Hello again!
I hope everything is going well back home. I will be returning soon, which is really strange. Yesterday was our one month left mark. Odd.
I went to Beijing this weekend. That was quite the experience! I went with Jenna and April, which of course made for an interesting time. They tried hard, maybe, but I was third wheel, and honestly I didn't really care. I didn't go to Beijing to make friends. I was bummed Amanda, Shalise and Janae didn't come with me. The trip would have been much more enjoyable if they had come. Anyway, we flew to Beijing. I was surprised that the man working the Starbucks in the airport remembered us from when we were there in August. He asked us if we had found that hotel in Xi'an. Quite the memory that man had!
We had heard it would be cold in Beijing, but we figured we were from Utah, we could handle a little China cold. Alice had warned us that we would be extremely cold, but she thinks 70 is cold, so we paid her no heed. So we packed light jackets and shoes, called it good. We arrived in Beijing, about 9 o'clock, and there's a little bit of snow, and it's rather windy out, but no deal. Our hostel was supposed to come pick us up at the airport and take us back. We search the airport, we can't find anyone that's looking for us. So, we decide we might as well take the bus! So we ask a lady how to get there, and she tells us take the bus to the last stop. So far so good. We find our bus and go to the last stop, get off, and no other bus is in sight. We wait. Nothing. We wait some more. Nothing. It's about 10:30 now, and Beijing is FREEZING! We were not prepared at all. So now we're cold and lost in Beijing. Not good. Luckily some man found us and told us about his hotel and we didn't have to use my backup plan of sleeping in McDonalds. But the hotel was shady none the less, we pushed our beds together and cuddled all night. So cold.
The next morning we did finally find our hostel, it was quite the ordeal, but we got it done. Jenna and April have absolutely no street smarts, and didn't seem to like any of my ideas, so we wasted a lot of time. I'm not going to turn this into a venting session, so we shall move on.... Aiya. Those girls.
So we get to our hostel and decide we should hit up the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was pretty cool, but a lot of walking in the freezing cold. It was so large! I can't imagine what they used all the space for! Every room we saw was enormous with just a throne in the middle. I'm sure they had more stuff in their when it was actually in use, but still. It was the most ornate thing I've ever seen. China truly is like no where else.
The next day we hit up the Great Wall. A great wall it is indeed! I've never seen anything that massive in all my life! Even building it with today's technology would be incredible. It was covered in snow and was extremely cold. The steps were steep and icy. It was no casual walk on the Great Wall. Parts of it you had to scale, use your arms and pull yourself up intense work out. The Wall is not for sissy's. Amy's favorite part of this story is that we sang Mulan songs on top, so I'll include that as well! We got down to business, we were there to defeat the Huns. If I was a Hun, there's no way I'd attempt to climb that wall. Heck no. One oart of the wall, these Chinese business men come up to me and start wanting all these pictures. So we had to stop for a good fifteen minutes to take all these pictures with random men. I really wonder what these people do with all their pictures of us. We're really not that cool. I wonder if I'm framed in anyones home. China. So to get down from the Wall, we took a toboggin. It was pretty sweet. A huge slide in the freezing cold. The whole front of my body was numb when I got off. All in all, the Great Wall was amazing, the best part of all of Beijing.
The train ride home was ridiculous. It took us over 24 hours to get home. That's not even including all the times our train was delayed. I was so ready to be home. Beijing made us very homesick. It was so cold and so Americanized that it just made you feel like you were back in the States. I was ready to be back in Guzhen. Beijing was cool, but I wouldn't really recommend that anyone go there. I don't really feel the need to ever go back again. Maybe it was just because it was cool. Maybe I went with lame people. It's probably the combination of those two. Maybe I'll have better luck next time. The Wall was amazing though. I thoroughly enjoyed that. But Beijing on the whole, meh. I'm glad I went and it was a good experience. I'm just glad to be back in Guzhen.
Although! We thought it would be warm and toasty when we got back to Guzhen, just how we left it! Nope! Cold as well! Not nearly as cold as Beijing, but they don't believe in heaters here in China. I broke my bed, again, fourth time now. Amanda and I gave up on the bed though. We're not going to have the man fix it. We said farewell to our wood pallets, and we've moved down to the floor. It's slightly colder, and the cockroaches now have free reign, but at least now there's body heat to keep us warm and no more fear that I'll come crashing down on her during the night! I was apprehensive about the cockroaches, but she assured me it was too cold for them to live now. I know she's lying, but I can pretend I'm safe.
