11.19.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:35 am by Ann
Thursday November 23 is Thanksgiving….and while most of you are stuffing yourselves with turkey, cranberries and pumpkin pie…CC and I will be here in China just pluggin away with business as usual! I will teach two classes (about 4 hours in total) and will spend time with CC at her school. We will read a story and do some type of craft. I plan to talk about thanksgiving this week to my classes…..and maybe have some of my famous pumpkin pie. I have tried just a little cooking here in China and each time has been a mini disaster!!! ahhahahahahah I hope my pumpkin pie turns out better than my roasted veggies and caramel apples!!! We will see how that goes.
I guess it doesn’t matter where I am living ….I have a lot in my life to be thankful for. I am thankful for the incredible family that I have home in America. especially my sisters and mother….they are the greatest. I am lucky to have a family that has been so loving a supportive through the years. I am thankful to have such an incredible husband. Yulin is the absolute best and I have grown to appreciate and love him more and more every day. I am very thankful to be blessed with such and incredible daughter. What a joy she is in my life and I feel so fortunate for that. I am thankful to have such a great family here in China. Yulin’s family has made me feel so comfortable and at home here. How lucky am I to have that!!! I am thankful for my friends…..all over the world. What an incredible blessing to have so many generous and loving people from all over the world that I call friends. And lastly I am thankful to be right here in China. What a great experience this has been for me. Yes I am away from “home”…..but they say “home is where your heart is” and right now my heart is in China. When I decided to come here I decided to give it my all….and I am so thankful that I have. Just look at the incredible people that are in my life because of this adventure. So many incredible students, friends and co-workers……an understanding of my husband and his heritage on a level I never would have known…..a deeper love and appreciation for our family. All of this from one trip…..and all of this to be greatly thankful for.
So for those of you who read this…..my friends, family, students, husband, co-workers and even if there is a stranger or two =) THANK YOU…..for your presence in my life. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!!!
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Posted in Uncategorized at 6:13 am by Ann
Last week I played American music for my students on the old campus. Here is what I played.
Sunshine on my shoulders-John Denver
Party for two-Shania Twain
Big Balls-AC/DC
Dirty Deeds-AC/DC
Ooooh Child-I dont’ know who sings this
Getting Jiggy With it-Will Smith
You Gotta Be-Desiree
Rockin Robbin-Not sure who sings this
Kyles mom is a big fat B**CH-Kid Rock (South Park Soundtrack)….this is the only naughty “wrap” song I had
Hmmmm? I think that is it. I will play some Christmas music for them in December!!
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Posted in Uncategorized at 6:08 am by Ann
So CC and I were riding our bicycle home from school one day. This is something we absolutely love. Our bicycle is great and we both smile whenever we are riding it. Anyhow….we were almost home when we noticed a truck on the sidewalk. This truck wasn’t anything special….as a matter of fact for some reason it made me think of Denny W’s truck with the No More Bushit bumper sticker. Well as we got closer a man came to the front of the truck. This man was dressed in plain clothes and looked like just about every other Chinese man on the street that day. What made him different was that he was carrying an automatic rifle/machine gun of some type. It scared the hell out of me. I said “oh my god he has a gun”…..so I put the bicycle on the sidewalk and started pedalling as fast as I could. He followed us…. “what the hell is he doing”?? I said “hey dont’ point that thing at us”…..and was pedalling like crazy. Well CC said don’t worry mommy it is a toy. I didn’t want to stop to find out. I looked back and he stayed there. I thought he was possibly part of a gang that was robbing the bank or market close by. Well when I told this story to Yulin he kind of laughed and said “honey it was probably a money car”……what??? YOu mean money cars in China have No More Bushit bumper stickers?? hahahhahahahaha well they just look like plain ol’ everyday cars here in China!!! So I have had a good laugh and a good scare all in one bicycle ride =)
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Posted in Uncategorized at 6:01 am by Ann
A few weeks ago I had an exciting day in campus (old) canteen. The lunch time experiences had been going pretty terrible and I was basically eating plain rice everyday for lunch. Finally my Jie Jie (yulin’s sister) met James and myself one day for lunch and tried to educate us on ordering!! She explained we should order something that is 4-6 yuan. It will be hot and tasty. That day we ordered spicy chicken….it was hot and tasty. Well the next day James and I were on our own. James pointed to something that was 5.5 yuan….she said niu rou. I said BEEF….I know that word….it is beef. So James said yes. I pointed to something that was 6 yuan (this must be even better I thought)….she said niu dou (sounded like noodle) I said “noodle”? and she nodded her head. I thought she was trying to speak english to me and was telling me it was a noodle dish. So I said yes…I will take it. Well we watched them make it…..and James’ plate looked tasty…..beef with veggies on a sizzling plate of rice….damn I should have gotten that I thought!!! Well here comes my noodles…..I thought. It wasn’t noodles at all…..it was basically the same as James….veggies….sizzling rice….hmmmmmm???? but what is this meat???? Hmmmmmm???? it was rubbery and fuzzy. I took a bite but couldn’t stand the feeling of it…even still I tried a few pieces. YUK I can’t eat this. Well the veggies were great so I pushed my fuzzy rubbery meat to the side and ate the veggies and sizzling rice. James of course had to tell me how great his beef was.
