This is my 1st chance to post since I left Beijing...Korea is cool! Seoul was a very clean city, kind of reminds me of New York City with all the skyscrapers - huge! I didn't really have much time to check it out, since I spent two days in the COEX at the Education Fair...but my hotel room was beautiful with a great view of the city :)



We arrived in Busan today at around noon...famished, so after we registered at our hotel, we went for some bibimbap & kimchi...kimchi is very spicy! yum! When our meal was finished, we headed back by our hotel to this beautiful sandy beach...aw, it reminds me of home...I peeled my shoes & socks off and played in the water. I could have been at New River Beach if it weren't for the skyscrapers in the background :)






More pictures from my time in Korea can be found here & here...click away! :)

I return to Beijing in 2 days...I miss Mike & Dad, my friends, my students :)

Tomorrow I'm off on another education fair...this time to the cities of Seoul & Busan in Korea :) I'm pretty excited about going; I leave for the airport at 6:45 am. I spent all day today teaching and preparing all the activities for Bryant (he's covering my classes while I'm gone). I had to prepare next week's lesson plan, photocopies & other materials all in one day, lol! Today I worked from 7 am to almost 9 pm, with a little break in between for Mike & I to go get our passports from the visa office in Beijing...I'm a wee bit tired at the moment :)

Mike's a bit envious that I'm going, especially since Korea is a place he's always wanted to visit. He says he can't get over how lucky I am. I don't feel so lucky when I think about the flight. I'm still a bit bothered by flying, but I have a good book to read...it'll make the time go by fast.

I'm not sure of exactly when I'll be back or if I'll have a chance to post while I'm away, but I'll try, can't wait to take pictures and show them all to you! My students all want to hide in my suitcase so they can go home to Korea. They're so cute sometimes...today they were telling me about all the foods I have to eat & one girl told me to bring her mother back with me, lol!

miss you all,
love & smiles
Kirsten :)

Every time we leave our apartment, we have something interesting happen to us! lol!
Yesterday, we went in to BJ to find a few items & search for new spots to shop (for things we miss from home)...

We caught the 649 bus to Tongzhou BeiYuan...but didn't quite make it there, heehee :) We made it almost all the way there, but our bus broke down in the middle of the road. I think the driver flooded the engine...so the young woman who collects the fares ordered all the passengers (4 of us) to get off & she motioned for us to push. :)

One of the passengers, a guy!, took off, so that left me, Mike, another female passenger & the fare girl to push the bus! LOL! Four of us (two locals & two foreigners) shoving this bus down the street must have been a pretty funny sight...I know I couldn't stop laughing, :> Plus, Mike broke the bus taillight... It's a first for us in China! If only I had thought to take a picture, lol

The driver said something in Mandarin, not sure but I think he told us we could get on the next 649 bus, but we just motioned we were going to walk the short distance to our stop. He said Xie Xie (thank you), we said Bu Ke Qi (don't mention it), then we were off...

We bought office supplies, an exercise ball (wheee!) and a George Foreman grill! Plus other items like plants, pots, WD-40...We ended up spending the entire day in Beijing. We found a place, kind of like the Home Depot, so I'll have to tell a few of the male Canadian teachers about it...they're itching to build stuff, lol!

Mike & I have decided to stay in China for one more year :) It was a tough decision to make, and we thought for a long time about the positives/negatives...but we've finally decided it's the best thing for us.

It's hard to be away from all of you back in New Brunswick, but we can't afford to live in Canada, lol! With Mike & I getting hired not long ago, lack of savings is a big issue. Staying longer will help us eliminate out student loans & have savings for a house when we return.

:( I'm sad to be staying away, but I've already figured out my plan for the coming school year: I will return to Canada for two weeks this summer (July 9-23), then come back to China a month early for work, Mike & I will visit everyone in NB for 5 weeks next January, then head home for good in June 2007 (since I started a month early).

I know, I know...you're probably saying we'll never leave China...but we want to be in NB, for me to help Cathy with her wedding and to make up for lost time with all of our family and friends :) So, Mike & I have decided that we will definitely return to New Brunswick, Summer 2007...but we've got the traveling bug, so we may take off for a bit every now & then, lol!

love & miss you,
Kirsten

Always crazy (according to my friends and co-workers here!), Mike & I decided to see if we could make it all the way from Tuanli to Beijing only using our feet...no buses, subway, taxi, bicycles, etc.

We set out Saturday morning with our backpacks filled like we would if we were going for a hike back in New Brunswick, lol! First aid kit, food, maps... Our goal was to make it to Jianguomen & have a meal at Paul's restaurant (a favorite place of the Canadian staff at our school, also of many foreigners in BJ).

Our hike was made up of flat, tiled sidewalks that went on endlessly! We walked through Tuanli, through Tongzhou...stopped for a WC break at the Gaobeidian subway station & a quick look at their map (to make sure we were on the right track).

By the time we got to Sihui subway station, our feet were in pretty bad shape and we were tempted to quit, but we just couldn't do it...I hate giving up! Outside of the
Sihui subway station, we saw one of the Chinese staff from our school waiting for a bus. His eyes bugged out of his head when we told him we'd walked from Tuanli, LOL!

We eventually made it to Jianguomen & Paul's after 5 1/2 hours, and the final distance was about 25 km! So, I treated myself to strawberry cheesecake...and a fruit plate like usual. Mmmm, strawberries, bananas, apples & oranges! Yum!

