another weekend gone by? and......biking!

so we finished the first quarter and I had to do report cards for the first time. no big deal really. I only had to write maximum 4 lines of comments per student, and assess them on personal/social/development skills. it was just all the marks that needed to be added in. and I thought I was doing well. maybe I mark too many things. I guess I'll figure it out as I go. so on Saturday, while Scott was gone to a soccer tournament in another city, I spent TOO MUCH of the day at school marking, and planning for this week. sad sad story. and of course the stress isn't over, because today my student who has been absent for 2 weeks (funeral in Malaysia) returned! and grades are due tomorrow, so I might as well fit in a few more tests for him! haha

you think I'd be a bit more settled....but I cannot help but think of ways I can teach the material better to my students. my ESL students struggle a lot because the material and vocabulary is quite advanced. I do a lot of small dramatizations during the day to explain small concepts, like "effort". today they did a self-evaluation of the past quarter and had to comment on their effort on assignments this past quarter. it wasn't easy for some of them!

Saturday night Scott and I found ONE friend who was free to go out for dinner. Hannah is a student teacher from Minnesota. so we had dinner at the mall, which has many nice restaurants then decided to head back to our place to watch a movie. Scott and I had rode our bikes over, so we said she could take mine and I'd ride on the back of Scott's, as we often do. but Hannah is not much of a risk-taker....and to ride a bike in Beijing?! well, we just kinda forced it upon her. otherwise, she would've tried to get out of it (which she did, but I ignored it). I gave her a few suggestions and we were off. Scott and I with one broken pedal and me the heavy load. once she managed to sit on the seat (because she's shorter than me) she was fine. she got a little nervous when someone passed her.....all was good, hardly anyone on the path and then I hear "CRUNCH"!!! don't worry. no one was hit except the parked car!!! hahahha. Hannah was riding beside a parked car realized she was a little close, went to turn away but instead turned IN to the car! hehe. thankfully she was laughing and wasn't hurt :) probably embarassed more than anything. the car was a beater so we weren't too concerned. and we made it safely back to our place! I'm just glad she didn't run into another person or moving vehicle.

this Unit I'm teaching in Social Studies right now is all about the Northeast region of the U.S. , and the text had a section all about the Niagara River, Niagara Falls, and the power plants. it was nice to talk about something so familiar. I even showed them some of my own pictures from the area.

I went out for Hot Pot tonight with some other staff. Scott missed it because he went to a meeting about joining the worship team at our church. we've really enjoyed the sincerity of the leader, and he's looking to expand the team. Hot Pot is like fondue, but much bigger, and more like a giant pot of soup. I think I've mentioned it before. it's quite enjoyable, though I came back smelling like it!

'tis all for now my friends.
thanks for reading!

........

it's still hard to believe that I'm actually running my own classroom. some days just slip by and I barely remember what happened! Monday's I'm usually excited, full of energy, and ready to accomplish a lot! but as the week wears on it gets harder and harder to get out of bed.....and it doesn't feel like I get much accomplished during the day.

just this week in particular perhaps, because it's the end of the first quarter, and report cards go home next week! the grading program on the computer is excellent, so it's not too complicated, but I'd still like to put in more marks....which means more marking! Scott is gone to a soccer tournament all day Saturday, so I'll probably spend a lot of the day at school. sometimes it just has to be done on a Saturday!

we finally got a permanent teacher for the other grade 4 class this week! she also just got married and came over to Beijing. her husband is working on the American Embassy project. It's such a relief to all of us, and the class seems to be adjusting well. I'm really excited, because she has taught a lot of this curriculum before! she's got 2 years under her belt. so we hope to do a lot of planning together. and she's full of helpful, brilliant ideas! thank God for Jodee!

this past weekend I experienced more of what we call "Beijing Belly"!!! basically I ate something that didn't agree with me. either it was something gone bad, or some bacteria my body wasn't used to. I spent most of Saturday sleeping, trying to ignore the pain in my belly. thankfully we did pack lots of Advil.

