South Korea

I went to Jeju and Seoul, Korea with 3 wonderful people: Anj, Catherine and Edgar. Jeju is known as the honey moon spot. Seoul is the soul of Asia. We had a week off and we wanted to go somewhere relaxing but a spot we haven't been to yet. We looked up a few places but we all decided we wanted to go to Korea. We went to Jeju for a few days before we flew to Seoul. Jeju was beautiful! It was so quiet and clean. All the washrooms had toilet paper and soap. When we found a taxi driver he was very helpful because he called our guest house for us to find out where it is and he drove us there. Great hospitality! Everyone is very friendly and helpful. All the taxi drivers had a GPS in their car. It showed the landscape and made a sound when there was a camera ahead. We didn't think Jeju was that big but it does take a few hours to drive around it. I thought I could ride a bike around it in a couple of hours with ease. Our guest house was very nice. The four of us stayed in one room and it was very clean. They people were very helpful.

The next morning, we all slept in. Breakfast was included; I had coffee, toast and eggs for breakfast. Then we were off on our adventure, we took the taxi into the small city and walked around. We didn't know what we were expecting but we just wanted to explore. We stopped by a bakery call “Paris Baguette”. I visited that bakery so many times and I even bought some things to take back to Dalian. The cinnamon buns are to die for! We saw a signed directing us to a waterfall. We followed the signs and we went through a market with a lot of cabbage for kimchi. When we were close to the waterfall we saw a sign for submarine. We got side tracked and followed the signs to a submarine. We went into a submarine and submerged about 40 meters. It was so COOL! I have always wanted to go in a submarine =) There were lots of fish and coral. The scuba diver, pretty cute, fed the fish near the submarine and the fish swam close to all the windows. The MC only spoke Korean but the tone and expressions he used were very funny. Everyone was laughing and having a good time =) After the excitement of submerging under water in a submarine we were hungry to we found a restaurant in the Lonely Planet and went to a Korean restaurant. It was a set meal with many dishes to share. It was yummy! I had a chance to try many different kinds of dishes. After lunch, we went back to our hunt to find a waterfall. We found the waterfall!!! It was in a park area with a lot of greenery. Then we crossed a bridge we saw earlier which went to a very small island. We walked around the island and took everything in. Then we went to find a coffee shop. We just sat at a coffee shop for a little bit and played on Edgar's iPad 2 and just caught up. When we were coming in from the airport to our guesthouse, we saw a big stadium. I wanted to go find it again! We found a taxi and we were on another adventure. The area did not have a lot of people, the stadium was deserted. We were going to climb over the fence to see the Fifa stadium but we were afraid that there were cameras everywhere. Therefore, I suggested we walked around and see if there was an entrance on the other side, and there was! The gate was opened for the public. It is HUGE! The field was very well maintained in close up. Get this, there is a movie theatre under the Fifa stadium Edgar really wanted to watch “Thor” and we did. I haven't even watched a movie yet in China. It was very sporadic. We had to make sure the movie wasn't going to be played all in Korean because none of us could help each other. “Thor” was a good movie. It was late and we hadn't had dinner yet, so we walked around and found E-mart which is a department store associated with Walmart. I had a slice of pizza. That was only the first full day in Jeju!

The next day, Edgar and Catherine went on a hike. Anj and I went to find an island to the “Anne of Green Gables” house. We took the bus and a ferry to the island. When we got off the ferry we saw people renting golf carts. Thank goodness I brought my BC driver's license. I have always wanted to drive a golf cart around a golf course but never thought about driving a golf cart around an island. I was not a very steady golf cart driver at first but then I started to get a hang of it. We covered a lot of different kinds of transportations on this trip. We stopped at different points of the island and took some pictures. It was a gorgeous day! I really wanted to go to a lava tube so we took the ferry back and a taxi. We did not have lunch yet. I don't think we actually had lunch that day. However, we did meet someone very friendly from U.S., Mike. Mike, thanks for getting us an English interpreter. It was so neat to be underground and feel and see the different lava formations. Some were rougher and some were smoother. It was dark and clammy underground. We still had quite a ways back to our guesthouse and we took the bus again. Mike, Anj and I went to a Korea restaurant for dinner. We were supposed to meet Edgar and Catherine earlier for dinner but we did not time it right. Sorry Edgar and Catherine =( The food was delicious! It was another eventful day =) 

The next morning we slept in a little because we had to fly to our next destination, Seoul. On our way to the airport, we stopped by a museum. Not just any museum, we went to the “Love Land” museum. Some parts were corny and some were artistic. Sorry no pictures included. The plane was not full at all and very comfortable. We flew on a Korean airline. When we got Seoul we went straight to our hostel. We stayed at “BeBop.” It is in the Hongik University area. It is in a good location because many clubs, restaurants, and coffee shops were around. It was harder to find but we asked locals and they helped us call the hostel. We did not end our day there because the day was still early. We explored the area and found a place for lunch. We had Italian food. There were many boutiques and small art studios. It is a very culturally vibrant place. We then took a taxi downtown, not knowing what to expect. The traffic was so bad that I got car sick... I eventually got better when we started walking around and I got distracted by the life size lanterns in the canal. The canal goes through the heart of the city. There was a very cool laser show too. I will try and upload it on Facebook.

The next day, we went shopping at Coex. The mall is huge and we didn't even make a dent. We did buy some stuff at the Body Shop and a book store with English books. It is hard to find English books in China. Only in the major cities. Catherine found an amazing book for her Physics students! We went to the Namsan Tower to take a look. It was so busy but so much greenery. I located Yoon by calling her. People are very genuine in Korea. I had no problems with finding a phone to use. People gave me either their personal or business phones to use. We had a delicious dinner and great company too =) Thank you for spending time with us Yoon in your busy schedule! I've never had it before, it kind of reminds me of teppanyaki but Korean style.