The kids are doing really well! I missed them so much when I was in Beijing, and that was only 4 days! Yesterday when I saw them I just hugged them all and told them how much I loved them! They're so crazy and naughty. While we were gone Alice taught our classes, poor kids. I guess one day she took them wine to drink. Alice is crazy! She acted like it was no big deal. I guess Addison really liked the wine. Alice. China. Crazy. I'm not sure which is worse, that she gave the kids wine, or the time she took a knife and threatened the kids. I don't even know!
Alice is still her crazy self. I did miss her when I was in Beijing. I don't know what I'm going to do without her in America. She keeps me so entertained! We do such foolish things together. She's such a shady lady. She annoys me as much as I love her. That Alice.
Well I think that's about it for now! Sums up my life in China this week. Beijing, good. Teaching, good. Alice, crazy. Yep, that's about it! I love you guys! I hope everyone is doing well!
Cam
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Oh China, oh China
Hello dear friends and family!
Shockingly, China is still amazing. I thought it was just infatuation, but China and I have been through enough hard times. I know it's the real deal. I'm in love with China. It's crazy to think my time here is half over.
We had National Old People Day a while back, that was nice. We went on our usual celebratory hike with the teachers from the school. We go on this crazy hike, parts of it are like the jungle, all the way up to a pagoda. Once you're at the top, the real party starts. Everyone just hangs out up there eating and playing games. Even though it was Old People's Day, I saw maybe one old lady. China. Some random frog jumped on Alice and she freaked out. It was rather funny. When we were up there, we were ready to leave, but we couldn't find Shalise, typical of Shalise. We look around and find her in the middle of all the Chinese teachers and random Chinese people swing dancing with the principal! So we walk over to the group, and the principal grabs me and makes me start dancing with Shalise. It was a pretty crazy/good time. Once they wer satisfied with our dancing, we were able to go home.
We also had Halloween! That was... interesting. Halloween was fun, the Chinese teachers just have crazy ideas about what they want, we have miscommunications ALL the time, and everyone ends up disappointed and angry. I hate doing projects for them. They were really adamant that we make a giant bat for the Halloween party. How we were to make this bat, no one knew. But when we got to the school to decorate, there was a ladder waiting for us. Somehow we were supposed to make a bat out of a ladder. We got string, and black bags, and decorated that ladder like you wouldn't believe. It was the most ridiculous bat ever, but the teachers were somewhat happy with it. They only made slight improvements, which is rare. My kids went as ghosts to the Halloween party, but of course, even costumes didn't go smoothly. Everything is so complicated here! But, my kids were cute. Even if half the costumes only lasted an hour. We were stinkin cute ghosts.
My bed broke, finally. That was rather intense. Luckily it was when I was climbing out of the bed, and not while I was sleeping. That would have been horrible. I would have crashed down onto Amanda, and a real disaster would have occured! The breaking sound was still awful. Amanda was sleeping, but as soon as she heard that sound she jumped out of bed quickly! I'd never seen her move so fast! Luckily it's fixed now and doesn't seem as dangerous. Although I'm still sure we'll have another bed catastrophe. I mean, we've broken three beds now. Apparently we're bad luck. Apparently they don't fix the beds very well!
Teaching is going pretty well. I love my kids more and more every day. They seem to be getting naughtier and naughtier every day too. We're working on a secret handshake, it's the coolest thing ever. Even Maggie does it! That says a lot! I stupidly taught the kids some Spanish one day. Actually, I didn't even teach it to them! I said the most random thing in Spanish, bata bata chocolate. Somehow that's spread throughout the whole class! They chant it all the time! I don't know why they remember that so well, but not English! The other girls didn't know I had taught that to the kids and had no idea what the kids were saying. So I informed them of my slip up one day. Now, at least 10 times a day, I hear a Chinese kid say "bata bata chocolate!". Those crazy kids.
