Last days

It has come to my final days here in Beijing. I really have enjoyed this adventure and this screen of the film that is my life. Beijing is a very different place. I would suggest it to anyone looking for a different experience. However, anyone that has any type of breathing problem or is trying to stop smoking, it is not the place to be. Though there were times when I wasn't enjoying myself, the overall experience of being in this culture and traveling across the world has changed my life. I look forward to being home for a bit, but also to the next adventure. Hopefully this time, I will be in Costa Rica!

Wipeout!!

So today I just did some errands and paperwork type stuff. I had to go across town to do these things, but they had to get done. Anyway, it was a very hot day. Hot and humid, so needless to say I was sweating pretty much all the time while I was outside. I think I got some extra stares because of this, but whatever, I am never going to see these people again. So after a long day of doing things I finally got back to Xidan where I have to catch a bus to get back to the hostel. As I was coming out of the subway I saw the bus I needed at the bus stop and knew I wouldn't get that one, so I just kept walking towards the bus stop. Then I noticed that the bus was staying at the stop a littler longer than usual so I thought I might be able to make it. I started to run to try and catch the bus and didn't quite clear the step up right in front of the bus. WIPEOUT!!! In front of all the people on the bus and at the bus stop and it was rush hour. Quite embarrassing. My knee was skinned, but luckily there wasn't much blood. So that moment goes at the top of my most embarrassing moments list. :o)

Plans

Plans are always apt to change and so that is what my plans have done. Because China is so far away from everything I know and love, I have begun to look at staying and teaching in Mexico for a while. I have a couple of jobs that I am looking into in smaller towns there. Mexico is not far away, so friends and family will be able to visit me or me visit home during my holidays. So that is what I am looking at now, but plans being the nature that they are can very likely change.

Homsick

Yes, I am homesick. I miss everyone and everything about home so much. I was pleasantly surprised today when I realized I only have three weeks left when I had been thinking it was four weeks. I am not doing to much more as far as the tourist thing. I feel like I have pretty much been everywhere I really wanted to go and I am coming back anyway. At least that is the plan. I can't wait to see everyone!

I am glad that I have spent this time here. I have gained so much knowledge about myself and my surroundings. I do enjoy traveling, but I think three months in one place is the maximum. Of course if I find a steady job working for someone, then I will have to commit to more time than three months, but who is to say that I have to work for anyone? It is a thought I have seriously been thinking about recently. Why not start my own business here? Not right away of course, but once I am fluent in Mandarin, I think I could do it. And there isn't anything better than working for yourself.

Moving On

I have written TEFL a few e-mails asking them to respond, but guess what? They haven't. I am not surprised.

That aside, the rest of my stay here has been pleasant. I am staying in a lovely hostel that is situated in a historic hutong area. One of my favorite parts of the hostel is the courtyard where I can sit outside and just read or knit or make jewlery. I haven't been able to do this before in China because taking all that stuff anywhere is such a hastle. I am meeting people from all around the world and hearing all different languages.

I have made the plan to come back in September and work and take Mandarin classes. Right now, it is just a plan, but that is what I need. I still have a lot of things to work out, but as of today, I am coming back to China in September. It is one of the best places to continue teaching English. But who knows, I might find something I really like in the States too. I have direction and I am walking, but the road ahead is foggy and unclear. I am ready for my next adventure wherever it takes me.

The Program

TEFL is not a good program! On the website it says that you will get reimbursed up to $750 depending on how much your flight costs. There is no mention of having to teach 180 hours to begin with nor that working these 180 hours is a stipulation of how much you are reimbursed. Oh, and you do not find the 180 hours to work, but they find it for you. So, if they don't find you enough hours you don't get the money. The jobs that they do find you, you don't necessarily keep because the school has to like you and your teaching methods. They have to like your teaching methods even though you are not supposed to have any teaching experience, according to the website. They "prepared" us for teaching by giving us five days of teaching methods and having us prepare short lessons. So after having no previous teaching experience, we are expected to go into a classroom full of students and know exactly how to make them like us and how to get the material across in an easily understood fashion. I guess some people are just natural teachers, and I am not one of them.

