Thanksgiving 2011

This year we feel especially thankful.  It is our second year on an amazing adventure full of new memories each day!  We were lucky enough to talk with some family on Thanksgiving and they reminded me, once again, how great our life is!  I was talking with my sister Jan and nieces Lainey and Emily and they asked me if we had gone on any trips lately.  I thought for a moment and said, "Um, yeah, well there was Cambodia and then a couple weeks ago I went to Nanjing with some girl friends."  Then Emily started to laugh at how I acted as if Cambodia and Nanjing were not a big deal.  It hits me every once in while when I think about how many places we have seen over the last two years and how so many people will never get this opportunity.  And that is only one reason we are thankful!

We are also thankful for the many wonderful friends we have made here.  Not only are they just friends, they have become our Shanghai family and without them, we would never be able to live abroad!  They make our life fun, they are they for us when we need them, and they join us in making memories we will never forget!  This Thanksgiving we had some of our American friends over to celebrate one of my favorite holidays.  It made for a great night and one of my favorite Thanksgivings EVER!  Here are some pictures of the night.

 Vanessa, Bri, Matt, Tony, Clare, Krystle and Zach enjoying some drinks and appetizers while waiting for the turkey to arrive.

 Travis carving the turkey as Tony's mouth waters!

 More friends enjoying our delicious food from Bubba's Restaurant.

 Yum, Yum!

The last of the girls at the end of the night!

We had such a great time that night!  I am hoping to have some kind of a Christmas party before the end of the semester too.  However, we do have our "Casino Royale" themed work party on Dec. 10 that I am really looking forward to!  3 weeks until we are on American soil enjoying all the Christmas joy that we can squeeze into 2 1/2 weeks!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

C and T

Last days in Cambodia

It was sad to reach the final days.  This was one of our favorite trips ever!  Cambodia is such a dynamic, beautiful country.  The last two days there were spent relaxing.  We did some swimming, a little work, a lot of eating, and spent more time in town.  The last night we went to a Khmer Kitchen restaurant and got our final curries and amok dishes.  It was all delicious!  I can't wait to go back!

Every time we are setting up holidays, we have a hard time picking a hotel and then end up asking a million questions to people that have been there.  So, I decided after each trip I will write out some useful information for those of you interested in going there.  Here is our first one:

Important information about Cambodia:

• They use US dollars and Cambodian money, but mostly US dollars.  There are many ATM's in town to get money.
• You will need to get a VISA on arrival.  Bring with you $20 per person and 1 passport sized photo.  They are not too picky on size.
• Tipping is welcome, but you don't need to do much.  A little money goes a long way there.
• Angkor Wat is HUGE.  Plan on spending at least 2 days there.
• The town is small, but packed with great restaurants, shopping, and bars.
• Food ranges from $3 to $5 at most places and is AMAZING!!!!
• Beer will run you $0.50-$1 :)  and cocktails are about $3.50
• Tuk tuk rides cost about $2

Our hotel:

We stayed at The Shining Angkor Boutique Hotel and LOVED it.  It only has 20 rooms.  We had the best room and it was only $50 a night and included a great breakfast each morning.  The staff is very sweet and helpful.  I felt like we were the only ones there most of the time.  We planned nothing ahead of time.  We just talked to the staff and they set everything up for us.  It cost us $15 for a tuk tuk that took us around ALL DAY at the temples and then $15 for the day we went to the museum and the floating villages.  It was $5 for the tuk tuk to the sunrise at Angkor Wat.  We had a pool that was nice and the restaurant had great food.  Lunch was delicious, but it took them a while to make it each day, but believe me, it is SO worth it when you get it, especially if you get the red curry!!!  Oh, and we had unlimited free rides in to town on a tuk tuk each day.  We were located in between Angkor Wat and town and I loved that.  You got to see and experience so much more of the city.

Flights:

We flew China Southern and enjoyed it.  It was so much better than China Eastern.  They had good food and the seats were really roomy.  The only downfall was our 8 hour layover in Guangzhou.  I don't recommend that, but if that is the only way you can get to Siem Reap, do it!

