six full days left

Well its almost here, our long awaited and anticipated exodus to the wonderful land of Thai!! Words can't express how much we are looking forward to our exodus on the 16th of January. We have six full days of instruction left, one exam week, a few exams to mark, final grades to submit, water, gas and power to turn off, a suitcase to pack and then we are gone... and we'll be gone in a flash. We're going to take the bullet train to Beijing, 300+ km/h (or faster) of steel and tracks shooting us straight to Beijing in a mere 50 odd minutes! There we'll spend the evening and the following morning before heading off to the airport, where the friendly customer service representatives at Thai Air will greet us and the warmer offerings of Thailand await!

We had a great christmas. Different to say the least, but great. We talked with family, had a christmas steak and a christmas lasagna, enjoyed a wonderful brunch, slept, read, talked with more family and then went back to work, odd but never-the-less true.

For new year's we're going to go to Tianjin, stay in a nice hotel, with a nice pool, nice amenities and ring in the new year before taking a quick trip to Chengdu to visit some friends, get a quick reprieve and gain more frequent flier miles!!

Unfortunately the lack of blogging has been representative of our non-exciting past few weeks. This morning in the elevator on the way down to our bikes, I mentioned to Christina that I feel as if all we do is work, get ready for work, are at work, or think about work. She agreed, chuckled to herself and stated that: "Back in Canada it didn't really feel like this." We shrugged our shoulders, thought of the financial gain our Asian endeavor is providing, and rode back to the school for another day in the office.

Here's to hoping that the New Year provides us with some more tales with which we can regale the blogosphere.

The Flood

So, Ben and I are right in the midst of December chaos. Kids going crazy because of the below zero classroom temperatures, mid-term reports for semester 1 term 2, special work packages for the massive amounts of students who have so much to catch up on and every excuse in the book why they are behind, including telling us they are smart and that is why they have not finished their work.....huh?!?! Nothing makes sense. So we went out to dinner tonight to have some pizza, pick up a few things, before traveling back to our humble abode.....only to walk into the slooshing of an an inch of water on our cream colored floor. Yes, we opened our own pool in TEDA, no public visitors yet, just private usage so far. Yuck, it was quite a task to clean it all up, and the two floors below us have visited a number of times tonight telling us there is still water coming down on them even though we have finally cleared it all up. Our landlord paid us a quick visit and chuckled as he came in. He smiled as we told him how we thought the pipes might have burst and let the waters open on his lovely home, continuing to grin he only let us know that the same thing happened to him and its an honest mistake, it will be fixed soon, not to worry. Quite a lovely man, he has a beautiful smile, full of brown rotten teeth, and eyes that cheer along with his grin. He truly has been lovely to have as a landlord. It seems so far in our married life we have had quite the blessing with landlords. Though our Victoria landlords are far away and a great memory from last year, our new landlord hasn't left us with a sour taste in our hearts over renting space. As for the flood, ah, it'll get fixed, until then we are showering from metal mixing bowls scattered around our shower floor, quite the adventure:)

Rockin' around the ........

Well its December and the Christmas music has been playing like crazy in our flat. Christina was scouring the internet to find as much Christmas music as she could, and find it did she ever... I must say that I even caught myself toe tapping to some of the songs the other day as we worked with the music playing in the background. With Christmas fast approaching we have seen reminders of this as we've been out and about. The local mall set up a 'Santa's workshop-esque' type display, with another large office building stringing lights in a large Santa pattern that would make Chevy Chase drool with envy!! We have yet to see anyone dressed up in a Santa suit, but I promise if we see it, no matter what the cost, we'll have to get our picture taken with Asian Santa!!

Lately we have been keeping busy with; school, bike rides, purchasing items for Christina's home economics class, marking and EATING!! Last night we treated ourselves to some BBQ'd lamb kabobs with some green beans and cabbage, all smothered in the most delicious hot bbq sauce (a XinJiang speciality) to go along with our fried noodles. It was MAGNIFIQUE!! Earlier this weekend, Saturday, we headed off to a Korean Style BBQ and enjoyed a night of feasting on some of the most tender beef with delicious sauces, BBQ'd vegetables and of course the staple KIM-CHEE (spicy fermented cabbage!!) Tonight we have plans to head to our favorite Sichuan restaurant (the one we've spoken so highly about before) to really expand the palate and sample different three different food types for the past three days!

