Days 6 - 22 start on August 8th and go through today (August 24th). A brief overview of the last 2 weeks- Moved into my apartment, started work at my center full time, Walmart/IKEA trips, deep cleaning my apartment, fun team building activities, lots and lots of rain and finally unpacking my things and trying to make it feel like "home". 😊 And best of all NO ugly crying!!
Hard to tell, but it was POURING in this first pic. I stopped on my walk to the hotel from the metro to see if it would pass, and no such luck! Poured for at least 4 hours.. Second pic is proof of no ugly crying! haha If only snapchat filters applied to real life!
First up- Moving into my apartment!!! Yay!! It was an adventure to find it, and when I finally did I snatched it up! Here are some pictures of the actual apartment- it looks a tad different now that I have my stuff around, bust basically the same!
The start of the moving adventure and my new bed-- the landlord left the mattress cover, for me, so I just folded it nicely and put it in a cabinet.
My wardrobe (no such thing as a closet here) in the bedroom, and then the entertainment system in the living room.
Living room area! little table with stools tucked underneath, couch and coffee table.
This is the "half bedroom"! No mattress up on the bunk, but the desk is nice to have!
Bathroom! Teeny tiny! If I really wanted to I could sit on the toilet and take a shower.
This is where I hang my laundry to dry-- The shower curtain rod, and a rod way up high in the hallway.
Tiny little hallway that leads to the washing machine and the kitchen.
I have started working full time at my center now! And its been blast! I love all the staff work I with! We currently have 4 international teachers (myself included) and 3 local teachers! And then quite a few other local guys and gals that fill roles such as:
PA: progress advisor- communicate to parents and teachers about students
TA: teachers assistant- in the classroom with us to help translate as needed
CC: course consultant- basically a salesman trying to get parents to enroll their child at our school
I have taught/co-taught two classes so far! The first one was a High Flyer class (ages 6-11yrs old, students in this class were places based on their English proficiency level) and a Small Stars class (this was a class of 4 year olds). I was super nervous for each class, but both lessons went really well, and the kids are so stinking cute!! My mentor and I discussed things that I need to work on, and she is going to help me work to get better!
On Saturday August 20th, my center celebrated the end of the summer course with a game night and flea market! All the teachers and I created ESL games that the kids could play to earn extra "EF dollars". The students earned dollars throughout the summer course, and added with extra they earned that night they could buy things from the Flea Market! We had EF sponsored items, and then the students were invited to bring stuff to "sell" as well (no real money, just the EF dollars). Everybody seemed to have a BLAST!
The majority of the staff at Shenzhen 12
Just having some fun after all the parents and kids left, and enjoying a bunny made out of cotton candy! 😍
Loli and I helping students play our game! and then Some balloon volleyball towards the end of the event.
On Tuesday August 23rd, my center had a team building outing! We went ice skating and then to a buffet with KTV! What an experience! The ice skating was interesting and so much fun! The rink was located on the 4th floor of the mall- kinda shocked me! We then went to this place called Music Box. And let me just say that this place is Awesome with a capital A! We had booked a private VIP room and it included an all you could eat buffet! I went around with one of the local teachers so they could tell me what was what, and help me discover new things! Who knew that I'd love duck as much as I love chicken?! We went back to our VIP room with our trays filled with food and started KTV (aka Karaoke)!... We had the room from 4:30pm to 10:30pm, and there wasn't a minute that somebody wasn't belting away on the microphones! With all the local staff there were a lot of Chinese songs that were really pretty, and then us international teachers went crazy with classic American songs and typical karaoke songs! Needless to say I had a blast, and was jamming out completely sober.
Amanda, Amy and I before we went skating... Loli and Amanda had some problems staying on their feet! 😂
I made friends quite fast! Turns out that these little girls wanted to teach me figure skating tricks because they thought I was a pretty good skater!
Selfie time during KTV!
Amanda, Loli, Elizabeth and myself!
Today (August 24th) was my official day off this week. Going forward I'll have 2 days off, Tuesday and Wednesday each week! I tried to use today to my advantage and get some things done, but in reality only a few were completed! I did finish cleaning my apartment, did some laundry and finally unpack my suitcases. Starting to make my apartment feel a little bit more like home everyday! 😊🏡
Need a few more hangers from Walmart to finish hanging everything up. Those of you that have seen my closets and amount of clothes back home in New Mexico can agree that I have significantly downsized.... But never fear! The rest of my clothes are safely waiting for my return in Albuquerque! 😂🙃
The next few months should bring some exciting opportunities my way! I am hoping to go visit a good friend in Thailand (Cant wait to see you Kitty!!) at the beginning of October for a few days! And then my parents (and hopefully brothers) will be coming to visit me for about 10 days in December! (They better be bringing me lots of goodies lol) 😁😁
Thank you again for all the well wishes and the warm response to this blog! Its a work in progress (as am I) but I'm willing to put in the work knowing I have numerous people supporting me back home!❤️
Adios for now!
Margaret
Chopstick update- 22 days in and there has been ZERO progress!! Thank you to everybody who has sent YouTube links, pictures, and advice! I appreciate it, but nothing has helped! I carry my trusty fork with me practically everywhere, or I order things I can specifically pick up and eat with my hands 😉🍴
Ps. Some people were curious about the time difference, so here's a little trick I figured out and a table to show the difference.
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Time Zone in USA
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Time difference
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Trick
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Example
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Pacific time
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15 hours
behind China
|
Take current time
add 3 hours
switch AM to PM
(and vice versa)
|
If its 7am PT
+3 = 10am
Switch AM to PM
It is 10pm in China
|
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Mountain
|
14 hours
behind China
|
Take current time
add 2 hours
switch AM to PM
(and vice versa)
|
If its 7am MT
+2 = 9am
Switch AM to PM
It is 9pm in China
|
|
Central
|
13 hours
behind China
|
Take current time
add 1 hour
switch AM to PM
(and vice versa)
|
If its 7am CT
+1 = 8am
Switch AM to PM
It is 8pm in China
|
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Eastern
|
12 hours
behind China
|
Take current time
switch AM to PM
(and vice versa)
|
If its 7am ET
Switch AM to PM
It is 7pm in China
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