Things to do and costs:

• Angkor Wat and all the temples- $15 a day or $40 for 3 days (either rent a bike or a tuk tuk to take you around, it is huge). Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat were our favorites.
• Old Market- lots of cheap shopping in town, closes at 6pm  You can usually get stuff for less than half the price they originally say if you do good bargaining.
• Night Market- open at 6pm (there were lots of bugs while we were there, so we didn't last long here)
• Aki Ra's Landmine museum- long ride, but amazing chance to see the local villages and learn a lot about Cambodia's history, $3 per person.
• Floating Village- $13 per person (long ride out there, but I loved it)
• Cooking classes- There are lots of different classes.  We did the Le Tigre one and loved it.  It was $12 per person and got us the class and a 3 course meal.
• Eat Chicken Amok, sooooooooo yummy!
• Eat curry, again soooooooooo yummy!
• Go to a restaurant in town and sit upstairs to do some people watching
• Go to the Mekong Quilt store- even if just to look.  The quilts are quite cheap (for quilts) and there are lots of other little things to buy.
• Get the pancakes from a street vendor!!!  I suggest banana, chocolate, and condensed milk!

Favorite Restaurants:

• Red Piano- good Cambodian and Western food
• Khmer Kitchen
• Little India- great Indian food!!!!
• Le Tigre- good Cambodian and Western food
• Blue Pumpkin- only if you are in the mood for sandwiches and salads and ice cream.
• There are so many others to choose from too!  This is really making me miss it!

Leaving:

The airport is very small.  We got there an hour and half before our international flight and had plenty of time to get to our plane.  Also, there is no cost to leave the country.

That's all!

We were there for 8 days and it was great.  If you really cram stuff, you could probably do it all in 4-5 days.  For us a holiday is not rushing though, so we liked what we did.  I could have stayed longer actually!  Hope this was helpful to all of you that plan to go (which should be everyone reading this!).

Cambodia Part III

Day 5 (really we have been here for 6 days now, but the first day we got here so late, I don’t count that!)

Thursday was a very humbling day for us all.  We did not expect to see what we did on a tuk tuk ride this morning.  We planned to go to Aki Ra’s Landmine Museum because we had heard so much about it.  Our front desk staff told us it was just down the rode.  Well, it ended up being a 40 minute ride down the road!!!  If you have ever been in a tuk tuk, you know that is a LONG time to be sitting in that, especially if parts of the roads are filled with potholes!  Anyway, the ride ended up being totally worth it.  We were taken through an amazing little village and we were able to see the real Cambodia, not just the tourist parts. 

To say the ride through the village was humbling is actually an understatement.  Their homes are mere shacks or shelters.  We would consider this a place to camp for a quick weekend.  The villagers make their homes out of wood and build them on stilts to survive the rainy season.  The inside is a simple one room, maybe divided by a piece of cloth.  They are very small, the size of most living rooms in American homes, yet they are home to families of 4, 5, 6, and probably even more.  Running water is not an option.  Instead they have a water pump outside they use to get clean water.  There is not a kitchen.  They cook outside with an open fire or manmade stove.  The most amazing part of all of this is that they have, what we consider, nothing, yet are content and even happy with what they have been given.  As we drove down the road the children were running with us, smiling and yelling “hello!”  Even the adults would wave and smile. 

Here is a picture of a village home.  We were driving, so I had to snap them from the tuk tuk, so it's not great.

A typical village home.

Another

I hate to say it again, but I have to…So many of us forget that we are so lucky and privileged to live the lives we have.  While so many of us wish for or complain that we don’t have bigger houses, stainless steal appliances with granite in our kitchens, nicer cars, or a new iPhone, many are still wishing for clean water daily and food to feed their families.  I also saw a very pregnant woman and couldn’t help but think, who will deliver her baby?  We complain about the cost of medical (as we should), yet these people have probably never seen a proper doctor or dentist.  This ride really put things into prospective for me.  There are so many times that I read on facebook- FML (F my life), and I always want to say, “you have a better life than most people, be thankful for what you have”.  That little statement (FML) really bothers me.  Life will always give us hard times, but it’s the good times and the things we have that we need to focus on.  That’s my little piece of advice today.

