Romping and Rolling

So I spend the majority of my days here in China doing these two things-

1. Romping

2. Rolling

What does that mean exactly?

Well, it mostly means that I have a ridiculous amount of fun and I get a good deal of exercise, too.

Romp·ing – Dancing to the beat of children’s music with a great big smile on one’s face

Roll·ing – Demonstrating obstacle courses as if you were Spiderman, a rocket ship, a zoo animal, or any other theme related object

Do I enjoy my job?

Considering I am able to play and cuddle on babies all day, yes, I would say I highly enjoy my job. There are times when I feel a little frustrated with having a lack of supplies, children peeing all over the gym, a few confusing lesson plans, and no clue how many children I will have in class… but all-in-all I have a great job.

What is the best part of working at Romp N Roll?

My favorite thing about working for this company is all of the great new ideas I am getting to use in my future classroom. Although I feel like I am a classroom teacher here, I do not feel like I am a structured classroom teacher. There is no reason why you cannot learn by singing and playing and exploring through concrete materials. I think the best thing about being here is how much I am growing as an educator.

Did you make the right decision in moving to China to be an early childhood instructor?

I absolutely made the right choice. I needed to have this experience so I could grow as an educator, develop independence, see the world, and change my life. Although I have always had more of an interest in teaching older children, working as an early childhood instructor is opening my mind to how important education is throughout a child’s life. It is just as important to teach your child as a baby as it is when they are adolescents and teenagers. I am seeing growth in children as young as three months. It is inspiring to watch a toddler learn new sign language or listen to a four year old count to 5 in a new language. This was 100% the best decision for me.

What will you do when you come back to America next year?

Even though it is a long ways away, I have already been weighing my options for my return to the states. I definitely want to get a job with a school district and teach in a classroom of my own. I am feeling strong ties to early childhood education and I would like to have a kindergarten class. I am still not sure if I will stay in Roanoke or move to another city. I feel as though the world truly is my oyster. There is no reason not to just get out of your comfort zone and experience everything that the world has to offer you. I am attempting to save as much money as I can while I am here so I can buy a new car when I get home and move to Northern Virginia or DC. 

Mandarin lesson:

Xuéxiào 学校 (school) 

Negativity

I cannot pretend everything is perfect all the time when it isn't... I know my post yesterday was a little negative. Do not get me wrong, family and friends, I love being in China. However, everyone has good days and bad days. Yesterday just so happened to be a bad day. Just so you know- I do not love living in Wuhan. I would like it a lot more if I had a friend here with me. I am not a solo kind of girl. I have lived the majority of my life dependent on those around me. I have never spent time alone. Ever... this was a huge reason why I wanted to make the move to China. I know, I could have just lived on my own in Virginia but I was not in the position to be able to do that financially or emotionally. I know I am only in Wuhan for a few weeks by myself and some of you may think I should be able to handle that just fine... but the thing is, it is hard to be all alone every day for a month. I wish I could come on here and tell you all that everything here is perfect every single day but that would be a lie. I am glad that I made the decision to come here. I know it will be (and already has been) life changing. I can feel myself growing every single day. I can feel myself becoming more independent. I know that when I return to the states I will be a new person and I will be the kind of person who is stronger and more willing to try new things. But the point is-- some times I will have bad days. And guess what? I will blog about those bad days...

Today was a so-so day. I did what I said I would do yesterday... I pulled myself up and out of bed. I showered and blow dried my hair for the first time in a week. Well, I have showered more than once in a week but I usually just leave my hair wet and don't give a hoot about what I look like. Today I put on make up and cute clothes and hailed a taxi out to Hankou. I went to the mall and spent a little zījīn at H&M. I went to Starbucks for a Vanilla Latte and I perused the shops for a few hours. I ate dinner at Pizza Hut. I ordered lasagna! Basically, I had the most American day that I could possibly have here in Wuhan. I really needed it... I came back home and dropped off my new purchases and then headed for the supermarket. I bought a few snacks and drinks and then sat outside for a few minutes to watch some street performers.

Kids learning how to roller blade! There are a group of young guys who teach them every afternoon.

