Christmas in Shanghai

Christmas in Shanghai

Enjoy the pictures! We will add more as we take more.

Zach and Mikaela

We are in Shanghai!  We flew in this Friday night, and are going to spend the weekend here.  We booked into a simple, clean, small-roomed hotel, and are tired!  We will let you guys know more about our trip tomorrow.

So, Mikaela and I went for a walk today.

OK, I say went, but what I really mean is tried to went (if you catch my meaning).

It was a cold, but very sunny and clear day.  We were having a casual conversation as we got bundled up, walked out the door, closed it, and promptly realized we had both forgot the keys.  Our door is always locked from the outside.

Soo, we call our school translator, to see if she could call our property manager's office.  She said that she did not have the number on her, but reminded me I emailed her it.  No problem!  We have WiFi, and we are standing outside our door.  I jump onto my iPhone, and ... no signal.  Our door is steel, and about 4 inches thick.  The walls are concrete, and about 9 inches thick.  Our wireless router is through two walls.

Dang.  We next call our co-teacher, neighbor, and friend, Chris, and ask if he knew where the property manager's office was.  He says he will take a walk with us to figure out where it was located.  We went to the first guard shack, was redirected to another.

Now, our property manager, Mrs Wang, was really nice the first time we met her.  But, we since have found out she likes to scream at workmen, who scream back!  Well, when Chris starts asking if we could get a spare key, she comes in and starts yelling at the guard, who yells back, and she yells, he yells ... gah.

Well, to make a long story short (too late), the guard took us back to the guard shack by our apartment, and let us wait inside the warm building.  The two guards talked with us and Chris (through Chris translating), and both were from up north from a city called Harbin.  Harbin has awesome ice sculptures every year, but it is butt freezing!  Well, since they were both from near the Russian boarder, they said we looked Russian, and started saying how Russians are so beautiful (covertly, they were saying that Mikaela looked beautiful).

So, we got a locksmith, who was in our apartment in 30 seconds.  He was very nice, and we have his number in case that happens again!  Thus ended our short excursion.

Cold and STORMY is the forecast for today.  From now on the temp will no higher than freezing, an considerably below.  Also, the high humidity and slight wind means it is not just cold, but cold, wet, and windy.  Oh well, at least its pretty ...  I have posted a new album called Snow in Yantai on the right -->

Here is the link again:

Snow in Yantai


Cheers everyone!

Zach

Hello everyone!


So, I added links to pictures on the right hand side --->


Now, as we upload photos to those folders, they should update the links. This means that we will let you guys know when we have added pictures to each album, and you can just come here and click on the links. Let us know how well it works! Zach

Our Little Fruit and Vegetable Shop

3 green bell peppers...2.10 RMB ($0.33)

1/2 kilo of tangerines...3.30 RMB ($0.52)

1/2 kilo of cauliflower...2.10 RMB ($0.33)

1/2 kilo of snap peas...3.50 RMB ($0.55)

...no long lines and a friendly face behind the counter... gotta love this place!

Walking to Work

Bundle up to brave the wind. Take the elevator down to the first floor (the Chinese don't like having a "floor zero.") Walk out the door of our building into the crisp, cold air and swirling winds, and think again about how I need to invest in a puffy, down-padded jacket like everyone else. Walk through our security gate and down through our local village market place. Many others my age and older are hustling on foot, bicycle, and scooter to get to work. Many of the grandparents are already out and about with their adorable grandchildren for a walk.
I weave through the street sweepers with their aged, wrinkled faces and their swishy-scrapity traditional straw brooms. Once clear of the street sweepers, I smell a mix of delicious and fishy scents coming from the outdoor "fast food" breakfast sellers...their tables full of tasty-smelling breads and other interesting-looking items. A few people stop by the tables to pay for their breakfast and leave with a full plastic bag of food to be eaten later.
It is at the corner of our little village street, just past the local junk food kiosk and the salesmen with their table brimming with nuts of all kinds for sale, I again reflect that I am so thankful to have a job, and to be teaching. I then turn the corner and walk down alongside the bustling Tianshan Lu. People driving fancy, black cars honk irritatedly at slower-moving 3-wheeled, motorized carts. Cars weave around each other, looking for a quicker route to their destination...although on the days when the traffic cops are out, most people behave themselves. To get to work, Changjiang Lu--another major road--must be traversed with care. Even when pedestrians have the green light, you have to watch out for those turning left onto Changjiang, and those turning right onto Tianshan, who also have a green light. Might makes right on these roads...so unless you are walking in the cross walk with a thick enough mass of people, you must let the turning cars zoom on by first, or risk having a really bad start to the day. As one of my friends said, it's kind of like playing Frogger! Once safely across Changjiang Lu, it's only half a block to the large, white gates of Yew Wah.
Just another walk to work.

