked a little on comparative and superlative adjectives and it was time to end class. It was a fun two hours. I'm painfully learning how to speak slowly and more concisely. It is hard. I'm trying not to speak too loudly, Maria, but I've totally caught myself speaking louder when I've been asked to explain a tricky word. I am not immune to that syndrome.

After class, I picked up some sushi to go and sat in my little park outside the building and just people watched for awhile. It was the perfect temperature outside and the sky had a purpleish glow that I know is smog, but I tried to pretend it was from the sunset.

Now, drum roll, please... Introducing Uncle Ladd's Corner. My Uncle Ladd is a very special man in my life and I have learned a lot from him. He has given me some homework questions to work on about the country I've adopted for the next year. I'm going to do my best to answer all of his questions in the next year. His questions will be in bold while I'll write out my answers normally. Here is the first one...

Uncle Ladd's Corner: Is the subway and buses public or private?

The public transportation system in Beijing, I know, is public, and it is pretty outstanding. I read on the web site, The Beijinger, which is in English, that Beijing alone has 520 bus lines! Most of the buses I have seen are huge, double decker buses, and there are some that are more akin to our TriMet buses in the Portland-Metro area. On the buses, it is 2 RMB for one ride. To get on the subway, you must first pass the security check, where you have to put your bag through a scanner, and I have, on a few occasions, seen people get patted down. I have often seen security checking for ID before people swipe their metro cards. You would think I would be asked for ID all the time, but I have learned from the other staff here that the security will leave you alone since they think you probably do not speak any Chinese dialect. It costs 2 RMB (.29 American dollars) to start your journey and 2 RMB to conclude your journey on the subway, but you can transfer as many times as you need to. I was really confused the first time when I had to pay to get out of there! The subway tunnels and cars are air conditioned, but you are packed in very, very tightly, and often have to struggle to make your way out depending on the time of the day!

Bartholomew's Own Travels to the Edge

My friend Jean gave me a gnome after I bought the Geo as a present in order to help keep me safe in my first car. I named him Bartholomew because it is an awesome name. Bartholomew has spent most of his life with me in the glove box of the Geo, giving a few passengers a sweet surprise when they have opened the door. He also spent some time outside in the Water Shed at Outdoor School this past fall and he really enjoyed it. He was bugging me to see the world and I just can't say no to that face. So far, he has been a good traveling companion with me in the Middle Kingdom. Bartholomew would like to show you some of his pictures since his arrival. Although, unfortunately, not as many as I hoped.

It has been taking me a real, real long time to figure out to posts pictures on here. I think these three are all the space I have perhaps. The two large ones are pictures of outside my hotel for Angela and then a picture of Bartholomew and Radar on top of my ugly, ugly couch for my Mom. I'll start an album on Facebook tomorrow with more, and I'll just try adding one or two on here for a couple of days unless I figure out how to post more! I think I'm just getting too tired tonight.

I had a lovely day back at work today and really appreciated my commute to school. Even the local teachers were complaining that it was hot today, so now I feel the right to do so. It is already like heat wave July hot here, and it is only May. The local teachers tell me it is just dry here, not humid, but if that's the case, someone needs to tell my hair that! I think I'll just be running from one air conditioned space to the next here over the summer.

I wish I could have given you a grander look at Bartholomew's world tonight, but I guess maybe a picture or two of the day won't be so bad for awhile. Oh... and keep reading because tomorrow night I will be unavailing a new section entitled: Uncle Ladd's Corner. Right now, it's night-night time.

Happy Birthday today, Angela! Hope you have a fantastic day!

My Room With A (Spectacular) View

Hello Everyone out there!

I am officially writing from my new apartment. I can't believe I have my own apartment on another continent! It is still scary and overwhelming, but pretty awesome at the same time. I think that's how I'm going to be living this year. It's scary and overwhelming, but at the end of the day, I know I am lucky to be able to have this opportunity at the most perfect time in my life to be doing this.

I had a lazy morning in the hotel sleeping in, watching an episode of "Firefly" because it's fun to hear Nathan Fillion botching up Mandarin too, and packing up my suitcases. I still can't believe how much my Mom helped me stuff into those bags!