When our meal was finished, we hobbled our way back to the subway & headed for home.
And we've both agreed, it's probably something we'll never do again, lol!

A bunch of us went for massage last night at a place here in Tuanli where the staff are all visually impaired massage practitioners. Dick, Martha, Dad & Terry all got full body massages & Bryant, Mike, Cynthia & I got foot massages. For the full body massage, they do everything (including the head), so the four of them looked pretty funny when they came out...their hair was all sticking up, lol!

The four of us that had foot massages had a pretty good laugh. They know exactly what muscles are bothering you, so they had me flip over, then pounded and squished my calves. Bryant was having foot trouble, so they stayed on his one foot almost the whole time. And Mike's masseur almost yanked him off the reclining chair he was sitting on. Felt good after a long & busy work week...

Goofy & sleepy from our massages, we then went for jaozi (dumplings) just down the street. Yummy! I love vegetarian jaozi! When our meal was finished, Martha, Bryant, Terry & Dick headed back to BCCSC by taxi, and Dad, Mike, Cynthia & I walked back...it was a nice night for a little exercise :)

I'm not quite the teacher assistant I thought I'd be...I'm a teacher! The school created an advanced English class & an extra help class for the Korean students, and I've become their instructor...too funny!

I now teach 20 periods per week (two yoga classes, supervision of the homework help room 4 days a week, 12 advanced classes & 2 extra help classes). Busy busy :)

I just finished my first full week with my new schedule and I'm exhausted, lol, but happy for the challenge & to be working (with pay!)

He's been waiting so long to go!...We left the campus this morning at 8 am with one of the other teachers (his name is Greg). After hopping on the 649 bus, then a transfer to the subway, we arrived at Jianguomen not far from where we had to meet our bus to Mutianyu. We got there early so we could have breakfast at Paul's Steak & Eggs (a place to get a western breakfast & it's run by a guy from Cape Breton). I had a fruit plate & the guys had toast, scrambled eggs & home fries. Mike gave breakfast an 8/10...reminded him of home.

We ate quickly, then headed back to our meeting spot right on time. Our tour bus then had to go to a few other hotels to pick up more people...we met visitors from India, Indonesia, Norway, and an English couple who talked & talked all the way there...two hours!

Along the way, we stopped at a factory to see how cloisonee, a local handicraft created out of copper, was made. We definitely appreciated it more once we got to see all the steps involved, but really expensive.



We arrived at the parking lot to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall with a decision to make: walk up 1027 steps to the wall or take the cable car up...Everyone else on the tour chose the cable car, the three of us chose to walk (of course!) It was about 1 km up, and we needed a few breaks along the way (I should have had more carbs at breakfast & Greg's got bad knees), but we made it :>



Mike thought "It's big! But I was expecting it to be bigger for some reason..." & "today was fun". Hah, funny! Mike's not a man of many words...Greg, on the other hand, was a lot more fun. He looked like a young boy amazed at where he was and was so happy that he walked up instead of taking the cable car.

After about two hours of walking the uneven steps, in and out of guard towers & so many pictures (taken by me...for some reason Mike doesn't like to take them), we took the slide down to the parking lot. Wheeee! I went first & giggled the entire way down...then when I got to the bottom I quickly jumped up to get photos of Mike & Greg. Mike liked the slide, but Greg thought it was a hoot! He was going so fast & laughing all the way, I thought he was going to crash!



Then it was back on the bus for two hours of chat with the couple from England, lol! After our long day, we headed to Guomao (China World Trade Center) & found a really nice Thai restaurant, filled up on curry & veggies, then grabbed the subway & a taxi home.

We had such a great day.. it was long & tiring, but it felt so good to get out, do some hiking & see a more natural environment. :) Phew! Back to our regular day tomorrow! Tuesday is my first day as a teacher...getting nervous!

I had an interesting time going to education fairs in Xi'an & Shanghai and getting to explore the cities, but I'm really glad to be back in Tuanli...I missed Mike, my dad, my friends, and the quiet life, lol!



Pictures from Xi'an & Shanghai can be seen here.

While I was away, I faithfully wrote in a journal about everything (big & small) that happened over the 8 days. Martha (Canadian teacher) is reading it right now, but I hope to get it back soon to share it with you...I had some pretty funny moments.

My quiet life didn't last long...I was quickly back to work & things have just gotten a whole lot busier. I just found out the other day that now I'll be teaching English to some of the Korean exchange students in our school. I'll have the advanced Korean class for 6 periods a week & the lower Korean class for two evening periods a week. On top of that, I'll still have my duties in the office & teaching Yoga two nights per week. :)

And we've moved again! We switched apartments with one of the Canadian teachers, so now we have two bedrooms, two bathrooms (with hot water all the time, not just some of the time, lol), two telephones, a large living room and little kitchen area. Wheee! No more ants (did I ever tell you about our ant problem in the white house where we lived? Yuk! Our room was next to the kitchen, so they all came our way every time someone cooked). This apartment is in the Canadian Residence, so now Mike & I can spend more time with the other teachers & not just see them at the office.

Mike & I are going to the Great Wall tomorrow for the entire day :) Can't wait for him to see it...We're going to my favorite section, Mutianyu, and one of the other teachers is coming too. He's only here in China for ten weeks & he's trying to fit in all the experiences that he can. I promise to add pictures tomorrow night when we return & then I'll have to get back to my lesson plans :) I can't believe I'm a teacher...too funny! love you guys, miss you!