Bits and Pieces

Hardest lesson to date... YOU explain toast!

In America we call this Autism.

Eschew obfuscation, imo.

And finally, you know why I love this country? Other than the unique culture, stunning architecture, delicious food, and honest taxi drivers of course... THIS cost me $20. Shrinkwrapped and everything!

Dear Diary:

National Day is quickly approaching! This means VACATION TIME! So what will I be doing next week? I'll be camping on the great wall. Not camping near the great wall... ON!

Of course this is something I'd never come up with on my own! I'm not that clever. I mean, who camps on the great wall? There have to be rules prohibiting this type of recreational activity, right? Nope! People do it all the time. From what I've read, the view is breathtaking and ALL the stars come out at night. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Tomorrow is payday, YAY! I'll then go about the business of finding a sub-zero sleeping bag. It's already so cold here, we went straight from late summer to early winter in a matter of days and I want to be toasty come camping time. (Remind me of how cold it really isn't when I'm whining about sub-zero temps come November.)

I'm also in the market for a fwatch and some fuggs. (Swatch and Uggs. I've noticed that the fake stuff seems sooo much cooler when addressed in this manner. I simply can't wait to buy a filk robe and a string of fearls! See?) Notice I'm not in the market to buy a fleeping bag. I'll actually shell out a few bucks for that one, as much as I love to camp and whatnot, I'm sure I'll get my money's worth!

So Wednesday we'll hike the wall and spend the night. Then on Thursday we're going to the beach! As cool as the weather has gotten, I'm up for the trip to see the countryside but I don't imagine I'll be swimming or anything.

In other news, the pup is adjusting quite well... Mommy, on the other hand, is remembering why she doesn't like dogs. *whines* "I don't wanna take the dog out, it's 9 a.m. I'm sleeping!"

Chinese lessons get a great big "epic fail" right now. Why am I not picking up this language faster??? Ben is helping me with my German and I remember every single word he teaches me but how many times must I hear Wo before I realize it means me???

Good news is, homesickness isn't as bad as it was. It only comes in bits and pieces now... intertwined with sudden panic-y moments of WHAT'S NEXT? I don't know the answer to that question right now, and according to the "new plan" I'm not supposed to be planning that far in advance anyway, but old habits DO die hard.

I suppose today is one of those homesick sorta days. I have a soundtrack of audio-therapy spinning and I'm spamming the repeat button at the moment. Some songs to check out when YOU are outta sorts: Marcy Playground - pick a song... any song, Serj Tankian - Lie Lie Lie, Jay Clifford - Mexico and Know When to Walk Away.

It's a boy!

As you know, Chris and I tend to explore the city late at night. Last night this little guy found us. He was all by himself and followed us halfway home. (An amazing feat for a dog with three feet!)



We found him all alone and crippled near a very busy highway and were afraid if we didn't take him home that he might get run over. So we took him home, gave him a bath, and will put up posters to find his owner.

Chris is an ex-Petsmart employee and is well trained in puppy care. He might even keep the little fella if we can't find his owner.

He's an awesome doggie... Doesn't do bad things and is VERY good at playing "kill it" aka, fetch. We are taking nominations on names should we keep him.

Isn't he cute??? (I know, I still don't like dogs, but this one is special!)

In other news, Derrick led me to believe that it would be ok to flush toilet paper here in our modern toilets. However, the disruption of water to our apartment yesterday, in conjunction with the picture below, leads me to believe that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea. But maybe I'm just paranoid.

To market, to market...

...To buy pearls and a hula hoop! That's what I got anyway! The pearl earrings were real and cost me 2$, they broke on the way out the door. The hula hoop cost me 2.5$ and is the best thing ever!!! It's for grown-ups and it's simply awesome... video forthcoming.


We went to two markets... the pearl market and an outdoor "flea market" with treasures of many a brilliant variety... I can't wait until I get paid!


I am happy to report that this "haggling" thing is a piece of cake that I think I will really enjoy. Today, I talked down a pair of Uggs from $1,200 kuai to $200. YES, they were probably fakes and NO I didn't buy them but it was a thrill of a process!


Interesting things I saw along the way today:

It's a goofy thing but I just gotta say...

Hey, I'm doin' alright!

I couln't find a good copy of this video but I always find myself singing this song to myself on days like this. Even if this isn't your cup of tea you should give it a listen... it always makes me happy!




Last night Chris and I decided to explore the alleyways of Haidian... Out of respect I didn't take many pictures, but we wandered into a large neighborhood of single-room housing units. It was noisy, filthy, and smelled of human waste so strongly that we couldn't breathe.

