On Saturday, Mike & I took six of my Korean students with us on our trip to the botanical gardens in the Northwest corner of Beijing. All the Korean students at BCCSC were supposed to arrange a homestay for themselves, but these six didn't. They're the homebody types, and were more interested in enjoying the peace and quiet with all the other students gone :)

I woke up that morning to a torrential downpour! Arrggghhhh! The forecast hadn’t mentioned that! Oh well...me, I’m up for anything in any kind of weather, but I wasn’t sure about the students, hmmmm..

Anyway, Mike & I met the kids at the South Gate of the school and hope the day would turn around :) The trip started off with a problem...the driver didn’t know how to get there. So, with my subway line map, my broken Chinese, and the students’ Chinese (better than mine, but they’re still learning, lol), we headed out. Also, we had an instructor from a university in British Columbia tag along with us, since the botanical garden was a place he has wanted to visit & he would be leaving the next day to return to Canada. His last name happens to be Kirkpatrick, lol!

After maybe an hour, we arrived at the same restaurant Mike & I went to the weekend before for Korean BBQ, wheeee! Kimchi! I didn’t eat my usual four bowls...only two this time, hehe
It was a yummy dinner :)



When we were all finished our lunch, we headed with our driver to Xiangshan, and lucky for us the rain vanished. The five boys headed out exploring on their own and Maynard (from BC) went his own way. Mike, Elaine (the only girl) and me, we went wherever together. Elaine’s fun and just about the nicest person I’ve ever me;, I tell her she’s extra special since we share a name.



The landscape at Xiangshan is so nice & peaceful. I’ve heard it’s usually busy, but we chose a great day to go. Not too many people, so we really got to enjoy the flowers, trees, ponds & mountains. I, of course, took many pictures! Nature! :>



We all met up after a couple of hours to head to Wudaokou so the kids could go for a bit of shopping before heading back to the school. Maynard left us at this point to get back to BCCSC :) We were all pretty tired from all the walking, so the students only bought a few DVD’s, then we piled into taxis for the long ride back. They’re not the shopping addicts that we had the previous weekend :)

Mike & I plan on going back to the gardens next year, since we didn’t have time to trek up the mountainside or visit the Wofosi Temple (also called the Temple of the Sleeping Buddha). Too much to see with seven tag-alongs and me having to be in charge & responsible, lol!

You can see more pictures at my gigantic Flickr site! Dad bought me a pro account with practically unlimited photos & sets, so I’ve been adding pictures like crazy. Almost every picture I’ve taken in China from the beginning to now is there. Before, I could only use 20 MB in bandwidth a month, so I was really limited. Wheeeee, flicka baby!

Sometimes, my life can be extremely strange...other days, completely normal. And for whatever reason, I've started doing odd things around here :)

Strange thing #1: I sleep under my desk at work.

I have a pillow & blanket in my cupboard at work. Since my days are so long, when I feel tired I crawl under my desk and nap for a bit (the most was an entire afternoon when I had no classes). The other Canadian teachers have come looking for me at times, so I stick my hand out from underneath my desk, grab their leg and scare the crap out of them. lol! I even took a picture of Mike at his desk while I was under mine, heehee...

Strange thing #2: I wave hello to everyone!

I picked this one up from the students. When I see people, I wave like a little kid and I do it to everyone, even my dad! On a walk from one building to another (which is at most 2-3 minutes), I'll wave like 50-75 times.

Strange thing #3: I play badminton in dress clothes & high-heeled shoes.

Mike & I like to play badminton, but usually our schedules are so chaotic. So instead of wasting time going home to change, I just play as is. The students get a charge out of seeing me play in my work clothes, lol!

Strange thing #4: I own a cellphone! with dangling stuff on it!

Dad gave me his old cellphone (I hate them, they drive me nuts!) but I've bought all these goofy things to dangle from it. I have little chili peppers, a stuffed flying Tokyo Pig toy, a cloisonee charm, a JingJing panda (Olympic mascot for 2008), and a chubby kitty. :)

Strange thing #5: I started calling the staff by the names the students use for them.