I took a ridiculous taxi cab from the hotel to the Media Village. I had given written address in Chinese to the driver and he just started talking really loudly and I just kept pointing to the address. He took his sweet time getting there. He stopped to make phone calls and went on the highway. I've taken the same ride before from my school to the hotel by taxi and it is really just a clear one street kind of drive. Some of the local teachers and EF had warned me that some taxi drivers will take advantage of people who do not speak Chinese, and I think this happened to me. I just don't see how he couldn't know where the media village is because the neighborhood houses thousands of people.

I spent the afternoon starting to unpack my suitcases. Kelsey... If you are reading this the green skirt/table cloth you gave me was the first thing out! I went back to the Lotus to pick up sheets that ended up being too small. I then spent so much time wandering around the grocery section. I picked up the smallest bad of rice I could find which is still pretty hefty. I'll be eating that up for at least three months I predict. Finding vegetables was pretty easy, but I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if there was any soy milk. I found some cartons that said "less lactose" but that was as close as I got. I ended up picking up a carton that was actually in the refrigeration section. I just hope it isn't whole milk! I went to go pay and the cashier looked at me funny when she picked up my bag of potatoes and a bag of lettuce. She kept asking me a question that I couldn't answer, and then she just looked at me and threw them away. I was sad because I wanted both items, but there's that pesky language barrier again! It was a very, very long walk back to the complex! I think I will have to be like the French and buy enough groceries for just a day or two because I do not want to make a walk like that again.

My sweet landlord couple and her younger brother stopped by my place at seven this evening to hook up my Internet. It took the four of us, and an English speaking translator on the phone and about forty-five minutes for us to figure out how to configure my little Mac with a new Asian configuration! I am so thankful to have the Internet though.

I made a pretty awesome dinner of rice and a stir fry of eggplant, tomatoes, tofu and mushrooms. The potatoes would have been nice, but it still turned out ok. I have discovered dark chocolate covered pocky, too, and it has rocked my world!

I think I need to go stare out of my windows in amazement and day dream for awhile some more... At least until the new episode of "Glee" is done downloading. A girl has to have her priorities!

Survival=Crossing the Street Successfully

I started my first official day off at the police station with my real estate agent, Jason. The police officer and him got into quite an argument. The police officer kept on pointing and yelling at my passport and Jason kept yelling back and eventually got one of my landlords on the phone and he or she must have appeased the officer since she allowed me to register. I tried to ask Jason what was going on, but he told me that this happens with every foreign teacher.

On the drive back to the hotel, Jason made several phone calls to some of his other clients. On one conversation, Jason was explaining to the person how to pay for electricity. He got off the phone and under his breath he let out an exasperated, "Foreign teachers." I laughed and told him we all need some hand holding. Jason just nodded a solemn, "yes." I hope I might meet that teacher on the phone someday. I don't really understand the electricity thing quite yet myself.

I spent a few trips back and forth on the subway from the hotel to the apartment moving my stuff over. I really got a lot of things over here! I was feeling a little sorry for myself that I was doing this all by myself, but on one of the trips there was a teenage boy wearing a Steve Prefontaine Eugen, Oregon Nike shirt, and I felt that I had gotten a sign. I'm not sure what it meant, but I felt better. I went to find some food at the shopping center close to my school and found a sushi station that had the sushi listed in English and Chinese! I was so excited. I got some sushi, a coke and a mango pudding. It was so good. Not as good without Meghan and Crystal and Reilly, but still very good. In the background they were playing a Backstreet Boys song ("Shape of My Heart") and then Beyonce's "Single Ladies." I felt that was another good sign. I went to The Lotus and discovered its layout is much like a Fred Meyers. It has home goods and groceries. I bought a pillow, a towel, laundry detergent that I think is suppose to smell like daisies and water.

I spent the afternoon washing a load of clothes. It is one of the smallest washing machines I have ever seen in my life but it fit more then I thought. I had the windows open to let in some fresh air because the place smells a little narly and started to really appreciate the view. My view from the fifteenth floor is actually pretty impressive. I can see a lot of skyscrapers and some of the media center's grounds. It started to rain profusely a few moments later. Another teacher at work had warned me about how the rain here does not clean the windows but actually makes them dirtier! It's true. It's gross. There is a nice railing right by my windows where I can hang my laundry to dry. China does not do dryers. I have to admit, it is nice to have a washing machine right inside the place I live in!

