biking Saturday Adventure

I have been seeing this co-worker of mine for about 2 weeks. So far it's going very well!

I am happy when I am with him. 

Yesterday after work, I had my Friday piano lesson with my student. This great student of mine is teaching me how to play piano. I hope I can play like her eventually. Then I rushed home, picked up some grocery, and went to meet Matt at the bike shop. But it was closed. So it sucked biking in the misty rain and he didn't get the bike. Oh well! He came over and I made pumpkin congee (more like risotto). It was really yummy!!! It's one of my favourite dish by my mom. I had to go over to his place to shower because there's no hot water in my apartment (just like last year when the natural gas supply was low, we couldn't cook and shower). His bathroom is just dirty like a bachelor's. But there's no way for me to take a cold shower in such bone chilling weather.

Today, I got up late then I had breakfast at Matt's. He makes good coffee. We had yogurt, tomato sandwich and half a kiwi. It is a simple lunch but good. Then we had over to the bike shop to pick up his new bike.

                                            "Giant" bike shop in YC.

                                           Matt & I - First Picture of us.                    

With our bikes, we had a great Saturday biking adventure.
We headed over to Daan, which is a less developed town right next to YC.
It was very hard to bike that uphill way to Daan. But it was totally worth it.
The country/village was gorgeous. It was definitely nice to get out of YC.
Here are some pictures that I have taken along the way:

                                          Farm lands. Gorgeous view.

                       Locals butchering hogs right in front of their own house.

   Old grandmas showed us their temples and were very happy to have their pictures taken.

                                                             The temple.

Around 4-5pm, we found a hole in the wall restaurant and had a country meal according to Matt. We had fatty pork fried with tofu skin, fried eggplants, and fried peas. It was good but the dishes were very salty. 

On the way back was so much easier as it was all downhill. It was just so fun riding down. Pure excitement! Matt had some problem with his bike (he did something to it when he changed his gear). But we made it home. It was just a great Saturday afternoon. 

We saw pretty country view on our bikes. We exercised in the cold weather (good that it didn't rain). We were sweaty and our noses were red and runny when we got back. I even had mud on my face. But it was such a great feeling! Once we got home, we had nutella with banana. Then I had hot chocolate and he had his mocha. It was just the perfect ending for the day :)

Hopefully the weather would be nice next weekend so that we can go out and ride some more.

Myths about introvert

just came across this interesting article about introverts:

10-myths-about-introverts

The author has a good analysis of the introverts. I learn that introverts are different in the chemical/physical set-up of the brain compared to those of extroverts.
I also like the myths that he has discussed there.
I think I am an introvert myself. But I do like people and I like to talk. However, how much I would talk would depend on the circumstance and other factors.

Give the article a quick read...see if you change your mind about introverts!

nice Relaxing weekend

It was a nice relaxing weekend in YC that I have spend with Matt...
It finally felt like the cold winter that I remembered from last year.

Friday night, Matt came over and helped us put up the X'mas tree. We had the X'mas music playing. We listened to Michael Bolton's X'mas album, "A Swinging Christmas" online. I like the jazzy version of the classics.

But one of my favourite Christmas song is by Wham, "Last Christmas".
Whenever it's the season, I would just keep hearing it over the radio station.

For dinner, I made "mayouji mianxian" -  Sesame oil chicken noodle. I didn't have rice wine and it turned out pretty good to my surprise. Whenever my mom makes it, she would put in so much rice wine that I would always turn so red and felt light-headed. So I was a bit worried when I didn't have rice wine to put in because it wouldn't be the dish that it should be. Mianxian is one of my favourite kind of Taiwanese noodle. I brought it back here from Vancouver. I don't know if I can find it in YC.

The evening was nice. After dinner, we sat by the lit up tree. That I think brought Matt's Christmas memory back and got him sad. His favourite time of the year is Christmas spending time with the family and he hasn't done it since 2007. So I can understand a bit. I guess I have just been lucky that I always spend my Chinese New Year with my family that I haven't missed any yet. My mom would always make so much food and we always have a big feast. It might be any regular family dinner that we have had the 364 other days. But when we are all over the world and that gathering would be so precious.

We then went out for a walk and we ended the night with Dicos ice cream, just for the heck of it.

