Spring Festival & Harbin

The Chinese New Year marks the start of the Chinese Spring Festival. It is a week long festival that welcomes the beginning of spring. We had 7 days off from school, and all of us interns traveled to Harbin. Harbin is a city NE of Shenyang, about 400km (250 miles) away. It was a bit colder, and we spent a lot more time outdoors...so most of us gained a lot of weight in layers...I was wearing 3 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of pants, 5 shirts, a fleece, ski coat, 2 pairs of gloves and 2 hats..haha, it was chilly, but worth it!

I kind of talked about it before, but the Chinese New Year was amazing. The guys' apartment has roof access on the 20th floor, so we were able to go up and watch all of the fireworks go off across the city. Seriously, everywhere you looked, fireworks were going off. I am so glad that we were able to be here for the New Year and watch all of the craziness happen.

A few days later, all 10 of the interns went to Harbin. It was an AMAZING trip. We left the morning of the 26th, and man, getting on the train was an adventure in it of itself! We were all standing on the platform, trying to get in the door of the train and there was just this mob of people trying to squish into the door. Well, next thing we knew, the train started moving and people were all yelling (in Chinese, of course) and we just all smashed in. Apparently, if you travel via the hard seat train cars, how the average Chinese person travels, you don't have to have a ticket to get on the train, you only need a ticket to have a seat. So, people will get on the train to stand and then just pay the fare to the train staff once they are on. So, after some how finding where we were supposed to sit and kicking people out of our seats, and 7 hours later, we made it to Harbin. We spent the first day just finding our hotel, finding an open restaurant and playing cards/games in the hotel room at night. Oh, and, Andrew and Shaun ordered DOG at the restaurant...I don't think I will need to order it again, but I am definitely glad I tried it...even if just to cross it off the to-do list!

The next day we spent the morning at the Buddhist and Confucius temples. I wasn't that impressed, and thought it was a little of a tourist-trap, but it was fun to get out. That night, we had planned on going to the famous ice and snow festival, but due to an out-dated guide book, ended up at a ice amusement park. SO FUN. There were 3-story-high ice slides, traditional Chinese outdoor activities, swings, roller coasters, bumper cars, Ferris wheel, and lots of ice sculptures. It was so fun, and it was very refreshing to be child-like and just play.

The next afternoon, we went to Sun Island Park. This is where the ice and snow festival actually is - the festival is the main reason Harbin is famous and why we went there. However, after walking across the frozen river to the entrance to Sun Island, we could only find the snow festival. Most of the group went to the snow festival, but Shaun and I were determined to find the ice festival - we had been talking about going while we were still in Portland. So, we kept walking down the street and found some other English speakers who told us it was just further down the road, and finally made it! WOO! It was AMAZING! There were tons of HUGE ice sculptures and it was so cool to see the detail that went into each of them during the day...there were also free sports! So, we got spun in 360s when we went inner-tubing down the hill, and rode quads for the first time! At night, all of the sculptures lit up and so it was like exploring the park all over again at night. Definitely glad we kept going to find it, I wouldn't have wanted to miss any of it.

That night we got the sleeper train back to Shenyang. It left Harbin at 840 at night and we didn't get back to Shenyang until 340 in the morning. It was cool though - there were rows up bunks that were 3 bunks high, and we all just chilled out, slept, and listened to music.

Here is a link to a Picasa album of pictures from Chinese New Year and Harbin:

Chinese New Year and Harbin

Even though I was on vacation in China, it just felt like a normal vacation. China, and Shenyang, is feeling like home. And, friendships with other interns are starting to get stronger. I love spending time with my roommates, we get along great and it is a perfect fit. It is my home away from home and family away from family..I love it here. I am still looking forward to my language skills to get better, so that I can communicate more easily at markets, restaurants and just with people that you meet on the streets.

Alright, this is long enough, and even though these are all of the events and what we've done, I am sure that I will start to post more soon of the emotion, cultural differences and other aspects of living in a foreign country, less of the events. It has been a big adjustment...but I am glad that I get to spend the next 5 months here. Our Internet at our apartment is still very temperamental, so blogging, emails and Skype have been hard to access from home.

Mom, Dad and Em - Miss you all heaps, I will write you guys an email in the next few days and hopefully Skype soon. Love you lots.

Much love.

Chinese New Year

(The view from the roof.)

Last night was Chinese New Year. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before. The fireworks were insane. At the guys' apartment, you can get onto the roof, which is on the 20th floor of their building, and we were able to see the fireworks going off all over the city. They would just set off the fireworks in between buildings, alleys, and you could seem them go off, literally, right in front of us.

(All of us on the roof watching the show!)


The pictures don't nearly do a justice, but here are a few regardless.

Tomorrow, all of us interns are headed up to Harbin. It is a 5-6 hours north, via train. We will get to spend a few days there and go to the famous ice and snow festival.

Sorry this is so short. I am sure there will be plenty of stories when I get back!

For you non-Facebookers..

Here is a link to pictures that I posted on Facebook from the first month in China.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2421982&l=ff74d&id=10003281

A day in the life..

I have officially finished my first 'real' week in Shenyang. It was good to establish a routine again and to feel more settled into life here and my schedule at the school.

