Friday, September 29, 2006
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival :)
It's time for the National Day in China, which is around the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival.
This year for our week off, Mike, Bryant & I are travelling to Hangzhou, Suzhou & Qiaodaohu in Southeast China for four days. Bryant & I have already been to Suzhou, but not at this time of year when the botanical gardens are in full bloom and the weather is comfortable & not too cold. I'm happy for Mike to get to see this part of China.
We're heading out by overnight train this Sunday afternoon (Oct. 1st) and we'll be back on Friday, October 6th, so no posts or pictures until we return.
Tomorrow morning is the BCCSC Track Meet, so I'll be sure put up some pictures of the opening ceremony before we leave for our vacation...the students have been practicing their marching & formations all week...more than the track events themselves, lol! From what the students have told me, it should be quite a spectacle!
This year for our week off, Mike, Bryant & I are travelling to Hangzhou, Suzhou & Qiaodaohu in Southeast China for four days. Bryant & I have already been to Suzhou, but not at this time of year when the botanical gardens are in full bloom and the weather is comfortable & not too cold. I'm happy for Mike to get to see this part of China.
We're heading out by overnight train this Sunday afternoon (Oct. 1st) and we'll be back on Friday, October 6th, so no posts or pictures until we return.
Tomorrow morning is the BCCSC Track Meet, so I'll be sure put up some pictures of the opening ceremony before we leave for our vacation...the students have been practicing their marching & formations all week...more than the track events themselves, lol! From what the students have told me, it should be quite a spectacle!
# posted by Kirsten (of course!) @ 10:50 p.m. 
Remember...
I've always had a character as a tattoo in mind, it just popped in this week that it should be the character for "remember"...
Remember...
...the faces of men, women, children, happy, sad, preoccupied,
the food...impressing everyone with "spicy girl" (20-30 whole chillies, wheeee!),
the flowers, the scenery, the travel...
the everyday moments of being with Mike, Dad, my students and my new friends.
sitting on the bus & watching the world go by...
Dick thinks it was a silly character to choose, that I should have chosen "memory" instead. But for me it will always be a message to myself: remember. All those moments that made up your life for two years. All those moments of love, frustration, joy, awe. All those times when I wondered if it was worth it to be away from my loves back home.
Remember...why you're here. To do, to see, to feel, to help others in need :)
# posted by Kirsten (of course!) @ 10:39 p.m.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
I'm so sad :(
I hope the little guy can hack it in the real world & I hope he didn't suffer if he couldn't. We had some good times this summer.
But on a positive note, there's a gecko in my post-secondary class and I still have the big one in my Korean class...so they numb the pain. A little bit...
LOL!
# posted by Kirsten (of course!) @ 10:58 p.m.
Kirsten - such a bad blog poster :(
I.. am.. so.. bad.. !
It has been almost a month since I last posted :( Life has been crazy busy :S But it's no excuse...I'm going to try to be better. I have been regularly posting pictures to my Flickr site, but no stories here.
Here's the rundown:
Week 1 (Aug.28-Sept.3) - Military Camp Week
Time to break in the new Grade 10 students, lol! Honestly, these kids amaze me with their endurance. Monday thru Thursday (in the humidity), their days began at 6am and didn't end until 9pm. Marching, running, yelling...with breaks for lunch, English for two hours in the afternoon, then another break for supper.
The opening ceremony was a bit funny. They hadn't learned anything yet so their motions were sloppy & all over the place. But by Friday morning, for the closing with their parents, they were sharp, loud & pretty proud of themselves. It's like frosh week or hell week in North America.
The week for me was spent team-teaching with Bob (one of the new teachers). We had a class of all new Grade 10 boys. They were a handful, but they were so much fun, and they managed to stay awake with all that training going on. Some of the other teachers weren't so lucky.
At the end of the week, almost all of us went in to Beijing to hang out & have supper. We went to this traditional Chinese hotel with beautiful grounds...it was like stepping back in time :)
This week's photos can be found here.
Week 2 (Sept.4-10) - Teaching! Too much to do...but we went to Happy Valley on the weekend!
This year, my schedule is H- E- double hockey sticks, grrrrrr! What did I get myself into? They wanted me to do so much that I actually cried, how sad is that?
I'm the Administrative Assistant in the Canadian Office this year & the only Teaching Assistant in the school. But I'm also teaching English to the Korean students & Hospitality English to the post-secondary (community college) students. I also manage the Chat & Homework Help rooms after school. On top of all that, they also wanted me to teach regular English to the post-secondary students, two evening periods with the Korean students each week and direct their weekend program. I may be amazing, but I can't add more hours to the day! lol!