Sat & Sun, I had breakfast at Matt's. He makes really good coffee. He's a coffee addict who needs 2 cups a day. I enjoy coffee and I prefer to be like that. After breakfast, I ran/walked the stairs of my apartment. That was more tiring that I thought it would be. Then I went out with him to bike shopping on Saturday. He tested a bike that's closest to his size. He had so much fun with it and I think he's very excited about having his bike. I tried to hop on the bike that he tested but I couldn't even ride it forward (it was way too high for me). The bike is 2298 RMB which is quite pricy (but it's a very good bike by Giant).

For dinner, we had shiny hot pot as he calls it. It was a perfect weather for it. Sitting outside and hot spicy food - I just don't like how thirsty I get after.

Sunday, he watched some hockey games online. We both had things to do of our own. I did laundry, had lunch, and went to school around 3 pm. I was trying to make a test and I didn't finish making it. My friend at Dalian taught me how to use the test bank properly. So hopefully I would get it done on Monday. I went home and did grocery shopping. We also had a staff v.s. students basketball game at our new gym. I had to say I was impressed by our girls' team as I had never play with them before. They were quite good!
It was a lot of fun even though I tripped a bit and teared the knee part of my gym pants.
(The concrete floor design in our gym is just terrible).

I am feeling the soreness from playing last night.
It's getting late...I need to get ready for work now!

happy December

Wow! I can't believe it's already December!
One more month, then it will be the end of 2011.
Sometimes it still feels like yesterday when I have just started that long journey from Vancouver all the way to Chongqing.

The weather here has cooled down a lot. It's a bit chilly. But I like the cold crispy air.
Technically I should be doing my long run now at least once a week for my half-marathon and I haven't done it. Right now I can only run around the school tracks 10 laps in slow pace. I really need to step up my game. I hope that I can really run 8k - 10k with ease in the following month.

Also, I have realized that it's impossible for me to have a post everyday. So I have decided to try my best to keep up the blog but I don't think a post a day is going to work anymore.

My dear sister, Maggie is crazy hilarious. I read her blog yesterday regarding her work jokes over November. I couldn't help myself stop laughing. Gosh, she's priceless...love  her to death.

This weekend I plan to just chill out in YC and hopefully get a few things done.

-some prepping
-put up x'mas tree in the apt
-grocery shopping
-some cleaning
-organizing my photos
-relaxing


yay for December and for Friday tomorrow :)

Samosa + Crepes dinner Monday

Okay...it feels like a food blog now.
The last post I have had was about food as well.

Today was another staff's b-day. Nicole our super chef/baker has made samosa for the occasion. It was Amazing again! She's such an angel. To continue the b-day celebration, we had a YC crepe dinner! Banana, Nutella, dried fruits, jam, peanut butter - it was yummmmmy!

It was a nice gathering for the evening. A co-worker also showed us her stand-up paddle board adventure down Yukon River. That was pretty cool as well.

Today was another warm November fall day.
This year's weather is so much better than last year's cold misery.
Hope that this weather will hold up a bit longer!

Over the weekend, I went camping with 3 other co-workers to Wulong a city that's about 2.5 hrs away from Chongqing on a slow train. It was my first ever camping experience in China. It was definitely a nice get away from the city. The forest actually reminds me a bit of Vancouver. In all, it was a good trip, met nice people. I just wished that the travelling time would be shorter. One way trip takes a total of 5.5 hours! I will put up pictures later on...as I haven't had the time (didn't get back home around 8 pm Sunday).


My sister has just sent me the following passages:
[11-11-28 10:38:03 PM] Maggie:


李嘉诚送给年轻人的话：年轻人不要试图追求安全感，特别是年轻的时候，周遭环境从来都不会有绝对的安全感，如果你觉得安全了，很有可能开始暗藏危机。真正的安全感，来自你对自己的信心，是你每个阶段性目标的实现，而真正的归属感，在于你的内心深处，对自己命运的把控，因为你最大的对手永远是自己。

【巴菲特教孩子的六点】1、如果你想人生多彩多姿，试着学所有有兴趣的事；2、感觉迷失时不是你迷路了，而是找到正途前的必然之路；3、对志向的渴望可引领我们完成引以为傲的成就；4、审视自己的内心是最好的投资；5、愿望未能实现时，好好思考什么是自己想要的；6、能力+热情+努力+坚持=成功。


okay that's it for the night!

Carrot Cake Monday and Productive Tuesday!