I'm not sure I ever mentioned the little trip to the "ranch" during the second week of our vacation. basically we drove out of the city about an hour to a "ranch" set up by a Canadian. the accommodations were nice enough. cedar cabins, and the bathroom had a big jacuzzi tub and a sauna. by the grounds were nasty. not well kept. but we did lots of things: horseback riding, archery, go carts, bowling, ping pong. the best part was the hike that Scott and I took. no one else was on the mountain! except of course for the giant spiders and grasshoppers. we are very thankful that our chinese neighbour invited us along.....though we didn't know that all 6 of them were chain smokers!!! haha....not used to that much smoke in "Smoke Free Ontario!"

well.....that's all for now. I hope you're all enjoying the beautiful Fall.

p.s. sorry, it takes too long to load pictures on here sometimes....but check Scott's facebook if you want to see more

a week off...

Well our break is officially over. We're at school today for meetings. It's nice to be part of a school that is working hard to bring everything up to a high standard. We are working at getting accredited with WASC and NCCT (american and chinese respectively). So there are separate committees for every area having to do with running a school. They were working on this last year as well so much of the work is done, but we have to collect evidence for everything.



anyways, this past week has been fun. Monday we ventured to the heart of the city, along with about a million other people. (actually heard on the news that this holiday week 1.7 million people came to Beijing). we took the subway for the first time. at each transfer it got progressively busier and busier. at the final transfer we had to wait in line to get on the subway and then finally shoved our way onto one. downtown was just the same. massive crowds of people everywhere. there was no quiet spot. sidewalks were packed. Tian'anmen Square (the biggest town square in the world) was packed with people just mingling about. and there was nowhere to sit! no park benches, no steps, nothing! so people just sat down on the paved ground. at one point I found a curb to sit down on, but a police man came and told us all to get up. they kept people moving, yelling at us with megaphones. who knows what they were yelling, but it was annoying! going through Tian'anmen Gate towards the Forbidden City you could only walk in one direction. if you decided you wanted to exit you had to walk basically all the way around these massive gardens and walls. hordes of people just moving moving moving. so exhausting. the view from up top the Tian'anmen Gate was probably the best part of the day. since you had to pay to go up there weren't as many people up there. and you could see the entire Tian'anmen Square from up there, with all the people. that's where the leaders address the people from.

We enjoyed some comforting KFC food for dinner! then wandered around the famous shopping street Wangfujing. We also found the Night Market, which is famous for its weird foods. everything on a stick. from pork, to scorpions, grasshoppers, star fish, to fruit (which is what we had) :)

it was an exhausting day, but it's one of those things were you're glad to say "I was there!"

Tuesday was a bit more relaxing. we biked over to a local park where they had lots of exhibitors, including a little Dutch village! they are celebrating 35 years of diplomatic relationships between China and Holland. so there were some Dutch people doing some traditional crafts, and making some food. we found some delicious raisin buns! but no cheese :(

I'll write later about our visit to a little resort Wednesday-Thursday. we're going to head to the bank, which should take us at least 1 hour. that's the thing about China. many things appear very modern, but underneath it's all still old-fashioned. they chinese don't like to "lose face"....which affects many things in society, including the traffic :)

bye for now! happy thanksgiving!

holiday!

has it really been two weeks since I wrote last? well, time has flown. these past weeks really went quickly, as we were waiting in anticipation of this holiday. It is the holiday of independence, when China celebrates it's birthday. so that means that this weekend everyone is working because during the week they don't have to work everyday. October 1st is the actual holiday, and that is the day that everyone in the city goes to Tiannamen Square, and we plan on joining them! we expect it to be a crazy experience, but an experience worth doing. still not sure how we'll get there even. maybe subway. it's a National holiday, so everyone in the country is travelling! that's why we've decided to stay in town, since there's so much we haven't seen yet.

