Teacher's Day, Typhooooon part 2, Fancy dinner, District Conference

Teacher's Day!

So the day after we got back from Shanghai turned out to be teacher's day! What a great way to come back to school :). We didn't even know it was teacher's day until during opening the chinese coordinator had two of the kids pass out individual roses to us and said "happy teacher's day!" And I was thinking "aww how cute!" and that it totally made my day. Little did we know that wasn't the only thing they had for us...during classes they had each student come up and give us something- most gave us individual flowers (most were roses but there were some other types of flowers- real ones too). Some kids gave us little fake flowers they made with ribbons or chocolate, and some kids gave out little cards (probably written by their parents). Anyways I ended up with a huge bouquet of really nice flowers, a little bit of chocolate, and cute cards! (what more could a girl want huh?). It was adorable and made my day!!

 

Typhooooooooooon

This week we had another typhoon! This time we actually had school cancelled. I had just barely woken up that day and was about to shower and  get ready to teach when we got a call saying school was cancelled and that we shouldn't leave the apartment. Well...back to sleep! It was a nice relaxing rainy day in to watch movies and hang out. And we were pretty safe, we actually were allowed to go leave to get lunch. We just happened to leave for lunch and it started POURING rain and really windy, and we were walking in water up to our ankles. BUT IT WAS SO FUN. People probably thought we were crazy...actually one guy (who was a white guy) drives by on his scooter in a poncho and starts laughing at me "haha you're wet". And he told me to come wait until this pavillion thing so I could wait out the storm to be dry and I was like "no it's ok I love the rain!" and he was all worried because apparently it's carbonic acid rain or something. But I did have an umbrella...though it wasn't much help. A couple trees in our backyard did fall over. And the next day I was sitting in my room and hear these Chinese men yelling outside so I looked out my window...turns out probably at least 10 workers are trying to pull the tree back up. I mean they tied rope to it everything pulling it back up. That is a neat thing here- instead of just getting rid of the trees that fall they literally just pull them back up, and then place these giant stick rods to keep the tree up!

Fancy Dinner

If you remember a few weeks ago I talked about our friend Aaron who drives us to school. We switch off because he can only drive 3-4 of us but he wants to practice his English to come to America. And he loves having conversations about deep or philosophical things. He wanted to take us out to dinner this week and karaoke at his work. So turns out Aaron (well actually it is Allen but we thought it was Aaron!) is pretty high up in the China world. He has worked lots of different jobs and I think right now he is the assistant to the Mayor of the area or something like that, and pretty high up in the communist party too. But he is so nice, and loves learning about democracy and loves Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln. Little did we know he would take us to a REALLY NICE fancy restaurant! We were in our own private dinning room, cushioned seats and all. The table was round and it was the type of restaurant where they just put a ton of food on the table and it spins and you just take whatever you want onto your plate. There was something he called "pig butt" and let me tell you...it was soooooooooooo goood!!! It was probably my favorite. Either that or the LOBSTER pasta. I've never had lobster but I love shrimp and crab and the lobster did not disappoint. There was also some really delicious broccoli in this amazing sauce, some sliced beef that kind of was like steak, and many other dishes. Also...we each got served our own individual baby pigeon! I have seen this in many places in China but never had it until now. I mean head attached with brain organs and all....so I did try to eat the body but to be honest it was kind of hard because there wasn't much there to eat. It was mostly skin and hollow so not much meat. And the skin had a rough texture and was hard. Wasn't bad...just really nothing to eat. Some of the girls took the brain out and ate it...and after their reactions I really did not want to try it. Especially because they said the worst part was the texture...and when it comes to food I don't do textures. Most foods I don't like is because of the texture,and I didn't want to experience that. They kept bringing food out...to the point where I just couldn't eat anymore but it was so yummy! And I was excited to have a "fine dining" experience in China. Oh also I tried something and have no idea what it was. I think some girls said it might be a type of mussel but I'm not sure..so if you know what this is...let me know!

Then he took us to his work where they have karaoke every Friday. He also said they sometimes have someone teach us how to sing and invited us to come sometime (what does that say about our singing skills?...haha)

Mulberry juice- pretty good!

Our friend Aaron (Allen) and his co-woker

If anyone knows what this thing is....let me know

Aww...look at his little cerebral cortex...and there is his little medulla, and pons...and....ok I'll stop being a neuroscientist here ;)

Karaoke "american idol style"

Shenzen District Conference

Last week we got the awesome opportunity to go to church district conference in Shenzen. Shenzen is where our ward is located- it is about 2 hours and it is just north of Hong Kong. All the ILP groups in Zhongshan got together and rented a bus- there was maybe 30 or 40 of us and it still cost quite a bit of money each to rent the bus. We got there and attended the conference which was located in a huge conference center building. Then we went to a house that is renovated to be a "church" building and it is where they have church each week that we skype into. They had a special YSA luncheon (mostly for us- there were a few other YSA who actually live there in china) and they mostly talked about the Church in China, what we are and aren't allowed to do, say,etc. Also a few boys in the group near us at the Kaiyin school got permission to do sacrament for us so we did that when we got back. And today we had church skype again and sacrament, also a combined "relief society priesthood" lesson. It was great! It is kind of fun being here and seeing how all of us ILP teachers come together to do church each week- it's not the same but it is getting there and also the fact that we take the initiative ourselves to make it happen.

