What have I come back to!? The humidity is nearly unbearable. The temperature yesterday was 35°C(95°F)...but it felt like 45-50°C! Relative humidity was 100%! It's just not fair to be a woman in this world, lol...the men peel off their shirts or bunch them up around their nipples, and we women are stuck wearing everything! grrr

Jet lag is so much easier to get over here than in Canada. The first day was wicked, but my second sleep was much better. I went to bed at 9pm, woke up at 2:30am, then back to sleep at 3:30am. I finally woke up at 6. The fuzzy stunned feeling is gone, wheee!

At 8am, I headed in to meet Dad in Beijing. We were to meet at Starbucks in Guomao at 9:30. The bus ride in was interesting as always. Every place I waited for buses ended up being a Kirsten gawkfest, lol! Men kept staring at me, calling to me & checking me out with huge smiles on their faces. That'll vanish when I layer up in the wintertime, lol. It's one thing I still find hard to get used to...standing out so much. I'd rather just blend in, but that'll never happen.

So Dad & I quickly ran around BJ so I could pick up another George Foreman grill (I wanted a bigger one for veggies!) and a hot plate for Mike to do some cooking...then back as fast as we could to the school. At the apartment, I dropped my packages, changed to dress clothes, grabbed an apple & headed back out in 5 minutes, yikes!

My quick change was because we had leave for Beijing again, but this time was for a job assignment. Dad & I had to interview candidates for the site manager positions for the 2008 Olympic Games. We had to assess their English skills. It was really interesting to meet with these people and get their take on what it all means to China and how they feel about sports in general. It really didn't feel like work :)

Sticky, exhausted & near death from no food, we had supper at Big Pizza...they have an all-you-can-eat buffet including tons of fruit & veggies! yum!

It was finally time...the Grade 12 students from the CCSC schools in Beijing & Shenzhen graduated today at the Great Hall of the People at Tianan'men Square :)

The building was impressive, the ceremony was long & boring, lol, and I found as many of Mike's students as I could to take pictures. They all wanted to know where he was and were disappointed when I told them he wasn't back to China yet. Chaisy & Candy were a riot!



More pictures here :)

the jet lag continues...

It was so hard to leave this morning. Yesterday morning. Hmmm, whenever it was :S I'm so screwed up from the time difference. I was up at around 3 am to get ready for the long flight back to China. Mike drove me to the airport, and his mom & my mom came closer to the departure time to see me off.



Even though he'll be with me in three weeks, I was still sad to say goodbye to Mike. I actually like him, lol!

The flight to Toronto was short and uneventful...The flight to Beijing was blah! Too long, too boring and the flight staff didn't really make it any better. I'm going to find a different airline to travel with from now on. Too many unhappy experiences with Air Canada. I won't go into it, but I will say that the flight attendants pretty much neglected us the whole time. grrrrr!

Dad and I landed at 11:30am BJ time, took an hour to get through customs and the baggage claim, then out into the hazy BJ weather. What a difference from NB! But it's still better than being on that plane, lol!

I honestly felt drunk sitting in the van on the way to the school. No sleep for the last 20 hours and I could barely walk without falling over. When I got back to the residence, I couldn't find someone with my apt. key, so I fell asleep on my suitcase, lol!

Not sure how much time had passed, but three people came along and woke me up, had a good laugh about me sprawled out on my bag...then I wandered out again and found a cleaning lady with the key.

But no rest for me! I unpacked quickly then headed to the office for a couple hours of work. Had to do some preparations for the graduation ceremony tomorrow. I hope the jet lag doesn't last long, or the next few days are going to be torture, lol!

The last few days have been a little fuzzy for me...spending time with so many people in so many places. Very excited and happy to see friends & family, but sad to be leaving just a few hours from now.

July 24th - Mike, his mom & I went on a morning road trip to Moncton. Marie drove us the hour & a half to Moncton to shop at Costco. We were there for an hour, then back into the car for the return trip to SJ, lol! Eh, we had fun.

Mike & I arrived just in time to meet Cindy on the West Side to head over to Adrian's house for a get-together with people from SJBKE (my SJ school). :>:>:> Everyone looks so great, especially Rose! No one would show me a picture of what she looks like...so I closed my eyes when she came in...then...wow! I cried! She looks amazing :>



Tons of fruit, veggies & stories later, it was time to head out...Mike & I were leaving for Grand Lake around suppertime. We arrived well after dark and just went to bed.

July 25th - We slept in! Oops! We eventually wandered out of the camp and visited with Rose Anne, then over to Rick & Joanne's place for a bit. We snuck a quick bike ride in (I've missed my Kona!) and an even quicker lunch, then time to drive back to SJ at 4pm.



