Enjoying The Big Apple in Beijing

I met my friend Shei Shei downtown on a mission to find a very special coffee shop we had read about, but Shei Shei first took me around the silk market area. It was not really what I had expected. In my mind, I had imagined people working on sewing machines and there would be endless rows of silk, like fabric in a fabric store. It wasn't that exciting. There was about a half of a floor with silk on display, but most of it was stalls like in other big shopping centers I have been to. There was a lot of shouting, "Hey Lady..." I feel that I can't even look at anything in that kind of shopping environment.

After a bit of walking around, we were ready to get to a very special coffee shop. We walked to a big high rise building full of shops. We took the escalator up six flights to get to Central Perk. Central Perk is the coffee shop the characters from "Friends" hung out at. A man in Beijing has started his coffee shop by trying to recreate the set as closely as possible. The signs were pretty close, as was the chalk board that listed all the different coffees. Shei Shei and I had the place to ourselves and we got the big couch in front of the big screen TV that plays the show on an endless loop. We got their right as the first Thanksgiving episode began! We even got to meet the owner. The real menu was in Chinese, so Shei Shei helped me order a hot chocolate. The waiter got my order wrong and the owner chuckled, "He's my own, Rachel," and made me my hot chocolate himself, and Shei Shei's latte. It was pretty funny. I still am not feeling my best, so it was nice to just veg and watch a bunch of episodes of "Friends." As we left, a big group of friends came in and were taking pictures. It's a fun, creative little place.

Here's an article on the shop if you are interested: http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-02/world/friends.china.central.perk_1_coffee-shop-central-perk-smelly-cat?_s=PM:WORLD

The Heat is ON!

It was beautiful, clear and cold day in Beijing as the people rejoiced in thanksgiving of the government turning the heat on! I know I did a happy dance in my apartment tonight as I turned on what was once my air conditioner that is now my heater! Love it! I had been having discussions with my friends at work about where my heat was going to come from. Colleen, do you have a radiator? No. Colleen, do you have a radiator in your bathroom? No. Colleen, don't you have any vents in your apartment near your windows? No. Colleen, does your air conditioning unit have a sunshine on it? Yes.

The sunshine worked! I now have glorious heat wafting into my little studio!

So, that's the biggest news of my day! I had an okay day at work, but still don't have as much energy due to the lurgy, which makes it tougher to run after my little small stars.

My friend, Cindy, a local teacher, came down with the lurgy today. Over tea tonight she told me that I had to tell my blog readers that just because she is Chinese does not mean she is immune to the lurgy. It's been noted, Cindy!

The Lurgy

The Lurgy. It's been going around our school for the last few weeks and I am now it's latest victim. The lurgy is just English slang for "a cold" but it sounds much more awesome. None of the local teachers have caught it yet. The local teachers are telling me to stop drinking cold water. Dude, maybe I should! (Although hot water is not refreshing after a work out... I've learned that the hard way!) They are much stronger than the Westerners!

My teaching weekend was long and mostly good. I had a great open door class on Saturday morning. The parents left the room smiling and I got to have some small (translated) chats with some of them.

One of my older classes had a special life club class. Usually, we have to teach a planned curriculum, but this month they are letting us choose our own. I did a music theme life club where we had discussions about some of their favorite musical artists. The students had to do some Internet research on their favorite artist (the caveat was that their favorite song had to be in English), present the information in front of the class, and then show a music video of their favorite songs. They were really excited about it, but unfortunately the whole class only picked three different artists: Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana. Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" was the big hit of the hour!

This morning, I taught my obnoxious parent small star class. This group of students only comes once a week for an hour and a half class and I only see them every other week. I had an open door with the class about a month ago that went very poorly. Most of the students hadn't come to the class for over the entire summer, and then they all showed up for the open door class. A few of the boys are really into pretending they have machine guns, which I understand is a really normal developmental stage for lots of boys, but it's just not something I want to encourage in a classroom! Anyway... the parents were upset by how poorly their students' behavior was in the class and have requested an American male teacher to take over the class since they had an American male teacher before I arrived. It's really disheartening to go into a classroom where the parents don't like you just based on your gender. There are a few other boys in the class that are delightful, and the girls are lovely, but really all it takes is the ring leader boy to rile them all up, speaking Chinese at lightening speed, so I have no clue what mutiny he is planning in that little head of his. Anyway... Laura has been helping me with some student management in that class, and it has been helping, but it is still not a fun way to begin a Sunday morning!

