t.p

we start our teaching practice on Friday. This means that we are in groups of 4 and have to plan 10 lessons. As lovely as everyone in my group is, we don't seem to work at a similar pace, or in a similar way so it's quite hard to plan our lessons together. Plus each of us only leads half a lesson at a time, which is so very daft if you ask me! I would much rather plan by myself rather than with someone every time. I was so happy this morning because I woke up to boyzone and hillsongs (an excellent combination if ever there was) but after our prep. lesson, the good mood had practically evaporated. Luckily, Izzie rectified the situation by shoving an earphone in my ear and forcing me to listen to Michael Jackson. Always a mood lifter. We have even more work to do now. I have one and a half assigmments and all of these lessons to plan. They like to keep us busy. I'm really starting to miss my piano. I was sat in some of the guys' room and Giffen had bought this plastic keyboard aimed at 4 year olds at the market which i had found and was attempting to play. It doesn;t work quite as well as a piano and it made me really want to play. On a rather better note, I have just been informed that already after just 11 days, people have recognised the "classic seona hug" as it has been called. So i'm being my usual affectionate self then! I attempted to get my phone unlocked last night but after the man took it apart, poked around a few things and soldered a bit here an there, it still didnt't work. I'm just going to have to biuy a handset. darn. I also had to get my bank card unlocked yesterday which was a pain. There hasn't been much of interest going on the past few days, just lessons and chilling out really, so I don't have much to tell I'm afraid.

Competing with the Great Wall

We've been kept so busy these past few days. Our first assignment is due in tomorrow and the second was set today; I've a lot of work to do!! A couple of us went to the silk market on friday for a spot of shopping. Camilla and I weren't buying, but we had a fantastic time anyway. The vendors we're teaching us Chinese phrases such as "rip-off" and "too expensive" which we then just repeated almost incessantly until whoever was haggling at the time got their price. The vendors were actually in hysterics. I think it was the westerners massacaring their language more than anything, still it was a most enjoyable experience! Yesterday was our tour day. We had to meet at 7.30am which was such hard work!  We went to the great wall. I've heard that it's supposed to be quite a disappointment but it was amazing! Absolutely beautiful. It may have been freezing, excessively steep and hard work but reaching the top of the section gave me such a sense of pride and it was simply breathtaking. Being white, lots of chinese people kept asking us to be in group photos with them, we all obliged obviously. Some of the guys took to throwing themself in whatever photo was being taken no matter what. It was slightly amusing I won't deny it! Coming back down was much easier than going up mainly because it was mostly downhill and also because they had handrails of the steep parts, which, being the child that I am, I slid down; a much speedier descent and a stroke of genius if ever I ever I had one!! Following that we headed to the Ming tombs. They were so dull. The gardens were lovely but inside, it was empty and everything was hidden, I'm not sure why one would want to go to look at some boxes but at least I can say I've been. We we're treated to lunch in a nice restaurant attached to a ceramics workshop. It's pretty cool how they make some of the ornaments. I think the main attraction there for most people was the fact that it had western toilets; always a plus point! Put it this way, I should have strong thighs by the time I come back! We finished off back at the silk market, which wasn't quite as entertaining before heading for a meal at Beijing's 2nd most fanous restaurent. Not that any of us have any idea what it was called but it had that reputation. It is Chris' birthday today so we went out last night. We found this wonderful bar/club thing in the centre and we had such a good night. We found a group of americans who are also staying at the UIBE so we chatted to them and somehow I managed to find about 3 groups of germans in the place and thus practised my Deutsch. One of them was on a stag do. Not saying I understand either. The thing that really confuses me is how I lost a belt. Camilla lost her coat but a belt?? Everyone agrees that it is completely strange. Trust me huh! After such a long day yesterday I have been so tired today. On top of that, all of the shops on campus are shut until after the new year. I should really go finish my assignment.

photos

I'm currently trying to upload all my photos so far except it is causing me a few problems. First of all my own USB cable does not work so I've hard to borrow someone's camera and cable to upload them all onto the desktop and it's just hard work!!
I've settled in very well to out intense programme I feel as I am quite thoroughly enjoying it. It's a long day but it's not stressful. I have to admit that I rather enjoy the fact that it reminds me of being back in school or college, not really that long ago but a bit nostalgic lol. Learning mandarin is pretty cool but all of the sentences they seem to teach us appear to revolve around beer. apart from "I am a teacher". I have given up on the photos thing now. We've been looking things like blackboard management. A restaurant has been discovered upstairs from the regular canteen so it is a little nicer and everyone seems to be found there for meals now instead of the proper canteen. There were about 11 of us last night and we managed to order in Mandarin (some pointing at menus was still involved but we got the rice, beer and numbers!) Eating is very social because you all share the dishes. Izzy and I joined a new group for dinner so we're still getting to know lots of people. I have no chance of learning names though; I'm proving to be hopeless. Nearly the entire course went to a snooker hall last night. Some of the guys got very competitive but I just had some fun, messing around. It's the way to do things. right at the end I played a rather serious game with one of the guys and I'm proud to announce that he lost by a considerable extent! Ok maybe I'm exaggerating but I did win and if anybody has seen my pool skills, that's impressive! We have a meeting later to discuss our visa renewals. One can only for a 60 day visa at first so we have to reapply for our full stay. I will then also have to reapply for a 3rd to fly home as it will run out before my flight! Conveniant. I managed to get some time to myself today, I sat in my room over our extened lunch reading my book and listening to music (Michael Jackson but me in an exceptionally good mood =D ) I need my own space every now and again I'm just glad that I can get away in a sense even though I am sharing a room.
Haha Ihad forgotton, the electricity broke in our flat the day before yesterday. Not helpful. We had lights and heating because they are on different circuits or something but no hot water, kettle or stove. I don't think the stove worked anyway since it's gas but meh. They could only fix it yesterday so it was cold showers all round. Well with the exception of me; I was first in the shower and we must have had some left in the tank. I enjoyed my nice warm shower! haha

