The Past Week & Mountain Climbing

My mom informed me that I have been really slack lately with my blog updates. sorry about that! haha The reason that I have been so slack is because 1. I am getting busier with school, and 2. I wish that there was a way that I could take in every moment that I am experiencing and share it with you guys. I am trying my best, but it is true, that you have to live the moment to fully experience it. But here is what has been happening since my last blog update about the hair wash:


Last week I started Language Arts. We are working on Procedural Writing, but for a break, last Thursday I did a little activity with them. I put up a picture of something and they had to write about it for 4 minutes. They could make a story out of it, describe it, tell me what they thought it was, etc. After the 4 minutes went by, some of the students would share their writing with the class. After I would tell them what the picture was about, who was in the picture, where I was, etc. It let them know a little bit more about me as well. Here are some of the pictures that I put up



It was hilarious to see what they had to say about this one. Especially since some of their english is pretty low. The responses ranged from.. "Miss R was trying to make birthday cake and shocked herself" to "Miss R went to sleep with pretty hair and woke up and this is what her hair looked like, so she took a picture of herself" hahaha! it was cute

The main response to this one was that "Miss R went to a farm and fell in poop" or somewhere along those lines (ps. it is not poop, it is mud from the U2 Concert last summer!)

They were very interested to hear that my father was a fisherman! one of the boys named Dennis from Korea said... "Miss R, you so lucky! Lobster so yummy!" hahaha

They absolutely loved this picture. They were so happy when I told them that it was two of my brothers puppies! 

Other than Language Arts, I have also started to teach Social Studies this week. We are doing a unit on Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt. I think they are really going to enjoy it! They haven't really done anything about Ancient Rome, so hopefully I can make it interesting for them!


Other than school, I have been doing the usual. The park just down the street is amazing. I love it there cause I feel like I am out of the city for a bit! I went for a good run around the park one day last week and then decided to do some planks, stretching, etc in the middle of the park when I was done. Many chinese people decided to stand there and stare at me, but I didn't care. The is the BEST thing about China to me. I love the feeling that I can do whatever I want and never feel like an idiot for doing it. I can pick my wedgie and not give a shit if any sees me! hahaha its honestly the best feeling. You know that when you go to a park and there are people running backwards, slapping their arms while the run (i'm guessing for circulation?), clapping their hands when they run, run with dresses and flats on....you can do whatever you want and never feel stupid about it! Anyways, the park is one of my favourite places. I went there two evenings ago though and the bats started coming out when it got dark. I am not scared of many things, but I DO NOT LIKE BATS! maybe I should stick to going there in the day time! :) 
We also had a boy teacher vs girl teacher volleyball game last Thursday night. That was a lot of fun. We lost, but thats okay.. we will beat them next time!
On Friday I decided to go "scrimmage" against the Chinese High School boys basketball team. I didn't bring my basketball sneakers to China so I just wore my runners because I didn't think it would be to serious of a game. But I was wrong. The school came out to watch and those high school boys had some talent! there were 5 guy teachers and myself that played against them. There was two boys that had some serious talent, but their coach was also the ref so there was a lot of missed calls! But the teachers ended up winning by 6, and I got a good workout out of it! They play against them every Friday so I will definitely be doing that again soon. 
On Friday night we went out for pizza. The boys had heard of a pizza challenge that if you can finish a 16inch pizza in an hour you get it for free from one of their high school students.. so we thought we would go to that. I discovered a new part of town called Costal City. The architecture and lights there are amazing! once again, its hard to explain, but it's a really nice part of town. Me and Kate shared a pizza and it was delicious! out of the 6 boys that tried to finish the 16inch in an hour, three of them did it! and they weren't feeling too good after! hahaha! It was the best pizza i have honestly ever had (or maybe I thought it was so good because I haven't had pizza for so long) either way, it was delicious! After the pizza we went for a foot massage. It only cost 5$ CAN, but it was more painful for me then enjoyable! haha It was an hour long back, neck and foot massage. They also did some weird technique called cupping on my feet. They put oil inside this little cup and lit it on fire and then stuck it to the bottom of my foot and would rub it up and down along the bottom of my foot, and then do it again! Apparently it is suppose to get all of the toxins out of your body! Although it wasnt to enjoyable, it was a great experience.
Saturday night - we sat around on campus and sang some songs to the guitar for awhile and then went out. Dancing in China is definitely different than dancing at Zees in Fredericton! hahaha! there will be many more nights out dancing I hope!!
o also, Saturday I bought a phone so I could keep in touch with people on campus. that was an experience and a half trying to barter with the women for a phone when she couldnt speak ANY english. I was trying to tell her that I didn't care if it had a camera, or music, and all I wanted to do was text. She didn't get it and I ended up buying a phone that has a camera, music and sim card for 30$ CAN when the one that I wanted that had nothing to it but a key pad was more than that. haha! but o well, I spent 30$ CAN to stay in touch with people here and in case of an emergency sometime. You never know, I might need it sometime!!
Sunday- KAYLA LAM came to Shenzhen! I showed her around the city for a bit, we went to Louhu (the big market) and then back to her hotel room (her dad spoils her) haha jk KLAM (but seriously) and then went to Shekou and had some Mexican food! It was my first time out and around the city without someone being with me that knows their way around! We took the subway and a taxi and made out fine! I think half of it was thanks to Kayla's mandarin skills tho (people back home in freddy, Kayla is getting very good at speaking chinese, don't let her tell you different) I wish I had more time to spend with Kayla! It was a great day that I needed! 