The next morning we had to wake up much earlier because we had a tour booked to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) between North and South Korea. There were many rules and restrictions, such as, where we can take pictures and where we should not go. We watched a 7 min. propaganda video which was quite positive. We then saw and took picture of the freedom bridge. I felt like I was being watched all the time, every step I took. There were four tunnels discovered that connected N. and S. Korea together. We went down to the third tunnel. Thank goodness I am shorter because I did not have to worry about hitting my head in the tunnel but I did wear a helmet just in case. I definitely cannot be a coal miner because I went a little crazy down in the tunnel. When we went deeper, the air was a lot thicker. There were rocks painted black to disguise they were trying to find coal but they were trying to enter the other side of Korea. There are probably many other tunnels we are unaware of. I was so close to N. Korea. I used the binoculars to see N. Korea, it looked like there were two main cities but there is a lot of natural land and mountains. One day I will enter N. Korea. 

Going down the third tunnel.

After the DMZ, we explored the city some more. The Insadong area is more artsy. There were many different paintings and vases. We went for Turkish food for dinner. DELICIOUS! It's in the Expat area where there are many import stores. We then went back to the Hongik University area because we didn't get a good vibe where we were before. We went to a bar and we walked around to find a good club. There are so many different clubs in the area but many of them were not busy at all. We eventually went to “S Club.” Foreigners get in free!!! We were there for a bit. We lost track of time too. When we left the club, it was almost 3am. It was so busy outside. There were hundreds of people outside even though it was pouring rain. We waited it out by going to a cafe. It was a place where the three ladies had many good chats. The area was still booming when we eventually got into a cab to headed back to our hostel.

We definitely slept in the next day, we had to pack too because we were leaving in the evening back to Dalian. We tried to find a shopping place but we didn't buy anything. I had street food for lunch =) Next time I have to go back for the dumplings, I never had a chance to try them. The Hongik area was booming again with an art market in a park. I bought a very nice sterling silver necklace and the man made it in front of me. In addition, we heard very talented musicians. People were sitting and walking around and taking everything in. We were sad to leave Korea =( It was very easy to get to the airport on the subway system. The worst part was the delay at the airport. I could have been at the lantern festival and the parade in Korea but I was stuck at the airport. We did not know when the plane was going to leave. It was supposed to be only about an hour flight home but I think it was delayed for about 5 hours. It was so late and we were all falling asleep or running on adrenaline. I fell asleep on the plane right away. I felt bad for the flight attendants because they were starting to fall asleep too as they were working. We did find a taxi driver to drive us to Jinshitan which is about an hour from the airport. We met Truong at the airport in Seoul so Anj, Catherine, Truong and I stayed awake on the ride home because the taxi driver was tired too and we had to make sure he wasn't going to fall asleep at the wheel. Thank you Truong for helping me lift my luggage up to my apartment. I think by the time I went to bed, it was around 3:30am. I noticed the sky was getting brighter.

I would definitely be back to Korea. There are many parts that I still want to go see. I was surprised that not many Koreans know how to speak English; however, everyone was very helpful. I even used Mandarin instead of English to speak to a bus driver for directions. He only spoke Mandarin and Korean. I've noticed that Mandarin is more common than before. Korea is a very clean city and many things to do and see.

A New Semester

After I went to Hong Kong and went back to Dalian, it was a new semester. Most of my students were new to me, except for my S.S. 10 class. About ½ of my S.S. 10 students' were from one of my 4 Planning 10 classes from the previous semester. It was nice to teach some of my previous students, because they knew the routines already. During this semester, I was observed by the principal because I was a first year teacher. It was quite interesting to observe my students when I was being observed and evaluated. They were nervous with me but most of them really wanted me to do well. One class went a little too far though. Two boys fought outside in the hallway because supposedly one student was not speaking in English and only in Chinese and the other student told him to stop because he wanted me to do well in my evaluation. My teacher instincts went up when one student asked to use the washroom and the other just walked out a few seconds after. They are both really good students of mine too. They both apologized after they relaxed and we discussed about it. It was very sweet that they cared about me but their actions were not called for.

April fool's was a lot of fun =) heehee I'm not going to reveal what I did but let's said I fooled two of my classes. However, I tried to fool a grade 12 English enhanced class and I was fooled instead. Let's just say they had more fun than I did and they ate the prop. before they even used it because they were hungry.

Another funny thing one of my student's did during the final exam was circled another teacher's name on the final exam front cover. Get this though, I know it's semestered at our school but I've been his teacher since September 2010 and the final exam was in June 2011. My last name only has two letters!!! I found him after his last exam and I told him and he was embarrassed. He did pass the final exam!

Sometime in the second semester, I brought my small toaster oven and some baking ingredients to school. It is not common to have an oven in a Chinese household because it is not normally used. Some of my students wanted to learn how to bake. I reserved three after school sessions for the students. I was amazed that some have never seen an oven before. I taught them how to make chocolate chip cookies! They learned about wet and dry ingredients and the different kinds of ingredients. They experimented a bit, such as, they did not mix chocolate chips in the mix but on top of the cookies, they made a huge rectangular cookie, a hand imprint, and engraved my name in a large cookie with chocolate chips. After they had about 2 warm and melting chocolate chip cookies each, I asked them if they prefer freshly baked cookies or the packaged ones; they all said the freshly baked cookies. I'm glad they had an opportunity to try something new. Maybe one day they would bake for their girlfriend/ boyfriend. I hope next time, they will teach me how to make jiaozi (dumplings) and/ zhongzi.

As I mentioned before, people in China go to a hospital instead of medical clinic or family doctors because I don't think it exists. I caught a cold and then I was start to lose my voice. As a teacher, a voice is very important. I try not to use it as often but doing different actions. However, I had to go to the hospital. I went to the VIP section again and a few doctors helped me out. One doctor believed that I had some sort of throat disease. I was a little freaked out because I didn't know what was happening and they were using many different instruments and sticking it down my throat. In the end, I just went home and took some pills and I was find in a few days. I do not have a throat disease. One of the most shocking part of my trip was, a woman went to the hospital for medical help I think for her eye. She had a patch on her eye so I assumed. She started to have a nose bleed and she asked a nurse to help her. The nurse gave her a few pieces of gauze but the patient needed more. The patient tried to ask for more and the nurse told her to go find her own gauze or tissue. I was in shock because I was in a hospital and the nurse and doctors did not even help this patient when she clearly needed help. Another observation that I made was there was no soap, warm water, and paper towel in a hospital washroom. I don't want other diseases or infections from other people. I always make sure I have tissue and hand sanitizer with me at all times.

