Oh China

                Looks like I was unable to do a mid week blog.  Once we get into the groove of the week it goes by so fast.  We all say that once Tuesday is over it’s suddenly Friday.  This week I did the planning for grade 10 and it was absolutely awesome.  We’re doing poetry, so I decided to make it a very musical week.  I picked fun terms like lyric, allusion, rhythm to focus on.  They had a lot of fun with the week.  And their assignment for the week was to take their favourite song and change the rhythm of it and perform it to the class.  Some of them were amazing.  They were kind of afraid to perform in front of the class, but I tried to compare it to KTV which they do all the time.  This week the grade 11’s were doing a dialogue in relation to Romeo and Juliet.  They were supposed to approach their parents about their love life.  It really gave us a perspective on what their parents think of them having relationships at their age.  It’s also probably the most effort that any of my students have put into an assignment, so it was good to see them really focused and doing well in class. 

                Fun China moment:  The bamboo structure outside of the school.  I always tell people that during the week I often forget that I live in China since I work at a school with all foreign teachers.  Sometimes I am reminded that I am not in Canada anymore :S  There is a bamboo scaffolding structure outside of the school.  It is literally bamboo sticks tied together with plastic pieces.  It looks so sketchy.  To top it off the workers are just up there on the 4^th floor without any sort of safety gear.  We all thought it was hilarious and would never see something like that back home. 

                The other thing that is kind of nice about living in Wuhan is the lack of cold weather.  I’ve heard all of the complaining about it being so cold back home.  Apparently next week it’s supposed to be around 19 every day.  Haha.  And the kids, including myself are dressed for winter.  I guess I’ve become accustomed to the climate here just a little.  Today I did notice it being a little bit warmer though as I did a nice run outside in shorts and a t-shirt…haha, I know you hate me because at home there is snow and negative temperatures at the moment.  It really don’t seem as if winter is on its way at all. 

                This weekend was pretty tame.   Since so many of us went away last weekend we were all pretty pooped by the time Friday came.  The school was also hosting a university fair and the teachers were ‘encouraged’ to go check it out.  So, we did that, and then spent the night in watching movies.  Saturday we took the bus to tailor street to pick up my pink pea coat!  It’s so cute!  I love it.  It’s exactly how I wanted it.  So that was the exciting part of my day.  We went to metro, did some grocery shopping, did some cleaning around the apartment and then it was off to Aloha for an American thanksgiving J  It was so good.  We had turkey, stuffing, yams, veggies and pumpkin pie…mmmm.  So mom, don’t worry, I did get some pumpkin pie!  Haha.  I told some of the staff how I had pumpkin pie for my birthday cake one year because I love it so much.  It was a very comforting meal to say the least.  There was a big group of us as well, so that was nice to have a semi-‘family’ meal for thanksgiving. 

                Today is going to be another loungy day.  Already did my run.  I have to get all my binders together since the inspection team is going to be at the school for the next few days.  Robyn and I are also going to try and see the new Harry Potter at some point this week….yay!  I’m excited.  Haha.  They play it in English here. 

                Alright, that is all for now. 

Miss everyone lots!

-Taryn

               

Beijing :)

So the perks to living in China are pretty awesome.  We can do things like decide on Monday that we are going to go to Beijing for the weekend.  There were 10 of us girls that went.  It was a great group of people, drama free.   And thank goodness that I have a wonderful best friend that was able to hook us up with a sweet hotel room at the Fairmont Beijing!  Thank you fwiend!  It was probably the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.  It was so nice to sleep in a nice bed and super awesome sheets. 

                The trip didn’t start off on the best foot though.  We left the school super early to take a cab to the airport since we’re not paranoid of missing transportation.  So we took a black taxi from the school with two other students from the school.  They were on their way home, so they were just going to get dropped off as we went to the airport.  It was good to have them because they were able to barter with the driver and translate for us.  So we drive for about half an hour and then the car starts to slow down.  Then he has an argument with the student, and then the car stops and we ask her what just happened, she says that he went the wrong way and we have to get out.  He was also going to wrong way to drive her home as well.  So we get out, get a new cab, and then she helped us tell the taxi driver where we were going.  So, we drive on the highway for awhile, and then come to a complete stop.   All the cars turned off their engines and we were sitting still for an hour.  The whole time we’re starting to stress out because we need to catch this flight.  We were also worried that we would get left behind because the other girls were coming from Vanke.  They ended up calling us and they were stuck in the same traffic.  It also turned out that they were only two cars beside us because 5min later we saw them walk by to go pee on the side of the highway, haha.  Anyways, once we got to the airport it was a mad dash to the emergency check in and rush to our gate.  Our flight was boarding when we got to the gate, so we just made it on time. 

