I don't even know if I can make it.
Shawn did the smart thing and didn't look at any of the Camp Croix pictures that were e-mailed or blogged,(and told me not to look at them) but I couldn't help it. What a mistake. I can't believe we've gone 10 months without seeing any of the kids (or any of you Wollers). I can't believe I have to wait yet ANOTHER week to see them again. I could have cried, and I am NOT a crier.
I'm not usually one to get stressed out, but I've definitely been feeling the effects. I've been having crazy dizzy spells and just general fatigue and weakness. (And I'm CRANKY!) However, all of our bags are completely packed except for a few clothes and the Wii. Our flat is totally cleaned except for the ridiculous amount of sand in Ningxia which leaves our flat looking as if I haven't swept in months about 5 minutes after I've finished. The upside of my stress for Shawn is that he hasn't had to clean or pack a single thing. I've been so intent on keeping myself busy and distracted so he's been able to play video games, learn Chinese Chess, and almost finish season 10 (or 11, 12??) of ER.
We were going to leave for Beijing on Thursday and have 2-3 days to maybe go see the Wall and hit up the Silk Market, but our school "didn't realize" that we had already bought our tickets for America and that they couldn't ask us to stay 2 extra weeks to take care of visas. So, we will get our visas, but we will have to stay in Ningxia until Saturday. Our actual flight out of Beijing leaves the 30th, and we're scheduled to get home on the 30th around 12:40pm. We simply can not wait to be home.
We should be sprinting to the finish here, doing our "work" with a burst of energy, but it will be really tough to not just hide in our flat for a week solid. We've got a few more classes to teach, but we're just watching movies, so our showing up is just a formaility. You should all know that Shawn has a much better attitude than I do right now. I'm working on it.
Point being, we are very much looking forward to seeing ALL of you.
Eric, if I cry and hug you when I get off the plane... don't judge me.
I should go sweep the floor... again.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Idioms...
I gave my English Majors a list of idioms and their definitions. They each had a partner and had to write a dialogue showing that they could appropriately use one of the idioms. I just wanted to share this one with you (exactly as written and performed):
V: How beautiful your leg! Ha Ha!
N: Don't pull my leg
V: Oh. So sorry. What's wrong with your leg.
N: Nothing! Nothing! It's good.
V: Really? Let me have a try! Baby!
N: Oh, no! No!
V: Wow. Your leg is fall!
N: (cry) You hurt my heart!
V: (run)! See you!
V: How beautiful your leg! Ha Ha!
N: Don't pull my leg
V: Oh. So sorry. What's wrong with your leg.
N: Nothing! Nothing! It's good.
V: Really? Let me have a try! Baby!
N: Oh, no! No!
V: Wow. Your leg is fall!
N: (cry) You hurt my heart!
V: (run)! See you!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Google Earth
For the Google Earth users out there I have finally found the location of our apartment/school.
Our coordinates are:
Latitude: 38°14'49.37"N
Longitude:106°13'33.31"E
Eric, I know you asked for this months ago but as you can see there really aren't a whole lot of landmarks around by which to find the school. Believe me I tried. It wasn't till I got more familiar with the area and the roads in particular that I was able to locate it.
The picture is a bit old, there are a few more buildings and the athletic field in the center of campus is artificial turf now and therefore always green. Everything surrounding the campus is pretty much the still the same though: fields and small brick huts(for lack of a better word).
The small town just north is actually YongNing. I think it has been mislabeled. You can also see how far away we are from Yinchuan (i.e. civilization, any other foreigners, KFC)
So there, we aren't quite off the map. You just need to know where to look.
On another note, blog spot has been working for us for almost a week now but I don't want to say anything and jinx it.
Only about 18 more days till we come home. Have food ready.
Our coordinates are:
Latitude: 38°14'49.37"N
Longitude:106°13'33.31"E
Eric, I know you asked for this months ago but as you can see there really aren't a whole lot of landmarks around by which to find the school. Believe me I tried. It wasn't till I got more familiar with the area and the roads in particular that I was able to locate it.
The picture is a bit old, there are a few more buildings and the athletic field in the center of campus is artificial turf now and therefore always green. Everything surrounding the campus is pretty much the still the same though: fields and small brick huts(for lack of a better word).