The underlying message: If you ever consider going with TEFL, don't! DO NOT trust ANYTHING on the TEFL website!

End Of the Program

The TEFL program is coming to an end. I am sad to be parting with all the firends I have made in the program but I am not sad the program has ended. Let me just say that it is not the most organized. We encountered many problems throughout the program and it was not all it was hyped up to be on the internet. I don't know if it was the program itself or just the management, but there were some questions that we had that went unanswered by the program. It was a good way to travel, but I would not whole heartedly recommend the program.

In other news, I have about 7 weeks left here. I am going to be staying in a hostel for the first time. Online the place looks nice, but I haven't seen it in person. I am excited about staying and a little anxious. I will be totally on my own. It is going to be a new adventure inside this adventure.

The Great Wall and Lama Temple

Saying the Wall is Great is an understatement. It was astounding to say the least. I went on one of the most perfect days, cool in the morning and warm by the afternoon. The sun was high in the sky and there was a warm breeze blowing from the South. The air was so fragrant and clean. I couldn't stop wanting to take deep breaths so maybe I could clean my lungs out from all the smog of Beijing. There were some steep parts that I climbed and I am so proud of myself for doing it! It was so rewarding. The view was beautiful. The trees all over the mountain were in bloom and I could see the small towns at the base of the mountains. I learned that the mortar holding the stone together to build the Great Wall is nothing but rice and a plant. That combination was sticky enough to hold this massive structure. Of course now, when they restored parts of the wall they used cement, but you can tell where the original parts are because of the color of the mortar. To get down from the wall there was a taboggan ride that you could take so we did and it was a fun end to the afternoon. If you ever go to the Great Wall I strongly suggest the Mutianyu section. I think it is the best when comparing what my roommates say about the other parts.

I also visited the Lama Temple the same week. It is my favorite temple out of all the ones I have seen. That might be because it is one of the more active ones. There were people praying and lighting inscense. We listened to a group of monks chanting while they were sitting around a big statue of Buddha. There were a lot of different statues of Buddha, Monks, and Buddha's guards. The best part was seeing the 18m high Buddha that is carved out of one piece of sandalwood! It is in the Guiness Book Of World Records for 1990. It was so amazing. Apparently this kind of tree of this size is very rare and the Dahli Lama found one and bought it. It was transported to Beijing, but the Emperor thought it was too beautiful to make furniture out of so they carved the Buddha out of it and then they built the temple around it.

The Great Wall and the Lama Temple are two must sees if you ever come to Beijing. They were really beautiful sights.

An Update

Ok, so I haven't posted in a while so I thought that I would update everyone on what has been going on. As far as teaching goes, I haven't been doing much. I enjoy what little I do teach and there are currently some prospective jobs. I have been to a lot of places in Beijing. Last week we went to KTV which is karaoke. They sit your group in a private room and you select and sing songs for your friends. There were nine of us in all and we had a lot of fun, but some of us lost our voices because of it. I have not been to the Great Wall or the Lama Temple yet. I am going to the Lama Temple tomorrow, and hopefully the Great Wall this weekend. It hasn't been warm enough yet to make the trip to the Wall pleasant. I have been to a lot of markets, open air and closed, that are all very different from the US way of shopping. I have been to a couple of malls that only had designer stores in it, and they were too expensive for me even to think about buying something. Just for fun, Sam and I went into a Louis Vuiton store and were just looking around and we were followed the whole time by a salesman.

I have decided to stay a little longer and am now staying until the end of June, so I will have spent 5 months in Beijing. It is a good trip, but I don't think I would live here. Beijing is too polluted for me and there aren't enough trees or plants. I really enjoy teaching English and I think I am going to make it a career. What would be great is if I could get a job where I could live at home and sometimes travel for short periods of time. That would be my ideal job. I am working on attaining that goal.