(Emily, myself and Andrew hanging out in the English Immersion Room.)

This week was the first of many weeks here. Monday through Friday I have two hours of Mandarin class a day, and then teach anywhere from 2-5 hours of class. The way the school works is that the students register for classes based on their availability and then the teachers are scheduled to teach whatever the students sign up for. This means that each day the type of class and when you teach varies from day to day. Each intern has a different teaching schedule, and different days off, (my days off are Sundays and Mondays) but it is fun to get lunch together, find random restaurants to go to after we are all done teaching, and spend time laughing at how horrible our pronunciation of Chinese sounds are during class. :)


(Jensen teaching us how to Rumba during his culture class.)

There are a variety of classes that we teach at the school. Some are one hour, discussion classes, where there are anywhere from 4-8 students and a variety of topics. Others are more instruction-based classes that last for 2 hours and have fewer students. Another popular class is Elite Speaking, where it is either private or a small group of students who come for the main purpose to just practice speaking and improve their conversational skills. And then the final type of class that we teach is a culture class. These classes are free for the students and are aimed at immersing the students into western culture and using English in a casual setting. Earlier this week, Jensen, another intern, taught the Rumba to the students and it was a hit!

(One of my roommates, Chelsey, and I out to dinner with other interns.)

Even though we were all busy teaching and figuring out our schedules this week, we all definitely had a lot of fun! We found this awesome underground food court/market close to the school where we got lunch a few days. Another night, a group of us made dinner together one night after teaching. And, last night a bunch of us went out to dinner and made friends with the table behind us, and unfortunately, the stories don't do a justice, but it was one of the most entertaining dinners I have had in Shenyang!

It was definitely a very good week, but as I settle in more here, I am realizing how much I miss certain things and comforts of home...Not to mention the people! I am loving the emails, so keep them coming! :) Hope you guys are all doing well.

Much love.

Gan Bei!

Last night was Langston's annual banquet. It is equivalent to the company Christmas party, so to speak. It was a blast!

We were warned beforehand, that business culture in this region of China is different than, obviously, that of the US. Here, the school of thought is that you want to see whoever you are going to do business with drunk, because, if you seem them drunk, then you know who they really are. Clearly, it wouldn't be politically correct to get drunk with your boss at a work function in the US. The means to getting to see your 'real' business partner, is 'Gan Bei!', or "dry the cup". Essentially, this is the same as cheers! Someone would call Gan Bei and everyone would finish their cup of beer, or wine, (or orange Fanta if you still can't drink because you had mono..) and refill for the next Gan Bei. Now, all this to be said, no one was near belligerent! The cups are a larger shot glass that is shaped like a wine glass, and you would pound your cup on the glass lazy-Suzan on the table, call Gan Bei, finish your cup, and tilt it showing that you truly had dried your cup. It was the first time I had ever taken 'shots' of soda! :)

Besides experiencing the Gan Bei tradition, the food was amazing. Everything was served family-style, as most dishes are here. We had everything from broccoli, to Beijing duck, to candied sweet potatoes, a few different kinds of meat that tasted good but I have no idea what they were, to dumplings, to maybe it was seaweed we think, to a whole fish, to soup. There was so much food, endless drinks, and all of the Chinese staff to keep us entertained.

I knew that I was experiencing an office party different than any I had been to before when money was being raffled off, and the president started off the first round of karaoke! After all of the set prizes were distributed to the respective winners, we were told that each person there would get 100 yuan, or close to $20! I was getting paid to get to experience this Chinese tradition and eat good traditional banquet food...I can do this!!

All of it put together, it was so fun. All of us enjoyed getting to experience the annual banquet, and are wondering how we can get invited to more!

Shameless Plug..

So, we had our first week of orientation. A few of us are a bit under the weather, so we have been doing ESL training, cultural training, gone on a few field trips around town, and spent a bit of time watching DVDs and sleeping trying to get over whatever bug we had. It's been a good week - definitely feeling more rested and adjusted which is good.

This weekend is Langston's annual meeting and banquet. All of the interns are going to the banquet, which we've been told will be a very cultural experience. I am definitely looking forward to that and am sure that I will have stories to share after wards! :)

I have my first English class tomorrow. And then next week we start Mandarin lessons and teaching for our regular schedule. I am excited to establish a lifestyle here and start teaching and interacting with students on a regular basis!

So, here is the shameless plug. Here is my mailing address. Feel free to send whatever, whenever. :)

Mollie Bates c/o Langston English
Dongyu Building 3rd floor, #2 Heping South Ave.
Shenyang, Liaoning Province 110001
China

That's all for now.

Home Sweet Home!

We’re here in Shenyang! The last few days we have just been getting settled into our respective apartments and cleaning, unpacking, and figuring out what need, etc. It’s been good too, to get to know the other interns and explore random parts of the city and restaurants with them. I have put up a few pictures of the apartment, and will post more when I either get internet at our apartment or from the school on Monday.

I am very excited to start training on Monday, start learning Mandarin and continue to get to know this awesome group of people that I am with over the next few weeks! Hope you guys had a good new year!


My room.



The living area.


The kitchen.


The view from my window...if you look closely, there are ice skaters!