The small town just north is actually YongNing. I think it has been mislabeled. You can also see how far away we are from Yinchuan (i.e. civilization, any other foreigners, KFC)
So there, we aren't quite off the map. You just need to know where to look.
On another note, blog spot has been working for us for almost a week now but I don't want to say anything and jinx it.
Only about 18 more days till we come home. Have food ready.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
The Legal Drinking Age is 3
Last week Shawn told his students that in America the legal drinking age is 21. He asked them the legal drinking age and they said "3".
A few months ago I met a woman on the bus and a gave her our phone number. A few weeks ago (about 6 months after I met her) she gave me a call and wanted to meet me. So, I met the woman and she invited Shawn and I to dinner with her, her mother and sister.
Last night we went to dinner, expecting a very long and semi-painful night considering her English is absolutely terrible and our Chinese is worse. However, it turned out to be a lot of fun. They were all really sweet, and her mother especially was incredibly enthusiastic about our being there.
Her 3 year old nephew was there and when dinner started they gave Shawn a beer and then opened another one for this little kid, and poured it in his little cup. The kid drank an entire can of beer. Every few minutes he would stand up and go around the table "Gambe, mama", "Gambe Ayi" "Gambe Nai nai" etc. "Gambe" is the equivalent of "Cheers" and he would hit his glass to theirs and drink. If someone he had toasted didn't drink (since he did it so often) he would say "He! He!!"(drink, drink) until they did. After a few rounds he was accidentally knocking things over when he stood up to "Gambe" everyone and the mother of the child laughed a little and said, "My son is very happy."
Keep in mind that the beer has a very low alcohol content. Also, they did cut him off after one.
Now we know, the legal drinking age in China really is 3.
A few months ago I met a woman on the bus and a gave her our phone number. A few weeks ago (about 6 months after I met her) she gave me a call and wanted to meet me. So, I met the woman and she invited Shawn and I to dinner with her, her mother and sister.
Last night we went to dinner, expecting a very long and semi-painful night considering her English is absolutely terrible and our Chinese is worse. However, it turned out to be a lot of fun. They were all really sweet, and her mother especially was incredibly enthusiastic about our being there.
Her 3 year old nephew was there and when dinner started they gave Shawn a beer and then opened another one for this little kid, and poured it in his little cup. The kid drank an entire can of beer. Every few minutes he would stand up and go around the table "Gambe, mama", "Gambe Ayi" "Gambe Nai nai" etc. "Gambe" is the equivalent of "Cheers" and he would hit his glass to theirs and drink. If someone he had toasted didn't drink (since he did it so often) he would say "He! He!!"(drink, drink) until they did. After a few rounds he was accidentally knocking things over when he stood up to "Gambe" everyone and the mother of the child laughed a little and said, "My son is very happy."
Keep in mind that the beer has a very low alcohol content. Also, they did cut him off after one.
Now we know, the legal drinking age in China really is 3.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Modeling... with our translator Vivian
My darling husband
All the female models
The crowd that gathered in Long De just to see foreigners
During the 3 days of mourning for the earthquake victims in China some of us wore yellow strips of cloth around our wrists for the 3 days and on the 3rd tied them to these trees.Hey, it's working!
Kids running away from Shawn in Long De
Ladies and Gentlemen, the split pants...
Some lake... this is what we look like now that we've been in China so long.
"Hallelujah" was the only English word she knew
Another modeling picture, since I never actually put any up...
I'm trying to post some pictures of our recent adventures, but there's no telling if that will work or not.
We're at 23 days till we come home... and counting.
I sent out an e-mail this morning of everything we've been up to lately, and yet I still feel obligated to blog because it's actually working. Well, enjoy the pictures...
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Let the Sarcastic Comments Begin...
You have no idea how hesitant I am to actually blog this story. Dave, please stop reading here.
About a week ago a friend of mine in Yinchuan called me and said that some model agency wanted to meet all the foreign women in Yinchuan and choose 2 to model jewelery for 1000 yuan. Since Shawn and I are considering purchasing a motorbike I decided, why not? We could use the money if this all works out.
So, I went with some other foreign women to go meet this model agency. We didn't know what was going to happen really, but long story short he chose my friend and me.