I have come to disdain crossing major intersections here. They only put on the pedestrian walk signal maybe one out of three potential crossings. Even today, I was crossing with light and a huge bus came barreling down through the cross walk and I raced back to the safety of the sidewalk where an old man started laughing at me! I must have looked pretty silly to him. Everyone else around me looks they are so at ease crossing the street. I usually try to skulk behind a big group of people crossing whenever I can even though I'm the easiest target at every crossing, but it makes me feel better. Sometimes the pedestrian light is only on for about fifteen seconds, and I have learned to only make it across halfway and find a place to stand on the partition. Crossing the street should not be this hard.

This is my last night in the hotel. I won't miss the gross cigarette smells, but I've started to become comfortable here. Thanks for being my first home in my adopted city, He Ping Li Hotel. I shall miss having my bed made for me when I come back each night.

It's All Chinese To Me!

Signing an apartment contract in a foreign county is fascinating. It made me feel like I am really doing this now.

I started my day later then I had planned because I had to wait a long time in the lobby of the hotel for them to exchange some of my money for rent. I got off the subway at the right stop, but promptly went down a few wrong streets. If you have ever ridden in the Geo with me, you know this already, but be able to read a map or figure out how to get anywhere is not a strength of mine. I can barely find my way where to go in the city I grew up in let alone in one of the biggest cities in the entire universe. Plus, I learned that Beijing has a bunch of "Media Villages" all in the same area that look a lot alike. It was destined that I would get lost.

Jason, the real estate agent finally found me just two blocks away from my future residence. We met up with the landlords inside my new space. The man was very excited to show me the two new chairs I had requested. I had thought I was getting like a comfy-ish chair since the couch is not very comfortable, but there was just two wooden chairs. Ah, the language barrier! We quickly went over a few check lists about what was there and not and what condition they were in. Jason tried to teach me how to work the air conditioning system, but I think I'll just have to play with it on my own to really understand it. I learned how to pay for the electricity. Electricity here runs on cards that you pay for at the bank to the government. I have to fill the card with money and then take it to the "electric" room in the building and swipe it at my room's electric box. Then, the electricity works until you use up all the available money. The landlords told me that they are providing me with complimentary cold water, but I will have to pay for hot water on my own. Jason told me that I somebody will stick a bill on my door every once in awhile and I'll have to go to the bank to pay for that. I also had to pay for cable for the year, which was very inexpensive, but I got laughed at when I told them that I didn't want cable. Jason told me that the government provides cable at a low fee for the entire nation. I just went with it while the locals continued to laugh at me.

Tomorrow, I have to go with Jason to the police station to register myself as a resident. EF told us that you have to alert the closest police station whenever you leave the city for more then a week at a time or when a friend comes to stay with you. The hotel that I am in had to register for me.

After I left the complex, I found some food and went to work. I spent the afternoon working on lesson plans for my evening classes and connecting all the computers with my code and printing information. I asked one of the local staff members to explain the Chinese postal system to me. I learned that I can send letters or packages from a post office or I could ask the front desk staff at work to call for a postal worker to pick up my packages. I have not noticed a single mail box around town and she told me that is because there isn't any.

I taught two preschool classes this evening. The first one had a little boy who was so mean to his fellow peers, but everyone else did an excellent job. We were learning about how to celebrate at a birthday party. My next class was fabulous until the very end were they all just started to lose it. However, it ended at 8:15 and what four-year-old has it together that late at night? I wasn't upset, but I think I can plan more realistically for next week's class.

I'm starting my weekend tonight. I picked up some take-out, promptly got turned around and had a little adventure finding my way back to the subway station! Tomorrow, after the police station I plan on moving at least one suitcase over to the apartment and buy some bedding at The Lotus which is kind of like a Beijing Bed, Bath and Beyond. However, I think I'm going to continue to sleep at the hotel for as long as I have it.

