Back from Beijing / Back to Work

My New Years holiday spent in China's capitol city proved to be very helpful, not only to my future decisions, but also to my minds tranquility.  

When I first looked for a job in China I wanted someplace small, although people would say a city of over a million people isn't small it is for China, so I chose Xianyang.  Xianyang is a nice area to work because it's quiet and the people are nice, you can leave the city in order to find excitement, but ultimately come home to some peace.  Xianyang is closest to Xi'an, which is China's original capitol city and also where the TerraCotta Army is still being uncovered to this day.  Xianyang and Xi'an are also found right in the middle of China, which makes it a good travel spot; nothing is too far away.  So when I was given the option of teaching for my holiday I said no, yes I could have earned more money, but I didn't just come to China to teach, I also wanted to explore. 

If I didn't know anyone in Beijing, I probably wouldn't have went, but I made a friend and had a friend tagging along for the experience as well, so off I went.  I stayed in Beijing for 5.5 days during the Spring Festival/Chinese New Year celebration.  It was really cold there, so the pollution wasn't bad as I had been hearing on the news recently.  Most of the Beijing residents were gone visiting family and friends in smaller cities around China, and of course the foreigners went back to their homes or they too took the opportunity to travel like me; which means the city was pretty empty for most of the time I visited. I saw a lot of things, not just landmarks or touristy places but also places where I could work and/or shop for products that aren't found where I am working now.  I didn't get to see the Great Wall, as I had a feeling I would be coming back to Beijing, probably in the summer.

I traveled to Beijing to see if I liked the city and I ended up loving it.  Small cities are nice for a year, for the experience of being in a place where every day you are uncomfortable and you have to adapt, but more than a year is too much.  I want to work in Beijing where the people may not always be nice, but where I can earn more and gain more.  In Xianyang, you can only go so far and I want more. Is it greed? Maybe, but Beijing showed me that I liked seeing many different people in one place, it's a lot like California in that way, the diversity is crazy good!  

You can do so many things in Beijing and be so many things; you can get so many connections to people from around the world.  In September I will hopefully move to Beijing with my own apartment and another teaching job for at least another year, after that who knows (maybe go back to the states if the economy is better), but that will be my next journey.

Now I am back home in Xianyang, the first term has just ended, it's hard to believe 6 months in China has flown by so quickly, but I am reminded that time does fly because my friends that I met when I first arrived 6 months prior are leaving; their journeys are ending here and beginning elsewhere.  7 months away from your home country changes you, in some ways for the better and in some ways for the worse.  That is when you have to ask yourself is the changing worse for you or for the people you left behind? These are your choices not theirs. I'm sure people in some sort of military service ask themselves the same questions as I am.  We don't stay the same, we change, it's part of living your own life.  

I remember when I first started teaching, I was scared to death, but now with experience under my belt I am more comfortable and can think on my feet. My students, I learned, liked me and even though some of them are leaving the school they wanted my contact information, which I gave them gladly.  In these next 6 months I will meet more people and gain more friends and experiences, but hopefully not a new laptop (as I have already bought a new one).  I will again, make choices that may not be smiled upon by everybody, but this is my life and my choices, just as my choice was to live and work in China.  I will turn 23 in the coming months, the anniversary of my mother's death will come again, I will get new students and classes and a new job with new opportunities to expand my future for the better.  We will see, I guess, and I will definitely share it with you, so that hopefully one day when an opportunity presents itself you too, will take it and find yourself on a wonderful adventure, like mine is for me.

