a side note, I'm sorry.

A fellow teacher (R): "My feet are killing me. Even when I wear flats and not heels, I can't walk at the end of the day. I'm going to start wearing my tennis shoes to teach."

Me: "Yeah, but I always made fun of .my teachers that wore their tennis shoes to class."

R: "True, me too. I thought they were lazy"

Me: "You know what, who cares. My students can make fun of me. Wait until they try to teach all day in heels."

I apologize to all my former teachers! I understand now. Rock those Reeboks and insoles. My babies hurt!

Luke, I am your Laoshi／I think I have the white lung, pop.

I couldn't pick a movie reference. And I went a little liberal on them anyways. Laoshi (lao-sher) means "teacher" in Mandarin. And the white lung refers to all the chalk dust I have been inhaling. (And I'm coughing because these damn germ breeders got me sick)

I am halfway through week 3 of teaching at Minghang Experimental Primary School. Today, though a long day, I got the sweet relief of a grade three class. During the week, I teach 24 different classes of first and second graders. On Wednesday I get one grade 3 class and on Friday I have a grade 5 "English Club". In each class I have about 40-odd students. 

The little-uns are cute enough, but all they do is repeat every word you say or don't say anything at all.  They are exhausting. I run all over the classroom and repeat myself endlessly until they seem to understand what I want. The second graders are slightly better. And noisier. Though one shouted out that I was beautiful today, so I can't complain when she talks. But, oh, those lovely third graders. They get me. Today we talked about things you aren't allowed to do until you clean your room and then played scategories with things that you have to clean. Last week, my grade 5 played Jeopardy. 

It's not so bad. I now have my own huge classroom. I get to school at 8:30 every morning and some days are shorter than others. My office is up 8 flights of stairs with the local Chinese English teachers. They are all so kind and willing to help me. I teach each of their classes once a week and they come along to help me with discipline problems.

I definitely have some great student stories already piling up. Like the one boy who just wanders around all class, quietly hanging out the window and inspecting the back corners of the room. Or the one who pronounced a very inappropriate word when practicing the different"a" sounds and mispronounced "cake". Eason gets pissed if you pronounce it "Ea-sun". Oh god, the names. I will never know them all, but I will know my favorites and the oddities. Like Prince, Seven, Six, Ice, Hello Kitty, Happy (so many), Jenney the boy, Artholomis, Apple, and many others.

 

On another note, this week we work Mon-Saturday and then have an entire week off. Sunday is a National Holiday and the following week is the Mid-Autumn Festival Golden Week. AKA...I'm going to Beijing! That means the Great freaking Wall of China, Forbidden City, and most of the sites you've heard of regarding China.

BY THE WAY, TODAY IS MY ONE MONTH ANNIVERSARY IN SHANGHAI!

I miss you all. I left behind so many great people and great happenings and it seems like it has been so long. But I also get it when people say that one year will not be enough to experience Shanghai. The days also fly by and my list of things I want to do has not gotten any shorter..

Tonight is yoga and then Boxing Cat Brewery!

A pencil skirt, panty hose, and a squatter.

(I don't know why my pictures are refusing to upload. Are you interested enough to just read? )



It's the littlest things here that make you feel good. Like using a squatter (because western toilets are damn hard to find) while at school in your teacher clothes. You try it in heels.
Obviously everyone keeps asking me if I like it in Shanghai. I'll put it in writing before I start to doubt myself, I like it here! I do, I really do! That said,
This place sure tries hard to wear ya down! Constant movement and noise and all of it incomprehensibly busy. Crossing the street is a challenge to the death every time with cars, bikes, and motorbikes that hardly take lights as a suggestion. Getting in and out of the metro is like there's a fire on your ass every time. Everyone is talking or honking and I can't understand a word of it. No, that's not true. I can pick up standard greetings, 1-10, a few random phrases and "American" měi-guó rén (literally: people of the beautiful land-obviously).
Not to mention my 26 periods of class a week. Oh, 26, you say, no you have no idea. 24 periods are with 1st and 2nd graders in classes of 42 students. That's 1008 little kiddos staring at me, yelling in Chinese, or blatantly ignoring me. The other two classes are a 3rd grade class and a 5th grade English Club. How do you say exhausting in Chinese?
What else is different about China you ask?
Well, the food. The food is so drenched in oil I could drown it (my skin is). No one cooks at home. Literally the stoves are never used and fridges are tiny. Street food carts reign supreme and I do, truly, love them. Noodles or rice with all the fixings you want? Veggie and tofu skewers? Steamed buns and dumplings? Soup made to your liking? Yes, please. And all for under one US dollar.
The smells. Shout-out to Zhoujiazui Lu where I lived my first two weeks and experienced some of the worst smelling streets of the city. Garbage cans are again a weak suggestion; as is peeing in bathrooms rather than the streets. Now this doesn't happen on the main streets and typically with only little ones, but ew.
T.I.C. yall. This Is China. A phrase you hear every expat mutter four times a day.
But hey, the goods: I'm learning some Chinese, making money, making friends, experiencing CHINA (have you?), and gettin great street cred as an ESL teacher. There is honestly great beauty to be found in this city and surrounding area. I promise to share it with you. 

Told ya I'd post soon

I know, I know. These past two weeks you've been thinking that the coolest person you've ever known has run off to China, forgotten her promises, and is never to be hear from again. Sorry, I'VE BEEN BUSY. Moving to a country completely opposite in culture, language, and geographically. And starting work and finding an apartment and learning how to satisfy basic needs.
I just taught 4 classes in a row. I ate lunch and now I have three more classes for today. Wednesday is hell day. Yet, I am taking the time to write this.

Turns out, I didn't have time to write that. Now it is Friday afternoon. I finished my teaching classes for the week! This afternoon I have "English Corner" with some 5th graders.  THEN, THE WEEKEND. I will be 1.buying groceries so we have more than water and coconut milk in our fridge 2. planning lessons 3. buying plants and hopefully 4. dancing!
Life in China is fast-paced. Even once I get all these moving chores done, I still don't think I will be loafing around much. Especially, when there is so much to see!
I'll begin delving into all that has occurred and is occurring soon, but to add a happy story to this post: I've been getting breakfast at the same woman's little stand every morning this week on the way to the metro. My communication is limited to Hello, I want that, One, and Thank you, but it seems she and her husband have taken a liking to me. Or they think it is pathetic that I've had the same thing every day, but today she added a free bit of one of the other breakfast goodies she serves. Sometimes (often), it is discouraging to not understand or speak the language and to know when  you are being taken advantage for it. Obviously this happens most often in cabs or at the street carts, so this woman's gesture was extremely heartwarming. She just got herself a loyal customer for 10 more months.

Walking along The Bund waterfront (Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Financial Center Tower behind me)