emilyonearth

Hello dear friends,

So as I mentioned last time, there are a few breaks around this time of year! Last week we had the Mid-Autumn Festival, and this coming week is the National Holiday. For Mid-Autumn Festival we were given Thursday and Friday off school, and were to work on Sunday to make up for the break. However, there was a typhoon due to hit the city on Sunday, so in the end we were given Sunday and Monday off school too, resulting in a five day weekend! Not that we could really use the typhoon days to do anything though… The highlight of Mid Autumn Festival was probably the beach day! A group of us CTLCers hopped on a bus out to Dapeng, a peninsula about an hour and a half bus ride out of Shenzhen city where there are beaches and an old pre-Special Economic Zone Chinese fortress. So we spent the majority of the day on the beach and swimming in the water, that was AMAZINGLY warm… it was really super nice. Then in the evening some of us made our way along to the Fortress for a wee explore before heading back to Shenzhen. The Fortress was particularly interesting, it was like going back in time, with old style Chinese buildings and little alleyways and pokey wee shops here and there. It was nice to see how little it had been influenced by the west in comparison to Shenzhen, which is one of the world’s fastest growing cities.

Yes.. So although school was cancelled for the typhoon and we couldn’t really do anything, the typhoon itself was relatively tame… Sure, it was rainy and the wind was crazy, and I was thankful for the bars on my window as the tree outside was going a little crazy, but the actual typhoon kit about 100km north of expected, and so we only really got the outskirts of it. Unfortunately, while Shenzhen and Hong Kong were prepared for the storm, as it was supposed to pass right through the city, the town where it did actually hit didn’t have any warning, and was quite underprepared. About 25 people there died, and there have been news stories of people complaining that there had been no warning from city officials, and had there been, the citizens would have been much more ready for it.

School this week went pretty well, I think my lessons are getting better and although the kids are still quite out of control, some of the worst are beginning to calm down a little. Surprisingly my best lesson this week was on seasons and the weather, something I thought would bore them out of their minds. They loved telling me all the things they like doing in each season though like drinking orange juice in summer, going fishing in autumn, wearing a coat and going skating in winter, and getting lucky money and going for a picnic in spring. we had the whole blackboard covered in seasonal activities :D Today, Saturday, is my only day off, as we are working Sunday to make up for the impending National Holiday week. We also have to work the Sunday after the holiday to make up some time. The holiday starts on Tuesday and goes until the following Monday. I have some travel plans, but shall save the surprise for when I get back and update you all in another post :D Which also means I got my passport back and now have my Chinese residence permit! Hoorah!

Other than that everything is going well. Enjoying Chinese classes and the shared meals we go out for afterwards. The weather is slowly getting a little cooler, and is significantly less humid most days, which makes life so much more enjoyable! Also went on a big explore of my area the other day, venturing further than I had done before. It all gets so much more lively after dark! Around 6ish everyone erects these market stalls and people are walking around, eating, dancing… It’s pretty cool! Anywho, I think that’s all my news for now, I’ll leave you with a few more pictures, and talk to you all in a week or two!