End of the Year

I forgot to mention in my last post that I did finally make it to Beijing!!! I flew there early on Wednesday morning (Xmas Eve), and went straight to the US Embassy (well that's a lie - I stopped at Starbucks first, a girl's got needs). I spent a few hours there, waiting, filling out paperwork, getting lectured for losing yet another passport, and finally getting my new passport. The new one is crappy, as it only has 4 pages and has warnings all over it which basically screams "search me and all of my stuff!!!", but it will get me where I need to go. It's only good for a year, and then I will have to shell out more money for a new passport when I return home. Oh well, glad to have it. Actually I only had it for one day before I sent it off to Qingdao for my residence visa. After I get that I still need to get my Vietnam visa, and I leave Jan. 10th. You may ask, "Amanda, how are you going to get both visas in time for your trip?" Good question.

I taught my last two college level classes this weekend. One on Saturday night, one on Sunday afternoon - same kids. On Saturday night we just played games for 3 hours. Some games that they knew and then some that I decided on. We played charades, which they liked, and we played duck duck goose, which they loved. I explained to them that it was a game for little children, but they thought it was a blast. It was hysterical watching college freshmen play a child's game. On Sunday we just sat around and talked. They asked me questions about America and I asked them questions about China. They were mainly interested in what college life was like in America and how it compares to China. Here they have a curfew - they must all be in their dorms by 10:30pm. If they are late, as I found out on Friday night/Saturday morning, they sleep in McDonald's until 6:30am when they can take the bus back home. Just one of the differences, among many. There are a lot of similarities as well though.

I have another day and a half left of teaching at the Korean school before our 2 month break. I'm so excited. I've started getting sick again and I'm convinced it's because of how cold the school is all the time. It will be nice to have a break and regain some energy soaking up the sun in Vietnam and Thailand.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Celebrating Christmas in China has certainly been a different experience than celebrating it at home. While there are the decorations, there is not the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. No Christmas parties, no Santas on every corner and no rush to get some last minute shopping in. I missed being at home with family and friends and everything that goes along with the holiday season.

That being said, I still had a nice Christmas. On Christmas Eve I went to a party with lots of friends. Not too different from most other nights, except that there were some Christmas decoration and I sported a Santa hat. Fun nonetheless.

Of course I had to work on Christmas day. It wasn't quite the same waking up and having to get ready for work as opposed to rolling out of bed, showing up at my parents(still in pajamas), gorging myself on the amazing breakfast my mom makes and then sitting back and letting it all digest as we rip through the mound of presents beneath the tree. We did however, have a Christmas feast. We called ahead at a decent, albeit overpriced, western restaurant and secured ourselves a couple of turkeys. We had to call ahead, as the turkey seems to be non existent here in Asia.
In total, 17 of us met to partake in my first Christmas away from home. We had turkey and gravy, fish, mashed potatoes, salads, the oh-so-traditional Christmas nachos and cheesecake and tiramisu for dessert. By the end of dinner, we all basically had to be rolled out of there. There were people there from all different parts of the world: America, England, Australia, China, Korea and Holland. It was cool to celebrate with new friends and that we could all get into the spirit of the holiday with each other, even so far away from home.

Winding Down

This week the students have been taking finals. I'm not really sure how fair the testing process is though. As teachers we were told to make a 25 question test for each of the grades we teach. We divide the number of questions we need to write by how many teachers teach the same grade. However, we all teach from different books. So now, the students are being tested on material that they weren't necessarily taught. Does that make sense? NO!! We are trying to change some things around here so that each grade will be taught from the same books. There is a constant flow of teachers in and out of the school so it's hard to keep some things in place. New people come in with their own ideas and change things around. Also, sometimes it feels like what the native English teachers want is really not taken into account and that we are here so that on some transcript somewhere students can write that they learned English from native English speakers. I hope teaching doesn't always seem so futile.

