CHANGBAI SHAN

For the Mid-Autumn Holiday (yesterday) two of my co-teachers and I took a 39-hour tour to Changbai Shan (a.k.a. Baekdu Mountain (KO) or Perpetually White Mountain (EN)) - a famous volcanic mountain that boarders North Korea.

Here's how the trip went:
1 hour in a taxi
2 hours waiting for the train
10 hours on an overnight train
4 hours on a tour bus
1 hour on another bus through the park
1 hour in line to wait for a jeep to the top
20 minutes (that I wish was 30 minutes) riding to the top
and finally...
40 minutes hiking & picture taking at the top of the volcano!
and then...
15 minutes (again, wish was 30 min...they drive dangerously fast) riding down
30 minutes on the bus again
30 minutes walking to the hot springs and back
30 minutes on the bus to get to the other bus
1.5 hours on the tour bus to get to lunch
45 minutes for lunch at a Korean-style restaurant
1.5 hours to the ginseng and deer antler farm & Northeast China specialty store
1.5 hours back to the Antu train station
1 hour for dinner at another Korean-style restaurant
2 hours waiting for the train
10 hours on an overnight train
10 minutes in a taxi

... but all the travel was so worth it because:

At the top of Changbai Shan, there's a crater lake, called Tian Chi "Heaven Lake," which most people don't get a chance to see since it's often covered in a thick mist. We got to see it!

It was also wonderful to get out of the city for a change!

BUTTERFLIES

At 8 AM tomorrow I'll be teaching my first class of the fall semester - a training class for teachers in English speaking and listening. I'm trying my hardest not to be nervous or intimidated ... I always have the "first day of school butterflies" when I teach that first class, but I'm afraid I'll have a few more butterflies this time since I've never taught teachers before.

Later this week, on Thursday, I'll begin another class - Newspaper Reading. Though I've never taught this course before and have a lot to plan for it, I'm a bit more confident since the students are the same students I've taught since my first fall 2 years ago!

Next week, I'll begin the third course I teach - Oral English for Ph. D. students (a general education requirement for all first year Ph. D. students).

I've never taught any of these course before and never have taught students who are older than me before, but I'm excited for the opportunities I'll have in teaching new material and new students. Opportunities for me to grow and learn more about the different generations in China, and opportunities for me to enter into a different part of Chinese society than I could back when I was only teaching undergraduates. It's going to be quite a challenge, especially with all these butterflies inside me!