Christmas Pictures:

Hey guys!!

We've got some fun Christmas pictures of Thomas and I decorating our little tree and whatnot. My parents sent me an awesome Christmas package with not only life's essentials and Christmas gifts, but also a mini tree with ornaments and lights to decorate it with! It has made our holiday season. Thanks again to my wonderful family for our beautiful Christmas surprise. I hope you enjoy the pictures:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=4c2f3e817b7250b5cf4ab00f16ca9e1e&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGLCJA

Christmas Plans

Ni Hao!

Hi everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season so far... we are doing our best to keep up the Christmas spirit here in China. We've decorated our room with paper snow flakes and curled red ribbon. I've even wrapped a few gifts already. This Christmas season we've got a few fun things going on over here...

The school is putting on a Christmas party for us at some restaurant in town. All of the foreign teachers (Thomas and myself included) are expected to sing, dance, and/or perform in some way. Most Chinese people love Karaoke (they call it KTV here) so most Chinese people can sing and dance at the drop of a hat. SO! Foreigners are expected to do the same or at least try. All of us foreign teachers are banning together to sing Christmas carols so if we are going to look like a bunch of idiots, at least we will be idiots together! After dinner our friends at the dorms are putting on a festivous party afterward. That is the made up holiday from the television show Seinfeld. If you don't know what it is, check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS7-jcsB_WQ

We still have to work on Christmas Eve day but a bunch of us are planning on going to a church service in town that night. A few churches have English services for us monolingual foreigners. On Christmas day we are planning on either doing another potlock dinner, similar to our Thanksgiving feast, or going out to eat and exchanging our Secret Santa gifts. It should be fun, but it's definitely not home! Other than that, it will be a pretty low key Christmas. Between a few parties here and there and Skyping family members, that about it!

We've got some BIG travel plans coming up in January. I think our travel itinerary so far is Harbin, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong if there is time. We are definitely looking forward to a break! We love and miss you all!! Have a wonderful holiday season and we will check in again soon!

Zai Jian!

Thanksgiving and Fall Pictures:

Hi Guys!!

We've got some pictures to share with everyone! Sorry I haven't added them sooner, school as been very busy and semester finals are coming up soon. The first group of pictures are from Thanksgiving. As you can see, KFC buckets look the same in China as they do in America! The Thanksgiving album also has pictures from the purple mountain and all of the Japanese Maples that are changing colors. It's beautiful!

Thanksgiving Pictures:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=c6dcd5fcba2c0cb2&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGLCBg

The next group of pictures is from a day trip that Thomas and I took to the northern part of the city to see the Yuejiang Tower. The tower is located on Lion Hill where a huge battle took place that helped paved the way for the Ming Dynasty. It over looks the city and the Yangtze River; it's beautiful.

Yuejiang Tower:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=01a915382d475edb&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGL_g

We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! We are definitely missing family and friends at this time of year. We love and miss you all! Enjoy the pictures!

Thanksgiving in China...

Hi Everyone!

Sorry we haven't added anything new to the blog lately... not much exciting as happened! I hope everyone had a fun and safe Thanksgiving break. We had a little Thanksgiving celebration here in China as well...

A bunch of foreign teachers at our school decided to host a Thanksgiving potluck dinner at our dormitory. Each person (or couple) offered to make some kind of dish for dinner. We had homemade pumpkin and apple pie, biscuits, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, apple sauce, cranberry sauce, and corn on the cob. Our oven wasn't big enough to actually cook a turkey so we ordered buckets of KFC chicken and a few foot long turkey sandwiches from Subway. Many people contributed bottles of wine for dinner as well. Needless to say, we had a KFC Thanksgiving feast. Everything turned out really well (surprisingly) and we had a blast. There were roughly 16 people at dinner with a few Thanksgiving new-bees. Our friends from the UK and a few Chinese friends joined us and it was their first time celebrating Thanksgiving... we showed them how it was done!

Hope everyone is getting excited for the holiday season, I know I am. Love and miss you all! We will post more updates soon!

Family Farm Pictures:

Hi Everyone!

Here are the pictures we promised of the family farm... enjoy!

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=1b65286440bd8b4d2a944dfefaeb216b&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGL9o

Our first overnight at the farm...