Sooooo that night at dinner I tried to explain to Jie Jie and Jie-Fu what I had eaten. I kept saying niu dou??? they couldn’t understand my Chinese…..so I drew what it looked like on a piece of paper. They busted out laughing…hahahhahahahahhhaha…what what what???? I kept saying “what in the hell did I eat today”. Well it turns out that niu dou is Beef….SOMACH!!! yup that was it. Rubbery and fuzzy beef stomach. =)
Well needless to say I have had a lot of help from my students on the old campus lately. They are all trying to help me to order….how funny for them to hear their crazy American teacher eating cow stomach when I thought I ordered noodles!!! hahahahahahahh This kind of stuff is what makes me love my experience here.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:44 am by Ann
Well I have been without internet access for about a week now. So I have tons of emails to respond to and I have neglected this blog a bit……so sorry!!! This week has been very busy and I am not sure why I have no internet on campus. I do have internet here at home so I will try to get caught up today (Sunday). Yesterday we went shopping and I bought lots of stuff for myself!!! I was so excited to actually fit into some Chinese clothing!!! hahahahahhahah I have a few funny stories and many more pictures to add. So give me a day or two to get everything updated. It is so exciting to see my students speaking up! I know my friends back at home enjoy hearing from you too. I talked to Megan today for 1 hour and 40 minutes!!!! hahahahhahhahah thank you Megan for talking to me for so long!! Usually in America Megan and I would talk a few times every day…..so I miss her terribly. This time of the year Megan and I (and CC too) would put on our “dude magnet” hats and head over to the farmers market to buy a Christmas tree, a pine wreath and some spruce tops for our flower boxes!!!! Ugh I miss that. The air would smell like burning pine and they would have hot cider!! I think we would probably go in a few weeks right Megan??? Anyhow….I miss that. I have to go for now. Today CC and I are going to try to make pumpkin pie!!! Next week is Thanksgiving and I would like to share some with my students!!! I hope it works out. Bye for now!
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11.12.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:52 am by Ann
It has finally happened…..yes it is unbelievable but it really is true…..I have gotten an awesome cut here in China. As most of you know I have had some pretty scary experiences with hair cuts in China. Yesterday a few of my students (Candy, Phoebe, Vera and Mandy) escorted myself, CC and James to Hankou for a great haircut and some shopping. They recommended this salon and assured James and myself that we would have a nice haircut. Well I am really happy with mine! It can be done!! So the salon was really nice. First they wash your hair and massage your head for about 20 minutes!! Heaven. I was so relaxed that it didn’t matter what my haircut looked like =) and then the cut. Phoebe and Candy translated for me….they told the stylist I wanted layers. He said he was confident and could cut my hair (yikes I have heard that before)….anyhow….he did a great job. I think Christine would give it a thumbs up. I will have to see how it works out today….trying to style it myself.
After the haircut we went shopping and along the beach of the Yangtze River. It was really a beautiful day outside. The Yangtze river is pretty crowded with huge boats. We actually rode the ferry to cross it….cool! The beach is really rough and pretty polluted. There were many people flying kites and enjoying themselves. It was nice.