Update

Ok, so at this point, which is about half way into the program, I am just getting into teaching full swing. I have been to: The Summer Palace, The Temple of Heaven, Beijing Zoo, The Silk Market, The Olympic Park, The Pearl Market, The Foreign Exchange Market, and a lot of street markets that sell various things. I have yet to go to two major places I want to go, The Forbidden City and The Great Wall. There are good days and bad days as far as smog goes. On the bad days, I try to limit walking outside, but I am really considering getting one of those face masks to wear. I wonder where they get them... So my heaviest day is 9-3 and then 5-6:40 and that is just one day a week so far. The rest are just 9-3 or 10-3 and I always have at least 1 1/2 hours to eat lunch. So it isn't that bad. I am keeping my weekend totally free so I can do some more sightseeing. Well that is the update right now. If anything exciting happens I will post.

First Day

Today was my first day of teaching a class. There were four different classes each with about 35 students. Two 1 1/2 hrs and two 1 1/4hr. classes. With a short break in between classes and a break for lunch. I tought the same thing to all four classes, so by the end of the day it got a little repititious, but I kept the class engaged and they were answering questions. Overall, I feel good about it. It was a long day on my feet. I think next week I am going to try and sit down more. It was a good experience and I liked the kids. I think they liked me. I got them to laugh :o)

Silk Market

Ok, so I went to the Silk Market which is this building with 6 floors of merchandise. Each floor is devoted to some kind of item and there are lots and lots of booths with vendors that are all trying to get you to buy their things and they are all pretty much selling the same stuff. So you can't just shop around, because if you stop and seem even mildly interested in something, they will not let you go. I made this mistake. I just paused while walking to look at a jade dragon and the woman came up to me and asked me how much i wanted to spend, which one i wanted and things like that. I didn't want it because I would have no use for it but I don't think they understand that. So every time I tried to walk away, she would grab me by my arm and pull me back and tell me that she would give me the New Year special or the friend special and reduce it by 10 qui. She wrapped it up for me and put it in a bag like I was going to buy it. Finally, she turned to get something and Samanthat, Anna, and I took the opportunity and just ran. It was crazy, but I plan on going back. Next time I will know better.

First Day of Class

Today is my first day of my teaching class. I am learning how to teach english. That was this morning. Then we got a two hour break for lunch where I went to a very tasty Thai restraunt. I am not sure what is planned for this afternoon. According to what I have been told, after this week we are going to be sent to different schools around the area to teach. It is a big city with a lot of people and cars. Until later...


P.S. Samantha says Hi :o)

Flight

As I sit in the Newark airport listening to children whining about being starving and having nothing to eat because they are currently serving breakfast and they want chicken nuggets and fries... My flight up here was interesting and beautiful. I thought I was going to miss my flight trying to get through security. It took longer than I had allowed. But it turned out to be fine. I got to the gate in plenty of time. So got onto this tiny plane and as we took off I saw the most beautiful sky. Right before the sun rises, the sky illuminates with all the brillant colors of the rainbow. It was so beautiful. And then when we were up in the air, looking down on the clouds was like looking at a blanket of white cotton. It was a short flight, and I got here in one piece :o) All is well.

Getting Ready

Ok, so I am getting ready to embark on one of the biggest adventures I have encountered in my life. I am going to Beijing,
China for a little over three months!! This will be the longest vacation and the farthest away from home I have ever been. This trip brings a lot of firsts for me with it: first time flying overseas, first time being out of the country, first time flying by myself (even if only for an hour), first time flying in a huge plane (a 777). So getting ready for this adventure is I think one of the harder parts. I have gotten my passport and my visa- that wasn't hard, but packing is another issue. I am not used to packing for long trips where I have to bring everything from sheets and towels to pens and notebooks. Of course I can buy things once I get there, and I know I will have to, but I need enough to at least get through the first night. I am sure I will get through fine, I just have to get over the fact that I can't bring my whole room with me. This is the beggining of logging my adventures in China. Zai Jian