This last weekend (5th and 6th) Cassie and I went on our first weekend trip to the farm (See earlier blog). Dinner, which consisted of several organic Taiwanese dishes, was ready shortly after we arrived. Conversation during was mostly about the shipment of baby chickens that would be arriving later that night.

The farm is being converted to raise free range chickens. The initial shipment consisted of a thousand “naked-neck” baby chickens from France. Over the course of the next few months more chicken houses will be completed to accommodate the growing numbers. After dinner we had sweet-osmanthus tea and watched the promotional DVD from Sasso, the French company that sent the chickens.

As the evening winded down we were shown to one of the guest bedrooms. It felt like a luxury sweet compared to the dorms. A walk in shower with heat lamps, leather couch, and an extremely comfortable bed with down comforter and tempur-pedic pillows were the best features.

Saturday was pretty relaxed. After having breakfast we went for a walk around the grounds. It was much bigger than I had originally anticipated (around 300 acres). After lunch we got to go and pay the chickens a visit, though from afar. Apparently they’re under strict care for the first month.

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading and watching Vampire Diaries…..well, Cassie and Aerial did anyway. I finished a few National Geographic articles. All around the weekend was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city. We’re excited to go again sometime and spend the whole weekend.

Sasso Chicken Website: http://www.sasso.fr/index.php?produit=home&lg=en

Halloween: Finding the Bear Within...

Hi Everyone! We’ve got quite the exciting Halloween story to tell you all…

You might be asking yourself, “Does China celebrate Halloween?” Technically speaking no, China does not celebrate Halloween. BUT there are enough foreigners and expats to muster up a party or two. I was originally going to go as Wando, Where’s Waldo’s girlfriend (or possibly sister??) but I was out voted by my friends. I went instead dressed as a giant bear. And when I say giant I mean HUGE. In the markets here in China they sell HUGE stuffed toy bears. Naturally as we walked by them my friends all said “Hey, I bet Cassie could fit in one of those.” And that is how the idea was born. We bought the biggest stuffed bear we could find, decapitated it, and de-stuffed it. We safety pinned a top hat into the bear’s head which I wore as a hat and then I crawled into the bear body. We also added stuffing to the belly and bottom. It was pretty hilarious. My date, Thomas, went as the Unabomber. He wore a hooded sweatshirt, sunglasses, a fake mustache, and carried around a package with him all night. He always picks the most appropriate costumes, haha!

I was a pretty popular bear to say the least. By the end of the night my costume was covered in make-up and lipstick from people kissing my bear face and taking pictures with me all night long. We had heard that there was a bar in town hosting a costume contest with a pretty big prize so we decided to check it out. We all figured my costume had a pretty good chance of winning something. We arrived at this bar maybe 20 minutes before the contest began. Everyone was given yellow heart shaped stickers that they then used to vote for whatever costume they thought was the best. When it came time to tally up the votes I only had 11 heart stickers. A girl dressed as Salor Moon had about 19. It was pretty clear that technically speaking she had won the contest but then the crowd (meaning my friends and the fellow lovers of the bear) suddenly began to chant “BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR!” and they had no choice but to give the prize to me. I felt a little bad for Salor Moon but it was true that my costume was far superior and she was a good sport. The prize was a 1,000 yuan voucher for that bar/restaurant. That’s a lot of kuai! My other friend Iain won the male vote for best costume as well. He went as a marionette puppet. So our group walked away with 2,000 yuan for that place. It was pretty exciting.

This past Thursday we invited all of our friends who supported the bear and the puppet costumes to that same bar/restaurant and spent most of the vouchers we had on food and drinks for everyone. The restaurant serves Mexican food so we ordered Mexican pizzas and nachos all night long. I even got a band to come and play for us for free! The bear has a way with making connections and friends, what can I say?! It was a pretty awesome Halloween over all.

At school this past week Thomas and I both did Halloween lessons too. That is always fun for the kids. My parents sent me some American candy to give to my students and they LOVED it. I hope everyone else had a fun Halloween as well! Thomas and I are heading up to the family farm this weekend with Ariel and her parents. It should be a quiet and relaxing weekend. We will try to take a lot of pictures and add them soon. Some Halloween pictures will be coming soon as well! Love and miss you all!