First Bus Ride

I have finally taken my first step...onto the public transportation in China. Today I stepped into, paid my 2 yuan (roughly US $0.30) for, and jostled for a position on the bus. I think the 2 yuan to get across town totally beats the 40 yuan it is for a cab going the same distance...even if it does take double the time.
Now before you are too impressed, I did have friends with me who had been on the bus before, and could lead the way. Zach and I have taken the bus around Sacramento and San Francisco before, so I am not completely new to public transportation. But there certainly is something intimidating about trying it out in a foreign country. I was so thankful to have my friendly guides (or guiding friends?) with me.
Unfortunately, there were no seats available when we stepped onto the bus, and we did stand the entire 40 minute ride to our destination. This wasn't so bad for myself, with the exception that my arm was just exhausted after 20 minutes of gripping the hand holds above my head. It was a different experience for one of my bus companions, however. An elderly woman standing next to my friend found a comfortable head rest upon the arm of poor Steph. This went on for almost the entire trip, until Steph's utility as a human head rest was relieved by a man sitting next to said elderly woman who switched to leaning against the sitting man...and was practically sitting on his lap.
Yes, it was crowded, and yes, it was in some ways more of an effort than taking a cab, but all in all, it was not a bad experience. I will be taking the bus again--that I am confident of. Now I just need to convince a certain someone else to get on that bus someday!

New Apartments in China Video

Hello everyone! We have a new video uploaded to our photo site. This is a High Resolution version of our Apartment Tour video.

High Resolution Video


The lower resolution is still up, and can be seen here:

Low Resolution Video


Let us know which is better, if they load ok, etc. As always, we want feedback! You can reply to any of our posts, or message us through our blog. If you cannot post properly, email us at admin@thekoppers.com.

Zach and Mikaela

Blech!

Ate at the school "canteen" (i.e. cafeteria) tonight for dinner. Most everything was tasty. (Mmm...eggplant braised in soy sauce!) However, I can now objectively say that pig intestines are NOT good. (Ha ha...objective opinion...)
I pushed past the "egg balls" with my chopsticks and retrieved a delicious-looking piece of pork. It was indeed delicious. :-) I grabbed another piece of what I thought was pork MEAT, and popped it into my mouth. After one chew I realized that this wasn't meat. After a couple more chews, I was suspecting it wasn't a large piece of fat, either. And the taste...the taste...forgive my frankness,(skip to the next paragraph if you are grossed out easily), but it tasted the way old poop smells.

Yep, that piece of whatever was deposited into my napkin...politely, of course. Although I was told by a recent Chinese acquaintance that many Chinese people will--in the presence of closer friends--spit out whatever it is they don't care for with great gusto.
At the end of the meal, while conversing with my coworkers, a Chinese coworker at the table told us that it was pig intestines. He added that he didn't care to eat it because it was stinky!

Span-ese and Cell Phones

(Little bit of background for you: Besides yer' standard taxi cabs, many people also register their personal vehicles as taxis so that they may make more money through a second job as a driver. Rather than having a metered rate, you negotiate the fare with the driver before climbing in.)
Well, the first cab to pull up was a private driver. Usually we would shoo these away, but with our new-found power of knowing our numbers (up to 99), we decided to try negotiating. I showed the driver the destination, and asked him how much it would be. He said one number, which I initially translated as 60. I told him 50, and he agreed. I proudly climbed into the taxi with Zach, mentally patting myself on the back for being so capable. This feeling lasted for two blocks, when I began recalling what number the driver had said. Oh no! I thought, a fuzzy memory of him saying "s--shi." Had he said si shi? I was now pretty sure he had. And I instantly thought, upon hearing the first "s" sound, "seis," which is 6 in Spanish. With "seis" unconsciously rolling around my mind, I translated what he said as 60, instead of 40. I sat there in the cab, my sense of pride lost and replaced with the embarrassment of talking the driver UP instead of down. Oy vey! However, I did not lament after what happened next...