In other news, we have been getting our travel plans set for the October Holiday. We are travelling during the National Chinese Holiday so it's been crazy getting everything in advanced and planning. And can I just say....I am really really excited for where I am going!

Can any of you guess where? It's actually not going to be Beijing..and it is somewhere you wouldn't expect as it is not a place many people think as a must see sight. Another hint is that by the end of my trip to China (in december) I will have been to the "4 corners" of China- meaning I will have visited the south, north, east, and west!

As far as teaching goes, I LOVE my kids! They can be a handful sometimes but they are so cute and I love them and they can actually do a pretty job speaking when they actually want to! Also our schedule keeps changing...turns out the Chinese police came to do a check on our school and didn't like the fact that us ILP English teachers are not certified in teaching English. So instead of teaching 4 classes a day we will now only teach 2. The other time the kids will be learning English from a few teachers in the area that are actually certified in teaching English (ranging from America to Canada to Britain). Oh and it is funny that some Chinese people have learned English from people from Britain because when they speak they have a British accent and I think it's just so funny. It sounds like in the past the police haven't cared much about the school but now they seem to be cracking down on the rules...so the Chinese coordinators told us and the police that we aren't actually teachers but just here to "play with the kids" and that we are doing a foreign exchange.

A few more things. I finally went to the pool in our neighborhood- we thought we had to pay but I guess it is free! And it is pretty nice, you do have to wear swim caps to go so we all bought some crazy funky swim caps. They also have a gym and a huge dance room which would be fun to use. Also..we started our kung fu class at school! I think it will be every thursday, it is fun and we are learning a kung fu routine that involves using a fan!

Well that seems to be about it for the week!

 

Senior teachers!! Me, Carina, Taylor, Allie

Tay tay's birthday this week!!

Oh yeah- also family photos happened! September 15th- our 2 month mark here :) Our theme was spa night

Yes..I got a PANDA donut

                 

This is Jim- he is one of my home group kids. He can be a class clown but he is pretty good at speaking English and he is actually so sweet and adorable!!

Check out my Chinese clothes! Haha all the girls said I look very chinese :) yay! because they dress really cute here

 

SHANGHAI!!

Departure

We left for Shanghai right after school on Friday the 5^th. Literally, we taught class, ate lunch, and the school bus took us directly to the train station. We had to take a train from Zhongshan to Guangzhou, where we would get on the long distance train to Shanghai. Finally it was time to leave for Shanghai around 6pm! We wanted to get hard sleepers since it was going to be a 15-16 hour train ride. Actually we wanted to fly…and we could have found some really cheap flights, at least fly just one way. But because we got our tickets super late (way later than planned) almost everything was filled up. We only managed to get hard seats on the way to Shanghai and a hard sleeper on the way back. Not the end of the world. But that 15 hour train ride ended up being around 19-20 hours…turns out our train broke down. The beginning of the trip we were moving SO SLOWLY. It seemed like we were going to stop it was so slow. And I was thinking “Oh this is why it takes 15 hours, because it is a really slow train”. Turns out it is actually a fast train (but not a bullet train), but it was having problems. Eventually we were just stopped at one point. It was way difficult to sleep in a cramped seat sitting up. Also the lady across from me had a huge suitcase so there wasn’t much leg room for me. We all took turns sleeping on the seats and floor…but not very successful. They didn’t even turn the lights off the entire time…and it was pretty noisy. Chinese people think Americans are loud? There was a bunch of Chinese men talking really loud and I’m like “it’s THREE IN THE MORNING. GO TO SLEEP”. I said that in my head, of course. Also there was smoking on the train! I mean they had a designated area in the back on the train for smoking. But we were right near the back, right near it. Also it’s not like it was an enclosed space, or open windows so the smoke just diffused throughout the train anyways. My throat got really dry and so did my eyes, and I had a headache from the smell. So the train ride wasn’t the most enjoyable thing out there…but at least we had each other right?

Day 1

Finally we arrived in Shanghai! We ate lunch, then headed to our hostel! It was pretty nice, nicer than the hostel in Yangshuo I think. I mean, really it just had nicer bathrooms which is super important I think. Also the rooms were about 10 bunks per room. Since we booked our hostel late we only were able to get 4 in one room and 3 in another room. Which means we had to share a room with 6 other random people.  It is kind of weird, when there are all sorts of people sleeping in a room with you, but it was also kind of cool. We actually didn’t really get to talk or interact with them very much since we were gone all day and went to sleep as soon as we got back at night. Day 1 was mostly exploring Shanghai. We walked round the bund of course, and took a ferry across the river to the main part of the city. We went up the Shanghai World Financial Center, which is the tallest completely finished building in the city. Also it is the world’s tallest observatory with a glass floor you can walk on. So we of course went! Most people go up the Oriental Pearl Tower, which would be cool but it isn’t as tall as the SWFT. I also got a student discount (yay BYU ID card!). We went to the 100^th floor! It was quite the view and the tallest building I have been in (taller than the empire state building). It is the 7^th tallest building in the world. I will admit, the glass floor wasn’t as cool as I thought. Because it is really just random squares here and there of the floor that are made of glass that you can look through and see the bottom. And mostly you just see the building below you and not much of the actual roads, cars, etc. So it doesn’t really feel like you are walking super high above the city. But still it was awesome, and I’m glad I did it. (it was hard to get good pictures here, it really was cool).