A couple things from the past week or so:

Last Thursday was Alexis' birthday. We all went out for hotpot and then some drinks afterward. Lots of fun. We let a boy do all the food ordering and we ended up with a ridiculous amount of food. We had three carts of meat and three carts of vegetables, all for 9 people.
Yesterday we had a teacher lunch to say farewell to the teachers that are not returning next year (the new year here starts in March). We went to a really nice Chinese restaurant. Instead of ordering they just bring a ton of food out. We all sit at a giant circle table and the food goes in the middle and is just rotated around the table. I love that everyone everywhere in China just shares food. Since eating off other people's plates is one of my favorite things, I fit in well. I tried almost everything, although there were some things that just looked gross. The most interesting thing I tried was sea cucumber. It's really expensive here and is supposed to be very good for your health. It looks like a black, spikey slug, covered in goo. I wasn't so sure about it, but had to try. It tastes like cartilage. Not something I would ever order, and I didn't finish it, but significantly less gross than I had thought going in.

The lunch concluded at karaoke. I'm becoming a regular. It's not pretty.

Road to Recovery

I looked down and realized all of a sudden that my god! It's December!! So, I thought I would post. I have been here just a little over 3 months now. And I would like to say time is flying, and really it is, but I had a very loooong last week.

On Monday I began feeling sick and by Tuesday afternoon I was in the nurses office with all of the sniffling students trying to take a nap. Luckily another teacher offered to cover my afternoon classes. But that was the end of it for me. Things only got worse. I didn't go to school the rest of the week (although Friday was a snow day, not that I would have gone anyway). By Wednesday I was begging a friend, my Chinese tutor Jack, to take me to the hospital. Let me tell you, being sick in a foreign country is not good. Being sick in a foreign country where they do not speak English, even worse. Being sick in China - miserable. I hated that I could not explain exactly what was wrong with me or what I wanted and I could not understand exactly what was being said. Having a translator with me was nice, but still not ideal. Although I don't know what I would have done without him.

It seems that the Chinese cure for everything is to hook you up to an IV. The sicker you are the more you get. So, my itinerary for the next several days was 2 IV's each day for 3 days. You should see my poor hands, so black and blue and sore from being poked so many times. I'm not sure what finally did the trick, but on about Saturday, I began to have hope again that I might make it through this. It must have been a combination of the IV, the drugs that I forced them, through the magic of tears and a little bit of wailing, to give me, some Chinese herbal tea that Jack swears by, and good old fashion bed rest. I feel like a new woman today, although everyone keeps telling me how sick I look. That can't be a great sign, but things are definitely looking up.

Now I have to begin to deal with my passport situation as I'm supposed to leave for Vietnam in a month and I have neither tickets nor a passport. It turns out that since my residence visa is in Qingdao my paperwork also needs to be processed there as well. There is no straight forward answer to any question in China, and this whole thing is taking an obscenely long time. So I have to now send all my paperwork there and wait and see what happens.

Gobble Gobble

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I hope everyone is finding the time to celebrate this holiday, my favorite holiday, with family and friends. Even though I'm halfway across the world, in a country that has never heard of Thanksgiving, I keep in mind all of the things I am thankful for (in no particular order):

1. My family
2. My friends
3. Aaron (who qualifies under both 1 and 2, but deserves his own honorable mention)
4. A country that gives me the freedom of speech, endless opportunities, and some diversity
5. A new country that gives me all my food on a stick or in a bag, including, but not limited to: meat, bread, noodles, fruit, and beer.
6. The impending addition to the family, that I am already so in love with from 6,000 miles away
7. A healthy body and a healthy mind
8. A puppy dog who is missed more than he knows (even though I hope someone is telling him!) and for Natalie, Andy and Olivia for spoiling him when I'm not
9. Email, and the so many of you who keep in touch on a daily/weekly basis - appreciated more than you know!
10. The lone supply of macaroni and cheese in China (thanks Jess!)

Power

For the past couple of weeks at school we have had power intermittently. Some days it works, some days it doesn't. Some days we get it periodically, somedays just in the mornings. Turns out that the school has never paid the contractor so they have just decided to cut power. We had none yesterday and they sent us home at noon, as they could not feed anyone. Today, they told us to bring our lunches, not a very promising sign. Turns out we have power until noon today, and who knows tomorrow. Or for the rest of the year for that matter.

It makes it very hard to teach or learn without power. We have no access to computers, printers, or copiers. Not to mention it's very cold. Teachers and students are all in coats, hats, scarves, gloves, blankets, etc. Whatever we can do just to keep warm, as the weather here is similar to Chicago. At the moment this is not a very learning or teaching conducive school, and I have little hope as to how the rest of the semester will go. We go on winter break for the months of January and February, and I hope that they will have figured things out before the new school year starts in March.

