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Hey amigo's
Hope everyone is good in the UK, its started getting super cold here. I've never experienced cold like this before, it goes right through to your bones. The winds are so brutal, they are coming all the way from Russia and Mongolia. Apparently it gets even colder than this as well :( Today it actually snowed!!! How exciting! There is less than an inch - but it made everything look so beautiful!!! Its lucky that I invested in so much winter clothing.. I have a big North Face jacket now.. which I bought for 15 pounds!
Im not sure I'm made for the cold, i keep getting coughs! Baring this in mind, I may live to regret my plans for New Year! Me and my friend Gina are heading to far north China for 4 days to Harbin for the Ice Festival (check it out online) they make huge ice sculptures of skyscrapers etc.. It gets so cold that at night it can be minus 30!! I am looking forward to it though - and we're even going skiing! My body won't know whats hit it tho, becuase 4 days later I fly to Bali - which will be super hot!! :s
I haven't written a blog in a while, so this is just a hodge bodge of observations! Sorry if it rambles! lol.
FOOD - I am getting much better with chopsticks, and I am definitely getting more and more used to Chinese food. But I draw the line on certain things! Every thursday the chinese section of the school serves chicken heads! The first time I saw it I nearly threw up - and went straight to the bin to throw it in, whilst trying to remain unseen by the cooks as I didn't want to offend them! The next day, the food wasn't much better. Chinese people seem to think gone off eggs are a delicacy! And they were serving "thousand year old eggs". I dont think that should be taken literally, but they were DEFINITELY past their heigh day! George tells me they tasted nice, but I couldn't stomach it! I rarely gamble with eggs in the supermarket, as the Chinese also enjoy eating foetus's in the eggs. So egg shopping is a mine-field.
FUNERALS - My school is next to a very famous cremetorium in Beijing! So my bus to school is often held up by a hearse or two. The procession to a funeral parlour or cremetorium in China is an interesting sight!! The van behind the hearse is filled with family and friends loudly playing instruments - banging drums etc.. and everyone carries very large fans with bright colours (a picture of one of these can be found in my photos section). It is certainly different from the UK.
BABIES - Going from talking about death, I will now talk about something more positive!! My friend Mark and his wife Jasmine just welcomed a new baby boy named Miles. Mark is a Canadian teacher at my school, living in China with his Chinese wife. They just welcomed the baby a week ago, and he has already been back into work today! He says that it is customary in China for the woman to lay in bed (without tv or other destractions) for 1 month and the baby to be looked after solely by her mother and father. Mark says they are doing all the work, waking up, feeding, changing nappies etc.. whilst he is expected to rest with his wife!! The grandmother and grandfather leave after 1 month, and the mother and baby are not supposed to leave the house for another 2 months!! Again, it is certainly different from the Uk. lol.
SCHOOL - This week was bloody eventful at school. I taught my "Demo lesson" where all the teachers from the school are invited to observe the other teachers lessons. I had around 18 teachers attend my demo!! :ss They were all very complimentary and I had such lovely feedback!! They are used to Chinese teaching, (reading from the book and the students reciting back the information) that I think my lesson must have seemed so alien!! But I had several people come up to me at the end with huge smiles!! My boss had invited all the directors (as she seems to love me) and even though they speak no English they seemed to think it went very well!! ha! or at least thats what my boss said that they said! lol.
This week was also the annual Bacui Singing competition! And I was one of the judges. I was a slightly biased judge as I had helped Primary 1, 2 , 3 and 4 with their singing so I wanted one of them to win over the older kids. Sadly they didn't win - but Primary 1 and 2's rendition of Its a Small World After All was very cute!! (or ker-ai = cute in Chinese Mandarin). lol.
SOCIAL LIFE - I had a date with a Jamaican / Uganda guy named Sheriik this week! He is a lovely guy and we are seeing each other again tomorrow!! He is certainly useful to know, as he is very good at Chinese and has lived here for a year - so knows lots of great places!!! He took me out Sunday afternoon to watch him African drumming in the park. Him and his friends get together on sundays to have a jam, and it was great to watch!! He is possibly an even bigger show-off than me! hahaha!! He is a fantastic dancer, in fact thats how we met - as he came up to me in a club and started salsaing with me! ha!
Ps: Currently watching the 2010 version of the Karate Kid.. The one with Will Smith's son. I was in no hurry to watch it, I've had it for ages!! But its actually good, because it was all filmed in Beijing - and uses lots of the locations I have been to! Its very well filmed in that respect, and made me realise how lucky I am to have been to all of those places on a regular basis!! If you are interesting in Beijing - its definitely worth a watch just for the scenery!
Bye Bye Everyone!!!
Speak to you later.
xx
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