The students have strong accents most of the time, and they have a real problem with names that end in consonants...they always want to add an "ah" to the end. Here's a list of their names, with the translation afterwards, lol! :
Dick = Deekah
Mike = Makah
Monique = Moanicah
Martha = Mashah
Jean = Jeans
Brent = Brentah
Bryant = Brentah (these two can be very confusing)
Terry = Tehwee
Gary = Gehwee
Sherry = Shehwee
Norma = Nomah
Jade = Jadah
Jacques = Jackwez

my name...they do well! They just forget the R...Kesten

Strange thing #6: I hardly ever take my contacts out.

I have been here for like 10 months and I've maybe taken my contact lenses out 15 times. The longest I've left them in was a little over two months. I know, I know...so not healthy for my eyes. But actually, Renu brand contact lens cleaner was removed from shelves for being contaminated, so I think I'm healthier to leave them in...maybe?

I can't believe it's nearing the end of our first year in China :) Prom night was a big moment for the students at BCCSC!

Last night, the students dressed up (or skipped the dressing up and opted for jeans) and gathered by the outdoor stage to enjoy one last evening together before they leave. The last day of school for the grade 12's was today. They end school early to begin the final preparations for their new lives as students in Canada.





Most of them were relieved for the end of exams, but a little down about the prospect of leaving their friends and significant others. They looked great and had a fun time eating, dancing, causing a little trouble for the Canadian chaperones (that's us), and taking thousand of pictures!

Mike was taking tickets at the entry & I was one of the official photographers for the event. I tried to capture all the moments...mostly happy faces, some not so happy faces (girls pouting & guys begging for forgiveness, lol!), and the teachers either dancing or on the lookout for beer :)



I got a few whistles for the outfit I was wearing (be sure to check out the photo album), and Mike confiscated some beverages. The students weren't even smart enough to try to hide them, lol! It was kind of like a middle school dance, where all the kids are afraid to be the first one to get out on the dance floor, nervous about asking someone...it took them more than an hour and a half to get into it and by then they only had 45 minutes left. lol!



One other thing was everyone was trying to convince Mike to shave the beard! They hate it! It's a cultural thing: men with beards are considered dirty. I laugh so much about it, because I can't get over just how much they hate it. All the students want to touch it, then run away giggling. The cleaning ladies in our office look at him every day, scrunch their faces, and walk away muttering in Chinese.

Today there were a lot of depressed kids dragging their belongings to the gates and saying their goodbyes. But for everyone else, school continues...until the first week of July.

Mike & I are going to the Fragrant Hills Botanical Gardens tomorrow, wheeee nature! All the roses are in bloom here in Beijing, so I'm so excited to go! Most of my Korean students are going to homestays around Beijing, but for six of them...they'll be coming with us to the gardens.

The director of the International Department of BCCSC asked me if I had any interesting plans this weekend & if I would mind taking the kids along. I'm happy to do it because they have to stay on the campus most of the time and hardly get out (they're pretty much 24/7 students). So the plan is a Korean meal (kimchi, yum!), then Fragrant Hills, shopping for the kids at Wudaokou, then back to the school.

More pictures & stories tomorrow (hopefully all good? lol!)

Crazy busy like always...phew, I'm tired!

Monday & Tuesday were mostly spent running back and forth between my classroom and the office, marking assignments, correcting & proofreading documents for the school.

The school just installed exercise equipment out by the track...it's like a playground, except for adults :) anyway, they translated the safety directions for each piece of equipment, then asked me to put it into proper English. Some of it was quite funny to me, like "move legs backwards and forwards in peaceful harmony" and "strength waist muscle sidewise " :) I think I did well...

Tuesday was also nuts because I was asked to put on a yoga class at lunch so photographers from the yearbook and China Youth Daily newspaper could take pictures. I scrambled and got 6-7 students to show up, pretend to do yoga for a quick click click, then the photographers left. I didn't want to end yoga like that, so we stayed for 20 minutes and did some more poses, then off the students went back to their busy lives.

Wednesday was the same running around from class to office, until 4:15 when I went to a fashion show. The theme was environmental protection, so all of the clothing was made out of recycled materials. The students used newspaper, bottle caps, shower curtains, recycled coloured papers, garbage bags & twine to create some amazing clothing. I took pictures of my Korean students in their gowns :) Some of the students are definitely headed for futures in design & modeling :)



Thursday was another busy day, especially since I had decided to give a reward to some of my Korean students for all of their hard work up to this point. Since I had them for a double period, I asked them to stay at the break to discuss the reward. I told them they had to decide on something as a group and I would try my best to make it happen.