In the coming days we'll attempt to find some sort of Tree that we can decorate and have standing proud in the flat so that when the song comes on we will have something to 'Rock' around apart from our bamboo (it doesn't hold ornaments at all!!)

On a more disappointing note, I have not been able to find any of those chocolate advent calendars here in China. Now I know the chocolate is stale and tastes terrible, but there is something to be said about the joys of opening up the little doors each of the 24 days before christmas, with the anticipation building each and everyday... For those of you that have them... ENJOY

Le Movembre

November is over, but not without one last Movember update!! Thanks to all the supporters and pledges given as my moustache raised $270. More importantly as a team we raised over $1000!! So thanks again to all those of you who supported. Don't worry, next year I'll be doing it all over again!!

Thanks for the Birthday wishes as well!!

P.S. Can you not see the likeness??

Birthday Boy

It's Ben's birthday today. He is a lovely 28! And I am so incredibly thankful that 28 years ago plus 9+ months, he was formed and crafted, spun from the silk of life, into someone who would later become my husband. Birthday's always seem the same, they come around and leave quite quickly, sometimes we are a little awkward in accepting them, sometimes we are a little overindulgent. I think it probably means more for other people than it does really for the person who is being celebrated. A parent thinks of every breath taken, every lesson learned, every tear fallen, every challenge overcome and every joy received. A friend relates to their years gone by. A sibling reminisces about their shared moments. And a wife, especially such a new one as myself, mostly has this day to be incredibly thankful, that a little while ago, he simply came to be. So I am happy today to have Ben's birthday and once again be sitting overjoyed in the gift of his life.
The week should also finish quite amusingly as well since we have planned an ugly sweater party at our place on Friday:) All of you are invited!

Forcaste for the year

The forecast for the year shows good promise of debts washed away and green showers in the bank. Light challenges mixed with heavy adventures will continue through. 99.9% chance of extreme growth and stretching, along with bright futures beyond.
Ben and I have spent a bit of time lately looking at our bank accounts. We are pleased to see that, after years of being in debt from loans and such, we might finally see a clearing by summer this year. I don't doubt things might shift in scale again one day, but we are pleasantly surprised to see that we might be able to settle things a bit in the near future. I know that whatever we have or don't have is still only what we THINK we have or THINK we don't have, all dust, all vanishing, but still....it is nice to heave a sigh and say there is a few chapter investments that we are concluding before moving onto the next.
Along with excitement over our savings, we are a little nervous and wondering about the holidays. I have found myself itching for ornaments and shiny things and sounds and smells that we SO take for granted back in Canada. The things I will miss this year THE MOST are all those little family things that make the holiday perfect in every way. Lately, I have been thinking about how much I will miss the annual ceremony of picking out the family tree. I have been telling Ben and others that I have no idea HOW I will substitute something in its place. The day usually consists of our family heaving into the big blue whale (our fully furnished Chevy Beauville tinted window van) and trekking out to our usual tree farm in Langley. We are typically bundled in boots and hats and mittens and always bring something hot to drink. All this and an ax and whatever else we can grab in order to mark our favorite trees. We wander together through fields of character trees, knobby branches, plump bumblers, and wobbly Charlie Browns. We chirp and chatter about each one and find the treasures that tug at our heart-strings. Mittens, hats, scarves, wrappers, fluff and string, all tag random trees so that one by one we may re-visit each candidate's choice and the tagging advocate may plead their case on why it should be this year's shimmering honor. I don't think my tree ever really got picked, I have a soft heart for the scraggly ones, Bradley and I can never get enough of the weird and wonderful. Scott tends to have an eye for the genuinely large and proud trees, grand beyond belief and usually fit for a great hall of some sort. Gary always picks something loopy or wacky. Dad carries the saw. But mom is by far the very BEST tree picker. Without fail, I am pretty sure, almost every year we have carefully cut, carried and adorned, one of my mom's most lovingly chosen trees. She has an eye, and as mentioned, quite the heart, for the perfect tree, and for Christmas itself.
When I was younger I loved Christmas, I was the first one up in the morning, giddy with shallow quick breaths and quiet while gazing at the whispering lights. But, for a while, I am not quite sure why, I lost my connection to it. I lost the feeling, the magic of it, the amour for it. But 4 years ago it captured me again, not sure why, or how, or what triggered it, but I was glad to see its return. So the ache of Christmas away from family this year is growing, and might grow greater as the days get closer. Together, Ben and I are hoping to, somehow, make things special this year. Soon we will look for a tree (a fake tree of course, since real trees don't match our 20 dollar limit at the farm, I hear in TEDA they start at 1000 RMB or $150 Canadian), and I have started downloading all the favorite Christmas movies (we have a nice big white wall and possibly a projector to borrow).
Anyways, there are lots of Christmas memories that flood back when I think about it even for a moment, so I have am looking forward to making new ones and seeing what happens again soon. For now though, the forecast looks good, real good.