Amanda was really sick a couple days ago. She researched it on the internet and diagnosed herself as having Strep. At Alice's insistence, she went to the hospital. I had heard stories about the hospital and was dying to go, so we told Alice Amanda was too scared and needed me to go with her. Alice didn't care, so we headed out to the hospital. Talk about a shady place! There was no waiting room, everyone just kicked it in the doctors office while he consulted other patients. No confidentialty whatsoever! When it was Amanda's turn, he asked her what drugs she wanted and for how long. There was no tests! No examinations! He didn't even take her temperature! He just blindly wrote a prescription! Shalise and I explored the hospital a little bit, pretty shady business. They had this ghetto IV room where everyone was sitting in chairs with their IVs hanging from the ceiling. It looked like the most thrown together place. It was a real eye opening experience.
I believe that's about it for now! I've attached a picture of me, Mary and Jackson in our ghost costumes. Not the best picture, but, you get the idea of Halloween, China style. I hope everything is going well back home! I love you guys!
Cam
Shockingly, China is still amazing. I thought it was just infatuation, but China and I have been through enough hard times. I know it's the real deal. I'm in love with China. It's crazy to think my time here is half over.
We had National Old People Day a while back, that was nice. We went on our usual celebratory hike with the teachers from the school. We go on this crazy hike, parts of it are like the jungle, all the way up to a pagoda. Once you're at the top, the real party starts. Everyone just hangs out up there eating and playing games. Even though it was Old People's Day, I saw maybe one old lady. China. Some random frog jumped on Alice and she freaked out. It was rather funny. When we were up there, we were ready to leave, but we couldn't find Shalise, typical of Shalise. We look around and find her in the middle of all the Chinese teachers and random Chinese people swing dancing with the principal! So we walk over to the group, and the principal grabs me and makes me start dancing with Shalise. It was a pretty crazy/good time. Once they wer satisfied with our dancing, we were able to go home.
We also had Halloween! That was... interesting. Halloween was fun, the Chinese teachers just have crazy ideas about what they want, we have miscommunications ALL the time, and everyone ends up disappointed and angry. I hate doing projects for them. They were really adamant that we make a giant bat for the Halloween party. How we were to make this bat, no one knew. But when we got to the school to decorate, there was a ladder waiting for us. Somehow we were supposed to make a bat out of a ladder. We got string, and black bags, and decorated that ladder like you wouldn't believe. It was the most ridiculous bat ever, but the teachers were somewhat happy with it. They only made slight improvements, which is rare. My kids went as ghosts to the Halloween party, but of course, even costumes didn't go smoothly. Everything is so complicated here! But, my kids were cute. Even if half the costumes only lasted an hour. We were stinkin cute ghosts.
My bed broke, finally. That was rather intense. Luckily it was when I was climbing out of the bed, and not while I was sleeping. That would have been horrible. I would have crashed down onto Amanda, and a real disaster would have occured! The breaking sound was still awful. Amanda was sleeping, but as soon as she heard that sound she jumped out of bed quickly! I'd never seen her move so fast! Luckily it's fixed now and doesn't seem as dangerous. Although I'm still sure we'll have another bed catastrophe. I mean, we've broken three beds now. Apparently we're bad luck. Apparently they don't fix the beds very well!
Teaching is going pretty well. I love my kids more and more every day. They seem to be getting naughtier and naughtier every day too. We're working on a secret handshake, it's the coolest thing ever. Even Maggie does it! That says a lot! I stupidly taught the kids some Spanish one day. Actually, I didn't even teach it to them! I said the most random thing in Spanish, bata bata chocolate. Somehow that's spread throughout the whole class! They chant it all the time! I don't know why they remember that so well, but not English! The other girls didn't know I had taught that to the kids and had no idea what the kids were saying. So I informed them of my slip up one day. Now, at least 10 times a day, I hear a Chinese kid say "bata bata chocolate!". Those crazy kids.
Amanda was really sick a couple days ago. She researched it on the internet and diagnosed herself as having Strep. At Alice's insistence, she went to the hospital. I had heard stories about the hospital and was dying to go, so we told Alice Amanda was too scared and needed me to go with her. Alice didn't care, so we headed out to the hospital. Talk about a shady place! There was no waiting room, everyone just kicked it in the doctors office while he consulted other patients. No confidentialty whatsoever! When it was Amanda's turn, he asked her what drugs she wanted and for how long. There was no tests! No examinations! He didn't even take her temperature! He just blindly wrote a prescription! Shalise and I explored the hospital a little bit, pretty shady business. They had this ghetto IV room where everyone was sitting in chairs with their IVs hanging from the ceiling. It looked like the most thrown together place. It was a real eye opening experience.
