Hello faithful blog readers. Well, we are officially in Beijing. It's our second day here. We just spent our first night in our apartments. We have a pretty beautiful place from what I have heard from the other members of our team. I share a room with Melinda--the other young person on my team. We really get along well and we have a beautiful view of Beijing from our 5th floor apartment.
Some sad news--the one member from our team had to go home before we left for China because her biopsy's results were positive. we miss her a lot and have shed several tears for her. she got the news after already checking her luggage, so i am not sure how she got her luggage, but we did not see it during baggage claim in Beijing. Our team has gone through several changes since its initial assignments, but we know that it will all work out.
Getting here was another story however. Our flight to Shanghai was wonderful, not too much turbulence and very helpful flight attendants. however, when we arrived in Shanghai, our plane had been delayed for weather reasons. So, we ended up staying at the airport for about 6 hours. It really would not have been a big deal, if it did not feel like I hadn't slept for about 24 hours. I had no energy and just wanted to sleep. I tried really hard to just let myself fall asleep, but it was a little difficult in the airport. However, I did finally snatch a 40 minute nap. Our plane finally left at about 3:30 early morning for Beijing. When we got to the airport, it was about 5:30 and then we all went with our respected team people to our different schools. We had breakfast ready when we got to our place, and then we all went and took a litle nap. That day consisted of getting needed supplies for our apartments, changing over our cash, meeting our head lady, napping, and just getting settled in.
We also had the wonderful chance to eat at a banquet with our head lady. She is oh so kind. The Chinese banquet is a fine art. They have restaurants where each table is in its own little banquet room. They serve delicious green tea and bring out one or two dishes at a time and set it on a lazy Susan table. The waitresses prepare your chopsticks and set up your napkin for you. It's wonderful. It was a little challenging for me to use the chopsticks--I was sweating because I was so nervous. I think I only dropped a few pieces of food and luckily they landed on my plate.
Today, we are just getting some more things that we need to teach and we are also getting ready to teach. We will have open house for our students where they can come and meet us in our rooms. Our teachers will also be living on camps, so that means we will have plenty of chances to hang out with them. I cannot wait to meet them. Please drop me an email if you have any news to share with me. thank you for thinking of me.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Training
Well, meeting my team has been a wonderful experience so far. And, there are actually 2 other people on my team who enjoy jogging. This morning I went jogging with a lady on our team who is 59. She's in pretty good shape, and it was nice to have a jogging partner.
There is a lady on our team who has some medical concerns. She has to fly to Arizona on Monday and have a biopsy and then fly back on Tuesday. She won't know until Wednesday right before our plane leaves whether she will be able to go to China to teach this summer. We are all hoping that the test would come back negative so she would be able to complete our team. Until then, she is training with us and has a bright face and a bubbly laugh.
Our team leaders have a deep southern drawl, (Alabama), and I find myself just soaking in their thick accents. I think it is so relaxing and reassuring to listen to their drawls. My room-mate is so sweet, and she is letting me use her laptop. She is a librarian by trade and was also a special ed teacher. She has a huge heart, and I am so thankful that we are room-mates.
Other interesting notes about this trip--out of the 126 teachers, I have met 5 people who are from Minnesota. Wow!! It's a small world.
We leave for China on Wednesday. I am excited, but I also have realized in the past day, how much preparing I need to do before we depart. With that said, I need to go read through our teaching curriculum.
There is a lady on our team who has some medical concerns. She has to fly to Arizona on Monday and have a biopsy and then fly back on Tuesday. She won't know until Wednesday right before our plane leaves whether she will be able to go to China to teach this summer. We are all hoping that the test would come back negative so she would be able to complete our team. Until then, she is training with us and has a bright face and a bubbly laugh.
Our team leaders have a deep southern drawl, (Alabama), and I find myself just soaking in their thick accents. I think it is so relaxing and reassuring to listen to their drawls. My room-mate is so sweet, and she is letting me use her laptop. She is a librarian by trade and was also a special ed teacher. She has a huge heart, and I am so thankful that we are room-mates.
Other interesting notes about this trip--out of the 126 teachers, I have met 5 people who are from Minnesota. Wow!! It's a small world.
We leave for China on Wednesday. I am excited, but I also have realized in the past day, how much preparing I need to do before we depart. With that said, I need to go read through our teaching curriculum.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Day #1 Training
I arrived at Azusa Pacific University this morning at about 10:30. It's a beautiful campus; it makes me want to be a freshman again and go to college in California. I can't describe the campus. I think that some of the trees must be eucalyptus trees; they have very thick leaves that look like they would be juicy if you took a bite out of them. They also have cute little tables and chairs set up with dark, sturdy umbrellas to block out the sunlight.
I have also gotten to meet several of the people on my team. Several of the people on my team have thick accents (Texas, Florida, Alabama). It's quite interesting. They also think that I have a thick Minnesota / South Dakota accent!! I will have to work on taming down my long "O's" but it's almost fun to draw them out and make it extra noticeable.
Melinda is the first person I met on my team. She is Texan to the core but oh so friendly. I think we may have bonded right away after we walked around Azusa a little and ate at a fast food Mexican place. She unfortunately had to spend the night at the airport and seems a little exhausted (understandably so).
Many of the other people going to China appear to be middle-aged women. Many of them are also returners. I feel somewhat like a novice next to these people who are going back for their fifth, ninth, eleventh time, etc. However, I am not overly intimidated.
Our first official training event begins at 5:00 this evening. Until then, I plan on wakling aruond campus to explore and maybe browsing through some of their library books.
I have also gotten to meet several of the people on my team. Several of the people on my team have thick accents (Texas, Florida, Alabama). It's quite interesting. They also think that I have a thick Minnesota / South Dakota accent!! I will have to work on taming down my long "O's" but it's almost fun to draw them out and make it extra noticeable.
Melinda is the first person I met on my team. She is Texan to the core but oh so friendly. I think we may have bonded right away after we walked around Azusa a little and ate at a fast food Mexican place. She unfortunately had to spend the night at the airport and seems a little exhausted (understandably so).
Many of the other people going to China appear to be middle-aged women. Many of them are also returners. I feel somewhat like a novice next to these people who are going back for their fifth, ninth, eleventh time, etc. However, I am not overly intimidated.
Our first official training event begins at 5:00 this evening. Until then, I plan on wakling aruond campus to explore and maybe browsing through some of their library books.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
One Week
Well, I have a week before I leave for California--which gives me about 2 weeks before I leave for China. We have had a slight change of plans regarind our Beijing team. The team leader who was going to go with us had a death in the family and needs to stay at home to help her mother. Therefore, we have a couple traveling with us as our team leaders. I will miss meeting our original team leader(we had emailed a couple of times), but I look forward to meeting the couple.
I talked with someone who went with this same program last summer. It made me realize that I have quite a bit to do in this next week before I leave. All for now.
I talked with someone who went with this same program last summer. It made me realize that I have quite a bit to do in this next week before I leave. All for now.
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