When we arrived at the landmine museum, it was not what I expected.  It was just a small area filled with history stories, old landmines, and an orphanage in the back for children who have lost family to landmines.  We learned so much about Cambodia’s sad past.  I think what affected me the most was that it was not long ago that this country was at war.  If you get a chance or are bored one day, google Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge, or the Killing Fields (or watch the movie, we just bought it).  It is so sad to see what these people went through.  Cambodians are quiet, peaceful people, yet they were killed for nothing.  Again, feeling thankful for what I have.

These are many of the landmines and bombs that Aki Ra dug up.  The buildings behind it are the museum.

Here is one thing we learned at the museum.  Aki Ra is the founder of the museum.  When he was just a boy, he was forced to lay landmines.  He had no idea what he was doing and didn’t know what the landmines would do to people.  For those of you that don’t know, most landmines are to mutilate, not to kill.  Aki Ra went on to fight with the Vietnamese army and fought to get his country back.  Now, and for past years, he helps to find landmines that are still in Cambodia to keep farmers and children safe.  Landmines still kill many people in Cambodia because there are so many still in the ground.  He teaches others how to find them too.  He has brought many disarmed landmines and photos to the museum to help fund the orphanage.

After the museum we went to the floating villages.  Again, this was quite an adventure.  We had no idea how long it would take to get out there.  This was on the complete opposite end of town.  We stopped at the hotel to get something to drink and then went on to the next village.  The ride took us through more villages like on the way to the museum.  This one was flooded because of its location and was filled with cows (or oxen, we couldn’t tell) and pigs.  When we got to what we thought was the actual village, we had to take a small boat to get to the big boat that would take us out there, because of all the flooding.  It was an adventure in itself!!!  First, we got on a small boat and went out to the big boats.  Before we could get to the big boats we had to walk across wooden planks because of the flooding.  Then, we walked across a few big boats to get to our boat.  Finally, we were on our way to see the floating homes!  It ended up taking 40 minutes to get there.  It was really amazing though!  I will let the pictures do the talking.  This year the water is really high and some homes were flooded and not livable.  During the dry season you can see the stilts that they are on and they don’t look like they are floating.  They even have a school, restaurants, police station, and a hotel out there!  It was very unique.

Me on the small boat.

Greg and Di walking the planks.  :)

The big boats

This was the secondary school.

Some adorable local children on their boat

The guest house, or hotel

At night we went to an Indian restaurant and feasted on somosas, garlic nan, and delicious curries!!!  It was at a restaurant called Little India.  I highly recommend it for those of you going to Siem Reap.  It was cheap and yummy!!!!  After that, Di and Travis got a fish massage on their feet!  Check it out!

Now we are down to only 2 days.  I am so sad.  I have really fallen in love with this city and country.  I would come back again for sure!!!!  I am currently trying to convince Travis to let me adopt a Cambodian baby!!!!  

Cambodia Part II

Day 3

Today we decided to do a Cambodian cooking class.  I looked up many options online and read about a few in a couple different books.  In the end we chose Le Tigre Cooking School (Le Tigre is also a restaurant we went to the other night).  I read that 75% of the profits go to a charity, so we all decided it would be a good choice.  We definitely made the right one!  It started at the restaurant.  We were given a menu and each person got to choose a starter and a main course.  We would also be making a dessert for everyone.  The total, per person for this was only $12!!!  Travis, Greg, Alysha, and I went and there were also two other British girls in our group.  After making our selections, we went to the local market.  This was really interesting.  We had never seen such a big market.  They had tons of fruits and vegetables, most we had seen before, but some new to us.  They also had meat and seafood for sale.  The most interesting (and gross) thing I saw there was the pig’s head, the whole head.  See the picture!  It was really informational to hear the woman talk about the different veggies and spices.  We learned quite a bit from this part.

Some veggies at the market.

You won't see this at your local Kroger!!!