Sunflower Festival

On Friday, November 14, the school held their 8th annual Sunflower Festival. The morning consisted of games and movies for the middle school and high school students while the elementary students put on performances in the gym. In the afternoon the little kids went home and the older ones performed. The students loved it, and I discovered how talented some of my students really are.

The little kids were very adorable. They sang, danced, did tae kwon do, and just ran around the stage smiling and laughing.

The older kids were great. They sang really well, put together some good dance routines, and the tae kwon do was amazing. I thought I would be a little bored with the last one, but it was very very cool. They set it to music and broke boards, bricks, all while doing flips through the air.

They had also set up some of their art in the entryway, and it was amazing. I understand that doesn't say much coming from me, but everyone else was impressed as well! It was a really nice day to hang out and appreciate the talents my students do have, as opposed to being frustrated with the ones they don't.

I have included this video. There are 3 boys and 2 girls, can you tell who is who? The boys are all my students. While they aren't the most concientious students, you can see why I still love them.

The Beginning of the End

my ice cream cake, not mint chocolate chip but still delicious,and rare in China

Thanks Alexis!

Yes, that is in reference to my 28th birthday. Ha! I'm just kidding, but I do feel old. I told everyone here I was celebrating 25. They believed me, but eventually the truth came out. As my dad reminded me, 28 is still too young to be lying about your age. Oh well.

My birthday was actually very very fun. Only 6 of us went out to dinner, but then a ton of other people met me out at the bars to help celebrate. We went on a little bar tour of Yantai, since I've only seen Alibaba so far. We of course ended the night there. But it was really nice to see a lot of people hanging out for my birthday, especially since I haven't been here very long. I like to think it was me and not that I happen to be at the bar on a Friday night. :)

Car bombs - in honor of my dad!!

It was a little sad to not have my friends and family with me. As I was telling Aaron, this is the first time in 5 years he hasn't been there to be the first to tell me happy birthday. I think my mom was the first with her happy birthday email. The students here all sang to me and were super cute about it. I walked into my 7th grade class and they had decorated the board with happy birthday's and I love you's. How could I make them work after that? We spent the hour playing games. How easily I can be manipulated!

The rest of the weekend wasn't too exciting. On Saturday we wentbowling and to the arcade to play around like little kids. It was nice to dosomething a little different for a change. Turns out I still suck at bowling andam pretty useless when it comes to video games. We had a good time though.

On Sunday I taught my college class. Since I have 3 hours with them, we have started watching some fine examples of American television, aka, Friends. They loved it, I loved it, so that will become the first hour or so of every class. It's a good vocabulary builder as well. The first episode introduces them to the word "lesbian". They were pretty surprised and amused when they found out what it meant within the context of the show. They are fun students and I like them a lot. But 3 hours every Sunday is a bit overwhelming, for both of us. Sunday nights have become trivia nights with my friends, although I was a little embarassed by my perfomance. I will have to redeem myself next week.

I woke up this morning without any electricity. Two weeks ago it was the water. Ohhh China.

Halloween

I thought I was going to be able to escape Halloween this year, living in China. As most of you know, I hate Halloween. I am not nearly creative enough to think of a good costume, and refuse to use it as an excuse to dress as a slutty bus driver or "dirty" garbage collector or whatever bizarre profession/disney character they have managed to transform into some sort of inappropriate outfit. Not that I'm knocking those, it's just not for me.

However, I was clearly wrong and actually ended up having a great time. China isn't much for celebrating Halloween, but Alibaba likes to have a Halloween party each year. It turns out that even though the Chinese may not celebrate Halloween officially, they really like it. The bar was packed and they handed out masks to those without costumes. Very fun.

Since China doesn't celebrate this holiday, there are not a lot of options when it comes to Halloween costumes. You either have to think of a costume that you can find stuff for, think of one early enough and get it made, or sew it yourself. For those of you who know me well, options 2 and 3 weren't really options at all. On Wednesday Alexis and I decided that we were going to go as the track runners from Juno. A seemingly easy costume. Although it took a bit longer to find evertyhing than we thought, we were able to piece together pretty darn good costumes. Of course very few people knew who were were, but we did and that's ok with me.

