Teacher's Conference and Beijing's Russian Quarter

Yesterday was the day of the big conference at work. I went to my friend's workshop on using real situations in the classroom, and then had my own workshop on icebreakers. I got very nervous before I started talking, but it went ok. I didn't talk much, we played a bunch of game, and it flowed really well! I even got people out a few minutes earlier for lunch. I felt really good about it and received some nice compliments about it.

The conference was at my school, so our center director paid for lunch for us that were there. I had my first McDonald's experience. I had a grilled chicken sandwich and a small ice cream. It tasted quite different from the McDonald's experience at home, and it is something, like at home, I will be pretty much choosing to avoid.

In the afternoon I went to a session on relaxation and using your diaphragm breathing to help your voice survive class after class and another session on error correction in the classroom.

Last night, we had our boss's going away celebration. We went to a very beautiful Russian restaurant not too far from the Lama Temple area. There, you buy beer at the percentage, such as at 3, 5, 7, or 9 percent. I stuck to 3 percent and especially since I am still getting over a cold, I wasn't allowing myself to drink much. The food was really rich. I had an eggplant, mushroom and cheese bake with mashed potatoes on the side. It was delicious but much heavier then the food I have been getting use to eating here.

We all piled into a few taxies and went to club called, Chocolate. It was a really posh club. The furniture was elaborate and there was huge Russian paintings hanging from the ceilings. They had both a DJ and a small band. There were also girls in very little clothing dancing around. Another center's boss's fiance was there, who is from Russia, said those women were most likely prostitutes, too. For drinks, they would just bring vodka and orange juice to the tables, so screwdrivers all around for everyone! Miles remarked that this was probably the Russian mafia at work.

I had fun dancing with the girls from work and was able to have a nice moment with Vicky. I left with Cindy and Marie, and we went to a 24 hour Cantonese restaurant close to Cindy's place. We got a few little snacks to share, and I finally got back to my apartment to see the light of sunrise beginning to show.

I didn't get much sleep last night, and woke up feeling more gross from the food then the drinks and lack of sleep. I spent today recovering, talked to my Mom and Maria on Skype and went grocery shopping. I made up a big pot of food for quite a few meals. We are all going to an all day workshop tomorrow at another school to learn how to teach the summer course. It should be interesting...