Top 12 Things I Hope To Do In Beijing

Over the years, while in college and being on my own, I discovered my innate ability to plan things.  I love planning trips, usually weeks even months ahead of the actual date of the event.  One example is me coming to China: I sent my application in December nearly nine months before my planned trip, got a response by January and booked my tickets in February; I learned from most of my colleagues in China that they didn't book there tickets till a month in advance and one did it the day before.  When you live in China you discover that the people and the government work completely different from the outside world.  Example of this: in the US you can book train tickets, especially sleeper train tickets months in advance, but in China you can only buy a tickets 18 days in advance.  It's quite hectic especially during holiday season and you can't book the tickets online, which makes it very time-consuming considering you don't speak the language so you have to bring a translator.  Even when ordering plane tickets to go outside of the country you need to use either a) a foreign debit/credit card or b) a Chinese credit card (which run about 5,000 RMB just to get one).  It's quite complicated, but China is only interested in keeping it's RMB inside the country not watching it leave.  

But the reason I bring these travel issues up is because I will be traveling to Beijing in a couple days for the Chinese Spring Festival (aka Chinese New Year = Year of the Snake).  Getting tickets was quite complicated and hectic, as I am told getting on and off the train will also be hectic (quite like my holiday bus experience).  Luckily, I will riding with a friend for the 12 hour train ride, and it will make my first Chinese train ride experience more comfortable.  On the way back however I will be alone, but have one experience under my belt (also it will be a 20 hour train ride, which hopefully I will sleep through most of it).

Anyway, I have a list of Fun Things To Do while I am in Beijing for 5.5 days (besides all the important stuff I need to get done and it's snowing in Beijing and the air is bad so some things I might not be able to do till later):

1) The Great Wall 
     Of course this is number one on my list I saw this quote a while ago that said., "He who has not climbed The Great Wall is not a true man" Mao Zedong.  Well, if we add she/woman to that statement that means I have to go.  I don't want to visit a very touristy spot I want to go where the wall is old and crumbly and hasn't been retouched; those spots make the best pictures and memories I think (and cheaper entrance fee lol). 

2) The Palace Museum
    All my students mention it as something to see while in Beijing so I thought I would check it out and be surprised as to what I find.

3) Tiananmen Square
    One of the largest public squares in China, which is also the birth place to one of the largest protests China has ever seen (for pro-democracy I believe, which I learned in History during high school).  This is also located near the Gate of Heavenly Peace, which I could also possible check out.

4) Beijing Underground City
    Umm, yes I really do want go see these underground tunnels that were created in case of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union.  Bomb shelters make awesome pictures, especially since I watch The Walking Dead religiously and I'm not even religious LOL. The tunnels also make a great passage to the Silk Market.

5) The Silk Market

    The name actually intrigues me more than anything and possibly the experience of wandering through millions of street vendors selling knock-offs and similar items over and over again.  Maybe I will pick up something just for the sake of saying, "I was here."

6) The Forbidden City
    The word "Forbidden" makes me want to go.  Besides that this place has a lot of history and a lot of stories and tapestries to be looked at.  

7) Beijing Zoo
    I love taking pictures of animals and zoo's are the easiest places to see animals.  Plus, the damn Panda's are so cute; they have a Giant Panda house!  There is also an aquarium!

8) Beijing Botanic Gardens Conservatory
    It's winter so the outside garden is pretty pointless, but the conservatories hold many different species of plants that have to be kept at different temperatures to survive.  They have over 300 species of orchids and over 500 medicinal plants.  There are also several Buddhist temples on the property, which brings me to number 9.

9) The Reclining Buddha
    This is located on the same property as the Botanic Gardens, so I thought it would be good to go and see while I am there.  I like my Buddha pictures.

10) The Pearl Market
     Very cheap pearls! What woman wouldn't go here? Especially right before Valentine's Day?  Plus, there is other cheap souvenir stuff to find there.

11) Marco Polo Bridge
    I think I would just like to go on this bridge to scream "Marco!" and see if someone responds with "Polo!" LOL and of course for pictures since it is made out of gray marble.




12) Beijing Olympic Center
     Yeah, it's not thousands of years old, but hey, it's apart of China's history now and it is a pretty awesome structure to take some photos of. And! I have never been to an Olympic arena before have you?