We then made our way back to the restaurant and up two flights of narrow stairs.  On the third floor they had a little kitchen set up for our use.  We each made our own individual meals under the supervision of the chef.  She told us what to cut up, how to cut it, and then helped us cook everything.  Travis made a delicious pumpkin soup and a seafood curry.  Greg made a papaya salad and a chicken curry.  Alysha made chicken spring rolls and chicken amok.  I made the same, but my spring rolls were shrimp. 

It was so much fun making it all and learning the secrets of Cambodian cooking.  I was so proud of the beautiful work we did!  Not to mention how delicious it all was!!!  It took about three hours to do everything.  They even taught us how to make some fancy decorations for our plates.  You can see them in the pictures.  Travis and Alysha cut a piece of a carrot to look like a flower.  Greg peeled the outside of a tomato with a knife to make a rose, and I made a lotus flower out of a tomato.  When we finished, we went downstairs to indulge!  It was so good!!!  We also got to eat the sticky rice (white rice with lots of sugar) with yellow mango for dessert.  That was also amazing!  I am so happy we did it!  I wish you could taste how amazing it all was, but you can at least see how pretty it was from our pictures!

Here I am frying my shrimp for the fresh spring rolls.

Travis is preparing his pumpkin soup.

All four of the chefs!

 Travis with his food!

Me and my food!

Day 4

Today began with a 5 am wake up call, and I wasn’t even grumpy!!!  This morning we headed back to Angkor Wat.  Our mission today was simply to watch the sunrise behind it and then check out just this one temple.  It was a bit cloudy, so we missed out on great sunrise pictures, but I was happy with what we got.  We also got some amazing pictures with a reflection in the water below the temple.  Check out our picture!  The inside of the temple was as amazing as the outside.  It is unbelievable to imagine them being built so long ago without the modern machinery we have today.  Most of the temples were built between 800 AD and 1200 AD.  Angkor used to be the capital and was home to many Cambodians.

After the sunrise, we came back to the hotel for breakfast, to relax a little, and swim in the pool.  The clouds went away quickly and the sun was very hot.  We needed the refreshing pool to cool us off a bit!  We then headed into town for lunch and some shopping at the markets.  We got some great stuff.

If you remember from Day 1, it rained a lot.  Well, apparently it has been raining a lot this year, more than usual and it is causing many floods.  One of the main streets in town has been flooded and it continues to rise.  Look at the picture below.  It is just crazy!  The river is behind this street and I guess the water from the river is flowing out onto the road.  It is supposed to rain again tomorrow, so I can only imagine what it will look like then.  The flooding is happening all over the country too.

While in town we also brought food to give to the locals.  I don’t think I have talked about how poor many people are in the country.  There are many beggars in town, looking for food, not money.  Every time we go into town we feel bad that we have nothing to give them.  Today we did.  We have had fresh fruit in our room from the hotel everyday.  So we brought it with us and decided to give it to anyone needing food.  At lunch it all went well.  I gave an apple and some bananas to a mother with two children.  They seemed grateful and continued on.  However, at night Alysha and I both had more food and when we began to give it to some of the locals, they got greedy and aggressive.  They were fighting with each other over the pieces and were impatiently waiting to see what was in our bags, almost reaching in Alysha’s bag.  We gave them all of it and quickly moved on.  This time, one little girl continued to follow and beg from us though.  It was very sad.  Just a little reminder of how lucky we all are to have everything we do.  Take a quick minute to be thankful!!!  I can easily see why Angelina Jolie wanted to adopt children from this poor country.

At night we also went to the Blue Pumpkin for dinner with another SCIS family.  It was really nice and yummy food!  The sandwiches and salads seemed to be everyone’s favorites.  We finished the night with another ice cream and pancake before heading home.  It was a long day today, but lots of fun!  

This is the man making the pancakes.  They are not like breakfast pancakes, they are delicious dessert pancakes filled with banana and chocolate!