Frantic Sunday

I left for work this morning, Sunday, just a little past eight, and already the streets were bustling with people and the subway was just as crowded as a weekday morning. I'm starting to learn that weekends are not the traditional relaxing two days that most Westerners associate it with. Many of the children at the center I work at have already spent time studying in their schools before I see them on Saturdays and Sundays for English school. Many of the local teachers and TAs have asked me about my experience taking SATs and getting into school and are amazed how easy it is compared to their school system. They have only one opportunity to take the exam that will classify their social and economic standing for their entire lives. It makes me feel so lucky to have as many opportunities that I have had to mess up and try again.

I taught a six-year-old class today. I am picking up a unit on telling time that their last teacher had began before he left. I practiced counting to twelve and moving the hands around on one of the clocks. EF has five puppets that they use in their preschool program. There is Roddy, a little boy and his animal friends: Mel the bird (she's a girl because she has a pink scarf); Kev the frog; Vic, the hedgehog (the kids never, ever remember that one); and Ben the bear. We had to watch a little video about Mel having a birthday party, but he broke his clock while hanging up a picture and was freaked out because he didn't know what time his friends were going to come over.

I watched a few of my mentor teacher's classes and spent time looking through the materials the school has. Saturday and Sundays are almost ten hour work days and no one ever leaves on breaks. I got quite a few of my questions answered today, though.

I went into the shopping mall near the school to try to find something to bring back to the hotel for dinner. There was a Papa John's pizza shop and I got a salad to go. It was nice to find part of a menu in English. Finding food here by myself is so hard. I long for the days were I could read the nutrition and ingredient labels already, but it is all a part of the adventure!

Tomorrow I sign my apartment contract... I just hope that I remember how to get there!

Oh My Lady Gaga!

I had a wonderful first hour of teaching this morning. I taught a Small Stars Green class which is just a class for five-year-olds. I had a lot of help from the teaching assistant, too. The children all take "Western" or "English" names, which I don't like because I wouldn't want to take on a Chinese name, but I know I would utterly butcher their real names, so in that way, I guess I am grateful. Some of the students pick some fantastic names more akin to Outdoor School names such as Apple, Tree, and Frog. I spent some time learning their names and asking how they are. Most of the children replied that they were "fine" or "happy" but one little boy jumped out of his chair and said, "wonderful." Totally cute. I hope over time I will fall in love with this city, but for right now, I've already fallen for these kids. We reviewed fruit names and I taught them the words "stem" and "leaf." My true objective of today's class was to introduce the students to clothing vocabulary. Belt was the hardest word for them to say or understand. I'll have to work on explaining that better.

I chatted a bit more with my boss later this morning, and she was in a much better place, and I hope I will like her. She has been working for EF for over two years and has taught in numerous places around the globe. Someone ordered a vegetable and rice dish for me for lunch and I tasted lotus root for the first time and it is so good!

I observed my mentor teacher, Amy, teach a High Flyer's class. The High Flyers are students in elementary school but are placed by English speaking and reading ability. The class I attended seemed like they were around age nine or ten or so. They were learning sports vocabulary and basic past, present and future tenses. One girl in the class, Princess, would exclaim, "Oh my Lady Gaga" whenever something surprised or astonished her. It was pretty fantastic. I spent the rest of the afternoon working on "training worksheets" and rifling through the reference material for future lessons.

One of the local teachers took me to dinner at a Japanese fast food restaurant in a shopping center close to our school. It was fun to talk to her and not eat the bad hotel buffet food again for dinner!

I did see quite a few sad, skinny horses pushing carts outside of the school tonight after work near the cars whooshing by at break neck speeds and the sound of the subway rushing past in the distance. Beijing is so modern, but there are still traces of the old ways of life peaking through.

Captain's Log: Day 7. I made it through my first week!

First Week Experiences

Hello Everyone!

This week has been one of the slowest in my life, but a lot has happened.

On Monday, I went to an orientation at the Education First headquarters. I had to take two subway trains to get there all by myself with a picture aid. There seem to be about four possible exits at each station, and I had a hard time finding the right one, but a kind soul who spoke English helped me out. At the orientation, I met three guys from Europe that were also new to the program. However, they were all teaching at the adult education centers and I was the only one going to a Kids and Teens Center. Our recruiter took us out to my first official Chinese meal (right after I fell on face right outside the complex in front of the handsome Europeans) since I had only been eating sub par hotel food. It was so delicious and one of the men is also a "vegetarian" and gave me some hints on how to survive. A senior teacher at my school, named Claire, came and picked me up by taxi to get to the hotel.