our internet recently stopped working at home, which means it didn't get paid for....but I thought I paid it at the bank....better try again. everything here is "pay as you go"....so I was worried when our gas burner wouldn't turn on this morning, thinking we were out of gas credits. but we were fine. sometimes it's just finicky like that. but we have to remember to charge the gas and electricity bills so that we won't run out.

we bought a little oven yesterday!!! very exciting! this now means that I can finally make meals that go in the oven, such as baked squash!! I will be making that next Sunday because we've been invited to a Canadian thanksgiving! unfortunately turkeys are about $75 dollars here, so we'll be having some other form of poultry. but I'm quite excited about having a little oven. it's basically a bigger toaster oven. we even rode our bikes to go get it, and Scott tied it to the rack on the back of his bike to bring it home :)

so far at the start of this holiday we've enjoyed lots of sleep, reading, and a movie as well. we hope to visit other parks and sites around the city, as everywhere is decorated with flower arrangements, lights, lanterns, etc. every apartment compound even has a nice flower arrangement at the entrance.

my students do continue to amaze me. in a good way. this past week we played a game where I mixed up the subjects and predicates of various sentences, then they matched them up randomly and most often came up with a very silly sentence. they loved the activity! Language Arts had never been this fun! so the next day, a student arrived at school with a little envelope full of subjects and predicates she had typed out at home so that they could play on their own!!! wow! what a bunch of keeners! and they also have a book club, where the more pages you read, the more points you get! what a great class! we aren't free of troubles though. there are some social issues that go on among the korean girls. they also have a hard time getting along with others.

anyways, today we'll be watching the final for the women's world cup. should be a very exciting game. our neighbour also made us a DVD with Mandarin lessons. so nice!

that's it for now....
by the way, I continue to arrive alive every time I ride my bike somewhere :) it's not so bad once you get the hang of it!

more change?!

YES, me and my hair were ready for a change! I was tired of how long it took to blow-dry, and how many long hairs were all over the floor! I'd been thinking about it for about a week. and after allowing Scott some time to get used to the idea, I took the plunge on Sunday afternoon.

It's nervewracking enough to cut off so much hair, but it's multiplied when I don't speak the language! I went in, looked and some magazines, picked a style, and we were off! once he started cutting my hair off (with many stares from other staff and customers), I began to wonder what I'd gotten myself into. because he seemed to be cutting it quite! after a few minutes of panic I calmed myself down, telling myself "it's only hair, it WILL grow back!" I wasn't truly satisfied with the cut until 2 hours later when he finally made my bangs and it all came together! I'm quite happy with the change! my head feels so much lighter!

some of the comments I got at school today were "I can't believe you trusted a chinese person to cut your hair!" and "did you want your hair that short?" hahaha.... some people here actually wait to get their hair cut until they go back home! whatever. it's no big deal.

I finally took the plunge and also went to the bank after school today! yes, it's actually quite an ordeal because it usually takes at least an hour. so I got my number, went and did some shopping then came back to continue waiting. finally an hour later my number was called and I paid the phone and water bills. and boy does it take a long time! so many little papers that she fills out and stamps, and I don't know what else she does. but it was only $16 for the past month of water and phone. pretty good!

by the way I'm still glad to hear of so many of you reading this!
love to you all!

