Language Partner

Last week one of my students, Alina asked me if I could help her with her pronunciation. She told me she wanted to work in trade so being able to communicate in English, well, is important. Of course I agreed to help her and we decided we would meet on Tuesday's at 9:45. She said she didn't want to meet in my office because she would be nervous talking in front of the other teachers, so I told her we could meet in my apartment.

So, I was under the impression I would be helping her with her pronunciation... turns out she wants to be language partners. We are going to come up with a topic for every week and she will talk in English and I will talk in Chinese and then we will correct each other. I am so thrilled. This Tuesday was our first time and it went great. Alina is one of my favorite students so talking with her is a lot of fun. It's really hard to not become friends with my students since they are only a year or two younger than me.

Human Garbage Disposal

Friday morning I got to sleep in and Derek made Steph, mom and I eggs, bacon and toast. I can do eggs and toast in Ma'anshan but the bacon part is an issue.

Mom, Steph, Derek and I went to the "Zoological Gardens" aka the zoo in Central. It was so much fun. There were so many different monkey's there and other animals. The monkey's were definitely my favorite though.

After the zoo we went to soho to get NY style pizza. Steph and Derek ended up getting tacos and bringing them over to the pizza place. And this is when Derek told me I was a "human garbage disposal". Now if you know me at all, you know that I never actually finish a meal because I get full quickly. Well.... things have changed. At least when I am in HK. Not only did I finish 2 big slices of pizza, I also ate Steph's fish taco because she didn't like it and I finished their chips. Whoops. Oh and I forgot to mention after breakfast I was still hungry so I made more toast. But hey... I have to refuel in HK. Chinese food every single day just does not get me full.

For dinner we went to VA BENE! My favorite restaurant... I was literally so excited all day long for dinner. Of course the entire dinner was delicious and once again, I finished my entire meal...

After dinner we had the grapa grapes. Derek disappointed my dad though. I think I actually ate more than he did.

Friday night we went out in Lan Kwai Fong. We really only went to Al's Diner. It was the most fun I have had there. Steph and I danced on the table most of the night and mom and dad even joined in!

Saturday our plan was to leave for Dragon's Back by noon. Of course we got a very late start and ended up getting to Dragon's Back after two. There are two different ways (that I know of) that you can go. One is a two hour hike and one is a five hour hike. Derek did the five hour hike in two hours. And I am pretty sure he could have finished it in less. It was pretty cold and extremely windy at the peak of Dragon's Back. At one point I thought I was going to blow over. Steph and I ended up running some of the hike. Being hungover and tired you can imagine how happy I was about that....

After the hike we went to Shek O for a seafood dinner. It was delicioussss... great way to end my visit home and their trip to Hong Kong!

As I always say, leaving Hong Kong is never easy. I love the place! 

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Thanksgiving!!! FOOD FOOD FOOD.

The week of November 19-22 went by SOOOO slowly. I was leaving Thursday for Hong Kong for Thanksgiving and I was getting to see Steph and Derek so I could not wait to go home!

During the week I taught my students about Thanksgiving. I taught them aboutThanksgiving and then showed them pictures of the food we eat, taught them about the Macy's Day Parade, and then we played Thanksgiving BINGO.


For those of you that do not know, I was "privileged" enough to be a doctor clown in the Macy's Day Parade with my Poppop, dad and brother. This was when I was in 7th grade. My dad sent me the pictures from us being clowns so I decided to show them to my classes.... they could not stop laughing when I told them which person I was... it was great. Apparently the students give foreign teachers good reviews based on how much we make them laugh... I think I'm doing well so far.

I also showed them a clip from the Macy's Day Parade last year and it wasn't until I showed my Thursday morning class that I almost started crying. I don't think I've ever appreciated Thanksgiving until moving to China. Anyway... I won't get all sappy now. But I do have to say that I am very thankful for this opportunity to be teaching in China and even more thankful for the friends I have made here. I could not have asked for a better group of friends or students for that matter. And of course I am thankful for my family and friends back home :).

SO FINALLY Thursday... I arrived in HK at 5:30. I am now an HK frequent flyer so I just go to this little kiosk, scan my passport, give my thumb print and zoom on through. It is AWESOME. I was through customs in 30 seconds... no joke.

