"T" in Tennessee!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Hello All!  It's Thanksgiving Day in America and as I write this I am completely full of delicious turkey, ham, dressing (stuffing), mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, corn, stuffed mushrooms, sweet potatoe casserole, homemade yeast rolls, and lots more, including lots of great sweet tea (with lots of ice! ha)!  I've taken photos and will post them when I return to Beijing next week.  So far, my visit has been negatively impacted by terrible jet lag, accompanied by Cold No. 8.  Cold No. 8 kicked in the day after I arrived in the States and I'm just now getting beyond it.  For the first 5 nights, I was waking up at 3:00 am with a terrible headache and it would take me 1-2 hours to get back to sleep (so I got a lot of reading in).  I suppose, since I've been living in China for over a year now, the jet lag should have been expected.  But I did not expect it and some of my Asian friends in Knoxville tell me that when they return to the States from a visit in their home countries, it can take up to 2 weeks for their sleep schedule to get back on track.  I'm guessing I'll get all nice and normal the night before my flight back to Beijing! ha  Just my luck.

I've visited Knoxville and seen all my great friends there and my furniture (which has been farmed out to some folks) is now in storage.

For all the folks that I didn't get to see, haven't seen, and won't get to see.....I'm really sorry.  But this visit home is short with lots to accomplish and saddled with jet lag and sickness. Spending time with immediate family members is priority.  I'm also still very tired but it's getting better.  I'll be home again next October so I'll be sure and see everyone then!

As for what it's been like to be back in the States, my only real "surreal" moment occurred just after landing in Chicago while waiting for my flight to Nashville.  I was amazed at all the cell phone conversations going on around me.  I heard about "Katie's soccer game," "the nightmare of losing a dental cap while drinking margaritas one night," and so on.  It was momentarily very strange to me as my brain took in all the conversations.  Being back in Nashville and Knoxville, however, has been strange only because it actually hasn't been strange at all for me.  It's as if I've been dropped right back into my former life in the States with no time having passed....I'm enjoying seeing folks and visiting.....and then I'll go back to my life in China.  I feel very far removed from my life in Beijing.  I suppose the reason I'm not experiencing anything further is the knowledge that in less than a week, I'll be back.

Did you know there's such a thing as a sandwich called a "dough-nini?" ha  It's a glazed doughnut cut in half and grilled.  Between is egg, sausage and cheese!  Unbelievable.  I haven't tried one.  I have, however, had a sack full of delicious Taco Bell fast food. :)  I've also enjoyed a bologna sandwich (something I can't get in Beijing).

More later folks!  Probably not until I return to Beijing though.  Take care and enjoy your family! :)  T.

An Unusual Request.....

So I was talking to one of my advanced classes today and I asked them what they might want if I could bring them a "small" gift from America. Other than one student asking for strawberry-flavored Twizzlers (I do love them...and have shared them with my students when a friend sent a huge package to me), they all agreed that they would like to have a photo of B a r a c k  O b a m a! :)  Anybody know how I can obtain about 40 8x10 glossies of our new President-elect? ha  I will actually be making an attempt to do this once I return to the States (anybody know the phone number for the Democratic Party office in Nashville? ha).  I'm just glad they didn't ask for autographed photos! ha  I was totally unprepared for this response from them. :)

Here's a couple of photos of what my guest bedroom looks like as I attempt (tomorrow) to start loading up all the goodies into my 2 huge suitcases!  I figure now is a good time to bring home a little something for everyone as next year when I return to the States permanentlly, it'll be enough just to get all my own things back home.

No, I'm not bringing the bike home!

I also have about 5 CD holders full of DVDs to bring home.  I hope customs doesn't think I'm wanting to set up a DVD shop in the U.S.  Here's hoping....

I recently uploaded some videos to you tube. This one was taken on the eve of Chinese New Year in Changchun, which I spent with relatives of Tracy Li, a dear friend who lives in the States:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apyRMKPSLEQ 

Here's another one of a big pedestrian shopping street (Nanjing, I believe) in Shanghai, taken in May, 2008:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he6fStrk0-s

And this one is one Kang paddling the little boat on the canal in Suzhou, also taken in May, 2008:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zz150y1GWc

Take care my friends! :) 

A Little Story.....

