I will pick up my mom in Beijing tomorrow!!! I'm so excited to see her and to be able to show her where I've been living the past 3 1/2 months. She's been all over Europe, so China is a new experience. I'm so happy that she will be here for Christmas-it wouldn't have felt right without her. Plus, I've missed going shopping with her and out to lunch and doing lots of girlie things.
Last Saturday-Katie, Curtis, Josh, Justin, JinJing, Sabrina, and I went to Beijing for the day. We visited 3 different American eating establishments-all were delicious. I had orange sherbet at Baskin Robbins-it was fantastic. I love sherbet and hadn't had any in many months. The ladies went to the Silk Market, while the gentlemen stayed at a giant mall and shopped. I love the Silk Market-there's so much to buy, but it's exhausting constantly bartering for prices. And, since I'm obviously a foreigner-they really try to take advantage. I think I got good prices for my purchases. It was very good day!
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Grateful
Recently, I was showing some students pictures from home. They wanted to see my "live" Christmas tree from last year. In the same photo album were pictures of my apartment in Wichita. They were amazed that my apartment was just for me. They thought it was so beautiful and that I was so lucky to live there. Granted, I love my apartment, but it is an apartment and just a one-bedroom one at that. However, that's the American mind-set. We're very spoiled. Don't get me wrong, I love my country. I think this is one reason why I enjoy moving abroad. I love experiencing new cultures-even though adapting takes time, but it makes me much more grateful for my own country. Remembering being an American is a privilege and something I should not take for granted so easily. Anyway, I think this China experience is very beneficial for me and reminds me to keep things in perspective.
Being away from home also makes me grateful for all of you in Kansas. I'm very thankful for my mom and grandma who always support me on all my random journeys. They may not understand why, but support me nonetheless. My mom is even flying all the way to China (in less than 2 weeks!) to spend Christmas here. We had planned to go to Paris this year for Christmas, so China was quite the change, but she's looking forward to a new adventure.
It's about 5 weeks before my American holiday and I'm looking forward to it. I'll be back January 12-February 17. It will be nice to have a Western shower (I think that has been my worse living adaption), excited about eating turkey, driving, shopping at Dillard's and Target, blending in, and seeing everyone!
Being away from home also makes me grateful for all of you in Kansas. I'm very thankful for my mom and grandma who always support me on all my random journeys. They may not understand why, but support me nonetheless. My mom is even flying all the way to China (in less than 2 weeks!) to spend Christmas here. We had planned to go to Paris this year for Christmas, so China was quite the change, but she's looking forward to a new adventure.
It's about 5 weeks before my American holiday and I'm looking forward to it. I'll be back January 12-February 17. It will be nice to have a Western shower (I think that has been my worse living adaption), excited about eating turkey, driving, shopping at Dillard's and Target, blending in, and seeing everyone!
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Thanksgiving
I've been a bad blogger and I apologize. My schedule is crazy busy until my American holiday-I'm definitely never bored.
We had a good Thanksgiving dinner. Each American teacher brought something and then we played poker. We can't find turkey here, so we had chicken. Other than that, it was pretty traditional, except for me bringing pineapple. China has fresh pineapples in winter-they're grown in the south where it's warmer and shipped north to us. I love it! I eat pineapple pretty much everyday.
I had a pizza party with my IELTS students the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Some of them had never tried pizza (gasp!). It's expensive for them, but a bargain compared to US pizza prices. I can get a large, cheese pizza for $5.00. Anyway, they all loved it and we had fun.
Last Friday, I went bowling with my IELTS students. Some of them had never been before and were super funny to watch. We had fun and now have a discount card for the bowling alley, so it's about $1.00 per game.
My mom will be here two weeks from today!! I'm so, so excited! I flew back and forth more from England, so this is a record of being away from family and friends. Plus, I've yet to see the Great Wall and will be taking her there and numerous other tourist attractions.
Vickie and Sabrina (in blue) Sorry these are blurry-taken with my phone
Sabrina and Shannon
Peter (kind of sad because his ball kept going in the gutter)
Miss Sabrina
Miss Shannon
We had a good Thanksgiving dinner. Each American teacher brought something and then we played poker. We can't find turkey here, so we had chicken. Other than that, it was pretty traditional, except for me bringing pineapple. China has fresh pineapples in winter-they're grown in the south where it's warmer and shipped north to us. I love it! I eat pineapple pretty much everyday.
I had a pizza party with my IELTS students the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Some of them had never tried pizza (gasp!). It's expensive for them, but a bargain compared to US pizza prices. I can get a large, cheese pizza for $5.00. Anyway, they all loved it and we had fun.
Last Friday, I went bowling with my IELTS students. Some of them had never been before and were super funny to watch. We had fun and now have a discount card for the bowling alley, so it's about $1.00 per game.
My mom will be here two weeks from today!! I'm so, so excited! I flew back and forth more from England, so this is a record of being away from family and friends. Plus, I've yet to see the Great Wall and will be taking her there and numerous other tourist attractions.
Vickie and Sabrina (in blue) Sorry these are blurry-taken with my phone
Sabrina and Shannon
Peter (kind of sad because his ball kept going in the gutter)
Miss Sabrina
Miss Shannon
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