We left work early on Friday since the kids had all left after mid term testing anyway and went to the bar to carve pumpkins and play with animal parts. How do you know when you're in China? 1. Easily accessible dead animals 2. hanging real, recently deceased, animal parts from the ceiling in an establishment is perfectly ok. I won't tell you what part of the sheep I was in charge of, but it was both disgusting and hysterical at the same time. We also carved pumpkins, which left my arm sore the next day. This is the first pumpkin I've ever carved all by myself! I also began carving my name into a pumpkin but had to leave before it was finished. When I got to the bar that evening, there it was, in all its glory, happily carved and lit up in the center of the bar. I felt a little special, and didn't fail to point it out to, well, everybody.

All and all it was a really fun evening. The group that dressed up as characters from Batman won the competition - they deserved it.

Update

I left work early yesterday and went to the police station to report the passport stolen. They gave me a document that I will have to take with me to Beijing to get the new passport. I have to wait until I get documents from home (birth certificate and old passport) to head to Beijing, so I can prove I exist. I will travel by train both ways, I think the trip is around 15hrs each way. Unfortunately I will not be able to spend any time in Bejing, since I have to go during the week when the embassy is open and will be docked pay for each day I'm gone. I am so very unexcited to have to do this. And I am assuming I have to go alone.

Once I have my passport from home I will be able to get a new bank card and at least have access to some money. Although my friends here have been EXTREMELY nice and generous and have offered to lend me as much as I need. And I had friends come with me to the police station to speak with them in Chinese, and just be overall very helpful with anything they can. So while there are some people that truly suck out there, there are so many others that really make up for it. I've only been here for 2 months, but am thankful for the friends that I have made. It's really important and calming during all of this craziness.

I did buy a new cell phone, which makes me feel a little better. At least not so isolated. My new cell phone number is:

15905455461

Weekend Woes

I was going to sit down and write to you all about my Halloween, which turned out really fun, especially in a country that doesn't celebrate this holiday. However, I will leave that post for later this week.

Instead, I will write of bad news. On Saturday night we went out for a low key evening. Unfortunately there was more drama than I could have asked for. At the bar, I got up to use the bathroom and talk to some friends and by the time I made it back, my purse had been stolen. For some reason, that night I was carrying my whole life around with me. Smart, I know. So now I am here in China, with no passport, ID, cell phone, makeup, ipod, money, credit cards, debit cards, glasses, etc. I will at some point have to travel to Beijing to get a new passport. I know I said I wanted to go there, but this isn't exactly what I was envisioning. And until I can get a new passport, I have no way of getting into my bank account as they require some form of identification before handing out its contents.

Life is supposed to be an adventure right? I'm pretty sure I've got that covered.

It makes me sad that someone could just steal my purse, and all my belongings and identity and think nothing of it. I know things like this happen all the time, but it makes you stop and think once it happens to you. Whoever stole my stuff probably has not even given it a second thought as they spend my money and toss the rest of my life aside. As for me, I must have to deal with all of this for the next several weeks. There are people that do a lot worse stuff than steal a girl's purse out of a bar, but it's just hard to wrap my head around that people could be so mean to one another without hardly batting an eye.

A Vanilla Latte, please

For some reason I keep getting drawn back to Qingdao. However, this was by far the most fun I've had there. I went with four friends, to meet up with Yuri, who we stayed with while we were in Korea. She has an apartment a short cab ride from the city. Since we wanted to leave Friday from work we hired a private driver to pick us up at the end of school and drive us the 3 hours to Qingdao. It would have taken a really long time to go all the way downtown and get on a bus. The private driver was 120 rmb/person (~$18), but a little expensive for China standards. The ride down there was fine, but when we got there he demanded more money. We of course refused, but it was hard to fight in Chinese, as no one was fluent. We called one of our friends who speaks Chinese to talk to the driver. At the end of the conversation he stole the phone and refused to give it back unless we paid an even more ridiculous amount of money. After we threatened to call the police he lowered his price to the point where it was just easier to pay it than bother with this anymore. Not a great way to start our weekend, but we were glad to be done with that episode. It's unfortunate that people try to take advantage of others, thinking they don't know any better. I know people in my country can be equally as awful, but it makes me sad that there are people like that.