I had a couple of relatives come to visit me in Dalian. Aunty Grace and her friend stayed at my place in Jinshitan for a few days. I climbed the rocks behind my building. I didn't even know they were there. Supposedly Jinshitan is known for the rocks. Therefore, my apartment is a prime location because I can see it from my balcony. Check out the pictures on my Facebook. My place is okay with 3 people. Not a lot of personal space though. They even had street food with me =) Bonnie and Raphael also came to visit me. Raphael kept me posted about the Canucks game because he was listening to it. GO CANUCKS GO!!! I stayed with them at the Kempinski for a night. It was so nice and comfortable. I even had a bubble bath. I cannot fit in the bathtub at my apartment ... We explored Dalian City. Autumn drove us to a few touristy places and we walked around a lot. It was nice to spend quality time with my relatives. Thank you for visiting =) Others, please feel free to come visit me or I can meet you somewhere else in China. Keep me posted!

Aunty Grace and I

Bonnie and I

There are many other events that happened at the school and in China. I will fill you in as I remember them. I have them written down in another journal that I left back in Dalian.

A few months later.... the last part of my Hong Kong trip.

I know I've been very behind with my blogging. A few people have mentioned it to me. I got the memo. I will try to remember what has happened in my life from Feb. until June.

So I stayed in Hong Kong for most of my winter holiday. I did go to Malaysia and Singapore for a week with my parents. My parents like to join tours so they don't have to plan anything. However, I will NEVER join a tour again. I hate being restricted and only go to see touristy things. I was never late for the meet up time but we were always the last ones to show up. I like to use up all the time to explore. Many of the people on the trip didn't really care. They just take a quick look and then they were ready to leave. They didn't really appreciate the culture and the surrounding. It was quite relaxing though since we just hopped on and off a tour bus. I went to KL and Melaka. I spoke English and Cantonese in Malaysia. I really like Singapore. It's so clean! I really liked the Chinatown and I took a river tour too. I will definitely go visit again.

During my stay in Hong Kong, I got a chance to spend a lot of time with my family. It was my third time in HK. The first two times, I only stayed for 2.5 weeks. I built a stronger relationship with them too. Thank you for the hospitality! I also saw a few of my friends in Hong Kong, such as Peggy and Benson. It was nice seeing you and catching up =)

Chinese New Year in Hong Kong:
I ate so much in HK because I went when it was Chinese New Year time. I'm not complaining about that at all. In addition, I got red envelopes with money inside because I am not married yet =) heeheeehee One of my aunt's and I went to see the fireworks on CNY night and it was busy. I know, I hear fireworks a few times a day in China but it was different. There were many different shapes, such as happy faces, flowers, bunnies and the number "8". Very creative!

Many markets are opened. The Richmond market will never be the same for me. 

My Birthday:
I celebrated my birthday in HK with my family members. For lunch, I spent my birthday with Bonnie, Raphael, Bill Yee Ma and Uncle Tommy. My cousin and I celebrated our birthday at the "Intercontinental Hotel". We had the buffet. I have never seen so many different kinds of crabs and lobsters... It was DELICIOUS!!! The best buffet I have ever had!

In the evening, I celebrated my birthday with my immediate family. I was so full already but I continued to eat and eat and eat....  I had great food but most importantly, I spent it with my family members in Hong Kong.

I also had a birthday celebration in China! The girls, Anita, Anjali, Catherine, Rachel and Sui Ki surprised me. I had long sparklers to play with to begin the festivities =) Delicious dinners (not just one), Sui Ki cooked for me a few nights later too. Most of the girls just came back from India and they got me gorgeous purple material from India to make an Indian suit for my birthday. Thank you!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and hugs from Canada!!! Next year, which country will I be spending my birthday at? hmmm....


Some reflections about Hong Kong:
-It is quite small with the large population but very civilized
-Many expats, definitely on the HK side
-Variety types of food
-Lots of shopping and things to see (I went to see the Big Buddha and the Tai O Village)
-Many people can speak English
-Very fast paced, always go, go, go

I might want to move to HK in the future. We will see.

First few days of my Hong Kong Trip

I arrived in Hong Kong on Mon. It was a LONG trip. I left my house in Jinshitan at 10am and arrived at my grandparents place in HK at 9pmish. There was a 1.5 hours delay for my plane to leave Dalian to ShenZhen. We were already on the plane so my legs and butt were numb after the flight. The flight was 3.5 hours. Then I had to take a bus from ShenZhen to HK border. I had to take everything off the bus and into a building to check out and in for China and HK. I had to fill out forms too. It took me a little while in there and then I had to go back on to a bus to Kowloon Tong to meet up with my aunt and uncle. They came to pick me up at the bus station. It was very kind of them. I told them I wasn't feeling very well for awhile now. I am still coughing... They went to a place were you can buy turtle pudding and a drink that would help cure colds. It's not real turtles. In addition, they bought BBQ pork for me! YEAH!!!! I haven't had BBQ pork for 6 months. Before I went to China, I thought I could live off of BBQ pork, rice and vegetables. I cannot find BBQ pork in Dalian.

Two days ago, I went for congee and rice noodles with my uncle and grandpa. My grandpa was scared that I was going to get lost on the MTR when I went to meet up with my uncle so he came along. My uncle was surprised that my grandpa came. Aww.... I already went electronic and some clothes shopping =) My uncle and grandpa went home to get some stuff done so I walked around on my own. I just randomly walked around and around. All I needed to know was where the MTR is. I know how to get home from there. I have had a lot of practice from Shanghai! Thank you to Catherine and Rachel =) Just a warning, the escalators in HK are very fast. I forgot how fast they were so the first time I got on one, I almost fell backwards. I had my first taro with pearls bubble tea in 6 months. I forgot how to say it in Cantonese so I had to point and describe it in Cantonese. I still like it more at “Bubble World”. My uncle knows that I love egg tarts. In Dalian, I only found Portuguese egg tarts. They aren't the same. He bought me a couple for a snack and for breakfast! I feel so spoiled here in HK. I've also had two home cooked dinners. My grandma is going to teach me a few dishes I can make on my own. 