A Rainy Weekend in Shanghai

Two weekends ago Thomas and I decided to make a last minute trip to Shanghai with another couple here to go see the World Expo before it closed down. We only had a few days to prepare for the trip but Shanghai is only an hour away by train so we weren't traveling too far.

Shanghai was extremely big and busy! But so beautiful. It didn't really seem like China. It seemed more like a European city or New York. We arrived Friday night and went straight to the Bund which is the main drag right along the river down town. We grabbed a few drinks at a restaurant located on the top of a building so we could see the entire skyline of the city. It was pretty amazing.

The next day we headed out to the World Expo in the remnants of a typhoon. It rained all day long and our pants were soaked up to our knees in water. But we braved the weather anyway. The expo is so ridiculously big; there really are no words to describe it. The pavilions were so cool. The lines were way too long and we only managed to go inside three of them but the architecture alone was worth it. After a long day of walking around in the rain, we were completely beat. Our train left early Sunday morning so Saturday night wasn't too exciting. We all went to bed pretty early. We didn't get to see hardly of the other sights in Shanghai but we live so close I have a feeling that we will be back.

Here are the few pictures we took from the weekend:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=ff2f100073cb3d496cdd16a80fdf8c46&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGL7w

Enjoy! We will write soon with some more exciting stories...

Bikes and German Beer

Ni Hao!

Hope everyone back home is doing well! Things in Nanjing have been busy, as usual. Thomas and I went to the bike market with a bunch of friends a week weeks ago and bought used (or possibly stolen...??) bikes for a really great price. My bike is an old vintage piece from the seventies that is bright orange with a flower on it and it says “fashion,” haha kind of cool. We love biking around town. It is very easy to get around and we are seeing the city from a totally different perspective.

Last weekend a bunch of us foreign teachers attend an Oktoberfest celebration here in Nanjing, interestingly enough. It wasn’t your typical German bar or party is was more of a white linen wedding than anything else. It was held at a brand new and absolutely beautiful (and expensive!) hotel. The party was on the patio right along the river next to the city wall. It was beautiful! There were games, live music, a bachelor auction, and a raffle. It was a really great time. Oh, and the German micro brew was good too!

Thomas and I both started our tutoring jobs as well. They both seem to be going great and we are making a little extra money on the side that we can save or spend on travel! I’ve really enjoyed tutoring my student. All we do is read together and watch American TV; it’s perfect!

At school here the foreign teachers were expected to write a short article about their time in China that was then published on the school’s website. If anyone is interested in reading what Thomas and I contributed here is the link:

http://www.nflsxl.com/ws2004/KeTangNeiWai/waijiaofengcain/

You can find our articles on the top few links. Our names are listed in the title and there is only one Thomas and Cassandra.

Well, that’s all the information I have for you at the moment. Thomas and I are headed to Shanghai this weekend to attend the world expo. We are leaving right after school and are extremely excited! A typhoon is heading for mainland China this weekend as well so it should be an interesting trip. We will keep you all posted! Love and miss you all!

Zai Jian!

Crabs for Brunch!

Ever been to a televised crab brunch before?? Neither had Thomas and I, until we moved to China. Our school informed us that we were invited to a free crab brunch. We had no idea what to expect and didn’t really know what it was for so naturally we signed up for it.

The event started 9:30 in the morning. It was at a huge convention center with an elaborate set up: white linen tables, a huge decorated stage, gift bags, and cameras everywhere. When we first sat down a band started to play that can only be described as a wedding band that only played hits from the 90s. Then we witnessed a traditional Chinese wedding between a cartoon male and female crab dressed in costumes. The male crab walked down the isle to a Star Wars song, mind you. The wedding was supposed to symbolize the birth of many baby crabs to come, the baby crabs we were supposed to eat that very day. Then, after the wedding, they had girl drummers/dancers, children dancing with crabs, and they unraveled a huge painting of crabs and played the song “You are so Beautiful.” There was also a magician and a mask changing dancer. Once the show was pretty much over, they brought out the crabs for us to eat. At this point we figured crabs or no crabs this event was completely worth attending. Each person received two whole crabs and pair of chopsticks to eat them with. It was a bit difficult to eat the crabs with just our hands and a handful of cameras filming us eat but we managed just fine. It was a pretty interesting experience.