I may not be able to do some of these things because I only really have 5 days, but I'm going to make the most of them; and of course eat lots of western food, like Mexican; because, god, do I miss Mexican food and margaritas!

Funnies

Sometimes in China it is frustrating, especially as a foreigner in a small city.  It can be very hectic some days when you just want to blend in and be ignored, which is unlikely when you have blonde hair and blue eyes.  Yet, there are times when you just have to laugh at some of the weird things you discover.  So I will share some of those moments with you, whoever you are!

Living in China is nice, most all of your neighbors are quiet and go to bed early.  Usually each apartment complex has guards at night and a gate that closes at a decent hour, but the gate can become a nuisance if you come home late.  Why? Well because its an electronic gate that only a gate keeper can open, you don't get a key.  It closes around 9pm, so if you are out much later you either A) climb over the gate (not too high) or B) try to push the heavy gate which will set off the alarm in the gate keepers house and wake him up, which in turn his family and then you feel like shit.  I have tried both ways.  One night I came home around 1:30am and of course the gate was closed.  I felt really bad for coming in so late and didn't want to wake the gate keeper, so I decided to climb over it.  I'm short, so the difficulty level was higher (no pun intended) for me.  I threw my bag over and managed to somehow get one leg over with the help of a ledge. I was almost all the way over when the gate started to open, therefore nearly crushing my legs; apparently the gate keeper's alarm goes off when the gate is nudged in any way, so much for me trying to be courteous. 

Not my actual apartment gate but its very similar and the same size lol

The second time I came home late it was about 12am not too late and I was just very tired and mad at the stupid gate for being closed so early, it's discrimination against the youth and people who are night owls (although usually I am not and Chinese kids aren't allowed to do anything till they are 18 really).  So, I tried pushing the gate open, I had watched many people do it before; at the time I didn't realize how tough it was to budge.  I pushed, but it was an awkward angle and the gate keeper was nowhere to be seen; I thought to myself "Of course it opens when I'm climbing it, but when I'm trying to do it the right way it doesn't work." I gave it another push and got it open enough to squeeze through, nearly ripping my jacket.  I took two steps away and the gate began to open.  Bastard.

Definitely what I looked like, until I was rescued by a man with lung cancer 

Usually when you live in a multi-level apartment building in the US there is an elevator, but not in China; there are also lights that stay on in very staircase and hallway to help people see in the US, but not in China.  If the light goes off, its sound activated, so it will turn on whenever there it movement.  Chinese buildings have the sound activated lights, but they aren't sensitive at all.  When I first arrived into my building it was daylight, so there was enough light coming through the windows and into the halls to see, but when night came, I realized how complicated the lights were.  I walked into the building and it was total darkness, usually you can just stomp your foot and the lights would turn on, but not here.  I stood there jumping and stomping for what seems like forever trying to get the light to return, but then a man came inside and coughed; the light turned on.  I was dumbstruck and felt like an idiot.  The next day I tried coughing to get the light to turn on; still nothing happened.  Then I remembered the man did this deep cough, the Chinese do it so well, so I tried it out and it worked.  Whenever you need a light to turn on just cough deeply, like a smokers cough or like you're hacking something up (I swear).

Even the animals stare at you funny.
I'm sure they are thinking: "What the hell is that thing? Will it eat me?"

People stare as I have mentioned many times before, sometimes it fine and other times it makes you feel uncomfortable and on rare occasions it just makes you laugh: I have a few like the last one.  One day I was walking along and this man looks at me, while he was coming toward me; he looked so confused.  He got closer, so close that I had to stop or I would have run into his face with mine.  I guess he wanted to make sure I was actually a foreigner and not some Chinese looking foreigner.  Weirdo  Another time I was walking towards this group of men and women with my dinner in my arms, they were all chatting and laughing, so when they all stopped and turned to look in my direction so suddenly, I quickly looked behind me expecting to see something terrible; there was nothing there.  They had all seen me at the same time and when one sees something the rest follow along; it's as if they saw an alien and they scared the shit out of me.  You know it's funny because it's considered rude to stare at people in China, but man, they break that rule every time they see me; and they have issues with personal space, as well, which is sometimes creepy.

