Randomness!!!

Left: A fun shopping street!
Below: Masquerade party!

Left: Yummy desserts at Whisk!

Below: Our night out at the Shangri-la hotel for a very expensive dinner!

Our little street--grocery store, bakery, hair place . . . a funny sign in the subway in Nanjing!

Has it been THAT long?

Hello friends,
Yes, I've hit the 4 month mark now. Yesterday was the official anniversary. What a crazy ride it's been! I feel like a different person . . . don't know why, but something has changed. Maybe it's my perspective. Living abroad is NOT easy. The language barrier and the constant figuring out how to do anything here is hard to get used to, yet I love the traveling--it makes it worthwhile. Who knows where I will be next year? I'm considering my options . . . besides that, I honestly don't know what I really want to do with my life . . . is this my mid-life crisis? :)
It's definitely been an adventure, but yes, I am anxious to come home in February. Today, during our morning assembly (yes, outside in the cold--ok, it's not that cold--yet!) I was thinking how interesting it was to stand there and watch a flag be raised and not feel anything. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed spending time here--I'm seeing places I never knew existed . . . cause you never know when you'll be back, you know?
So, enough of that . . . what have I been up to lately? Well . . . not much. Just working, hanging out with friends, and shopping for Christmas presents. I managed to end up in three secret Santa groups--fun, fun. Those of you who know me well know I call it "Secret Satan" but whatever, it's been good. Also, yesterday (Sunday) a few friends ventured into Puxi to go to an international church there--it was awesome! It was only open to foreign passport holders (as the bulletin stated--twice) and normally you have to show your passport. Odd, for sure. It was a great service---people from everywhere! After the service, we went to a classic Chinese noodle place (spicy!) and I teased "Crazy Christine" (haha, you reading this post, Christine?) about how all the Asian people here knowing EVERYONE in China! It's sooooo true. Especially all the Californians--they all just say, "Oh, you went to blah blah blah school/church? Do you know so-and-so?" And they realize the world is just too small. That hasn't happened to me just yet . . . who knows! Amanda, you would fit in well here! :)
Anywho, what other exciting tidbits do I care to share? Well . . . I'm sick--again. There have been several swine flu scares here. The school almost had to shut down, but didn't . . . the CDC said we couldn't all gather in one place, so our high school speech competition was postponed. There have been sooo many kids out sick. Scary! Also, the government had everyone accept or decline the free vaccination. I was going to, but then I chickened out (I mean, who KNOWS what was in it!) and I declined. I don't think it was the same vaccination as the States! That freaked me out, and I'm really very glad I did not risk it. I am sick now, though, but just the normal hacking bronchitis cough--typical, no worries. I did try some cough syrup stuff from the local pharmacy--interesting. Syrupy sweet concoction of herbs and stuff--not bad. It did help my sore throat.
On a happy note, I am looking forward to Christmas in Thailand. I'm happy to get out of the country (fresh air, anyone?) and see my dearest friends again. It's now ONE week away. Oh, and yes, I've been sucked into yet another trip--this time, up to Harbin, close to the border with Russia! It's REALLY super duper cold there, but there's a cool ice festival there, so we will be going the second weekend in January. I have to keep busy or those few weeks before I come home will be absolute torture! So, to recap--Thailand for Christmas, Hong Kong for New Year's, Harbin in January, home in February, and then heading to Israel the third week in February. WOW. Are you jealous yet??? :) Oh, was I supposed to be SAVING money here? HA!
So, that's life--same old, same old. Teaching has been fine--lots to grade. BLAH.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy New Year! BTW, 2010 is the year of the TIGER! :)
Love to all,
Susannah
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma--which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." (Steve Jobs)

