Bejing The train ride and day one.

Beijing-the train ride and day one

   The adventure continues. Wednesday night after we were done eating Lorilei and I quickly grabbed a bite to eat and then headed up to our room where we finished packing and we headed out to get a couple of things before we left for Beijing. We took a long and painful bus ride to Wal-Mart and got what we thought we needed for the train ride to Bei Jing,then we hopped a bus to the train station. At the train station we stopped in at the McDonald’s to grab an Ice cream before the train left for Bei Jing. Then we headed into the train station to wait. In the station we met up with the rest of our group and waited to board the train. On the train we found our seats and got situated, then we visited with people in other cabins.  When my cabin was set up I visited Lorilei’s cabin, where all eight of us talked for a little bit. Six of us decided to take "The Color Code" personality test. Katelin read the questions and Zac kept track of everyone's answers.We got our results and then I headed back to my cabin. 

    In my cabin we worked on figuring out the sleeping arraignments. The cabin held six people, five Americans and one Chinese. We gave the one Chinese person their own sleeping arraignment. I put my stuff in my place on the train and set up everything I would need for the night, then I tried to sleep. It wasn't the most comfortable situation, but it was far more comfortable than I was expecting. After some time I woke up and looked at my watch because I wanted to gauge where we were on our journey. We still had quite awhile left on our journey, so I went back to sleep for about an hour, then woke up again and started to get my stuff together to get off the train. When we reached our destination we all got off the train and started to try and get our bearings in Beijing. We wandered for a few minutes looking for the metro and eventually found it.We took the metro to the stop at Tian An Men square and walked to our hostel from there. When we got to the hostel,  we got out our passports and the money we needed and started the process of checking into our rooms. When we were done with that we went to our rooms to put our stuff away and continue on with the day.

  After everyone in our group was squared away we headed out to Tian An Men to see the square and all that it had to offer. We left our bags at a bag check and made the quick trek through Mao’s mausoleum to see his body. When we were done with that we looked around and tried to make our way into a couple of the other buildings we were planning on visiting only to realize that they closed earlier than we had initially thought. So we talked as a group and ended up splitting into two factions, a few of us were starving and wanted food, while the others wanted to explore a little bit more.We split and my group headed for the forbidden city. We spent several hours just marveling at the wonders provided by the forbidden city. While in the forbidden city we saw the jade nine dragon screen and many of the other wonders that the city provided.

 After we were done in the city we quickly headed out to grab a quick bite to eat, then met the rest of our group at the flag lowering ceremony in Tian An Men square. After the flag ceremony we headed to the night market for some more food, but we didn't find anything we liked, so we headed elsewhere to eat while a couple of our number headed back to the hostel, because they had already eaten. After we were done eating we headed back to the hostel and called it a night, rejuvenating our bodies and minds for yet another day in the city of Bei Jing.

Halloween

Halloween

          Today has been such an amazing day in China. So much has happened I hardly know where to start. While China itself doesn’t really celebrate Halloween, our school does so. I dressed up as a peasant/Cinderella and we met with one of our native coordinators at 7 this morning. We got the supplies we needed and went into the classes and painted the children’s faces. I had so much fun with them talking to them and painting all of their faces. Once we were done painting all of their faces we headed over to the track where all of the students in the school were going around the track in a form of a costume parade. I talked to a bunch of them and had tons of fun. After awhile I was just walking around the track when I was commandeered by two Chinese girls who grabbed me one by each arm and said teacher come with us. They led me back to the rest of their class to the front of their line and had me dance with them. We went around the track doing a version of the bunny hop with me talking to them and them showing me all of their little Halloween knick knacks.

          Once we were done on the track I followed them back into  the outdoor area of the building where all of the classes were held, at which point one of the girls grabbed my arm and said teacher come with us you are with class five grade five, so I went with them and we headed up to their classroom. They got a bunch of balloons that they were blowing up with a balloon pump and they played stomp the balloon. I played with them and they had tons of fun with me trying to stomp my balloon. I went around and talked to a bunch of them and just had a good time hanging out with a bunch of Chinese children. After awhile we were done playing games and I left to go to lunch.

          After lunch they had an assembly of sorts and they had a costume fashion show of sorts with all of the classes. They played some American music and jammed out. We jammed out with them for a bit and sung and danced. A couple of times they had us come to the front or on the stage to sing and jam out. So I just had fun with it and danced and had tons of fun. I also spent some time dancing with the children and just hanging out with them. After we jammed out on stage I found class five grade five in the auditorium and they all gave me hugs and it was just a ton of fun. After that I went back down to my seat where some of the grade two children were sitting and had some fun with them. Over the course of this five minutes I was told “teacher, I love you”, “teacher, you are beautiful”, and “teacher, you are cool”. I  had so much fun with the kids and it was just a great time. As I was leaving the auditorium I saw the class five, grade five kids once again and got hugs and high fives, while one of the girls grabbed me by the arm and led me with her for a minute. They were all talking to me and I had so much fun. I have been adopted by class five, grade five and I love it. I had so much fun with them and I can’t wait to see all of these cute, smart, amazing kids on campus.

          Once all of the hubbub was over I  headed back to my room and grabbed my laptop. I texted some family members and friends using my google voice number. I talked to my friend Jessica for about a half hour to an hour and we got caught up and I’m so excited for everything that is going on in her life. I have had such an amazing day today already. I still have dinner and then something some of my friend’s are doing called dead Annie to look forward to. I can’t wait to see what else this day has in store for me and I’ll be sure to write about it all as soon as it happens. I have always loved Halloween and it’s been amazing to celebrate Halloween with such amazing children. I love these Chinese children so much and can’t wait to see what they will soon become.

Girls just wanna have fuun!

    A new week arises. Well another week has come and gone and now it’s time for a new week of teaching. This week things are changing up as we start new SPEs (synchronized play episodes). For my new SPE to use to teach the children English I have drama. Yesterday was my first day and it went okay. I made a map and had a little treasure chest and we went on a treasure hunt. The kids were pretty engaged and we had a lot of fun, even though it was a little crazy. I’m trying to make it through this week and I hope it goes well. Today we are going to do the book Dumbo and we will see how it goes. 
    Teaching can have its fun days but it is also really difficult especially with my homeroom class or my first rotation. They are rowdy and awful little hell raisers who drive me crazy, cause trouble and get into fights. I am hoping that the change of SPE will give me an opportunity to better engage them and get them to be better for me. I am trying to get them to talk spontaneously and to get them to further understand the English language. Even though at times it can be difficult I love teaching the kids and hope to be able to work things out for the best. I have 3 more days of teaching this week and once I’ve made it through the week I am going on a weekend adventure to Shanghai. It should be fun and I can’t wait to explore more of China. I hope to continue improving in my teaching and to continue on adventures. We go to Beijing and get to experience that part of China in a couple of weeks. I’m super excited and hope that everything I see and do here in China is worth it. I hope I get to have more good experiences and to make an impact in these kids lives. I hope all is going well at home and hope to grow as I continue on this journey.