Changes: Ever-Occurring

As I have been in China for almost 5 months now, I have begun to notice a continual pattern.  The pattern is change.  China is always changing, whether it be building new sky scrapers, changing it's political opinion, or things breaking, everything changes.  Sometimes the changes are good, such as the push to reconcile its differences with Japan (sorta) or trying to reduce the amount of pollution that is spilled into the atmosphere everyday (in Beijing the air pollution is supposedly 3x as worse as Los Angeles). 

I've been through a lot of changes here, mostly changes that I've made to better myself, but also changes that I've just had to kind of roll with.  Adapting is key to surviving life in China, if you do not adapt well then you probably won't make it very long (as I saw with one person from my Cambodia course who left China early, but bringing that many stuffed animals to China was an indication to us all that that person wasn't going to last very long).  Often it is quite interesting to see China in it's state of ever-changing; I remember a lot of buildings were just being built when I arrived and they are now completely finished (I give China credit for it's quick engineering skills, and of course the night workers).  

The biggest changes are the people you meet.  You gain friends over time, some you meet through your job, others through mutual friends and some online.  Foreign people are so much friendlier than Americans (not all Americans of course), willing to help with no thoughts on returning the favor.  Why is that? I ask myself that a lot.  Even I am helping more than I would back home.  I think when you are abroad, without connections or family/friends, you make connections in order to feel safe or at home.  These connections to others, who speak a common language, brings you closer and therefore you act on that and are willing to help each other more so than at your home country, at least that could be the reason for me. In a place where not many people speak your native tongue, you don't talk very much, you just do a lot of listening.  I actually find myself listening to Chinese, but hearing English in my brain instead; totally crazy.

Every teacher that you meet has a contract and a set agenda, some come to travel, earn more money, find a relationship, party, teach or even to settle down.  Realizing that everyone is doing what they want and when they want is also a key when going abroad, but also getting to know each and every one of them while you can is also a great asset; you may discover great people in the process.  In the end, you are an individual living in China, whatever you feel is right for you to do, then do it.  Don't stay somewhere because it's the safest bet and because that is where you know people; you're teaching abroad for god's sake, not living with your parents, live your life.  Roommates will leave you alone to find something better or what better suits their needs.  Fellow teachers will leave at the end of their contracts ready to dive into their new adventure.  Schools will have weird holidays or rescheduling issues, and you will have to be fine with it and go with the flow.  You may get teachers/staff that you may not agree on, but you have to accept it because this is China. 

This is the life you chose, to live or teach abroad, if you can't deal with those changes on a constant basis then this isn't the right place for you to be.  I've learned to deal with these things and I'm still learning.  If you do come here, it will make you a better person because in the end you become patient and better at adapting at a moments notice; good skills to have.

Similarities and Differences between China and the US

Similarities:

Every party will have alcohol

• Education is Important (This is very important to the Chinese people, although I believe it is even more important for them than for us in the US as they take a final exam during their senior year which tells them which Universities they are allowed to apply to).
• Drinking and Smoking (These two things are the same everywhere I believe, but it brings people together here as it does in the US. The Chinese, especially the men, love to drink and to smoke while drinking.  Chain smoking is also very common here).
• Everyone's in a Hurry (Everyday it's a fight to get anywhere, like survival of the fittest).
• Dressing Up Pets (Little doggie sweaters and boots... Why?)
• Fashion (Even here you sense the need for both men and women to show off the amount of money they have by wearing some really cool and stylish outfits or carrying the latest designer purse, whereas I and wearing comfortable pants and worn sneakers that are very comfortable to teach in).
• Music (Most kids listen to western music because they think Chinese music is horrible).
• Fast Food (It's nice to have these familiar things available to me such as: McDonalds, KFC,Pizza Hut, Dunking Donuts, Papa Johns, Burger King and Starbucks).
• Driving on the Left (For some reason I thought China was going to be the opposite, but I guess that's only in Korea, Japan and Europe).