Day 19 Mo-gress

We're passed the halfway point and the moustache has taken on its own identity. I have yet to find any food in it, however I can get an adequate milk moustache if I don't drink properly. Christina is hoping to do a glamor shoot with all the other fellows from the school who participated in Movember! Should be fun! Enjoy your Friday evening.

Its always New Year's Eve in China

Without fail, everyday that I am here, I am caught off guard by the loud bang and pop of fireworks bellowing in the sky. No wonder China, when performing at Symphony of Fire, always surpasses every other country in their efforts to make a magically wondrous spectacle. And here, it doesn't really matter if it is late, or early, or noon or midnight, the fireworks continue. Along with fireworks, being the sign of a happy celebration, people also believe they scare away bad spirits, so since our area is TEDA, the developing area, there are many buildings being established, and apparently many spirits to scare away so buildings must come to good fortune and good safety, or something of the sort I suppose, and fireworks are apparently the remedy. From our high above the rooftops perch, on the 29th floor of our TEDA apartment, we often have the perfect placing for gazing upon the light shows. No looking upwards, or even a little angled up, we are right in line with, if not looking down upon the little spurts and prances of light. Quite lovely though, last night, we were riding our bikes to dinner downtown, and fireworks were bursting a little ways in the distance, the crisp air stung my nose, and for a moment I had the nostalgic feeling of being back in Canada, with family, in holiday season, sitting back to enjoy a light show, holding some hot cocoa with a splash of eggnog and cuddling in for a silent moment of awe. I know that we will miss moments at Christmas and New Year's this year, and it will be desperately hard to not have them as old comforts, but I am glad to keep them in my heart and greatly look forward to new nostalgia as we move into some new adventures and memories.

Day 9

Looking for work.... Anyone know of a Miami Vice remake going on?? Have short shorts, just need a ferrari and a few more weeks growth!!

Establishing the Mo......

After 7 days growth, making his first viral appearance, the mini Mo!!



Here's to hoping that next week the mini Mo will have be Mo-re mature and full and Tom Selleck-like. Until then, happy grooming. Also check out the Fu Manchu's on the Movember website.

Andy it up!

Some examples of what we are doing with pictures of Visual Arts Media class with Photoshop Elements.

COMPUTERS!!!!

They are so simple in Canada and so complicated everywhere else! My lack of posting lately has been due to computer challenges, frustrating, yes, but inevitable. Otherwise, my time has been spent in front of my other computer, full of report cards, comments, grades and bell curves. Yowee! I think I am going cross-eyed with all the craziness. Grades and packages of report cards are due next week, and I am also trying to keep on top of my marketing students who are in the midst of organizing and promoting an Art Exhibition at the school, as well as get ready for a BRAND NEW NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE course.....HOME ECONOMICS!!!! (Food and Nutrition) Yes, I have been pitching it to our principal for the last month and now, oh lovely, now, I have to actually carry it out. So I am revamping and preparing an old science room into a cooking lab. I am designing course material for an 10 week course, and I am hoping and praying that the fridge and hot plates and toaster ovens show up someday.....that is the hope. I am happy to have this opportunity because it means I can get formal teaching experience doing something I love, but this is quite RAW experience if you ask me. Not to mention the severe lack of English teaching resources and materials in China. But the internet is fantastic, when it is working.

In other news, we are LOVING our apartment and most recently, our new, less loud, curtains. I light cream color that subtly fits into the room. The little bits and pieces that we are doing to improve on our home are coming along, making us feel settled. Bit by bit we are making our mark and making it ours.

