Suzhou

Thursday July 11, 2013

Today is our day off after teaching for 6 days. We are half way thru! Can’t believe how fast the time is going. I’m loving it here in China. It’s nonstop action with always a new adventure in store.

There is a teacher at the school, American, who came to the hotel and took us out to a beautiful cathedral. We walked to the subway, took it, then walked to a bus station and took it and then walked to a beautiful park near a lake. It was 100 degrees, but the weather app said it felt like 115 degrees. We were sweating and sweating. There were a lot of brides and grooms there taking bridals. They were also sweating so much. It was so beautiful there. Green, and not many people.

We decided that we would skip the rest of what we were going to do and come back to the hotel. We took a bus all the way back for 2 RMB, about 32 cents. When we got back we walked down to the bakery and KFC for lunch. It was again, so hot.

I’ve been teaching the same things to both classes, but the 4th grade is much higher in their abilities, so we can cover more. We have been working on weather and all that goes with the different seasons. Cindy gave me an art project where they draw a tree for each season and then decorate it with different things to represent the seasons. For Summer they sponge painted green paint, for autumn I had torn up fall colored construction paper into small pieces and they glued them on. For winter it will be cotton balls and for spring flowers. On the back of the paper, before we do the project they write the vocabulary words. I have powerpoints and songs that go with the different seasons.

Everyday after work the school provides some type of trip. Most the times it’s to different shopping areas. The other day we went out to an embroidery area. There are many “factories” where women sit with needles and thread and make intricate pictures. We met a very famous lady and her work was anywhere from $50,000-$500,000 each. Beautiful work, but surely not in any of our price ranges.
I did find a similar piece at a market framed for about 16$.

Last night I went out near the hotel where the ladies were dancing and danced with them. Ling Ping wasn’t there, but Sue Ann was. They are all nice to me and even though I look pretty stupid, I did my best. They were learning a new song. The teacher had her daughter there who spoke English and she told me they won a national competition last year. Because my friends speak so little English I didn’t knot that.

I love being here and experiencing so many different things. There are of course some things that drive me crazy. The heat, the toilets, the dirty air, the incredible traffic, but it’s all interesting.