For some reasons I didn't post it up successfully yesterday.

So I have to re-write this again !@$#%$%^

Yesterday, I got upset in class because students were talking while I was talking.
I definitely need to work on control my temper/emotion better in class. After class, a student came to talk to me. She asked if I was mad at her. We had a talk and she understood that I wasn't mad at her or anything. I was surprised that she felt that way and I was sure glad that she was comfortable with me to come talk to me. This incident also makes me feel like I need to control better with the tones or the way I talk in order to avoid such problem again.

This week would be a busy week as we would have our post-secondary fair this Thursday.
Being in China, they would definitely make the event like a show inviting Government officials and special guests with never-ending speeches. I am definitely not looking forward to that.

It was also a co-worker's birthday. Our amazing baking staff, Nicole made a super yummy carrot cake. I should do some baking myself...I just love baked goods!

What else did I write.....? hummm...definitely getting old with fading memory!

I have also been listening to Coldplay's new album. I really love the song, Paradise.
If there's ever a Coldplay concert in China, I would do all I can to go!
They are just amazing.


For today, it was another busy day.
I had to sub for Drama class again because our Drama teacher was sick.
I enjoy Drama class but I am definitely not a Drama teacher.

After school, we had another great ultimate game. The kids who play regularly with me are getting more skilled. We did students v.s. teachers and I would say that the game was pretty even. Some students were definitely taking the leadership role and coaching others.
It was just pretty awesome playing in the cloudy + chilli November YC weather.

I stayed afterwards and I was definitely on fire.
I finished making power point lesson for the next chapter.
Then I got home and marked the quizzes written today.
I have to say it's a super productive Tuesday!

It's bed time again :)

rainY Nov. Monday

It's the classic misty rainy chilli YC Nov. Monday...
It's also the perfect weather to stay in beddddd.


It's also my last day of being 26.
wow...I have come so far to where I am now.
Just like the happy baby pose in Yoga - I am in my happy place!
Coming to China has been a turning point in my life.
I love what I do here even though it's hard sometimes to be by myself.
But everyday I think about how lucky I am to have what I have.

Thank you my dear family for always giving me so much love!
Thank you my friends for always being there for me!

I am who I am because of you!

Love you all and miss you!

Work sunday

Got up this morning and talked to my dear sister.
Then I started marking the quiz that I have given out on Friday.

I went to school to do even more work.
I photocopied the chapter test and started to make a powerpoint to help my students to prepare for the university fair that's happening next week.

I still have lots of work that need to be done.

I have to say internet is amazing. It is full of resources and people can get information instantly. I don't know how people live in the time when there's no internet. If there's no internet, I guess I can live without it for couple days but it would be really hard.
Scary!

Counting down to my b-day!

Movie overload Saturday!

This morning I got up and went to the gym for the morning yoga class.
The teacher, Wendy is great but sadly she's going to Beijing for training.
I hope that they would get a replacement as good as her.

I swear I am the most not flexible person ever. There was this pose where you lay on your back and put your legs up 90 degrees. I couldn't really straighten my legs. Then you are suppose bend the legs until they touch the floor. I did that part but I had trouble lifting my legs up again. That was a bit scary. After the yoga class, I went for a 30 minutes run on the treadmill and I was running at a higher speed. Then I went to weight myself. I couldn't believe what I saw on the scale - 53 kg. I lost 2 kg!! WoW!! That made my day!

I went to buy some fruits and did some errands on the way home. Then I had lunch at home and went out with my roommate for movie. It is for sure a movie overload week. We wanted to watch "The Planet of Rising Ape" but it was not on anymore. So we decided to watch a later English movie, called "Immortals". Then we walked around and shopped a bit. I bought a wallet.

The movie is really bloody with lots of fighting and special effects.
It is all right. But the lead actor, Henry Cavill is such an eye candy!

Picture from http://www.unrinsight.com/author/brissenden/

We had dinner after the movie and went grocery shopping.

Now I am sitting in the couch with a cup of hot tea and listening to Adele.
It's still early (9 pm) but I feel tired and just wanted to relax for the rest of the night.

Sangria Friday

Today is a special day as 2011-11-11.
In China, people celebrate it as Single's Day. Of course, it's also the Remembrance Day where we should remember of the people who fought in the war and affected by the war.