As most of my trips so far, this one too revolved around food. We quickly dropped our stuff and headed out to get pizza. The closest thing to real pizza in China. It was delicious. We just stayed in on Friday night, ate pizza and drank soju. It was a nice relaxing evening, especially after the shennanigans that started it off.

The next day we took our time getting up and ready and then went out for Indian food and Baskin Robbins. Amazing. We went straight from there for Starbucks (I told you this weekend was all about consumption - just trying to do my part). We spent a little time roaming around this very tiny, but beautiful, park. After that we just headed back to Yuri's to rest and get ready for the evening. We spent the evening touring several bars around Qingdao. The first place we went wast the Shangri-La Hotel, which was beautiful. It must be nice to be rich! Although Qingdao is significantly nicer than Yantai, the people there don't seem as friendly. They have a lot more foreigners, so we were stared at less, however the foreigners pretty much stuck to their own friends. Here in Yantai, everyone seems pretty happy to talk to everyone else. That is one really nice part about living here.
On Sunday we slept in and then headed to Metro, which is a Costco-like store, but you don't have to buy everything in bulk. I bought myself a very cozy robe, as the weather is getting coooold. I have realized this might have been a mistake as I have actually contemplated whether or not I can get away with wearing it to work. So far I've managed to leave it at home, but I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. I also bought tortillas and refried beans that I am saving for a very special occasion. Perhaps my birthday next week!

We left there, happy with our purchases and headed to the bus station. After the debacle with the driver, we decided we should probably hop the bus back to Yantai. The bus decided to make an unscheduled stopover at some other, seemingly abandoned, bus station for a half an hour, which we weren't thrilled about. Gotta love China! We all made it home, safe and sound, around 9pm on Sunday. All and all it was a really nice weekend. Any weekend that involves Starbucks and mint chocolate chip ice cream can't be bad!

Happyland

sort of a crappy picture of Happyland

Yes, I actually went to a place called "Happyland". Guess what? Not all that happy. Instead of school on Friday, the whole school went up to Penglai (about an hour and a half away) to this new "amusement park" called Happyland. Clearly these people have never been to a Six Flags, or even the Taste of Glen Ellyn for that matter.

Mark, Leo, Alexis, Carrie

However, the kids had fun, and we were able to create some fun of our own. I'm definitely not complaining as it was far superior to working. The kids all enjoyed karoake before running off to do whatever is was they did in Happyland. We basically ran around and took pictures of ourselves.

Mark inside the bucket balanced on the girl's feet being ridden by a small Chinese boy

The rest of my weekend was pretty uneventful. I went out with friends on Friday night. On Sunday my landlord called me (at 10:15AM - the nerve!) and said he wanted to have lunch at 11. So I dragged myself out of bed and had hotpot with him. He speaks very little English, and I speak very little Chinese. It's like one long game of charades. I asked him what we were eating and he put his fingers on his head, which I took to meaning I am definitely eating an animal with either horns or ears. I also ate sheep. But to be honest, once you dip the meat in the oh so delicious peanut sauce, it pretty much all tastes the same.

Outside of the restaurant was 2 wedding celebrations. The celebrations here involve lots and lots of fireworks. Therefore every weekend it's insanely loud. It was pretty cool to see the festivities up close. The bride wears white, but changes frequently throughout the day. At some point she will wear the traditional red dress of China.

After lunch I promptly went back to bed and then just took it easy Saturday night. On Sunday I began teaching a University class. The students are amazing! They are all college freshman and can speak English decently well. They are very excited to speak with a real live American girl and hung on every word I said. So different than the Korean students I teach on a daily basis. Since these Chinese students are not English majors they do not have the opportunity to have a native English teacher. They paid extra to take the class I'm teaching (oh no!). They were great though, and very very nice. They all said that they are taking this class to improve their oral English skills and to make new friends. It is 3 hours every Sunday so I must start planning something interesting. My first lesson: all about Chicago :)

Cute??

I bought these new slippers yesterday at the night market. Little chinese people. I couldn't resist, plus it's starting to get cold. I also bought a snuggly blanket with pigs on it. What's happening to my style??

Korea

We had Wednesday to Friday off last week in honor of Chinese National Holiday. Most of China gets the whole week off, but I won't complain too much! I decided to tag along with some of my friends to Korea. I'm glad I did - it was really fun.