As it stands now, I teach 14 periods per week, plan for all those classes, and every free moment I have I spend helping everyone in the office at the admin desk. Most times I have to go in an hour or two early to get my planning done because the teachers come after me the second they walk through the door. At the end of the 1st work week, I honestly sat down and bawled. Mike felt so bad :( and I felt so guilty for making him feel bad :(
The week sucked, I'll admit it. I felt so negative, blah! I hate being that way! But once the weekend came, I kicked Lil' Miss Negative to the curb and ran, lol!
Dad was too busy on the weekend before, so we were celebrating his birthday this weekend. Time to be happy...so of course we headed to Happy Valley! It opened in Beijing on July 10th and it's a really cool roller coaster park.
Bryant & Dad are (a bit) older than Mike & I, lol, so they didn't go on any of the coasters. They were scary! I still can't believe I went on them!
Happy Valley pictures!
There was one called "Crystal Wings" that tilts you and flies you all around. I just about had a heart attack! The worst part was the waiting in line. You had to watch everyone else going before you :S Another one we were on was "The Odyssey"...like a bizarre tunnel of love with one-eyed monsters & giants, then two huge water drops that scare the crap out of you & soak you head to toe!
It was cool, can't wait to go back :) and just before we left, I posed with each letter in the word "HAPPY", then got tired and just sat on the "L" in "VALLEY"...wheeeee! My favorite is with the "Y".
Week 3 (Sept.11-17) - I don't remember the week, but I went to Ritan Park on the weekend...
Hmmm...so busy that I forget almost everything I did at school :S Mike & I did begin taking Mandarin lessons on Thursday evenings. I'm doing pretty well, but I've been praticing as much as I can. Everywhere I go I try to use it. So when I see the cleaning ladies, the guards, or visit the stores across the street, I greet them and try out my new words & sentences. Mike...hmmm, I'm not sure about him. He doesn't seem to be as committed to it, but we'll see. He'll probably be better than me by the end of the year, lol!
I do remember going biking with Mike & Dick and having a bit of a traffic incident, lol! We got to this intersection and it was blocked by a long truck. I, of course, decided to inch my way pretty close to the truck, so that when it finally could move I would be ahead of the traffic behind me. Well, it did move. And on the other side of it, I had 5 cars and a bus barreling towards me, with an impatient bus and tons of cars behind me. Mike & Dick had a good laugh as I screeched (um, too loudly) and hauled out as fast as I could, lol!
Dad & I went in to Beijing on Saturday for office supply shopping at the O-Mart, but while we waited for it to open, we went to Ritan Park close to the Friendship Store at Jianguomen. Such a pretty little spot. Everyone was in the park doing morning activities, like taichi, yoga, kite-flying, rockwall climbing, hackysack, fishing... pretty much any physical thing you can think of (except you-know-what!)...there were also people playing traditional Chinese instruments, so the atmosphere was active & spirited. I really didn't feel like I was in the center of one of the busiest cities in the world.
Pictures from Ritan Park :)
At the O-Mart, Dad & I had to pick up tons of materials for some of the students at our school. They needed art supplies for some Terry Fox projects. Sixty rolls of packing tape! Hmmm, what for? You'll see...
Week 4 (Sept.18-24) - Terry Fox Events at BCCSC & in BJ
The students from the Student Union at BCCSC made some amazing art! Every day, I look around my school and am in awe of the talent I see. They paint, sculpt, play beautiful music...but they really put their best out there for our Terry Fox events.
They created a life-sized Terry Fox out of newspaper, packing tape & a little foam board. They also made beautiful posters to promote our fundraising activities. I smiled as I saw their commitment to this cause...every year this commitment is passed on to the new Grade 10 students at BCCSC. Terry Fox, to them, will always be a young person who did so much for so many people around the world.
We sold pizza (which the students will be having next week)& three teachers had their heads shaved by the top fundraising classes. And we had "Pie your Teacher" for 100 RMB.
Mike's got no hair! LOL! Actually, he's got no hair on the top of his head, but he kept the beard :) All the kids were floored that the teachers did it! I wanted to shave mine...but it's not my hair at the moment...it's Cathy's, lol...I don't think she would forgive me for getting rid of my hair before her wedding. Mike said it would grow back by that time, but I think it would still be really short. Plus a bald chick in China...hmmm, I already stand out enough, lol!
