The Chinese New Year is February 18th, which means all the schools in Shenzhen are on holiday until the end of the month, which means I have little to do for my job because all the teachers are traveling in SE Asia or various parts of China. So, to fill up my time (well, really to make some extra money) I accepted a 6-day job teaching the writing portion of an SAT Prep class. Now, keep in mind that I haven't actually taught English inside a classroom for six years. I've done a bit of tutoring, but really I've kept my [View Full Entry]

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They recently opened a movie theater at the bottom of my building and Thursdays are half-price, which means 30 RMB instead of 60 RMB for a new movie. (I can buy a bowl of noodles for 5 RMB, so that gives you some idea of how expensive going to the movies is here -- especially when you can buy illegal copies of new movies for 12 RMB.) I saw the sign go up for the new James Bond movie and waited anxiously for weeks for it to arrive in Chinese theaters. I even went into the theater, pointed at the sign [View Full Entry]

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China may be known for it's massive celebrations of the Lunar New Year, but it still parties along with the rest of the world during the January 1st New Year, too. Most of the foreigners living in Shenzhen went into Hong Kong to enjoy a drunken New Year's Eve with a zillion other people, but Sen and I chose to stay in Shenzhen and take part in the city's festivities. Actually, we had no plans until January 30, when Judy (my Chinese collegue at the Shenzhen Education Bureau) called me up and said, "Dawn, the city is going to have a [View Full Entry]

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...and that's not a Friday the 13th joke. The organization I work for shipped some Chinese learning books to me here in Shenzhen, and of course they got stuck in customs. (Note to anyone traveling to or living in China: Never have anything important or valuable sent to you here. It's always a hassle. Last year, it took my friend 2 months to convince the customs agent that, yes, 1 pair of American blue jeans can indeed cost $80.) My package contains 6 books - three sets of 2 - for three teachers to use in their Chinese class. So, the [View Full Entry]

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First, I'd like to point out this article in the NY Times and say, "Ha! I knew E-Ink was going to be cool! I've been talking about this for years!" Of couse, I should also say, "Doh! Why didn't I invest in E-Ink years ago???" http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/technology/12pogue.html?8dpc And now we can continue on to my life... I've decided that this week in the lunar year is a bad one for me. I'm speaking of the week following the Mid-Autumn Festival, which occurs on the full moon after the autumnal equinox. It must be a bad cosmic week for me, because for the [View Full Entry]

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Happy Chinese National Day! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Finally, after the horribleness of September, the first holiday of the school year has arrived. Thank goodness! I may have gone a bit crazy otherwise. (Although, some people here might argue that I did, in fact, go crazy.) During the 1990's, the Chinese government decided to boost the economy by establishing three "Golden Weeks" throughout the year. These weeks were declared official holidays and all the government offices and most Chinese companies shut down for 7 days at a time. It's a chance for everyone in China to travel and (th [View Full Entry]

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I know, I know...it's been ages since I updated. It's been a crazy month and every day I thought to myself, "Well, wasn't that interesting! I should write about that in my journal." And then I'd be so tired at the end of the day that I wouldn't write anything. And now, I've forgotten all the good stories! Aiyou! We arrived back in Shenzhen at the end of August. It was three jam-packed days of all of us together and then everyone moved to their separate schools all around the city. Somewhere in those three days, Andrew, Susan, and I did [View Full Entry]

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Another week in Beijing down, one more to go! This week was again jam-packed with lots of work and a little fun. We had a little more down-time this week during the day, which gave us all a chance to catch our breath. We're still all tired, but I think we've made it over the mid-training hump and we're ready to slide into the end. On Thursday evening, our group went to see Chinese National Acrobat Troupe downtown. I've been to a couple of different acrobatic shows in Beijing on previous trips, but this one was by far the most posh [View Full Entry]

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Eight days of Beijing Insanity down, only twelve more to go... CTLC's Beijing training for new participants of our Shenzhen teaching program began 8 days ago - and it already feels like I've been here for a month! Our training is intense with a capital TENSE and that means 10 hour work days for me and my coordinating/assistant team and no real days off for 3 weeks. Our days start with a 7:30 a.m. team meeting followed by a 7:45 rush down 12 flights of stairs (because the hotel elevators keep clogging up and breaking down) where we meet up with [View Full Entry]

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Here I am, back in Shenzhen. I've been gone for a month, but I was surprised to find that I forgot how China smells. When I stepped out of the cab in Shenzhen, I took a deep breath and though, "Oh, yes. That's right. China smells." I don't want to say it smells bad, it's just much different from the US. Living here for so long, I had gotten use to it and didn't even notice it, but now I'm reminded of my first time coming to China 8 years ago. The smells keep sending me on trips down memory lane. [View Full Entry]

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