I had an okay day. It felt good to eat familiar food and do some shopping. I am going to make myself perk up a little because I do not want to spend my weeks here in misery.

Some new things are coming to my blog soon... so be advised!

Mandarin lesson:
Wánměi de 完美的 (perfect) Xíng 行 (okay)

One day's time

How is it that yesterday when I got off work I felt all kinds of rejuvenated and was totally loving China and then I wake up today and feel like absolute hell? I am tired of sleeping on the hardest bed in the universe and even more tired of the dirty water coming out of my faucet and lack of people to hang out with. I am lonely in Wuhan. I don't like it... I knew that I would be lonely and I was going to just have to deal with it for a few weeks but now that Theresa is coming here until the end of August that basically means I will have one heck of a lonely Summer. Today was the first day that I have questioned my decision to change my whole life and flip my world upside down to do what exactly? Come to another country to lay in bed all day and watch TV shows on my laptop? That seems to be all that I know how to do here.

On the up side- I did have a good day yesterday. Well, a small piece of my day was good. And by good I really mean perfect. Yesterday I had an Oral English class. It was my first Oral English class since I have started this new job and it was the first time I actually felt like I was a teacher. It was the first time since I came here that I felt like everything was worth it. Like the break up, the move, exchange of animals, ridiculously long flight, sleepless nights, bad food, loneliness... everything was worth it. Even if it was for only an hour and half... at least for those minutes I was happy that I made this decision.

Wuhan is really bringing me down today.

I hope this is just a speed bump and all will be fine tomorrow. I am going to force myself out of bed and into the shower then out of this apartment tomorrow. I can't just lay around in my room all day every day. I need to have a Starbucks and go shopping. I think those are the only things that will make me feel better right now. Caffeine and clothes.

No mandarin lesson today... I just feel like speaking only English. For just one day...

I may as well stop saying the phrase

"Set in stone."

It seems nothing here in China is set in stone... Unless of course it is the sidewalk. And really, those stones suck. I know I was originally supposed to be in Wuhan starting June 9 and ending June 30. Well then those plans were changed and I came to Wuhan on June 16 and I was supposed to be leaving on July 6. But- since this is China and things are indeed not set in stone- that plan has changed yet again. Now I will be staying an extra week. I would stay even longer but we just realized that my visa is going to expire soon so I need to get back to Beijing to finish getting my work visa. So now it looks like I will be leaving around July 14. I really do have to leave some time near that date or else I risk being deported. And nobody wants that... So Theresa will be joining me around July 11 or so and she will take my place here in lovely Wuhan for about 5 weeks.

And in case you were wondering- Wuhan was not the only plan that was rearranged in the past few days. Oh no... of course not... that would make things way too easy. When I return to Beijing I will be moving to a new center in Wangjing. Don't worry... Wangjing is still in Beijing. You see- Beijing is this huge city and it is made up of lots of smaller cities. Before I came to Wuhan, I was working in ZhongGuanCun in the Haidian District of Beijing. Well, now I will be about 40 minutes away from my old center and will relocate in Wangjing in the Chaoyang District of Beijing. Theresa will be making this move with me so that is certainly a good thing. I am also really looking forward to it because this means we will be opening a new center and will be the only instructors working there. We will be able to have a lot more freedom to work the way we want to and teach classes the way we want to. It will be really great being a constant at one center. I am happy to take on the challenge and I am ready for the end of August to come so Theresa and I can finally be roommates. Theresa is going to be looking at apartments in the area and figuring out where our office is and things like that. Apparently we will not be close to the subway so that is a bummer... and the apartment they have for us to look at is not within walking distance to work. T is going to check out the apartment and see if we will like it. If not, we will find something else. If so, I will be moving in there as soon as I return to Beijing in a few weeks. Because we will not be able to walk to work we will have to take the bus. Luyin is having the owner of the site, Echo, go to the bus stop to see how busy it will be in the morning. Apparently if it is too crowded then he will buy us a scooter! Can you imagine me driving a scooter in friggin' Beijing?! Yeh... neither can I.