We stayed with a friend, Yuri, and her parents ( the picture above is the view from their front yard) on Wednesday and Saturday nights, and we spent Thursday and Friday nights in Seoul. Seoul truly seems like the city that never sleeps. I've never seen so many people out during hours that most people should be at home sleeping. The two friends that I traveled with haven't been home (one to the US, the other to Australia) in a long time, so they were very happy to see western conveniences. The first thing we did was see a movie, unfortuately it was Mama Mia...the sing along version. Mom and Dad: if it ever comes to the Music Box I know you'll be first in line. Luckily no one at my theater was singing along. Despite my decision to take American Musical Theater in college (what???), I have never been one to enjoy musicals, especially if it isn't live. Anyway, I digress. We then spent the rest of the evening shopping--until 3am! Luckily stores in Chicago are not open that late, or else I would be in big trouble.

Thursday we headed to downtown Seoul and poked around at an old palace for awhile. It was crazy to see something very old, contrasted with the new buildings in the city. We also drove past the "blue house" where the president lives.

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out in Seoul and snacking. That night we went out for Indian food and headed for the bars/clubs. It was all going well until Alexis fell down around 4am and our night then concluded in the emergency room of the hospital. Alexis ended up with a bandaged ankle and some crutches.

The rest of the trip just involved roaming and shopping around the city, eating, drinking and mostly just hanging out. There were actually a bunch of Korean people that we knew from China there so we all met up at various points throughout the trip. The last night we sat up on the rooftop of Yuri's parents house and talked and drank Soju, the traditional drink of Korea and much better than Baijou. The next morning Yuri's mom made us breakfast and we were off to the airport.

It was a very short trip and went by very quickly, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to go. Korea is very beautiful and the people were very friendly. I suppose they could have been insulting me at the time and I wouldn't really know the difference. There are a lot of foreigners in Korea, which is way different than where I live in China. It's surprising if you see another foreigner on the streets in China, but Seoul is full of them. I already miss some of the luxuries it had to offer, such as real coffee and paper towels.

I'm trying to get out and see as much of the world as possible. It seems like there is a lot to learn from other people and customs and traditions. It's so interesting to see how other people live their lives. Not to mention I have seen some pretty beautiful places so far. I feel so fortunate that I have had as many opportunities as I have had to see, and now live in, new places. It is truly amazing to get out and see different pockets of the world. As for right now, I write in my cubicle area in the teacher offices, looking out the window at the rolling hills somewhere in my little city of Yantai.

Hotpot

Yesterday evening the Korean and foreign teachers all had dinner at a hotpot restaurant just to hang out and also to celebrate Mark's 23rd birthday. Hotpot is basically the Chinese version of fondue, but a lot less oily and stinky. I also had my first taste of "baijiu". For those of you who don’t live in China, which I'm pretty sure is everyone, baijiu, or “white alcohol” is the traditional liquor of China. It is very strong and from what I can tell is a mix of wine and rubbing alcohol. I clearly didn't enjoy it, but obviously drank my whole glass, and am not willing to write it off yet. However, I was happy when the glass was empty and a could refill it with the delishness of Tsingtao beer. We sat at a huge round table and all the food was put on a turntable in the middle to be wheeled around at your convenience. It was very good and a perfect way to kick off this cold weather season that we have suddenly been rocketed into.

Where's Waldo

Can you find me?????

Settling in

As you probably have noticed, I have bought a card reader and can now include pics. I went back and added them to my past posts.

This weekend brought me back to Qingdao very briefly. I didn't go to work on Friday but instead hopped a bus to Qingdao to get my resident's visa. I had been given directions by bus to the bus station. Which of course I managed to mess up. I ended up on this tiny bus that stopped at literally every bus stop on the way out of the city inviting people to join us. Not only every bus stop but anyone who was walking down the street as well. They didn't even have to be near a bus stop. Needless to say, it took a lot longer than the standard 3 hours. I spent a couple hours in Qingdao, waiting in various lines and then returned by a bigger, much nicer bus. It even came with free green juice.

