when will you have a husband, miss jami?

this is a cute dialogue between me and 2 boys in my 5/6 year class, mark and kaelen. both boys are originally from america. mark is 1/2 chinese, 1/2 australian born in Houston. and kaelen is from American parents born in Boston 
m = mark
j = jami (me)
k = kaelen

mark

kaelen

m - i am so full look at my belly

j - yes, you look very full.

m - it's kinda like i have a baby in there.

j - only girls have babies mark you know that. you are a boy!

m - you are a girl so you can have babies?

j - yes mark

k - do you have a baby miss jami?

j - no kaelen i dont have a baby.

m - well you need a husband to have a baby. and if you had a baby you can't really do anything like be a teacher or play games.

j - you are right mark (laughing)

m - well when are you going to have a husband? soon?

j - well i don't want a husband right now.

m - well in a year?

j - maybe. you never know mark, but probably not. where do you think i should find one?

m - well in england of course.

j - why england?

m - that's where all the men are. they are proper.

k - miss jami doyou want me to tell you how to get a boyfriend or husband? well at first you start liking the boy. then in 3 days or so he can be your husband or boyfriend. you just have to ask him. or maybe he will ask you.

 :)

my mom is coming to shanghai!

i just found out that my mom officially booked her ticket to shanghai this morning! it was the best waking up present. she will get here april 19th and stay through april 28th i believe. i can't wait to show her around shanghai, i will need to get an itinerary put together because i don't want her to miss a thing! i am so excited! i don't want time to go fast, i want it to slow down, but to see my mom? come on time :)

a picture from this summer of my mom and i!

prior to my mom coming, the one and only alice mcavoy is coming back to shanghai for a week and staying with amanda and i. now that is going to be one crazy week. i am so excited to see alice as well!

my most recent picture with alice. missing her as always (and tim finding it quite hilarious apparently)

i feel like i overuse the word excited. what other words can i use about these future visitors?

i am ecstatic.
i am overjoyed.
i am over the moon! haha
i am pumped up.

not to mention i'm going to be doing some traveling over the next months as well.
chengdu, guilin, beijing to name a few possibilities.

hurray for april!

7 months

it honestly blows my mind that i have been here 7 months and how comfortable i am living here. i finally feel acclimated to the environment, culture and just my daily life. i love it here more and more every day. july is going to come so soon. i hope the next 3 months slow down a little...

the last week or so has been quite interesting in both bad and good ways. st. patrick's day in shanghai was quite the success and our own dear aussie shaun's birthday was the same day. i busted out the green bow and green glasses from the ever so amazing Qipu Lu chinese clothing and accessory market. lensless glasses will never get old. with so many colors and styles you can have a pair for every occasion. the bow? not so much. but i can't resist a big bow in all honesty.

this is our "da xiao" face - meaning big smile. 

happy birthday shaussiieee!

that weekend mac and i hosted another infamous shanghai holiday party. we had a lot of fun wearing green and yes, i even had green tights. i don't mess around :) they were the cheapest pair ever though and ripped about 30 minutes into the party. that's china for ya.

we also had another S.O.D.E dinner at Lange Italian Restaurant. i had some AMAZING lasagna and between jacqueline, kate, amanda, mac and i... of course.... 2 bottles of wine.

 

a bad thing that happened this week is that Mac is having to head back to America 3 months early. back in january she had hurt her knee really bad in hainan, china but didn't really do much about it. over the next month it kept giving out on her, or she would hurt it, etc. well on saturday night she hurt it again but this time, the worst. she can't walk, its swollen, it's just really bad. :( it breaks me heart that i am losing my best friend here. the girl who has been through it all with me. i have loved being her roommate and i am going to miss her so much. i am so sad this had to happen to her, but she is keeping positive and remembering "everything happens for a reason". and thats why i love her. that and we look ridiculous words up on urban dictionary until midnight laughing until we cry.

mac and i strutting our best model poses. who am i going to pose with now? :(

with spring in the air my kids are  off. the. walls. you would think they never get play time! i love my 3/4 year class so much. today was probably one of my favorite days teaching them. it was almost 60 degrees today here and a blue sunny sky. i got to play outside with them all morning. they put out some big fluffy mats and Jane (my chinese teacher) and i laid in the sun. the warmth felt so good and everything in that moment was beautiful. i had these wonderful children just laughing with me, cuddling with me, tickling and pretending they were my pillow and blankets. i wish i would have had my camera. it was honestly a beautiful moment in china. i was laughing and had the cheesiest grin on my face i am sure.

 i really am loving my life right now. i love it.

oh and amanda is moving in with me.

it's gonna be wild :)

chinese children's literature

it's hard to introduce the following post in an appropriate manner. where to begin? well, i will get right to it.

this is chinese book for 3 year olds that talks about pooping.

i happened across this book one day right before i went to wake the babies up from their nap. i had to get my camera out right away and document theses pages. my jaw dropped as soon as i saw them, as i know yours will.

it's quite hilarious, graphic and absolutely ridiculous. if only my chinese character reading was a better. i am dying to hear what this book actually says!

*warning - these pictures are... really too much.

the cover.

somebody's gotta go.

