Beautiful East Hotel Hebei Shijiazhuang

... in line, and when we got back they had given away all the rooms. Beasue of this we got upgraded to a suite. We had a siting room with couches, a refrigerator, and even a balcony! Lucky us. <br><br>Once we got our stuff up to the room, we went to find a late dinner with Kirk the program director. He led us to an outdoor place which is a carwash by day and a restaurant by night. It was good we had mutton on a stick ...

... three trucks to Taiyuan direction, there's enough room to fit both Liu Chang and I but we have to split up. <br><br>In China trucks are fitted with at least two drivers. One would drive while the other would sleep. The truck runs nonstop. I talk with Mr. Qiao as we climb the steep mountains that cuts between Hebei and Shanxi. He's from the countryside outside of Tianjing. They are going to a small place outside of Taiyuan to bring back iron rods ...

... obsessed with the Beijing Olympics, it was fun to<br>pretend like we were having our own Olympic games. <br><br>*Who Wants to be a Millionaire-made up questions about things<br>we&#8217;ve gone over throughout the year, things I&#8217;ve said about myself and my<br>family, and then had a bunch of random questions too like &#8220;How many spiders<br>does the average person eat in their life?&#8221; and &#8220;Donald Duck can&#8217;t be on tv in<br>which ...

... biggie, we were almost out anyway. Birthday and Marriage *Went to a nice restaurant and had sushi for Sam's bday. It was soo good- I've missed sushi. Our Chinese friend Eileen surprised me with a text message that said she got married and she wanted us to meet her husband. So we went to "the boat restaurant" to celebrate Grandma &amp; Grandpa *Our new friend John (lives in our apt building and is helping the new Korean students get adjusted) invited us to have dinner at his ...

... fertile land that boasts splendid cultural history. As such, Shijiazhuang is home to many significant cultural relics, such as the oldest stone-arch bridge in China, Zhaozhou Bridge, and one of China's three hanging temples Qiaoloudian Hall (Bridge-Tower Hall). Moreover, the grand Taihang ...

... are coming to visit next week. Can't wait!! A couple weeks later, Willie, Kara and I are going to Chengdu, then Kara's brother is visiting, then we're going to South Korea, then Willie's family will be here, then we have about a month before we head home. Time is gonna fly. Although I'm really looking forward to being home and seeing everyone, I know I'm really gonna miss it here so I want to make sure to live up every moment.

... This vacation couldn't have been planned for a better time- my students were TERRIBLE this week. well i shouldn't say all my students. some were very good. but some of the boys in a few of my classes were absolutely awful. screaming, hitting, jumping off desks, throwing things left and right, two boys got into a fight and broke a desk- one left with a black eye and the other with a big cut on the back of his head. i've been talking to ...

... miscommunication everyone else was already together- since we had just bought beer we sat outside his apt building drinking and hanging out until we were done with em (so crazy how you can drink anywhere). we met up with a bunch of the CCEPers in our city at a kareoke place. it's different here though- instead of singing in front of a whole bar, each group of people has a private room (that you rent by ...

... trying to describe it) what is my favorite chinese food? do i like beijing duck?- guess it's really popular here. I really enjoyed my first week of classes- before I was traveling from room to room but today Helen showed me my new room- my own room! i'm really happy I have my own because it gives the kids a chance to get out of the room theyve been sitting in all day/week and puts them in a new environment. plus the room is a lot ...

So all was well a few days ago. I was back in the comforts of home eating hamburgers and hanging out on the farm with my family and my dog. I was eating Mexican food and pizza. I was going to American football games and to the swimming pool. These experiences were comfortable and enjoyable and I was surrounded by people I knew and looked like...kinda, not at the Bears game, I don't want to look like some of them! Bear's fans, ha! But a few days ago I woke up after a 15 hour ...