My roommate Serena and I are extremely proud of ourselves. We rode the public bus today - we figured out how to get from our school to our apartment all by ourselves! After our morning classes we decided not to wait for our school bus to take us home in the evening. Instead we found the right public bus to go home and while she naps, I type away. So far Shenzhen has managed to make me to feel overwhelmed, lonely, lost, excited, and glad all at the same time. On Sunday, when we moved into our apartments, we were very [View Full Entry]

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Last night was my first real night out since I got to China. I've been so focused on my Chinese classes and TEFL training and of course feeling a little jetlagged. Having finally recovered from my jetlag and completed my rirst Chinese exam and practice teaching lesson in front of my fellow teachers, I decided to reward myself with a full body oil massage and a night out. A group of us went to a nearby spa. The Chinese man who massaged me somehow discovered knots all over my back muscles, especially in my shoulders. I could feel my muscles popping [View Full Entry]

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Today in Chinese class we began our Chinese character writing lessons. IMPOSSIBLE! Not sure I will be able to retain any of the writing. I prefer Pinyin, which is the Chinese pronunciation written out in English alphabet. Though, it's absolutely crazy how the word "ma" can mean mother, horse, shit, or question mark just based on the tone used to say it. Between Chinese and TEFL training we had lunch in the hotel restaurant - dim sum, because it was cheap. Everyone is starting to form their little cliques in our group, and belonging to one of these cliques certainly makes [View Full Entry]

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Not sure if it was practical to take a little vacation in San Francisco prior to moving to China, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. When I managed to push thoughts of my family, Kevin and friends in Charlotte out of my head, I was able to really enjoy this Californian city. Ian, my travel partner (and former coworker who decided to take this journey with me), and I stayed in a cute hostel somewhere between Chinatown and the Financial District. The people staying there were from all over Europe mostly and the hostel was more like [View Full Entry]

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