So I guess we're dancing then

On Sunday evening the company took everybody out for a welcome meal which was most enjoyable however we did apparently drink the place dry of beer (shows how many of us there are!) We got to meet the important people in the both the company and the uni in which we currently reside. Quite useful really!
However after this late night, they threw us straight into bonding exercises at 8.30 am. Perhaps cruel on the people with a hangover but thankfully I was not one of them. The activities yesterday seemed a little pointless as most people have already settled into a group and have been mingling quite well but they were of some amusement. At one point we were told to pick a partner and dance. Since it was a trust exercise, one person had to keep their eyes shut. I took the opportunity to attempt to teach others how to salsa, waltz or tango since it seemed very pointless trying to dance with your eyes shut when the other person can't dance. On the brightside there we plenty of taller guys, essential in a dance partner! lol. One girl asked if I would change rooms so I am now to just across the hall from where I was and am now sharing with Izzy, an Irish girl who reminds of my friend Nina. I have to stop myself from calling here that every now and again, but it means we get on well!! Chinese TV is possibly the most amusing thing I've ever tried to watch.
We started the training today. I had a very good start due to Mr. Hindle's obsession with grammar and the online TEFL course I started thanks to Jayne. I just hope that I don't start to feel bored by it if I've done it before.  Part of the training included our first mandarin lesson (yay!). It was like a choir practice as we had to repeatedly copy the tones and pronunciations of things and it was all a bit singsongy. We couldn't help but find it amusing. We found a great sentence - "mama ma ma"  which means "mother scolded the horse". And to play up the running joke about the Irish, the Chinese word for ireland, phonetically spelt, is ay-er-lan. lol.
So the first official day of training has gone quite well and later we are off to Pizza Hut. Not really embracing Chinese culture but then again a few of the guys are already fed up of noodles. Good luck to them, I say.

arrival

I'm here. I have arrived safely. The journey was long and boring. The stop in Munich was probably the worst part - 4 1/2 hours by myself urgh! Though i did go and find the prayer room and get some Christian music blasting from my earphones. I think I may have scared off some asians but I did turn it down as soon as they walked in!! But yes, I'm in China. It doesn't feel like I'm in China if that makes any sense because I'm quite obviously not anywhere else in the world and most definitely not home. However it seems so very surreal to be here. I feel much better now that I'm actually here. It's been rather easy to meet people, because no-one knows anyone so we are all eager to make friends! We had a campus tour last night which was absolutely freezing. we have the best accommodation on it because we have western toilets and hot water. I would be most upset if we didn't thought! The shower too also posed a few problems for me at first as I managed to get it spraying boiling water across the room. I'm clearly too accustomed to luxury! I didn't meet my flatmates until this morning thought because they arrived later than I did. A group of us went out for dinner last night which cost like 70p each. Bargain! Everyone is quite happy to experiment with food. Even I tried some meat thing from a cow. I think they said it was intestine. Yeurch. Doesn't matter really because I spat it out again (how rude I know, but I tried it at least and it really was disgusting!!) no-one as yet seems brave enough to want to try the "pregnant fish (or the fish that sleeps around)", "some kinda drink that cost 25" or "chicken that makes you slobber" all of which were found on the menu last night!! as was phoenix claws. strange cuisine. Eating could be quite fun out here though. It's a case of point at something and hope against hope that it's something nice or in my case, not meat! after that we went to a karaoke bar. very amusing. and eventually we came back having bought rice wine in a supermarket and sat in one the rooms getting to know each other a bit better. My flatmates were asleep by the time I'd popped my head in to see if they wanted to join us. ah well. Today has been a free day really. we have our welcome meal in about an hour. We spent our day productively though! a group of 13 of us made our way to the forbidden city via public transport! with the help of a series of maps. I've taken quite a lot of photos but it's really not as exciting as you might think. The place is huge but after the first few buildings... it's all the same. There are limited exhibits and things so it's just empty buildings. got a bit boring after a while which makes me feel most uncultured. perhaps i would enjoy it more if it weren't so damn cold! It is absolutely freezing!! It will be much better when we move to Guangdong next month as its currently 25degrees warmer than beijing. i may fedex the coat home!! There's a rather large number of us heading to the same province and our most likely method of transport will be the train. That's a minimum of a 24hour journey! something like 35 i heard but at least there will be plenty of us to keep ourselves entertained!