                The next day we started off with a delicious Western style breakfast with eggs, bacon and French toast….mmm!   Hehe, it’s funny how you miss simple things like that. Once we were all fueled and ready to go it was off to the market to barter and shop the day away.  It was a fun experience but you really have to be in the mood to barter with these people.  Some of them can get super aggressive if you try and walk away from them.  I had some of them call me crazy girl, or hit me if I tried to go too low on price.  It was pretty funny.  It really gets exhausting by the end of the day though.  We bought lots of stuff, and I was able to get presents to send home for Christmas J  Fun fun!   To relax after a long day of shopping we went to the pool at the hotel and hot tub.  I really  miss being at the pool sometimes.  The little fish inside of me just wants to get out and swim!  Hehe.  I really wish that we had a pool here.  That night we went out for some wings and beer because we aren’t really able to get that type of food around here.  We wandered around in some pubs.  It was so weird to see so many foreigners though.  And this time we found ourselves staring at anyone that spoke English since we are not used to seeing that here.  We were not in Wuhan anymore :S

                The next day was a little bit of a later start as we needed to pack up all of our loot.  We headed to the silk market which was just across the street from the Fairmont, so we were able to walk there.  We bought some more stuff, checked out, and then headed to the forbidden city.  It was a super cool experience.  I had another one of my ‘I’m in china moments’ as we were walking through.  I just get so amazed that I can do things like head off to Beijing for the weekend.  The joys of living in china is just crazy sometimes.  It was sooooooo cold walking around though.  We were able to get some pretty sweet shots and had a great time walking around.  As we left we got some pictures of Tianamen square, got in a taxi and left.  What a packed weekend!

Office Pranks

So the weekend was pretty short considering we had to mark provincial exams all day.  We did  pretty good though.  We marked over 500 paragraphs and essays in 4 hours between 6 pairs (we had to mark in pairs).  That night we went over to Lindsays house for a celebration and it was super fun.  Mandy had brought plastic beer cups from home so we were able to play REAL been pong this time.  Robyn and I were pretty stellar as a pair.  People didn’t expect much from us, but it was always down to 1 cup on either side whenever we played.   The next day was a little rough and we spent it in our matching pajamas watching TV and having naps on the couch, haha, it was our laziest Sunday here yet.

                This week started out pretty funny, and today escalated to another level!  It all started with Mitch putting fake poop in Robyn’s desk last week.  We decided he had now declared a little bit of a prank war.  So, on Monday I took a roll of plastic wrap and a little stuffed pig and wrapped up his office chair with the pig hidden in all the mess.  We thought that was a harmless cute prank.  Not going to do anything to really disrupt the work environment, we made some ground rules at the party on Saturday.  Anyways, so when I come into the office for exercise break this morning Robyn is standing 5ft away from her desk and everyone is looking as me as I enter the room.  She tells me to look at my desk, there is a little note on it that says, “Hey, I heard you were feeling crabby this morning, so I left a treat for you in your bottom drawer.”  Bah!  So I carefully open the drawer with my foot and sure enough there is a LIVE crab in my desk drawer!  I screamed and jumped back.  The people who were in the office when all this happened told me that he actually lost on in my desk because it climbed over the back of the drawer, so there was a crab stuck in my desk!  Mitch came over and clawed it out, after I freaked out at him for putting living things in my desk.  Oh boy, look what we’ve started :S.  So, we made another ground rule that all living or dead things are not allowed!  Haha.  Too funny. 

                Anyways, we have had a really relaxed week of marking in all my classes so I’ve really been into planning for my students.  I made the most awesome powerpoint, and keep playing around with it everyday.  I know that sounds so lame and dorky, but I’m so proud of it.  Haha, I just hope the kids enjoy it next week. 

                There are also a bunch of us headed up to Beijing this weekend.  Should be a fun weekend, 10 girls getting together on a trip could be trouble, but I think it should be pretty fun.  Lots of shopping I’m guessing J  It will be a good time for me to pick up Christmas presents to send back home…which I should probably do soon!  

Ok, that is all for now!  I will write and post pics from Beijing!

-Taryn

Busy Week

Well hello again J  the week has just flown by yet again.  This week has been really busy for me though.  I’ve been stressing for my grade 11 students.  They had to write their grade 10 English provincial exam yesterday.  They do it online here.  So, they write an exam administered by the government and we invigilate and mark them.  Fun fun.  The theme of the exam they wrote yesterday was technology so I’m hoping that it worked out in their favour.  I feel like I haven’t really done any work this week for that class though.  As I gave them time to study on Monday  and Tuesday, they wrote yesterday and then our department head said that we should be giving them a rest since they had midterms last week and then had to write this exam this week.  So, I’m going to tell them a little about remembrance day, as they don’t celebrate it here and then we’ll proceed to watch Sherlock Holmes.  I know, it’s like I’m not working, but trust me, these kids deserve a little break.