I believe that's about it for now! I've attached a picture of me, Mary and Jackson in our ghost costumes. Not the best picture, but, you get the idea of Halloween, China style. I hope everything is going well back home! I love you guys!
Cam
I'm not Chinese, I'm American!
Hello friends and family!
It feels like it's been ages since I've written to you guys, but in reality it's probably been a week. China time is really weird. It feels like I've been gone for 6 months, when really it's been two months. Life in America really seems so long ago. I try to remember what it's like, and I usually just draw a blank. How weird is that? The other day I had a momentary freak out when I was given a fork and I couldn't remember how to use it. Janae looked at me like I was crazy and showed me how to use it. Talk about embarrassing!
Life in Guzhen is still crazy as ever. It's the Lighting Fair, which is apparently a big deal, so we have people from all over the world coming to Guzhen to buy lights. We've even cleaned up our streets and decorated a little bit for the occassion! There's not nearly as much trash in the streets. Someone finally picked up all the food garbage in the tunnel that had been sitting there for 3 weeks. It's about time!
I met a couple from Lebanon who had come to Guzhen to buy lights, that's really the only reason any one would ever come to Guzhen. It took everything I had to talk to them. It took about 5 minutes to determine that they were speaking English and then to muster up the courage to talk to them. I'd never been so nervous in all my life! Apparently I've lost my skills to initiate conversations in the English language. Which is weird, because I talk to the Chinese people in English. It's so strange. Once I got the ball rolling with this couple, the conversation flowed nicely. It was the womans first time to China and she hated it. She was apalled that when she ordered chicken it came to her with feathers and a face. I agreed with her that that was a hard thing to overcome and I had just about given up meat completely. She was amazed that we used squatters and was trying to think of every possible way we could build a toilet in our apartment. I think she was about ready to go buy us a toilet she was so disgusted. They were a very nice couple, I hope she left China with better experiences.
We had Amanda's birthday party on Sunday. Alice wanted to throw a party so she invited all the Kindergarten teachers and our headmaster. Amanda and I thought we needed to liven the party up a bit and decided to invite Bank man and post office man. We had Alice write up invitations and we delivered them on our weekly visits to the bank and post office. Both said they would come, but who really knew. So we had the party on Sunday and it was great fun. We made dumplings with the teachers and the head master. The process is rather disgusting, but they actually tasted pretty good. To our surpise, Bank man came to the party and had even brought a friend. Post office man never showed. So Bank man, Zhang Ming, was there and things got a little awkward. Our relationship had only previously consisted of bogus emails where I usually had no idea what he was saying, and random conversations at the bank with a piece of glass between us. Now we were on a date, and everyone knew it. Alice was so giddy, it was the strangest thing. Poor Bank man. I think I was far too forward for him. We watched the fireworks (by the way, China fireworks are way cooler than American fireworks) and had even linked arms! Things were getting way serious fast! He even let me hug him goodnight! It was an awkward hug, but a hug none the less. I thought I had blown my chances with him, I had been extremely bold and overbearing. I was afraid I blown everything! But then, he emailed me TWICE! I couldn't make sense of either of them, but I'm taking that as a good sign.
My relationship with Alice has evolved into something very peculiar. Things started to get weird about a month ago when she said she wanted to adopt me. I thought that was just Alice being her typical crazy self and thought nothing of it. But then this week, things got shady fast! The other day she wouldn't stop starring at me, and when I told her to stop she told me she couldn't because she was "attracted by me" and that was slightly creepy. Then later that day she told me she loved me and wanted to "put her heart in my heart". I don't even know what that means. But it creeped me out a little bit. Then last night she proposed to me! I turned her down. I don't know what she's thinking. So while Alice is falling in love with me, I've discovered great joy in scaring her. Last night we were at the school decoarting the classroom for Halloween and I hid in the backroom with a witch mask. I jumped out and she screamed! It was great. Other times, I try to scare her and she looks at me like I'm the biggest fool ever. She's plotting a revenge, I can tell. The other day she scared me pretty well, not even trying and she told me "I revenge". That was slightly creepy. Oh Alice. What a crazy one she is!