The next day when I saw one of our aunties (the older women who work at the front desk of our building and watch over us foreigners) she said she saw me and Thomas on TV at the crab event. So we are pretty much famous here in China! It was a bizarre and interesting experience, to say the least!

A Farm Family Experience

A few weekends ago I woke up and headed over to Mao Kong, a nearby tea cafe, to meet with Cassie and the mother of a girl Cassie has since started to tutor.

I anticipated maybe an hour or so long meet and greet over tea before returning to a day of leisurely activities. Little did I know what was in store for the day.

It started off, as i already mentioned, with tea at Mao Kong. Afterwards the mother, who to this day i still don't know the name of (a week and a half later), suggested we go to "Talking 2" (A fav. expat hangout) for lunch.

Afterwards we headed over to the daughter's (Aerial) apartment where she stays during the week for school. The apartment building had a huge marble foyer that was spotless. The strict security of the building was apparent by the fact that you had to use a key card just to get through to door leading to the elevator. And again to get to the floor encoded on the key card. All other floors were inaccessible.

When we left the apartment building we drove an hour outside of Nanjing to the family's farmhouse in the country, an invitation extended to us while having lunch. The farmhouse was very nice but not what you would think of as a traditional floor plan (think a hotel with the doors exposed on the outside). Each room, (laundry, kitchen, bedrooms, etc.) were accessible by an outside walk way.

When we arrived we had a tour of the farm. Although the green houses containing a sort of rare flowering tree were interesting, the families pack of Tibetan mastiff's (47 in all) take precedent for a detailed explanation.

The dogs were kept in a separate kennel building away from the house. The dogs seem to lead a pretty leisurely life. There's an area where they can run and exercise as well as a kitchen staffed by workers who prepare meals for them. Apparently the dogs diet consists of fresh meat, yogurt, milk, and tea.

Once back inside we had tea while we sat around and chit chatted while dinner was being prepared. The parents seem to be quite the connoisseurs of tea. On hand they had several varieties of Puer tea (a particular type of tea that goes through a fermentation and aging process). Interested readers should search "puer tea" on wikipedia.org. We had two different types of puer that had been aged 20 years. They tasted great!

Dinner consisted of several Thailand dishes and was served "family style". Generally everything tasted good and just about every dish was a first time experience. After dinner the parents showed us several of their guest bedrooms and extended an invitation for Cassie and I to come and visit for a weekend sometime.

The highlight of the evening happened right before we left. They gave us four bricks of the 20 year old Puer tea. Although its a bit difficult to gauge how much the tea might actually be worth it's easy to say that even if we walked into any local tea store in Nanjing the equivalent would be pricey by American standards.

So, after arriving back home around 9PM, about nine hours after initially leaving for what I thought would be a brief encounter, I was exhausted but glad I was able to partake in the afternoon events. It was a pretty amazing day all around.

Must See Pictures

Hi Everyone!!

Here are the pictures I promised you... there are some pretty fantastic ones, so enjoy!

Fuzi Miao:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=4e2eeb350f1cb1102a944dfefaeb216b&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGLzQ

Mochou Lake:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=2aae3a16e9c582fc2f762628e38c6d8e&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGL1I

Qixia Shan - Thousand Buddha Mountain:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=145e2611ee6077c99a16dcf07a6807f9&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGL3A

More Sights to See...

Hello Again!

Yes, we've got more for you! And some great pictures to add as well. Let me pick up where I last left off… Here are a few more places that we visited over our holiday break.

Fuzi Miao and Confucius Temple! One of the coolest places in Nanjing. It's pronounced "Foots Meow," in case anyone was wondering. That is how I remember how to say it. Confucius Temple used to be an actual temple dating back to 1034 AD but has since turned into a huge market that mixes both modern and ancient Chinese culture. We went shopping there during the day as well as went there at night to see the light show. You can actually ride these really cool boats that have Chinese lanterns hanging from them. It's Venice's gondola equivalent with a little bit of a Vegas flare to it. It's so cool at night! Thomas took some really awesome night pictures so you should definitely check those out.

We also went to Mochou Lake to see Maiden Mochou or the Lady of the Lake. The story says that Maiden Mochou was very much in love with a young warrior. One day her lover left to fight and never returned. They say she cried so hard for so long that she eventually turned into the lake that exists today. Her name means "Without Sorrow" (ironically enough) because it was said that her voice was so beautiful that it could banish all sadness- except her own apparently. This is a beautiful place to spend the afternoon. The best part was the lotus flowers that were floating everywhere. Once they bloom they are supposed to smell wonderful, so we will have to go back soon!

