my mom's visit to shanghai

my mom has been here for the past week (she just left today... waaahhh!) and it was such an amazing time. the time went TOO fast though. I feel like she just got here and she has already left. i have so many adventures with her to blog about but alas, a picture will have to suffice until I get the time.

at west lake in Hangzhou

my mom rocking the chopsticks

having tea in yuyuan

april has left me feeling dizzy i've been so busy with work, chinese lessons, alice's visit,  and my mom's visit. but now... my trip to the lovely beach island of Xiamen, China! after a month of nothing but running around and lack of sleep, i am heading out for the May holiday. then, it's back to grind and living up my final 2 months in china. recently, i've been having mixed emotions about my return to america. but, that's another post.

enjoy your weekend! i will enjoy mine hopefully sipping some type of fruity drink on the beach :)

shanghai gongqing forest park 森林公园

my most recent field trip with my 3/4 year old class took me to the shanghai gongqing forest park about 45 minutes away from the school (or longer). when you have two 3 year olds in a 2 person row of seats, it feels like forever. especially when they wouldn't sit still or stop fighting about who would be where next to the window.

my 2 "children" for the day. i was in charge of these 2 all day, whether it be keeping them clean, feeding them lunch, tying shoes, wiping tears and being used as a human pillow.

*side note - the entire trip, i have never heard "waiguoren" meaning "foreigner" so many times in my life. as i walked down the paths with the girls' hands, i heard it every few seconds. some in hushed whispers... some yelling ... "WAIGUOREN!!" and pointing.

yes, obviously i am foreign.

hello!

once we got to the forest, we loaded a big golf cart type thing and headed into the park. all the flowers and trees were so pretty! i didn't feel like i was in shanghai. i wanted to take pictures so bad, but when you are having to hold 2 hands and carry 2 backpacks, it was a little tough. the only thing bad about these kind of trips with the kids here is that i want to do my own thing so bad! but instead of seeing the beautiful tulips and purple budding trees, we rode the train...

little joy cheesing it. she was sooo happy to be back at school for the trip. she recently fell out of a shopping cart (no joke) and broke her arm really bad.

sweet roller coaster!

we rode the merry go round...

we played in the dirt after lunch.

i am an awesome teacher. i let them get so dirty.

i am sure their mom's hated me.

we bounced on the mei yang yang moon bounce...

we rode boats in a small pool? 

 well, finley and ai played in the water. 

i didn't have money like all the other parents and ayi's to let them ride.

jiajia - always the diva in the glittery hat.

the one nature picture i got. spring in shanghai really is lovely. :)

a catch up S.O.D.E post

S.O.D.E updates
i have been awful at updating about my dinner club! we have had 3 more SODE dinners since my last post about them.

#3
Location: Mi Tierra Mexican Restaurant (Jacqueline's choice)
This place had the most AMAZING guacamole ever! between the 5 of us (Kate had been visiting) that guac was gone in about 5 minutes. i think we were licking the bowl :) Jacqueline and I shared some amazing chicken fajitas and of course we all got margaritas :)

#4
Location: Anna Maya Vegetarian Cafe (the vegetarian herself, Amanda's choice)

The food at this cafe was the freshest I have had since I've been here. I'm obviously not a vegetarian but this food was my favorite I have had of all SODEs so far. I had a 3 course meal: mushroom soup, 4 little salads (AMAZING) and then yellow curry and rice. all the food was vegan as well. the 3 of us also shared some organic white wine and then some complementary cake balls. i'm still dreaming of those little salads.

#5
Location: MAYA Mexican Restaurant (Jacquline's choice again. it was my turn but i traded her for when my mom is here)
The atmosphere of this place was so awesome and their tacos were awesome! i had 3: cilantro chicken, lime beef and bean and cheese. we also had guacamole again. i am really in love with guacamole! you guessd it, more margaritas were involved. i tried a tamarind margarita (which is some type of flower) and it was excellent. i am an original lime girl at heart though :)
*pictures soon. i need to get them from amanda*

my mom will be here in 4 days! :) i have been busy planning activities, dinners, day trips, etc. it's gonna be the best. i love my mom and just can't wait to see her. it's been almost 8 months! that's waaay too long.

the singing competition

so i was approached by yao yao, the chinese teacher of my 5/6 year old class, on a monday afternoon. she was doing her usual filling me in of information, semi-bossing me around altogether just throwing tons of information at me. she decides to throw in like it was no big deal an "oh, by the way, you will be involved in a singing competition on sunday morning at 7:30 am". my reply was a huge "WHAAAT!?" and in my head an "oohhh okay of course, my kids are competing. this is gonna be extra work obviously and super short notice but whatever" china is the KING of last minute requests. no, scratch that, commands. she then goes on to tell me that i will be the one singing, with one of my teaching partners, gene, and another chinese teacher.

again "WHAATT?!"

you mean i have to get up on my weekend and sing at some dumb contest, a song i don't know and attend a three hour practice when i should be at home already? you have GOT to be kidding me. a singing competition for teachers? uhhhh

best part is, she expects me to already know the song! it's a song from the Beijing Olympic games!!! thankfully it's only like 4 lines and it's in English, but this is a complete waste of my time.

and so random.

but mainly, a waste of my time.

i am a little frustrated about this because i have a friend in town, my mom is coming, i have lessons due and crafts to plan, an acting class to plan, music, poems and songs i need to get figured out for the kids graduation, etc etc etc...

but, i keep my head up and say... only in china.

chinglish cheers me up.

HEY GOOD!

cave?

oh ~~ fashion.

my spring babies

i know i don't tend to use many words when blogging, i just post a lot of pictures. it's hard to blog about teaching because basically the same thing happens everyday. i play with them, i teach them, i help feed them and take them to the potty, and then i play some more. not too many funny things are said because, hello, they barely speak English. i am sure the things they say in chinese are hilarious though, if only i was fluent enough to understand everything. i am getting there though.

here are some pictures from a recent spring play time.
the beauty in the faces of these children make me smile bigger than they do.

jonathan and terry: the roughest boys of the gang.

notice those towels? the ayis (or "nannies of the classroom") shove these towels down the kids' clothing so they don't get all sweaty when playing outside. parents and their personal ayis dress the kids in 2-4 layers of clothing through the fall, winter and apparently spring. it's summer time when the kids can finally being to move their arms again and not be like the kid from the christmas story :)

my new girl: madison

i haven't heard her say a word yet minus the word "book". it's only been 2 classes though.

brandon - so smart

his english is one of the best and he always speaks in very slow chinese for me.

one day he says to me "zhe shi wo de bagongshi!" meaning, "this is my office!" when i came to play with him in the little house. i understood!! :)

eleven - always full of laughter. she is my spunkiest girl with the biggest attitude! she is so fun but also a little brat.

the one and only jiajia of course

my japanese love - ai

barely speaks english. speaks no chinese except "bu yao" meaning, "i don't want it".

conversation is hard but i love her! she is so funny.

nakita and eleven giggling as always

eleven is a bad influence on little nakita who wouldn't harm a fly.

but eleven sure would :)

throwing me the peace signs

it can't always be smiles and laughter.

ohhh joy. joy isn't living up to her name... poor baby. haha :)

xin de tongwu 新的室友

first night in the apartment.

taking pictures on photobooth like nerds.

sitting in my bed.

skyping our moms.

awesome :)

there could have been a little wine involved as well.