I have planned to show some Remembrance Day video but didn't have time in class as they were writing a chapter quiz. My co-worker made poppy for us to wear. It was another beautiful day. I still have quite a few things I need to do for work (I have had a list). Hopefully, I will more things done this weekend.

After work, I had Chinese steak on grill dinner with another co-worker. Then, we went to buy stuff for making sangria for tomorrow. After that, I watched another movie. This time it was the movie called, Lust & Caution by Ang Lee.

I like the setting of the old Shianghai, the fashion, and the culture. But that period of time is very unstable and sad in Chinese history. The movie is pretty long and it moves rather slowly in the beginning. I like the flashback where the lead actress would have in connecting the stories throughout the whole movie.

It was a laid-back Friday night.
The sangria should taste really good for tomorrow.

Glorious Thursday

I have been bad for not writing for two days.
Now I have to think back hard what has happened for the past two days.

Actually, many things have happened that they are coming back to me.

Tuesday, we had a cold rainy day.
But we played ultimate in the rain and it was a lot of fun.
I stayed at school that day to helped with the 1st School Singing Contest.
I was tired and cold from Ultimate but the night was great.
The audience had a lot of fun and the students who performed were great as well.
There was a little incident where a student sang "Carmen" in Chinese lyrics where men are bashed. So the Chinese principal wasn't happy with that and said that she shouldn't win even she was in the top threes. But she did get 3rd place for the competition. So I talked with him and we came to the understanding that we should be careful in allowing what students can perform in school events and we would still present her with the 3rd place award. But for some reason, we couldn't present her the award. Many students were very upset by such incident. So that ruined the night. The Chinese teacher who organized the event was very upset as well. She wanted me to be in charge of the X'mas party and she would be assisting instead...I guess I just have to do this one to help her out.

Wednesday, the weather took a 180 degrees turn or 360 degrees. The sun came out and it was beautiful blue sky. It couldn't have been better. My computer in the classroom has been working properly. But such weather just made me so happy that I didn't even care with that. After school we played football and it was a lot of fun even if I didn't really know how to play. After work, I went for a walk with my roommate as we both wanted to make the best of the day. We walked around and checked out what's playing in the theatre. We decided to watch the "The Planet of Rising Ape" over the weekend. We also found a coffee shop nearby - that was exciting. We wanted to give it a try sometimes, too.
Then I went to another co-worker's for dinner and spent a nice evening.

Today was another Glorious Day. It couldn't be any better.
Perfect blue sky, warm sun, crispy cold air, and seeing the mountains at the back - made me just wanted to go "ahhhhhhhh niceeeeeee". I did get my report cards done. But I would still have to make the chapter test and plan for the next chapter. It's a good busy. After school, we were able to play ultimate in the perfect weather. It was just so nice to enjoy the rare November sun. Then I stayed after school for movie night. While I was having dinner at the Cafe, I got a piece of birthday cake from my student. So that was kind of my early b-day cake even it's for my student. It was yummy! I love cake!
For movie night, we watched "The Adjustment Bureau". It was a romantic thriller. I enjoyed the plot about people should write their own plan and take actions of their lives.












I think I have been socializing much more and that I might have been watching too much movies as I have another movie night to go to for tomorrow night. I should cut it down a bit and read my books.

It was my friend Jenny's birthday today (She works at Wuhan)! I surprised her with some gifts I got on Taobao. Happy birthday, Jenny!

It's supposed to be nice sunny weather tomorrow as well before it will get ugly again over the weekend. I can't wait for Fridayyyyy!

farewell dinner

Had a farewell dinner tonight.
Thinking back we have had quite a few farewell dinner over the past year.
YC is not a place where people will stay long.

Charice Sunday

Super talented young singer, Charice.

Her voice has mesmerized me:

YCSat

YWoke up early to the YC Sat.
I had to go acupuncture with my co-worker.
We actually did a lot for the day.
We had lunch, hair cut, and did some shopping. Then we biked back home.
Whenever I am out with her, I have become her personal translator.
The locals are always so excited to see foreigners and would ask me where she's from.
I always wonder myself I must be fitting in 100% as they can't tell I am not a local myself.
I guess that's a good thing in a way.
I don't mind being the translator but I do get annoyed when they are speaking in their local dialect where I can't understand.
---------
My roommate taught me how to make curry power from scatch. All you need is:
-turmeric
-coriander powder
-chilli powder

That was super simple and easy.
---------
After dinner, we went to the college for a show that's going on tonight. But we couldn't get in without the student ID. So we went to the old town again just to walk around and others did more shopping. My co-worker was so tempted to get a puppy. The puppy that she was holding for the longest time was a fluffy white ball (Beijing dog apparently). It was super cute but she knew better not to get it as she couldn't take care of it properly.

yoga Friday

Today was the last day of midterm week.