It just makes me realize how fortunate I am. It's makes all of my worries seem so small and insignificant. It reminds me to be thankful for the little things.

And I wonder, do these people have moments where life is good? Is there happiness and laughter in a place like this? There are so many things that we take for granted that are missing from this picture... I just wonder.

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting...

Those cats were fast as lightning...





Last night we had free tickets to see a play about Shaolin Kung Fu. It was awesome!

A Day in the Real Life

Real Life English: Haidian Campus



Pictured Clockwise: Chris, my roommate and co-conspirator. Julia, the one who teaches me Chinese culture and helps me the most with my Mandarin. Shirley, who always mans the front counter with a smile. Ben, tutor-er of the Deutsch... He is one of the Worldlink students here from Germany to learn Chinese.
We often have down-time to mingle.


When we are not planning of course. Chris and I spend a great deal of time in here working on our classes. See Doraemon there? He's HUGE here. I'm sure he's the Chinese Spongebob. Chris got that water bottle free with a tube of Colgate toothpaste.
Chris! What are you teaching these guys??? I had to step in and see this class for myself.



Well, we do get some interesting questions. That's what our students are here for, to learn the intricate bits and pieces of our language that they wouldn't otherwise be exposed to in your typical English class.

You've gotta tell me these things!

I had no idea that my comments were disabled! ...I was beginning to think that nobody was visiting my blog!!!

Sorry about that... it's fixed now!

Today's Lesson: "This is my Family"

This is my family tree.

Imagine trying to explain how that works to students who are more familiar with structures like this:
The lesson plan for today asked that I draw my family tree on the board and explain the relationships between family members. Are you kidding me? This is an English class, not a soap opera. My students can't handle the truth.

Please understand that I love my family very much and wouldn't trade the diversity of it for the world. But seriously, the white board wasn't big enough for step-grandparents and half-siblings and cousins only by marriage. Not to mention the fact that this is an introductory class... they don't even posess the words that I would have to use to explain the complexity of my family tree.

So I kept it generic and fudged a bit. They were still blown away by the fact that my father has three siblings, I have cousins in the double digits, as well as nieces and nephews.

Sunday Slideshow

Today we explored Tien'amen Square.

There were several of these displays, some of which were for the Olympics, others were for the Mid-Autumn festival.

Yeah, we where here all day and into the evening.

The full moon marked the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival. We had mooncakes last night, which I was more than willing to try but not particularly fond of.

Access Denied!

Captain's Log, Stardate... sometime late this evening:

11:30 p.m. "Hey Chris, I need to take a picture of something, let's go for a walk."

11:35 p.m. Unfortunately the thing I need to take a picture of isn't there.

11:40 p.m. "Oh well, let's play on the grown-up playground!"

Mmmmm, I think I need a massage!

11:50 p.m. "Hey Jackie, it looks like there's a terrace on the roof-top... let's go see!"

What's missing here? (Hint: The number is taboo here because it is spelled the same way as death. That doesn't explain why we're missing the 13th floor though...)

12:00 a.m. We've discovered the rooftop access. ACCESS DENIED.

The very serious business of teaching English as a foreign language:

Despite what you might think, yes, I do actually teach English here!

The program is curriculum based and much of the preparation is already done for us so we spend our planning time finding ways to make the given materials more fun! For example, I helped Chris with his "S" pronunciation class today with suggestions of "She sells seashells by the seashore" and a game of "Simon Says."

I enjoy "planning time" quite a bit... listening to my iPod and brainstorming.

I have three rules for my students:

1. Only use English.
2. Use complete sentences.
3. Ask helping questions.

So far this works surprisingly well! We always find a way to understand one another without speaking Chinese, even if it does mean writing every synonym for a single word on the board before the connection is made.

I also teach kids. This is where (ironically enough) I will need the most help. I had a class of three on Saturday that were bored out of their brains as we approached the end of the three hour class. It is very hard to cover the entire lesson plan (they way I'm supposed to) and keep them entertained. I train on how to do this more effectively tomorrow.

The most rewarding moment so far was with Julie, age 6. She did not like the fact that she had a new teacher and was not afraid to show it. However, halfway through class she just got up, walked to the board, took one of my markers and wrote the word "HAPPY" with a heart underneath it. Then she returned to her seat with a smile.

THAT'S why I love working with kids!

I was going to take a picture of her note but in my typical "everything-must-be-perfectly-clean-and-in-order" way that I am trying to work on, I accidentally erased it.