Well...they wanted to go to Wudaokou on Saturday, an area in the northwest corner of Beijing with a large Korean population. There are tons of markets with Korean food & clothing, etc. I told them I would write a request letter to the supervisor of their program, but I told them to be prepared for a "no, too far away" just in case.

So off I went to the office, where I sat for more than an hour perfecting my letter. I didn't want the program director to say no to the request, so I really worked hard on that thing! So I'm happy to report that he said "Yes"! Wheeee!

Also on Thursday, there was a BBQ for the Grade 12 Environmental Science classes, to celebrate the end of their exams, cleanup projects & presentations. There was nothing for me to eat (yep, I'm still a vegan), but I had to put in an appearance, so I entertained myself taking pictures of the animals in the school zoo. Check out the rabbit!



Friday (May 19th) was half-quiet/half busy :) All the Grade 10 students went to the new Beijing Capital Museum (which had its grand-opening ceremony the day before). All the Grade 10 Canadian teachers were sent, but mostly just to be bodies in the building. We were told to "go, enjoy the new museum". Click the museum picture to see more...



Then...Saturday! Wudaokou! Mike & I picked up the four kids at the South Gate of the school and set out for our day. I thought I would treat them to the way the Canadian teachers travel around BJ :) So we jumped on the 649 bus, then the subway...then I wanted to be there faster (the subway was so slow that day!), so we cabbed it the rest of the way, lol!...



We had a fabulous Korean BBQ outside under some umbrellas when we got there...we all ate for almost two hours! I had four bowls of kimchi! Wheeee! After our meal, we went shopping at a huge market, then to another place for karaoke :) Mike sang (badly), but at least he had the nerve to do it! I sang, but only along with the kids and with no microphone, lol!



The six of us had such a great day! We all wanted it to last forever...but eventually we piled into a couple of cabs with all our bags and headed back to the school. So wiped out, but happy (and full of kimchi)!

Dad decided to give us an early birthday present! :) After just one week back after the May break, we were back on the road...to Datong in Shanxi province.



Friday night, we packed a few little bags and heading in to BJ to meet up with our tour group. We went early to have a little date before we got on the train to Datong. Mike & I went to Sizzler's near Jianguomen, just around the corner from the Beijing Friendship Store. Mike had steak (his first in China) and me...I had veggies of course! But the best part was dessert...next door at the Haagen Dazs store. Yumm! I had raspberry sorbet (sour, just like the real thing from my grandmother's berry patch) and Mike had tiramisu and cookies & cream ice cream. :)

We got to the meeting location a little early (we were meeting at 9:30pm), so I took the chance to head to the WC for a washroom break. Well, I couldn't figure out how to get the light to work, then it eventually came on, so I went in and didn't really think about it ... It was a traditional "squatter" toilet (doesn't bother me, when you have to go...you do your thing)...the problem was that I was using the washroom when the light suddenly vanished! It was one of those motion sensor lights, lol. Well, since I was "squatting", I wasn't able to make any motion to get it to come back on! And it was pitch black, so I wasn't sure if my aim was okay. I yelled for Mike to help me and after a minute of laughing, he clapped for the light to come on. Grrr! It was actually funny (but after the fact), lol :)

The rest of the weekend was nice :) We spent Friday night on the train, woke up Saturday morning in Datong and headed to the Hanging Monastery. Whoa!! Scary for me :S ...I'm afraid of heights, so Mike thought it was hysterical that I took baby steps & gripped on anything I could find the entire time. And, good for me that I managed to keep breakfast down! Wheeee! The Monastery was very tiny, with little winding passages, stairways & balconies leading from room to room. There was even a room with statues of Sakyamuni, Confucius & Laotzu (Buddhism, Confucianism & Taoism), all together. They say it is very unusual to see the sharing of the same monastery; religions living in harmony within the same structure. It was very special & pretty, once you got past the being on the side of a mountain :)



In the afternoon, our group went to the Wooden Pagoda just outside of Datong. It's about 1,000 years old and has no nails holding it together. I had the feeling that I was going to fall through the floor at any time, lol! The grounds around the pagoda were nice to wander through and Mike & I did some bargaining...we found some odd little pieces of art for our apartment in Tuanli.