After the shaving, ten teachers got the splat! Beautiful orange cream pies with cherries on top! At first, the students thought 100 RMB was expensive, but they pooled their money...we sold every pie! I thought I was going to get away without getting pied, but one kid finally caved to my taunting & rubbed it in really good! Yuk! But a fun yuk for something great! Terry Fox wheeeeee!
Saturday, Sept. 23rd was the Terry Fox Run Beijing! About 10 of the teachers went in :) ...but the best part was the student turnout! More than 450 students came, that's like 45% of our school's population! We covered them with tattoos, stickers, etc...then ran the 8km from Workers' Stadium to the cancer hospital. Feet were stiff after, but it felt like such a great finish to all the fundraising. The other great thing was that the chairman of our school matched everything the students raised. Our final total is 34,150 RMB! Better than last year :)
Just a short rest...next year's collection begins at Christmas.
Terry Fox Event Pics can be found here.
...and now? what's ahead for Mike & I?
One more week of teaching, then it's the October holiday. They call it a "Golden Week" (the other one is in May)...next week is Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, so people give & receive mooncakes and spend time with family. Mike, Bryant, Steve & I will be travelling around Southeast China by train & boat. We're going to see Hangzhou, Suzhou and some of the lakes & cannals nearby. I can't wait for Mike to see Suzhou, it's one of the loveliest places in China.
It has been almost a month since I last posted :( Life has been crazy busy :S But it's no excuse...I'm going to try to be better. I have been regularly posting pictures to my Flickr site, but no stories here.
Here's the rundown:
Week 1 (Aug.28-Sept.3) - Military Camp Week
Time to break in the new Grade 10 students, lol! Honestly, these kids amaze me with their endurance. Monday thru Thursday (in the humidity), their days began at 6am and didn't end until 9pm. Marching, running, yelling...with breaks for lunch, English for two hours in the afternoon, then another break for supper.
The opening ceremony was a bit funny. They hadn't learned anything yet so their motions were sloppy & all over the place. But by Friday morning, for the closing with their parents, they were sharp, loud & pretty proud of themselves. It's like frosh week or hell week in North America.
The week for me was spent team-teaching with Bob (one of the new teachers). We had a class of all new Grade 10 boys. They were a handful, but they were so much fun, and they managed to stay awake with all that training going on. Some of the other teachers weren't so lucky.
At the end of the week, almost all of us went in to Beijing to hang out & have supper. We went to this traditional Chinese hotel with beautiful grounds...it was like stepping back in time :)
This week's photos can be found here.
Week 2 (Sept.4-10) - Teaching! Too much to do...but we went to Happy Valley on the weekend!
This year, my schedule is H- E- double hockey sticks, grrrrrr! What did I get myself into? They wanted me to do so much that I actually cried, how sad is that?
I'm the Administrative Assistant in the Canadian Office this year & the only Teaching Assistant in the school. But I'm also teaching English to the Korean students & Hospitality English to the post-secondary (community college) students. I also manage the Chat & Homework Help rooms after school. On top of all that, they also wanted me to teach regular English to the post-secondary students, two evening periods with the Korean students each week and direct their weekend program. I may be amazing, but I can't add more hours to the day! lol!
As it stands now, I teach 14 periods per week, plan for all those classes, and every free moment I have I spend helping everyone in the office at the admin desk. Most times I have to go in an hour or two early to get my planning done because the teachers come after me the second they walk through the door. At the end of the 1st work week, I honestly sat down and bawled. Mike felt so bad :( and I felt so guilty for making him feel bad :(
The week sucked, I'll admit it. I felt so negative, blah! I hate being that way! But once the weekend came, I kicked Lil' Miss Negative to the curb and ran, lol!
Dad was too busy on the weekend before, so we were celebrating his birthday this weekend. Time to be happy...so of course we headed to Happy Valley! It opened in Beijing on July 10th and it's a really cool roller coaster park.
Bryant & Dad are (a bit) older than Mike & I, lol, so they didn't go on any of the coasters. They were scary! I still can't believe I went on them!
Happy Valley pictures!
There was one called "Crystal Wings" that tilts you and flies you all around. I just about had a heart attack! The worst part was the waiting in line. You had to watch everyone else going before you :S Another one we were on was "The Odyssey"...like a bizarre tunnel of love with one-eyed monsters & giants, then two huge water drops that scare the crap out of you & soak you head to toe!