The kids are doing really well. I love them all and we have great fun together. Yesterday Davy got his head stuck in his chair, it was a little stressful, but I finally got it out. Devan is still dancing his heart out. I love to watch him. He's such a flamboyant boy. Leo and I are planning a way to get him back in the States with me. We've been practicing "I'm not Chinese, I'm American". He just needs to memorize it and drop the accent, and we're home free. I just hope he doesn't say it at home. I've been a bad teacher, I break the number one rule, No Chinese. The kids think it's so funny when I say something in Chinese. Today we were counting in English and then I just started counting in Chinese instead. Addison is always the first to catch on when I do it, and the most persistent in making me sit in the Chinese chair. The kids really are so cute and it's going to be so hard to say goodbye to them.
My ELE classes are going pretty well too. With Julia leaving, I had to take an extra class. Her kids are so smart. I haven't bonded with them yet, so it's not as fun to teach them. Give it a week and I'll be in love. My regular ELE class is so crazy! I love those kids! They always swarm me with hugs and high fives when I'm leaving their class. The other day in their attempt to do so, I guess one of the kids tripped and fell and knocked over all the other kids. I look down and there's a pile of 15 kids on the ground. It was the most ridiculous thing. I laughed so hard. That poor kid on the bottom. He seemed okay the next time I went to that class. Even my screaming babies are getting better. I had a good portion of them singing Popcorn Popping about a week ago, but I lost them again. So I'm back to only 6 kids singing with me, while the rest just stare at me. At least everyone wears pants now. Well, most of the time. And only one or two babies cry. I'd much rather have two babies cry than 30. But I'm keeping the faith! By the end of the semester, all 30 babies will be singing Popcorn popping, if it's the last thing I do!
This picture is of my original homeroom class, before everyone was switched around! I miss my old group, but my new one is good too. Leo is sitting next to me, then going around the table is Davy, Josh, Kevin (who apparently didn't get the memo we were taking a picture and didn't move his head), Maggie, Lily, and Carol.
Well friends, I believe that is all for now! I believe someone counted down and we only have 58 days left. That really saddens me. But that's good for you guys! You'll be seeing my bright and shiny face again! I love you all and hope you're doing well!
Cami
It feels like it's been ages since I've written to you guys, but in reality it's probably been a week. China time is really weird. It feels like I've been gone for 6 months, when really it's been two months. Life in America really seems so long ago. I try to remember what it's like, and I usually just draw a blank. How weird is that? The other day I had a momentary freak out when I was given a fork and I couldn't remember how to use it. Janae looked at me like I was crazy and showed me how to use it. Talk about embarrassing!
Life in Guzhen is still crazy as ever. It's the Lighting Fair, which is apparently a big deal, so we have people from all over the world coming to Guzhen to buy lights. We've even cleaned up our streets and decorated a little bit for the occassion! There's not nearly as much trash in the streets. Someone finally picked up all the food garbage in the tunnel that had been sitting there for 3 weeks. It's about time!
I met a couple from Lebanon who had come to Guzhen to buy lights, that's really the only reason any one would ever come to Guzhen. It took everything I had to talk to them. It took about 5 minutes to determine that they were speaking English and then to muster up the courage to talk to them. I'd never been so nervous in all my life! Apparently I've lost my skills to initiate conversations in the English language. Which is weird, because I talk to the Chinese people in English. It's so strange. Once I got the ball rolling with this couple, the conversation flowed nicely. It was the womans first time to China and she hated it. She was apalled that when she ordered chicken it came to her with feathers and a face. I agreed with her that that was a hard thing to overcome and I had just about given up meat completely. She was amazed that we used squatters and was trying to think of every possible way we could build a toilet in our apartment. I think she was about ready to go buy us a toilet she was so disgusted. They were a very nice couple, I hope she left China with better experiences.