I love going home to Hong Kong. Especially when I get to see one of my siblings! I came home to a coffee table FULL of snacks. It was like waking into heaven. And then our turkey dinner... oh boyyy. My dad ordered two turkeys (we only ate one), my mom and Steph made stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes (or drunken sweet potatoes... she added a bit too much alcohol) and some other things. We also had a pumpkin pie and a cherry pie. I devoured the food.

After dinner we watched the Macy's Day Parade. We may have done Thanksgiving backwards this year (eating and then watching the parade) but it was wonderful. My family values "keeping the tradition alive" for holidays and I would say we did a pretty good job keeping our thanksgiving traditions alive in HK.

Weekend of November 16-18: ShoPping and Hot Pot

Friday Geri came over and we went shopping for WARM clothes. My students told me on Thursday that I don't wear enough clothes. It sounded like something my dad would say to me if he thought my outfit was inappropriate or if my dress was too short. Instead, it was coming from my oh so loving students telling me that I needed to go get some warm clothes otherwise I would say sick all winter.

So, Geri and I went to our favorite store, Memorable Day. I spent 700RMB on sweaters, long sleeve shirts and scarves. Totally worth it.... but I hated spending the money. Dad... can I get back on the payroll please? :)

Friday night Geri and I were going to make dinner but she found out Thursday night that she was switching host families on Saturday so she had to eat at home for her last meal with her current family.

Saturday I was supposed to go to Yushanhu with my favorite freshmen class but I woke up sick. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact that it is freezing here and there is no heat anywhere. Sadly, I had to bail on them but told them I would hang out with them another time.

Saturday I stayed home all day, read and watched movies. It was really nice outside so I was bummed I wasn't feeling well. And staying inside on such a nice day was making me feel homesick. I knew I needed to get out of my apartment so Alicia and I got hotpot Saturday night. It was my first time having hotpot in Ma'anshan and it was delicious. After one meal I've become totally addicted. I crave it all the time. AND it makes me warm haha.

Sunday I went shopping (again) with two of my students who are juniors, Hailey and Sophia. They showed me where the underground stores are and some of the stores where they buy clothes. I bought two sweaters with them. I thought I was a good bargainer, but Hailey definitely blows me out of the water. I had so much fun with them. They are both 20 so it was nice hanging out with girls that are close to my age. Although, there maturity level is like a 16 year old in America. While we were out I saw two other students, Bieber and Artemis. Artemis is Hailey and Sophia's best friend and one of their roommates. Beiber is a boy and the name suits him very well. I found out that Artemis and Bieber are dating. I also ran into two of my freshmen students who could not stop laughing when I said hello. It was really funny.

After shopping I worked on some lesson plans and then Henry and I got hotpot (I told you I got addicted after one meal). Once again it was delicious. 

November 12-15: Katrina Katrina Katrina!

I really wish I had started a "Things Katrina Says" list a long time ago. Literally every time I am with her she says something so funny. I don't know if you have to know Katrina to think what she says is funny but if you do just trust me... she's great.

This week I taught my students about college life in America. I've decided that I really enjoy putting my students into groups and giving them an envelope full of questions on the topic for the day. This "activity" gives me the opportunity to walk around and talk to each group. Then we have a big class discussion. Between my family life in China vs. America lesson last week and then this past week college life in China vs. America I have learned A LOT about China.

List of things I learned form my students about family life in China:

• They don't say I love you to anyone in their family
• Their parents "beat" them when they were little? 
• If they did bad on a test in school they wouldn't get dinner... (Julie noted how I would have starved to death in high school. I think thats a bit of an exaggeration...)
• Communication between parents and children is only about school, grades and their future
• Parents pay for their children until they die (pretty much).
• Meaning.. parents pay for their son's house and engagement ring... which leads me to my next piece of exciting information...