After supper that night, eight of us from the tour went for a foot massage at Relax Time, a place not too far from the hotel. We were all pretty worn out from all the walking. It was quite funny though, because we were all in this big room when this army of people came in to give us our massages. What was supposed to be just the feet turned into an all-out, practically every body part massage. The guy stuck his fingers in my ears, lol! They also asked if they could take photos of us for their brochures :) And after it was all over, they all insisted on having their pictures taken with us. They pulled me down the hallway to pose in front of a plant, by a staircase, in the front hall, in individual shots & in group photos...LOL! After tons of pictures, smiles & handshakes, they escorted us out the door into waiting taxis and sent us on our way. :)

Our last morning in Datong was spent at the Yungang Grotto, an amazing spot outside of Datong City, where they have many caves with Buddhas carved inside. One was so huge, I stood staring up at it with my head all the way back. Its thumbnail was two-times bigger than my head! The work that took place...wow! It just made me want to cry though, because all of the coal dust has done so much damage. In one of the caves, the eyes of the statue were glistening from the shadows & light of people entering...I stood there for so long just watching the twinkle in the eyes; the statue looked as though it was about to cry at any moment.



The time had come to board our train back to Beijing :( I slept through most of it, like usual. But when I was awake I took some pictures of Mike up above me...I had the middle bunk & he had the top bunk, lol. We were like little kids at camp :)

Tomorrow at work, the China Youth Daily newspaper is coming to visit me! I'm teaching yoga tomorrow at lunch and they want to take photos...I'll post any pics if they use them in the paper :) I'm constantly amazed at all the things that happen to me here in China...

Mike always told me he would look terrible if he had a beard. He said he tried years ago to have one (but it came in patchy so he gave up).

Ahhh...then we had the May holiday. No work for a week (and no real reason for Mike to shave!). So I began "The Chronicles of the Beard"...pictures every so often to see how the facial fuzz was coming along.

And I have to say: Mike looks good with a beard! lol! ...and it's so red! :>

Mike's students either love it or hate it. He finds it pretty itchy, so I'm not sure if it will last long, lol, but I like it...





I'll have to dig out a photo of his dad and put them side-by-side, hmmm...maybe later :)

And I'm so happy! :> I got mail from my grammy at school, wheee! And my mom e-mailed me...the closer I get to July (and our return to Canada), the more I miss home. Mike & I finally have all the details of our flight. We'll be leaving July 8th, getting back in SJ on July 9th, and I'll have over two weeks before I have to come back on July 27th. Mike will stay in Canada until August 18th.

So much to do around here and less than two months to do it! I also have a gecko living in my classroom. He scares me half to death just about every day, I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to him. grrr

Mike & I are taking an overnight train to Datong for the weekend to see the Hanging Monastery & a wooden pagoda . I'll post pictures when we're back :)

After 7 straight days of teaching, it was time for the May break. Cynthia arranged for us to go to Huangshan, a city in Anhui Province that has an amazing mountain range & old villages nearby. One thing we’ve missed from home is hiking, so we’ve been looking forward to Mount Huangshan :) We were up for the challenge, lol!

We arrived in the city on April 30 and taxied our way to our hostel - Huangshan International Youth Hostel...nice place...it was simple and comfortable.

Mike & I started our first full day sleeping in. We were pretty tired after our long week. Yah! No alarm clock! When we eventually wandered out into the real world, we went around our hostel on foot. Our place was right in the center of Huangshan, so we were pretty handy to everything.



Later in the day, well before sunset, we jumped on the no.12 bus for Tunxi Ancient Street. We didn’t know where the street was (after the fact, we discovered we could have gotten off the bus at many different places along the way), so we just stayed as the bus went all along its route. We ended up in the countryside! We passed huge strings of snapping firecrackers and a man herding ducks (down the side of the road.