Saturday morning I went with some teachers and students climbing up a mountain about an hour out of town. It was beautiful and the kids were pretty funny. We got to the top and everyone busted out all of these snacks. They were very well prepared and very happy to share. Here teachers are not called by their names, just teacheeeer (they like to stretch out all their words), which is what I heard a lot when they were handing out their treats.

Saturday night I met some people out for some barbecue and beers and then of course back to Alibaba for an evening of dancing. If memory serves (which sometimes it doesn't) I have vague recollections of doing the macarena on a stage. The macarena you ask? Oh yes.

I have gotten a Chinese language tutor and my first lesson is tonight. I'm very excited. My cooking lessons have been postponed as my teacher's wife is in the hospital. I suppose that's a pretty valid excuse. It seems, for now, that I am happily settling into life in Yantai.

bae go pa

"I'm hungry"
More Korean.
You guys can learn along with me.

ha se yo

That is hello in Korean, which is the only word that I have picked up so far working in my Korean school. After working for a week here I think it will be fine. The very first thing every class told me when I walked in was "teacher, you have a very small face." Um, ok. I absolutely love my 7th graders. They are so silly and make me laugh everday. The 8th and 9th graders have a bit of an attitude, but then I try and remember what I was like back then (sorry mom!), and have to try to understand. My 11th grade students are pretty cool. I only teach them writing, which comes with a different set of issues than teaching writing at home, but it's interesting.

The teachers here are pretty nice. I basically only talk to the foreign teachers but some of the Korean teachers are very friendly. Every other Friday we have Club Activity for the last 2 periods of the day. So I played soccer with the boys, as the only girl. The students thought it was hysterical, but wouldn't come near me when I had the ball. Which made it much easier to play! They also play a lot of badminton and ping pong. Maybe next week.

I am still enjoying Korean food for lunch and am able to try something new everyday. Literally, everyday there is something on my plate that I have NO idea what it might be. Sometimes it works out well for me, sometimes not so much. I like that I get to try all sorts of different things. Yesterday when I was downtown I ate octupus legs skewered on a stick from a street vendor. Surprisingly, very delicious. I have to work my way up to the whole squid skewered on a stick ,which I am sure is equally delicious, but a little more frightening to look at. I also met a man yesterday who told me he would teach me how to cook Chinese food, which I am VERY excited about. They like things really spicy here, which is right up my alley.

I had a good weekend. We went out on Friday to the bars. Well I should say "bar", as the teachers here like to frequent one specific one, Alibaba. It's a mix between a bar, dance club and pool hall. We stayed in the dance club most of the night, where I was of course a dancing machine. I was not quite as coordinated as the Koreans, who have synchronized dances to most every song. Most of the people in the bar were foreigners and I met people from South Africa, England, Portugal, Sweden, India, Mexico, Australia, and of course the US. Like my dad said, it was like a meeting of the United Nations. Throw on some dance music, add a beer or two and maybe we can achieve world peace.

Saturday I spent most of the day walking around with one of the other teachers here and went for a run. Yantai is very beautiful. It's on the sea and there are mountains in the background. I wish all of you could come live with me here, it's really a very cool place. The only thing it's missing is my friends and family. and cheese. and flushing toilets. and mattresses. Ok, so it's missing a few things, but regardless, I think everyone should at least come visit.

Yantai or bust

I have made it to Yantai! I can finally start settling in, which is a nice feeling. It was a 3 hour bus ride from Qingdao, and then another hour and a half waiting for someone to pick me up. I should expect that by now. Everyone at the bus station was very nice to me, even if we didn't speak the same language. It involved a lot of arm waving and laughing. Maybe at me, I'm not sure.

I was taken to a very delicious lunch of potatoes, broccoli, sea urchin and a giant spicy fish head, which quickly made me forget about my long wait for their arrival. I was then taken to my apartment, which is actually very cute. It's a studio with an attached kitchen and is big enough for me, seeing as everything I have fits into 2 suitcases. I also met one of the coordinators of the foreign teachers at my school, Leo. He lives very close to me and is very nice.

Sunday I went to the mall, Jusco, which is only a 5 minute bus ride from my apt and has pretty much everything I could need. It has normal shopping, restaurants (both Chinese and Western), and a giant supermarket. With cheese! Hooray! I did go grocery shopping for other things, however it is very difficult to buy things based on the pictures on the container. We'll see shortly what I ended up with.