It was cool, can't wait to go back :) and just before we left, I posed with each letter in the word "HAPPY", then got tired and just sat on the "L" in "VALLEY"...wheeeee! My favorite is with the "Y".
Week 3 (Sept.11-17) - I don't remember the week, but I went to Ritan Park on the weekend...
Hmmm...so busy that I forget almost everything I did at school :S Mike & I did begin taking Mandarin lessons on Thursday evenings. I'm doing pretty well, but I've been praticing as much as I can. Everywhere I go I try to use it. So when I see the cleaning ladies, the guards, or visit the stores across the street, I greet them and try out my new words & sentences. Mike...hmmm, I'm not sure about him. He doesn't seem to be as committed to it, but we'll see. He'll probably be better than me by the end of the year, lol!
I do remember going biking with Mike & Dick and having a bit of a traffic incident, lol! We got to this intersection and it was blocked by a long truck. I, of course, decided to inch my way pretty close to the truck, so that when it finally could move I would be ahead of the traffic behind me. Well, it did move. And on the other side of it, I had 5 cars and a bus barreling towards me, with an impatient bus and tons of cars behind me. Mike & Dick had a good laugh as I screeched (um, too loudly) and hauled out as fast as I could, lol!
Dad & I went in to Beijing on Saturday for office supply shopping at the O-Mart, but while we waited for it to open, we went to Ritan Park close to the Friendship Store at Jianguomen. Such a pretty little spot. Everyone was in the park doing morning activities, like taichi, yoga, kite-flying, rockwall climbing, hackysack, fishing... pretty much any physical thing you can think of (except you-know-what!)...there were also people playing traditional Chinese instruments, so the atmosphere was active & spirited. I really didn't feel like I was in the center of one of the busiest cities in the world.
Pictures from Ritan Park :)
At the O-Mart, Dad & I had to pick up tons of materials for some of the students at our school. They needed art supplies for some Terry Fox projects. Sixty rolls of packing tape! Hmmm, what for? You'll see...
Week 4 (Sept.18-24) - Terry Fox Events at BCCSC & in BJ
The students from the Student Union at BCCSC made some amazing art! Every day, I look around my school and am in awe of the talent I see. They paint, sculpt, play beautiful music...but they really put their best out there for our Terry Fox events.
They created a life-sized Terry Fox out of newspaper, packing tape & a little foam board. They also made beautiful posters to promote our fundraising activities. I smiled as I saw their commitment to this cause...every year this commitment is passed on to the new Grade 10 students at BCCSC. Terry Fox, to them, will always be a young person who did so much for so many people around the world.
We sold pizza (which the students will be having next week)& three teachers had their heads shaved by the top fundraising classes. And we had "Pie your Teacher" for 100 RMB.
Mike's got no hair! LOL! Actually, he's got no hair on the top of his head, but he kept the beard :) All the kids were floored that the teachers did it! I wanted to shave mine...but it's not my hair at the moment...it's Cathy's, lol...I don't think she would forgive me for getting rid of my hair before her wedding. Mike said it would grow back by that time, but I think it would still be really short. Plus a bald chick in China...hmmm, I already stand out enough, lol!
After the shaving, ten teachers got the splat! Beautiful orange cream pies with cherries on top! At first, the students thought 100 RMB was expensive, but they pooled their money...we sold every pie! I thought I was going to get away without getting pied, but one kid finally caved to my taunting & rubbed it in really good! Yuk! But a fun yuk for something great! Terry Fox wheeeeee!
Saturday, Sept. 23rd was the Terry Fox Run Beijing! About 10 of the teachers went in :) ...but the best part was the student turnout! More than 450 students came, that's like 45% of our school's population! We covered them with tattoos, stickers, etc...then ran the 8km from Workers' Stadium to the cancer hospital. Feet were stiff after, but it felt like such a great finish to all the fundraising. The other great thing was that the chairman of our school matched everything the students raised. Our final total is 34,150 RMB! Better than last year :)
Just a short rest...next year's collection begins at Christmas.
Terry Fox Event Pics can be found here.
...and now? what's ahead for Mike & I?
One more week of teaching, then it's the October holiday. They call it a "Golden Week" (the other one is in May)...next week is Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, so people give & receive mooncakes and spend time with family. Mike, Bryant, Steve & I will be travelling around Southeast China by train & boat. We're going to see Hangzhou, Suzhou and some of the lakes & cannals nearby. I can't wait for Mike to see Suzhou, it's one of the loveliest places in China.
# posted by Kirsten (of course!) @ 7:25 p.m.
