the song hi! i know it's a bit late to be asking this, but can you provide me the name of the song that you mentioned in the end of your entry? just a little bit curious here. Thanks :)
Communicating Hey Tony, sorry I haven't checked the blog in a long time. I'm currently back in Canada for the rest of the year because I got sick. As for communicating directions in China....there are some things that I was able to communicate just by saying things in Chinese...like for example taking a taxi back to the school I would just say the name of the school and the address in Chinese. For some select places in Nanjing we have cards with the English and Chinese written down so we can show the taxi drivers (like for the airport, train station, Walmart, etc...). Sometimes, we use a combination of hand gestures, mime and pictures to get the message across. It's often very interesting.
how do you communicate witht the people? Hey Christine,
Yeah I kinda feel bad that you had to deal with those crazy taxi-drivers. I think the longer you stay in China the more you'd realize the drastic difference in terms of etiquette standards there and Canada. But how do you even ask ppl for directions or tell them where you want to go? Do you have some basic chinese down pat or just got to have someone translating for you?
WoW!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe the day you had! It is incredible. The taxi situation sounds unbelievable. I am glad the aquarium was cool! Hope you two have lots of fun.
Conny
hey christine, awesome post. sounds like you guys are having fun over there. the captions on the pictures made me laugh. happy (white person) new year!
Wow I am so jealous of Tiffany, coming to spend time time with you and see all the interesting sites. Not about eating all the weird food though! Goose legs, ewwh. Sounds like you are having fun. Love the tiny snowmen, hehe.
Conny
Hey Christine, it sounds like you are having a really interesting experience in China, I've very happy for you! I spent some time catching up on your travels today it sounds like fun. I hope everything continues to go well!
missing you too Hey Chris, I understand the students not in the teacher area. We had that fight up north on the reserve too... and lost. They 'try' to keep the students out but no one really enforces it. Oh well, I keep the kiddies out of my apartment and that is my student free zone. They are always asking to come in and visit.
I hope you had an ok Christmas Day. Don't worry, you get a few weeks off in a bit.
Miss and love you lots.
Val
Merry Christmas! Good to hear about your Christmas in China! Know that you are missed here. I am glad you were able to celebrate, even if was different than our traditional celebrations here.
We had our own family here, the 5 of us. We unloaded the tree, cooked a big breakfast, all complained of being too full. Then played a new board game, with cards, of SEQUENCE. It was fun. Then Harv's Mom came over, we opened more presents. We are going to watch Ratatouille and other videos.
It is nice to have every one home. This year there are no boyfriends or girlfriends in the picture. Different! we are looking forward to celebrating with the rest of the family on Sunday.
Today is hard for Auntie Jean. Mom said she was crying on the phone this morning. Tim is going to see her today and take her out for lunch. Nicki and I will go down this week.
all for now, love you
Conny
Can-rock CD I've made a bunch of CDs in the past for exchange-student roommates I used to live with. Here are some band names I always try to include when talking about good Canadian music:
Tragically Hip, K-Os, Feist, City and Colour, Hawksley Workman, Broken Social Scene, The Stars, Bedouin Soundclash, Metro, The Watchmen, Our Lady Peace, Hayden, Arcade Fire, Sarah Harmer, Sheryl Crow, Treble Charger, etc.
cool! hey chris, nice to get all the updates from you. that bubble thing on the water looks pretty funny. I like how everyone is on their butt! haha And the pictures look awesome! I especially like how you were able to put them directly into your blog. Glad to hear you have some time to look around and some students there to be your tour guide. That must help tremendously. Enjoy your holidays!
Hey Hi Christine! It sounds like you're having quite the adventure in China! Make sure you post some pictures when you get the chance. I hope your week off is going well! Will and I have 3 weeks until our week off. I can't wait..I'm exhausted already! Bye for now!
^__^ Hey Christine! It's great to hear about your trip. I'm excited living vicariously through you! I have one more week at Kingston before the first practicum block starts and I have to start thinking about where I want to go for my alt. prac. I'm thinking Hong Kong or Shanghai actually. I notice that a lot of schools in different places have like a two week Easter break smack in the middle of our three week practicum period so I have a very limited choice of schools in the places I want to go. I was also thinking of France or Italy but the expenses would be sooo high! Anyways, looking forward to hearing more about your life in China! Take care!
brainflash! Perhaps I could help you link up with a high school class here that the students could write back and forth to and practice their English?
Just a suggestion.
Conny
Interesting! It all sounds fascinating. You actually ate octopus???? Ewwwww
Sounds like you are learning and seeing new things all the time.
Keep us informed, it is interesting to hear what your life is like over there.
About your lack of resources, what exactly do you need? Is it anything we could send over to you? Perhaps old library books from here etc? Let me know perhaps I can arrange something.
Send your address and cell number will you?
We are getting ready to celebrate Oma's birthday tomorrow. Dad is tickled that he spoke with you on the phone and was eager to rely all you told him. Cody is currently out of work again so we are hoping he can find another job. He is talking about going back to school perhaps in Austrailia or Holland. My work is going well, full caseload already. One is pretty serious, especially when he got removed from school after assaulting 3 staff and a cop! I am learning how to begin the process of accessing even more intensive support for him and his family.
You are missed! But sounds like you are too busy to miss us!
All for now
Love Conny
Mmm... hey chris, sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun over there. And sounds like a lot of tasty food that they're treating you to. Although I would probably die of my allergies, you must be really enjoying things over there. Kinda neat how they treat you as big shots over there :)
interesting! How was the duck's tongue? Sounds quite interesting to me.
Tell us about your school and classes. What is the name of the school? How old are your students? How is it going?
Love ya and miss ya
Conny
You are too brave! Glad to hear you are trying all the different foods! Noah and Soph will love the part about the duck's tongue :) Sounds excting with lots of adventures. So what is the teaching actually like? Who do you teach?
Take care and post as often as you can.
PS - Oh yeah...Opa told Noah and Soph to figure out which way was shorter for you to fly...so they got out the globe and string and taped two pieces in either direction and then measured which one was shorter :)
hi Chris,
It's nice to hear that you've landed safetly! I'm sure you'll find China slightly more populated than if you had come up here to teach with me. I'll be thinking of you!
Hi Christine Good to hear from you and we are thinking about you and looking at the clock to figure-out what time it is where you are. We have been reading a lot of other blogs and that is very interesting.
I found a map of Nanjing and perhaps you can let us know in what section you are. It seems that everyone has internet trouble there.
I also read about Nanjing No. 1 Middle School and I.E.L.T.S. Lrt us
know what you do about eating. I thought that the school was for Canadian kids? How may students in the school.
A loving hug from your Granddad and till the next time.
Glad you arrived safe and sound! What a trip that must have been. What were your first impressions of China? Scenery? People etc? Am curious. How does the school seem. Is it big? Small? Number of students etc.
I would love to come and visit you if you are still there next August.
But I remembered the Olympics are also on next summer. Could make travel a nightmare? Keep us up to date.
All for now
Conny
azmie
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the song
hi! i know it's a bit late to be asking this, but can you provide me the name of the song that you mentioned in the end of your entry? just a little bit curious here. Thanks :)