Shortly after stepping out of the cab at our destination, Zach's face fell. "I forgot my cell phone!"
"Where?"
"In the cab!"
The cab was out of sight. Zach quickly grabbed my cell phone out of my purse, and called his number again and again. Our friends (who had followed in another cab) showed up to our distressed faces craning left and right looking to see if the driver was anywhere to be seen. After three tense, long minutes we saw a familiar black Hyundai, and the driver smiling and waving at us on the other side of the street. Our driver's smile melted away the tension, and the busy intersection suddenly felt more friendly. Thankfully, there was enough of a break in traffic to allow me to dash across and retrieve the cell phone which our cab driver had heard ringing, and turned around to return it to us.
After a lovely day of not losing a cell phone, seeing the Museum, tasting Changyu wines, and walking along the shore, I can just chuckle at myself now. Just got to keep working on those numbers, I guess! And thanks a million to our driver today!

The Steps of Adventuring Out Futher

Inspired by the length of time granted to us for this month's national holiday, Zach and I decided to venture out further. Further into Yantai, that is! (We still are gathering up the courage [and know-how!] to travel outside of our beautiful seaside city.) After a lengthy internet search, "What to do in Yantai," we decided upon the Changyu Wine Cultural Museum. (Changyu is a very famous winery here in China, and was established in 1892!)
Step One--decide where to go--done.
Step Two: figure out how to get there. Okay, we can go by cab...but how to communicate how to get there? This is where the real footwork comes in. In Pinyin, the address is 56 Dama Lu in the Zhifu District. But which "dama"? (In Mandarin, most words have several varients based upon differing "tones" that will change the meaning. For example, if you use an upward tone on "ma," the meaning of "dama" can change to "marijuana.") We then searched an online Chinese/English word dictionary. 5 damas. Next, thanks to Google Maps, we found out what we thought to be the correct Chinese characters for Dama Lu, matched those with the characters in the online dictionary, and carefully wrote down the characters and practiced the correct pronunciation that we might convey our destination to the cab driver. Phew. Step Two...complete. Onward ho!
Step Three: Catch a cab...

Quick Update

I looked out of my classroom window the other day, and with great surprise noticed that the leaves on the (maple?) trees had suddenly changed from green to a muddled canvas of orange, brown, and yellow. Did it happen that quickly, or had I not looked--really looked--at the trees in a while? The air is now much colder, and the wind blows all day long. The weather has now officially taken a turn. Zach and I are on the lookout for a better comforter that will keep us warm at night until they turn on the heating in November. Thankfully, until then, Zach also knows how to switch our AC unit onto the heating setting. :-)
We signed the contract for the previously mentioned apartment on Thursday this last week. It feels good to have that all finished up. We were able to negotiate with the landlords for them to purchase a water "cooler" (that's what we in the US call it, but these actually have a tap for hot water and room temperature water), a small computer desk/table, 1 AC unit for the living room, a flat screen TV, larger stove, a microwave, and that we would repay the landlords for our monthly bills (much easier to repay one entity than worry about several bills in Chinese!) We will hopefully start moving this upcoming Thursday. The apartment is only about a block further away from the school than our current apartment, so walking to work is still an option. The thought of our new apartment is a bittersweet one. We are moving into a nicer place, but Yew Wah's teacher apartments will be no more. Bygone is an entire era for the expats here. We have heard stories of glorious barbeques and get-togethers at the "teacher apartments"...back when everyone lived close by. I hope that we will continue to develop our sense of community, even though we will be living in all different directions. We will see. Please pray that Zach and I will be able to develop some close friendships with others while we are here.

