China II: Ningbo!: 2015

2015년 11월 22일 일요일

Stressful November

Hello! Once again I find myself finally updating the blog at the end of a month; I don't even know where the month went. Life here in Ningbo has been rough to say the least. First, it hasn't been sunny/not raining for like 3 weeks and its killing me. Second, we have been two teachers short for about 8 weeks. I have been teaching 7 extra classes a week, and it has taken a toll. We finally got a new teacher in, but its not looking promising that he will make it here much longer. Boy, life is hard.

Work is good though I guess. I love these kids and the actual teaching is great. Thanksgiving is this week. We have work Thursday but we are going to do activities and have the parents come in to see what we've been doing. Then we have Friday off. No plans for the three day weekend.

We have four days off for Christmas, so Clay and I will go to a mountain cabin place to relax and enjoy the mountain. We also have four days off for New Years. I believe we will travel with Chinese coworkers. In February, we have three weeks off. Clay and I will go to Malaysia and Borneo. I am very excited about all of those travels.

Just hanging on and trying to survive the year. I missed Trav and Pam's baby shower, and that's sad but I also missed snow, and that's not that sad.

Hope all is well. Love to all!

Here are pictures from Sports Day and Halloween at school.

2015년 10월 7일 수요일

October!

Believe it or not, we're already a week into October! I don't know how or when that happened, but it certainly did.

In September, some kiddos took us around Ningbo for a Saturday. Our group decided that our time would be best spent eating, and man-oh-man did we eat! We also did a mystery room and made pottery. It was sweet of the kids to hang out with us and we had a good time.

The first month back in China was good, but stressful. I have a new position at work, and it is a lot for me to handle. I am also teaching 11th grade English, three normal and one honors classes. That is taking a toll on me as well. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it's wearing me out! I think the combination of a wonderful, but busy summer and then right into a new job just about killed me. So from October 1-7, Clay and I went to the Philippines. This time we didn't do any touristy stuff, we just relaxed. I'm talking like 12 hours of sleeping each day. Partly because it was rainy season and partly because I'm tired. We did get a few hours of sun each day and I almost got the tan that I didn't get this summer. It was glorious. Just what I needed. We're in for a long haul now. No real breaks until February. No problem....OYE!

The kids took us to make pottery.

We went out with some new co-workers.

The kids showing us around Ningbo.

I made a bowl. Almost by myself.

TYPHOON DAY! No school.

Planning our one day of adventuring.

Waiting out the rain.

Enjoying the sun.

Doing my homework.

Playing with the new camera.

Sea Slugs!

Puerto Galera

Fiddling with the camera

Bananagrams and Beer in the crows nest to end the day.

2015년 8월 28일 금요일

Year 2 in Ningbo!

Well, I'm back in Ningbo, settled back into the same apartment, and already working. Our first day of class is Monday and we are still moving into a new wing of the school. Things are crazy and there are like 4 million things to do. But its all good. I'm looking forward to this coming year. We are going from 72 students and 5 American teachers last year to 181 students and 11 American teachers. I'm still feeling everyone out, but right now it seems like we will be a good team. I am only teaching 4 classes and I am also taking on the role of Curriculum Coordinator. I have a meeting in an hour to decide what that means exactly. Basically things are crazy, but good.

Summer is over, and that's sad. I had the best summer ever! Clay and I went to Ireland, Iceland, Oregon, Indiana, and I went to South Africa. I'll give you a brief summary of everything and then put some pictures up. There are loads of pictures on facebook, so if you want to see more, you can.

Ireland:
People- Katie, Clay, Sophia, Richard, Etaoin, Emma, Roger
Places-Dublin, Dingle, Galloway, Belfast
Thoughts-Awesome. Beautiful. Expensive. Worth it.

Iceland:
People-Katie, Clay, Sophia, Richard
Places-Reykjavik and the Golden Circle
Thoughts- Nice in the summer, but dark winters would make me crazy. Really expensive. Would go back.

Oregon:
People-Katie, Clay, Clay's Dad
Places-Portland, the whole Coast
Thoughts-Lots of hiking, dry summer, beautiful

Indiana:
People-Katie, Clay, Mom, Dad, Ethan, Cheney, Travis, Grandmom, Granddad, GrandpaBob, pretty much everyone else I know
Places-the farm, Westminster, downtown Lafayette, State Fair
Thoughts- I love being home and I hate leaving home. It was great to see everyone and I have not being closer.

South Africa:
People-Katie and Jess
Places-Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Aquila Game Reserve
Thoughts-Really cool city, did lots of walking, hiking, and learning. Cheap.

It was a great summer. I loved it. Back to real life I guess. Some pictures:

ETHAN!
I got a new camera that can go underwater. Pretty cool.

Camp Dale 2015

Mosey Down Main Street, Lafayette

State Fair

Cape Town

Ireland

Iceland

Oregon Coast Hike

2015년 6월 2일 화요일

JUNE! Woah.

It's now June. We have about 23 days left in China before summer vacation. The kicker is that we only have 11 days of classes, then a lot of nonsense. May was a crazy, busy, ok month. Nothing really cool, nothing terrible. I'm so ready to get out of Ningbo for a bit. It's going to be GREAT! Ireland, Iceland, Oregon, Indiana, South Africa, and back to work. Heyoo! Life is good. Here are some pictures from the month of May.

We had a mother's day/coworker BBQ in a park.

The dinos came too

A student took us to a rose garden

Maple and I

Sophia and I...we didn't really get married

Sophia, Me, Maple at the rose garden

Sophia, Me, and Maple

Sophia and I got Monday Skirts

2015년 4월 11일 토요일

Shanghai, Field Trip, Mountains for Tomb Sweeping

Wow. I cannot believe it's already mid-April. That's nuts. It's been a crazy 3rd quarter at work. I re-signed my contract and will be returning next year with a raise and a promotion involving less teaching hours and more administrative stuff. I'm making summer plans: so far Ireland, Iceland, Portland, Indiana, and South Africa are on the table/pseudo-official. Clay and I went to Shanghai for a weekend after a bad week at work, then we had a field trip with the kids on a Friday to kick off a three day weekend for Tomb Sweeping. Clay and I went to a mountain cottage for those three days. I think it's finally spring here, I hope. Things are good. About 2 more months of work, then we're free for two months. Life is good.