Movember

For those of you that don't know, Movember is the new name for November due in large part to the fact that men all around the world grow a moustache in support of Prostate Cancer research. I will be undertaking this task as well, started yesterday with a clean shaven face. At the school we will have a staff team. If you check out movember.com and search for The Fu Manchu's, you'll see our team site, pictures of our progressing moustaches and even donate to the cause if you would like!! I will try and update this blog with a few pictures as the month progresses.

Things have been quite busy recently. Report Cards will come out in a week or two, Midterms are being written this week, and students are realizing that perhaps their personal effort in the first two months wasn't adequate and thus they need some make-up assignments to boost their grades. Yesterday Christina had a line-up of about 10 students all looking to improve on some of their grades in Drama.... They are quite the actors when they need to get out of something, like a test or homework, but when it comes to acting in class for marks, they seem to lose their enthusiasm. After this week, the 1 Term classes will end, meaning that Christina will no longer be teaching two Drama Blocks and a Visual Arts Media, but rather Three Home Economics Classes. She's quite excited about the opportunity to share her love of cooking with the Chinese kids, and we're excited to see how the course material provides a hands on way of acquiring more language skills. Lets just hope that the toaster oven and microwave arrive on time!!

Life on the 29th floor continues to be wonderful. The sky has been quite clear of late, and the sights from up there are really quite something. This morning the sun was rising, shining into our bedroom, and this evening, if we get home in time, we should be able to see it set, over top of the park and the green space our living room looks out onto.

Food is an essential part of daily living and we have found a new favorite restaurant and it is a gem. Having lived in Sichuan for two years, back in the early part of 2000, I have been spoiled when it comes to Chinese food. Sichuan is THE PLACE to eat in China. The flavors, the spices, the variety, it is all second to none. Upon arriving in TEDA, I was a bit disappointed with the fare, especially after a 5 day visit to Chengdu (in Sichuan) reminded me and showed Christina for the first time, just how delicious Sichuan Food is. However, this new restaurant is a Sichuan restaurant and is quite authentic or 地道 as they would say in Chinese. We've ordered a variety of dishes and have thus far found nothing that would stop us from coming. Best of all is that they've had everything we've ordered thus far. We've sampled the spicy tofu, the kung pao chicken, the twice fried beef, the fish-flavored meat, the sizzling rice dish, the green beans.... Unfortunately the English names don't really do these dishes justice, but take our word for it, the Food is EXCELLENT!!

Traffic Lines

Traffic lines are everywhere you look. Some are painted on, some are torched on, some sparkle with the addition of new paint, others are dingy and need some attention. Traffic lines for the most part instruct and guide us as we commute on the roadways. Something that always puts a smile on my face is the fact that in China, Traffic Lines are suggestions at best. As we pedaled our bikes to school this morning, we took our usual route, bypassing the main highway, and taking the overpass. The overpass is two lanes, but most drivers enjoy the middle, straddling the dotted line with wheels firmly planted in both lanes. We don't mind this one bit as we pedal along the side, because it allows for even more room as the cars whizz by, but it does provide some comedic relief when the straddler is not moving at the same speed as the cars behind would like. After some honking and perhaps flashing of lights, the straddler will move over, the cars will overtake him, upon which point the straddler will resume his position, in the middle of both lanes. Where it gets real dicey is when the straddler happens to be a full-size truck and trailer, barreling down the highway, straddling two lanes. I saw one such sight from the overpass today. The truck and trailer was humming along, with a few impatient drivers behind, waiting, wondering and finally speeding into action. The waiting and wondering that causes the drivers to hesitate is that passing a truck and trailer is always at your own risk. At times the doors of the trailer can fly open or the truck and trailer can decide to switch lanes at a given instant or more importantly when attempting to overtake him, you are unable to see what coming ahead, because of his dubious and precarious position straddling both lanes. But the drivers press on, truck and trailer are eventually overtaken, and traffic in China moves at its own blistering pace, with its own rythmn, and ultimately its own rules, all 'suggestions' taken into consideration. Perhaps the photo below sums up traffic in China best... notice the distinct white lines that are present.....
Mere Suggestions!!


(Courtesy of goodnewspic.com)

Its Friday....