Apartment Search

Speaking of finding apartments, we found out this last month that we need to move out of our school-provided apartment. First, let me give you some background information: The school rents an entire building right down the street for staff dorms. Apartment buildings in China usually have a stairwell with an external door, and two apartments on each stair landing. So, for example, a 6 story building has 12 units in each stairwell. Buildings also have 2-3 stairwells in them, and each stairwell is called a unit. Our staff apartment has 3 units in it (A-C) with 6 floors. At the end of this last year, the school gave the option of moving off-campus to most teachers in the dorms, because they had a lot of new teachers coming in (us), and they were converting B-unit to dorms.

Now, the old dorms were actually on the campus, in one of the classroom buildings. But, they converted all of those to offices, and moved the students. After the school year started, they realized that they had much higher dorm enrollment then they were expecting, and told us that they were giving us the option of moving out. Normally, they don't give this offer to teacher who have been here for less than 2 years.

Now, they give us a housing allowance of about 24600RMB a year (about $320USD/month), which is more than enough to get a rather nice apartment off campus. In fact, the off-campus apartments are bigger and nicer than our current apartment, and slightly cheaper. So, we found an apartment on the 6th floor with a really nice layout, and are working with the school interpreter to negotiate all the details. Here in China, you can negotiate anything, and ask for anything in an apartment. For example, we asked for a water stand (for 5gal water bottles), 2 A/C units (small room-style), a computer desk, a flat-screen TV (common request now-a-days), and we would have asked for a much larger fridge, but their was already one in there.

Our apartment is fully furnished (very common), with nicer furnishings (not so common), a large bathroom (not common), with a showerhead which is NOT right above the toilet (VERY not common), a new washing machine, and lots of windows for natural light (also, not very common).

Seriously, what are the Chinese thinking? The bathrooms are really small, but I think they are designed for a squat toilet, which used to be common. But, when you install a showerhead, water heater, Western-style toilet, sink, washing machine, etc, then the bathroom becomes too small. But, size aside, why would the showerhead be installed over the toilet?

Now, heating in China is accomplished by hot water from a boiler pumped through pipes into each apartment, either through the floor (nice), or radiators (not so nice). Thankfully, our new apartment has floor heating, and is only 2400RMB for the whole winter, instead of 3000RMB like our current apartment.

So, we get a stipend for the rent, but we are responsible for heating fees, management fees (such as cleaning of the stairs, elevator power, external maintenance), gas, water, power, internet+phone, and cable (which we probably will not get). Overall, its a good situation. We will update you all as the negotiations take place.

Regularly Scheduled Life - In China!

Well now.

Its been an interesting couple of weeks.

First off, school has started. Mikaela is in full swing with the first graders, with about 14 40 minute classes a week, with the remainder filled with ESL small groups. The first graders in China are actually Kindergarteners, because they usually don't start school earlier than that. So, they are working on phonics, introductory conversation, simple words, vocabulary regarding our senses and body, etc. Mikaela has never really wanted to teach Kindergarten, and probably would not have taken the job if she knew. But, she is awesome with these kids, much more than she realizes.

The day lasts from 7:45am to 4:30pm, every day, including after school activities. Mikaela is starting a craft club, which will allow the kids to make crafts for an hour and 30 minutes every day. I (Zach) am going to be involved in either the mock UN club (woohoo!) or the Lower Secondary (grades 6-9) yearbook.

On the weekends, twice a month on Saturday a school bus takes the teachers to Jusco (a mall) or to Walmart/Metro. Metro is basically a German Costco, and has lots of Western type foods such as: cheese (Australian and German), bread, sausage (lots of Bratwurst!), chocolate (surprisingly hard to find here), expensive pasteurized shelf-stable German Milk (Chinese milk is NOT good), amazing beef from Mongolia (huge primal cuts), and many more things. The beef in the stores in not good, which is why Metro is so nice. We bought a beautiful 5lb sirloin roast for 120RMB, about 17 dollars. They also sell beef tenderloin primals (uncut filet mignon) for about 300RMB, about $40. We bought a large toaster over at Metro because Chinese apartments do not have ovens, and we have been baking in there.