So there is much to know about Wangjing. One- it is the "Koreatown" of China with 70,000 Koreans living in the area. It is in a more popular district, Chaoyang, so we should have plenty to keep us busy. Some other notable sites in the district include the Olympic Park, Silk Street, and Sanlitun bar street. Apparently Chaoyang is also the largest district in Beijing. So we will be in a much more happening district. These all seem like good things to me.

Life in Wuhan is going... okay. I really enjoy the people that I work with. They are super nice. It is a lot different not having native English speakers around but it is something that I get more used to every day. I really enjoy Candy. I am hoping that we will be great friends! We went to get dinner tonight because I wanted to know where to get the yummy fried rice that Snow and Mr. O brought me last night. We walked to the restaurant and it started POURING rain when we got there. We left the restaurant and ran back to the office. Because the office was closer than home I just decided to wait the rain out there. We were so wet... I have never been in rain like that. If we were in the states I am pretty sure that would have been a classified hurricane. Or a tropical storm. Or freaking something. It was very intense. We changed out of our wet clothes and wrung out our hair. We laughed hysterically and also got laughed at by our lovely coworkers. I may not understand the language but I do understand when someone is laughing at me. It is always a special moment when you connect with someone from another culture and the two of you cannot even speak to each other. Anyways, I hung out with Candy and waited for the rain to subside... eventually it did and I headed home to enjoy my fried rice.

Speaking of fabulous coworkers- This was my lunch cooked by Snow's mother-in-law today. Yum!

Candy and I after the big monsoon...

Wuhan is not so bad...

Mandarin lesson:
Shī 湿 (wet) Xiào 笑 (laugh) Huájī 滑稽 (funny)

Have a rest

Many of you already know that I have been a little under the weather for the past few days. Well, really, since coming to Wuhan... I was pretty bummed to spend my first "weekend" off work just sleeping and blowing my nose. I decided last night I would attempt to fall asleep at a more reasonable hour and then make my triumphant return to society this morning. I ended up sleeping through my alarm clock and woke up with about 5 minutes to get ready and head out the door. I went inside the market to find some breakfast but the breakfast pizza man was not there. Instead I bought I juice and decided I would have to muster up the willpower to hold out on eating until lunch. I power walked to work and got there right on time. When I stumbled into the office Candy asked me how my weekend went and if I did anything fun. I told her I had spent the past two days bundled up in my pajamas with a box of tissues and a few DVDs. Being the wonderful assistant that she is, Candy promptly took me to the pharmacy for some medicine to rid my body of this horrible cold. We picked up some medicine and headed back to the office. Candy informed Mr. O that I was sick and I needed to have a good rest today. We set up the gym and did a little art prep. I read half of a new book, Reshaping It All, and I ate a delicious lunch prepared by Snow's mother-in-law. Candy told me after lunch that I needed to go home and have a rest. I assured her that I would be fine to stay at work but she told me not to be ridiculous and to head home because I would not feel better if I did not rest. I thought it best to listen to her so I prepared myself to leave work early. As I was leaving I was noticing how I was not the only one who needed a rest, apparently. Everyone in the office was spending their lunch break by resting all over the building. One was asleep on Rompy in the art room. One was on the trapeze mat. Two were in the music room. One was on the couch in a playroom... I stopped counting my sleeping coworkers and decided that I would not feel too bad for going home and "having a rest." So here I am... I laid down for about an hour and now I really don't know what to do. Perhaps I will do some dusting.

Mandarin lesson:
Wǒ yǒu yīgè lěng. 我有一个冷。 (I have a cold.)

Wǒjiā shì nǐ de fángzi

[[my house is your house]]

Please, come on in and let me show you around my humble abode. First stop, the kitchen. You will notice the state-of-the-art stove top and chopstick basket. There are also many hors d'oeuvres for my house guests. Only the best for the elite Wuhanians.







































To your left you will see the dining room, complete with a full area map of Wuhan written entirely in simple Chinese symbols. Feel free to highlight the many tourist sites you may wish to travel to.

















Ah, and now we are onto the living area. Pardon the clothing, it just came out of the wash. It is believed that the fine China air is the "cleanest" way to dry your knickers. In this room you may take sight of the 1992 model Haeir television that receives access to the finest CCTV news channel that Wuhan has to offer.