I got some prepping done but still got a lot of work to do, such as the midterm report cards.

I would still need to go into school this weekend.

After work, I had a little nap then went to the gym for yoga class.

It was hard to go to the gym when I woke up from my warm bed.

But glad that I braved myself and went with my co-workers.

My arms and shoulder were sore from last night's pole dancing class.

The yoga class definitely helped relieve some of that tension and soreness.

Tomorrow morning I am going with my co-worker for acupuncture. Last time I got really sick. Hopefully, this time I would be okay.

Girls Night Out!

Can't believe that I didn't save my post last night.

Yesterday I got some prepping done. So it was a productive day.

After school, we played a bit of ultimate. 

It was fun as always.

We then made it a girls night out.

Went to the gym and did a pole dancing class.

The teacher was a super small girl with 4 inches shiny leather heels and she was amazing.

I don't know if I can ever be as good as her. I think more practice is definitely required.

I am definitely slow in picking up the techniques. 

After that we went home and had dinner (I made veggie and egg noodle soup).

Then it was relax time. 

Music, incense, wine, and chat. 

Perfect Thursday Girls Night Out.

Zhouenlai Class Ceremony & What I miss about Vancouver!

This morning I have invigilated an English midterm.
Students tend to stay longer when they write English exams than for Math exams.

In the activity time, we have had our first ever Zhou en lai class ceremony.
Basically, the school has selected a group of outstanding students to be in this honorable class. Chinese people are really good with doing the show and care a lot about "face". We have had a nice backdrop for our stage and we have invited guests of highly political status. Some of our guests are the people who used to work very closely under Premier Zhou en lai.  In the ceremony, there are at least 8 speeches. They basically have similar content - congradulating our school and our students, wishing them to work harder for the country and the communist party. I really don't like the part about the communist party. I, personally don't like political propaganda. But I am happy for the students who are recognized in this ceremony. They totally deserve it as they are great kids.

-------------------

This afternoon we have also had our classic Chongqing weather, cloudy and a bit of rain.
This actually reminds me a lot of Vancouver. I have had a talk with my co-worker and asked her what she missed most about. She told me that she missed the varieties of food. In vancouver, you could get sushi, pasta, pizza, etc. In Chongqing, it's the famous Sichuan   cuisine and hot pot. The Sichuan people love their oily, salty, and spicy food.  Thinking about it, I miss it, too. But I don't find it hard to live without it. It's for sure nice to have but my Chinese side makes it easier for me not to miss it.

But talking about Vancouver, there are places that I miss. Even though I live in Richmond, I love going to Vancouver. I miss going to the Commercial Drive, walking around, doing some grocery shopping, and drinking some real Italian coffee. I miss the Steveston Village in Richmond. There are many nice places in Vancouver. I miss the mountains and the water. Vancouver is just such a nice place to live and it is also where my home is. I think it's good that when I am away I appreciate it even more. Career wise, China is a great place and I love teaching here. I love my students and I love the adventures and travelling that I get to do when I am here. But I do hope to go back to Vancouver eventually - Back to where Home is.


More information about visiting Vancouver:
Vancouver Tourism

A great blog for people who are from Richmond but don't live in Richmond anymore (He writes the blog for Tourism Richmond):
Richmond Reel

Enjoy!

Midterm week!

Midterms start today!
My Gr.11s wrote their first midterm for Physics.

Looking at them makes me miss being a student.

After school, we played an hour of ultimate. It was a nice game - got lots of running.
I have been running a bit everyday since Sat.
I am feeling great even though I know I am still far off from my half-marathon goal.

Dinner at Canto and it was good.
We had old duck soup, stir-fried tofu, and stir-fried beans.
It was yummy as I asked them not to put too much salt.
It was also my first time to have soup there.
The soup was good and there were chestnuts in it.

In Chongqing, people eat really salty. They put salt, MSG, and chicken stock in every dish.