                Since we wrote report cards and it was midway through the term, I got a new set of Drama students and my old drama students are now doing Info Tech.  I love my new class.  Not that I didn’t love my old class, but these students are much more outgoing than the last bunch I had.  I had way more boys in the other class and I feel like they just felt like they were too cool to be silly in drama class.  So I’m really excited for this term, as all the activities that I’ve done the same as last time has turned out for the better.  A lot more talk, a lot more laughing, and a lot more fun is going to make for a very pleasant end of the term. 

                This weekend is going to be pretty lame, as the entire English department is going to spend Saturday marking all of the provincial exams that the grade 11’s wrote yesterday.  Hopefully it goes over smoothly and everyone is working to get the job done, so we aren’t stuck here for too long marking papers. 

                Yesterday we took the shopping bus to Lu Xiang.  We had a nice Japanese food meal and did some shopping.  I bought something that has made my day so great today.  I know it sounds funny, but it’s a squeegee.  I can’t believe I didn’t think of buying one before.  As I mentioned earlier I shower over my toilet, and the water is just on the floor all day long and never dries.  Well this morning after my shower I squeegee’d the floor and it was DRY!  Haha.  And I was able to go in there with socks to blow dry my hair and not with rolled up pants and my flip flops on.  It was a good day, and discovery to improve my China life, haha. 

                Anyways, that is all for now.  Nothing too exciting.  I really need to start planning my trips in January as it’s only 2 months away now!  Like I keep saying time is just flying by. 

Miss Everyone J

-Taryn

Midterms and Colour Party

So as I mentioned before the students are writing midterms this whole week.  They started yesterday and finish up tomorrow.  The English teachers only had to invigilate two exams since we have the heaviest marking load of all the departments.  I had to do a 2hr one in the morning and then a 3hr one in the afternoon.  All the teachers complained about it being so boring because you literally sit there and watch students write their exam the entire time.  You’re not supposed to do any of your own work as these kids are experts on cheating.  I had to check all their pockets and sleeves before the exam to make sure that no funny business was going on.  I really didn’t find it that painful.  I thought that it would be bad, but I kind of went into ‘lifeguard mode’ (not in the saving lives sense, but the blanking my mind sense…not that I’m saying a bad lifeguard…but you catch my drift).  Anywho, it was actually a nice little rest from teaching. 

             However, last night was spent marking :S.  So fun, right?  I am again reminded why I wanted to become a Math or Elementary teacher.  I spent the morning marking as well and was finished just after lunch time.  I’m ahead of the game right now so I’m feeling pretty good about myself.  I have to have all my marks in for report cards and all the comments done for Tuesday so that is my project for tomorrow.  Brianne and I are also planning the grade 11’s first week of Romeo and Juliet…which should be totally interesting to teach to these kids.

A few days later….

             So it’s Sunday now and I am done everything that I needed to get done last week.  We weighted all of our marks together on Friday which was a pain.  Grade 11 was the worst because we didn’t do all of our planning together at the beginning of the year so we all had different assignments for the first month of school.  What a mess!  Now that we’re all on the same page the second term report card will be a lot easier to do.  I had all my comments for my report cards done, all I need to do now is double check my marks that I have entered and fill them into one column, which will take no time. 

             It’s been a long week for all of us teachers.  So, Thursday Robyn and I really needed to get off campus and take our mind off of school for awhile.  We went to the night market down the street for some gan mian (noodles) and search for some stuff for our outfits on Friday.  Mitch was throwing Annali a ‘Colour Team’ birthday.  I was placed on team purple and Robyn was placed on team red.  We were able to find some pretty awesome accessories  to go with our team colours.  We both found some glasses that we ended up wearing to school all day on Friday.  People were jealous of us for sure…at least that’s what we told ourselves. 

             Once Friday night came we went into Wanke to the Jeep bar with the boys for dinner.  After we ate I hate to head over to Lindsays to finish up some accessories for our team purple outfit.  She had gone to town and was on a whole royalty theme, so she was making septors and crowns for all of us.  Ewan, the vice principal was on our team and he was totally into everything.  We had all been sending emails back and forth all day thinking of ideas that we could do.  Ewan ended up making  a purple playlist.  So, when we walked into the party on Friday we pumped up Purple Haze and made the best entrance of the night by far.  Mitch had done an awesome job and set up 5 different games which included:  Big 2, suck and blow, bean bag toss, beer pong and dancing wii.  The dancing wii station was by far my favourite and the most entertaining for everyone at the party.   People were getting really into it, so it was pretty awesome.  In the end I have no idea who ended up winning, but apparently everything will be tallied up and told to us on Monday.  Robyn wasn’t feeling that well and I was uber tired so once it was time to head out to Vox we slipped away and headed home.

