Coming to you LIVE from the North Pole...

Or so it seems!

You see, it's 5:43 a.m. here and I can't sleep because I'm freezing! Seriously, I woke up shivering and my nose feels like a popsicle.

Tonight around nine we were hovering at around fifty degrees, which I thought was almost comfortable. I don't even want to know how cold it is in here now but there's a chance I might freeze to death before they turn the heat on.

YES, I said before they turn the heat on. Heat doesn't come on in Beijing until November 15.

English PAYS baby!!!

Today it landed Chris and I on the tenth floor of some random apartment building doing "voice recordings" for 150 RMB. To put that amount in perspective for you, that much money could buy me several meals, a pair of leather boots, or three months of train fare.

YES, some shady thoughts crossed my mind, but I couldn't resist the adventure!

We were told that our help was needed for a project that would develop special voice recognition technology for LG. BS? Perhaps.

I spent an hour reading sentences such as, "passionate kisses on her honey body" "talk to me on MSN" and "she is overwhelmingly optimistic." I also read dates, phrases containing curse words, numbers, and pages of nonsense words.

Who knows, maybe it was totally legitimate. Maybe there's a 900 number with my voice on it now. Or maybe I'm the voice of some Korean soap opera queen.

Regardless, I'm 150 RMB richer and all I had to do was speak English!

Aren't they cute?

Our children's school is growing so fast! When I first started there was one class with three students total. Now we have five different classes and we've had to bring on another teacher! I'm so proud of the progress we've made in the past few weeks!

No, that's not my real Halloween costume. It's just a stand-in until I finish making the real one. It's going to be AWSOME! And I'm not telling what it is!

Oh sunny day!

Most of the time the smog hangs over this city like depression. After a good rain though, blue never had it so good!

Did you know I live right on the edge of the mountains? I keep forgetting, most of the time you can't see them.

Tonight we adventured off to the Olympic Greens. Below is the National Stadium a.k.a the Bird's Nest.

The Water Cube is BEAUTIFUL! Reminds me of a box of jellybeans! Mmmm, jellybeans!

It changes colors!

I'm thinking this armless statue must be a tribute to the Special Olympics.

If you can name the computer game that this reminds me of, you're a genius because I can't remember!

The view from inside this legoman mountain.

Home-bound. These feet are tired.

Keyi jinlai ma?

That's been the phrase of the day!

I learned it yesterday and was eager to show off my new skills to my Chinese teacher when she came in today. It simply means, Can I come in?

I love the way it rolls off my tongue and I know the tones perfectly. So I hopped around work today sticking my head into rooms and asking the emptiness, keyi jinlai ma? My boss even caught me once and by the end of the night Chris was tired of hearing me say it. I even told him I was going to ask permission before entering chaunr, but thought better of it at the last minute.

So, as we were leaving chuanr it was cold, rainy, and rather blustery. A cab pulled up and a girl was in the front seat taking her sweet time paying. Suddenly I opened the back door, popped my head in, and said "Keyi jinlai ma?" YES!!! That's what the cabbie said!

SUCCESS! It made my day!

Fill in the Blanks...

So. I'm learning more and more Chinese and have started to notice an interesting phenomenon... Now that I have some phrases under my belt I'm ready to start making new sentences using what I know. Often I find myself needing an extra word or two that I don't have yet.

So what does my brain do in this situation? Lately, it's been filling in the blanks with German. And sign language. It's the funniest thing! So I find myself thinking things like Wo yao sitzen. (I want to: Chinese and sit: German.) And as sitzen pops into my mind... I'm also signing it.

Hmmm, do you think there's a name for this condition? If not, perhaps I should invent one... like... Polylingual Psychosis. Ok, maybe that's a bit much, but it is frustrating if not a touch silly. At least, for now, I don't actually say these ridiculous phrases out loud!

Fragrant Hills

Yesterday we went on a fieldtrip to Fragrant Hills Park.

We took the chairlift to the top of the mountain where we could see the lovely smog from every direction.
Again I am mezmerized by the rooftop decorations. I'm still learning about them. More to come on this topic.
Fishies!
Fu Lion, another bit that tickles my fancy.
Time for this trip was so limited that I'll be going back soon to check out the many temples that are nestled in these hills.

Happy!

So today I was digging through my stuff in search of something pretty important and I found the video that Shauna made me during my going away cook-out.

I hadn't had time to watch it before I left so I quickly popped it in. I'm so glad I waited!!! Here I am sick and feeling crummy.... and I find this CD with all of my closest friends on it (except for Constance, we missed her as she was out buying fabulous munchies.) What a way to end my day!!!

Thanks for the video Shauna!!! And thanks to everyone else for the warm good-byes!

Happiness :O)

I'm a bit under the weather.

Almost sick as a dog but not quite... however knowing me, sick as a dog is but a stone's throw away. The cough has only just begun and that's where the fun usually begins.

