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!

TIME FOR A NEW COUNTDOWN

Well, I'm back in China! This summer really really disappeared fast. I think that was because it was broken up into such small chunks. With 4 days at home, then 3 weeks taking classes in Wheaton, IL, 2 weeks at home, 1 week in New Hampshire, a 1 night in New Haven, and 4 days at home, I'm looking forward to unpacking in Harbin for more than just a few weeks. I'll miss home, but I've also missed China, I've missed Harbin, and I've missed my school and students while I've been away.

So here's the new countdown and it's quite simple:
3 more days until I'm back in Harbin!
10 more days until I begin teaching.
And 5 weeks until my parents come to visit!

COUNTDOWN

It's finals week! Here's what's going on for me:
222 final exams given. (Only one cheater!)
132 final exams to finish grading.
108 essays to read and grade.
73 poems to read and grade.
14 lesson plans to format for a portfolio.
9 forms of paperwork to finish up.
1 last team breakfast this morning.
1 big banquet with the dean today... 30 minutes from now.
1 dinner with one of my closest Chinese friends and her roommates on Friday.
1 big party making noodles with students/friends on Saturday.
1 last Sunday at Chinese fellowship.

And only a few more days until…
I am stateside for the summer! I fly out of China on June 30th at 7 PM and will arrive in the States 2 hours after I leave.

Here’s my tentative summer schedule:
• July 4th – 24th Wheaton, Illinois: I’ll be taking my second set of classes for a Master’s in Teaching English as Second Language and Intercultural Studies.
• July 24th-Early August: In the Maryland area to visit family and friends.
• Mid August: In the New Hampshire area to visit family and friends.
• Late August: Back to Maryland for one last visit and packing.
• August 22nd: Return to China for team leader training. Next fall I’ll be stepping into the role of team leader at my university.
• August 29th: Return to Harbin for the fall semester.

I’m looking forward to getting the chance to see many of you, to share with you more about this past year, and to hear about how your year has been as well :)

See you soon!

KICKBALL!

A few weeks back, the university asked us foreign teacher's to cover for one of the Chinese teacher's that was sick. We had to be creative to figure out how we'd cover it and still be following our contract which only allows for us to teach 16 course hours each week. We ended up splitting up the classes and each picking lessons we wanted to cover. The course? American culture!

I chose to cover families, weddings, and sports in America.

For the wedding lesson we actually had a pretend ceremony. I had the students pick cards to decide who would play what role... except I ran into a problem when it came to groom's men - as there were only 3 boys in this class of 30. One had to be the groom, one the father of the bride, and the other, the best man. Afterward we had some "wedding cake" as I explained more about weddings in America.

And for the sports lesson, what's more all-American than kickball? Well, I guess you could say baseball, but kickball's a lot easier to play and teach. A few people had trouble knowing when and where to run (or to stop after you get to home plate). After about the 3rd inning they started to get the hang of it.