moving northward!

today was my last full sweet and tender day at the RuYi hotel (aka home the past month in Beijing) and it was pretty packed with a bunch of meetings and sessions, got an amazing great quality umbrella from the hotel for FREE (good umbrellas are hard to find!), ate a pizza lunch that gave me abnormal amounts of gas, played with babies (as per usual), shared an "asian/african american" dinner, said goodbyes to old and new friends, packed last minute luggage, and last but not least... watched nacho libre and drinking chinese chocolate milk with my roommate for our last night together!

pictures of proof :)

different generations of CTFers peng you!

a couple monkeys sneaked onto my plate... that's what happens when you eat with kids!;)

my hotel neighbor friends, lydia and micah!! what a wonderful family that i'll miss!

my family restaurant friends!!

roomie time with nacho libre and chocolate milk goodness!

my life in a hotel

my hotel roommate lauren and our hotel home :)


making "jiaozi" (dumplings) at my favorite restaurant outside the hotel


my daily hotel breakfast.. chicken nuggets and egg fried rice (and some fruit hehe)


don't mind me if i start rambling.. i've been cooped up in a hotel sitting in conference rooms the past 3.5 weeks taking notes, reading textbooks, listening to lectures, and being a student all over again... (things i thought i would never do again after i graduated several years ago!) and i think i'm almost going to explode. haha don't get me wrong- it's all great, helpful, and practical things that i'm learning to be a more effective teacher... but i think i have ADD or something... or maybe just ready to live outside my suitcase, cook my own food, and meet my new students! :) he's teaching me a lot about patience and endurance here... living this long in a hotel is not as "comfy" as it seems (although i'm especially thankful for the bed, soft but sturdy hehe)! it's also easy to forget that i'm in CHINA because i'm surrounded by foreigners (other american teachers) during most of the day and i live in a clean hotel room with a closed off shower and western toilet. :)

i've learned quite a few things about myself & some new skills too while being here:

-i'm a person of habit and change (i've gone to the SAME restaurant almost everyday and sometimes 2x's a day but i usually don't like to sit in the same seat in class everyday!)
-i finally learned how to wash my clothes by hand like a real chinese girl
-i think i've developed a GREATER love for babies and children... i hold them during my break for relaxation, when a baby cries down the hall i go out to see, i can't stop looking at them or wanting to hold them... haha it's pretty bad.
-i'm a very "local" kinda person.. i'd much rather eat local food, do regular things, and bargain like a chinese than go to tourist spots and western restaurants
-i'm still out of shape after 2 years of climbing several stairs.. i live on the 4th floor once again and barely make it up the stairs each time. sigh... so sad.

thanks for tuning in to my rarely updated blog.. i'll try to do better once i get situated in Harbin... next week! :D