List of things I learned from my students about college life in China:

• Every dorm room has 6 students. They live in the SAME dorm and room all 4 years.... I don't know 6 people I could live with for 4 years every single day in the same room... no offense, but really could anyone? Hats of to them... 
• They sleep on the weekends... like all weekend
• If they aren't sleeping they are shoPping (emphasis on the first p)
• If they aren't shoPping they are playing video games
• They don't get to choose their classes
• Freshmen can't have scholarships, they have to earn them
• They are friends with their teachers (good good)
• They think their classes are all boring, except mine of course. I actually did ask them and they said they loved coming to my class :)

KATRINA (my assistant/helper) is getting ENGAGED! Thursday she took me to the post office and we got to talking about relationships and she nonchalantly mentioned that she was getting engaged. She's only been dating this guy for 2 months. His mom is coming this weekend to give him money to buy the ring... My first response to her after she told me the news was, "That's so exciting! Are you in love??" Her response.. "No, not really. Maybe one day." I told her in America we fall in love first then get married. She told me that was an interesting way to do it... anyway, I came back to my apartment and was laughing so hard. I am very happy for her. She's 30 and in China if you are 30 and single you are considered a "left over". So so so so mean!! 

Oh yeah... She invited me to go dress shopping with her. I can't wait! 

Other than the Katrina news the only other exciting thing that happened this week was painting with Zhou Laoshi. He literally makes painting look SO easy. He taught us how to paint different flowers for the orchid. After each flower he would put his arms up and smile as if to say, "See, so easy! Now your turn"

Weekend of November 9-11: Highlight= Calligraphy show with Zhou Laoshi

They set some sort of fireworks off at the calligraphy show

Friday afternoon I hung out with Sunny (Ian’s wife from Suzhou) in her apartment. She talked in Chinese for an hour and I just sat there and listened. I was shocked I actually understood most of it.

Geri (Geraldina, Italian girl who is studying at HS here) came over around 3:30 and we just hung out and painted our nails haha. It’s nice to finally have a good girlfriend to hang out with, even if she is only 17.

Sunny bought ingredients to make dumplings so we had a dumpling party in my apartment Friday night. It was me, Geri, Henry, Sunny, Ian, Alicia and Renata. And Renata brought her cute little dog.

The dumplings were great and we also had prawns! Sunny is an awesome cook. I am trying to learn from her but I don’t think I will ever be as good as she is.

I watched Paranormal Activity Friday night after dinner… I can honestly say I don’t think I have ever been so scared before.

Saturday I woke up late and Henry and I went to Auchan with Sunny. It was the longest funniest trip to the grocery store ever. Sunny has turned into our Chinese mother. I love her, she’s great.

Amazing

We were going to make spring rolls but couldn’t find all the ingredients we needed. So instead of making spring rolls when we got back I read on my couch for hours. Then I somehow got talked into watching Paranormal Activity 2. Thank goodness I was babysitting Renata’s dog so he made me feel safer.

Sunday morning I had to wake up early to go to a Calligraphy show. Our painting teacher, Zhou Laoshi was being honored. There were a certain number of painters invited to this show and he invited us, which was a huge honor. We met his wife, daughter, daughters husband and their child. They kept trying to make the poor girl speak English. I felt so bad for her. I know exactly how it feels….

After the show Zhou laoshi helped me buy brushes. He got an awesome discount for me. It was supposed to be over 400 RMB and it ended up only being 200 RMB!

Lunch after the calligraphy show

Zhou laoshi was supposed to have lunch with all the other painters being honored and the governor of Ma’anshan but he got out of it so he could take us to lunch with his family. I couldn’t believe it. Lunch was amazing…. My mouth is watering just thinking about it again. I won’t even try to explain the dishes we had. If you want to find out you can come visit me! Lunch will be on me J.

I learned that you end the meal with a noodle dish to say, “let’s keep in touch and stay connected.” Pretty cool.

After lunch Geri came over to help me make meatballs. Sunday night I went to Alicia’s for dinner with Henry and two Chinese students. The meatballs tasted… well… very Chinese.

 I love my new friends, Fran (from Tennessee) and Geri (from Italy)

For dessert we made sweet potato pie… oh my gosh. It tasted almost identical to pumpkin pie. I was in heaven.

We played banana grams. I’ve never played before but I loved it. It is sort of like scrabble, but you make your own individual scrabble board. I think I am going to play the game with my classes. It’s a good way for them to practice their English and their spelling. I could also use some help with my spelling… ha ha

The weekends always go by so quickly but I can definitely say I appreciate my weekends more now than I ever have. Work is so tiring! 

Thursday, November 8: Painting classes with Zhou Laoshi

Today I had two classes in the morning and then my Chinese tutor and then I went straight to Fran’s house to start painting lessons!