Up next is the terrace. Many may prefer to hang dry their clothing on the hangers in order to collect the aroma of the Chinese air.

















And now take a look inside the guest bedroom. The decor is sure to make you feel young again.

















To see where to action happens, step into the master suite. This room has a deluxe view of the park below, an office space for keeping up with the business, and plenty of storage. Please feel free to peruse the items around the room.

16 more days until I head back to Beijing

Good luck charms

The highlight of the house is of course the washroom. In order to keep up with our leg exercises, we have installed a squat toilet. I am well on my way to achieving Tamilee Webb's buns of steel.



































And there you have it, friends! Please come by any time.

Mandarin lesson:
cèsuǒ 厕所 (toilet/bathroom) Chúfáng 厨房 (kitchen) Wòshì 卧室 (bedroom)

Wuhan just got a lot more interesting

Because this was my last day with my trusty tour guide/roommate/new friend, Megan and I decided to hit up the river and snack street after work today. You would have thought we had seen enough "river" yesterday but that was just not the case. After work we headed out to the Yangtze and I was able to see a bit more of Wuhan. We walked all the way there... which was maybe a mile or two. I saw a woman walk by with my favorite Beijing snack, waffle nuts, but I didn't think to ask her where she bought them. Hopefully I will find the vendor soon. As I have already mentioned in previous posts, walking/traveling of any sorts in Wuhan is not an easy task. I even at one point had to slap the back of a car with my hand before she backed right into me. We walked passed several shops, restaurants, and street vendors. I saw some of the lower class housing and started to get some more perspective on how truly blessed I am in America. I found myself not so bummed about having a squat toilet today. At least we have running water and the toilet flushes. Many do not have that "luxury" here. I am making many mental notes about just how different the American way of life and expectancies are different from this culture. I will be blogging about that soon. Tonight's post has another purpose.

Here are some of the sights we viewed along our walk to the river:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Once we made it, we headed into the night market to check out some of the things being sold. I saw some very cute jewelry and definitely want to return to make some purchases. Unfortunately some total Chinese creeper was following us and being a total freak. Although I will not be sharing all of the details on my blog, just know it was not a comfortable situation and it was definitely first time I did not feel 100% safe in China. Thankfully our mad dash through the crowds off people led us out of the market and through snack street and onto a regular shopping district. I bought a few presents to send home and I even purchased a wallet from an adorable woman for myself. After walking around the shops for a while we walked down to the river and viewed the Wuhan skyline. It really is beautiful, especially when it is all lit up at night.

Once we thought it was safe to travel back through snack street we were on our way. I did not see any scorpions but I did see many beetles, bugs, and creepy crawlies. There were crabs (like whole crabs on a stick) and shrimps and weird sea creatures with tons of legs. I am not sure how much eating I will do on snack street. But we did scarf down some very delicious fried bananas with chocolate sauce. I also had a mango juice which tasted divine. Megan and I sat on a bench and ate our bananas and unfortunately creeper found his way back to us so we had to bolt out of the street again. We ended up catching a taxi and headed on home.

I'm sad the picture turned out blurry... I will capture another one soon

Fried bananas = Fēicháng hǎo

I am happy that I was able to experience Wuhan for a few days with Megan. It has been great getting to know a new friend and having someone to chat with at work and at home. This has made me 10 times more excited for going back home to Beijing and having a roommate! I haven't had a roomie in a long time. It is a nice feeling.

Mandarin lesson:
hé (and) Gèng duō de 更多的 (more) Zǒu kāi! 走开！ (Go away!) Xiāngjiāo 香蕉 (banana)

Rachel Berry, Floods, Flowers, and the Oregon Trail

Last night Megan and I went back out to Hankou to another area that our assistant, Candy, likes to refer to as "Walking Street." It had a distinctly European feel to it (minus the white people) and housed a few familiar shops; such as Starbucks, Nike, Wal Mart, Haagen Daz, and more. We found a shopping mall and decided to scout out some dinner. We found a relatively inexpensive (but still pretty fancy by Wuhan standards) Thai restaurant and decided to try it out. I ordered pork neck (yes, on purpose) and pumpkin with yolk fries. My dinner was actually very yummy. We also got a delicious blue beverage. I am not positive what it was... but it was blue and it tasted like blue raspberry soda. After dinner we walked through walking street and stood amazed by all of the sights that we didn't know desolate Wuhan held. I am feeling a little less worried about the decision to be here for a few weeks.