          

   Saturday we took the shopping bus to Tailor street.  I had to pick up my pants and skirt, and Robyn had a couple dresses she needed to pick up.  They did a great job.  I’m getting a really cute pink pea coat made.  I know it’s not practical, but when will I ever be able to make anything I want which is custom made for my body?  Robyn got a green coat made and some other shirts for school.  After that it was off to Walmart and Metro for grocery shopping.  These trips on the bus really consume your whole day.  We were gone at 10am and weren’t back until around 5pm.  So it’s a real commitment when we take the bus on Saturday.  The morning did start out a little bad/funny though.  The bus always leaves at 10am, so at 9:55 we were just about at the top platform as it drives away!  So Robyn and I run for a black cab, and Paul another guy who was also on time for the bus gets in with us.  Our secretaries who live on campus hadn’t even left their building yet, so we had to turn around once we got to Wanke and get them back at the school.  Darrell was not impressed, as he is the one who books the buses and knows that we were not supposed to leave the school until 10am. 

             Last night was low key.  We’re catching up on our episodes of biggest loser.  Today we’re going to head to computer city.  Robyn needs a new battery for her laptop and I need and external DVD drive, as my little netbook doesn’t have one.  We’ll have family dinner again.  We are cooking tonight.  I think we may have some extra guests as well, so it should be a nice Sunday dinner.  Next week is going to be another crazy marking week as the grade 11’s are writing their English provincial on Wednesday.  I’m very nervous for my kids, so we’ll see how they do!

That’s all for now

-Taryn

            

Halloween Part II and 'long weekend'

Halloween Part II and a ‘long weekend’

             On Friday night the staff all got together for a little bit of a Halloween celebration.  We were feeling pretty lazy on Friday as it had seemed as if we had worked for two weeks straight since we worked on Saturday.  So Friday afterschool when Mike knocked on our door for his Friday beers (I have to put some in every Friday morning so he can have them when he comes over) he found us in the same state that we were in last week, watching biggest loser on our couch in the dark.  Haha.  Of course we were going to go out, but we wanted to cook our own dinner and settle a big before we got all crazy.  We made fish tacos, so good.   The boys hounded us to get ready so that we could go out, but we still didn’t really know what we wanted to dress up as.  I didn’t’ want to wear my Boo costume out to the bar, as I know it would have gotten destroyed and I probably would have passed out from heat exhaustion.  So the night before we had the idea of dressing up as pool buddies with our full piece suits on and our floaties that we bought in Sanya.  That idea was a little bit cold to us, so we opted for our original plan of being J-Wow and Snooki from Jersey shore.  Robyn had bought this ridiculous wig, so she was pretty amped about it.  I poofed my hair so high and wore slippers, so the costumes worked out pretty well. 

             We left the school and headed to Jeep Bar so the boys could grab dinner.  A few other Maple Leafers were already there having dinner so we joined them for a few drinks.  After Jeep we went to Bryn and Chris’s Penthouse for a little Jam sesh, and then it was off to Peters where the rest of the staff was.  Peter had this balcony that you could fit 5 hot tubs on.  It’s unreal, but way to cold to stay out there.  Our night ended at Vox as it has many Fridays, which was topped up with some street noodles and an adventurous cab ride home. 

             The next morning we were slow getting up, but feeling awesome.  We did some skyping in the morning and then were off to Walmart to do some shopping.  The traffic coming home was awful.  I am never going to complain about traffic when I get home.  We got home and Mike came over to join us for dinner.  After dinner we watched Anchorman.  It was a good day.

             Sunday was yet another lazy type day.  We felt like the weekend was so long since we actually got two days off this time.  It was kind of funny.  So we again had a late start, talked to people back home and then went to the school to prep some review stuff for the kids.  It didn’t take very long, so we headed back to our place, watched some TV and waited until the boys were done cooking family dinner.  Between Shane and Mike, and Robyn and I we are going to take turns making dinner.  They made a great dinner and we brought over a bowl of candy and some banana bread we found at walmart for dessert.   It was weird knowing it was Halloween though.   I was sad I didn’t get to carve a pumpkin and hand out candy to the cute kids in our neighbourhood.  It was also weird not dressing up in a random costume to wear at the pool.  I just remember last year when my supervisor got in trouble for taking class into the ‘Haunted House’ we made in the storage room and ended up ruining a little girls Halloween since she was now too scared to go trick or treating :S  Haha, too funny.

             As I said before, its mid term week at school.  So we did review with the students yesterday and today, and they start writing tomorrow.  Regular classes stop and they write 2 or 3hr midterms for all of their classes.  English teachers only have to monitor two exams as we have the most marking to do.  So we get to spend all of Thursday and Friday marking out little butts off.  I can’t believe that it’s already halfway through the term.  I also switch over my Drama kids.  Today is my last day with them and Monday I get a new set of kids, so that will be eventful for sure. 

             Anywho, time is flying by and I’m still in awe that it’s already November! 

Miss everyone!