Differences: (from what I have observed, although not every Chinese person applies to this)

A good way to let off some stress!

• Cheaper (For all of China's differences listed below there is an upside, which is it is very cheap to live here.  Electronics, clothes, food, transportation, rent and even medication is all a lot less here.  Most Chinese live on 1500 RMB (650 USD) a month).

• KTV (Karaoke bars are very popular here, but in the US they don't seem to be very many.  These karaoke bars are cool because they are fancy, have their own little shopping mart inside and you get your own private room to sing in with friends).
• Spitting Everywhere (sidewalk, bus, store and even on the toilet floor; they don't seem to believe in tissue).
• Peeing/Pooping in Public (this can also occur anywhere, but usually pooping only happens outside by babies who aren't wearing diapers, so watch your step! Peeing sadly happens everywhere, especially by babies). 
• No Diapers! (Most babies here don't wear diapers or undies while they are small, so there is a big slit near the crotch so that when they squat, which all Chinese people are masters at, they can go about their business.  Seeing baby genitalia is an everyday occurrence whether you were expecting it or not. Although, I have always wondered if the babies get cold down there?).
• Littering (This is a good difference.  At night, everyone is on the street buying food from street vendors, so naturally people throw their trash everywhere; its very similar to a circus or amusement park.  The cool thing is that at night it's filthy, but by morning it's almost spotless.  China has people whose jobs are to clean up the streets and most stores want the front of their business clean so they mop and collect the trash, sometimes you can see them lighting the trash on fire).

A little girl gave me these Chinese cough drops for Xmas

• Hot Water Cures Everything (I don't particularly like hot drinks, but here they love anything hot, especially plain scorching hot water. They even believe that if you bump your head you should put a hot cloth on it to reduce the swelling, but I believe it would be better to put something cold).
• Kindness to Foreigners (Most of the Chinese I have encountered are rather friendly, excluding most transportation drivers and the Chinese when they are trying to get somewhere.  Most want to talk to you and try very hard to help you, even when there is an obvious language barrier.  It's nice to have that feeling of kindness).
• Staring (This one is good and bad.  Being noticed is kind of cool because you feel like a rock star or a celebrity at times.  You are noticed because you are different, most times because you are lighter skinned, have lighter hair and different colored eyes.  A lot of Chinese, especially in the smaller cities, have never seen a foreigner in person, so your immediately seen as intriguing.  Other times the staring is hard to deal with because it's not nice to be stared at for a long period of time or whispered about in a language you can't understand.  It's really hard to deal with when your shopping or eating).
• Electrical Plugs (Do not leave the US till you have a 2 pronged converter plug for your laptop, they have strange plugs here!)
• Toilets (It's a hole in the ground and it always smells horrible. Do some squatting exercises before you leave the US so you can properly use the toilet in China.  Always carry tissue/napkins with you, it's not given freely in China even at restaurants.  You cannot flush the toilet paper or else your toilet will clog.  When you have a western toilet in your apartment it's nice until you realize the big pipe next to you that's making all the waterfall sounds is actually someone else flushing their business down the pipes.  Just be aware).
• Showering/Water (It's usually an open shower, so that means you and the toilet are side by side, no door and the water just spills everywhere.  It works, although if you don't have an overhead heating light it tends to get cold quickly. Don't drink the water, it smells funky).
• Laundry Room (Every apartment has a side room that faces outside where you hang up your wet clothes to dry.  Usually you don't get decent dryers here).
• Escalators in Grocery Stores (This is one of my favorites! The grocery stores here are multiple levels first you can shop for electronics then you can get on the escalator with your cart, it's magnetized so it stays put, and then you can shop in the produce section.  It's genius and it saves space!).
• No Courtesy (Pushing is acceptable in China, especially when getting on a bus or waiting in line.  I think it's expected because no one gets angry at the person who cuts in front.  I get angry, I have even gotten used to pushing my way in front of people because if I don't they will never let me on.  But the funny thing is when an old person gets on the bus they give up their seat for them even though they cut them).