Our small washing machine is really nice, because it washes clothes well, and quickly, and makes a cool jingle when it is done! We have gotten used to hanging up clothes, and once we worked out how much soap and fabric softener to put in each load, the clothes started drying quickly, and without a musty smell. Mostly, they don't wrinkle too much, and since we only wash with cold water (as it is the only option available), we never have to worry too much about sorting, or bleeding of colors. It is interesting, that when we were looking at apartments we put a large area to hang dry our clothes on the top of the list! More on our apartment search in our next blog post.

Rain, Rain!

It honestly seems like it has not stopped raining for two straight days!
And...(hang on a second...let me check the forecast...) they still predict rainstorms throughout the week 'til Sunday! During the first day of the rain, as I walked out my door, without my umbrella, my first thought was of a Chinese saying that my co-teacher taught me the other day: "It it rains in the morning, you will have sunshine in the afternoon!" So, walking down the stairs, I took that to heart and braved the light sprinkles falling from the sky. Unfortunately, I must have taken the saying too literally, because by 4:30 that afternoon (going home time), I was walking back to our apartment--becoming drenched--while my smug umbrella was sitting in its cabinet warm, snug, and dry. Believe me, today I did not forget that umbrella!
The array of student umbrellas with their canvases spread wide, drying on top of the lockers, looked especially artistic today. Flowers, blue plaid, and spring colors shone brightly out against the normally gray metallic scene of the hallway, and for a while hid someone's forgotten grass seed sock bear (I wonder if we will end up doing those in the spring?) We are enjoying the rain, and so far the students are holding up pretty well. Quite a few ran outside to play football (soccer) during the lunch break, that is, until I decided that we all were becoming too wet (forgot the umbrella in the classroom this time!)
Well, it is back to work for me...I know that you all are anxious to hear about the school, and I promise that is coming.

Finding ways to pass the time

Mikaela and I have been in China over two weeks now, and we are both pretty happy to have school start soon, which will be on the 5th of September. We have been enjoying exploring this city, learning about our new friends and fellow neighbors, and adjusting to life here. But, this last week we have been struggling with being bored. It is silly that one can be bored right after they move to a new country, but we simply do not have the energy or time to go out every day, nor do we have the language skills to direct a cab to those areas.

Mikaela and I feel we are in some sort of low spot, and maybe it just means we are at the end of our China honeymoon stage. I dunno. It is nice to get out and do something. Last night we went to Druid's Irish Pub here in Yantai, run by this Irishman named Pete. It was their three year anniversary, and one of teachers at Yew Wah, an Australian named Greg, was the musical talent and the M.C. Mikaela and I didn't win any of the prizes being given out, but one of our fellow teachers, Jaime (music teacher) won a cigarette lighter. Fun! We uploaded a bunch of pictures of Druid's to our photoblog.

Teacher orientation starts this next week, which is exciting! It is wonderful to be a part of a school community which is much more tight knit than a school community back home. How often do teachers in California have dinner with each other, drink with each other, go to beach together? We all have each other's cell phone numbers, know where each other resides, and are all willing and eager to go together to the grocery store (Jia Jia Yue), or to Wal-Mart, or something. We LIKE hanging out together, and we are open with who we actually are, and not fake. Our relationships are being built on more than half hour interactions in a lunch room.

Prayer requests for Mikaela and I are to be fulfilled by recorded sermons, at least in the short term, to find a church locally, and to be able to build a relationship with our Chinese neighbors. Again, feel free to share this blog with anyone, and don't be afraid to post comments!

Popcorn!