"See, it's a baby chick... easy!"

Today was the second time I met with my Chinese tutor. It was such a frustrating two hours… we literally spent 2 hours working on tones. If you don’t already know, Chinese has 4 different tones (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th). I think they are impossible. It’s pretty funny because Henry is learning Chinese now through Rosetta Stone so he’s “mastered” the tones. So I’ll speak and he’ll fix the sentence with the correct tone if he knows it. Good teamwork....

We are learning to paint a Chinese orchid 兰涛

So… for the EXCITING PART of my life: Starting today, every Thursday I have a private painting lesson with Zhou Laoshi (laoshi= teacher). Fran (from Tennessee) takes painting classes at the “Oldsters University” here in Ma’anshan. She asked Zhou Laoshi if he would want to give a private lesson at her home for 3 foreigners. He told her (through a translator) that no famous Chinese painter/artist has ever agreed to give a lesson to foreigners but that he wants to. He is a retired painter and every retired painter in China close their door on one final class. He told us that he wanted to close his door with our private painting class. I literally got the chills when he told us this. What an honor! He also told us how honored and impressed he was that foreigners wanted to learn how to paint “the Chinese way”. I am so excited for my new hobby!

After painting class Fran and I made dinner at her house. I could get used to painting, dining and wining every Thursday. 

Today’s class was him teaching us the brush strokes to pain an orchid. He said, “Watch me, remember these strokes and master it for homework.” Right…. Needless today I did not memorize the strokes! He makes it look so easy. The lesson was great. We have a translator that comes with him but I helped her translate a lot of words since she isn’t familiar with art words in English. 

Oh yeah... funny thing that happened during my tutoring session. My tutor asked for hot water (They only drink hot water here because they think cold water makes you sick....). I have a water cooler so I got water out of the hot part for her. She took a sip and spit the water back in the cup. Turned out the water was cold because I had forgotten to turn my water cooler on.  Her face was as if I had just given her a cup of vodka and she was expecting it.... 

Monday, November 5th: Back to Ma’anshan

This morning we got back to Ma’anshan around 10. It was a different feeling coming back from ZhangJiaJie than it is when I come back from Hong Kong. Coming back this time, I felt like I was back home. I had that sigh of relief you get when you’re excited to be back home. I am always so hesitant to call Ma’anshan home because the only place I have ever called home is where my parents live. Of course I will always call wherever they live home, especially Hong Kong.

Anyway, I got back, unpacked.. AKA through all my clothes in the wash with a ton of detergent and SHOWERED!!!!!!

Later on Alicia and I went to Auchan to stock up on groceries. After I had to go to English Corner. It was FREEZING. I should have worn more layers. Now I know for next time.

Sunday, November 4th: An incredible experience

Natural Bridge

This morning we woke up around 7. Our plan was to head out by 7:30 to start walking to the trail that would take us down the mountain to the east entrance of the park. We ended up leaving around 7:45 and caught a small bus that took us to the park "bus station". We were able to pick up the trail there. Of course the hike down was beautiful.

Towards the end of the hike down.

I am so glad we chose to hike down instead of taking the elevator down. We were able to see a different part of the park, which was just as beautiful. We also got to see the natural bridge in the park which was extremely cool!



Since we were leaving the park I had my backpack. Hiking down stairs was so much fun with my heavy backpack! Not... it did actually give me more balance though. I decided I am never carrying a baby on my back. I have NO idea how my parents carried me on their backs when they climbed the Great Wall when I was little. I mean my backpack certainly did not weigh anywhere close to what I would have weighed when they climbed the Great Wall.

When we got to the entrance we took a mini bus to ZhangJiaJie city. Nicholas was actually on the bus we were on. He left the hostel at 9 and took a different way down and beat us.

We all got lunch together in the city and then Henry, Alicia and I purchased bus tickets back to Changsha. We bought our tickets at 12:55 and made the 1:00 bus. Perfect timing.

View from the hike down

I love the bus system in China. So we bought our bus tickets at a proper bus station. Well during our 4 hour ride back to Changsha there are just randomly people on the highway that flag down the bus to get on it and then will get dropped off on the side of the highway later. It is so funny.

