01.31.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:29 pm by Ann
I really wanted to write today about my trip to the spa yesterday and my trip to the Buddhist Temple today….but I just can’t! I have to admit I am so excited to go home!!! I spoke to Amie and Megan this week and I just can’t wait to see them. Amie said they are planning a party for us when we return! Oh man I can’t even think about it because I am too excited!!! Our parties are the greatest! I have tried to give my students a couple of great parties but nothing can come close to the partie we neighbors have had!! I just know the food will be fantastic the drinks will be tasty and the company will be AWESOME!!! I hope we have snow so we can all go for a midnight sledding extravaganza!!! I can’t wait to tell my friends back home all of my great stories from Wuhan. I can’t wait to tell them about my students and the crazy foreign teachers….I can’t wait to tell them about the food, the pollution, my bicycle….all of it. hahahhahahhaha I doubt they are even half as excited as I am =) As much as I will miss everyone here in China….I am equally excited to see my friends back home. Everyone better get ready to sit through HOURS of video and HUNDREDS of pictures!! ahhahahah Great FUN!!!
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01.30.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:39 am by Ann
CC and I have been preparing ourselves to say good bye. We are definately excited to go home….but we will also be sad to leave. We have been saying “oh I will miss this when I go home”…..so here are a few things we have mentioned recently.
Oh I will miss……..when I go home
Our family, my students, my coworkers and the foreign teachers, CC’s teachers and friends, riding our bicycle everywhere, walking everywhere, saying hello to all of the neighbors every morning, the bun guy, the back street, the shopping, baby butts, the prices of everything, the tai chi nai nais, riding the bus, cheap taxis, facials every week, freshly roasted peanuts from the backstreet, roasted sweet potatos from the street vendors, candied fruit kabobs, traditional chinese cool things, and welll……lots of things!
BUT….here are some things we can’t wait to see, eat or do back home!
We love……from back home!
Our family and friends, fresh herbs, cheese pizza, the fire place, our own beds, CC’s school, chicken wings, a good haircut, HBO, sports, CC can’t wait to buy a puppy!, TARGET, cooking and baking, a yummy martini, CC wants us to have a baby too!! hahahahahh well there are lots of things to look forward to coming home. Can’t wait to see everyone and tell you all of our cool adventures!
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Posted in Uncategorized at 3:23 am by Ann
Yesterday CC and I went to the Wuhan Zoo. Now….James and Thomas were supposed to join us but they were both too hungover from partying the night before!! hahahahahhaha the foreign teachers are having so much fun! Anyhow the Zoo was great. The weather was fantastic….sunshine…not too cold….just perfect for spending the day walking around outside. CC and I were the typical tourists and had to watch every show, take our picture with a panda and see everything the zoo had to offer. There were many animals on exhibit….lions, tigers and bears “oh my” (you knew that was coming didn’t you ahhahaha)….but also they had rhinos, zebras, elephants, kangaroo and our all time favorite the Giant Panda! Just wonderful to see the Panda sitting there eating his bamboo. They also have a dog exhibit, known as The Small Beast House!! hahahhahahah so their small beasts were….dalmations, german shephards, a basset hound, laso apso, pekinese and two of the cutest little pugs I have ever seen! I can’t wait to get home and buy a puppy for CC!!! We watched a show with two sea lions….very funny and a show with tigers jumping through hoops and bears on roller skates. CC was able to feed the monkeys and pigeons too. We were at the zoo for about 5 hours. We ended our day with a dinner trip to Gianos….the best pizza in Wuhan!! CC ate 4 pieces of pizza….a strawberry milk shake and some french fries!! hahahahahahah I couldn’t believe she ate that much. When we got home (about 8:30) CC tried to convince me that she wasn’t tired. I told her to just lay down and close her eyes for a minute and we would see….hahahah she was asleep before I even got up to turn off the light!!! So cute!
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01.29.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:53 am by Ann
Yes I will have to say good bye to the foreign teachers also! I will miss those guys….dang we have had fun. This week we have been spending a lot of time together. Everyone is getting ready to go home or to move on with their careers here in China. David will stay here at WUSE, Bill will continue to work for the Holmesglen program here at WUSE, Andy will go home to America for a month and come back here to WUSE, Barry is moving on to a different college here in Wuhan, James and Thomas will both go back to England. I think I was so lucky to have this bunch of crazy foreigners to work with. The best thing about everyone is they can dish out a lot of crap but they can take it to!! I think I have met some of the greatest bullshitters in the world!! We all give each other a hard time but we all care about each other too. That is pretty cool.
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01.25.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:24 am by Ann
It is getting more and more difficult!!! The students are all going home….so everyday I get a few text messages saying good-bye….ugh….so sad. Great great great young people. I can’t say enough about them and I know I have said that many times on here. I dont’ think any other group of students will ever match this group. They all went above and beyond to make me feel at home in China. Oh how do I ever say thanks enough!! Also I have been going around campus saying good bye to the other staff and employees. You know saying good bye to the security guard who says good morning to me every day with a big smile, saying good bye to Ann in the office who has been so helpful to me, Lin Li who is just an incredible woman to work with, the gals in the office, Mrs. Zao, the manager of the canteen, the woman who cleans the street and always welcomes me with a big smile, the fried rice guy on the back street, the coffee house girl who makes my coffee special, and so many more! All of these people have touched my life….every single one of them….wow how do I ever show my gratitude. The best thing about China now is that I no longer feel like a tourist….but I feel at home. All of these people have welcomed me and helped me to learn about their own heritage and culture. That is pretty awesome and something I will always be thankful for!!!