I know I need to update my blog more now, because when I wait awhile I have way to much to write about! haha but last thing - Today there was no school because it is Qingming (pronounced Ching-ming) holiday, so I decided to wake up at 630am and go hiking with some people! there was a group of 8 of us altogether. This hike was like the red trail on the back of Grand Manan but about 10x harder. There were parts that were easy, and then there were parts were you had to slide down on your butt or you'd fall, or you had to use a rope to climb up the side of the hill. It took us around 3 1/2 hours altogether to finish, and we only stopped once to grab a quick snack. I am a little scratched and bruised up, but I am fine. The whole hike was along the cliffs of the ocean and I couldn't stop thinking about how much it looked like the back of Grand Manan. Besides all the Chinese people we met along the way, I thought I was on the red trail on the back of the island. People kept saying how beautiful it was and I was like ya, I see this everyday when I am home! We take Grand Manan for granted a lot. It is definitely one of the most beautiful places on earth to be. The scenery there is beautiful! At the end of the hike we made it to the beach we were aiming for.. we started at Dongchong Beach, and hiked until we got to Xichong Beach, or it might have been the other way around, hahaha i dont remember! but either way, the clouds cleared off when we reached the beach so we put on our bikinis and went for a swim in the China sea! The chinese people just stood there and stared at us thinking we were crazy because the water was cold and they were dressed in long sleeved shirts and pants, but as I said... the best thing about China is I can do whatever I want and never feel stupid about it! The very best part of the day though was our 30 minute boat ride back to where we started. It was blowing about 50 knot today and we took a skiff back to the beach through the waves! it was wild. I sat in the front and was just loving it. It reminded me of the time dad took me and mom out around White Head one day in the skiff when he shouldn't have. we would go up... and then BANG... come back down off the wave and hit the water. It was great! haha! Some pictures from the day:

The beach that we started at... and no that is NOT pollution, they are clouds! I am glad it wasn't sunny and hot during our hike! (ps, I am still badly burnt) 

You can see where we went up and down and up and down and up and down, etc! Between each climb and descent there was always a little beach like this one! 

We made it to our destination!

Not a tan line but a dirt line from the hike! haha 

The boat ride back! so much fun!

I hope this post isn't too too long! next time I wont be so slack! (okay mom?) I will post again soon ! :) I will leave you with this lyric from a song I have been obsessed with lately - Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Atlas Hands

"I've got a plan
I've got an atlas in my hands

I'm gonna turn when I listen to the lessons that I've learned"