China believes what it's government tells them and they don't ask why!

• No Why's? (A lot of Chinese never ask "Why?" it's a hard concept for them to understand as China itself is one large community that thinks together.  I ask my Chinese friends why they think the way they do, especially about Japan or medicine, but most don't have answers to my questions.  It seems that most don't think for themselves, particularly about other countries and their beliefs).
• No Fun for Children (School runs most of the kids lives, they go to school at 7am and don't get out till 5:30pm, sometimes even 6:30pm.  Then the kids take some classes on the weekends as well, they never have time to enjoy being young.  Summer is also full of work and classes. Some of my kids in class have gray hair and they are only 14 years old).
• Smoking (This is allowed almost everywhere, buses, schools, stores and even in restaurants).
• Uniforms (All school levels wear uniforms, they are like jumpers, but wind proof.  They look cool, but it makes every child look the same, instead of letting them be individuals).

My first lantern lighting! China does have some cool traditions!

There are many more differences and I'm sure many more similarities, but I am tired now, so I will say one last thing; China is very different from the US, but I don't believe being different is a bad thing, I believe it shows us the differences in which other people live and they ways in which people were raised. 
 I have an open mind, so most of these things don't bother me too strongly, but if you weren't open minded I think China would be hard for you to live in.  Having an open mind is good for everything because you may discover some things you never knew before. 

Thanksgiving, Midterm Exams and Planning Trips

The other day while I was writing my lesson plans for my classes I asked a fellow teacher what the date was, to my surprise, he said it was December 1st.  I couldn't believe that I had already been in China for 3 months! On the one hand, I felt as if I had just arrived here, but on the other I felt as though I'd been here for a lot longer. I've been out of the US for over 4 months now, its really hard to believe sometimes.  Cambodia seems so far away now in my mind, but I do miss it also.  Halloween and Thanksgiving have already flown by and now Christmas is just a few weeks away.  It's nice having other foreigners around because they like to celebrate the holidays together so you don't feel so alone or homesick.  We will be doing Secret Santa for Christmas and I will be baking more cake! 

Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in China, is really only celebrated in the US, but since it is a Western holiday my school celebrates it.  As I am the only American in my school I was asked what Thanksgiving was all about and what to do for activities for the kids; I told them I would think about it. When I was in school the only things I could remember doing for Thanksgiving was making Indian hats and making turkeys out of our handprints.  So my school did a turkey decorating contest, which was sort of cool because you could tell for the younger kids when the parents did most of the work.

Midterm Exams were taken last week and this week.  I was so worried about my students ability to pass their exams and that it would be my fault that they failed.  It turned out that the majority of my students got very decent grades, even the ones who never did very well in class.  My school, as I am constantly reminded, is a business so most of the students will pass whether they deserve to or not.  It really sucks to hear this because you know that some of the students shouldn't be moving forward because they don't have the knowledge, yet.  Each student has a passport (grade book) which has about 11 categories in it, which the student is graded 2x before the midterm exam (each is out of 5 points), then you add those together and that is their overall assessment.  You add their overall assessment to their midterm exam grade and that is their grade for the 1st term.  You also have to write their strengths and areas to improve and exam comments on the next page.  These passports are very time consuming.

It's very easy to teach the younger kids, although you use up a lot more energy at times and if they are all in a bad mood then it makes the class a lot longer.  But it is becoming harder to teach the higher level classes, most of the time I learn the material a week before class, trying to remember that grammar point being taught to me back while I was in school, which wasn't always taught to me.  Some of the grammar I just know because I've used it before, but others I have to re-teach myself.  C8, one of my higher level classes, is very difficult to teach without a teacher to help me translate the grammar point, as it is hard to explain in English let alone explain it t kids who don't speak English very well.  It's challenging every week, but I believe it has helped me improve my English.