-----------------

My sister is stressing out about job interviews.
I just hope that something good will happen to her.
She deserves it because she's super awesome!

happy halloween Monday & 7 billions baby

Happy Halloween Monday!
I am in bed now early Tuesday morning making up the post that I didn't write yesterday.
It's still dark out, chilli, and misty - Typical Chongqing fall weather!
It's also Nov. 1!! Happy November everyone :)

Yesterday in class, most students seemed to be tired with a short weekend due to the sports day on Sat. and that they were stressed about the midterms week that's starting today. It made me think back when I was in high school. Exam period was definitely stressful.

I have also talked to another student about time management and about her stress. This year, I have had more students come talk to me. I feel that I am getting closer with my students and that they have more trust in me. But everytime I talk to them, I know all of them are stressed about doing well in school. They are simply great kids who work hard and do so much at school. So I have been focusing in asking them to write down their short and long term goals and their plan of action. I have also taught them about time management and using a calendar. If they were able to manage their time better, they would be more efficient in their study and be less stressed.


Also, our amazing co-worker made a pumpkin pie for everyone. That totally made my day!


-----------

In the news today, we have reached the "7 billions" population milestone.
7 billionth babies birth are celebrated worldwide. Birth of babies should be joyful but this milestone is worrisome. This celebration brings in the focus on many of the problems associated with the rapid human population growth.  Many children in the world do not have access to food, clean water, shelter, and education. We all know that Earth wouldn't be able to support such population growth long. David Suzuki has a short clip called, Test tube using the bacterial growth in a test tube as human population growth in the world.

Some food for thought:
Test Tube by David Suzuki

TIC + Beijing Great Wall Marathon

TIC = This is China.
We use that term whenever we can't understand the Chinese's way of doing things.

Today I went to the Construction Bank to pay for the registration of the Beijing Great Wall Marathon. I am not the type of person who gets upset easily. A friend even has asked me before what makes me angry. It takes me sometime to answer him and I have said when I feel that I have not been treated fairly. That was what happened today. I went to the bank and hoping to pay for the Beijing Great Wall Marathon. I took my bike into the bank and the security guard wouldn't let me put my bike inside. He was rude and took my bike outside twice. I was furious as there aren't any places to lock up my bike and the way he was. His only response was he didn't care if my bike gets stolen and the that rule is no bikes are allowed inside the bank.

I was so angry that I even cried a bit - I might be overreacting but it was such a terrible feeling trying to reason with an unreasonable man. I wanted to make a formal complaint, too. So he would know what's the proper way to treat others with respect.

When it was finally my turn, the bank teller told me that they can't make the transfer because it's to another bank. I was super frustrated. Then they could have told me that either I need to come in Mon-Fri before 4 or do it online myself. Why do they have to make it so difficult for me. I left the bank furious, went to school, and did the transfer on my own. It was a total waste of my time for being there twice, getting myself all worked up, and that I still did what I needed to do on my own.

I hate that part of China so much! Unreasonable and Rude people!

The only good thing of the day is that I have paid for the Beijing Great Wall Marathon.
The marathon itself for expat is pretty pricy.
The registration cost is:
1500 RMB minus 100 RMB (Early bird discount) plus 50 RMB for the timing chip rental.
That's a total of 1450 RMB (not including flights and accommodation).

I have the motivation to do it this year because two of my co-workers are running it. Thus, I hope I can get into good shape and get training help from them. I have set this to be my goal for the year - run the Beijing Great Wall Marathon. It will be my first ever half-marathon and it's going to be on the Great Wall. I know it will be super awesome and I want to feel great when I accomplish it this year! I am scared as the most I have run is 10k but I am definitely excited for it as well. I guess I just need to start running!

Information about the Great Wall Marathon.



For the afternoon, I did some work at school and went for a run for 30 minutes (10 laps around the track). Then I had dinner with my co-worker.

So it was a mixed of bad and good day!

I should just forget about what happened at the bank - TIC!!!

Sports Day Fun

Friday's Halloween Costume Night was a success.
I had two of my students MC the events. They did a great job without a prewritten script by a teacher. (Usually students MC just read out the prewritten scripts by a Chinese teacher for any big events in the school) However, they didn't translate enough in English and they had also make sexual jokes that weren't that appropriate. Those are the things that should be improved for next time.