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Posted in Uncategorized at 9:14 am by Ann
Well my students and fellow foreign teachers helped me to celebrate in style! Holy Crap what a party. I am so incredibly spoiled here. My students showered me with flowers and gifts…..just so overwhelming. I don’t even know how to thank them all. Of course Barry and Chris brought a bottle of Tequila (complete with salt and lemon), James and Thomas a bottle of Rasberry Vodka (tasty tasty) and David wrote a birthday wrap song just for me (Ann Loves like a woman but drinks like a man) ahahhahahahh sounds almost like a beer/deodorant slogan! Well it was fun….so freaking fun. I stayed until 3am….but I heard they partied until about 4 or 5.  A few of the Chinese teachers joined us also…Bruce and his girlfriend Ivy and Phillip and his girlfriend Fairy. I will have to get the pictures on here quick!! They are great….so beautiful.
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01.22.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:47 pm by Ann
hahhahahahah what a title huh?? That just begs for people to read it!! Well I am trying to stay positive….but honestly….it is getting harder and harder every day. Every day we get closer to leaving. It is hard for me to sit at the dinner table…..I just try to soak in every second of Yulin’s parents (and entire family) enjoying their time with CC. THIS really is a treasure….I can’t explain it….maybe I am just an emotional wierdo…..but I keep thinking….I want to remember how Yea Yea laughs at CC and how Nai Nai teases her a bit…..I want to remember all of this….to share with Yulin and CC. I am thankful that I have these memories. I want to cherish them. When the whole family is sitting around the table laughing…..they are all speaking Chinese….and I don’t understand a word….but I understand it all. It is pretty amazing. I dont’ expect all of you to get all warm and fuzzy when you read this….I am just being honest. One day we were walking to the market….and Yulin’s parents were just completely healthy and happy….just full of life and enjoying every second with CC…..I had to stop for a minute and just breath in the entire experience. How fortunate I am….please please please let CC remember every second of this experience. Of course that won’t be the case…..so I will have to remember for her….and I will have to share all of our good times, bad times, funny times, tears and laughter….all of it. I know I am trying to hang on to it all……because it is an experience I never want to forget. Ok….I am finished rambling for tongight.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 12:36 pm by Ann
The big 39…..gosh can you believe it?? I certainly can’t! Let me be honest. I love my life…..I absolutely believe that women get better with age. I am so thankful for those really shitty years in my 20’s. It is difficult for young women…..really. But every single year I feel like I am a better woman. Ok….so I have more wrinkles, I definately don’t have my 28 year old tight body building body, I have had a baby, my hair isn’t as nice as it use to be, I’m not all hip and trendy……but DAMN I FEEL GOOD!!! hahahahahha you know the older we get ladies the more we learn about life and THAT is sexy as hell!!!! I have had such a great experience working with these young women who are about to take on the world……I was there once and I keep thinking how lucky I am to have had the experiences I have had. Every accomplishment, every achievement, every goal conquered, every failure, every misfortune, every insecurity, every challenge…….all of it…. has contributed to who I am today. So at age 39 I feel better than I ever have. As a woman this is a great feeling. Thank you all who have been wishing me happy birthday!! I am lucky to be here in China to celebrate…..and also let me tell you that I have a lot to be happy about. My wish this year really isn’t a wish at all….but a bit of looking inward to who I have been…..who I am now and who I will be…..pretty cool….to be so excited about my future….now. I am woman here me roar!! hahahahahahahahahah
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01.20.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:21 am by Ann
You know…each time I come to Wuhan I meet more and more foreigners. The first trip in 2000 I met one single foreigner….and the people of Wuhan were amazed at seeing me. Now….it is quite common to see foreigners….there are several here in Wuhan. Now Wuhan is a city of 8 million people so they are still few and far between but more than there have ever been. So I have met a handful of foreigners here during this trip. There are some things that I have come to realize about foreigners…..they can be quite spoiled and snobby. This week I met an older gentleman from Australia….he asked me how I liked Wuhan and of course I said “I love Wuhan, the people, my students, the staff…etc etc”. He goes on to tell me how “unimpressed” he is with the place. He criticized the hotel, the food, the people….everything. This same man also had taken a lovely young Chinese woman out on a date and she refused to kiss him good night. I hate this kind of guy…..let me just be honest right now. First I hate when someone travels to a foreign country and has such a shitty attitude. He complained about no restaurants having a fork…..well of course not you snob….we eat with chopsticks in China. Don’t come to a foreign country if you aren’t planning to learn about that culture. This is common….we are spoiled in western cultures….too spoiled! I am tired of foreigners telling me how “undeveloped” China really is and how far they have to go. Why??? why do they have to go any farther??? Tell me this mr or mrs foreigner….China has been around for THOUSANDS of years with BILLIONS of people….why do they have to learn from us almighty westerners…..maybe we “developed” westerners need to humble ourselves a bit and learn from them. Well I have decided that from now on I will not shrug my shoulders when I meet a foreigner that says something so rude…..I am going to speak my mind! Yes we are “developed” materialistically in the west but we have a long way to go in humility.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:06 am by Ann
This week was a very important week for my Holmesglen students. They are all testing to move up to the “Diploma” class. They have been working hard for this and I really hope they do well. It is quite funny because in China it is pretty common to cheat during exams. So we westerners had to watch them closely to keep them from cheating!!! Well I kept thinking to myself….how much could they cheat anyway…and if they needed to cheat they had no chance of passing…you just can’t cheat in speaking or writing English really. Most of my students are great….so I didn’t worry about them at all. Most of my students deserve to be promoted anyway…..and I was frustrated that everything is based on this ONE test and ONE introduction with a woman named Mary from Australia. How could this be an accurate assessment of their english. Well we will see how they do. I am sure their will be plenty of smiles….and plenty of tears….because unfortunately not everyone will pass.
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