I plan to go to Beijing in February during the Spring Festival (we know it as the New Years festival).  What's cooler about China's New Year's is that they have 7 days off where they just drink, party and shoot fireworks (morning, afternoon, and night).  I will be staying with a friend, who is studying to become a doctor.  He is from Australia and he is very nice and willing to take me around Beijing for the week.  I will be traveling there by train for 14 hours I believe, which is a long train ride, so I will be getting a Soft Bed (which means it's a room where there are two bunk beds which you share with others but there is a door you can close so it's more private then the Hard Bed where there are no doors).  I will be traveling with a friend that I teach with so we will get beds in the same room, we will also be traveling back together.  While I am in Beijing I will also be doing some interviews to see if there are any jobs available for me in August.  I do love the city I am in now, but I think I want to experience a different part of China and see what it has to offer me.

Expect Anything to Happen While in China

Normally, each Aston English school will host a trip for all its teachers, CT's (Chinese Teachers) and FT's (Foreign Teachers); usually this trip is hiking up a mountain together, but my school wanted to be different so we hosted the 1st Annual Autumn Sports Day.  I was really excited for this get together because I remember when I first came to China and met everyone for the first time, I had been so nervous! Now, though, I knew all the CT's and wanted an opportunity to mix with them outside of school.  

China, in general, is usually very unorganized, so never expect anything to go smoothly and that goes for our sports day.  We all arrived thinking we would just play whatever games we wanted, but no we soon were divided into teams using colors and letters and numbers (how did this work? it really didn't there were teams of eight and teams of five and even a team of two).  I was the Blue team/H team with some of my fellow CT's and a guy who works in another office for Aston.We all thought we were going to play badminton first, but they changed their minds and shuffled us to the bowling lanes where we waited to get our clown shoes (luckily they had my size I'm a 43 in China).  

Once the game began I realized that most of the Chinese people here didn't know how to play, most ran so fast they fell onto their bums.  I began showing them how to bowl correctly and after a few tries my team was decent.  I hadn't bowled in about 10 years maybe more, but I remembered the gist of it.  I was pretty good, I scored an 86 overall, which was the highest score on my team.  

After bowling we moved on to playing badminton, which I had never played, but soon I too got the hang of it.  We were playing hard trying to win against other teams, when they announced this was just practice.  After I heard that I took a break and played some ping pong with a fellow FT, which I was horrible at because I always hit the ball to hard.  

Once practice was over they lined us up and had us do a relay race where we would get a balloon from one end then once at the finish line blow it up then pop them when everyone was finished running, we got 2nd place in that race.

Finally, the badminton competition! We picked two of our best players, which of course wasn't me, to go into the championship round.  We almost lost the last round, but we pulled through and managed to steal 1st place.  We were awarded with gold medals and plaques, which was totally awesome.  The next day I was so tired and sore I could barely move.

Yesterday, all the FT's were invited to go to a new restaurant opening downtown and since the person who owns Aston is the owner of the new restaurant some of us were expected to make an appearance.  The new restaurant was very big and the ceremony was super nice.  Many government officials came to bless the new restaurant and they even brought very extravagant gifts, like the jade dragon in the picture.  I was completely undressed, as none of us knew it was going to be such a big deal, so I looked like I was 6.  They even had a ribbon cutting and two rounds of fireworks.

It took us 2 hours to get food, because the restaurant was so busy and the owners wanted to stare at us.  We couldn't understand a lot of the things that were being said around the table, but most times someone would translate for us.  The restaurant serves hot pot, which I'm not very keen on because it never settles right in my stomach, but I ate it anyway.  Near the end of the meal we were given VIP discount cards for whenever we decide to return.  It was a cool day, but one where most of us nearly starved.