The street was...well...ancient, lol! It’s like most of the other ancient streets around China. I’m not much of a shopper (Cathy can tell you), and it’s a place for those who enjoy shopping and love to bargain. I just took pictures, and I did manage to take some nice ones :)



On May 2nd, Mike & I decided to tackle it...Mt. Huangshan! Only 7.5 km up, lol. The local bus system is cool, you just show up when you want a bus, it fills up pretty quickly and you’re off. It was about 1 ½ hours to our destination and I loved it!

The land in this area is gorgeous! It smells like an enormous biodome or greenhouse, like a mixture of damp earth and eucalyptus. The fields leading up to the mountains are filled with growing berries, rice plants, tea trees and so many other things I couldn’t name. The oxen lounge in mud holes in the center of the fields to escape the heat.



We weren’t exactly sure what we were in for when we got there. The people on the bus pointed to us to get off and motioned for us to go in a certain direction. We found our way to the entrance for the bus that will shuttle you to the actual Mt. Huangshan entrance :)
My lack of Chinese can be a wee bit frustrating at times, but I’ve learned to mostly trust the people at these places. They know what I want, even if I don’t!

After a winding shuttle ride, we got off at our stop and found out a few more details. It would be 7.5 km up to somewhere, but not exactly sure to where ??? Eh, good enough for us...

Our climb/hike was about 7,000 steps up. There were a couple of times on the way up I almost passed out (too dehydrated, wasn’t taking enough breaks along the way for food), but we got to a spot about halfway up where they sold pearapples (I ate one), cucumbers (I ate two), and bottled water (I drank one). Wheeee! I got to live to take more steps, lol!





All along the way there were these men with bamboo planks across their shoulders, balancing loads of vegetables, supplies, ducks, etc. They were taking the items to the few hotels located up in the mountains. One of them (the man carrying cucumbers) would warn you he was coming with his high-pitched “Wooo, wooo”, lol.

I have to confess, we didn’t make it to the peak, but we did go about 6.5 km up, up, up. I know, I know...why go so close and not finish? Well, we were dying from exhaustion...and most people take 2-3 days to do the climb (staying at hotels along the way), not just one day like us. Yeah, I’m making excuses, but we felt good with what we did :)

Next experience for us was the queue to get back down by cable-car. When we entered the line, we were at the 3 hr. wait sign, and they weren’t kidding, lol! We began outside under a tarp, wound our way to outside (with no tarp), then inside to a winding maze, over to some seats, around into another area with seats, down some stairs, then an area with more seats, then through the doors to the cable-car. The view down was pretty cool!

We came to Huangshan at one of the busiest times of the year, so Mike & I will definitely come back next year during the off-season to beat that mountain peak! Grrr, lol :)

On our 3rd and final day in Huangshan, we jumped on another bus, this time headed to Yixian County to see one of the ancient villages in the area. Our bus ride was beautiful on the way there :) They let us off in the middle of nowhere & pointed out the direction. So we started walking...not long though; a van pulled up and pointed to Xidi and quoted a price. It only cost us 2 yuan each and he took us quite a distance, right to the gate of the village. Nice :)



We got to the gate to pay for the entrance ticket, but they sent us to another area...we needed a special permit. The local group that provides the permit thought we were a hoot! We spoke hardly any Mandarin & they spoke hardly any English. Anyway, after some laughing, pointing, doodling and parting with money, Mike & I officially received our Alien’s Permit to visit the village, lol!

Xidi’s architecture is from the Ming & Qing Dynasty periods and it was full of little art shops, trinket spots, and small gardens. It was nice, but a bit too commercial for me (they’ve even trademarked the name Xidi™ !). I also kept laughing because when you pronounce Xidi, it sounds like your swearing ( xi = she)...anyway, it was funny to me.




After a couple of hours in the village, we headed back in to Huangshan, had a meal at our hostel (yum! good food), went back to the Tunxi Ancient Street for more postcards, took another ride on the no.12 bus (we liked it so much, we did it twice!)...mostly we just puttered around until it was time for our taxi ride to the airport.



I like the city so much...the smell alone makes me want to live there. The people are so friendly, gardens & plant life are everywhere, and the relaxed, easygoing nature of the place just made me want to stay :) It was hard to get on that plane!