Holiday in Cambodia Part 1

Holiday in Cambodia

Before I begin talking about Siem Reap, and the amazing city it is, I want to pause and think about what our life was like a year ago, and just how much has changed…

Last year we were just beginning our life in Shanghai.  I was still afraid of my own shadow and was preaching to all that “WE WILL NOT BE STAYING THREE YEARS, and that will not change!”  I also remember telling people that I don’t really love to travel.  I enjoyed it, but liked to be home more.  Last October we were heading to Beijing for our first holiday.  It was an amazing city and a great adventure with fun friends.  But when we returned, I still didn’t understand why everyone loved to travel so much.  I still had thoughts that two years of living here and traveling around would be plenty! 

As the year progressed, my feelings began to change.  I began to grow a love for traveling, and started becoming more interested in other parts of Asia. Traveling to Bangkok, Boracay, and Bali certainly helped me see things in a new light!  Now, as I sit here in my hotel room in Cambodia, ready to go explore more, I realize what a different person I have become over the last year.  In general, I have a whole new outlook on life.  We have been given an opportunity to travel and learn about the world, and many will never get this chance.  I don’t want to miss out on anything or take anything for granted.  I love learning about other cultures and countries.  I get excited to travel and feel lucky that we live in Shanghai.  I feel so blessed to have the life I have been given.  Here I am, already in love with Siem Reap after one day and I can’t wait to see more of it.  I also can’t stop thinking about where else I want to go!  “The old Christy” would never have gone to Cambodia, let alone say those words.  My how I have grown in a year.  Oh, and those of you wondering, I am eating my own words as we plan to stay at least three years in Shanghai.  

So, now back to my blog on Cambodia…  It took a while to get here, our plane left Shanghai late, we had a 4 hour lay over in Guangzhou (great people watching there BTW), got stuck on the plane on the runway for an hour and then finally left and got to Siem Reap around 7.  This was our first time flying with China Southern and we were pleasantly surprised.  The food was pretty good and the seats had plenty of legroom.  When we arrived we had someone from our hotel waiting for us to take us to The Shining Angkor Boutique Hotel.  The hotel is beautiful with amazing woodcarvings everywhere, not many guests, it’s in a quiet area, and has a VERY friendly staff.  It is also just down the road from town.  A quick $2 Tuk Tuk ride will get you to all the restaurants, bars, and markets.  And everything is very cheap! 

Travis and I in our first Tuk Tuk ride into town on Sunday.

Sunday, Day 1, we woke up and had our breakfast.  Then we relaxed at the pool for a bit.  Later, Travis, Greg, and I went to explore town.  We began to walk, but as it is very hot and humid, that didn’t last long!  We ended up getting in a tuk tuk and our driver took us to town and showed us where some things were located.  We found some restaurants that were recommended, the Pub Street (Greg and Travis were very excited about this one!), the day market (complete with people selling fish and other food that smells great in 90 degree heat), beer for 50 cents, and some lovely people.  After doing a little shopping and eating a little, we headed back to the hotel in our Batman themed tuk tuk! 

 Travis and Greg finding the Red Piano on Pub Street.

 This was inside the Day Market that we found.  Everything is extremely cheap. 

Our awesome Batman Tuk Tuk!

We headed back downtown at night.  Our first stop was the night markets.  We got there a little early, so we decided to go to “The Island Bar” in the middle of the market to get a drink.  It was a super cute.  We then headed out to the markets to see what kind of deals we could get.  I scored a $5 dress/shirt that I really liked.  However, with the weather being so hot and humid, there were many annoying bugs.  They weren’t biting, but were pests, so we walked on to the Pub Street.  We picked a restaurant and had a great meal.  There were 5 of us and our bill was $35!  You really can’t beat that!  Afterwards, we walked around a little and headed back to the hotel.  It was a great first, full day! 

Day 2

A little rain won’t bother us if we go to the temples today, right?  Wrong!  Well, at least at the first temple it did!  Today was Greg’s birthday, so we decided to let him make all the decisions for the day, or rather, he decided it was his birthday and he got to do whatever he wanted to do and we would have to follow along.  J  We slept soundly during a lovely rainstorm.  When we awoke, it was nearly over with, so we thought.  It was just sprinkling and the temperature was great.  Greg still wanted to go to the temples and we decided it might be a good idea to head out for day 1 of Angkor Wat.  We had hoped that because of the rain there would be less tourists.  We set out in our tuk tuks from the hotel.  It was really close and very convenient with the tuk tuks.  They took us around to all of the temples.  I had no idea just how big Angkor would be!  It was many, many square kilometers!  We started the tour with the three main temples: Angkor Thom- Banyon, Ta Prohm (the one used in the movie Tomb Raider), and we saw just the outside of Angkor Wat (which has green scaffolding all over it, BIG disappointment).