Yesterday, I went for dim sum with my uncle. I had shrimp dumplings, sui mei, rice rolls, pan fried beef rice noodles, etc. Then I met up with my cousin Amy. I had to go to the doctor's first because I've been sick for a few weeks now. So the bad news is my asthma is back and also my allergies. I am now taking pills so hopefully everything will be going again. I haven't had asthma since I was a little girl. I'll keep you posted. After the doctor's clinic, we went for milk tea and thick toast with condensed milk for a snack. Amy went to work for a bit so I walked around Central. They have bars, restaurants and many stores in that area. I found a Starbucks that delivers! I found an English book store! Whoop whoop. I really like it in HK because there are so many things I can do at any time. There is a huge expact population. My cousin, Amy and I went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner with my other cousin, Charles, which I haven't seen in about 18 years. It was so nice to see him. The food was amazing. After dinner, Amy and I went for a foot massage. It was so relaxing. I slept over at Amy's for the night. Moorea  is so cute. This morning, she and I played together before she went to school. I am having a really good time in HK. Pictures to come.

New Year's Weekend and a Hospital Visit

For the New Year's weekend, I went to Harbin with a few of my colleagues. It was an awesome weekend; however, I did not sleep on the way to Harbin. We took an overnight train. I wanted to try China style so we slept on the hard sleepers. The beds were fine but it's 6 beds in one area and there is no door. I am a light sleeper so when someone is talking, snoring or walking by to use the washroom, I would wake up instantly. Also, the washroom was DISGUSTING. Someone threw up in the toilet and it wouldn't flush. Eww... Next time, I will buy tickets for the soft sleepers where there are 4 beds in a room. There is a door. The hotel we stayed at was nice and very close to everything. Thank goodness it was not too cold. We had to layer up but it was not as cold as previous years. I had the best Russian cabbage roll in Harbin. Some of the highlights were I stood and played on a frozen river, went to see the Siberian Tigers, celebrated New Year's with some of my colleagues, and went to the Ice Festival and slid down ice slides. Check out all the pictures on Facebook. 

I got very sick after I went to Harbin. I was coughing and hacking day and night. My students even told me to go home. Therefore, I took one day off and went to the hospital. Do NOT panic. I do not like going to hospitals but I needed some medication to help me sleep and stop the coughing. People in China goes to a hospital to see a doctor. They do not go to a doctor clinic. Thank goodness I have a MSH medical plan so I went straight up to the 5^th floor into the VIP room. If I didn't have that plan, I would have been totally lost. There were lines everywhere for paper and for scans and blood tests. I had to fill out some paper work and the nurse, Nancy, was very friendly. She spoke some English and helped me. The doctor's English was not very good. I do not know if he understood what I was saying. The only words that came out of him was “pain, breath deep (pronounced as breast deep), no, dating, period regular, hot?” I had a blood test right after. I did not have to wait and go another day. Everything is done instantly. Then I had a CT scan. There was a huge line up for the locals to get a form and a number. The nurse showed me where to go and helped me throughout the process. While I was waiting, I saw men smoking and spitting in the hospital. Hmmm.... I also saw a man wheeling his wife on a stretcher to go into the CT scan area and they had to line up. I wanted to get out of the hospital ASAP. I guess people can get everything done at once in a hospital. I found out my results on the same day and I had medications made at the hospital. Everything was so convenient. I hope I will not be returning to the hospital. I have an appointment to see a doctor in Hong Kong today.

Before 2011

I know I haven't blogged for a long time. I will be posting quite a few within the next few days. I am now in Hong Kong for my 5 weeks break. Hopefully I will be going to Singapore and Malaysia too.

My last few hours in Dalian was quite memorable. Thank you Will for carrying my suitcase down the stairs for me. I am going to miss you as my neighbour =( You are always so helpful and a great person to just check in and out with. Thank you to my sister, Anjali, for going to the airport with me. It was sad to say good bye for 5 weeks. Next time, I'm going to hire a driver. On the ride from the qing gui to the airport which is about a 10 minute ride, the taxi driver was yelling on his phone as he was driving. He was almost hit another car on the right side and he started driving on the wrong side of the road. A truck was coming right at us. It would have been ugly. I started this blog while I was on the plane in Dalian because my plane is delayed by 1 hour. They play such cute anime on the plane televisions. Heehee... Just my luck. 

Summary of the end of 2010. I have been so busy with work. I live on the girls campus but in the teachers' apartment. As I was walking home from the boys campus and I entered the gates of the girls campus, I heard a very familiar male voice. One of my students and a few of his friends were on the girls campus. They had permission to be on the girls campus because they were watching the debate but they were wondering around the campus. I could hear and identify that student's voice from anywhere. I escorted them off the girls campus and my student's last words to me were “Do not worry Miss Ng, you taught us how to use a condom properly so we will be okay.” I received a few Christmas presents from my students. I received a lot of chocolates. A student bought me a mini decorated Christmas tree. A student of mine bought a nice white t-shirt and he drew some pictures on it. It is quite cute and very thoughtful. I made 120 cups of hot chocolate for my students for Christmas! It is very popular here to give beautifully wrapped up apples during Christmas time because in Chinese, apple is call “ping guo” and “ping” means happiness. People sell wrapped up apples on the street and their business can move around because it's on a wooden cart. One of my female colleagues received a pack of condoms from a student as a joke. Thank goodness my students did not give me condoms to repay for the ones I bought for them to practice with...

I had a lovely Christmas weekend. On Christmas Eve, we had a Christmas potluck at Anita's and Catherine's. I made stuffing and bought a pumpkin pie. Catherine made a TURKEY! It was the best turkey I've ever had. It was so juicy and moist. Everything was perfect. Each of us had a secret santa and a small stocking. Thank you for making it so special girls (Anita, Catherine, Anjali, Sui Ki, and Rachel). On Christmas Day, Anj and I went to a Spanish Tapa in Dalian City and we spent a few hours at Starbucks. The malls in Dalian were too crowded. For Christmas dinner we had “jiao zhi” (dumplings). We had a China Christmas dinner with good friends. This year I have been to Canada, United States, Japan, and China. Next year, I'll be travelling a lot in 2011.