The next day the model agency decided they wanted me for a different gig on the same day, but instead of just me, they wanted a couple for a wedding photography advertisement show... so both Shawn and I were going to be models in Inner Mongolia for a few days.
They ended up canceling the other jewelery show, so my friend kind of got the shaft on that. Considering how everything was going and how they kept canceling and rejecting people, we really didn't think it would happen.
It did happen.
On Wednesday afternoon Shawn and I got in the model agency's company car with tinted windows and drove to Inner Mongolia. There we checked into our hotel rooms and went to meet the boss of the company who was putting on the show. At this point we discovered that we were being introduced as professional American models, and were under no circumstances to let on that we were just teachers. Somehow, the guy bought it, and we were in.
That night they taught us how to walk down the runway, turn, and all that.
The next morning we woke up at 6am to go get made up. Apparently we were the "main point" of the show, so... that was interesting. We had to wear 4 different outfits and do the catwalk stint about 7 or 8 times, and then got paid. The entire morning was actually quite humiliating, but the mood lightened as the afternoon went on and we discovered that the boss of the wedding photograph company was just a jerk and was upset with the scheduling and performance order, not us.
It was originally going to be 2 or 3 days, but he didn't want to pay us any more (typical China) so our "agent" told him we'd only do the next day or 2 if he paid us for each day. We were under the understanding that we were getting 500 yuan per person per day, but only ended up getting 500 yuan total. We did get free meals, a free trip, put up in a hotel, and got to see the Wu Hai sight (there was only one).
So, after 10 hours of being "professional international models" we went to the only tourist attraction within an hour. We rode the super long zip line in the desert, and also drove a 4-wheeler around in the desert. Shawn let me drive because he could tell I really wanted to, but I had only ever driven automatic 4-wheelers, so the guy kept getting mad at me for being such a horrible driver.
We got back to Yinchuan about 11:30 Thursday night.
And that's about the gist of it. Pictures coming soon.
About a week ago a friend of mine in Yinchuan called me and said that some model agency wanted to meet all the foreign women in Yinchuan and choose 2 to model jewelery for 1000 yuan. Since Shawn and I are considering purchasing a motorbike I decided, why not? We could use the money if this all works out.
So, I went with some other foreign women to go meet this model agency. We didn't know what was going to happen really, but long story short he chose my friend and me.
The next day the model agency decided they wanted me for a different gig on the same day, but instead of just me, they wanted a couple for a wedding photography advertisement show... so both Shawn and I were going to be models in Inner Mongolia for a few days.
They ended up canceling the other jewelery show, so my friend kind of got the shaft on that. Considering how everything was going and how they kept canceling and rejecting people, we really didn't think it would happen.
It did happen.
On Wednesday afternoon Shawn and I got in the model agency's company car with tinted windows and drove to Inner Mongolia. There we checked into our hotel rooms and went to meet the boss of the company who was putting on the show. At this point we discovered that we were being introduced as professional American models, and were under no circumstances to let on that we were just teachers. Somehow, the guy bought it, and we were in.
That night they taught us how to walk down the runway, turn, and all that.
The next morning we woke up at 6am to go get made up. Apparently we were the "main point" of the show, so... that was interesting. We had to wear 4 different outfits and do the catwalk stint about 7 or 8 times, and then got paid. The entire morning was actually quite humiliating, but the mood lightened as the afternoon went on and we discovered that the boss of the wedding photograph company was just a jerk and was upset with the scheduling and performance order, not us.
It was originally going to be 2 or 3 days, but he didn't want to pay us any more (typical China) so our "agent" told him we'd only do the next day or 2 if he paid us for each day. We were under the understanding that we were getting 500 yuan per person per day, but only ended up getting 500 yuan total. We did get free meals, a free trip, put up in a hotel, and got to see the Wu Hai sight (there was only one).
So, after 10 hours of being "professional international models" we went to the only tourist attraction within an hour. We rode the super long zip line in the desert, and also drove a 4-wheeler around in the desert. Shawn let me drive because he could tell I really wanted to, but I had only ever driven automatic 4-wheelers, so the guy kept getting mad at me for being such a horrible driver.
We got back to Yinchuan about 11:30 Thursday night.
And that's about the gist of it. Pictures coming soon.
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