A is for Apple

I know I left you full of suspense, but I did finally get a hold of my teaching schedule, which is surprisingly non-demanding. I teach for a little over an hour in the morning, have a 4 hour break, then teach about 2 more hours in the afternoon. I rotate amongst a total of 11 classrooms full of little munchkins from about 2-6 years old. They are all responding very well, better than I expected, and it honestly gets more fun every day! All foreign teachers also have a 10-day workweek (with Fridays off) followed by a nice 4 day ‘weekend,’ which is great for short trips.

This last break I took a short trip with another teacher to a Buddhist island called Putuoshan, which was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me of Portland with rain, fresh air (terribly missed fresh air) and lots of greenness (real word?). There are several photos below of the trip.

Oh, and just in case there is anyone out there who is not yet convinced that Chinese kids are as cute as they come, here are several photos of some of my kindergarten students. And yes, since it is a boarding school, these kids are here without their parents (although every two weeks some parents do come pick up their little ones for the weekend).

Also, here are some pictures of the school campus. It is enormous for a K-12 school, as it was built to house 5000 students, but I think it greatly resembles a castle with towers, moats, bridges, guards, everything! So it is easy to get a bit disoriented, but I am getting used to it…the campus layout, that is.

Aside of the above, not much is new here. Although I have made one incredible discovery…the green skittles are apple! What other reason do you need to come to China?

Little Guys and Gals…







School Campus…







Putuoshan…

Still lounging around…

I still have not received my teaching schedule (even though classes began 4 days ago, heh.) but the upside is no work and lots of time to relax, explore, and take pictures! I hate screaming the fact that I am a ‘tourist’ by snapping photos of everything remotely interesting, but my blonde hair/blue eyed complexion just doesn’t always suffice.

Below are some photos from a fountain/light show on the lake and part of the ‘old town’ in Suzhou…enjoy...

Suzhou...light show and old town...

In China, Finally!

It seems as though I have been planning this trip for ages...well, I guess I have been. But it has finally arrived and I have been in China for about a week now. I was supposed to start teaching Kindergarten at two different schools today, but I am getting my schedule tomorrow. Funny how that works. On the other hand, this is truly a beautiful country, from what I have seen (which so far consists of the drive from Shanghai to where I live in Suzhou and the city of Kunshan, where the beer festival was last week!). People are very nice and helpful, although they are often lacking a certain necessary sense of urgency. But don’t get my wrong! I am not complaining, I love learning about the culture, the language, the people, etc. Every experience, good, bad, nerve-racking or embarrassing, is a learning opportunity that I thrive on, and usually laugh about later.

After spending nearly a month in Japan with my sister, China is definitely a drastic change! All possessions get held a little closer to your body and crossing the street is a chaotic free for all, cars vs. bikes, buses vs. pedestrians, etc. but you learn to block out the noise of car horns and pray for the concept of ‘yielding’ to spontaneously take effect.

The Suzhou International Foreign Language School (yes, SIFLS, I know) is where I live and will/should be working most of the time. I also commute by bus to the Sunny Holiday Kindergarten twice a week, which is across town, but the ride is nice for seeing the city (in its entirety). The accommodations are decent, with a good size, furnished apartment and three meals a day in the cafeteria. I am definitely starting to settle in more and I am getting along well with the other foreign teachers who have also decided to sign their lives away for a year.

This is definitely going to be an adventure, which is exactly what I wanted (and needed). I know that it will be full of (insert any/all adjectives here) experiences and my only worry is that I will not want to come home!

Note: Below are some pictures from some of my previous travels, if you’re interested…

Mas de Japon...

Japan...

More Morocco...

Morocco...

More Spain...

Spain...Barcelona and Cadaques...

Beautiful San Miguel de Allende, Mexico...where my travels began...