various things

 Man chopping fresh noodles from a block of noodle dough.  

 My next door neighbor / fellow PiA-er, Lily, eating said noodles.  

 Me sneaking a candid shot in my Chinese class.  Back to the ol' 中文.  CFAU offers 4 Chinese classes everyday Mon-Fri (from 8:00-11:40 AM) which I can audit for a small fee.  I really like this convenient way to 'turn on' my Chinese in the morning and usually dip in on 1 or 2 classes.  Added cool points for the diversity in the class room: my classmates are from Kazakhstan, Ukraine, France, Italy, Botswana, Egypt, Tanzania, plus 1 other American.

Colorful kindergarten behind my dorm (not connected to CFAU lol)

  

 I got a 'blind massage' (a lot of blind people in Asia give massages professionally) for 13USD/hour!       

A Beautiful Mosque in Beijing

 The Islam in China totally surprises me!  Apparently it came over from Persia 1,300 years ago.  Last week I visited a mosque about 40 minutes from CFAU.  It was built in the Yuan Dynasty in the 1300's.  The mosque was stunning and the mood was very tranquil.  My favorite adventure so far in Beijing!

 A Chinese-style minaret      

 The mosque was busy with visitors for noontime Al-Salat/prayer.  

.  I have no idea about this script.  My assumption would be Arabic, but it looks more like Mongolian or Manchu? 

There were government officials milling about in the front (pictured on right).  They monitor for "proselytizing" which is illegal. 

Cute little boy on the bus.  He called me a-yi which means auntie :D 

Today's Air Quality Index

The Air Quality Index measures how much smog, dust particles, toxic stuff, etc is in your air.  Check out today's reading in your city!   

Atlanta GA             54

Elk Grove CA        49

Princeton NJ          40

Miami FL               21

Charlotte NC          21

  Beijing China           332

Woo-wee, check out that triple digit number next to my home sweet *cough* home!  My eyes are red and itchy and I have a headache.  On the bright side,  the AQI varies wildly from day to day.  It's going to rain later in the week, which should bring the number down significantly (as low as the 30s).  Until then I'll be wearing classes instead of contacts, drinking lots of water, and staying indoors!  

My image darkened by the hazardous Beijing air!

One of my adult students emailed me the above video.  Lots of Beijing ren (can't speak for all of China) really enjoy Yanni.  This is the first time I've ever (consciously) listened to his music.  I kinda dig it...it's soothing.  

Student emails also introduced me to some new emoticons (Can I even call these emoticons?  They're more like....electronic folk art?)

