emilyonearth

So where do I start? In the last few days we have had crazy thunder storms, have visited the Great Wall and the Summer Palace, changed our teaching groups, eaten eaten eaten eaten…. And probably stayed up too late every single night, and that’s why getting out of bed this morning was near impossible :D

Visiting the Great Wall was pretty cool. We bussed to the base of the hill then had the option of walking or taking a gondola up to the wall. There’s no way I could justify taking the gondola haha (well, I’m sure there were plenty of excuses; 30 degree heat, dehydration, lots and lots of steps…) so we walked, and I was quite literally dripping with sweat by the time we got to the top. As a consequence, I probably took some of the most attractive pictures of my life that day. On top of the great wall there were amazing views, and we walked along it for a bit. Some parts were so crazy steep, I felt like I should have been crawling up the steps rather than walking! That afternoon when we got back to Beijing we headed down to make the most of our only day off at the Summer Palace. It’s a big man made lake surrounded by all sorts of pavilions and statues and pretty buildings. We walked around there for a while and separated from the group, so had our first Chinese subway experience to take us back to the university. It was cool, getting to use public transport rather than being carted around like a group of tourists. So yes, fun times sightseeing in Beijing!

The weather the last couple of days has been pretty intense! Woke up yesterday to smog so thick that anything more than 10 meters away was getting a bit hard to see properly, and then just as we were walking to class the rain began. I shared someone’s umbrella to get to class, and luckily by the time I had to walk from Chinese to TESOL class it had stopped, although the smog was back worse than before. I had a super productive lunch, buying and sending post cards, exchanging some money, and purchasing an umbrella. I’m pretty glad I made the most of that lunch time, because by the time I walked out to teach it was pouring down again. All through my class there was such intense thunder and lightening that I could hardly hear my students talking, and then when we finished I walked out to discover the teachers before us hadn’t been able to leave the building because of the storm. Our coordinator told us to wait in out teaching building until the storm had died down a bit, and then we eventually headed out on the mission back to the Democracy Building for our daily CTLC meeting. Everything was flooded and we attracted some amused looks from some locals; not only are these people foreigners, but they’re running around barefoot in the rain!? Made it back to the Democracy Building, had our meeting then headed out to the main street to walk home only to find it was all flooded too. The traffic was terrible, and once when a bus drove past I got water right up my skirt, which is delicious when I think of all the crap that would have been in that water. It was mid calf depth anyways, so we all got pretty gross. In the evening we got cleaned up and went out for dinner for a birthday celebration :D

So today I changed from teaching junior high to primary, and dios mio, I love them so much, they are the cutest. At the start of class they all tried to guess where I was from (without me even prompting), and they were like America! (no) USA! (no) England! (no) America!! (no) Australia!! (no) UK! (no) China! (no) … etc etc. I eventually wrote New Zealand on the board and they thought that was so cool haha. We were playing a game at the start and I was like ok, one more person and then we’re moving on to the next activity, and one kid is like “no! 5 more!” which I denied, then the whole class is yelling “2 more! 3 more!” hahaha. I let them have one more, but they were super cute. Would be easier if I spoke Chinese, for when they can’t explain the word that they want to know, but arghh… I filled in my Shenzhen preference form today too, and chose primary as my preferred teaching level :D I was also observed for part of the lesson, and was worried coz my observer came in when the kids were a little out of control, but she said I did really well getting them back, and didn’t get stressed or upset like some other teachers, so that made me happy. Then she informed me that I had red chalk all over my face haha. My white shirt now also has pink patches, and my hands are slightly stained too haha. In my junior high class I had white chalk, which was much easier to manage, and less crumbly… Might have to look into getting my own chalk..

I had thought of a whole lot of things to tell you all about China, but of course now that I’m writing this I can’t think of any of them! I am pretty much an expert squatter these days, as there are no western toilets at the university, I have eaten stuff that most of you wouldn’t believe I would eat haha. I’ve never drunk so much water in my life! I’ve lost a little weight so my pants are starting to fall down, which is an awesome look. I sweat so much that my skin is starting to break out… Haha this is getting a bit gross, I will stop. Haven’t been sick yet! I had a bit of a tickle in my throat but I think that was just the pollution. Some people have been super sick, so I’m feeling pretty lucky so far. Anyways, I’ll try to start writing down the interesting things I think of throughout the day so I’m not left awkwardly listing things next time haha. Hope you’re all doing well, and hope to hear from you soon!!

(Tried to upload a pic or two but the internet doesn’t feel like cooperating today…)