Sex. Education lessons

I started the sex. ed. unit this week and I will continue teaching it next week. 10 days of sex. ed. The boys have been looking forward to it all semester! However, they were not very interested about the sex. organs of a female. They only wanted to know where the penis goes or some of them already knew all about it... I did not want to hear any of their personal stories. They were more excited when I taught them about their sex. organs, erections and masturbation. Maybe they were embarrassed that I was teaching them sex. ed. I use a lot of humour and they love it!

On Thurs. it was the BIG Day! As you know from the previous post, I bought condoms for each of my students and bananas. By the middle of the day, I started running out of condoms. I think some of my students took some of them with them or other students from other classes took one.... I gave the boys a hand out about how to put on a condom and we discussed about it. One of the students jokingly said, after using the condom, wash it and hang it to dry and another student said keep it as a souvenir. I had to tell them not to use it again and I tried showing them it is hard to put it back on and their semen might still be on it. These are the kind of boys I teach... We all laughed about it. I also told them it's not too expensive to buy more. I taught the boys how to correctly open a package of condom and check the expiry date. Then I showed them how to put it on a banana (penis). They were shocked about the size... In all 4 of my classes, when I finished showing them how to correctly put it on either clapped or said that I was a pro. You might even see a video or a picture of me showing them how to put it on correctly...

It was their turn. The lubricant on the condom that I bought smelt odd and it got all over the place. Some of the boys started taking out tissue to hold the end of their bananas and showed their classmates they did it correctly. I allowed the kids to explore a bit. A student tried wrapping it around a large water bottle and it did not work. A kid told him his penis is definitely not that big and another one said maybe his is. Some of the boys started blowing their condoms into balloons. I just had to make sure the students knew the difference between a rubber birthday balloon and a latex condom. I told them to not use birthday balloons as a condom because it is not the shape of a penis and it won't protect them. They laughed so hard that some of them fell to the ground! A few of my kids filled the condoms with water. Two boys filled it up to a size of an adult cat curled up and brought it into the classroom. They were impressed about how strong latex is. I also showed a picture and talked about the female condom. Overall, it was a good day and I was exhausted. However, all my students were engaged!!! I also learned a lot about the Chinese culture of what they tell students. For example, if a girl uses a tampon, she is no longer a virgin because the hymen might be torn. I guess they do not want girls wearing tampons. Tampons are not very common here at all. Also, if a female has her period, she cannot drink or eat cold things or she will die.

The boys are learning a lot and having some fun too. Thank you boys! Next week, they will be watching "Juno" and learning about STI/HIV/AIDS. I will post some of their sex. ed. questions on my blog sometime next week.

Next week is going to be crazy but festive. I do not get two weeks off for winter vacation. I will be attending a staff Christmas party tomorrow night, the English Corner Christmas party on Sun., wrapping Christmas gifts for an orphanage with the Outreach group, supervising at the student co-ed Christmas party, Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas breakfast and many other festive gatherings! There is a lot of Christmas spirit here but it's not the same as back home... I MISS YOU GUYS!

Shopping for Condoms in KFQ

I went into town this afternoon and my main purpose was to find 120 condoms. I found a sex store! Thank goodness the sign was in English, "Adultstore". Hmmm.... I wonder what is inside. So I went in, the first thing I noticed a 4 year old boy in the store... okay... He was playing with his age appropriate toys, such as trucks. His mom owns the store. I had a hard time telling her that I needed 120 cheap condoms because they are only for showing the kids how to use a condom on a banana/carrot/cucumber. I think the number of condoms that I needed shocked her. I played charades and used my limited Chinese skills and it WORKED! I came out with 120 condoms. Each box had 10 condoms and each box cost me less than $2.00. 20 cents per condom??? hmm... As she was looking for the boxes of condoms, I looked around the small shop. The shop had many different sex toys. They all looked very cheap and not in very good quality. So I only bought 12 boxes of condoms. When I was about to leave, she asked me if I wanted anything else and I said, "No, thank you." She then proceeds to take something out of the drawer; she took out birth control pills. She had several kind of Chinese brands. I quickly left! I will be teaching my grade 10 boys how to use a condom on Thurs.

They thought I would show them porn in class... They were a little sad that I said no and they can watch it on their own time. They have very good questions. I had a good laugh. Maybe I'll post a few of them in a few days.

Quick Summaries ....

I am so behind with blogging...

November 29 - December 5:
- In Planning 10, I taught the students the different steps in solving conflicts. I gave each group a different scenario and I said they could bring props if you want. Some of the scenarios were stealing a cell phone out of a classmate's bag, fight after a basketball game, parents not happy with school marks, etc. One of the skits was a group of friends are smoking, drinking, not doing their homework, and will probably be kicked out of school. Again, forgetting that I am in China, two students brought a cigarette, lighter, and a can of beer to class. There is no legal age here for those products but there are school rules. They started acting and then took out the props, I was shocked but I let them keep going. The students in the class were laughing their heads off. One of the students opened the can of beer and one just lit the lighter but not the cigarette. Thank goodness they did not start drinking the beer and smoking in my classroom.... Next semester, I think I need to change that scenario!

-At the school, the students eat all their meals in the cafeteria almost 7 days a week. The cafeteria has 4 floors. However, students can order out of school grounds. The delivery people can only pass food through or over the fence on one side of the school grounds. The students and delivery people have a system. They give the money, they get the food and then they leave. There are many different businesses though but they somehow figure it out. I will take a picture sometime this week. On Dec. 2nd, I was one of the people purchasing food over the fence, even though I am allowed to leave school premises. We had an office pizza party so I ordered in. The pizza here is not the same as in Vancouver... It's not very good. The delivery guy had to deliver food to students at the same time so we met at the fence. I felt like I was violating school rules. In addition, I was too short to grab the pizzas over the fence so my co-worker and students helped me. There are bars so the delivery man couldn't slide the pizza of that size sideways without tilting the pizza to one side.