The last visit we made was to one of the biggest Buddhist seminaries in China called Qixia Shan. This temple dates back to 483 AD and houses the thousand Buddha cliffs. This cliff has over 500 Buddha’s carved in the side of it. It is extremely cool to see. This temple is a part of the purple mountain but you have to pay a different fee to get in. They have wonderful hiking trails and several scenic pavilions to stop at. The temple itself was the most impressive temple we've seen yet. We were there during the monk’s early evening prayer ceremony. They were burning incense, singing, chanting, playing the drums and other various instruments, all while walking around the big golden Buddha in the middle of the room in a circle. It was really cool to see. This Buddha was HUGE!! And the temple was so peaceful. It was one of our favorite places to visit yet.

That is all the stories I have for you today… We have more to share but we have been busy with school. We’ll write again soon!

A Bug Explanation

For those of you who are taking the time to peruse through the pictures we have provided on Shutterfly, you might be asking yourself: “Why are there so many pictures of bugs?” Allow me to explain… Thomas considers himself, quote: “a modern day Darwin!” (His words, not mine). His odd interest in social organisms and bugs has affected his life to the point that if he sees an insect (preferably a large or odd looking one) he has to stop and take a picture of it. Hence the reason we have so many pictures of bugs throughout our Shutterfly albums. It may be an odd hobby but it is endearing nonetheless. Just in case anyone was wondering, there you go!

Pictures:

Here are the pictures I promised from the last post. I've included pictures from both of our Purple Mountain trips, Jiuhau Hill Park and Temple, and from our night at the Japanese restaurant called Teppanyaki with the all you can eat and drink special. Enjoy!

Purple Mountain:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=d1e9ab4379381f62f12f12eb75ef82b5&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGLug

Jiuhau Hill Park and Temple:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=0a08bd55c4b028386cdd16a80fdf8c46&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGLxY

Teppanyaki Fun:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=2260d483cbef6945bcfd7207a7b1fe91&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGLso

Michael Jackson and Scenic Temples

Hi Everyone!!

Again, we are so sorry it has taken us so long to update… but we've got some awesome information for you as well as some pretty amazing pictures. Our vacation time as been relaxing and productive to say the least. Let's start from the beginning...

One of the first nights of our vacation we actually had the opportunity to go to a bar and watch a Michael Jackson band stand off. There were four bands, two were Chinese and two were German bands, and they all played famous Michael Jackson songs all night long. I had two requirements for this evening. The first being that I wasn't going to leave until I saw someone dressed up like Michael Jackson. Check! Some guy was wearing an MJ mask from when he was super white with that tiny little noise… it was sooo creepy! It looked more like a Michael Myers mask than a Michael Jackson mask, haha! My other requirement was that they play a Jackson Five song called "One More Chance." I checked that requirement off the list twice because two bands played it. Needless to say I was a dancing fool… I showed everyone my "mom dance" in honor of my mom. It was a hit!!

The next day we actually decided to brave the purple mountain again. Guess who didn't get lost this time! We took the bus almost directly to the front gate of biggest attraction on the mountain: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Mausoleum. It was pretty cool. We were there on China's national day when the Chinese celebrate the rise of communism so it was pretty busy but it was also kind of neat to be there on such an important day to the Chinese people. It was extremely rewarding to finally get to see this place and it was really beautiful. But there is still more to see on the purple mountain AND we bought 12 month passes so we will be back! Over by the Ming Tombs there is a place called Plum Blossom Tree Hill that is supposed to be beautiful, so that is next on the list.

We also ventured to another park called Jiuhua Hill Park. It has a small temple in it but it is mostly known for it's breathtaking views of the city. It is a five minute walk from the main campus where we live so I have a feeling we will be frequent visitors. At the top of the park they actually have a huge stone turtle and then statues for all of the zodiac signs. It was really beautiful.

We've had perfect weather for all of our sight-seeing and venturing out into the city. We are pretty lucky this time around. Okay that's all for now! I will add some pictures after this post from Shutterfly so you can check out these places. Hope everyone is doing well! We love and miss you all!