Banyon was the biggest challenge.  It was pouring rain by the time we got to it and our ponchos and umbrella were not helping much.  We got separated from the Watt’s during our battle with taking the camera out without getting wet and then eventually got lost trying to find our way out.  That gives you an idea of how big these temples are!  After Banyon, we went to Ta Prohm.  This was our favorite.  The rain had also slowed up and made the trekking much more enjoyable.  The pictures won’t do it justice, but it was unbelievable.  You can see for yourself.  By the time we got to Angkor Wat, we were tired.  We knew we had 2 more days to come back, so we decided to take a quick look and come back at another time.

That night we headed back into town for Greg’s birthday dinner.  He chose Red Piano, which was recommended to us by many previous travelers.  It was great food, great fun, and had a fantastic view of the town below (we sat on the 2^nd floor).  This was also the restaurant that Angelina Jolie loved to go to when she was in Cambodia.  They named a drink after her- the Tomb Raider Cocktail.  Of course I had to try it.  It was good, reminded me of Squirt Soda. 

It ended up being a great day, despite the rain.  I can’t wait to go back again, especially to see the sunrise behind Angkor Wat!

Here is part of Ta Prohm.  More pictures to come, the internet is too slow right now!

This was a part of Angkor Thom.

Travis and I at the front of Ta Prohm.

Rough Start to Holiday

Well, we leave for Siem Reap tomorrow morning.  I am hoping and praying that everything goes well!  We have started off a little rocky...

1. One passport lost in a taxi, and SAEFLY returned to it's owner.
2. One trip to the bank (the night before we leave) to get US Dollars without a passport, which means coming back home, getting a passport and going back.  All of you SCIS peeps know that Standard Charter is not a quick trip, EVER.
3. One passport washed in the washing machine the night before we leave.
4. Allergic reactions to laundry detergent = rewashing LOTS of clothes the night before we leave (without a dryer).

And we haven't even begun to pack.

Water Buffalo, Parasites, and Water Fights!

That’s right, we just went on our annual rafting trip in Hangzhou.  Don’t let the title fool you, we had a great time!  This year we had about 90 SCIS teachers attending from all three of our campuses.  The morning began at 9am with breakfast sandwiches, beer, and stories from last year. 

After driving for an hour and a half, our first little stop was a rest area.  Now these are not your average American little stops on major highways.  In China these places consist of smelly squatty potties (with no tissue), stinky tofu (worst smell ever), soft serve ice cream, a convenience store, and a guy selling cigarette holders.  Random, I know, but it didn’t stop us from beginning the day with some fun.  The day officially began with fingers plugging noses, ears listening to stories of getting parasites from the water, and hands around cold beers.  We had to wait a good half hour for the Pudong crew to join us.  Then we were off to complete the trip to Hangzhou.

We arrived shortly after and were ready to raft!  To get to the river you ride a cart pulled by water buffalo.  I hate seeing the way they treat the animals…but what are you to do.  Once we got there my team wanted to get on the rafts as soon as possible so we would not be at the end.  We knew we had a BBQ waiting for us and we didn’t want to miss out on the food!  As we set off- Travis, Krystle, Zach, Bri, Matt, Tony, our saving grace translator, and I quickly realized we were well ahead of our friends and the trip would not be complete with out some major water fights.  So we did what any expat in China would do, we paid off our guide to slow down!  It worked. 

Some of my favorite parts of the trip were the following:

·      Spitting out water to make sure no parasites find homes in our bodies

·      Another teacher telling Travis he could get to know her better later (you can all imagine how I reacted to that one!)

