Xian

Heading to a train bound for Xian... terracotta soldiers... will post soon!

Oh Mooncakes!

Yesterday was Mid Autumn Festival... you might remember last year when I wrote about the horrid mooncakes...

This year I received 5 bags of mooncakes! Not 5 mooncakes, but 5 bags! Most of my Chinese friends don't even like them...

Last night for weekly Tuesday night dinner we had chicken and rice (Thanks Nana!) and then I made my own version of mooncakes... cupcakes with moons painted on them. I must say I enjoyed this tasty treat much more... American mooncakes. :)

Mid Autumn Festival is also a holiday where people send texts wishing you a happy day. This year my favorite was from my friend Kristy. She wrote: "oh, im 2 tired!!! i fighted with the sun all day long today to grab a moon for u, but the sun definitely say NO. so i trample into a mooncake with extreme anger!! pls accept it as a little gift, and happy mid autumn day."

The Perfect Kind of Day

Today was one of those perfect China days. You wake up to the sun shining through the window. Look out to see the little farmers market in the square. In the afternoon you have plans to go with foreign and Chinese friends swimming and then have a pizza dinner afterwards. Perfect!!


After lunch a group of about 15 of us headed out to our swim hole. We wanted to take advantage of the nice weather while we still could. Because it was so pleasant outside we opted to take motorcycle taxis instead of the bus or taxi. The 15 minute ride was wonderful! Peach and I shared a bike and pretend to be flying. Silly yes, but it was that kind of day that you just wish you were a bird to flap about.

(Peach and I on our motorcycle ride...)

(Just outside our swim hole)

When we got to the swim hole we found that it was closed. After a little climb we got in anyways and were "invigorated" (quote by Kim) by the cool temperatures of the water. Of course soon before we left is really when the sun peaked over the cliffs that surround our swim hole. (You would think we would know to go later by now!!!) Anyways, we enjoyed soaking up some sun (well us foreigners did anyways while the Chinese girls sat under umbrellas) and watched some of our students who learned to swim over the summer. It was great!

(Brad and I soaking up some rays... I even got a little color!)

Tonight for dinner many of the same students/friends came over for dinner. We made LOTS of pizza. It was a thank you feast for those of us that helped us move apartments. Brad and Amy made the crusts yesterday with supervision and then the kids got to put on their own toppings tonight. They were creative as grapes even made it on to 1 pizza! The boys watches women's soccer on TV and the girls sat around singing silly songs and chatting. Sometimes you really can forget that you are living in a foreign country!

(Bill and Steve top their pizza off)

(The always- so- happy Steven loved his pizza for 1)

Now I sit at my computer, laundry washing, grasshopper pie freezing, floors freshly swept and utterly exhausted. Just wanted to write about my grand day. Tomorrow morning I will get to sit amidst friends and Think about what is truly important. My favorite part of the week. Today was a great ending though to another week.

The Decline of Something Great...

Newest obsession... Justin Timberlake!

I just love his music...

Have I declined in my musical taste??? I thought I had GREAT taste, but then came good old Britney Spears ex, Cameron Diaz chasing, Jessica Biel smooching, teen heartthrob whose greatest lyric is "I'm bringing sexy back..."

I also heard another song I love the other day called "Crazy Beautiful." Want to know who sings that? Hanson.

Somebody needs to pump some Features/Tom Petty/Explosions In The Sky/Andrew Bird blood in me ASAP!

"May It Be Everything To Everyone"

As Kim and I make it home from a long afternoon at the nail salon, I receive a phone call asking if I want to go to the Vienna Boys Choir concert... Really?!?!? In Yichang, at Three Gorges University??!?! Of course!
(A little excited...)


A group of us girls head to dinner a little sad because there are only 2 tickets and about 6 of us that want to go. By the end of dinner we had gotten a phone call saying there were 8 tickets and they would be delivered to us. Vienna Boys Choir! I mean WOW!!! Talk about an experience you don't get everyday...

(dreaming of these angelic voices...)

Walking home from dinner I am in a giddy mood because hey, I am going to see the Vienna Boys Choir. I could just hear their sweet precious voices in my head. Because we are in such a good mood we start quoting "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." (It was funny to me!)

Then when we were almost halfway home we ran into our delivery man... Upon looking at the tickets I immediately fall to the ground laughing. I am sure that everyone had thought I lost my mind. On the ticket was pictures of ballerinas. Yet this being China, there was still a 50% chance in our minds that the Vienna Boys Choir would still be there. I was still a little excited because I have never been to a real ballet before! I made the "Tiny Tim" comment to Amy and Katie that I hope that it would be everything to everyone... More serious fits of laughter...

We get to the auditorium to find out that yes it was ballet. No it was not that good. Definitely no Vienna Boys Choir! After having a lot of trouble figuring out the story behind ballet and thinking to myself "This is not a real ballet" so I would scar myself for life, it turned out being "everything to everyone." The played Italian Opera for Dawson, Irish Step Dance for Katie, Roxanne for Amy, Gene Kelly Singing in the Rain for me and Yangtze River Opera for Jian. Still not a quality performance, but decent enough to make some good memories...

Yeah, that ain't no Vienna Boys Choir...

(sorry if that was one of those "had to be there" moments, but I thought it was pretty stinkin funny!)

Foreigner Mischief and Such

It was a lovely weekend here in Yichang. I don't think I could have asked for a much better Saturday...

The morning began with my student Sabrina coming over for some help. She has picked up a part time job in a primary school and she wanted some help planning a telling time lesson. We had such a good time making clocks, a game and just talking about teaching. She is a business major but only because her parents want her to be. It is a shame because she would be a great teacher! Making clocks made me kind of miss teaching young students. Coloring is not a big hit in the university setting. ;)

Our friends, the Mosbys, came in town for lunch. It was a super quick visit! We had not seen Pam in over a year so it was really good to see her smiling face. We ate at our "other kitchen" UpDown so they could experience what we eat on a semi-daily basis.

After lunch, Amy and I were off to our friend Eden's baby shower. Eden is married to a Chinese man and they are super cute! Eden has lived here 7 years! But I really admire her because she is going to have her baby here in Yichang. That is a feat in my eyes. I can't even use squatty potties, much less give birth here. The shower was fun and little "Clenden"(as he is affectionately called now) racked up.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent with foreigners. We played cards, went to McDonalds for dinner and then visited Yiling Square. That is the place to be at night. People are dancing (ballroom and other such types of dancing), exercising, playing cards, watching the fountain show, etc. This Saturday night some of the square was taken up by a rollerblading lesson for kids. The kids looked like mini-professionals, skating in a true circle while crouched down. It looked more like a scouting event for the next Olympics. Another part of the square was taken up by a foreign pyramid...

That's right we made a pyramid in the square. Nothing like a group of weiguoren to attract some attention...

"Cheap"ing

Happy Teachers' Day bethquarles Thank you very much! Until now,I still remember your words very clearly. It's worry to cheap in an exam,no matter how small it is .And it's also in some other things. Happy Teachers' Day! (I know it's very late,but It's really what I just want to send you and let you know. miss you Candy

This was a note I got from Teachers Day. Candy was a student last Fall. If she didn't learn any English at least she remembered cheating ("cheap"ing) is not good.

Conquering the cheating problem one student at a a time...