- Erin and I went into Dalian City on the weekend. I went to "Olive Garden". It's not the same as in Langley and in the States. However, it was a nice venue and the food was not mad. I ordered a lunch size pasta and it came with pumpkin soup, salad and a coffee and I ordered a dessert, tiramisu for about $12.00 CAD. I will definitely go back =)


December 6 - December 12:
-On Sat. I went into Dalian City on my own. I had to go pick up my wool pants that I got made and a few Christmas presents. I did NOT get lost and I didn't have to take the taxi either =) I resort to taxis if I'm lost here in China. I instead took the train into the city and then I took the trolley. I find it fascinating that the trolley is in the farthest lane from the curb. People get off and dodge traffic to get on to the curb and people on the curb would dodge traffic to get on to the trolley. Remember, I told you before even standing on the curb is not safe here in China.
- On my way home from the city, people were selling long johns on the side of the street in black garbage bags! They are only $2 CAD per pair for the thin ones. Let me know if you want a pair! On the train back, someone brought a clothes hanger and she hung her grocery bags on the hanger to the bar. That's an awesome idea. Why didn't I think about it earlier???
- In the evening, I went to KFQ in the Hong Mei area, where a lot of Korean people live, for a Charity Concert. It was put on by a grade 12 student at Maple Leaf. She is a very talented young lady. She plays the violin beautifully, can sing, organized and has a huge heart! There were Korean food, bake sale (thanks to the Maple Leaf teachers), Christmas card sale (thanks to the Outreach Club at Maple Leaf), and great entertainment. I witnessed the Korean break dancing and dance off. WOW! There were a lot of talented youth that performed from dancing, rapping, singing, playing an instrument to throwing a stick around and hitting someone in the face (a teacher from Maple Leaf). I had a fun night!

It's snowing here, windy and in the negatives.... I guess I should start wearing my long johns. Tomorrow I start teaching 120 grade 10 boys sex. education. Any tips? I'll keep you posted!!!

First time being very sick in China

Fri. night was nothing! Sat. I was pretty good.... Sun. was the WORSE. I woke up running to the washroom and throwing up. I am NOT pregnant!!! I either had food poisoning or the stomach flu. I tried to drink water and then I threw up again. I even had Pepto Bismol for nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea. It stayed in my stomach for a little while but then that came out too. I had to stay hydrated so I had little sips of water throughout the day and slept all day. I was either really hot or had the chills. I did not have any solids the whole entire Sun. I really wanted my mommy =( I am a big baby when I am sick. My parents were concerned of course because I haven't been so sick for a very long time. I couldn't even stay awake for 1.5 hours before I got dizzy or a huge headache. Today, I stayed home and woke up at 9am and slowly started eating solids again because I was too weak. Then I took another LONG nap. I have so much work to catch-up on....

Thank you for all the caring people who came to my rescue!!! Catherine, the ginger and honey water stayed down and the Sprite did too =) I had the chicken breast for dinner today. Thank you for all the phone calls and knocks on the door. Also, thanks to people who offered to cook for me =) Will, thank you for offering me an oatmeal cookie, I promise I will try it next time. We will have a bake off!

Food Poisoning =(

I've been in China for almost 14 weeks. I haven't had food poisoning until LAST NIGHT! Let's start in the beginning. I had quite a long week because the Ministry inspectors from BC were at our school and I was starting to burn out. Yesterday, we went into KFQ for the evening and went for dinner to celebrate that we had survived for the week and to be with Anjali. We went to the East Hotel for dinner. Before dinner, I bought a very big loaf of banana bread for $2.00 (15 RMB) =) We were going to order something for A La Cart but we decided to go for the buffet because there were many different options for the buffet. The buffet was about $18.00 (115 RMB). You can just see from my pictures of the variety of food. There were pastas, soup, potatoes, pizza, turkey, sashimi, fresh oysters, mini crabs, scallop, all sorts of meat and you can pick the ones you want barbecue, etc.

After dinner, I was so FULL. I went to buy a few things and walked around a bit. I even had a cup of Toffee Nut Latte at Starbucks. However, around 9:15pm I felt like I wanted to vomit. I ran outside with my stuff to get some fresh air. Our school shopping bus was going to pick us up at 9:30pm but I was not in any good condition to go on the old, smelly, cramp, and no air circulation bus. Carrie, Catherine, Anjali and I took the taxi home instead. I was holding a plastic bag the whole entire way. The taxi driver was amazing, not like majority of the China taxi drivers, I was able to hold it in the whole way home and then I had to use the washroom at home... I will spare you the details. I haven't felt that horrible for a VERY long time. Today I just relaxed and did barely anything. Not sure if I'll go back to the East Hotel for dinner anytime soon.

Another Relaxing Weekend

On Fri. night we had a ladies night and we watched "Leap Year" on Sui Ki's L shaped couch. I do not have a couch at my place =( Catherine, thank you for the delicious 4 layers nachos dip. It was so nice to just relax and watch a movie with the ladies.

On Sat. I slept in a little and then I went out to the market to get some groceries for the week. Erin and I played "Love Jenga" again. It is definitely a good ice-breaker game. I'll let you decide on what some of the actions/comments asks you to do. Pictures attached this time. I ordered ice-cream again =) Does anyone know what ti zi is? It tastes like taro ice-cream to me. In the evening, I did go back to school to get some work done. There is just not enough time in a day to get everything done so I have to stay late at school or go in during the weekend. Anjali and I are in the same office so we work in the evenings together and we walk each other home. On our way home on Sat. night, we walked home before the campus lights went out at 10pm, we saw a man riding his bicycle and holding a flashlight with his left hand for his front bike lights. At least he had lights on!