Tonight, I went out to dinner with a few friends from work who were ok with me and my lurgy. We often go to this awesome Chinese restaurant where they always politely have to remind us that it is closing time. Claire joined us later in the evening and she said the wait staff just nodded at her and took her to us! Love it!

Captain's Log: 27 Weeks!

Phonics

Nothing really exciting to report from Beijing, except that it is getting really cold, especially at night and in the mornings. I have been enjoying how the parents and grandparents wrap up their children like they are about to enter the North Pole. People have told me that it even gets funnier when Winter finally hits.

We had a long day of training today at work. Two of the other schools also came by for the training about teaching the youngest elementary aged classes since there has been a trend of really low testing scores for the age group. I do not teach any really low elementary classes, but I still took away some key points from the workshops, especially about teaching phonics. I hope that I will be able to incorporate more phonics with my little small stars and my older students.

I only had one class this evening with a mid-age elementary class. I've been teaching this class since I arrived in May, but I am finally starting to feel really comfortable with them and know their strengths and weaknesses as a class. It's a good feeling.

I've been gearing up for my open door class with one of my little small star classes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they are going to be on their best behavior with their parents around!

The "Uh-oh" Bus Ride

I got on my normal 915 bus to get to the Starfish Center this morning to go to my volunteer teaching gig. Usually, the bus goes on for about five minutes before it starts making regular stops. Well, this bus just kept going... and going... and going! Then, it got on the freeway! Ahhhh! I called the center and told them of my predicament and they just laughed and said I had gotten on an express to the airport. I guess sometimes they forgot to add the extra character onto the number, so I had no clue! The bus went for about 40 minutes until it made a stop. I got off of that one and took a taxi to the center.

My beginner class and I made it through the entire alphabet today! It was very exciting. The hardest letters for them are "Q," "R," and "W," which are really hard for my little small stars to pronounce, too.

I made dinner for my friend Claire and I. Claire was the senior teacher at my school, but was made the Director of Studies at the new school without any bathrooms. We had a good long chat and I gave her a few of my Oprah magazines. She got a kick out of Oprah being on every cover!

Stars in the City

Work has been incredibly busy the last few weeks. I've been put in charge of designing some special Thanksgiving lessons for the older students that has to include an art craft! Suggestions are welcomed! Plus, I've been volun-telled to do another workshop for the teacher's conference in early December. Busy, busy, busy!

Last night after work, I went with Cindy and Marie to a little spa shop in the Lama Temple Hutong area to get our nails done. We got there quite late, but they stayed open for us, which was really nice. When we were walking out, I looked up, and we could see maybe fifty stars or so in the night's sky. It was spectacular! I have never seen more than 3 stars in the city at night before. It was a pretty awesome moment. Marie and I tried to tell Cindy about seeing an endless amount of stars and she kind of thought we were crazy!

My big news for today is that I bought a plane ticket to come home for a little over a week during Christmas time! I'm really excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Beijing

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Dear Beijing,

Congratulations! We've made it through six months together. It's been quite the adventure!

Initially, I was scared of you. I arrived both petrified and excited and so exhausted. I didn't know how to get around, where to get food or a single person for my first few days. It was frightening, but I knew I needed to give it a try.

It slowly got better. I started meeting people from EF who mentored me through the process of finding an apartment and figuring out where to eat! I relished my time at work and now I appreciate that I was just thrown into my classes with no training. It gave me some purpose to fuel me through the other aspects of my new life here. Plus, when they are not being naughty, my students are pretty wonderful.

I feel it is pretty amazing how much my feelings about you have changed. I couldn't stand the smell of you every time I walked out the door for the first few weeks, and crossing the street was a stressful event. I would get so defensive when people walked past me staring. It was hard and I missed home.

Now, though, I'm mostly really happy. I'm still a little nervous crossing the street, but it's not terrifying. I love walking around outside now and noticing so much. I love watching the senior citizen exercising in the park blocks, noticing cars that are driving on the wrong side of the road, and listening to the friendly bickering outside of the fruit and vegetable stands. I love that in one of the most International cities in the entire world, there are still horses pulling produce around. I even smile back when people stare. Let them stare! I know I can be a bit of surprise in this neighborhood, and I like to think I've stopped judging people for doing it. Of course, I have my less confidant days when it bugs me more, but it's all part of the ride.

