The Three B's: Busy! Busy! Busy!

I've just realized how long it has been since I last posted here.  I've literally just been busy, not saying that all my busyness comes from my work, but also stemming from exploring and having fun with my friends.  I will try to update you as best as possible.

My new schedule was very light in the beginning of the new term but as always things change dramatically in China within weeks.  My manager decided to leave the school and pursue teaching at another school, so naturally we had to pick up the slack that was left behind.  This brought a lot of changes in our classes and sadly our break times.  I was given two Open House classes, which is basically a demo class for perspective students.  It would be cool if I didn't teach the same thing every single week: colors.  I know you're saying colors is fun, but I only teach 4 colors; red, green, blue and yellow.  So, in order to keep myself entertained I create new games every week involving those four colors.  I have to say I have learned that ending a class with the kids laughing is the most important thing, so I always give them high fives, hand shakes (with a lot of arm movement) and a leg shake (the kids go ape-shit for that).  So far, in the 4 four weeks I have given those classes I got 9 kids to sign up!  Nine kids is a lot, but sadly with sign-ups come more classes to teach an these classes are 8 weeks behind.  I got a new C1 class starting next week so I will have to make up eight of their previous classes near the end of the term.  I can't complain too much though because I still get three days off a week where I can do whatever I want.

During my days off where I actually do something I go to Xi'an, a larger city about an hour in a half away by
public bus, to see my friend Eric.  We met in Cambodia for our TESOL training and realized we were going to the same province, so we became quick friends.  A couple weeks ago we started talking about where to teach for the next term, especially since the U.S. job market still isn't all that great.  We decided it would be cool if we could teach in the same school because having a friend to talk to while in a foreign country away from your loved ones and friends is very important to your overall happiness.  So, naturally I did all the research and then told him what we should do.  He wanted to be a manager and honestly, yes I could have been the manager easily especially with my foreign looks but I know I'm not ready for the yet, but perhaps next year!  So, Eric got the management position at Hefei, Anhui Province while I reasoned with the school about my position and salary.  In the end I won and got an Advanced/Senior Teaching position (they made it just for me) with a 300 RMB advance (I make 6,000 RMB a month now, and when I go there I will make 7,300 RMB a month).  I will be working more hours but that is fine, since Eric and I will be working together to make the school into one of the best Aston's.  

Click and get some info about the Province I'm going to teach at!

• My co-worker got engaged and I helped him!

• My friends mother and brother are visiting this weekend, so I will probably go to see the TerraCotta Warriors again (but this time it will be warmer!)

• I teach at a Kindergarden called Kids Castle and I teach 2 baby classes (3 years old) and a Primary class (4-5 years old).  They are so cute! Will post pictures later.

• Mothers Day is this weekend and it's once again on my birthday like when I was born!

• It's my 5 year anniversary with my wonderful fiance Jose G. Villa (looking forward to another 5 years and so on).

• This weekend marks one year since I graduated college!

What To Do? That Is Always The Question

So far this term has been going very well, much better than last term.  I believe because I have six months experience to back me up I am naturally more confident in teaching and doing things on the fly, but I also think I have discovered what works for me as a teacher and what doesn't.  This term I have a much lighter schedule, but of course sometimes things change, as they have in my case.  I do have more classes, I even had the airport class for awhile.  This class is an adult class taught at an actual airport, it takes off a good 3 hours of your working time, but also adults understand a lot more things such as jokes (most times depends on their level of course).  I was glad to have had the experience in teaching adults as it was my first time with these guys (and I mean all male classroom who have never had a female teacher before, it was scary!)

We've recently had a management change that has left our school without a Foreign Manager, so most of us teachers will have to take over his classes now.  Taking the classes is fine, but when it interferes with your lovely breaks it makes you a little irritated.  My school is a decent sized school, so we have two sections: one called C level classes which most of us teach and then the more expensive classes called A+ (these classes use more technology, have newer books, the teachers get microphones and the parents get to watch the classes through computer screens, change the class topic or sit in on the class if they wanted).  My manager taught some of these classes so now it falls to us to teach the ones he left behind.  I will be getting one of these classes called World Club.  The experience will be great for me, especially if I want to apply to another Aston school in the future, but its five weeks into the term and I haven't been trained for A+ classes. Usually an A+ teacher is paid more, but I won't be.  I will get a short training on the classes and how they work, but it's still scary for me.  The class that I will be teaching, I was told, that the parents sit in the class with their kids (they are about 10-13 years old) but they don't interrupt or tell you what to do (sometimes A+ parents will tell you how to teach the class) they just observe.  I also heard my class doesn't like to play games just do the lesson and practice speaking (each A+ class has a maximum of 8 students! I think mine only has 4 or 5).  I'm cool with no games, I'm much better at teaching than I am at playing games with kids.