...and this week I couldn't be more ready for it. Lots of changes coming up soon. Mid-term exams for the students, big events happening, changes in protocol for staff that make things quite interesting, new classes for term 2 within semester 1 and a LOAD of marking. But its Friday, oh heaven its Friday. Hopefully this weekend will hold some rest, some less stress and some lovely bike rides with my most fantastic husband. This is short for now since I have to jet to class, but one of the highlights of my week was that I finally earned my Chinese name, though earned really isn't the right word, most of the time you just ask someone to name you. So my friend Magic, who is from Tianjin, decided to name me Xin Yi. (Said "Shin Yee, with a rising tone on the end. It is a type of flower and a popular name in Taiwan, so I am a little more original here.) Ben and I have also had the privilege of naming some of our friends here. Our happy taxi driver in Chungdu, we named him Jake, because he reminded us of a friend we know back in Comox. Another we named Kate, something simple and sweet. And another we chose Emily. It is quite fun and interesting naming someone else, though I can't imagine how parents do it. Easy to name someone who can just change their name again in a week, harder to name someone who has to stick with it for a lifetime. Glad my parents chose well:)

On a road in TEDA

Phew, its been a while. Sorry all for the slight departure from posting. With moving, school, and everything else it seems the days have been quite full. Our VPN has also had troubles lately and we just got it fixed today. SO, here I am, sitting at school marking papers, wondering WHAT on earth I am doing pretending to teach and freezing my little bum off. It is cold here now, too cold. We jumped from summer to winter. One of our co-workers questioned "what happened to fall?" Thats what I wonder too, especially since fall is one of my FAVORITE seasons. The leaves, the air, the colors, the crisp shift in weather yet at the same time, the gentle easing into colder months. Here is it just cold. And to top it off, heating doesn't get turned on by the government until mid-November. So until then we only have little electric heaters and whatever warm clothes we can layer up in. I was chuckling today on our way to work (we took a taxi since yesterday it was pouring rain so we left our bikes at school, but a taxi to school is only a dollar fifty, though sometimes it is still difficult to even get a taxi since people just decide not to work sometimes in the rain and don't drive:) while I watched cars swerve all over the road. Really, lanes don't matter, people just drive wherever. Speed limits are also non-existent, people drive like turtles or race-car drivers, whatever suits their fancy. Another strange thing is that no matter what direction cars are driving, you can always guarantee that there will be at least one car driving the wrong direction. But here, its still right, just another way to get someplace. Orange stop lights, just like Thailand, mean speed up, and red means to start thinking, only thinking, about stopping. Traffic jams happen for no apparent reason, and they are a hoot! People honking and moving forwards mere inches into nowhere. Just before we got to China, there was actually a 9 day traffic jam outside of Beijing. People were literally sleeping in their cars and living on the freeway. What was the reason? People still aren't sure, but hey, it lasted 9 days so it must have been something....right? Anyways, thats just some of the chaos that ensues on a road in TEDA. Onto the rest of the day now, hoping all of you are well!
Peace!

5 moves in the last year.

We're getting really good at moving. Almost too good, which means we've moved too many times. Last night we took 3 different Taxi trips to take the bulk of our belongings over to our new place. It was fun watching the Taxi Drivers struggle to lift our well packed suitcases into their cars. Fortunately for them, we did take pity and told them if it was really heavy and they should avoid lifting it. The best part of moving was not having to walk up the stairs, but rather getting into the elevator (lift) and taking it up, up, up until at last we reached the 29th floor!! As we rode the elevator, we decided that if for some reason the elevators are out of service we will call in sick :) 29 floors is a LONG LONG LONG way to walk.

The house has a wonderful feel to it already, and as Christina rightly put it; "It feels like a HOME!" something that our other place, no matter what we attempted to do, could provide. The view from the 29th floor is breathtaking, for more reasons the one. The sheer height, if you are not prepared, can not only make you feel weak in the knees but lightheaded as well. On nights like the last, crystal clear, the panoramic view is something to behold. Lights as far as the eye can see, and even our very own Laser show from a few different buildings above and within the cityscape. We're quite positive that up on the 29th floor, no students will be able to come to class the next day proud that they had: "Watched Mr. and Mrs. F eat dinner in their house on the sixth floor last night!!" (true story).

Today we'll take over the last of the odds and ends, give the old place a clean, and then be off to the new place, where we'll take it from being a 'HOME' to 'OUR HOME' for the next while.