International Family Day

this week was a hold build up to the big fair at the school on Saturday. throughout the week we discussed the different cultures represented in our classrooms, and Friday everyone was invited to wear their national clothing. so much fun! I forgot my camera, but thankfully another teacher took some pictures of my class for me.

so today at the school, each culture represented at our school had a classroom, where they had trivia about their country, food, music, whatever. and it's a fundraiser for the Parent Teacher Association. the Canadian room rocked! some families have been doing this event for a few years, so they bring things back specifically for this day, including napkins and plates with Canadian flags. someone even had a huge tin of Tim Horton's coffee! which, combined with the giant Timmy's sign another girl and I painted, it felt like home. Scott and I also made waffles and crepes throughout the day. we sung the National Anthem a few times, and even had a bit of hockey going on. it was a real fun time. we got to enjoy food from Venezuela and Korea, and had our names written in chinese calligraphy.

this week riding the bike to work was quite fun! it's so nice to have your own space, rather than be crowded like sardines in a bus. it did rain a few days this week and I actually biked. I noticed that most chinese people biking have these ponchos that go right over the handle bars and keep you quite dry. thankfully someone at the school had one they didn't need, so I have one for next time it rains. I managed to stay fairly dry without it though. Scott and I also brave it, and I sit on the little rack on the back to the corner where he catches the bus. it's kinda scary because I can't see anything. but so far we've been fine. we feel quite chinese doing that.

just 2 more weeks of school and then we have a week holiday! woo-hoo!!!
that's all for now folks!

moving into week 5!

starting week 5 of school that is, which means we've been here for 6 weeks! and married for 7! it's still hard to believe everything that has happened in that short amount of time. but here we are, having fun!

this past Monday I felt dizzy as soon as I stepped out of bed. I didn't want to eat and I thought I'd throw up any minute. but it passed so that I thought I could teach that day. I actually took the bus to school, but as soon as I arrived the feeling returned. so I handed over my lesson plans and went home to sleep. it must've been a bug from some food. all I did to recover was sleep, and I've been fine since. someone said it must be Beijing Belly, which every new foreigner experiences.

that meant I only had 3 days with my students this week, because Friday was a work day. our school is in the process of getting accredited with WASC and NCCT, 2 different educational associations. so it was mostly meetings for the day. then we had the privilege of waiting at the police station for 1 hour. all people living in Beijing must have a residence permit. chinese or not. so people can't just come in from the countryside to live here, unless they have a residence permit. the police actually goes around door-to-door to look for illegal residents. we have our "foreign experts certificates" but we still needed that permit. there were a pile of Koreans also waiting in line. but apparently we haven't experienced China until we've been to a train station. THEN, we are told, will we realize how many people China really has!

Saturday this weekend I was invited to join some of my female colleagues for a scrapbooking and stamping party! it started at 10 and didn't wrap up until 4!!! we actually didn't start making stuff until almost 12 because we were just chatting, and then we also had lunch. it was actually mostly a stamping party, because that's what most of them have. and boy do they have a lot!!!! they order from Stamp It Up. friends in the U.S. ship things out for them. I was so overwhelmed with all the choices! we had a good time though.

last night we called up our English speaking neighbour that we met randomly and asked him to join us going out for dinner. he's actually from Malaysia and has been living and working here for 6 months, but his Mandarin is quite good. we went for Hot Pot, which is almost like fondue. we got one big pot that splits into two: half spicy oil, have broth. then you order whatever meat and vegetables you want. then you throw them in a bit at a time, fish it out with your chopsticks, dip it in a sauce and enjoy! it's a long meal, but that's what the chinese like to do. sit around for a couple of hours around food and drink and chat it up with friends. chinese restaurants are generally really loud!

the bus to school has been getting increasingly crowded. it must be because of the start of chinese schools. they are sooo uncomfortable, I'm usually squished tightly between many people. and the other day I saw a colleague go by on her bike....and bikers always beat me to school, so I've decided to get one! yes, Scott might secretly be concerned about my safety, but I'll be careful :) it would be cool to get a video sometime on my bike and tape what happens on the streets. cars only follow traffic lights a little bit. if it's green though and you want to turn right or left, cars usually just go and weasle their way in. I don't understand it really. and sometimes riding in a taxi still makes my heart jump. but generally they're not going too fast, so that they can always stop before hitting someone. should be an interesting week of bike stories.

off to the market now to buy a cheap bike (because it'll probably get stolen) and a really expensive lock!