I have a lot to thank you for. You have brought me such wonderful new friends from all around the world. If I had just stayed at home, I would have never met them, and my world would be not as colorful. I feel like I am part of a good community, and being part of a community is such a necessary aspect of my happiness. I know this experience is temporary, and I feel that makes the friendships even sweeter.

Thank you for all the beautiful places you have in this city. It's pretty spectacular to be living in a place that hosts one of the oldest recorded civilizations. I've definitely been humbled by just the history of the wonderful places I have visited.

Most importantly, thank you for bringing magic back into my life. I had been so mad that my life hadn't been going as I thought it would, that I wasn't in the place that I should be in by now. That's because I was meant to be here. It has taken me some time to internalize that fact, but I truly believe that I need to be here. I love at night when I close the curtains in my apartment and I stare into you, my adopted city, that I have such a feeling of hope and possibility. Anything or anyone could be out there waiting to walk into my life.

Cheers to us, Beijing! May the next six months be just as intriguing.

Love,

Colleen

P.S. Dear Readers,

Thank you for reading my blog and giving me such wonderful support from home. I can't even express how much it means for me to have such a caring group of people rooting me on! I'm a lucky girl.

Love,

Colleen

Mysterious Elevators

This morning, I went with James to the downtown EF main headquarters office to take our placement test for Chinese lessons. It was one of those mornings where I felt grateful that I live so close to work. We waited for three trains to pass before we made it into one crammed in like maltreated livestock. The morning commute in Beijing is pretty intense.

We made it to the center and there were no buttons to push for the elevators. We had to ask a security guard who pushed a button for us at his control panel and we had to wait for our specific number. Crazy! We made it into the testing room right on time. The test was two pages long. Luckily, the directions were in English. I could only write two words in pinyin: "thank you" and "hello." I was able to match a few English words to their pinyin words: tea, how much, teacher, beer, and little sister. (I only know mei mei because of watching "Firefly!") The second page asked us to write sentences in characters and I can't do any of that. I spent an outrageous two minutes in the testing room. The proctor was pretty surprised and said, "Ah, a true beginner!" Yup, that's me!

After we got back to our neighborhood, I went grocery shopping and I got a kick out of listening to the easy listening that the store was booming from their speakers. It was mostly Fleetwood Mac and the Carpenters! It was hysterical and it made me smile.

I only had one class this evening with one of my favorite classes. Everyone in that class is so smart. I often start some of my classes with a conversation game about their highs and lows from the week. Today, the students didn't wait for me to talk, but just started telling me about the good and bad parts of their week. It was a really sweet moment for me.

Making Up My Own Characters

I started my day taking the bus to the bank. I had been dreading going back because of the nightmare time I had last month spending three days at the bank. Luckily, I only had to wait a half hour before I was seen. It was awesome! It was a beautiful day outside today, and it was nice time to be out running errands.

I went in to work today to our staff room covered in a sea of Halloween decorations and supplies. We have everything ready to go back down to the lair. I spent my day trying to catch up on my grading! I've gotten a little behind on some of my academic administration due to the Halloween parties.

Tomorrow, I am going in for a placement test for Chinese lessons at EF's main Beijing office downtown. Miles was telling us that the test includes reading, writing and speaking. My answers are going to be utterly ridiculous since I know practically nothing! I was joking with the other teachers about how I am going to invent my own characters and tell a story about a cat and dog finding love in a subway. I aim to really "wow" my proctor into placing me into the Beginner Level!

H to O

My day was filled with subways and buses! I spent the morning getting ready for the adult classes that I teach at Starfish in the afternoons. I was able to make real lesson plans after learning where all my students are at from last week.

It wasn't so hard to get to the office today. I still had to call to ask for help about which door to go into! I accidently walked into someone else's house! Whoopsie!

There was only one student in my Intermediate class. It was really nice though, even though all my lesson plan ideas were meant for a bigger group. She told me she just wanted to practice speaking and we did. We learned a lot about one another. I watched the movie Eat, Pray, Love last night and the main character, Liz, talks about a friend of hers at the start of the movie who was a psychologist and was asked to counsel immigrants. The friend told her that even though those women went through hell, they still wanted to talk about their relationships. I found this with my student today. I know she's been through a lot to get to a better place in her life, but she still wanted to talk about boys and clothes and music. It was awesome.