Today, I woke up early and went into Dalian City with Anjali. I went to the tailors and I am getting 3 wool dress pants made. I gave him a pair of dress pants I have now and he measured me and told me that I have lost weight so he can't copy the one I gave him =) I walk a lot here and go up and down many flights of stairs each day. At 11am, we went to a church in Dalian for worship and also for a Thanksgiving lunch. Thank you for inviting us ladies! After lunch, Anjali and I hired a driver to drive us to IKEA, Metro and home to buy some groceries and more furniture for our places. I need to stop spending money at IKEA!

I do not have a lot of time off during Christmas and New Year's here so I will not be coming back to Vancouver, Canada. However, I do have a long weekend from Dec. 31st- Jan 2nd. Here are my options: go to Harbin, China for the ice-sculpture city festival and the temperature is usually around -30 or go to Sanya, China, on Hainan Island, where it's going to be hot and sunny. Sanya supposedly is the beach paradise in China. I might go to Harbin because I think it might be a mild winter so it'll be a good winter to go but the ladies will be going to Sanya and it'll be much warmer. Any input?

I promise I will start catching up with my emails...

Motorcycle Ride

I went for dinner with a few colleagues, Carrie, Jim, and Cole, at the American School near where I live for a buffet. Every week there is a different theme, this week it was Western theme. The potato salad and apple pie were delicious! There was a lot of cinnamon. Thank goodness it was not red bean. Sometimes I think some of the pastries have cinnamon on it but it's red bean. It's not the same....

Jim and Carrie both own motorcycles. Cole rode with Jim and I rode with Carrie. I know I was too scared to ride on one in Vancouver. I rode on one in China instead! I did not have a helmet on either and it was freezing cold. I thought I was going to take the taxi home so I was not dressed appropriately. I held on to the back part and just went for a ride. We went around the corners very slowly. We lost Jim and Cole for the last part because we were busy talking and followed another motorcycle. Carrie found a way home. It was fairly dark so we drove slowly to make sure we were actually driving on a road. We drove along the beach and it was quite nice. The small white bridge is lit with fluorescent green lights at night and there are many big sculptures on the beach, such as a crab. Where we live, we conserve a lot of energy by turning the lights off quite early and there aren't a lot of street lights. The sun starts setting around 3:30pm. Overall, it was a fun ride home and I might ride on another motorcycle in the near future.

Clapping Shrimp

Many of you know that I love baked goods. I've been trying a few bakeries around where I live and also in KFQ. I have found a few that I would definitely go to. BreadTalk for their very famous Chinese dry shredded pork buns. KEI bakery for their red bean filled donuts and Mexican buns. Donuts is very hard to come by here. Heisei bakery translates to black bakery for their delicious Chinese birthday cakes and Portuguese egg tarts. I find many of the other bakeries serve very dry and/ oily pastries.

I love grocery shopping. hahaha... NOT but I am starting to cook more often now =) I finally found teriyaki sauce at one of my most favourite import store, "Deli Harbour"!!! I do not drink a lot of milk in China unless it's in my coffee, tea or with cereal. I don't like the taste at all... However, I know I need to have calcium so I have been eating and drinking a lot of yogurt. Drinking??? The yogurt here is like YOP at home. I bought the small containers of yogurt so when I'm walking to school, I can drink it with a straw. Buying toilet paper takes me quite awhile because I need toilet papers' with a roll/hole in the center so it fits in my toilet paper holder at home but the paper must be soft enough. Some of the toilet papers here are quite weak and rough. That just won't do it.

The name of my post for today is "Clapping Shrimp" because I went to a Korean restaurant for dinner tonight and they always provide some side dishes to eat before the meal. There was a side dish with cooked tiny shrimps with the shells still on. I like seafood so I tried it. Morgan was petrified. I ate a few, it was yummy but chewy. The last one I ate had the antennas and two small claws that looked like mini lobster claws still attached. I wasn't going to eat it but I did!!! I haven't had anything too crazy in China yet. One step at a time...

Relaxing weekend...

On Friday night, I wanted to just relax after a very busy week; I finished my first set of report cards!!! I went to a massage parlour with a few of my girl friends. Before we started our massages we had to make sure females were giving us massages. We did not want the other kind of massage... We all got the back massage with oil and jade stones for 89 quai which is about $14.00. Firstly, we had to change into other clothes they provided us. I also felt a little violated because she pulled down my shorts and tucked it in and then she sat on my ass while she was massaging me. It was not a very relaxing massage because I was very tense. It was quite painful. I guess if it doesn't hurt, they aren't doing it right. She even massaged me with her feet while standing on me. Thank goodness I have an ass because she balanced on my ass. Yesterday, I was a bit sore and I think bruised too. Today, I feel much better! I think next time I'm going to go for a calm and relaxing massage. I should treat myself to a massage at least once a month.

Yesterday, I woke up early and went into Dalian City. Catherine, Anjali and I went to I55 for all you can eat western breakfast. It was about $11.00/person. There was no one smoking or spitting in the cafe. The ambiance was relaxing and quiet. This is not very common in China. We were there for awhile just chatting and drinking coffee/tea. Anjali and I went to Peace Square where the higher-end stores are located. I bought two sweaters from Giordano and two thick pink long johns. Yes, I did buy PINK long johns. Heeheee...... It is starting to get cold here so I need to be prepared. There are many different designs and materials of long johns. The men long johns have a hole or a button in the front so it is easier for them to use the washroom (WC – water closet). Children have holes in their pants too so they can just use the washroom for no. 1 and 2 in public on the streets. TIP: Do not step in wet puddles. After shopping we went for a snack. We found a place call “Kiss Mango”. We had to go try it out because we both love eating mangoes. We shared three different mango items. It was delicious! We got a drink which is almost like a mango slush bubble tea with mango jelly, a dish with different kinds of fruit with milk, and a mango, grapefruit, vanilla ice-cream, milk and tapioca dish. On our way home on the train, we saw a few students. While we were exiting the station we have to scan our train pass and go through the turning bars. A MALE student was so busy talking that he crashed right into it. OUCH! He could not walk for quite awhile. His friends were laughing so hard that they were almost rolling on the floor and in tears. TIP: Males, please be careful and protect at all times. Overall, it was the most relaxing day I have had in a LONG time.