I have discovered that i do have access to facebook (oh yes) but not to my own blog so i really do have to email myself! also means that i can't read any comments so you will just have to email me if you want to say something!! I haven't got round to buying a sim card yet... maybe tomorrow

all packed and ready!

everything is packed; both my suitcase and my handluggage (which is stupidly heavy - the handluggage not the suitcase)are both sat waiting in the hall. Ryan agreed to take me tomorrow for which I am most grateful. So I'm all set. I have everything. Literally. I have a first aid kit with which I could possibly set up a pharmacy. Emotionally though, it's not quite so easy to be ready. I'm going through phases. At some points, like right now I still feel like it isn't happeneing, at other points I'm fairly terrified and every now and again I get really excited. I've had a few emails from other people doing the same program, but basically everyone just wants to know if there will be someone to keep them company during the journey. As far as I know, I'm a loner on the LH4861.
Most of this week has been spent meeting up with various people, which is always nice but does occasionally lead to awkward goodbyes. Don't like those. Cell group was the hardest (too many goodbyes all at once!) they got me a present and a card and Sally made a cake and we watched most of transformers (I never imagined it would be so funny!)
I've had numerous texts from people wishing me luck and other such things. It's nice to know people are thinking of me and it is a huge comfort to know that people are praying for me.

lasts

This seems extremely strange . I'm testing out the e-mail publishing post thingymabob just in case I can't actually get on my own blog, but this way I can still post entries. I feel like i'm e-mailing myself which is a very odd thing to be doing!!
I went for a chinese in manchester with my college girls. I gave them theire christmas presents (yes it's been that long since I'd seen them all!!) but it was lovely. They got me a going a way present consisting of various chinese phrasebooks/guides and a photo album which they had all signed. Gotta love them!!
Mum and I went to Sheffield on friday, mainly to look at accomodation so I can decided where I want to live next year but then we went shopping for essentials i.e smart clothes to wear in the school. I am very much a jeans person so I had nothing particularly suitable. There was also a rather severe lack of winter clothes which will be verymuch needed as it is in minus figures in Beijing. So many bags! We also bought some luggage - it's bright pink. I have now started packing, well not packing precisely but the process leadin up to packing which involves laying everything I will be taking out on the floor in organised groups. I've taken over the spare room. The other process of tidying my room is also underway. Leaving seems like a good reason to have a good rummage and wonder how on earth I have accumulated so much crap and get rid of it all. Besides, I don't want to come back in 6 months to a messy room do I!
I've had quite a few lasts recently [I say last but i mean last-for-6-months], last night out, last late night visit from Ryan, last day at work, last church service. The latter 2 both seemed to be a surprise to some people, my departure seems to have been kept almost secret. There will be a few more lasts in the coming week, people to see, cell etc but as long as it's kept to a hug and "good luck" it shouldn't be too hard

Procrastination

10 days left, so I've had my farewell bash,which was on thursday.It was incredibly fun for me at least! It was really nice to have everyone together even if it was the last time I'll some of those people before I go away but it didn't quite click for me. It did, however, click last night though after liv'it live. Even more people that I won't be seeing for such a long time. I was hugging Bee and she left saying she didn't want to cry or something and it just made it real, I won't see her for nearly 7 months. I cried on the way home. That's the first time I've let myself get upset. I've been telling people not to say things like "I'm gonna miss you" etc because that just makes leaving harder! and yes I am excited about going and yes I know I can come home @ any point but still, it's a long way from home and a rather long time, so it is perfectly alright that feel upset/nervous! I'm going to miss lots of hugs. What if i don't get my 7 meaningful touches a day?? I'm finding it a little hard at the moment. I have vaguely started getting my things together, as in there's a pile of the things I got for christmas specifically to take. I should make a start. Maybe after the shopping trip on Friday though, I'll have more things then.

vaccinations&visas

It seems very surreal, I don't really want to accept the fact that it really is 2008. My leaving date is just 17 days away. I spent most ofd yesterday rushing around doing some finaly preparations and even a smidgen shopping. I made plans to go to the embassy and hand in my visa application, which eventually I managed but not before driving straight past it (it really wasn't obvious) getting quite lost and parking up next to a phone box so that I could ring home and be very grumpy with my sister&mother only to be directed back to where I had just been. I was not a happy bunny. Having wasted time trying to find the place, I had to seriously speed to make it to my doctors appointment so I could have all the jabs I need for China. Diptheria, typhoiud, tetnus, polio and hep A. The nurse was grumpy with me for being late and because I can't tell her precisely where abouts I'll be based so she can't tell me if I need maleria tablets or not. Both my arms were tender for the rest of the night thanks to the jabs. tch one in each arm, how unfair!
New years last night was rather fun I have to admit. We went to a number of house parties which meant that we got to see a variety of people [always fun] since I was in work today i decided to drive so it was mostly a non-alcoholic night for myself, with the exception of my favourite tipple, a gim sling, around 1ish or something stupid. Most people would have had their one and only drink of the night around 12 but not me! oh well =)