I'm still feeling a little silly teaching adults the alphabet in my Beginner class, but we just have to start from the beginning. It's amazing how much we get across in just gestures to one another. I tried to teach the sentence structure "I have..."

I was starving by the time I got to my "home" subway line and decided to treat myself to an awesome dinner. I went to the Lama Temple Hutong neighborhood back to eat at the Vineyard. I had a Shirley Temple and the best garden burger ever. I went for the delux one this time that had mushrooms and more vegetables! It was awesome and tasted so good after a day of running around. I think a big reason that I like the place is because they play Ella Fitzgerald and other big band music! Even though I really enjoy Chinese food, it's nice to have "American" food once in awhile!

I came home tonight and got to work on my NanoWriMo novel! It was a nice evening to curl up in a blanket, listen to music and just write!

Hope you are enjoying the heat wave, my Portland friends!

Flower, Bat, BOOM!

The first picture is of me as a Zombie at our pub stall and the second is a group of cuties after they learned the time warp with me.

Sunday was another really busy day of teaching. I taught my oldest group of students the time warp during the last ten minutes of class. I let them watch the original version from the movie. They had fun practicing it with me. I even got them singing along and they didn't want to leave the room even though I had to go teach my next class. The long weekend is worth it to teach that group of students.

After work, I went to pick up pizzas for a few of us that wanted to get ready for our pub crawl together. We ate pizza and did our make up. Marie made up my face and Laura did my hair all crazy! It was really fun. We watched some Rocky Horror while we were getting ready.

We took two cabs over to the famous bar street that were meeting our other EF people at. Even though it was highly publicized, no other EF kids and teens teachers came. It was just us from Beijing 3 and maybe two dozen people from the Smart Schools that teach adults. It was nice to meet some of the smart school teachers. I was hoping maybe some of the boys that arrived at the same time I did would be there, but they weren't.

I got to work early the next day to meet Ryan to work on the small stars Halloween party. We were busy all day running around getting supplies to various rooms and making a much better check in process. We decided to have the teachers rotate from room to room instead of making the little ones move and having utter mass chaos. We were predicting it was going to be mass chaos anyway. I was doing face painting and it took me awhile to figure out how I could make it portable. I finally decided that I would just let the students choose between a bat and a flower. I said "Bat, flower, BOOM" to Ryan who thought it was funny. He kept explaining how the teachers would have to quickly make it through their activity quickly by emphasizing with "Bat, flower, BOOM!" It became the catch phrase of the evening!

After a pep talk to our hardworking group of TAs, eating the dumpling dinner on EF, and changing into my "hippie" costume it was go time. We had placed the children into groups based on age and I began with the tiny ones, the blue small stars, who are about two to three years-old. I do not have a blue small star class so it was fun to be with such tiny ones. I quickly gave up on the flower choice and just gave everyone bats on their faces. They got to pick the color of the bat, though. The tiny ones were much more interested in the glitter! There was glitter everywhere by the time I left that first room.

The next six rooms were all a bit of blur. I got in, put on "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and face painted it up! It was fun seeing my students dressed up and in a new situation. The last class I went into was the oldest group of students and a few random students that we weren't given any information about. It was the craziest room. Of course, half of them were from some of my zanier classes, including the violent one and the "old soul" big Leo. There was only one TA in that room, the only male TA we have, and he looked so exhausted and stressed. Those kids were so nutso that they didn't even get to pick out the color. I quickly gave out their little prizes and certificates and sent them on their way.

The parents picked up the students pretty quickly and they were all out of there quickly compared to all the stragglers we had with the older group. We all gathered in the hall and took a deep breath. Miles kept saying, "Let's never do that again, ok?" We all gave a shout out to the TAs and started a mass clean up! Our aiyes worked so hard that day cleaning up!

Laura took some of us out for beers and a late snack afterwards were got to decompress and tell our own funny stories from the night. We even had tallied how many students were crying in the rooms that we went into! We declared the evening a success, though!

Then, I went home and slept for a long time!

Today was about re-charging a bit. I slept in, talked to my Mom for a long time, went to the gym and did some grocery shopping. It was a well appreciated day off.

P.S.- Hi Aunt Theresa and Uncle Leo! I got the present yesterday! I love it. It was such an awesome surprise. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.