recently

sorry for the lack of posts! this last week has been so busy. i am currently prepping my 5 & 6 year olds for graduation which is a frustrating and long process. i am trying to teach them 4 songs as well as memorize lines for a play and poem. all in english. they are slowly but surely getting there... fingers crossed it will all come together before June 24th!


here are some pictures from the last few weeks or so :) sometimes, i don't want to devote a whole entry on just one story, so here are a few mini stories to match the pictures.

.shanghai MIDI festival.

amanda, tim, jacqueline and i went to the Shanghai MIDI Music Festival in Pudong. it was really warm that day and sunny. amanda and i stuck playing cards to our forehead to prove that we were sweating. classy, right? it was totally expat central and had some great music. we brought a big sheet and sat outside altogether playing cards and having fun :)

 .jake's visit.

JAKEY CAME TO VISIT from Beijing! he used to work with us in Shanghai but decided that he wanted to solely study Mandarin and moved to Beijing to take some language courses. We had a great weekend with him just catching up and having fun like old times. We took this picture with a self timer (looovee you Amanda). This is half of the "Shanghai 10" as we liked to call it. we were definitely missing Alice, Natalie, Kate, and Mackenzie! (yes, i know it only adds up to 9... anyways :)

*ohhh jake's shirt -- I <3 BJ.

it's a jakey sandwich! and apparently i'm the only one that didn't get the memo to look silly!

.play time with the kids.

adorable Joy laughing like usual. her laugh is contagious. she can make me smile at any time. 

these next few are pictures from playing outside that Amanda took when she came to observe my school! it was finally not unbearably hot. perfect outside weather :)

ming ming climbing up the ladder. too adorable.

my girl Jia Jia climbing up too!

this photo makes me laugh so much. ohh rich...

 .dodgeball.

tim plays dodgeball with a bunch of other expats every thursday night. amanda and i decided that were were going to go watch him and his friends play! it was a really fun time. tim's team is called "the untouchaballs" and each of their shirts have a nickname with the word "ball" in it. "tinker ball" is tim's. pretty funny since he is a big, tall guy.

i will be home in exactly 5 weeks.
unbelievable.

S.O.D.E - Haiku by Hatsune

Restaurant: Haiku by Hatsune

for this S.O.D.E, Jacqueline was sick so Amanda and I had a roomie S.O.D.E :)

the atmosphere in this restaurant was really pretty and relaxing. we started off with sake cocktails (of course) since it's a Japanese place.

next, we ordered sushi. i love sushi so much and this was definitely the best i have EVER had. it was so good! i even added some wasabi to my soy sauce. a few times amanda and i could feel our eyes beginning to water due to too much wasabi. we had some good laughs.

i ordered the butterfly roll. it had a few types of raw fish on top with crab and avocado in the middle. a-m-a-z-i-n-g.

amanda ordered some veggie roll. i can't remember what the name was, but since she is a vegetarian it only had sweet potato and avocado in it. she said it was also amazing. i didn't try it because i didn't think it would be fair since she couldn't sample mine. plus, i think we wanted all our own anyways :)

lastly, we ordered two different sake cocktails.

overall, this takes the place of Anna Maya as my favorite so far.

i think Tim and i are going to go on Tuesday!

it's hot. seriously.

the weatherman is such a liar (ni pian ren! 你 骗 人!), but we all know this. 


every morning i wake up and i look at the weather. this morning i said to myself, and this pattern repeats almost everyday: 
"oh,  high of 86! that's pretty hot."
thing is, 86 is such a lie! it's not really 86, it's 95, feels like 98. basically 100.


it's just miserable out and it's not even "summer" yet. it's may. where is spring? i don't think i've even experienced a real spring in my entire life. shanghai doesnt have one, neither does indiana. maybe one day i should move to somewhere that does. i think i would like it.


my poor babies just sweat and sweat when they play outside. heck, i'm even sweating and i'm literally just standing there. they say, "miss jami, chase me! play with me!". i just can't do it kids. i will watch you, laugh with you and hold your hand but, running? chasing? climbing?
no. i want to! i promise. but... no.

but look at them! look how happy they are just to be outside!

they run like crazy, jump, play and scream like the heat isn't an issue.

can i be 4 again? please.

another quote

... but this time, as i like to call him, by my "beer guy".


about 10 steps out my door is a small store that sells all sorts of things to drink, snacks, ice cream, candy, you name it. it's literally a small hole in the wall.
i usually go in there to buy beer, i'll be honest. it's cheap. it's cold. it's within walking distance.
but, i also go in there for ice cream a lot too, gatorade and bottled water.
tonight i go in there for some ice cream and water and the following conversation ensues...


BG - beer guy
J - jami


*all in chinese i might add.