We took a taxi home and here in-lied the best part of our evening. Our taxi driver asked if we spoke Chinese and Megan explained, "dian dian," (a little). He continued to talk a lot in Chinese while we squinted to understand a few words he spoke. We told him that we were English teachers and he asked if we were British. "Wǒmen shì měiguó," (we are American) we stated from the back seat. He went on to tell us how pretty we were and he even gave us some flowers that he kept on his dashboard. The conversation took a turn when I attempted to say, "I love China," but accidentally said, "I love you... China," in Chinese. It was really quite hilarious. "Wǒ ài nǐ zhōngguó!" I exclaimed several times... Our driver proceeded to speak his one phrase in English that he knew, "I love you!!" I feel like his emotional confession was somewhat spurred by my ignorance of the Chinese language. When he made it to our apartment he attempted to get a phone number from us. "Wǒ méiyǒu," said Megan (I don't have). Our flowers, however, add a homely touch to the very drab kitchen.

It rained all day today. Literally... all freaking day long. When most of our classes were canceled we really did not have much to do around the office. We decided to make some star stamps for our art class tomorrow. And I may have left this present for Megan:

It was a special note from Rachel Berry. Sometimes too much free time at work leads to fun times for sure.

Megan's rest time

Chelsie's rest time

Because of the rain, we had to walk home in this:

Megan has to forge the river... her ox was left behind.

Chelsie contracted Typhoid and received a proper burial in the Yangtze River

Apparently when you live so close to the third longest river in the world, it is not such a good thing when it rains for 18 hours straight.

Well, I need to go to sleep now. Hopefully I will actually teach a class or two tomorrow.

Mandarin lesson:
Yǒu yǔ 有雨 (rain) Hóngshuǐ 洪水 (flood) Xīng jí 星级 (star)

Whud up, Wuhan?!

Yeh... I'm dumb.

After making it to Wuhan yesterday, we drove to the office (which was a pretty long drive). I am happy that the airport was so far away because it gave me the chance to see a lot of the city. We drove across the Yangtze River and passed the Yellow Crane Tower. I also spotted some "Western-ish" looking places along the way. It did not take me long to notice there is not the same circulation of money here as there is in Beijing. The majority of the cars are not BMWs and Mercedes. Instead I saw some more familiar models, such as, Honda, Toyota, and even a never-before-seen, Shanghai GM. The buildings are much older. There are of course new high rises and many city lights, but I love the tranquility of the worn-apartments and broken streets. The driving in Beijing has really yet to frighten me, but here in Wuhan I basically pray for my life while in a taxi. The streets are crowded with cars, bicycles, people, animals, road work, and basically any thing else that can get in your way of driving safely. It does not seem that people stick religiously to crosswalks and there is not a little green man that lets you know it is safe to run across. Instead, I prefer to close my eyes and sprint. At least that way I won't see death coming.

I taught my first class at the Wuhan center this morning. It was obviously a babies class. Since I am a baby-machine (In the class sense, not the "making" sense). It was a lot different teaching here than in Beijing. The class was mostly members with a few previews but I still found myself having to be super precise in my explanations and having to re-explain several times. Instead of mothers, the adults were mostly grandmothers. They were very social with each other and I on many occasions had to raise my voice over the adults in order to be heard. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I need work on projecting my voice anyways... and it is good for the adults to get some social interaction. The babies were adorable, as babies always are. There really isn't a difference in baby cuteness around the world. These babies drooled heavily... and maybe that wasn't so cute. Not that I don't love getting slobbered on. The adults in class were very friendly. I was very comfortable talking with them and they were comfortable talking with me. It is always interesting to hold a conversation when neither of you can speak a common language. But it does somehow work out. Usually...