A slow and sickly vacation...

Hi Everyone...

I am so sorry I haven't posted any new information or pictures about our vacation last week but there is a very good reason for that! After Thomas and I braved the purple mountain we became extremely sick and laid in bed watching reruns of The Simpsons all week. All of that sight-seeing we were planning on doing never really happened. But we are feeling much better AND we have another break coming up soon so we will hopefully get to go do all of those cool things we were originally planning on doing this past week. I apologize for the lack of excitement. Trust me, we are feeling it from over here too! Much love to everyone back home- we miss you!

A failed scenic outing...

Tuesday Cassie and I attempted to trek around the famous purple mountain. It was a relatively short walk over to the base of the mountain from the teachers dorms and we found the ski lift with relative ease. So far so good. It was about a 15-20 minute ride up to the top and the view of the the city and mountain ranges in the distance were a sight to see. We got off the lift and walked along a rocky path up to the highest point of the mountain. We took a break, had lunch, and snapped some pictures.

From here things took a literal as well as figurative decline considering how smoothly things had been going so far. We attempted to help a German couple try to find their way around. They had a map of the mountain but were probably as lost as we were. We both set off along what seemed to be the most promising pathway. Along the way came to a fork in road with arrows in English pointing to where things were supposedly located.

Cassie and I were both intrigued to head in the direction of Ming era ancient ruins. The pathway consisted of baseball sized rocks, a sprained ankle waiting to happen. After heading along this pathway for 15 minutes or so with no indication of the end being in sight we turned and headed back for the main drag.

We continued down this main road for awhile. All along the way we saw signs pointing off in different directions but no indication of how far away the sights were. After veering off onto an even narrower path that misleadingly lead to a locked gate we decided to just start heading back home.

By this time it was getting later on in the afternoon and although it cooled off, the drop in temperature gave rise to an unrelenting swarm of gnats and mosquitoes thirsty for laowai (foreigner) blood and sweat.

Having not brought enough money for a return back down the mountain, as well as still holding onto a sliver of hope we might actually see an attraction, we decided to take the stairs down the side. The stairs surely predated any form or surveying equipment because they were windy, jagged, and unlevel. Our legs were put to the test once again trying to make it down without having them give.

I could carry on for several more paragraphs about how we eventually found the entrance to Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum, which had an outrageous ticket price. Or how we walked forever trying to find a taxi,bus stop, or anything familiar. But I think everyone gets the point.

On the upside, we made it. We also now have a better idea of where things are on the mountain. Next time we'll be more knowledgeable and better prepared.


As for the German couple...We'll never know.

More to Come...

Ni Hao!

Sorry we haven't posted in a while... School has been pretty busy and all of the foreign teachers here (including Thomas and myself) are all sick with colds! But we are taking some pretty interesting Chinese medicine. These pills are handmade and look like tiny little balls- think rabbit poop! They taste like dirt but they are supposed to heal your throat not just make it feel better. They used this kind of medicine since the Ming Dynasty so it is pretty old medicine! Kind of interesting...

Thomas and I started Chinese lessons with our tutor Neva. She is a professor at one of the universities here in town and tutors several foreigners. We are starting out with the basic pronunciation and some of it is pretty difficult but we are learning. Hopefully it wont be too long before we start picking up some basic Chinese language sills. I can kind of order food so far and that's about it!

School has been going pretty well. Thomas and I have to teach the new two weekends in a row because we have the next week off due to the Mid-Autumn Festival. This national holiday is also called the Golden Week and most everyone gets off work. We've decided not to travel any where outside the city yet because we still have a tone of sight-seeing to do here in Nanjing and traveling during the Golden Week is supposed to be near impossible because everyone in China is traveling at that time. With that said, by next week we will definitely have some new posts and pictures of all the other interesting things to do here in town.

Tonight all of the foreign teacher are attending a dinner provided by the school. We get to schmooze with the head honchos of the school. It's free dinner and drinks so we are all pretty excited. Next week during our break we plan to go to that Japanese restaurant for an all you can eat and drink party as well as go to a concert to see an American band called the Cave Singers. We are all pretty excited for our break coming up, so stay tuned for more cool info! We love and miss everyone! We will write again soon...