Not only will I be teaching an extra class, but I will also be doing Open House every Saturday morning (only

30 minutes long).  The Open House doesn't bother me, the thing that bothers me is the fact that people will be watching: the kids, their parents, some Chinese staff and other Chinese management.  So basically, I will be judged every time.  Luckily, I know I look foreign so I already get points there (Hey! I take what I can get) and I speak very well (I get told this often by the CT's I work with, that they can understand me perfectly).  The only things I would have to work on is my games and making them seem super fun, which I am alright at, I'm not super crazy like some other teachers I have seen (I wish I could be that way).

I look at all these changes as something I can take with me for the future, especially when applying to teach somewhere else next term.  Each experience carries its own weight of knowledge and skill, so now I have the experience of teaching kids between the ages of 3-21 and adults between the ages of 25-35.  I have taught one-on-one classes, review classes, regular classes, upper level classes, Parent/Child classes, and promotions.  I have also done speeches for public schools.  Now I will gain experience with an A+ class and experience in doing Open Houses.  My resume is becoming amazing.

For awhile I was thinking about applying to Korea, but honestly it is very hard to apply to somewhere that has very strict rules about the application process when you are still in a foreign country and not your home country (I believe background checks should be made available to anyone at anytime via email and that should be considered legal and acceptable to companies).  So Korea is out of the picture for now, but maybe in the future after I go back home for a bit I can apply and it will be much easier since I will be back in the US or I can just visit there.  I believe I will stay in China for at least another 6 months to a year, but I definitely want to go somewhere else in China.  Maybe someplace close to the water (I prefer the cold weather to the humid heat).  If I teach with Aston again I would like it to be a new school, preferably with the Touch-Screen White Boards, so I can help improve upon the school.  I want to be apart of something and make changes, maybe I will apply to be a Senior Teacher or maybe even a Manager if the position is offered to me.  Or I could go with my friends to Qingdao and live with them and teach through another school... I don't know yet, but I will be deciding soon!

My 2nd Term Teaching Schedule

This schedule this term is much lighter.  For one I don't work till 9am on the weekends and I have many breaks in between my classes.  I only have 14 classes compared to my 18 last semester and as an added bonus I have no Parent/Child classes which in my mind are the hardest to do.  My lunch breaks are amazingly long; last term I usually only had an hour to get lunch but now I have much more time to sit and look for places to eat.  This schedule gives me more time to explore Xianyang and enjoy the summer weather. Hopefully everything stays this way, but as always China changes, so you better be ready!

FRIDAY:

2:00pm - 5:00pm Office Hours 

    (30 minute break)

5:30pm - 6:30pm C3A w/ Micky (RM 3)

6:30pm - 7:30pm C3B w/ Karen (RM 4)

SATURDAY:

9:00am - 9:55am C3A w/ Maria (RM 4)   

    (15 minute break)

10:15am - 11:10am C4B w/ Kelly (RM 7)   

11:15am - 11:45pm C1 w/ Summer (RM 1)

    (3 hour and 15 minute LUNCH break) "Subway for lunch?"

3:15pm - 3:45pm LB w/ Evin (RM 7)

3:45pm - 5:15pm C7 w/ Kelly (RM 4)   

    (15 minute break)

5:30pm - 7:30pm C12  Only ME   (RM 9)

SUNDAY:

9:00am - 9:55am C3B w/ Maggie (RM 3)   

    (20 minute break)

10:15am - 11:10am C3B w/ Micky (RM 6)

11:15am - 11:45am LB w/ Lisa (RM 9)

    (1 hour and 15 minute LUNCH break)

1:00pm - 2:00pm C3B w/ Maria (RM 2)   

    (1 hour and 45 minute break)

3:45pm - 5:15pm C7 w/ Evin (RM 3)   

    (15 minute break)

5:30pm - 7:30pm C13  Only ME  (RM 6)

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.