My SJ family was having a BBQ for us at Shelly & Tom's house at 6pm...some of them look so different! My cousins Justin & Amanda have changed a lot in the last year. It was cool to just hang out and talk...I've missed that.



Today - July 26th - the laundry & packing are all finished. Mike & I decided on having a date day :) We went to a movie (my fourth one since I got back two & a half weeks ago, lol) - Monster House - it was really good...scared me!

Then we met up with Xiu. She used to be a student at our school in Beijing, and is now living and working in SJ. She's originally from Fujian Province in China. That's one province I haven't been to, and Xiu is encouraging us to visit :)



Mike & I continued our date with supper, then headed to the grocery store for my fruit & veggies for the flight tomorrow.

I know, I know...with all this stuff going on, how can I have time to feel down? It's the in-between moments that I'm having a hard time with. Sitting in the car on the way to somewhere, before I go to sleep at night, waiting for a meal to come...the tears eventually catch up to me.

So, this is my last post from SJ...I'll be on the plane in about 6 hours. I hope you all know how much you mean to me! Even though I don't always e-mail, you are with me. As I work, as I run around Beijing & China, you are with me, always.

love & smiles :)
Kirsten

Originally I had planned on heading to Moncton with Cindy today, but Daniel's under the weather :( poor little guy...so I took off for the Irving Nature Park again.

Mike dropped me off with fruit, veggies, water & money for a taxi (just in case I quit, lol). I walked the 6.5 km roadway instead of the trails since it was so foggy & cold, and every so often the sky would open up and pour (I had my super-tacky new umbrella with me)...I think I would have looked foolish with my orange & black spotted umbrella on the trails, lol!

After the Nature Park, I headed by foot towards Mike's parents place on the East Side of SJ...got as far as Market Square Uptown before my feet said "No More!" eh...

Everyone will be so proud! I didn't take my camera with me, lol! No pictures!

I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking about next Thursday. Less than one week and I'll be boarding the plane that takes me away from here. :( I was making plans with my mom today about getting together with more relatives for a BBQ and realized there's just this little window of time left.

I just returned from Perth-Andover & Fredericton yesterday, and today I'm off to spend more time with Cindy. Then to Grand Lake to visit old friends, the BBQ with family...somewhere in there I have to see everyone from SJB\KE (I miss them & can't wait to see them!)...

Two & a half weeks...wow, gone

I tried to catch the moments in pictures :)

Danny was a newborn when I left for China. He turned 1 year old the day before I left to come home...he's become this gorgeous little guy and he's so much fun!

I hugged Cindy for so long and started to tear up! I've really missed her this year... our friendship is amazing to me, even with all the time & distance, it was instant when we saw each other again.

Cindy & Daniel picked me up in their new car to spend the day together :) Look at those eyes! Yep, I'm totally in love with him :> Cindy warned me that he was a big flirt...and he is! He knows how to use those eyes & smile :)

We ran some errands around the city, with me taking a million pictures (this is my Danny fix until January!), and then headed to their home out in the countryside.



My photoset of Daniel...my love (shhh, don't tell Mike, lol!)

The marsh at the Irving Nature Park is so beautiful & vibrant this time of year. It was another foggy day in SJ, but still gorgeous to be out. The air was so fresh and comforting to me :)

Saint John has so much going for it... The people are welcoming & friendly, and I've always looked forward to all four seasons here. Many Saint Johners want to see the sunshine these days, they say there is too much fog. But I think we have to learn to be content with what we have. I loved it before, but it took being away for me to really understand how much I value my life in New Brunswick. I hope that this experience away has changed that part of me forever, the part that took it all for granted.



We also went back to Mom's house, where I took more pictures of the garden (of course!) and some pictures of her cat, Triller. He is a piece of work. He's just too used to having my mom all to himself...he's moody, he attacks your ankles, and he bites you to let you know he's the man, lol




If you can't get enough of my award winning photos (yeah, right!)...go to this Flickr photo set :)

Mike & I went to the New River Beach Trail just outside of Saint John on Tuesday. China has many natural spots, but the landscapes & climate are very different from New Brunswick. Since I love to hike in natural settings, it's been something I've missed very much. Their version of hiking is thousands of steps up the side of a mountain. Nothing wrong with that though...but for me, the less tampered with the better. :)

It was a foggy & chilly day, but that could never stop me :) We wandered all through the trails that wound their way through the woods and down by the sea. Just the smell of the woods, the water, the air...made me so happy. I never thought I could appreciate fog so much, lol

As we were walking along, I slipped and fell on my knee...I ended up with a massive bruise, but it didn't phase me. Joy finds you when you least expect it right? :)



I'm trying to take as many photos as I can, but also trying to enjoy every moment that comes my way so that I'll have them with me in China until we return to New Brunswick in January 2007.