O(∩_∩)O                                       

\(^o^)/                                 

 ~~~~(>_<)~~~~   

You can take the girl out of Nan Ao...

A year out in the jungle of Nan Ao gave me a lasting appreciation for the beauty and peace found in nature.  Yu Yuan Tan/Jade Lake Park is only 10 minutes biking from the CFAU campus.    

Even Beijing, City of Worst Air Quality on the Planet, preserves some space for trees, flowers, and lakes.  

 I found a grassy plot to lay down and do some reading.  Yep, my addiction to electricity knows no bounds. 

This couple takes a more aggressive approach to the park.  Two hiking sticks each!  

Teaching Schedule

Monday

Tuesday              8:00-9:40 AM     Oral English

                          1:10-2:50 PM     Oral English 

                          6:00-8:35 PM     American Literature  

Wednesday         6:00-8:35 PM     American Literature

Thursday

Friday                  7:00-9:00 PM      Tutoring 

Saturday             10:00-11:40 AM   American Literature 

Sunday 

I traded my Economics classes for Literature classes and welcoming the change.  I teach 2 night classes and 1 weekend class so my schedule is a bit unorthodox.  But I don't mind at all.  I still have 3 days off!   

View from My Balcony

Four floors up, across from the Main Building where classes are held.
Strangely enough, I also lived on the 4th floor at the Teacher's dorm
in Nan Ao and in my freshman dorm at UGA.

I bike Beijing

Beijing loves bikes!  Like seriously loves bikes.  It seems like just about everyone has one-- young, old, rich, poor, etc.  It's pretty necessary given the hellacious traffic in this city.     

And check out the bike lanes!  Spacious avenues protected by medians.  Mao pushed the bike as the "people's vehicle" and city planning clearly reflects government endorsement (although making left turns is a major pain).  You guys probably know I kind of need a bike where ever I go so I'm ecstatic to see so many cyclists on the road.  

My new ride!  Typical cheap China-made plastic.  But it's been getting me around just fine and as a fellow customer said when I was making the purchase, "Better to go cheap.  They get stolen sometimes."    

My new home: China Foreign Affairs University

Ah, CFAU, my new home.  The school has less than 2,000 students so the campus is quite small--a gated square on a city block.  It has one building for classes, some apartment and dorm buildings, and a few canteens.  

 Lots of faculty, past and present, live on campus.  Families often at play :-)

The campus has lots of trees, ivy covered buildings, and this pretty little garden.  

 Old Beijing men love bird-keeping!

Strange mushroom that distracted me.

Temple of Consumer Heaven

During my year in Taiwan, getting a "basic" item (anything that can be found at Walmart) often turned into a journey involving maps, interviewing multiple locals and Google translate.  With this in mind, I devoted today to hunting down some stuff for my dorm.  

Turns out about 15 minutes walking from CFAU is one of Beijing's many multi-storied, packed to the brim, indoor shopping centers.  Ai-yao!   

In addition to the yoga mat...

and French press I never thought I would find...

It also had... 

everything...

else...

you could possibly...

want.

Plus 1, Beijing!

Fellow PiA-ers, Lily, Daniel and David, scoping out the goods :)   

The Imperial Palace (a.k.a my new place)

 Big ol' bed with balcony outside the window

 Living room with 2nd balcony. Interested visitors take note of the couch :)

 Holy smokes, my very first private kitchen! 

 And my very own washing machine! Note: Still no dryers in Asia

And there's me in the bathroom.  

My dorm-suite is on the campus where I teach, a small foreign affairs university.  So my new home is only about a 3 minute walk from where I teach.  Can't beat that convenience! 


Feeling so fortunate (and somewhat undeserving) of my new abode.  On the downside, my baggage got delayed on the way here.  I'm getting by with 2 pairs of clothes and borrowed camera supplies.  Yikes!  

Transition - My 2nd Year Teaching Abroad

I've lived in a few types of communities,  1.  raised in the suburbs of metro-Atlanta  2.  studied in the college town of Athens, GA (University of Georgia)  3.  and taught English in the rural township of Nan Ao, Taiwan.

Tomorrow I'm moving to a new community--the epically crowded, notoriously polluted city of Beijing, China! I'm so pumped!  Family and friends, any tips on adapting and thriving in a big ol' metropolis?

My teaching post is also changing drastically, transitioning from high-needs elementary kids to ambitious university students.  I'm really excited to be working with adults again (I did so briefly in college).  Beijing here I come!

Too all family and friends--I love and miss you already!  Message me if you want to plan a video-chat date (Google's works best for me).  

"They ain't worth no fifty dollars."

Part of my "expat rhythm" includes calling my parents every Sunday night.  Tonight, as my dad was reading an except from Blood Meridian (an unusually intellectual moment for us for sure lol), an earthquake shook my room!  Sometimes the East and West in my life collide in a most exhilarating fashion!  

Mr. Yang, a special education teacher in Nan Ao, gave me a rare glimpse into his garden!  This man pours his heart and soul into the natural environment surrounding his home.  I wish I had a picture of the interior of his house--I don't even think there was a couch.  All of his energy goes outside! 

Mr. Yang vacationed in Bali, Indonesia once and the trip made a really big impression on him, inspiring the garden's design and plant variety.  Bali is a really popular vacation spot for Taiwanese people.  It's like what the Caribbean is to America.    

 And, of course, I was with my gal pals, Monica and Sandhya!  We spent the afternoon eating fresh fruit and listening to gamelan, traditional Balinese music. 

 I think I must go to the magical land called Bali...although I'm somewhat fearful post-Eat, Pray, Love explosion.

I placed 5th in a Dragon Boat Race!

OK, so there were only 5 teams. And we looked nothing like the ferocious competitors above. But we were neck and neck with 4th and had a good time! In this video, courtesy of Maria (a fellow Yilan ETA), I'm the 4th person back on the right. 

Dragon Boat Racing is like British rowing except...
a. paddles are free
b. rowers twist the body and do not pull the paddle beyond the hip (our form is totally off)
c. rowing is done to the beat of an awesome drum at the head of the boat
d. competitions have been around for over 2000 years! (The Brits have only been doing it for about 300)

It was an exciting, hilarious and sunny day with my Yilan family, and a nice upper body workout.

How to Enjoy Durian

1. Select your spiky mass and proudly take up to the cashier.
2. Have the cashier help you crack it open. Together, admire the sunny innards. He or she will neatly place the fruit's inner pods into a plastic bag.
3. Pop your durian pods in the freezer.
4. Wait a few hours.
5. Remove from freezer and enjoy a custard, ice cream like treat (free of that distinct durian odor)!

Glove Puppetry, way cooler than you think

Every other Wednesday, all the ETA's get together in Yilan for a workshop. Last week's workshop was on traditional Taiwanese glove puppetry. Before the dawn of television, Taiwanese people flocked to public puppet shows for entertainment. These shows have all the slapstick comedy found in Western puppetry, but overall are more serious dramas. The puppets act out small details like tying their shoes! It reminded me of the puppetry in Being John Malkovich...lol

A 5th grader named Andy taught me some puppet moves like walking, running and spinning. He was a supportive and bubbly teacher. When I asked him, "How old are you?" he said "12 o'clock."

Awwwwww