My Shoulders are not big enough

We had to get visa pictures taken to put on forms for our school and the government. After getting the picture taken they edit it right in front of you and make it brighter, but on mine the lady must have thought my shoulders were not large enough because she made my shoulders wider and thicker before she printed the pictures off.

We took a tour of our school and found this video room and the man that runs the room took our teams picture! Can you believe that we are teachers.

This is Cherie, my roommate, and me enjoying some wonderful Chinese food.

This is Cherie, my roommate, and I at the men's olympic marathon. They ran right by our school.

This website has pictures that my roommate takes. She always has her camera so you can see some random pictures of our time here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/decreaseme

I can't seem to get away from doctors

In order to teach at the school we have to go to this foreign clinic to get physicals. Chinese physicals are much different than American physicals. We had to fill out a bunch of forms and then there were six rooms that you had to wait in line to get into. We had to get our blood drawn, our blood pressure taken, our weight, nose, and throat checked out. They hooked suction cups to us to test our heart rates. We had to get a chest x-ray while holding a lead loin clothe. We had to hold onto this cover over our backs that looks like a loin clothe it was really funny.

My favorite part was the eye test, the chart was all E's that were turned side ways and upside down and right side up. Although, I did not pick up on this pattern and I said M and W for the first two then when we got down to the part where I could barely read and I used letters like C and V which were not even an option on chart (although I did not realize it at the time). The lady did not even make me finish the test because she was very confused at what I was saying b/c she did not know English and I found out I was suppose to give her hand signals about which way the letter goes. In all her confusion she still let me pass, so I am officially allowed to teach at my school.

Classes start on Monday, I am teaching Speech class to high schoolers and I am teaching Oral English to middle schoolers. I think that teaching is going to be a lot of fun, I am ready for the students to arrive! We live on the school's campus and it is so quiet right now, the only people here are the high school band members.

Also, tomorrow my roommate and I have to get up and speak in front of the Chinese teachers and tell them about ourselves and what we think about teaching and how we plan to handle our classes. As much as I hate public speaking I volunteered for this because I thought it would be good practice to talk in front of people.

Bicycling in Beijing

When I left the states I was sure that I would not ride a bike in Beijing because there were too many people and cars. There are eight lanes of traffic everywhere and cabs and buses pulling in and out of every corner. I was terrified of riding a bike. Then the dreadful day came when I had to purchase a bike, I made it to the bike store and picked out a pretty teal bike with a nice bell and basket (the bells are much needed), and then I was forced to ride the bike home. It was scary at first and I screamed anytime another biker or taxi was riding at me, and every time I screamed the Chinese men would scream back at me it was hilarious. I made it home and found out that bike riding is not that bad. Although, every time you get on the bike it is still an adventure b/c you have to be fully aware of what is going on around you. Last night I spent a few hours biking around Beijing with some friends to explore the city and it was soo beautiful. At night Beijing is lit up and there is a lot of hustle and bustle. It is an exciting place to be and it is fun to feel the crisp air as your ride through the huge city, it makes you feel alive.

I MADE IT!!

I arrived in China two days ago, and my roommate Cherie and I are settling into our apartment. The trip went faster than I thought it would go, although I did sleep almost the entire flight. It has been an emotionally draining experience leaving everything behind, but I believe that great things are ahead of me this year, we have a lot of down time right now and I am ready for teaching to begin. I am already learning about myself, and our team is very supportive and open with each other, which is very encouraging.

Yesterday, we went shopping and bought groceries, and we had to stand in line for 45 minutes to check out, it was soo busy. Cherie and I bought a gas lighter yesterday and found out today that we have to buy gas to fill it with and we have to have matches to light it. The moral of the story is that we should just buy matches.

Today we walked out to our front gate and watched the men's marathon as they ran past. We were at the half way point and it was fun to see the crowds of people and feel the excitement of the race.

That is all for now we are about to have a chinese language lesson.

I love and miss you all!