*whistle whistling...

hahahaha

hmmmm

oh man.

hahahah

apparently some homes have 3 toilets in the bathroom.

and the dog is allowed to go on the floor.

is this not gross? but hey it gave you a good laugh didn't it? :)

"shedding our skin"

my friend lindsey from college is currently teaching in Samoa with the Peace Corps. she said some amazing words on what it means to live abroad and find who you are.

check out her blog at:
lindseyforpeace.blogspot.com

lindsey, your words really inspired me today!
good luck with everything in Samoa. you are an awesome teacher!
teachers abroad unite! :)

spring & st. paddy's

for a week now i have been teaching NOTHING but St. Patrick's Day to my kids. i think i'm going to explode soon. it's hard to come up with 2 weeks of material for this holiday which i only associate with drinking beers and wearing green. turns out (through research and talking to a student's parent who is Irish) it's a lot more. haha

no matter the reason, holiday, weather... they just gotta pose!

i love this so much.

spring is also in the air at wunan! i had the kids tell me their favorite thing about spring and i decorated the classroom with green leaves and a new bulletin board (which was not my idea "share a smile"? so very asian).

 everyone else said how much they love spring, can play outside, see flowers, etc.

then, there's leo. at least he's being honest.

the school also took us out to another dinner this friday. we ate at a place called the shanghai cuisine variety show. haha there was no variety show in sight though.

from left to right

yao yao, my 6 year teacher

jane, my 3 year teacher

 principal annie 

and shirley and leanne, jacqueline's teachers.

 the food wasn't too bad, that or i am adjusting to the crazy food finally. there was no duck tongue this round, but some type of jellyfish strings. oh chinese food, i will never be used to you.
i got to play with the principal's daughter Judy for awhile. we had tickle fights right at the table and looked out the window at the city talking about taxis. is she not beautiful?

here's to week 2 of teaching about st. patrick's day. yuck. i just can't wait to celebrate this weekend with another imfamous party at Mac and I's apartment. i have a bunch of cleaning to do. lame.
have a great sunday!

april and i :)

second semester smiles

today is march 10th and i finally feel like spring is on it's way! its 57 degrees and sunny and i have a huge smile on my face. so far, this second semester has been SO GREAT. i am a huge 360degree turn from how i was feeling the first week back in shanghai after vacation. i have a goofy grin on my face most of the time, i feel myself skipping down the streets sometimes, and my weekends are always filled with such laughter. every weekend is more and more fun!

i love saturdays.

last saturday my friends and i decided that we were going to have lunch and drinks... kinda all day.
we played kings at Malone's, watched wacky infomercials and ending up and sitting there for over 4 hours.

shots before 5? oops.

we then went to Windows for awesome bar foods and a high school party (or so it felt like).

amanda and tim.

school is going well too. my 3 year olds have came so far and their behavior is totally improving. their English is improving too! they make me so proud. i love giggling with them and hearing them yell "MISS JAMI!!" down the halls when they see me. their smiles make me light up.
my 6 year olds are starting to get antsy with primary school coming up but they are doing well too. they are quite the challenge.
i feel like i am more dedicated and creative this semester. i am even teaching an English acting class. this wasn't my choice, but i am going to remain positive, even though it's a lot of extra work.

Hong.

(side story about Hong: today i went to move his chair and he didn't notice i was moving it and fell down. he got super embarrassed and started crying. this kid never cries and i actually thought he didn't like me. i pulled him to the side and told him i was so sorry (in Chinese as well) and he gave me this HUGE hug and cried and cried on my shoulder. i don't know why. he then said, "it's okay miss jami. i was just scared and they all laughed. i didn't like it. it not you" :)

i was also told today by mark "if you keep making us jump rope i am going to leave this school!"

hey, mark. not my problem.

nonetheless, second semester.... here... we... GOOO!!!

and of course, alice, you are always with us. :)

S.O.D.E

shanghai is such an amazing city, let me tell you (as i've said so many times before)! there are so many places to go and things to do that unless you make a point to try new things, it's easy to get stuck going to the same places (which are still awesome!) over and over again.
this semester my friend Jacqueline had this idea that each week we should try a new restaurant or bar in order to really take in the city and live up this semester. of course, i found this idea absolutely fabulous.

therefore, S.O.D.E - Shanghai Ongoing Dinner Extravaganza. great name, right?

each week, between mac, amanda, jacqueline and i, we take turns picking a place to go each friday night. another reason for S.O.D.E was to just see each other more often!

the first meeting was all up to me! i was kinda nervous actually. i wanted to impress. i even lost sleep over it! each day when i walk down yongjia lu i see this same place called The Indian Kitchen. i've had indian food one time and i really liked it. also, hello? curry!

2 bottles of wine. gone. 

the place was in a brand new complex on the 4th floor. the atmosphere was pretty fun and funky. the food was great, the service? not so much. a little slow. but then again it was crowded. we didn't mind because we were with great company, conversation, and... wine :) overall it was a cute place and a great start to an awesome tradition. not to mention i got my curry fix. who can really complain about that? :)

amazing dishes! 

the girls of SODE!

amanda

jacqueline

mac

oh & to jordan - i knew you would love this idea! my own food adventure in shanghai :)

this ones for the girls

working at an international school brings to your attention some holidays that you didn't even know existed. today (apparently) is Girl's Day in Japan! my teacher wanted me to research the information and basically "dumb it down" for 5 year olds. Girl's Day, or "Hinamatsuri" is actually a pretty crazy holiday where the parents of Japanese girls set out these "Hina" dolls in honor of their daughters on many tiered platforms. the tradition is, if they don't take down the dolls that night (before the holiday is over) they believe their daughter will take longer to marry off which is a BIG deal. how do you explain that to a 5 year old? :)
i went with just a little information and pictures of Japan on a powerpoint, threw in a picture of Hello Kitty in a kimono and then had them make their own "Hina" dolls. We also told Xixi and April we loved them.
The dolls turned out pretty cute :)

that one is mine :)

happy girl's day to all the girls out there!