P.S. Just an FYI we are back on Facebook again! So feel free to contact us via Facebook if you want or need to. I was definitely going through Facebook withdrawal, you know, the shakes and what not, so it feels good to be back!

The Best Thing About China...

Hi Everyone!!

Things here have been busy but good! School started on Wednesday and it was a bit overwhelming for all of the foreign teachers but we made it through the first two days. The language barrier is difficult but it just takes a little bit of extra effort. Thomas and I share offices with other Chinese teachers (some are friendlier than others) but we only really get to see other foreign teachers at lunch because we are all so spread out. The school is HUGE and it feels like we are navigating a maze. The students are really great but very shy (in my classes any way- Thomas's 4th graders are a bit more chatty.) It is difficult to get many of them to speak up, but that will of course take time. I actually sat in on Thomas' class today and watched him teach his 4th graders a song about a little chicken who couldn't lay an egg... he choreographed it and all! (Thanks to my mom, Sandy Long, who taught me the song) It was so cute. The school itself is a bit hectic and nothing is ever set in stone so we have been jostled around a lot but we have learned that that is how most of China works- so you just learn to go with the flow.

But! Onto the most important part of this blog... the best part about China is most definitely, without a doubt, FOOT MASSAGES!!! For 25 RMBs (or roughly $4 US dollars) you can get the best foot massage! They soak your feet for a bit- all the while they massage your neck and shoulders... then you lay down and they massage your feet with this anti-fungal, medicated oil/cream... it's super relaxing and lasts about 1 hour and 20 mins. The best part about China... hands down.

Payday is in about 8 days. Most of us are counting down the days so we can all splurge on a restaurant that has an all you can eat and drink special for 150 RMBs... I have no doubt that it will be a bonding experience for all of us teachers. Things here are great! We miss everyone back in America! Hope you are all doing well... we'll write again soon! Our 1st vacation isn't for about a month or so so we probably wont leave the city unless we are going to try and visit Shanghi over the weekend but we'll keep posting about all there is to see and do in Nanjing for now. Love and miss you all!!

More Pictures!!

We've add some more links for everyone of our school (as well as Thomas teaching!) and a temple called Jiming. This particular temple is only a few blocks away from where we live and the Buddhist site dates back to 557 AD. They hand you incense to burn once you get to the top of the temple. You are supposed to light your incense and say your prays before you stick them in a sandy bin. It was so beautiful and serene- a great break from the busy city life of Nanjing. Our school is pretty beautiful too. The hallways are all open and exposed to the elements and the campus is located right along the bottom of the Purple Mountain. It's really big and confusing to navigate! Let me know if the links don't work. Also, still no facebook here! We'll try to get on as soon as possible. Enjoy!

Jiming Temple:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=4e9be45b0b8ebce59a16dcf07a6807f9&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGLo4

Xianlin Campus:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=95b6f9fb4b31638f2a944dfefaeb216b&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGLqw

1st Day of School...

Hello Everyone!

So, yesterday we had a big meeting on campus and were given a tour of our classrooms and offices. I am splitting 7th grade with a guy named Iain from Scotland (he seems very nice) and Thomas is teaching 4th grade. We were given textbooks that we need to teach from 70% of the time but we can also teach some of our own material as well. The campus is super nice! Class starts Wednesday so we will take pictures sometime this week. All of the other teachers finally made it so we've made a lot of friends. It's been very fun but tiring as well. We are still getting over jet leg. That's all for now! We'll post more later... love and miss you all!! Hope you are all doing well!

Pictures of Nanjing...

I can't seem to add a slideshow of pictures due to the fact that we are using a proxy in order to get onto blogger (blogger is blocked in China) so I am giving you all a link to Shutterfly.com so you can view my pictures. Let me know if this works! There are pictures of our rooms on campus and of the city. Enjoy! Hope this works:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=c471bb4ab0cad91c2a944dfefaeb216b&sid=0AZs2jlo3cNGLkI

P.S. In order to see the pictures from the link I just posted you need to open a new window and then copy and paste the link in order to view them. Sorry about the extra trouble!

We Made It!!!

Hi Everyone!!!

We made is safe and sound! I am so sorry it took us this long to add a new post. When we first got to school the internet was down and then everything was just so busy all week- we haven't had a chance to blog. I apologize!