We were in traffic for a good hour because of an accident. I was asleep but woke up right as we passed a truck that had caught on fire. I thought there were ducks in the truck but Henry told me it was a truck full of hay... I'm still not sure I believe him.

When we finally got off the bus and got to the hostel I couldn't decide if I wanted to shower or eat first. Big decision after not showering for 3 days... We decided we should just eat first, come back shower and then go to bed since we had to leave at 5am to get to the airport.

Our dinner was awesome. We went to some random restaurant by our hostel. We ordered fish, an eggplant dish with other stuff and a mushroom and chicken dish. My favorite was the mushroom and chicken dish. I loved the fish but of course it was spicy.

I told Henry that I had eaten the eyeball of a fish when I studied abroad and that it's good luck. Alicia said she had too. So I told him it was his turn. He didn't hesitate at all. I still have not told them that I was joking....  whoops!

The bed in the hostel was terribly uncomfortable. It was literally a wooden board with a top sheet over it and a comforter. It took me forever to sleep and then of course we had a nice and early wake up call to return to Ma'anshan!

Saturday, November 3rd: Rocks, Mountains, Lakes and Waterfalls= Stairs, stairs, stairs

View from our morning hike in the rain.

Henry, Alicia, Nicholas, Seeta and I all woke up at 6am to leave by 6:30 to start hiking. We ended up leaving at 6:45. We walked for about an hour in the rain. Not only was it raining but it was also freezing. I didn't dress extremely well for the rain and cold. 

We started walking to the highest peak of ZhangJiaJie. The walk was gorgeous. Around 8 the busses started running so we flagged down the first bus that we saw to take us to the top. It was about a 20 minute bus ride so the walk would have taken forever. 

Although it was raining the view from the top was gorgeous. The rain and fog/clouds made the view that much better. Most people would have complained about the rain but at the end of the day it added to the views. 

View from Tianzi Shan (Mountain)

After we were done looking at the views from the peak we stopped for a snack. I discovered 巧克力奶茶 (chocolate milk tea) which tastes like chocolate milk. I also got a bread thing with meat in it. It was great. 

Henry had an extra pair of socks which saved my life because my feet were freezing. 

While we were snacking we saw Amber and Sam who ended up joining us. We walked 5 million stairs up and down to the monkey garden. It was worth it though, the scenery was great and the monkeys were all so cute! 

Henry feeding the monkey an orange.
You can't really tell but their hands were touching.

We then took the park train that all the Chinese were raving about. We definitely saw spectacular views but the walk next to the train tracks would have been just as great, if not better. Next time a Chinese person tells me to do something, I'm going to do the opposite. I'll let you know how it works out.

After the train we ended up splitting up, Alicia, Amber and Sam stayed in the park and Henry, Seeta, Nicholas and I left the park to go see baohu (baohu lake) and waterfall in Wujingli city. We walked 30 minutes through the city to get to the lake. The city was small but great. The architecture was old Chinese. I am so happy I was able to see it. 

Baohu was gorgeous. We were given a tour (in Chinese) on a boat and it was gorgeous. It sort of reminded me of Halong bay in Vietnam (of course on a much smaller scale).

We then walked down a ton of steps to get to the waterfall. I have a thing for waterfalls so I was super excited for this part. The waterfall was great. I've never actually been that close to one. We walked across the waterfall on a suspended bridge. It was sweet. 

Baohu (Lake)

We had to leave the lake so we could get back to the park and to the hostel before the busses stopped. The busses stop at 6 and if we missed the busses we would have to walk 3 hours. We ended up making the last big bus but by the time he dropped us off at the small busses they were closed. Luckily a van drove by and said he would drive us to our hostel for 40¥. A total rip off but totally worth it. We were all freezing and ready to be back.

I never thought I would be so excited to see a hostel before. Right when we got back we ordered dinner. I got fried rice and vegetables. We all actually ordered our own vegetables and all got different vegetables. It was awesome. The boys love eating with me because they always end up eating my leftovers and filling up.

Waterfall

Oh and I have to mention my last shower was Thursday night. The shower at the hostel is over the squatty potty. NO THANK YOU. So I'm waiting for our hostel tomorrow in Changsha to shower. Hopefully it's decent! As long as its not over a squatty potty I am showering.