While heading down the brick path back home today, a literary figure stepped out of the pages of a recently read novel and parked himself in front of our apartment building: The Popcorn Man!
Before I even knew that my application was being considered by YWIES (Yew Wah International Education School) I had been reading an interesting-looking booked picked up from a pile at a high school rummage sale back in Turlock. The title was "Pearl of China" by Anchee Min. (Highly recommend it!) "Pearl of China" is a biography/historical fiction about the famous Pearl S. Buck, who forever changed both Chinese and American novel history...but that is another story! (Heh, heh...now you want to know more, right?) In the novel, Min recounts Pearl's childhood experience of the local popcorn salesman. Both Pearl and her best friend run out excitedly to watch the tradesman at work whenever he comes through town. The popcorn man puts the kernels in an oblong kettle, and turns the kettle 'round and 'round over a fire. Then, at just the right moment, one end of the kettle is removed and the kernels all pop at once with a deafening BOOM! Like the blast of a cannon, the fresh popcorn shoots into the awaiting long, cloth bag.
As we approached the apartments I first espied a woman selling plastic bags of popcorn in the shade...a little further away was a man turning some sort of black kettle over a flame, with corn husks scattered all about. I did not realize what was going on until my ears rang with the mighty blast of the "popcorn cannon" (as I think of it). I turned around with a excited smile on my face and shouted to my friends, "That's the popcorn man!!"
As I was cooling off in the apartment, I could not get that popcorn out of my mind. The kettle was booming outside, and there was a small sort of adventure to be had. Grabbing some small change, I hopped down the stairs to one of my new friend's apartment, and invited her to accompany me on the popcorn purchasing mission. She readily agreed, and we went on our way.
Okay, so, this must be said...I still am learning how to say numbers in Mandarin!! This makes buying anything without a predetermined price very difficult. ;-) I pulled out my coins (totalling 1.70 RMB) and showed them to the popcorn saleswoman. She wanted 2 RMB, which I am sure was a "western price," but having no ability to properly haggle, I agreed. My friend graciously ran back and got enough money for the both of us to buy what our eyes desired (which ended up being more than our stomachs could handle!) The saleswoman was very happy, and eagerly had us try the popped rice as well. In the end, we were all laughing and smiling...in spite of the language barrier, even. And we ended up with some pretty tasty popcorn. Tastes kind of like the Corn Pops cereal!

First Week Firsts

1. Cooking with an awesome wok
2. Eating tofu/bean curd and liking it!
3. Made our first friends
4. Took a cab to Walmart (in China!)
5. Visited and signed up for a membership with Metro, a German store analogous to America's Costco
6. Caused some smiles by saying thank you ("Xie xie")
7. Caught a mini sand crab at the beach in Yantai
8. Saw the world's largest ship-building crane http://www.yantai-raffles.com/index.php
9. We both caught a cold or flu
10. Used a Chinese pit toilet
11. Had an ultrasound during a physical examination to check out the health of our livers

If you don't go shopping, you don't eat!

Obvious statement, I know. But so true.
I awoke this morning with the anxious question, "What have I done??" running through my mind. We also awoke with our stomachs growling, as Zach and I had both fallen asleep around 4 PM the previous day, and had unintentionally missed dinner. What did we have to eat? Leftovers from lunch the other day, which were frozen through in our freezer...a choice of two Top Ramen-style noodle bowls, and 4 peaches. Our 5:30 AM breakfast that morning consisted of tea, 3 peaches and a shared noodle bowl. After a couple of hours of anxious procrastination [mostly on my (Mikaela's) part], we decided to go out to the corner grocery store a couple of blocks away. As we walked out of our air-conditioned apartment, and down the humidity of the stairwell, we stopped by to see if our neighbors were at home. Our downstairs neighbors are another couple who have come to teach as well, and were the first to arrive. (We were the second.) Fortunately, they were home, and were glad to accompany us to the store, which they had already visited in during their time here. It was very much relieving to have friendly guides and fellow Californians to share the shopping experience with.
How did we know what we were buying, you may be wondering? Well, thanks to our global economy's symbol/picture-driven product labeling habits, we were able to find what we needed. Bathroom cleaner had a picture of a sparkling bathroom, etc. And then there were of course many recognizable products and produce. With much rejoicing did we find instant oatmeal for our breakfasts! Other items were labeled in Chinese and (minimal) English. We bought an all-purpose cleaner called "Green Way," which, I am assuming, was a mimic of "Simple Green." (This cleaner actually turned out to be quite caustic, which was great for cleaning, but probably not great for the environment as labeled!)
We are learning a lot about how to do and act from our constant observation of locals. In the produce section, we noticed that there is a clerk with a station of scales, which is where things are weighed and priced. If you bring an un-marked bag of produce to the register, they simply throw it aside and you have to buy it later. After weighing and tagging several bags of produce, I told the clerk "Xie xie, thank you," and she shook her head in a befuddled manner and mumbled quickly back in Chinese, "Don't worry about it." I don't think she was used to that at all, whereas we say thank you all the time in the States.
In the evenings, clerks in the produce department call out back and forth to each other--I am thinking that this might be verbal advertisements to the shoppers. Altogether, it is a very loud and bustling experience. The environment of the grocery store is something very different too. Constantly crowded, people push past each other without notice or a word, and push as closely together in line as possible. Having someone's shopping basket banging against the back of my legs constantly (BAM, BAM, BAM) while waiting in line earlier tonight almost drove me crazy! Thank you, Casey, by the way for your word of advice: "T.I.C. This is China!" It is going to take me a bit to get used to the lack of space bubbles in the stores. I am assuming that perhaps this shopping environment is more characteristic of the city; although I will amend my statements if I find any differences during our time here!
Well, we have some food in our fridge and cabinets, and relief is starting to settle in. Next step: learning to cook with what we have!

