More rain…sigh…Creative students and ANOTHER PARCEL FROM HOME!!!!!

No words can describe how dismal the rain and cold is…………with no central heating - and NO heating in the classrooms at all- we never take off our coats and I am constantly cold.

So tired of it……………….

On the other hand, Candice brightened my day in our Senior 1 presentations today. We made paper wind mills! She brought enough materials for everyone in the class- that's a first(!) and we all ended up with sticky, glue hands and big smiles. Hurray Candice!

And, as I was leaving, the guards rushed after me with ANOTHER PARCEL FROM HOME!!!!

I have not opened the card, but I think I should wait a bit to open this one (Thanks Jo, Craig and Carly!)

Parcel from home!!!!!!!!! Oh Janada! (believe or not - Mandarin for "Canada")

Thanks Dawn!!!! Two of my favourite things to do: Read and eat popcorn!!!

I am only on page 39, but there is no way I will be as adventurous as this writer with my food! I have eaten shredded jelly fish ( wonderful!) and pig intestine ( I thought it was ribbed tofu- until I was told- it was good!) and lotus ( it stinks, but it is very good) and chicken's foot- fatty and greasy- but satisfies the craving for fat. But, Fuchsia Dunlop ate "nose -to-tail" while in China ( dog, cat, mouse) and all manner of insects.

Student Presentations

My Senior 1's are in the last few classes of presentations- which began before the Spring Festival/Winter Holiday/Chinese Lunar New Year.
As would be the case in my Canadian college classroom, some are very good , some are funny as heck, and some students just do the exercise without much planning or thought.
I have learned how to Bar B Q a steak, how to make cupcakes, the differences between a Chinese wedding and a Western wedding, and how Korean TV soap operas work.
Can you guess what this young man is demonstrating?

Rainy days, saying "hello" to students - my first week back after holidays

 Above- the back of a student classroom- Below - the Dorm.

It rained and rained on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday- miserable. I wish I had had my camera for the Teachers' offices' hallway- 40 of them!

I gave my one of more "hard-working" Junior 2s an incredibly difficult Crossword Puzzle to challenge them. They always step up to the plate. Look at this concentration!!!

Another of my Pre-Juniors welcomed me with my name on the blackboard. This is the group that made me cry at Christmas because they had an elaborately coloured chalk "Merry Christmas" for me and gifts! So sweet! ( I'm sure they just want to see me cry again -lol!)

Are they not just adorable?????

I was enjoying the sunshine today ( Friday February 21) and  a high of 9 C during lunch and I got hailed by some of my handsome Senior 1 boys. These guys are going places - William, Phillip, John and Mason ( the guy in the hoodie just popped into the lens- I don't know him). These kids are smart, articulate, hard-working and (must be) from incredibly wealthy families. They have travelled to places I can only dream of........and have had the best English tutors most of their lives. They plan to all apply for and study at university in the U.S.  I have no doubt they will get accepted.

It was a nice week, but I'm tired and counting down the months. Eighteen classes per week of 40 minutes (each) of English (oral) instruction is tiring. You have to be animated, awake, energetic and flexible. Goddess give me the strength..............

Sunshine's pictures of our outing on Saturday and "back-to-school" pics

The equivalent of "Twitter" in China is "We Chat". It has basically the same functions, but an added option the "Chat Live"- interesting.
 I have had my account since September, but I forget to check it occasionally. Sunshine could not email her pics to me, so she sent them on We Chat. I had a lot of traffic and pics there- fun! I'll have to add it to my daily 'check" of networking sites.

 The above is a well-known street of restaurants built into 1930s housing on old Shanghai. Beautiful! Out Vegetarian  restaurant was across the street from this seafood restaurant. I loved the fish in the tank in the window- can you see them?

 These shops are on "Cheap Street" and I am going back- I almost bought a "Chinese embroidered silk " jacket, but we could not find my size in the pattern I wanted - AND - the shop keeper said it was 598 rmb( almost $100.00 Cdn!!!)- ( goodness- no way!). Sunshine made a hand gesture meaning "one-half" and I thought to myself "one-third". Our restaurant reservation was in 10 minutes - not enough time to "haggle"- but I'll go back

You don't really get the feel of the street- but really "local" - with food stalls, clothing stalls and the like. Sunshine pointed out men and women with three and four green garbage bags and told me they buy "cheap" on Cheap Street and sell items at a 100% mark up in other areas of the city ( in "shops" of better quality - and more accessible to tourists- no kidding)
Back to School:

 My "new" schedule includes the SAME classes, ONE change to the timetable ( one less 7:55 a.m class - wahhooo!) and room changes.  Now, I have access to projectors for Ppt in EIGHT of my classrooms- and I have so many fantastic lectures I could give with Ppt and "morph" them into "oral English" lessons. So, I photographed the cable (once again) and I am seriously thinking of visiting the Apple Store on Nanjing Road and buying the adaptor cable. It would make the rest of the term more fun, for me for sure- and probably the students , too. LOTS of Canadian content….