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and that the Turkey sandwiches on Tuesday at work will hit the spot....

Saturday

Saturday. Classes are in session. Enough said. The weather continues to get colder, but both Christina and I enjoy wearing sweaters so it is a nice fit. The "die" or "death" bike, inscribed with the number 4 is still around, and compared to mine it is a smooth riding machine. Interestingly, I was out a few weeks ago on my bike and inquired about some oil for my chain because it squeaks like a mouse caught in a trap. The mathematician in me knows that my peddling efficiency is way under the acceptable value, and so I asked for some chain oil to increase my peddling efficiency. The response was curious at best, "oil, why would you put on oil, its sooooo dirty here that it will only help for a day before attracting more dust/dirt and then you'd have a real mess on your hands." So I squeak on, but I'm wondering how much longer I can hack it, because Christina's bike peddles sooooooo much nicer than mine. Secretly, when I have to go run errands on my own, I take the '4' bike, because its an Aston Martin compared to my old beater Datsun (no offence Lenny Pop).

Tonight we go and see the apartment. We asked that it be cleaned, that some curtains be changed, that some furniture be removed and that the internet be ready to go. We'll go investigate and hopefully by mid next week we'll be all settled in, emailing, blogging and skyping with a new found gusto and letting you all know how very thankful we are for you; our families, friends and acquaintances on this Thanksgiving weekend and everyday;)

What are you all Thankful for??

It has been requested....

...that we post pictures of our living space. We have not moved into our new place yet, nor have I taken pictures of our old place, BUT here are a couple pictures that Ben took of our soon-to-be place when the real estate agent took him around to look. The curtains will be changed though, the flashy flowers are just a little too crazy for us:)

Chengdu for the holidays

Ben and I spent some time this past week in Chengdu, a place he spent two years living in and learning Chinese. Some of the people he shared this experience with, 7 years ago, are still living in Chengdu and we decided to pay them a visit for the holidays. We boarded our OK Air flight (not so sure the name reassures me in any way) last Wednesday and from there on it was a wonderful whirlwind of fun meeting and enjoying the company of many people. We traveled to quite a few places that our fair Tianjin is lacking in. Places that carry the stereotypical Chinese vibe. Lanterns, narrow roadways, small shops within old Chinese style city walls. Pointed rooftops and lots of old brick. It was quite nice to finally see the China I have looked for and unsuccessfully found in TEDA. There were other strange happenings we discovered in Chengdu as well. People don't seem quite as accustomed to seeing foreigners than they to in Tianjin. Lots more staring, picture taking and open curiosity was evident around us in every outing. For the most part though, we ate great food, chatted with great people and had a good amount of fun and relax time away from school and work. Below are a couple pictures of the kids, they were too amusing and cute to not become one of the many onlookers and picture takers wherever we went, and a few pictures of some other sights and people that we passed by as well.

Pandamonium

That's what happens when two schools that reside on opposite sides of the same street, with enrollment way up in the high hundreds, decide to dismiss for a National Holiday at the same time. I've been sitting in the office for the past 25 minutes and the cacophony on the street is RIDICULOUS. Curiosity got the best of me and I peered through the office window only to see a maze of cars, going this way and that, a bus trying to part the seas, and many students happily skipping across the road, just like frogger, to reach the waiting cars to take them home and away from the school for a weeks time. I think a video is the only thing that would do this scene justice.

We have found our new home. I take a deposit over to the real estate agent's office this afternoon, and when we return from our trip to Chengdu we'll sign on the dotted line. We look forward to moving in before the 15th of October, so that we don't have to pay rent twice, once for the new and once for the old. In the new place, the internet will be set up right away, so we should be able to go on skype, or chat with the other various forms of internet communication available.

We're finding our groove in this new land. The food is wonderful, and Christina has begun to agree with me... however if the meal doesn't include Sweet and Sour something, then it has to be quickly added, because that has become her new favorite. On the plus side, with the new place, and two propane burners, we look forward to enjoying some of our own creations, like curries and honey mustard chicken etc.

Riding around town continues to be a great adventure. The other night we took out one bike, Christina riding side-saddle on the back of mine, as we weaved in and around the 6 o'clock traffic to go and get dinner. I've become quite proficient at calling out when she needs to tuck her legs in, and when she is ok. All it took was forgetting once when we went past a raised concrete barrier!! No blood though, just a bit of a knock.