As it stands I've had a fairly raging temperature for about a day and a half now. All of the ususal suspects are present, sniffles... sneezes, sore throat, cough... can't sleep. If you know me well, you know what my poor soul is aching for... Theraflu! Works like a charm every time!

I thought of bringing some with me when I left but was convinced that everything I needed would be readily available here. In case you were wondering... "the good stuff" i.e. Theraflu and Nyquil ARE readily available here... When accompanied by a prescription.

Luckily Megan is bringing me some meds tomorrow, unfortunately it will be this time tomorrow night before I'm able to take them as I'm sure I'd fall asleep teaching otherwise.

Boo sick! :O(

I'm still here!

I have not blogged once this week and for that I am sorry.

Tuesday greeted me with my second fever since I've been here. Luckily, I'm no worse for the wear and have only been very tired... So I've been sleeping instead of intering-the-net.

On Monday we went to Happy Valley Amusement park. It was a blast!

It was very interestingly thematic.

This was my favorite ride. Too bad the lines were so long, I would've ridden it several more times!!!

Who wouldn't wanna hop on a ride like this:

Funny story... since I've been a bit under the weather I've been more sensitive to the temperature in the apartment. The other night I was particularly chilly and decided to use, what electrical outlets in this country have recently created, my SUPER MEGA HOT AND RATHER BLUSTERY HAIRDRYER to heat up the living room.

Honestly, I've seen space heaters that are neither as toasty nor as blustery as this hairdryer has become.

Chris says to me, as the room is warming up quite nicely, that I am probably going to break it. NO! That won't happen!!! This is SUPER DRYER! It is impervious to burnouts and over-usage! In fact, I decide that I deserve a toasty bedroom as well!

I was so proud of my ingenuity!

The very next day, I was off to buy a new hairdryer. As it turns out, my hairdryer was NOT a portable space heater! Maybe I shoulda listened to Chris! Next item on my wish-list... Electric Blanket.

I did it!

I've heard stories that, as a kid, I would eat so many tomatoes in the garden that I would break out in a rash all over.

I've also always eaten my scrambled eggs with ketchup.

So it should come as no surprise that my favorite dish in China so far is Xi Hong Shi Chao Ji Dan... tomatoes cooked with eggs.

I'm so in love with this dish that I've hunted down the recipe and tonight I've tried cooking in on my own. I say, success! I also say, I've eaten so much in the past few days that I've noticed a certain splotchiness as a result.

Again I say, old habits die hard. I can't wait to share this recipe with you guys back home!

The Great Wall

In the beginning there was lunch. And it was good! There were 12 of us.
Then 'twas time to head up the mountain. We would be camping half-way up this portion of the wall.


There's always time for goofing off along the way. Matt is skilled in playing the guitar as well. (I think.)

Along the way we had to pay the troll to continue along our path.

It was a treacherous climb.
We took a break to gather firewood from the troll's woodshed.
Death defying rock climbing was required to get to our campsite.
We were not alone...
Not alone at all!

But there was magma and terriffic sleeping bags so all was well!
There was good music and good food...

Good people as well. A bit of fire breathing and story-telling too.

Who needs to sleep in a tent when the most beautiful canopy of stars hangs above? I stayed up for hours making silly wishes on falling ones. It was breath-taking. Only two hours of sleep and I still woke at sunrise to finish my climb up the mountain.

THIS mountain. The path is NOT as easy as it looks. The stairs are very steep and crumbly.
Me at the camp just after sunrise.

Our campsite from above.
We made it to the top!!!

Yes, we were here.
It was the most amazing experience in my life, this trip. Just look at it! It's awe-inspiring.

All good things must end! I hope to do this again one day.

Tomorrow when I wake up

the Counting Crows will just be taking the stage in Atlanta. I really hate that I'm missing that.

I am, however, exited about tomorrow like a kid before Christmas. I can't sleep and I can't get my backpack to coordinate properly with my sleeping bag. I'm fairly certain that my backpack just wasn't made for such a partnership. I wish I had realized this earlier.

There are about thirteen of us going and I feel like a den-mother I'm so prepared :) I can't wait to "rough it." For campfire food I've esentially made my famous kabobs... in foil packets instead of on sticks. MMM, that will be a lovely way to end a long and grueling day... I hear that our hike will be pretty brutal.

I also realized that, as of today, I have been here a month already. I have mixed feelings about it... sometimes I'm so ready to come home that it makes me cry a little, other times I'm so overwhelmed by how amazing this place is- I wonder just how long I'll stay. Only time will tell.

I do have to say that I'm so thankful for the wonderful people in my life that call, email, comment on my blog, and chat with me each day. You guys are so supportive it brings a smile to my face every day and often makes me feel like I've never left, especially on days when I do miss home so much! Thank you!!!

I'm READY! I'm ready I'm ready I'm ready!

I've spent the entire evening in my new sleeping bag. I think I'll sleep in it tonight. Camping will happen Thursday night. I'm sooooo excited!!!