Yi Wu Hotel Shijiazhuang

After meeting up with the other english teachers arriving at the beijing International Airport. We took a 6 hour busride to Shijiazhuang. This city is the sister city to Des Moines, IA and although it is nearly unheard of in the US it has a population greater than US cities like Chicago.
We arrived around 11:00 at night and checked into the university. Luke and I went outside looking around as opposed to ...

... three trucks to Taiyuan direction, there's enough room to fit both Liu Chang and I but we have to split up.

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 ...

... br>
We went to dinner and had a party for Eileen’s birthday-
everyone met at a restaurant downtown- Sable brought her to the restaurant and
we surprised her- she cried of happiness- really going to miss Eileen. Went to
Sable’s apt afterward, everyone caught up with one another and we played
drinking games. Then went to 7 club for a bit.

Some things I’ve done with my Middle School students over
the last few weeks ...

... m either traveling or working a lot on the weekends, I usually never can but this Sunday I made a point not to schedule any lessons so could go. We took two cars out to Dragon Lake- about an hour outside the city. It was beautiful. We went on a speed boat, then went on a paddle boat, then caught some worm-fish things, had a nice picnic and relaxed by the water. It was great. Hoping to be able to go out with them again sometime before I leave. I really like both of their families.

... 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 ...

... going to get our hair done on Friday- they want me to bring all my foreign friends. I've also been teaching at a Foreign Language Kindergarten. The kids range from 2-6. They normally have a full time foreign English teacher but they're next one isn't here until May so I'm filling in til then. The kids are adorable. The 4 classes I teach have Chinese teachers that speak to them in English a lot so they know basic things. We ...

... body parts and illnesses and then i taught em Simon Says. They loved it! It was a fun way to assess their learning of body parts and illnesses as well as keep them entertained and focussed- so easily do they get distracted by someone in the class or something going on outside the window. They were so into it though. I made up ones like Simon says shake your hips and Simon says blow a kiss which they just thought was hilarious. Especially when I'd ...

... into the mountains outside the city and first went to a temple for some Buda and some other teachers/gods...we really didn't understand the Chinese that the monk was speaking! And James had too short of an attention span to translate everything for me so I would only get some bits and pieces. I guess people like going to the temples on Holidays and making wishes for their futures. They light incense and kneel before some of the statues. The different statues are for the ...

... in water heater and wait about 30 minutes before light turns off, unplug it and then get int shower, *washing machine is tiny and doesnt spin clothes so have to ring out water yourself then hang dry cuz no dryers *veryyyy polluted and dusty *large bloody dead rat on sidewalk *they have a million people working in one place at the same time- one department in a store will have like 30 workers (guess they have to put all their people somewhere right ...

... of the campus, we came to the vast classroom building complex that can accommodate 16,000 (!) students at one time. We also saw the new library under construction into which one could fit all the libraries on the UW campus and still have room for the football team to practice (yes, an incongorous juxtaposition...). We had lunch on campus with staff from the International Partnerships office and the Dean of the College of Foreign Languages who ...