BG - hello, do you want beer?
J - no, i want ice cream and water tonight.
BG - no, you want 5 bottles of beer tonight.
J - (laughing) no, just water and strawberry ice cream!
BG - i've had 5 bottles tonight. you want 5 bottles too!
J - my health is bad, i just want water!
BG - beer is so good!
J - yes, beer it very good.
BG - oohhhh maybe tomorrow? 5 bottles?
J - (laughing) good bye!

quotable kids

and again, an oh-so-adorable conversation i heard today between mark and kaelen:

m - what is that on your finger?

k - stop, its just a wart.

m - what's a wart?

k - oh its just a dot on your finger. snipes give them to you. right, miss jami?

j - ummm....

m - what's a snipe?

k - it's just a small thing that bites your finger and then the wart shows up.

:)

sports competition

MVI_4092 a video by jami inholt on Flickr.

sports competitions in china really differ from what i have seen in american schools. the local classes and my oldest international class practiced for a few weeks for different games, marching drills and what i call "dances". i'm not sure what they call them. the video above is an example of the "dance".

the students all wore matching shirts to differentiate between them. a few children (well, 10 or more) would compete against each other in different sporting events. these events were really bizarre. one of them included wearing giant shoes and walking on a balance beam. not that safe... :) kids kept falling down and hitting the beam. i felt sorry for them! they would get all embarrassed.

they also raced with flags, carried bottled water across more balance beams and threw sticks over a net. all of this was in front of a big audience of other students, PTA members and even some members of the Shanghai soccer team! 

my babies had to sit there for an hour and half and not get to participate. they were great sports waving their little red flags :) but after about 30 minutes, they lost all patience. i didn't mind. i just played with them!

jia jia. too cool for school :)

when they grow up

there was another field trip this week at school, and all the students were able to visit some type of role playing "museum" of some sort. i honestly have no idea what this place was called. it wasn't the cleanest or most fun place i've been with the kiddos, but they did get to explore (basically put on costumes and have their parents take TONS of picture) different jobs they could have one day when they "grow up".

it's crazy to think these little, adorable, amazing, funny, chinese babies will one day be big. i feel like they are my kids sometimes.

will they be policemen/women?

  

or maybe fire fighters?

un-enthusiastic and nose picking firewomen :)

dentists?

possibly scientists?

who knows. but they can be anything they want to be :) and with my help, have some dang good English! 

sprucing things up a bit

hey-o and welcome to my new and improved blog :) every once and awhile i start getting antsy about how my blog looks. it's been the same since i came to china and i felt like it was time for a change. i found this great background and template scheme and then designed my own header using power point!

thumbs up for PPT!

 yeah, i should get photoshop. that will be on my to do list before i leave china, since it's absolutely and ridiculously cheap.


recently i have been really paying attention to the little moments with my kids. i am trying to cherish every moment with them whether its the laughter in class when terry rolls on the ground and then shakes his head and says "no no" when i tell him he is going in time out. or when ai jung wakes up from her nap and sings to me in japanese. the way that alvin always says "ooyyy yooooo" when something goes wrong. mark's kisses and holding my hand whenever he can. jia jia's amazing dance moves. 

the list can go on and on. i think it's those little things i will miss the most. and not just the little things in the classroom, but about all of china. i've became comfortable here. it's started to feel like home and then in 7 weeks i will be back in the US, trying to adjust all over again.


i hope i can find as much love and happiness back in the states, as i have here in china.


it's a little scary to think about. all the readjusting. all the changes. i've changed. people have changed. i don't want to be that scared girl anymore who let people stomp all over her and never put herself first. i have had this life changing experience where i feel more strong and independent than ever. my opinions are more honest. i have never been this happy in my life. but, this shanghai bubble is soon popping.
7 weeks.
7 weeks!

xiamen (sha-men) is silly!

for the May holiday, tim and i decided that we were going to take a trip together. we had thrown out many ideas such as Hong Kong & Macau, Chengdu, Xi'an, etc... we really wanted to go somewhere warm with a beach and i remember a fellow CIEE china friend's blog about Xiamen. so, we did our research and decided it was the place to go. it was also tons cheaper than our other options. the beach sounded fabulous to us and who doesnt wanna be a beach bum?

well, the weather decided to not be in our favor and we arrived on friday night to rain, smog and high humidity. we were still ready to have a good time and go with the flow. we were still on vacation and ready for adventure.

we woke up on saturday morning pretty early and headed out to China's largest Starbucks! we then decided to just walk around the city, and down zhongshan lu which is a pedestrian street right by the water.

i did not know this until i returned to shanghai and was talking to my chinese teacher in my 3 room, jane, that xiamen is known for it's really cheap shopping. she is absolutely right! they had some great street shopping outside and i bought 2 dresses, a skirt and a pair of tennis shoes for less than 200 kuai (approximately $30 USD!). i was so excited! i also got some great fruit tang hu lu. it's fruit with hard sugar coating.

 i am definitely going to miss that stuff back in the states. we saw some really random things, like
1. naked wedding pictures (seriously)
2. corn in a cup vendors
3. crazy food streets (with puppies in a cage... i don't even wanna think about that. i am scarred for life)
4. too much seafood!