The weather continues to be amazing as we've seen blue sky for the past week, something that I had never experienced in my previous China stint. So we hope this nice weather follows us to Chengdu for some R&R with friends there.

Happy Chinese National Day to you all!!

The Upside

So, I was chatting with a friend from afar today, lovely to see her face, hear her voice, talk as if we were just chatting over coffee, and catch up. Our conversation consisted of many menial daily things, work, shopping, family friends, the usual, but I was curious, after a while, as to why she kept asking me, "What are some of the good things, the things you like about China?". I finally asked about what her perspective on my time here seems to be so far, and it seems that my realist, sometimes slightly pessimistic thinking has oozed through my posts to indicate a little more of the downer than the upper. So, just to make sure you know that we are not crying ourselves to sleep every night, and we are not wishing we were home, I will try to spin the upside a little more. And really, there is SUCH an upside to our experience in China thus far. To start, today is gorgeous! Probably the most gorgeous day since we have arrived. Sun, blue sky, a cool breeze but slightly warm clear air. We were out with our real estate agent today, looking at apartments. She is an absolute gem, very unlike our first agent who was a bit of a nightmare. TingTing showed Ben a few places this morning and I joined them later. Her English is fairly good and her sense of humor makes up for anything lacking in language. TingTing seems to have become more of a friend than a service provider which makes these experiences relaxing, stress free and a good break from the week. It seems we have also come upon some promising prospects for apartments, ones which are far nicer and more convenient than the one we are currently living in and may turn out to be cheaper as well. Later on this evening we will return to a few that Ben and TingTing found to be the best and explore a couple others.
As for the rest of the day we may take our bikes downtown to explore a little more and enjoy time to relax. I love riding my bike here. The traffic is horrendous which, for me, changes a bike ride into a thrilling adventure. Swerving, weaving, no hesitation, bells, horns, gliding along, watching for sudden open doors and unaware walking wanderers (which is actually pretty much everyone:). Our favorite place to eat so far is still the Muslim noodles. We have tried quite a variety of foods and restaurants and little nooks in back alleys, but the noodles are the best and for the price you simply can't go wrong. Less than a dollar for a whole meal. We have also discovered that next to our noodle place, there is a lady who makes the greasiest, tastiest flat bread with a veggie tomato sauce on top. It is a bit like flat pizza bread, hard to describe, easy to scarf down, and simply fantastic! Beer is cheap here, cheaper than water so we usually drink beer at meals out, water at home and at school. One would start to think that our figures might begin to show evidence of this practice, but because we live on the sixth floor, no elevator, and we live outside of the main area of town, no car, we get a lot of exercise into a day and we have actually both trimmed up a bit:). As for evening amusement, there is a plethora of places to choose from and decent quality. Grey's anatomy, season 1-6 for 5 dollars is fantastic! Friends, the complete series for 5 dollars, yet to look at but I was reassured it could be brought back (and I'm sure sold to another sorry sap, but 5 dollars is 5 dollars:). Recently we invested in a Chinese version of a magic bullet. We have been craving slurpies and aim to discover the best way to construct them in our new machine. It will be an interesting task, any thoughts or contributions to our experiment are welcome. Lastly, for recent purchases, we came upon a lady in the "Ren Ren Le" (translated: "People People Happy") a local grocery store, a bit like Superstore, who was quite helpful in finding us the perfect frying pan/wok. We bought one when we first arrived but returned it for various reasons. We later purchased another one from a small back alley shop, reassured it was good quality, for a lovely price of 7 dollars, which quickly rusted after one use. So, our friend at Ren Ren Le guided us through the process of finding and caring for an ideal, yet not pricey, cast iron wok. It is beautiful, cooks like magic and cleans quick. It rivals my beloved wok that is packed away in Canada, though it has separate specialities of its own.
Of all the things we do here though, we spend most time teaching. The students are growing, and language is slowly getting better. There are really some lovely students here, the quirkiness of the whole is something we are learning to laugh about, but the experience and interactions with particular individuals is quite rewarding. Each day is new and learning how to properly communicate with learners who are in a BC program but cannot handle the language of a regular BC program, a challenge but it has its prize moments. Moments when you say "aha!" or you realize you finally communicated clearly with one class, one student, for one lesson. There are moments and they are growing. We are definitely being challenged and definitely growing and we are very much enjoying ourselves, on the whole, through the process.