Last night, Megan and I ventured out into the great Home of White Clouds and Yellow Crane. We did what two white girls in a big city can do best... went shopping! We took a taxi out to Hankou and made it to an H&M. I bought two new outfits and have wishes of buying a few more. I finally bought a pair of shorts and a skirt. These will be necessary here in the furnace of China. I also chugged down an Iced Vanilla Latte at Starbucks and went to dinner at Pizza Hut. I am glad that some of America decided to bless us with its presence here in Wuhan. Pizza Hut was actually delicious. I ate lasagna and fries, an excellent combination by the way. I am happy to know that I will be able to head out to that district once a week while I am here and enjoy coffee, shopping, and good food.

Megan also showed me around the area that we live in. We walked through the market/grocery store so I knew where it was and what they had. She also taught me how to get to work... which is super close to the apartment. It's nice having someone here with me for a few days. I am thinking the time will go by quickly here, but I will really enjoy myself.

I will of course post pictures of the apartment when I get the chance. It is really nice (other than the squat toilet issue). I think we are going to the river and snack street tonight. I am marking many things off my bucket list already! I will have to save some things for a later day!

Mandarin lesson:
Duìbùqǐ 对不起 (excuse me)

One month anniversary and Wuhan

So today marks one month that I have been in China. It is hard to believe that it has already been so long. Anna, Theresa, and I celebrated/said goodbye last night at Lu Qin's and it was uber delicious. Our adventure to the restaurant, however, was not so much fun. We took Line 10 to Line 4 and then to Line 1. We realized after getting on Line 1 that we should have gotten on Line 2. We thought, "Oh well, we will catch a taxi!" So we walked out at Tiananmen East and attempted to hail a cab. Attempted being the key word here. It was raining. We had only one umbrella. The traffic was being majorly controlled and our attempts at getting in a taxi failed miserably. I did, however, get to see the back side of Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City. It was kind of a preview for what is to come when I get back home to Beijing. We walked back to the subway and took Line 1 to Line 2 and then got off at Qianmen. We power walked to the quaint hutong and finally made it to the world-famous, duck restaurant. The hike, rain, and subway transfers were worth it once I could eat some yummy duck tortilla roll things... yes, that is the technical term. I made it back home pretty late for my final night in Beijing and still had to finish packing. I ended up staying away until 1 AM and then had to get up at 4:45 to meet Luyin and go to the airport.

My flight to Wuhan was not bad at all. I guess after the 13 hours to Beijing I would consider myself a much more relaxed flier. I ate the "breakfast" that was offered and napped the rest of the way. I even slept through the landing... Once I made it out of the airport with my bags and found Mr. O, my first impression of Wuhan would have to be HOT. And by hot, I am mean, sticky, wet, sweaty, humid, heat, furnace. Pretty bad. The area is beautiful, though. There are so many trees and there are a lot more historic buildings around. The traffic also did not seem as bad as in Beijing. I will talk more about the differences in a later post... I just wanted you all to know that I am safe and sound in the city I will call home for the next three weeks.

Mandarin lesson:
Guōtiē锅贴 (fried dumpling)

Two big days of being tourists

So for my last "weekend" in Beijing (I'll be back in three weeks, don't worry), Theresa and I decided to do some sightseeing. I got to cross a few things off of my bucket list and see some really cool stuff. Yesterday we went to the market, got pedicures, ate Mexican and headed out to Olympic Park. The Bird's Nest and Water Cube were very cool. They lit up all bright and colorful once it got a little dark outside. When we went back to the subway stop there were a bunch of street performers and some yummy smelling food. Oh, I also bought the last two seasons of Grey's Anatomy (6 and 7) and Dexter season 5 to prepare for my solitude life in Wuhan later this week.

Checkmate!

I am stretching for the big race...

Today we went to the 798 Art District. We were there all day and I am pretty sure we did not even almost see the whole area. The place was huge. We just kept walking through different alley ways and winding up somewhere new. We walked into several exhibits that were very creepy but still cool.

I am glad that even China thinks that Obama is a Communist

Mandarin lesson:
Měiguó  美国 (American) Lǚyóu 旅游 (tourist)