I'm preparing for a short visit to the States.  So if you've been reading this blog then you know that the supermarket that used to be on the "bad street" (a street near my apt. so named because it's where I mistakenly ate some "chicken on a stick" that who knows how long had been under the warming lights and which caused well more than one visit to the hospital early after my arrival in Beijing) has now moved to a location in front of my apt. building, bigger and better and more convenient.  So I don't venture to the bad street as often these days and this means I don't get to see my "little man" as often.  My little man is a young four year old boy whose parents own a small shop on the bad street (I honestly do not know the proper name of this street).  He is adorable and we "practice" English together and he calls me "Ayi" which means "Auntie" and is a sign of respect here with young folks towards their elders who aren't their parents or grandparents.  Anyway...in preparation for my trip home I was in search of some items to bring home so I was on the bad street and ventured into the location where the supermarket used to be.  There's now many random businesses set up inside, including a corner where Chinese DVDs and children's books are sold.  But first, here's a repeat photo of my little man:

Adorable, right?  So there I am looking for children's books to bring dear friends in the States who have a 16 months old girl who is Chinese.  So I picked up a cute little Chinese children's book and asked the price.  A saleslady came over and told me 28 RMB. I said "Tai gui le" (that's too expensive) and put it back down. Then another saleslady came over and then another salesman, who corrected things and said that for 28 RMB I could buy all four books, which were a series.  I said, "Okay, that's fine.  I'll buy them."  As I was getting out my money, my little man had ventured into this store, which was across from his parents' shop, saw me and from across the store, yelled out, "Ayi, Ayi" and came running towards me. I smiled and scooped him up in my arms and he planted a kiss on my cheek!  I thought the sales people were going to fall over in shock! ha  They were undoubtedly thinking, "Oh my gosh! This laowai (foreigner) knows a Chinese boy!" ha  I paid for the books and as they laughed and stared at us, my little man took my hand and led me out of the store and across the street to visit his parents.  I tried my best to tell his parents that I would be visiting the States for 2 weeks but would be back with a gift for their son.  Little man and I blew kisses at one another and I continued on my way.

I will be very sad when I leave here for good.  The above is just one of many reasons why.  If I were looking forward to leaving my life in China then it would mean my experience here was not so good.  Quite the opposite.  To be sad at leaving China next year says a lot about my wonderful experience here....what it's been, what it is, and what is yet to come.  So the more difficult it will be for me to leave all my wonderful new friends and acquaintances, the better the experience will have been.  I expect to shed more than a few tears but will rest easy in knowing I can always return to visit.  Returning to the States to see family and friends is going to be great.  Knowing that I will return will also be great.  And even though returning to once again live in America next year will open yet another quirky chapter in my somewhat nomadic life......I will always have the memorable image of a young Chinese boy running towards me with a huge smile on his face, shouting "Auntie, Auntie!"  Life couldn't be better.

A KTV (Karaoke) Event!

I just nearly completed this entry and darn it all if my computer didn't freeze up and I lost EVERYTHING! Man....I hate it when that happens.  So here's hoping I remember all the words I had so carefully chosen! ha ha  Here goes again:

This past Monday, our Center Manager, invited all employees of our Center to enjoy an evening of karaoke (KTV) to celebrate birthdays, our "Emerging Star" award and also to reward us for all our hard work, making our Center very successful! :)

Check out the expression on Simone's face.  Was she cringing at James' singing? ha

Rachel, Becky, Seven and Nyah!  At least Becky was paying attention and giving me some victory signs! ha

Christina and Wendy!

Wendy throws down a tune for us!  Wendy loves to sing and is quite good.  She also plays violin and loves classical music!  She loves going to concerts and I've gone to one great performance with her and hope to go to more before I move back to the States.

This KTV place had lots of great English songs available so we loaded up Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" into the playlist and everyone was up and dancing! :)

ha ha! All eyes were on James as they tried to figure out his "unique" moves! :)

See our Center Manager, Cathy, in her pink scarf! :)  She's a great leader and also enjoys socializing and having fun with us.  Who has the best Center Manager in Beijing?  We do! :)  She can truly "let go" and do some great dancing!  We're lucky to have such a versatile manager and on occasions such as this one, we're all equals just relaxing and having fun!  I'm lucky to have such a great group of folks to work with and we all get along just great.  I'll certainly miss this fact when I return to work in the States.