My school is in the Northern end or "Breezy end" of the city. The building is only two years old and has Western toilets, which is brilliant! The school is composed of foreign teachers and local teachers that speak Chinese. There are also teacher assistants that are local students at university here. Everyone has been so kind and nice. The school starts when the normal Chinese schools end, and are at the most full on the weekends. My normal hours are going to be from one to nineish on the weekdays and 9-6 on the weekends. It sounds like I'll have Mondays and Tuesdays off. The school has classes for ages 3 to 18 and I'll be teaching all ages and levels. I'm excited to work with a variety of age groups.

On Tuesday, all of the Kids and Teens centers were closed so each of the staffs could attend a team building day. We were all bused to a sports center about an hour out of the heart of the city. It was fun way for me to start seeing the city. I got to meet a lot of the teachers and everyone was very welcoming and kind. That night, a few of the foreign teachers took me out to dinner and gave me some advice about settling in and culture shock. It was fun evening.

I spent Wednesday apartment hunting with Education First's real estate agent, Jason, who is quite a character. He teased me about wearing a seat belt as he tried to kill us through traffic! Traffic signals are merely a suggestion here, and the road rage is much worse then anything I have seen on my travels around the US. He showed me quite a few craptastic ones that were awful and I felt sad for the residents that lived there. He then took me to two different complexes in the Media Village where the International journalists were housed during the 2008 games. There is a pretty park with lots of trees and a fountain and a playground right outside. He finally took me to swanky, new apartment but its residents were mostly rich, elderly locals or foreigners, and I decided that wasn't quite the experience I wanted and I had a moment of intuition that told me to get out of there. I ended up placing a hold on one of the Media Village studios. It is pretty small, smaller then my studio in Milwaukie, but perfect for just one person. It has a Western bathroom, which was my one true qualification. It does come with furniture. I learned that the Chinese people do not have ovens in their apartments or homes. My landlords seem like a very sweet couple and they made Jason translate to me that they hope we can teach each other about our languages. I hope so.

Thursday, I met up with the European guys again to go for our medical checks. I was the only one out of the four of us to get a check up before I left, so mine wasn't as intensive, but it was still uncomfortable. It was an hour subway ride out of the city and then we had to take a taxi to the center. There, you wait in line for about ten different rooms and they heard you through each process like cattle, and if you don't speak Chinese, utterly clueless. I had to get an ultra sound, an EKG, a chest X-Ray (where they gave me very a frightfully small sheet of protection) and blood drawn. At least I had some people to laugh about how children may be out of the question after the X-Ray. Sorry Mom.

I also had my first grocery store outing yesterday evening where I stayed as far away from the meat section as possible because I know what's there, I just don't want to see. I bought some peanut butter, crackers and fruit to have for snacks at work and in the hotel room until I get my own place. I also bought a lot of water bottles. I miss recycling. My school does recycle paper though.

Today was my first official day of work. We had a meeting and then I worked with my mentor a bit to learn more about their computer system. I met my boss for the first time, but she was hung over so...? I made two lesson plans for my classes this weekend. A few of the local office staff helped me find my way back to the subway. They are excited that I am going to live minutes away from our school and have already asked me to cook them some American food. I told them I would have to acquire a crock pot before I could produce anything truly good. They just gave me deserved looks of humor and we moved on.

I'm excited to teach two preschool classes this weekend and observe some of the more advanced levels, too. I haven't gotten a chance to do any real site seeing yet, but I know I'll have plenty of time in the future.

I miss home a lot, but I'm excited about all the possibilities that I have now.

First Post from Beijing!

Hello Friends and Family!

This is Colleen reporting from Beijing. I hope to share my stories and pictures of my time in Beijing here. I'm just testing this out for the first time, but I'll post some stories about my first week later tonight. Right now, I have to go figure out how to get from the hotel to my school for the first time by subway!