 

This is the Shanghai Tower. It is still in construction. But it will be the second tallest building in the world when it is completed, and I am sad it wasn’t finished when we went.

This is the Oriental Pearl Tower. This is the more famous building in Shanghai most people go up. It would be cool, but not as good of a view. But I LOVE the outside. I think this would be my favorite building just because it LOOKS SO COOL. And it just makes the entire city I think. It really makes me feel like I am in a futuristic city, and reminds me of the movie Meet the Robinsons.
 

The rest of the night we just walked around, enjoyed exploring the city and nightlife!

 

DAY 2
We got a late start (well later than we wanted), and then everyone wanted to go find breakfast. Except they were really picky on what kind of breakfast they wanted. It was slightly annoying because I feel like options are limited for "breakfast" type foods here but oh well. Then we made our way to the City God Temple and Yuyuan Gardens. It was quite confusing how to get there, also we took the subway to get there even though it only ended up being one stop....oops! Haha. It was awesome once we got there though!! The entire place was chinese looking buildings and tourist shops galore. There was even a place where you can buy and send postcards which was sweet.

 

Mirror in the middle of the garden!

 

After eating and shopping, we went back towards our hostel. There is another big area near where we live that we refer to as “the walking street of Shanghai” because it is a huge street with tons of shops that goes on for a while that you can only walk on. Some of the girls saw a sign that said “M&M World” and they wanted to find it desperately. So we were trying to find out where it was when a girl walks by with an M&M world bag. So one of the girls runs up to her and points to the bag and says “ZAI NA LI??” Which means “where is it”. Haha so she points in the direction and we walk that way trying to find it. And then FINALLY. There it was M&M world. It really is just a giant store that cells all sorts of M&M products and merchandise and there is a huge wall of M&M machines. I don’t think I have ever seen so many different colored M&Ms. But they were so excited! So that was fun.

When we were walking back, the funniest thing happened. We saw a crowd formed around a couple of Chinese people dancing and playing instruments. So after watching for a few minutes we decided to just do our own dance to the music outside the circle. One of the ladies came out of the circle and started dancing with us, and next thing you know there is a pretty good sized crowd/circle that has formed around us!
 

DAY 3

Monday was our last day in Shanghai. We went to the Jade Buddha Temple, and it was mid autumn festival so it was pretty crowded. It was cool, I liked how they had all sorts of statues made from many different materials. Upstairs was the special Jade Buddha, in which we were not allowed to take pictures. It is pure jade and weighs almost 1000kg! The room was dark with dim lights, and very quiet. All the Chinese people were buying bottles of oil, praying over them, and then the ladies at the alter would pour the oil into a bowl on the alter in front of the Jade Buddha. 
   

After that, people in our group wanted to do different things so we split up. Some went to the zoo, but some of us went to the aquarium. I mean I love aquariums :) It is the only aquarium in the world to have a China section for specifically animals from China and also some rare and endangered species from the Yangtze river. There was also the world's longest underwater viewing tunnel, as well as another tunnel that you go down into which was pretty cool.

Chinese lizard

One of my favs! I just think the lips are so funny looking

I LOVE jellyfish!

So cute

We did one last walk around the city, enjoying the view and then we headed off to the train station! Our train left around the same time in the evening, but this time we had beds! Which was awesome, they even turned off the lights and it was quiet so I actually slept the entire time so it just flew by. And the train didn't break down like the first time around so it was about 16 hours.

Yay for sleeper trains!

You may not be able to tell but there are 3 levels of bunks, I was on the middle left

Shanghai was a pretty cool city, it is always sad leaving when we are on vacation. The time is short yet it always feels long.

Our next vacation will be the first week of October. We have a whole week this time, 7 days! It is the Chinese National Holiday though so it will be REALLY busy so we have to plan and get tickets fast! We are planning on going to Bejing and either Xi'an or Yellow moutains!

Other Pictures! 

oh ps- sorry my pictures aren't very good! It is hard getting good pictures when you are a tourist in a crowded city- you can't always wait to get the perfect shot when you are with other people and there is people EVERYWHERE 

Wedding photos everywhere! Tis the season I guess

These wedding photographers decided to photograph us instead...so I returned the favor :P

Are we in London? Or China? Because we also saw a clock tower, and a red telephone booth...

 

This guy is cooking food on the motor of his scooter and selling it...don't worry I didn't buy some

Love forever21 and shopping? Well there is a FOUR STORY forever 21 store

Shanghai noodles!

I thought these ATMs are kind of funny- you have to lock yourself in them, for safety reasons of course

For those who want to live more adventurous and rock climb to their apartment ;)