I'm not sure what James is proving here.....although it does look like he's trying to remove his teeth! ha  Maybe it's some kind of special Aussie dance move. ha

It's easy to see what a great time everyone had, right?  Simone, Alan and I sang the Beatles' "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" with our own special hand movements and Cathy filmed it all! ha 

Goal! ha ha  And get this? There was no alcohol involved in this fun evening! :)  Who needs alcohol with such uninhibited, lively people, right?

Stay tuned, friends.  I hope to post a few more entries before heading to the States to visit family and friends and take care of some boring yet exhausting tasks such as moving furniture that's been farmed out to friends into storage. I look forward most to lots of sleep and relaxation at my Mom's house and to some good home-cooking! :)

More Birthday Celebrations with Friends!

Last Sunday night, after finishing up with our classes, all the teachers headed to the city center to the Drum & Bell Cafe to meet up with Kang, his new work colleagues, and also Colin.  The Drum & Bell is located between the actual Drum and Bell Towers in Beijing.  It's a cool little hole in the wall kinda place with lots of separate sections and there were about 20 of us so we took over one section of the Cafe.  They have great western food such as big ole burgers, thick fries and pizza, and drinks, of course.  James started the evening off by ordering pitchers of Mohito's that later turned into pitchers of vodka and cranberry juice! ha  We were there to celebrate Kang and Alisa's birthdays (Nov. 4 and 3, respectively) and also Christina (Oct. 31), another of our colleagues but she couldn't make it.  There were folks there from China, U.S. Australia, Scotland, UK, Spain and probably a couple other countries that I'm forgetting.  We really had a great time. 

William, Nyah (a new local teacher), Seven, and Simone (new teacher from S. Africa).

Alisa looks a bit like the deer caught in the headlights here! ha  She's a lovely woman and I just love her.  She's great with our smallest students.  I lovingly now refer to her as my "sister in size" as we are both older, tall, larger American women! ha  She's a seamstress and has made the jumper that she's wearing here.  A very crafty, talented woman and she is the Queen of Crafts with her students! :)

Kang, my adopted Aussie son, with his birthday beer! :)  He's gonna hate this pic as his hair kinda looks like he's going bald! ha ha  But it's just the photo and Kang actually has a great head of hair! ha

A nice mix of Kang's current colleagues and past colleagues.  It's a great testament to how much we think of him and remain in touch with him!

I don't dare tell Tamara (our new teacher from Canada......yeah, I forgot Canada in my earlier statement about where folks were from) about this blog for fear she'll make me remove this great photo of her! ha  She was drinking Scotch....neat! ha ha  You go girl! 

James (another Aussie) is eyeing those fries like he's never seen fries before! ha ha ha  James is our new Director and he's an enthusiastic NUT of a leader! We all love him.

Seven and James!

Things always degenerate (is that the right word?) a bit toward the end of an evening (ha) and here we've convinced Kang to kiss James' bald head for luck as Alan makes sure and get the shot!  I snapped my pic just a bit too soon, but he did in fact, kiss the head!  ha

Kang and Alisa, our birthday pals!  Alisa colors her own hair here and I'm working on the courage to let her create a new red-headed Teresa! ha

Mao watched over us as we enjoyed great fellowship together!  Chairman Mao's never far away.....  We all headed home by sharing cabs and vowed to do it again soon!

Happy 35th Anniversary, Mom! :)

Shhhhh!  Don't tell anyone but......

Today is my Mom's 35th anniversary of her 40th birthday! :)  Happy 75th Mom! :)  My brother and I are very lucky to have a mother who enjoys good health!  I'll be coming to see her soon so she'll get a "bonus" birthday when I arrive!

I love this photo of my mother with her three brothers, from left to right, Doris, Larry and Ricky!  I think they all look a bit "CIA" in this photo! ha ha

I am now really looking forward to visiting the States for a couple of weeks!  I've requested a special dish from my Mom:  her wonderful chicken/sour cream/vegetable casserole!  I will never again take for granted food dishes that can be baked! ha ha  Chinese folks just don't "bake" so generally there are NO ovens in kitchens here.  You can buy "microwave-type" ovens here but I have never invested in one.  I'll be enjoying some home-cooked meals from Mom's kitchen:

And maybe even eating some meals in the "dining room":

I can't wait!

So Mom?  Happy, happy birthday!  I love ya lots! :)