5. a store called "Playboy" but was actually a bedding store.

after the walking street and getting some pizza, we visited the Nanputuo Temple next to Xiamen University. As we are getting in our cab, i tell the driver where we want to go and show him a picture on the map... he shakes his head and says "bu hao" meaning "bad". we weren't sure why until we got there and realized it was really crowded, beginning to rain, and we were the only white people there. we don't know if that's what he meant, but we decided to make that why :)

we made the best of it and walked around for awhile. there are these pagodas that you are supposed to toss coins into for good luck. the higher place you make it in, the more luck i assume. so, we emptied out all our jiaos (like dimes in the US) and began throwing. we were quite the spectacle. the only white people. a small girl. a tall guy. and we were dressed "like America" we kept saying. haha we were both wearing red, white and navy. i found it super hilarious!
at one point, this lady picks up tim's coin off the ground, stares at him, and then throws it in the first try! it was so funny and we couldnt quit laughing. we also were asked to have our pictures taken with a few people. it became a game eventually, seeing how many asked us personally.
tim is over 6ft tall so, he obviously won most of the time.

that night we went to a really fun place and had pizza (again), drinks and listened a really crazy band called d'extreme band. they played songs from britney spears, shania twain, 50 cent, metallica... crazy.

the next day we ventured out to this island called Gu Lang Yu.

we boarded a ferry to get over there and tim's head was touching the ceiling the whole time :)

we walked around the island and saw some really pretty things and even visited an aviary! bad thing about the aviary... tim got pooped on. his arm. it was funny, but really gross. at this point we had been walking around in the humidity for quite awhile so we decided to just leave the island. easier said then done. it was beginning to rain and basically everyone decided it was time to leave too! we were stuck in a stampede of chinese people for about 30 minutes. it was pushing, shoving, cutting, all out battle to get these ferry tickets! it was awful.

then we had to line up again to get on the ferry. all the umbrellas were hitting tim in the face and he had to wear my sunglasses to protect his eyes. he always says "i live in tiny town". haha poor guy, but it's true, he does.

we took it easy the rest of the trip and headed back to shanghai monday night.
xiamen was very very different from shanghai! i was glad to experience another chinese city and do some exploring :)

she smacked me.

let me preface this post by saying, it was warm out. almost to the point of saying it was hot, but i will go with warm. and i was wearing sandals...

i was minding my own business, listening to my iPod, reading Lost on Planet China (awesome read by the way for anyone who has lived here!), waiting for good ol bus 96 to arrive at my stop. i just wanted to get home for my lunch break. usually, i just walk, but today i was meeting Tim for lunch and i wanted to cut my time in half (walking = 25 min, bus = 10 min + waiting). of course, i had to wait forever today and the time i waited and rode the bus i could have been back at my apartment. frustrating! but back to the story,
i was waiting for the bus and this old chinese lady (maybe about 60 or so) sits down beside me on the bench. she proceeds to start talking to me really fast in chinese so i take out one of my headphones quickly. i'm thinking "does she think i am chinese? i obviously can't understand her" but before i can even begin to comprehend what's going on... she SMACKS my foot. yes, smacks! i'm so taken aback by this i can't even muster out any words but somehow begin to try and translate what she is saying the absolute best i can. she begins rattling on and on about something to the extent of "it is not warm enough to be wearing sandals" first off lady its about 80 degrees. and "you are going to have bad health if you don't put on some better shoes". i am beginning to laugh. she moves closer and puts her hand on my knee and starts bending it.

side note: in china, they believe you should wear many layers in the cold and then when it begins to warm up, you slowly remove the amount of layers until summer comes. so people are still wearing at least 2 layers or long sleeves and pants in 80-85 weather. it had something to do with your joint and overall health. even the classroom ayi stared at my feet today and laughed. go figure i am also currently sick right now... that doesn't help my case.

the lady continues to go on and on and on but finally says... (in chinese of course) "oh you don't understand what i am saying do you?" but i reply to her "i understand a little of what you are saying. and i think its ok to wear sandals. its warm out!"

she giggles, asks where i am from and we talk a little. she gives my foot one more little slap and gets on her bus.

i shook my head, looked around, put my headphones back in and smiled to myself for another absolutely ridiculous china moment :)