Suddenly.....

...it turned cold. Last week, Monday to Thursday, we were still sweating our clothes soaked. The heat, smog, and mug of the city of TEDA slurps its way through everything. But suddenly, last week, as if jumping from the earth's core to the North Pole, everything changed....well, it wasn't quite that bad, but it has been fairly strange, the change, the winds, the rains. Today the skies are blue and things are bright, but the cool air still nips. No jackets this afternoon, yet still baffling that there is no sweat dripping from every pore. Today it is comfortable, my body is comfortable, in temperature, yes.
Heart and soul, thats another story. The honeymoon is over and I think we are starting to feel the beating. Students are definitely different here, there has been a different discipline and training so far for our 10-12's, and completely different to all, within the Maple Leaf School system. The Chinese Way, added to the Privileged Way, is beginning to test my confidence, my cool, my sense of direction and my outlook on things. Students are feeling more unjustifiably bold, to speak their mind (oh and what fanciful ideas they do have about a teacher's role), tell a teacher how they should be teaching, remind a teacher they are doing things wrong, compare a teacher's methods to another and indicate the unsavory flavor of a chosen technique. Everything is either too hard, too boring, they are too sleepy, too hot or too cold. There is never not a complaint in ANY class for ANY teacher. The audacity of some students completely catches me off guard, amazing, I am amazed, my small mind cannot comprehend simple cultural differences which carry a world of weight when it comes to daily interactions. Yes, of course, there are some gems and jewels, but the last couple days I have found myself drowning in coals. And yes, these coals if put in the right fire, under the right pressure can turn themselves into jewels and gems as well, but, WHAT A TASK! Do I have to be under pressure with them?! Am I a coal as well?! Perhaps I am, perhaps some pressure, some fire, I am meant to find myself, on the other side, another color, a brighter shade, a clearer crystal. Who knows.......today, strange and small, I am simply thankful that my measuring cups and spoons came to me, in a pre-ordered package, and delivered to my desk. I can finally have something to bake with. Oh love, I can't wait until we actually have a real stove, the little things, right now, are such comfort.

fours and more

The heat has been sucked out of our city, but we don't mind one bit. Starting late Thursday, the Eastern winds started blowing the ocean breeze over our way, and with it a much cooler temperature arrived. The rain has also been falling to help cool it off even further. With this sudden drop in temperature the students began to whine and wimper about it being too cold. 15 hours earlier they were saying it was too Hot!! some things will never change.

We finished another week of school in a spectacular fashion, with the Terry Fox Run. September 17th was International Terry Fox Run Day, and we joined everyone else around the globe in remembering this Great Canadian Hero. The rain drizzled slightly, but we reminded the students, and ourselves, that if Terry Fox could run a marathon each day on one leg for 140 odd days straight, we could take 15-20 minutes out of our day to honor him and the cause he chose to support. The rain fell harder, but our spirits and attitudes were lifted as we ran, thinking of just how many thousands, maybe even millions of people would be participating in the same event sometime later that day and the people's lives that could be changed, because of what Terry started some thirty years ago.

We continue to enjoy our bicycles, and Christina has taken it upon herself to decorate her bike to ward off the would-be-thieves. In China bike theft is rampant, one co-worker is on number 4 or 5 he can't remember, but Christina has implied some devious tactics. The Chinese are wary of some numbers due to their close pronunciation with other more 'negative' words. One such number, four, shares the same pinyin as the word die, however the tone is different. Being the clever and talented artist that she is, she proceeded to draw a lovely looking number FOUR on her back fender. Take that would be thieves!! steal this bike at your own peril!! I don't have to do the same, as my bike is usually locked up with hers, however if it does go missing, it will no doubt be when Christina's bike was not there, thus proving her FOUR theory worked!!

We head to Chengdu at the end of this month for a few days reprieve and visits with a number of wonderful friends before we settle in for a few months that culminates with the end of the semester and our 4 week vacation to Thailand. Tickets are booked, Mom and Dad Farnell are excited and we wonder who may take up the offer and join us?? January 16th to February 16th.

Here are just a couple...

...of our Saturday trip to Tanggu. The cloth market and the animal market.