It was a lot of fun but I was also tired and we had to work the next day for Sports Day.
I don't know how people have to work on weekends. I am sure spoiled. Even though it's a work day, we are just simply there to do some fun sports competition with the students.
In the morning team events, due to the poor planning of the Chinese PE teacher, some teams finished around 9:30 am and while the last team didn't finish till 11 am. So for teachers and students who finished early, we ended up playing some ultimate games, basketball, etc. It was a lot of fun despite how we weren't happy as how the day was run.

Then we had lunch outside of school at a restaurant that I have never been before.
They have the typical Sichuan/Chinese dishes like pepper shredded pork, kongpo chicken, fried eggplant, and fried tomato and eggs. But they also have skillet tofu, skillet beef, and the last surprise dish, a deep fried shredded potato that tastes like hash brown and was really yummy. I never like the usual fried shredded potato dish that my co-workers like. So I really enjoy the deep fried one.

                                                Lunch! Where's the food?!?

After lunch, we went back to school and to finish supervising the afternoon school families events - relays and tug-of-war. The tug-of-war was really fun and we even did  teachers v.s. the students. While the students were competing for the relays, one of my co-worker was doing some acrobat exercises with me and another co-worker. She was amzing that she did "flying" and "standing" moves with us. It was a bit scary (to balance on top of her thigh). I really had fun and I hoped to do more exercises with her next time.

                                                      8+legged event

cool acrobatic exercise!

We finished around 3 pm. I got home and did some laundry and found myself really exhausted and dozed off for a bit. Then had some food and I hit the gym with my co-workers for a yoga class. After yoga class, went home and watched a movie with my roommate and another co-worker at 8 pm. The movie we watched is called, "Across the Universe". The movie is good with all Beattles songs and the events that happened during that 60-70s time period. I find that it's hard to understand parts of the movie as I don't know much about that time period but I still enjoy the movie.

I am in bed now recapping what happened yesterday. It was just a super packed fun day.
My muscles are sore from either the running or from the yoga class.
I have to do some errands and do some work for school later.
So it will be a lazy Sunday!

Halloween Fun Success!

Dress-up - Candies - Halloween!

It's definitely not a good combination for school. 

So I have planned a simple class today.
----------

For the staffs, we had a skittle dress-up theme.  

I have had a girl who's been telling me that I dress too old for my age. 

I wanted to be the happy yellow color. So I decided to be a yellow skittle. 

The kids were a bit confused with what I was dressed-up as so I had to show them picture of skittles. I should have downloaded the commercial from youtube or something - that'd have been better. Some teachers dressed up as the students which was also pretty awesome as well.

Right after school, we started with the scavenger hunt and pumpkins carving in the cafeteria. 

The pumpkins carving was great. We had to carve with Chinese pumpkins which are not the round pumpkins that we get in Canada. We also toasted the seeds and the kids loved them. 

Then we moved into the theatre around 7 pm where the party really started. 

We had music like BSB going and many kids dressed up for the Costume Contest.

I think everyone enjoyed the night. 

Hopefully they like the chocolate and candied apple that we have made as prizes for the winners.

Early Happy Halloween!

Halloween Candied Apple Thursday

We are having our Halloween celebration tomorrow.
The kids all seem to be a bit of restless in class.
I am getting my pumpkins tomorrow.
Hopefully, everything will run smoothly.

My co-worker and I have also just made candied apple for costume winners (apple dipped in chocolate and with crushed orange candies on top). They have turned out really well. The kids better like them.

Anyways, need to do some marking now!

Sport Day Meeting

Met with my team for Saturday's Sports Fun Day!
We name ourselves the OCDs...kids just love that term.

Got the candies for Halloween but still need to get 78 pumpkins...
!!! Hopefully I would be able to get them tomorrow!



----

Enjoy the present the moment!
live it up!

Math Party Tuesday

Another busy day!
It was still a good day though - Nice fall weather with clear sky that I can see the mountains that are usually hiding with fog.

We had a great ultimate games with the perfect number of students who showed up to play (not too many and exactly 7 on each line).

Since there's a chapter test tomorrow, I went back to the school after dinner to give office hour. It turned out to be like a Math party. It reminded me so much of my high school provincial studying party. I remembered back then it was stressful and yet fun to be with my friends to cram and study till late. Good old times!