SO!! The flight here was great... except Thomas and I almost missed our flight from Beijing to Nanjing. We were sprinting across the Beijing airport in order to make the flight on time! It was a bit stressful, but we made it. And then, the school forgot to pick us up. But we took a taxi and made it with ample amount of time to unpack and enjoy the city! Nanjing is beautiful and filled with history. Ian (an American teacher who has taught in Nanjing for a year and speaks a fair amount of Chinese) has been showing us around and getting us aquatinted with the city. Nanjing has 7 million people and we are right in the heart of the city- it's so big! We've done so much with in the last few days. We don't start school until this weekend so we've had time to explore the city and get used to the time change. We've walked to city wall (which was built during the Ming Dynasty) and ate at a restaurant that was 100 years old. But I think the best thing I've had so far (food wise) was from a Muslim restaurant- fried bananas! So good... Thomas and I went to a traditional tea ceremony today and bought a huge thing of our favorite tea- Pu'er. Traffic is crazy in the city- but not as crazy as the kids that just drop their pants and poop on the sidewalk- whenever and wherever! No joke, it's acceptable, and we saw it on our first night here! The city has the most beautiful parks along a bunch of lakes and canals- and all of the streets are lined with trees and native plants. One of our favorite places to eat is a little whole-in-the-wall place that is known around here as "the rice guy." He's got the best fried rice around. They like to eat chicken feet around here too but dog is not common in Nanjing- thankfully!

In terms of teaching, we have one prep. In other words we teach one lesson to about 16 different classes (roughly 300 students). We live on the main campus but travel to a sister campus about 45 minutes away to where we are actually teaching each day. We start teaching next week. We are both excited and nervous but we have plenty of help from other teachers. We are adjusting pretty well and plan on taking Chinese class as well as working with private tutors to help learn the language.

Here are a few fun facts:

They call cell phones "hand machines" and the term for window shopping literally translates to "Riding on a horse I glance at a flower." Kind of cool!

Okay, I think that's enough information for you all! Things are AMAZING here and we are loving every minute. I hope everyone is well in America! We love and miss you all... we'll write again soon!

Flight Infromation

Hey everyone! We've purchased our plane tickets- finally! We leave August 21st, flying out of Chicago into LA, then we are hopping over to Beijing and finally flying into Nanjing on August 23rd. We will be flying roughly 19 hours total, ugh... at least there are layovers!

Planning and Paperwork...

Hi everyone! I haven't written in a while because there hasn't been anything too exciting to share. Thomas and I are working through tedious (but necessary) paperwork and medical forms as well as planning the details involving moving out of Eau Claire and taking off in August. We are still planning on flying out August 25th and will be buying our plane tickets soon.

We do have some interesting news. Thomas and I have recently acquired a new friend that was introduced to us through one of my good education buddies here in Eau Claire. He is a Chinese foreign exchange student here at UWEC and currently attends college in Nanjing. He is almost done with school here in Eau Claire and plans to move back to Nanjing either in August or December. During one of our big parties/cookouts we sat down with him and discussed traveling to Tibet, attending the Chinese New Year with him family, and the various ins and outs of Nanjing in general. We had a lot of questions for him and he was extremely helpful. We are so fortunate to have met him right before we head out! It is comforting to know that we will have a friend who can actually speak Mandarin and who is willing to put up with us in China. He’s a super nice guy and we really look forward to hanging out and traveling with him in China.

We’ll let you know when we have our plan tickets! Hope everyone is having a fantastic start to their summer… we are going to miss everyone so much! Love you all!

We're Going to China!!!

Hi Everyone!!

Great news! Thomas and I were not only accepted into the CNET (China Needs English Teachers) teaching program but were offered a job by a school in China already. After you apply and are accepted into CNET then you begin the process of applying to actual schools in China. We will be teaching at a private (and prestigious)middle/high school campus call the Nanjing Foreign Language School, Xianlin Campus. We will be living in dorm-like rooms on campus and will be roughly three hours from Shanghi. I've attached several websites with information on our school and program for everyone to check out, as well as uploaded a map of where Nanjing is located in China. We will be leaving sometime between August 25th-27th and our teaching contract is from September 1st, 2010 through June 30th, 2011. We are just waiting for our work Visa to go through and dealing with all the fun paper work that goes with it. We'll keep everyone posted on any new arrangements! China here we come!!