I am halfway through my first day of teaching. I have taught 2 classes and have 2 more to go. So far we have pretty much just played getting to know you games. They all have English names, some of which are pretty amusing such as: Yello, Huck, Clyde and even one Paris (oh no!). Lunch is always Korean food (maybe this blog should have been called 'Amanda eats her way through China') and was only half edible today. And I'm not that picky, especially when I'm hungry.

Qingdao City

Yesterday we got up early and left for the actual city center of Qingdao. It's about an hour and a half by bus, but totally worth it. It's fantastic, and made me wish that was where I was living. It was full of normal people, stores, restaurants, etc. It reminded me a little of downtown Chicago, without all the skyscrapers. Although I suppose that doesn't make it like Chicago at all. Anyway, it is right on the water and it's very beautiful. I will post pictures of everything hopefully very soon.

We spent the day poking into shops, walking around the parks, and attempted to see where the Olympics were held. However, the Paralympics come in a couple days and everything is blocked off in preparation. It's a very lovely city and I could see being very happy there, if that's where I was staying.

I got my teaching schedule yesterday and beginning on Monday I will be teaching 6 classes: 3 conversational English to 7th and 8th graders (Beth, we need to talk), 2 writing composition and 1 essay writing class to Juniors. I think the Middle school classes have books and the other three classes I have to figure out on my own. I'm glad they gave me ample amounts of time to prepare. Oh wait...

I leave for Yantai tomorrow, fingers crossed. Things change here on a minute to minute basis. It should take me 3 hours by bus, which is actually a good way to see things so I don't mind. I have to take the bus myself and just hope I know when to get off and that someone is waiting for me on the other end. I have too much luggage to be tromping around a city by myself.

Today is a lazy day, but I don't mind since I know I will be leaving for Yantai shortly. I had meat dumplings, a churro, and vegetables squeezed out of a pouch for breakfast. Very weird and I don't feel all together fantastic right now. Must skip lunch. However, I did find the "European" half aisle at the grocery store where I can by olive oil, pasta, and Swiss Miss. I think I may be able to survive for a year on those items alone. It was actually a very welcoming sight after shopping through the aisles with livers, kidneys, intestines, and other unidentifiable items. It's not the food that grosses me out, it's the smell. There are a lot of fruits and veggies to eat and when I actually have my own apartment to live in, I think I will be ok. I know you all must be worried :)

Crazy days 1 and 2

The days have been fun for the most part. I went to the travel hospital yesterday and got an ecg and an ultrasound (i'm not pregnant - hooray!! anyway, i'm pretty sure they weren't checking for that) and xrays and they drew blood. apparently only very healthy foreigners allowed in china. we went to Cindy's neighborhood after and went to this super crazy outdoor market. of course i didn't charge the battery in my camera but i'm sure there will be more later. the market had tons of fruits and veggies and stuff and a whole lot of unidentifiable items. sort of scary. they made lunch which was delicious. i inquired about cheese. apparently very hard to find. there is a kfc though. great.

Everything here is very cheap so far. I have eaten every meal, mostly noodles and veggies, for under $1. Can't beat that. Except for McDonald's which I know has 59cent hamburgers on Tuesdays, but I'm pretty sure my meals have been better!

I spent today walking around a very beautiful park, but it is very very hot here today. It is nice to sit in the internet cafe and cool down.

I think that I will not be heading to Yantai until the weekend, which will give me a little more time to explore downtown Qingdao, which is where the action is.

Observations so far: we drink lukewarm water, but bathe in the freezing cold, no one wears sunglasses despite being sold almost everywhere, babies pee on the streets through a slit in their pants, and crossing the street is a free for all - done at your own risk.

Arrival

So I have made it to China, after almost 24 hours of travel. I was picked up from the airport by 3 people from the organzation, which made it a little awkward when we all tried to fit into a very tiny car with my 2 very large suitcases. Several references were made as to their enormity. Oops! Apparently I've overpacked, but a girl has to be prepared right?

I'm currently in Qingdao and moving to Yantai by the end of the week. I haven't seen too much here yet, but plan to do some exploring tomorrow. I have a built in travel guide with me while I'm here, Cindy, and she seems really nice. Everything is new and weird and so far very exciting. I will start teaching Monday, although not 100% sure what yet.