Just a few pictures!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi friends! I promised a blog about my trip to Nanjing, and here it is!
Well, after a very early morning, Diane and I headed out to the train station. We had to take a taxi (at 6 A.M.) to the subway station, and then we attempted to figure out which train station our train was leaving from at 8. Here were our choices: Shanghai Railway Station S. or Shanghai South Railway Station S.--just a tad confusing!
Needless-to-say, we ended up at the wrong station. By the way, our tickets didn't actually say which train station our train was leaving from that morning . . . So, we show up, asked a few people, figured out we went to the wrong station, had a random worker take us to the metro station to catch the subway BACK nine stops with only twenty minutes until our train left. We got to the "real" station, RAN through the crazy lines, and up the platform, had no clue which platform our train was leaving from, were harassed by crazy guys claiming to help us, and realized we had missed our train by minutes!!!! SOOOOOO frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, we went to go figure out how to exchange our tickets--that was another adventure. We went to the ticketing office (after searching for awhile), stood in the WRONG line, then went to another line, exchanged our tickets, waited for 2 hours in a huge room where there were NO seats and I was the only white person so everyone was staring at me . . . yeah, it was quite the morning.
So! We finally got on our train, after literally, being herded. I was shoved, pulled, and pushed by the crowd of 200 people; I felt like I was being swept away by the mass of people all trying to shove onto the train. Quite the experience, but we finally made in to Nanjing. We ate at McDonald's (so good), had to get a hotel employee to hail us a cab (no one would pick us up?), and made it to our hotel. The best thing about our hotel was the bathtub!!! I've missed taking baths. :)
Anyway, our first stop was the Nanjing Massacre Museum, where we meet up with the rest of our group. What an incredible museum; I was very impressed with the structure and layout. The museum honors those murdered by the Japanese in the "Rape of Nanjing" that occurred for 6 weeks in 1937 (?). It was really sad, but also showed the spirit of forgiveness. I am really glad I was able to visit this museum.
After the museum, we went back to the hotel and decided to head out to the street for dinner. We found this main street that had a billion people and tons of vendors selling all sorts of delectable treats. WOW. It was crazy insane! Everything from squid, shark, ostrich, deer, crab, shrimp, oysters, all sorts of bugs, crickets, and creepy crawlers, not to mention the tarantula--that baby was 10 bucks!!! EWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so random--I tried the shark meat, and the deer, but both were gross. Actually, I really didn't eat much (yes, I'm picky) except for cotton candy and some strange ice cream/yogurt. We meandered around the streets for awhile, looked in some shops, and then fell into bed.
Here's the interesting thing about Chinese hotels--Chinese people are little, so their idea of a double bed is pretty much a single bed. We had four people in our room--me, Diane, Jen, and Jen's mom. Diane and I knew there was absolutely no way we were both going to fit on the bed, so we pulled the sofa into the space between the beds and slept with our feet on the couch and our heads near the side of the bed. It was uncomfortable, but I was so tired, it didn't matter. I feel asleep (after my lovely relaxing bath!) listening to the movie Moulan, in Chinese. :)
The next day we were up early (of course) and went to see Confucius's temple. It was in a popular part of Nanjing, with a ton to see (you know, typical Chinese stuff--a bridge, a lake, temples, pagodas--you get the picture) but we decided to pay the money and look inside Confucius's temple--Confucius says, "Kinda boring!" There were cool gongs and people played these cool bells, but other than that, been there, done that. We found a little shopping street after that (surprise, surprise) and had fun "looking." We had already bought a few Chinese paintings at our hotel, so that was one thing we didn't have to buy!
After a random lunch (not great, in my opinion) a few of us headed to a famous tower and climbed a million stairs--it was a great view! We then went to a lake and rented a little boat (remember how I just LOVE boats!?) and yes, I did have a moment of freaking out--especially when my crew started rocking the boat! I was the only one with the life jacket!:) It was a nice hour on the lake, then back to the hotel to pack up and head out to the train station for our ride back to Shanghai. Diane and I scarfed down a bucket of KFC on the ride back, and it was nice to just sit and listen to music. Anyway, we got in late, had to take the subway, then a taxi--super tiring, but a nice trip! I'm glad we were able to see Nanjing!
Well, I think this a pretty long post, but I want to say, "Happy Thanksgiving" to everyone! I will be eating 6 thanksgiving meals (school, church, small group, homeroom, KG leaders, friends) so yes, yummy food. I am thankful to have such wonderful friends, a loving family, and a great country. Being here has definitely been an experience, that's for sure!

Love to all,

Susannah

THREE MONTHS!!!!

