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.