Blogs from Kunshan, Jiangsu, China, Asia

So, major illness #1 has set in. I’m glad it’s taken about 4 months before I felt terrible. Last year, t was the second freaking week. Anyways, I haven’t been able to eat for the past two and a half days, except for something small at dinner. My other symptoms just kept getting worse. So, today I went to Lisa and she sent me off to the hospital. She was very supportive and observant and asked an English speaking Kindergarten TA, named Sunny, to go with me to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital and they let me jump the cue, I’m sure due to my foreign status. Sunny let me describe my symptoms in poor Chinese and then translated the rest of the doctor’s questions and my answers. She asked if I wanted shots, ... read more

Friday morning I’m buzzing with excitement and anticipation. I wake up before my alarm goes off and I’m off finishing my last-minute things. I’m waiting at the local bus stop before 7am. At 7:15 a whole bunch of people arrive and at 7:20, the city bus arrives to take us to the bus station. I get off the bus and find my gate/terminal in the station. The bus leaves at 8:00, and by 7:45, there’s no line, no sign at the desk for the bus, nothing. I go to use the bathroom because there’s no stop for 3 hours. I get out at 7:55, and I vaguely see the sign at the desk terminal switch from Nanjing to something else. I see a huge line, but I have this nagging feeling that this certain bus (unmarked) ... read more

On Wednesday a photographer came on campus and photographed the teachers of the school. I've gotten in contact with Shannon and we're hanging out this weekend. Today, Jane is taking Zach and me somewhere to do something with our work visas. It's during our lunch break, so I hope I get back in time for classes. It's been raining a lot here. It started on Tuesday night and only lets up periodically. The drainage around here is not as effective as the US, so there's some water stagnating around parts of the city. The roads are slick too, so that limits any going out and excursions. A lot of people are getting sick, students and teachers alike. Paul was sick for a few days and there are a minimum of five kids missing from each of ... read more

Yesterday was pretty intense with regards to classes, but going out with the other foreign teachers definitely made up for that. We went to the karoke bar and then to Flower's. Flower's wasn't too much fun because it was Shannon's last day. Apparently the two got into a fight. It makes me really sad, because hanging out with Shannon was practically the reason why I went to Flower's so often. She's my first real Chinese friend. So I suppose I'll just have to call her up from now on and just go party with her. It'll be good to have a different crowd. I got some vitamins today, because I'm beginning to feel the effects of the mineral deficiencies. So, I got Vitamin C and Calcium/Iron/Zinc combination at Tesco. I went and checked out the Walmart ... read more

Today is my first day of class! It's been really exciting and a little stressful. There really isn't as much structure as there is in the US. There was a opening ceremony for the beginning of school for grades 1-12. Kindergarten wasn't a part of it. So as my foreign peers headed off for the gymnasium, I went to observe some of my classes. First I went to Forest class. It was then I realized that the classes were stationary and that I was the one visiting classrooms to engage the class in English. I really enjoy Forest class. I had the most time to observe and interact on a one-to-one basis with them, so maybe I'll rotate class observation in the mornings. So from 8-8:45, I got comfortable with the 3 year olds and their ... read more