Tuesday, September 27, 2011

To the Philippines!

I finally got my passport back today with my residence permit and visa (yes! I can travel in/out/around China as I want!!) so of course I booked a flight to the Philippines for our holiday.

We get a week off work from October 1-7, but I did some tricky maneuvering and will be gone from September 28th to October 6th.

I will be staying in Manila and hopefully making a 3 or 4 day trip to El Nido.

Aside from that, I got my first big girl paycheck (in RMB, but still...)
I got my teacher reviews back (I am the favorite!)
And now it's time for a vacation.



Sunday, September 25, 2011

Fun weekend in Zhengzhou

So this weekend....
  • I got adopted by another Chinese family and ate dinner with them and some Americans (yay!). Got a performance after dinner by 2 little Chinese girls.
  • I received 3 (!!) compliments on my chopsticks skills.
  • And finally, I navigated through the Chinese bus system. That's right. 3 bus changes, 2 taxi hails, and over 5 hours on the road total. And I did not get lost once. Holla!



Saturday, September 24, 2011

Lovely


2.5 hour bus ride = .46 cents.
2 hour full body massage = 7.81 USD
40 minute taxi ride home = 2.34 USD
Hanging out with Americans again? = Priceless.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Care Package

I've been hearing some requests for my address so I can receive care packages and/or letters.

If you want to send me something, I would love to receive it.

Address:

Lisa Baer
English Teacher
Zhengzhou No. 1 High School
No. 182 Zhongyuan West Road
Zhengzhou, Henan, 4500000


Suggestions:

  • PAPER TOWELS (China only has napkins)
  • Any small (healthy) snack bars or cereal. (please. China does not do healthy)
Snack bars
Cereal packs
Sunflower seeds
Trail Mix
Peanut Butter Crackers
Raisins
Cranberries
Dried fruit.
  • Socks (I have size 8.5/9 feet- China does not have socks for me, haha)
  • Any casual T-Shirts (meant to relax in- Size S or M)
  • Candy. (Sorry mom, but I need chocolate or something sweet!)
  • Anything! I'm appreciative of anything.


Tuesday, September 20, 2011

My Star Student

I have several students who are simply amazing at being students. But one in particular ALWAYS goes above and beyond. His name is Jim. It also helps that he wants to impress me. And flatter me. He does both.

His letter to another student who isn't in our class:

"Dear Andrew,

...I have to tell you that Lisa is such a passionate girl that makes every student like her pretty much. I bet you will be liking her if you come here. She is outgoing, kind, and her classes are always filled with pleasure.
In the curriculum, I love English 10 the most, not only because it is taught by Lisa, but it is fairly interesting indeed." ~Jim.

I read this poem the other day (haiku) in class

My life is Jello
Sitting and waiting in bowl
Patiently to gel

and what do you know, Jim drew me a comic about it later on. (The students didn't know what Jello was. I had to clarify)




















And then he drew me a manual for homework later on:




Sunday, September 18, 2011

Exciting day!




Rumor has it that instead of getting off work from October 1-7th we may get off September 27th - October 7th!! I'm really happy with either one.

Picture explanations:

The sky- that's the sky today! It's beautiful outside! I haven't seen the sun in two weeks, so I am overjoyed to see it.

The pens and the bag- my student gave them to me as a gift because he remembers how much I like colored pens with my calendar. And the bag has cats on it because I talked to the class about how much I like cats.

The food- I bought all that food for 3.52 USD.


Excerpt from student essays about their future goals and aspirations:

"I will get married with my lover. I will give her a surprising big marry ceremony. When we get older, we shall love each other until death. We will have two lovely babies...when they get older, they will be stronger like buffalo soldiers" ~Bob.

"To be honest, I really wish I would be free from work early, as I have been longing for a impressing journey, just like what Lisa is doing." ~Jim.

"But in my opinion, upset or encouraging experiences are all good. You need to absorb the essence of each, you must learn something from that and prevent making the same mistakes" ~Alex.


Oh! A Chinese woman told me that I use chopsticks very well. Made my day.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Things I Learned Today

1) The language barrier is no joke.

2) It's cold here and my bruise from the health exam is still with me (one week later).

3) My apple that I received is not an apple.

p.s. that's what my hair looks like with a little wind and some rain. Makes zero sense.




Friday, September 16, 2011

2nd week down.


More food! (Click the link)

Here's a picture of my student's graphic organizer.











Highlights and lowlights of the week:
  • Receiving flowers in front of an entire class from my 12th grade student.
  • Kicking a student out of my class because he showed up to my class over 20 minutes late with food stuffed in his jacket.
  • Teaching my 12th graders about beer pong and Shakespeare within the same hour
I also taught poetry this week and everyone had a lovely time. Especially me. 'Cause I got to read it instead of actually do the work. :)

Poem from my male student:

Pretty Girl.

There is a pretty girl named Lisa
She is from America
In order to teach us better
She works on Harry Potter
That makes her class like a cinema.

Poem from my female student:

Ode to the Teacher:

Teacher, I'd love to draw a picture of you.
Firstly, your eyes.
keen enough to observe improvement of ours
Nextly, your mouth.
brilliant enough to pass on us knowledge and truth.
Finally, your hands
always ready to offer help.
Ok, the picture is finished.
It's the most beautiful one I have ever seen.

Poem from my boyfriend: (haiku)

Lisa loves her food.
In China, she thinks it good.
If only she cooked

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Mid-Autumn Festival

AKA Mooncake Festival was on September 12th.
I got adopted by a Chinese family and I celebrated with them.

We had TONS of traditional food and Mooncakes. And coconut milk.
It was wonderful.





















P.S. I got past the Great Firewall of China. Again.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Dinner & Dessert - 94 US cents.

I had a really great time last night! I had dinner, leftovers, and dessert and I explored the area outside of my campus with Beryl. Got stared at a lot.


We are on Holiday till Tuesday, so I have a 3 day weekend! But I have to write up a syllabus for my classes and do planning. :( Hopefully I'll get to travel a bit on Sunday.

For the curious:





I do love living here.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Apartment in Zhengzhou!

And my class schedule! Click on the picture to make it bigger.













My apartment in Zhengzhou.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inWOZBmG_bs

Bed frustrations:

Dirty Apartment (before it got clean)

Door Issues:

For my mother: (Toilet in South Korean airport)

Saturday, September 3, 2011

My flight itinerary to China

Atlanta to Zhengzhou

Flight 1Sunday, September 04, 2011
confirmed
Departure:00:30Atlanta, USA - Hartsfield Jackson
Arrival:04:20+1 day(s) Seoul, Korea (Republic of) - Incheon International



Change of plane required. Time between flights : 4:05.
Flight 2Monday, September 05, 2011
confirmed
Departure:08:25 Seoul, Korea (Republic of) - Incheon International
Arrival:09:50 Zhengzhou, China - Zhengzhou, terminal M