I am a bad blogger--forgive me. I am definitely not on vacation, so yes, real life takes over! Well, I guess you could say "The honeymoon phase is over." Not that I don't like my life here, it's just that I miss home. On my bad days, I want to hop on the next plane . . . on my good days, I barely have time to even miss anyone. Three months, people. It's gone by quickly!
SO! Things are going well--extra busy. It's grade card time (all teachers know what that means) and I'm scrambling(like always) to get all my grades and comments in on time. So, things are stressful, yet not without fun. I went to the fake market today and shopped. :) There were police everywhere shutting down the shops and stalls that sell fake products and who weren't able to pay the heavy fine. It was quite interesting. Random people would come up to me and whisper, "Lady, you want Prada bag?" :) That's China for you!
Anyway, I thought I would recount a very scary event that happened a few weeks ago. I attempted to travel home from Carrefour by myself. Yes, I know it sounds easy peasy, but I haven't been anywhere by myself for three months! (I don't speak Chinese, ok?!) Well, here's what happened . . . and no, it's not the first time I thought I would die here in China. Probably not the last either!
So I hop into a taxi after I show the guy where I want to go and he reassures me (twice) that he does in fact know where I want to go. I anxiously peer out the window and try to remember how to get home. I felt a little like Dorothy . . . anywho, I start getting nervous when I don't really recognize anything--you can't blame me, I've never driven here, so I don't actually pay attention to directions. Well, the taxi guy turns onto the expressway, and I KNOW that is definitely NOT the way we take to get home--and the meter is getting higher and higher and I am trying to remain calm and pray and wait until the next exit to see if maybe he knows a shortcut and I don't know cause I haven't lived here long and . . . yes, my anxious thoughts were going a mile a minute!
So, the guy gets off the highway, turns around, slows down (yes, there were creepy lingering people on the side of the street) and then proceeds to get back on the highway and goes around a construction blockade. I seriously am almost hyperventilating at this point, until I see the German Center, and that little bit of familiarity allows me to breathe. The meter is insanely crazy at this point, and the poor guy still doesn't know exactly where to go, and everything looks alike, so I don't know where to tell him. Anyway, to make a long story very long, we figure it out--lots of gestures, head nodding, and "uh-huhs" and I make it back to my apartment--ruffled but no worse for wear. I survived! No, really, it was super duper scary, scenes of scary movies flashed in my head, but no worries, SOMEONE was watching out for me (Thanks, G) and I live to tell the story.
Another day, another adventure. Hmmmm... which story to tell next? I need to update and tell you all about Nanjing, but I'm tired and I still have essays to grade. However, exciting development--I am going to Israel in February!!!! I am very excited! I'll still be coming home for two weeks, though--can't wait to see people and to EAT. Not kidding, my roommate and I sit around and talk about all the food we miss at home . . . seriously, Olive Garden needs to come here!
Well, thanks for reading!!!

Susannah

I loved South Korea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elizabeth, me, and Diane at a random garden

Korean BBQ!!! YUM!!!!

Diane and me being super polite--waiting on the footprints at the subway station!
No pushing or shoving here!!!

We LOVE dressing up!!!! :) By the way, I'm wearing a typical guy's outfit!

The Palace

I don't know what this statue thing is . . . creepy!!!!

The Peace Bell at Freedom Bridge up at the DMZ

Freedom Bridge . . . can you see North Korea!?

Seoul . . .beautiful Seoul!

Another lake at the Palace

Random creature statues! :)

This is a statue of General Lee, a war leader of Korea!

Seoul Tower

Our beautiful feather headbands!

Hello all,

I promised a blog about my trip to South Korea, and here it is!

Anyway, for the start of the October holiday, we spent three days at a youth retreat--it was pretty cool. I enjoyed the speaker, and the kids had a good time overall. The retreat topic was about "Walking Strong" and there were about four sessions overall. We also attended different workshops--one on basic Christianity, one about self-image, and a few others. It was a really good weekend to get away and refocus and be refreshed. Thank you, God!

We came back on Saturday night, and we had to pack for our flight to Seoul. Oh, and go to dinner and get foot massages, of course! We hung out with the team from South Korea (the speaker brought a few friends for the retreat) and it was a really great night. I stayed up until 2 in the morning just unpacking and repacking. I got about 2 hours of sleep until we had to get ready to head out to the airport. There were three of us heading to Seoul--me, Diane (roommate) and Elizabeth (another third grade teacher and fellow redhead:). We had a GREAT time!!! We traveled well together, and overall, it was a really nice trip.

I seriously LOVED Seoul. So different from Shanghai--less crowded, less pollution, less traffic. Mountains, fresh air, bike/walking/running paths, parks!!! It was nice to be out of Shanghai for a few days.

On Sunday, we dropped our luggage off at the Ramada (nice) and headed out. We went up to the Seoul Tower (we walked FOREVER!!! Torture Tour) and it took about three hours of walking. It was beautiful, though, and we had a great view of the city. We made it to the top just in time for the sunset. BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Anyway, we also made it to the big COEX mall (shocker) and ate at some random Korean place (not the best . . . ewww!) We did a little shopping at one of the outdoor markets and then went back and had an awesome dinner at the restuarant in the Ramada. We seriously scarfed down our food! We then tried out the sauna--so nice. I honestly want a sauna someday!