Tomorrow we are going to leave at 8 and walk down the steps to get to the bottom of the park. When we arrived we took an elevator to the top so we thought it would be fun to walk down. 

Friday, November 2nd: Stairway to Heaven

This morning was awesome. We went to Tianmen Shan (Shan=mountain). We left the hostel around 7:15 so we could beat the crowd and make it to ZhangJiaJie national park by 3. 

We took a cable car up to Tianmen Shan. It is actually the longest cable car in the world. The ride was absolutely gorgeous. The entire experience is pretty much indescribable, especially the "Gate to Heaven" part. 

When we got to the top we went to the sky glass walk. It was incredible. Henry confessed his fear of heights and was super nervous. The sky glass walk  wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. We had to rent these little covers to put on our shoes. They are trying to prevent the glass from getting all scratched up. 

The sky glass walk went on for about 5 minutes and then turned into concrete. Some of the concrete was broken so there were boards to walk over on those parts. The steel was still intact though so that made me feel a bit safer. 

We then went over this swinging bridge. It was so fun. It reminded me of Mario Party back in the day when they are on the tight rope and you try to push everyone else off. Of course we weren't trying to push one another off. 

To get back to the cable car we had to walk up what felt like a million steps (uneven and broken). We then took the cable car back down half way and got off. We got on a bus that drive us along windy roads until we got to "heaven". 

Made it to the top!

This is the part that is indescribable. But I'll do my best. There were a million stairs that headed up to this whole in the mountain where an airplane once flew through. On the left of the stairs is a waterfall. It took probably 15-20 minutes to walk up. Henry schooled me. I had to take breaks and I almost gave up at one point but I knew I would regret it. And I would have. This Chinese girl and I kept chanting "jia you" which is there way of saying "lets go" but literally means "add oil".  This Chinese girl I had never met and I walking up the stares motivating each other and chanting "jia you". It was funny and inspiring at the same time.

The view through the "Gate to Heaven"

Pretty ironic that I felt like I was going to die as I was walking up to "heaven". I keep saying "heaven" because Tianmen translates to the gate/door to heaven. Tian is heaven and men is door/gate. 

The view after I walked through the door/gate was breath taking; it brought tears to my eyes. I don't think I'll ever see a more beautiful view. It was so sunny and was raining a little. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget. 

Oh yeah... Going down the stairs was harder than going up. My legs were not only shaking but I felt like I was just going to tumble all the way down. At one point I was sliding down on my butt and all the Chinese passing me were laughing and saying "she's scared" in Chinese. It was really funny. I got back up though and finished the descent on my feet. 

If you ever have an opportunity to go to ZhangJiaJie you definitely should. 

National Park

We took the bus back down to the middle cable car entrance and headed back to ZhangJiaJie city where we planned on getting the bus to the entrance to the national park. However.... The bus station is under construction. So after doing some back tracking we finally found a van that took us to the entrance we wanted. We had to pay 20yuan more but that's okay. Totally worth it. We each got our own row in the van. 

The driver tried to drop us off before the ticket place and asked for more money so I got angry and used a bunch of Chinese so he drove us to the ticket office. 

Once we got our tickets we entered the park and there were a ton of monkeys walking around like dogs. It was so cool. 

We walked two hours through beautiful scenery to an elevator that took us up to who knows how high. But high. And it was a very fast elevator that was built on the side of a rock and was glass. 

From the elevator we walked about 10 minutes to catch a bus then had to switch to a small bus and then finally got dropped off at the youth hostel where we are now. 

Everyone here is super friendly and I've been using a lot of Chinese on this trip to get directions, order food and help translate for other foreigners. 

We got dinner at the hostel. I ordered fried rice and ate every single bit, minus the onions. We ended up meeting a few other foreigners around our age. So we all ate together. 

The foreigners we met: Seeta from Norway who is traveling around Asia. Amber from Canada and Sam from England who both teach English in Changsha. Nicholas from France who is studying in Hunan province (his first name is actually Aizcorbe but he told us to call us by his last name, Nicholas) and Pablo from Spain who is also traveling around Asia. Pablo actually works in Singapore right now! 

This trip marks my first time staying in hostels. So far I love it. I love the fact that you meet new people from different parts of the world and then you end up exploring/traveling with them.