We had Amanda's birthday party on Sunday. Alice wanted to throw a party so she invited all the Kindergarten teachers and our headmaster. Amanda and I thought we needed to liven the party up a bit and decided to invite Bank man and post office man. We had Alice write up invitations and we delivered them on our weekly visits to the bank and post office. Both said they would come, but who really knew. So we had the party on Sunday and it was great fun. We made dumplings with the teachers and the head master. The process is rather disgusting, but they actually tasted pretty good. To our surpise, Bank man came to the party and had even brought a friend. Post office man never showed. So Bank man, Zhang Ming, was there and things got a little awkward. Our relationship had only previously consisted of bogus emails where I usually had no idea what he was saying, and random conversations at the bank with a piece of glass between us. Now we were on a date, and everyone knew it. Alice was so giddy, it was the strangest thing. Poor Bank man. I think I was far too forward for him. We watched the fireworks (by the way, China fireworks are way cooler than American fireworks) and had even linked arms! Things were getting way serious fast! He even let me hug him goodnight! It was an awkward hug, but a hug none the less. I thought I had blown my chances with him, I had been extremely bold and overbearing. I was afraid I blown everything! But then, he emailed me TWICE! I couldn't make sense of either of them, but I'm taking that as a good sign.
My relationship with Alice has evolved into something very peculiar. Things started to get weird about a month ago when she said she wanted to adopt me. I thought that was just Alice being her typical crazy self and thought nothing of it. But then this week, things got shady fast! The other day she wouldn't stop starring at me, and when I told her to stop she told me she couldn't because she was "attracted by me" and that was slightly creepy. Then later that day she told me she loved me and wanted to "put her heart in my heart". I don't even know what that means. But it creeped me out a little bit. Then last night she proposed to me! I turned her down. I don't know what she's thinking. So while Alice is falling in love with me, I've discovered great joy in scaring her. Last night we were at the school decoarting the classroom for Halloween and I hid in the backroom with a witch mask. I jumped out and she screamed! It was great. Other times, I try to scare her and she looks at me like I'm the biggest fool ever. She's plotting a revenge, I can tell. The other day she scared me pretty well, not even trying and she told me "I revenge". That was slightly creepy. Oh Alice. What a crazy one she is!
The kids are doing really well. I love them all and we have great fun together. Yesterday Davy got his head stuck in his chair, it was a little stressful, but I finally got it out. Devan is still dancing his heart out. I love to watch him. He's such a flamboyant boy. Leo and I are planning a way to get him back in the States with me. We've been practicing "I'm not Chinese, I'm American". He just needs to memorize it and drop the accent, and we're home free. I just hope he doesn't say it at home. I've been a bad teacher, I break the number one rule, No Chinese. The kids think it's so funny when I say something in Chinese. Today we were counting in English and then I just started counting in Chinese instead. Addison is always the first to catch on when I do it, and the most persistent in making me sit in the Chinese chair. The kids really are so cute and it's going to be so hard to say goodbye to them.
My ELE classes are going pretty well too. With Julia leaving, I had to take an extra class. Her kids are so smart. I haven't bonded with them yet, so it's not as fun to teach them. Give it a week and I'll be in love. My regular ELE class is so crazy! I love those kids! They always swarm me with hugs and high fives when I'm leaving their class. The other day in their attempt to do so, I guess one of the kids tripped and fell and knocked over all the other kids. I look down and there's a pile of 15 kids on the ground. It was the most ridiculous thing. I laughed so hard. That poor kid on the bottom. He seemed okay the next time I went to that class. Even my screaming babies are getting better. I had a good portion of them singing Popcorn Popping about a week ago, but I lost them again. So I'm back to only 6 kids singing with me, while the rest just stare at me. At least everyone wears pants now. Well, most of the time. And only one or two babies cry. I'd much rather have two babies cry than 30. But I'm keeping the faith! By the end of the semester, all 30 babies will be singing Popcorn popping, if it's the last thing I do!
This picture is of my original homeroom class, before everyone was switched around! I miss my old group, but my new one is good too. Leo is sitting next to me, then going around the table is Davy, Josh, Kevin (who apparently didn't get the memo we were taking a picture and didn't move his head), Maggie, Lily, and Carol.
Well friends, I believe that is all for now! I believe someone counted down and we only have 58 days left. That really saddens me. But that's good for you guys! You'll be seeing my bright and shiny face again! I love you all and hope you're doing well!
Cami
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