Today, I went for lunch at a restaurant that serves very good Western food, such as pizzas. Erin ordered her pasta and I ordered a seafood pizza. My order was going to take a little longer so the owner gave us a game to play while we were waiting. The game was “Love Jenga”. The blocks were painted white and pink. Each block had something written on it, such as blow a kiss to an opposite sexuals across from you. A picture and quotes will be in the next weekend blog. After lunch, we went grocery shopping in the fresh fruit and vegetables market and on our way we saw a woman walking on the streets holding her IV bag with the needle still attached to her. That was a China moment. If people are sick in China, they go to the hospital and strapped to an IV. People in China rarely take medications. They think the IV will cure them faster. On the way home, I almost got hit by a car ... Of course, I had to go back to school and get some work done to end my day.

Odd Day

This morning I did not want to get up... "Why is it so dark outside?" I should have stayed in bed. As I was heading to school, my 10 min. walk was a little longer than usual because of the thunderstorm. I was trying to walk in a straight line but it was so windy that I was just trying to balance myself. I did make it to school in one piece! The thunderstorm did stop and it was just cloudy for a few hours. And then, right after lunch, we looked outside and there was an orange tint. Thankfully I made it to my next class before the sandstorm. I was teaching in a theatre today so the kids asked me if I can show them a movie before they die because of the crazy weather. They kept saying "2010" and "The Day After Tomorrow".  In Vancouver, I always pack an umbrella and sunglasses. In Dalian, I pack a toque, gloves, sunglasses, umbrella, a hot baby (small hot water bag that I can just plug into the wall to charge and it will be nice and toasty), scarf, layers of clothes, and a flashlight.

I invigilated a Grade 10 English e-exam today during my prep block. Personally I like writing a test in paper form because I'm always scared that the computer will crash on me and everything will be deleted. I walked into the computer lab and everything was going smoothly. They were doing their exams on a netbook in the classroom I was in. The netbooks are brand new so I thought I did not have to worry. However, about 30-45 min. before the exam was supposed to end, about 8 netbooks ran out of battery life, one side of the wall did not have power to recharge the batteries. The students were starting to get antsy and I had to get some tech people in to figure it out. I found other netbooks with battery life and had to sign them back into their accounts and make sure everything was still there. The e-exams are designed to save every 5 second. We had to move students to another wall or into another computer lab. Thank you Will and the tech. guys for helping me out! I can always trust my friendly neighbour, Will, to help me out at home and at work. Everything worked out in the end!

Coming home to a clean place =)

This is my first time living on my own and working as a first year teacher in another country. I thought I could manage everything: teaching, cooking, socializing, and cleaning but cleaning takes up A LOT of my valuable time. It is very dusty in China and I'm always working so by the time I come home, I have to make and eat dinner. I hired an Ai Yi (maid), Ms. Bo; she is amazing. Today was her first day and she will come once a week. She not only helps me iron my clothes, sweep and mop my floors, clean my washroom, wipe down the tables and counters, wash my dishes but she also helped me arrange my place to make it more spacious! I feel so spoiled =)

Happy Diwali!

On the weekend, I attended an Expat Diwali event in Dalian City. Sumi was very kind and lent me her salvar kameez. It was a remarkable event. I witnessed a Diwali prayer before dinner. Also, the food was delicious and so much to choose from. They had butter chicken, naan, roasted fish, fried fish, tandoori chicken, chole bhature, and many other dishes I cannot pronounce or spell. There were at least 13 different dishes. There were Indian performances from gorgeous females from the medical school in Dalian. After the performances, we started dancing on the stage and I thought the stage was going to collapse because there were so many people on the stage we were jumping and having such a great time. Dalian City is very multicultural; there are people from Canada, Germany, Pakistan, Korea, Japan, Nigeria, etc. Maybe I'll be in the Dalian Today magazine again!!!

Invigilation

I never thought I would invigilate provincials and midterm exams like my high school teachers. I invigilated as a TOC earlier this year and also at Maple Leaf. I wonder what my high school teachers saw students doing while writing exams... This is what I saw or heard from colleagues: students cleaning their glasses, taking a short nap, picking their nose, killing bugs with their exam papers, fidgeting with pens, drawing on desks, checking their braces, combing their hair, cheating by using their cell phones, playing with a Mentos bottle, and a student found his exam quite "arousing" (he was doing something inappropriate in public... hmmm....). Sorry, no pics included in this post.

Last Sat...

my friend, Erin, and I went into Dalian. I bought a small side table at IKEA the weekend before but there were no screws inside the box. Thank goodness IKEA is super organized, I showed up with my receipt and she found the screws for me. There were hundreds of screws organized right behind her. Of course I had to have an IKEA ice-cream! I bought A LOT of winter clothes at Decathlon. It is similar to MEC in Vancouver but better prices. I bought yoga pants for $5! I bought a pair of sweatpants and I don't need to get them hemmed =)

We then took the train to a city between where I live, Jinshitan and Dalian City. I bought a pink and white Hello Kitty laptop sleeve! I am very happy and proud with my purchase. We then went to new deli in town. They had olive bread and bagels from a European bakery, many different types of cheeses and deli meat. All of these items are hard to come by in China. While we were in the store we met a kind American lady, Lisa. We were talking about different places we can purchase import items. When she was just about to leave, she offered us a ride home because she had a driver. Her husband, Steve, works for Intel so they have their own driver. Erin and I took the offer right away and got into the van. I would never do this in Vancouver. I guess in China, when you find someone that can speak English and generous, you automatically trust them. The driver was amazing, I did not fear for my life at least once. It was the best ride that I had in China thus far. When I got home, I made a cherry tomato, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni bagel for lunch. It was DELICIOUS! 

In the evening, we had Autumn, a friend and a driver, drive us to the Caribbean Bar for our staff Halloween Party. Autumn has driven me to many different places in Dalian and she is a fun and sweet person! The party was awesome. Everyone was dressed up and in creative costumes too. I dressed up as a scarecrow protecting the sunflower. I had my costume made! What should I be next year? hmmm... Overall, it was an amazing Sat. because I met two very warm-hearted people and I had a blast at the Halloween Party.