 This is ONE of my SIX Pre-Junior classes - Grade Six - so cute and so ready to get back to work today. Just love them!

My two Senior 1 classes ( back-to-back -divided into two groups of 25 students each- 40 minute each- with a ten minute break between the two) got "morphed" into ONE group of 50 students for ONE 40 minute period- ( groups a and b together) unbeknownst to me- Typical! Did it mess up my curriculum plan? You bet! Each group ( one at 1: 30 p.m. and one at 2:25 pm.) EACH had four students scheduled to present. HOW DO I MANAGE THIS? I asked for volunteers and THREE brave students tepped up to the plate. I LOVE my Senior 1's and Senior 2's- they are much closer to my regular teaching in Canada- have excellent English and wonderful senesce of humour.
Here's "Benny" - his English ahem. What a dynamo! He was NOT scheduled to talk at all - but volunteered. A "Pro"- future Politician?)

Cheap Street, Vegetarian Chinese and fun with Sunshine

Sunshine ( my translator) asked me to "hang out" today - Saturday. We have not had a time away from school in some time. She met me at the Dorm to help me lug four shopping bags of things to send home and then off we went on Bus 21. It is the neighbourhood she grew up  in- and we have been there before. But, she had not taken me to "Cheap Street" and I had so much fun looking at the bargains. I thought I had left my cell at home ( at this point- bottom of my bag -argh) so no pics. The above are Internet
After shopping for the sales for next Winter (great prices- but I can't possibly ship this home), we headed to a Vegetarian Restaurant she and her friend Maggie found on the Internet and loved.
I can see why:

We ordered sweet and sour pork- wonton soup- beans with sausage-and deep fried mushroom - ALL vegetarian. It was so good!
View from the restaurant -3rd floor

Old narrow three-story houses from 100 years ago- beautiful! I WANT AN APARTMENT HERE!

Chinese laundry line…………...

It's a sunny Saturday (7C) in February and  my Chinese neighbours have their laundry out . I'm not sure I have mentioned this before- it's just "quirky" for someone from a country where clotheslines are (sometimes) prohibited. ( Kanata, anyone?)

The first time I visited China, I was amazed at how balconies are used as clothes lines and clothes closets. I saw this in the seven or so cities I visited. 

The following pic is someone else's of Chinatown in San Fran. I have my own shot of this- but not on this computer.

For far and wide- laundry! The Dorm has it's own outside place (roof-top) to hang clothes, but it's too cold to go out there these days

Happy Valentines Day from Shanghai! Fireworks outside key Dorm window for 2 hours straight………….

Holy shoot!  I am cozy in bed watching "Men in Tights" and the Noise outside is unbelievable! Decided to take a few shots. It''s Valentines Day, I guess…………


Sunshine has invited me to "hang out"  and have a "vegetarian" meal tomorrow. Looking forward to it! She is coming early to help me post 4 bags of gifts from Shanghai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore back to Canada earlier…………Sunday is a long waited for MASSAGE with Victoria and Bianca and then a Japanese meal out…………then BACK to school ( for REAL) on Monday- yikes! Along 5 months with no holiday awaits me………...

Sharing our Spring Festival travel stories & a gift from Sunshine!

Back at school to print and put in copy orders. "Some" classes are running (?) - but not mine -until Monday February 17. I have given up trying to understand these (seemingly) arbitrary changes to the timetable.

Everyone is in good spirits- 30 days of holidays will do that for you.

And TWO surprises from Sunshine!

A leather key case from Australia- very sweet!!!!

And, ANOTHER 7:55 a.m. class was moved to another time slot on my timetable. I went from FIVE  to FOUR to THREE first period classes. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!

Somebody sent a little bit of Canada to Shanghai: February 10

This si only the second time it has snowed in Shanghai. Yesterday and today. The two foreign teachers from the two coldest countries - Canada and Russia- took videos. The others in our Dorm were rather blasé ……….lol!

Travelling in twos.........

I have travelled by myself so much in the past two-and-a-half years (conferences, mostly), I had forgotten how much more fun it is to travel with someone else. One of the (many) perks is going to the W/C in the airport luggage-free! Actually sharing a conversation while enjoying an amazing meal- being able to "Ohhh" and "Ahhhh" and squeal with delight  - when sight-seeing. And, lastly, ACTUALLY having picture-proof of your travels- these are from Victoria's camera:

 We enjoyed a lovely smoked salmon dish in Kuala Lumpur on an open-air patio in the cool (28C) of the evening

 Feeding the Year of the Horse display in the Flower Dome in the Gardens by the Bay in Kuala Lumpur

Outside the Kuala Lumpur Municipal Gallery

 Chilling in the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur

(Actually- we were dripping with sweat in the rayon gowns....)

 Enjoying the Flower Dome

One of the many "buskers" on the evening streets of Kuala Lumpur with whom you can snap a picture for 2 ringgits

 My very inexpensive (and heavily padded) bathing suit purchased in China did not "bleed" in the pool- or fall apart........wow!