On Monday we slept in and then headed to Paris Baguette--yummy! My new favorite place . . . bread!!! on our way to downtown for a tour (that was closed) we found an awesome shop at one of the subway stations---OH MY GOSH! I loved it! I bought a ton of hair accessories (feather headbands, etc. ) and it was so much fun. Gosh, I sound shallow, but I really do like shopping. :)

After the tour was a no-go, we went to one of the main palaces and took some awesome pictures. It was a really cool palace, but the really fun part was getting to dress up in Korean costumes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got the guy's outfit, but it was still fun. I have never laughed so hard! I guess I really like dressing up in costumes!!!!! :)

You know, the rest of the night was shopping . . . eating . . . you know. Same old, same old. :)

On Tuesday we headed up to the DMZ zone, the border between North and South Korea. It was really interesting. We got to go down into one of the tunnels built by N.K. to invade S.K. (quite a hike), and we also got to go to a lookout to see into North Korea. We also went to the Freedom Bridge, and saw the big Peace Bell. It was a very very interesting place, and I'm really glad I had that experience. I think it's really sad how closed off N.K. is, and hope that one day people will reunite the two parts.

After the tour, we headed to TGI Fridays!!!!!!! YUMMY. :) Then we headed to a large bookstore (English books!!! Expensive English books!) and browsed for a while. Then back to the hotel--sauna and bed!

Wednesday, same old same old. More shopping. We went to the Asian version of Wal-Mart--called E-Mart--interesting. Like everything in Seoul, super expensive. We had dinner with a former SMIC teacher, Tera, and she took us to her favorite Korean BBQ---sooooooo good. There is a big fire pit thing were you cook your meat on the table an then wrap it in lettuce--wow. We want to try the Korean BBQ here in Shanghai, too. We headed back to Shanghia on Thursday, and then it was crazy getting ready for work on Friday AND Saturday--boo on stupid make up days!!!

Well, it's been a very very busy few weeks. Our next trip is to Nanjing for the weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing another part of China. Other than that, our volleyball team just won their second game! It was a close one--we came back to win in the third game . . . so proud!

Enjoy the pics!!!

Susannah

P.S. I just bought my tickets to Thailand for Christmas!!!! :)

"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list." (Susan Sontag)

A trip to Yangzhou

Left to right: Diane, Tiffany, Jen, Me, Christine

Funny sign!

Roommies!

Hello friends!

Sorry--I'm a bad blogger. I haven't had the time or energy to post lately. School has been SUPER BUSY--learning a new curriculum is never easy. Plus, grading sucks, as usual. :( BLAH. So, things are good but I barely have time to think! At least I have traveling to keep me sane! Oh, I started a Travel Association--our little group has major traveling plans this year!!! Hey, it's something to look forward to! :)

Anyway, Sept. 26th and 27th a big group of us headed out on a company sponsored trip to Yangzhou, which is a small city 4 hours south of Shanghai. Basically, the trip was super cheap (55 bucks) so we decided to go for it, even though the entire tour was in Chinese (try listening to a tour guide in a language you can't understand)! Also, most people come to Yangzhou to pick up their adopted Chinese child because the Yangzhou Social Welfare Institute is located there!!!

Anyway, we visited a very pretty lake called Slender West Lake. During the Qing Dynasty, the emperor of China visited that same lake . . . it was pretty--lots of pagodas and bridges, etc. It also has this huge White Pagoda that's shaped like a big white bowling pin. We walked around the lake (our tour guide continually had to wait for us--we like to wander!) and then took pictures dressed in Korean/Japanese/Chinese costumes!!!! It was like 5 quai--less than a dollar--because we took our own pictures! SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!! As you know, I like dressing up! I chose to be the Japanese girl and had a kimono and parosal. Lots of people gawked at the group of us, and believe me, we had a blast. Oh, I forgot to mention that random Chinese men asked to take my picture (or didn't ask) and Danielle and I (the only "white" girls) were very much stared at and asked to be in pictures, etc. It was soooooooo strange. People literally yelled for my attention at this restaurant in our hotel--at least I'm used to ignoring people!

So, yes, we visited Slender West Lake and then went on to see another famous garden--the Ge Garden. That place was really cool--they had different parts represent the different seasons, but the fall garden (where I climbed up all these rock formations) was my favorite. We also visited the house of a wealthy salt merchant--interesting doors and windows--very Chinese in the structure. We also got to do some shopping on this little Chinese street--it seriously looked like it could be from another century! Lots of little shops--I didn't buy much . . . :)

Overall, it was interesting to see another part of China! Oh, and getting a foot massage in my bed was another highlight!!!!! :) By the way, the food was NOT a highlight, I'll give you that. Lots of fish (eyes included) and duck heads. Yucky.

Anyway, my next update (coming soon, I promise) will tell the tales of the youth retreat and Seoul, South Korea!!! :) Basically, two words: LOVED IT!

Love,

Susannah

"Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life. " (Jack Kerouac)