·      Matt hopping rafts and almost sinking the other raft

·      The men bargaining for beer from other rafts

·      Tony jumping in the river for a beer

·      Zach falling down in the water at the end of the trip

·      Drying our butts off with the heat of the grills

·      The long walk through a bamboo forest back to our bus with Tony telling Travis there were snakes.

We ended the day with a wonderful BBQ of hamburgers, hot dogs, vegetarian burgers, chips, and of course cold beer.  We drove home shortly after while singing some of our favorite tunes from the 80’s and 90’s and laughing a lot.  There really is never a dull moment with this great group!  Check out our pictures of the trip from last year on facebook.

Next week…Cambodia!

Outbreak 2

Just the other day I was telling one of the new teachers that I was sick for months last year, but eventually my body got use to the new environment and was healthy for the second half of the year.  Apparently I opened my mouth too soon!  I got the bug that seems to be the new teacher plague at SCIS.  Last week one teacher had it, Monday another got it, and now I am one of four teachers that got it this weekend.   Whatever the virus is, it sucks!  The good news is, it’s a three day weekend, the bad news is, it’s a three day weekend!  Of course this is the weekend I had a lot of fun things planned, but instead I am here on the couch, feeling sorry for myself.

Anyways, Travis and I had a good week.  We had Back To School night on Wednesday.  This is always one of Travis’ favorite days.  He loves to chat and kiss up to all the parents.  He even looks forward to parent-teacher conferences!  He is a strange kind of teacher if you ask me!  I was a little nervous.  It is so easy to talk in front of little kids, but adults are scary!   Actually, it was a great night for both of us.  We feel so lucky to have such great, supportive families at this school. 

Thursday we went dinner with our Shanghai family to get our dumplings.  I think we had twelve of us this week.  It is always a night we look forward to each week.  We catch up, gossip, and laugh a lot!  Friday I was sick, but we had no students.  It was a relaxed PD day, so that was great.  We both got a lot done in the classroom.  At night we were supposed to go to dinner at a friend’s house.  I didn’t want to miss out just because I was sick and had a fever, so we went.  It was a crazy adventure trying to get there.  First it took us 45 minutes to get to Krystle’s house to help her with some folding chairs. It normally takes 15-20 minutes.  Then we couldn’t get another taxi to get to Amanda’s.  The whole trip ended up being an hour and a half.  We had many taxis just drive right past us and not get us.  It was so frustrating.  We think it is because of the holiday, Mid-Autumn Festival.  However, it was a great time eating wonderful Mexican food and watching an NFL game on their satellite tv.  However, it probably wasn’t a good choice for me.  I feel worse today.  I am hoping to get rid of this stupid bug by Monday!  Ugh.  I am not a good sick person!

So that’s it.  I know that wasn’t exciting news, but I want to keep it a habit to update the blog.  Have a great weekend!

Year 2 Begins!

Well, to put it bluntly...we SUCK at updating our Blog.  I am going to make a solid effort to change that this year!  Today, as I was reading Cam and Elisa's updates it dawned on me that we should probably be doing the same thing!  Now, their blog is a bit more exciting since they have lots of baby news to share, but I will try to keep ours as entertaining and informational as possible!  :)

First, we started this year on cloud 9.  First class on an international flight is pretty amazing.  The usual feeling of being sleep deprived and hungry for good food was replaced with sadness at the sight of land and we felt oddly full when it did finally hit the runway!

Travis enjoying our fabulous seats, curtesy of Continental!!!

The day we landed, we went to Wings, a local bar, to see some of the new meat that joined SCIS.  We met a few new teachers and felt like the big kids that knew it all!  It also felt great returning, knowing exactly what to expect, what a difference from last year.  The best part was that our apartment was spotless.  Our ayi cleaned it top to bottom all summer, and it showed.  It is so great to have her again.  This summer we actually had to clean, do laundry, and take care of the places we stayed in...sheesh, it is good to be home where clothes are washed and put away, dishes are cleaned, and clothes are ironed all without me lifting a finger!

In SCIS style, the parties began right away!  Our first gathering was at Okura Garden Hotel.  The administration treated us to cocktails and dinner where we all got gussied up!  I love a party where I can dress up.  It was great night to catch up with all of our friends.