After our day in the woods, Mike & I crashed again...jet lag is still my best friend these days, lol! But we did get up...we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest. I haven't seen a real movie in a real movie theatre in almost a year! I always get to see the latest movies on DVD back in China, but the quality, hmmm, questionable! ? Most ones I see have crying babies, heads bopping by, and the sound's a bit off. Oh well, can't really complain since we spend maybe 7 RMB (= $1 Canadian) Too funny.


I also walked the Harbour Passage today and ran into Melissa (one of the kids from SJB/KE!) & her mom. :> We giggled & sang for a few minutes (and I almost cried), but I was really so happy to see her. Her mom said Melissa's heading to Halifax for a hospital visit soon...hope she does well!

So far...my favourite things about being back in NB for a visit:

#3 - veggies & my mom's strawberries, yum
#2 - nature!
#1 - family & friends (can I pack you & take you back with me?)

--> my pretty photo set from today :)

The most beautiful place in the world to me is home :)

Mike & I stepped off the plane, after travelling 22 hours, into heaven on earth :> We were so excited and nervous with huge grins on our faces. We got in to the airport and found my mom & Mike's parents waiting for us. Instant tears :( but they felt nice. I did well until I saw the tears in my mom's eyes, then lost it.

As we left the terminal, all I could do was stand there, looking at the setting sun and smelling the fresh evergreen scented air. I don't think I'll forget that moment as long as I live. New Brunswick is my home...everywhere else can be lovely and special to visit, but my first and only love is here :)

We spent the rest of the evening at Mike's parents home drinking tea and catching up. We were so buzzed from our arrival, that even though we'd been awake so long, we felt ready for anything. That night, Mike & I went for a short drive to see a bit of Saint John. Some things are drastically different, some things haven't changed at all in my 10 months away.

On my first full day back, I spent the morning with my mom at her house. We chatted, I ate strawberries, toured the garden, I ate more strawberries, played crib (Mom beat me, but not by much) and I ate even more strawberries. Lol! I ended up eating three large bowls of berries :>





Still feeling a bit unwell from the plane ride, I went back to Mike's parents' place and crashed...for the entire afternoon! They woke me up when it was time for supper. I had some cauliflower! and broccoli! and salad! ...then fell asleep at the table, lol! Then I crawled back in bed and I don't remember the rest of the day. I vaguely remember taking this picture of the full moon...



All of my pictures from today can be found here :)

Hi Everybody,

It still hasn't quite registered that we'll be in New Brunswick by tomorrow night. Too weird. The last few days have been really busy...we've been cleaning and packing the Canadian office & cleaning and packing the apartment for our move upstairs. We don't have too much to move since we're not the shopping freaks like the other teachers, lol! A couple of them have a dozen huge suitcases just filled with clothes!

I got into an argument yesterday with one of the Canadian teachers about the whole work thing. She's one of the teachers whose transfering to the new school next year in central Beijing, so as soon as she signed the contract back in early June she hasn't done anything and has just been one big headache.

She felt it was pointless for them to be here since there was nothing left to do and they'd rather go shopping in Beijing or something. But office hours were set by the administration and I told her I could see many things to do around the office, and many things to do for next school year. I also mentioned that staff attendance was being taken for the day, so it would be a shame if they left and were docked a day's pay, heehee. Then all she did was b@#ch b!#ch b%@ch for the rest of the day. I'll admit at one point I was so angry with her that I was shaking, but I was also happy that I got to say what I did. The fun part will be tomorrow since we're on the same flight back to Canada, lol!

For some of the teachers, it's been tears & hugs since they won't be coming back to BCCSC, but for me...I'll be returning in a little over two weeks. Hmmm, how am I feeling? A little nervous about the flight (I really don't like them, grrr!), worried that I won't have enough time to see everyone, and a little sad because my existence has become so divided. I have made some close friends here in China and it's great to be here with Dad, but I do miss so much from home. Everyone's changing, getting older (Cindy's little guy Daniel is going to be 1! He was just a newborn when I left). I want to split myself in two and have everything!

Tomorrow will be a crazy day, a lot of hurry to get to the airport to wait for four hours, lol! Can't wait to see you!

Love & smiles always,
Kirsten