So I am in China!

It is so different but I am really enjoying the experience of it. I am staying in a hotel in Beijing where we are with about 40 other english teachers who are all really on a level and generally very good company (bar a few weirdos). We have been really thrown in at the deep end. We have been teaching classes of 13 year olds english with no prior preparation! On the first day I was so nervous and the weather was so muggy that I was sweating loads, but as I've got used to it I have begun to really enjoy it and the children are so lovely! Matt and I are sharing the class load which is good and really fun. We have been made to feel so welcome and the school gave us each a massive bunch of flowers on our first day.

The toilets in China do not have doors so you just squat over a hole and hope no one walks in on you! The food on the other hand is delicious, and I have been eating watermelon every day :) There are loads of mosquitos here. the driving is MENTALLY dangerous, the chinese just don't look and they expect every one else to get out of their way, we saw a crash earlier today, didn't look good.

So after 6 days of teaching, tomorrow we finally have a couple of days off, but.... we are going to visit the forbidden city in central Beijing and so to avoid the crowds we are leaving at 7 a.m!! Then on Saturday we are going to the Great Wall!! Cannot wait, just hope its not too hot and crowded! Anyway, 1 more week of teaching practice in Beijing, and then on to a overnight train to travel down to Changsha in Hunan province where it will be even more boiling than it is here! Really really enjoying it so far though. Auntie Randa and Angie many people have commented on my necklace which has st christopher and the jade pendant on it :) and I wear them every time I make a journey.

Better go now, but will write again in a few days to tell about our visit into the city. Just ate my last square of galaxy cookie crumble chocolate :( haha

Miss everyone lots, and the fresh english air.... seriously the air here is so thick with fumes and smog! xxxx