Clare, Vaness, me, Krystle, and Amanda enjoying our reunion after a summer apart.

The next party was an 80's themed birthday party for 3 lovely ladies- Hiromi, Kara, and Cristina.  We had a blast dressing the part, acting the part, and dancing to some of the best music in history!  Check it out!

 Krystle and I posing before the rest of our friends show up.

Travis got a hold of a lovely wig and sported it the rest of the evening!

As for school, everything is wonderful!  Travis is teaching 5th grade again and I made a big move to 2nd grade on the big campus.  I love walking to work without taking the metro!  It is so nice to get there in 10 minutes.  I also love being on a campus with more people.  I loved my friends at ECE, and I truly miss seeing them everyday, but so far I LOVE 2nd grade!  I have a great class that is very excited to learn...let's hope it stays that way!

We are really enjoying our second year.  It is so nice to know where to shop for groceries, where to eat, where to go out, what to do, and all that makes a place feel like home.  :)  We look forward to many more adventures this year and will share them as they happen.

Is it really February?

As I am checking facebook multiple times, daily (maybe too often) and responding to my emails to slowly (because they seem to be never ending), I remember we have a blog and this would make the updates SO much easier!  It's been awhile since we last updated and it would be impossible for me to even begin to tell you everything we have done in the last 5 months, hence (Joey Tribbiani's favorite word) you get this...

Beijing- It was great, look at our pictures on Facebook from October to get the end of the Beijing update, which I believe was called "Beijing 1 of ???".  The question marks were quite accurate.

Qingdao- In November we traveled to Qingdao, a port city in northern China.  It was beautiful.  We went with our friends Krystle and Zach.  This is the city where the beer- Tsingtao is made.  We spent a day touring the brewery and drinking beer, Travis' dream vacation!  We ate good food, spent time at bars, met interesting people, and went down by the water.  It was a fun weekend and we can't wait to go back when it is warmer out.

By the shore in Qingdao.  It was a beautiful beach area.

Eating dinner at an Italian restaurant in Qingdao with Krystle and Zach.

In December we had our first visitors!  The moms came first and then Cam and Elisa made it here.  It was so nice to have family here over the holidays.  I had a VERY difficult time not being home in America, and was on edge (just a bit :) during the whole month.  The moms arrived on Dec. 15, the first day of snow in Shanghai!  I was ecstatic to see the fluffy white stuff finally making an appearance in Shangers.  It doesn't happen often, and quite a bit fell.  However, it made our round trip to get our moms from the Pudong airport, 5 hours long!  We stayed here for a few days, and then we met Cam and Elisa up in Beijing.  We stayed in Beijing just long enough for Travis and I to each get the flu.  It was wonderful to be sick while on vacation and in a hotel (insert sarcasm).  Besides the fact that I was not too excited to head back to Beijing since we were just there and it was going to be colder than Shanghai.  I knew everyone else wanted/needed (if you go to China, you have to see the city) to go, so I agreed to head there for a few days.  The only thing I was really looking forward to doing was going back to the Great Wall.  And lucky for me, I was sick that day and missed it.  We headed back to Shanghai for Christmas and had a nice turkey dinner thanks to Bubbas!  The rest of the time we explored Shanghai and shopped til we dropped!  Mom just loved all the shopping!!!  It was so sad to see them leave, especially knowing it would be another 7 months until we saw them again.  Although, I now realize how quickly time passes here...

The yummy turkey dinner we had on Christmas Eve.  We used the turkey as an important part of our pictures that day.  :)

The fabulous moms at Tiananman Square in Beijing.

On New Year's Day Travis and I went to Sanya, Hainan for a week.  Hainan is an island province in the southern most part of China.  We stayed at the Howard Johnson, which was actually a huge, beautiful resort!  We spent our days reading by the pool, which was amazing, but VERY cold.  The city was not so great and didn't have much to offer.  We were glad we got some sun and R and R, but wouldn't recommend the place to friends.

This is just part of the pool at our resort.

Travis and I in front of our hotel.

And then we went on the BEST trip ever!  Bangkok...

To be cont...(hopefully before the next 5 months)