Arrival in China

We made it to Beijing! And to all those wondering if I peeked out the window, the person sitting ahead of us, with whom we shared the window, was actually awake and kept opening the window with unexpected wooshing slides. Unfortunately, all we saw in these intermittent peeks were clouds; when there were breaks in the clouds, only clouds beneath could be seen (From stratus to cumulus!)
I awoke from the last of my random one-hour naps with the feeling that the plane was slightly descending in altitude. Intense curiosity filled my mind, and I brazenly opened the window (only halfway, to at least be partially considerate) letting in a flood of golden light. My first glimpse of China was magical.
The sun was setting, which bathed everything in a golden hue. I saw smooth mountains, and numerous river valleys pass by, and even smoke from one campfire winding its way up into the sky. I love looking out at the landscape when on a flight, and this sight was utterly new to my eyes.

On Our Way

This was the last day in the country of our birth for 11 months. The whole trip is so surreal to me, yet there are moments of realization of the gravity of it all...like waiting in the airport terminal with hundreds of people, most of whom are on their way back to China. And then there were my mother's tears...I cannot think about them for too long or I will start crying myself.
We are now almost (ha!) 3 hours into or 12 hour flight to Beijing. From Beijing- *cough* - after our 5 hour layover- we take our short hop of a flight to Yantai. I keep wondering if I will be able to sleep that morning (arrival at 12:15 am, local time). 15 hours ahead we will be.
I am becoming so sleepy right now, as seem the rest of my fellow passengers. Before I doze off again (hopefully no drool this time) I really want to check out the window again. After our first meal, the flight attendants made everyone close their window shades and dimmed the lights. According to the flight map updates, we should be off the coast of Alaska! I wonder what that looks like? Don't want to wake up the others though...we are chasing the sun and light may be too offensive for my snoozing flight companions.

Hello! This is a blog of Mikaela and my time in China. Some of the older posts, including this one, are made retro-actively.

Today, Mikaela got a phone interview from Yew Wah International Education School in Yantai, Shandong Province, China. It all started about a month ago when Mikaela responded to a "Teach in China" job posting on EdJoin.org.

By the way, EdJoin.org is a state-run listing of education-related jobs. Mostly it is public school positions, but private schools can get a listing on there for a fee. I am not sure if public schools need to pay a fee. Anyway, the application process is really streamlined for most of these listings, as you can upload a bunch of different files (such as resume, credential, diploma, letters of recommendation, etc) and send them along with your application.

Anyway, Mikaela saw this "Teach in China" posting, and thought it sounded like a scam, sorta like a "WIN a new iPad!!" But, she looked up the school and saw that it was legitimate and applied.

So, after about a month she got an email from the Assistant Principal (Helen) asking her if she was aware that this job was in China, and maybe Helen could give her a call for a "chat." The phone call was mostly focused on selling China to Mikaela, even though we already said we were interested.