Yesterday the date was 11-11…..so they call it “Singles Day”. My students tried to explain but I don’t think I understand this holiday so well. It seems that it is a celebration of being single….but then it is celebrated by going out on a special date with someone…..sharing your feelings about someone special…..or even getting married. There were many brides and grooms on the beach taking photos. So…..I am a bit confused. It was lovely regardless. We had a nice day.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:27 am by Ann
Literally! My face looks awful!! ahahhahahahahah So I wasn’t paying much attention and tripped and fell….right on my face. I am scraped up pretty nice…..fat lip….scraped chin and scraped nose. BEAUTIFUL!!!! Ahhhh the pain. Well Yulin’s mom has given me some chinese medicine for it…..we will see what happens in the next couple of days. I am a scary sight right now. “I frighten small children” haahahahahah that is from Saturday Night Live…..Chris Farley. Anyhow……don’t anyone freak out when you see the pictures of me with a scary face…..it will heal soon….no worries.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:23 am by Ann
Friday was Jame’s 22 birthday. So we had a little party for him at my apartment and then a bunch of us went dancing at VOX. Many of my students joined us so they had the opportunity to see their crazy American teacher drunk and stupid!!! We danced and had fun that is for sure. Well I am a bit homesick because I can’t entertain here like I do in the states. For the party we had Pringles, peanuts, pistachios, beer, absolut vodka, captain morgans and Jim beam!! hahahhahahahah what a spread huh???
This was my first time going to VOX. James, Thomas and Barry have been there many times. They know the ropes I guess. I am getting too old to drink and party with 22 year olds that if for sure. Of course by midnight I was ready to go home!! hahahhahahahahah My students were so sweet to take good care of their teacher. I can’t tell you how sweet my students are. I just love them so much. It was good to see them dancing and having fun too. Hopefully James had a nice birthday.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:03 am by Ann
Last Saturday all of the foreign teachers were required to meet with the Hubei police. They needed to give us information about staying safe and not breaking the laws while we are in China. This meeting was very informative and a bit funny =). The first law they explained to us was in regard to religion. It is strictly forbidden to do any type of mission work here. I had heard a previous teacher here at the university would take her students to church with her and would give them crusifix’s or other religious gifts. This is strictly forbidden and she was actually arrested. Well you all know me and know this isn’t even an issue for me. The police officer (a very nice woman) explained the rules…..you can go to an approved church here in china but you can’t speak to anyone about your religious beliefs. She finished her sentence with “this is similar to your own country”. hahahhahahahhah that is so funny. In America of course we can speak about our religious beliefs anywhere we want….and I immediately thought of the man who used to come to my campus (UNI)…..he would drag a massive cross across campus and tell all of the students we were going to burn in hell. He would point at the girls and call us satans whores!! hahahahahhahahah I don’t think that guy would fare to well here in China =)
Another rule is no driving here in China!! hahahahhahahahah No problem there for me. Heck I don’t even like crossing the street!!! Everyone busted in laughter when she said this. I have been riding my bike….but only on the sidewalk….which this is enough dangerous driving for me!!
My favorite rule was: absolutely NO WHORING!! hahahhahahahah I had to laugh at that. Funny stuff. Of course I was trying to be polite but when I saw no whoring I just couldn’t stop laughing. She went on to say they discourage drunkeness and staying out later than 11:00pm. hahahahahh James, Thomas, Barry and Bill really got a laugh out of that one.
It was nice of the police to inform us of the laws. It will keep us safe. I can’t explain why I enjoyed it….it was just a meeting….but there have been many events like this that make me smile.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 12:20 am by Ann
Last Friday and Saturday all classes were cancelled and the college participated in the annual “Sports Meeting”. This is common in china and virtually every school (primary-college) participates in these events. Basically the entire campus comes together to compete in Track and field events. Students, faculty and staff all compete with each other. It was awesome to watch. The opening ceremonies were lovely. There is nothing I can compare this to in America because we don’t do anything like this. I let CC stay home from school that day so she could attend the event with me. Yulin’s sister and brother in law also went with us. I took many pictures and will send them off to Yulin today.
I think an event like this would be great in America. I just don’t think it would ever happen. The spirit of this event is really fun. People are competing but they are having a good time doing it.
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