I have also tried to read a bit tonight - just started on the book called, "The Black Tower" by PD James.

Dilemma of the week - need to get 78 pumpkins for Friday's Halloween Pumpkin carving!

Monday Blues

Monday Blues~

It's a long week and it's just Monday!

I am already tired. 

Guess just have to do what I have to do.

On the way home today, tea was spilled from my mug and my passport got all wet.
The passport now looks wrinkly and fake - oh well it's supposed to be good till 2015...

But also had a good dinner with a co-worker.

Things that I still need to do:

-read the books that I have borrowed
-make up the blog posts that I said I will write
-organize pictures
-errands

I am just proud of myself that I am keeping up with the blog.

YC weekend + Potluck Success

I didn't write a post for yesterday!
So I have to make it up today.
To sum it up, the post is dedicated to be YC weekend + Potluck success.

SAT Oct. 22
-went to the gym
-then did grocery shopping for the potluck dinner

I have to say that I dislike shopping now but I enjoy grocery shopping.
In the chinese grocery store, you find things that you wouldn't find in a Canadian grocery store. (Some interesting things and some gross things for sure). For example, I bought chicken wings to make coke chicken wings for potluck. Right beside where they put the chicken wings on the ice, they have the crown of the rooster. I didn't know that part is edible (and I wouldn't want to eat that at all).
Then I was with my co-worker. We had some snack sitting beside a pond in the nearby university. It was quite peaceful with many different types of birds flying by. We went to get some Great wall wine and went back to the apartment. We just hung out a bit before going to the Fish Hot Pot.
Fish hot pot is one of my favorite food here in YC. Whenever I am craving for good fish, that's the place I would want to go. The restaurant was packed with locals. Luckily we got a table and had our wonderful meal. I was super stuffed and went to grocery store with another co-worker.
So it was a laid-back YC night.

SUN Oct. 23
Me and my roommate were cleaning our place and moving furnitures around in preparation for the potluck in the morning. She made chilli and cornbread and I made fried rice noodle and coke chicken wings. I also went to the school for a bit to make a chapter test (but I didn't finish making it).
The potluck started around 5:30. Here's the list of food that we had:
-chilli and cornbread
-fried rice noold and chicken wings
-fried noodle
-deviled eggs and cinnamon buns
-dumplings
-fried indonesian rice and ginger chicken
-sushi
-cucumber salad, melon and ginger (very refreshing dish)
-chinese buns and seaweed salad
-tuna sandwich

It was just a great party with good food and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun.
1st ever Potluck party Success!

Now need to be prepared for the crazy work week tomorrow.
We will have our Halloween party on Friday and Sports day on Saturday!
So it'll be a long week! But I know I am up for it!!

Friday Movie Night

Watched two extremely different movies tonight at co-worker's place.

The first movie we watched is an old Hollywood classic called, Sunset Bolevard. 

It's very unlike the movie we see nowadays. It's slow and the story line is simple.

The movie is about an old star who lives in her own world, dreaming to return to the stage where she used to be again.

Famous quote from the main character, Norma:

"I am big. It's the pictures that got small."

I find the movie enjoyable. It's interesting to see such glamourous Hollywood classics.

The second movie is quite new and shot in an interesting way. It's called the Blue Valentine.

I like the way it's filmed as you feel you are part of the story or watching the story unfolds through a zoom lens. The movie is about love, relationship and family life. It's very raw and realistic. It's a great movie. A big thumb up!

Maybe I will write about both movies more later. Now I just want to go to bed!

Live in the moment, "Now" - the Present

My co-worker, she strongly believes about live in the moment - the present. 

She wears a pendant with the Chinese character, "Jing", means Now.
I also believe in live in the moment.

I have been putting off the idea of starting my blog for too long.
It has been hectic since school has started. But I shouldn't give myself anymore excuses.
To be honest, even though work has been busy, I know the main reason is that I don't feel comfortable with my writings. Numbers and math equations for me are like music and my langauge.

There has been so many good stories of my life that I just want to not to forget.
So this is my first post - a promise to myself that I am going to make "Me Time" and record down all my good stories.

Things that I am going to write about:
-Epic Heaven on Earth Amazing Race Oct. Sichuan China Trip
-Connecting with students
-Substituting for Art Class
-First China Hospital IVed story
-7am Ultimate fun
-Shianghai visit
-Great book, "The White Tiger"