Hiya everyone,
As always, I hope this email update reaches you in happy spirits and that all is well… I imagine that you’re looking forward to some down time as Christmas approaches very quickly, once again. Travis and I have really enjoyed getting your emails. Thanks for keeping in touch…
It’s been quite awhile since I sent an update out and lots has happened since then…
Here’s a List of the Tebo Happenings:
1. For the most part, the honeymoon of living in a foreign country is slowly dissipating. Don’t get me wrong, we love living in Beijing! This truly is an amazing country to live in. In fact, we’ll probably be here longer then we originally thought. It’s just the little things are frustrating. The language is still awkward for me, although I can get around in a taxi and I can say my numbers with no problem. I’m also learning some new phrases, but there are times when you get stuck-That’s when having a good sense-of-humor is very helpful! Things just take a longer time then I’m used to, so I’m learning lots of patience. There are just little, stupid things that add up to be annoying. For example, I can’t find decent deodorant. They only have this weird, roll on stuff. When you go shopping you have to go through three different people to finally buy your purchase. This is because there are tons of people who live here, so they create jobs that seem rather unnecessary- but on the other hand, I’m glad they have a job. Anyway, it just takes forever to go shopping. The meat here, at times, is just not right. I ordered a chicken salad and when I got it, it was fried pieces of chicken parts. I bit into one piece and it was a chicken foot, all fried-up. Nasty. Things are also not very clean here. The grocery stores, in particular. One store had a huge table with ice and chicken pieces on top of it. When I mean chicken pieces, I’m talking beaks, legs, feet, the whole deal. Underneath the table, there’s a bucket catching all the chicken juice and blood. Kind of unsanitary, ya know? Bird flu, anyone? The children here, who are learning how to go to the bathroom, just squat down and poop or pee on the sidewalk. They wear clothes that are opened in the back, so they can do this easily. I’m guessing it saves a lot of money on diapers and really trains them for the squatting toilets. Anyway, nothing surprises me anymore! And I am definitely becoming more patient…
2. We’ve made some good friends here and we vent to each other when we have “Bad China Days,” as we refer to them, or are a little homesick. I haven’t gotten homesick a lot. It’s mainly when I see pictures of Seattle or after I get emails from friends and family that I miss. It’s hard not being able sharing in memories with your friends and family, but the ones we’re making here are hard to pass up. You do make a mini-family when you live overseas, so that’s been really cool.
3. The first week of October is a holiday for all the ex-pats in China. We get a week off, so from October 1st-8th we visited Toby (Trav’s little brother) and Debbie (his wife) in Italy. They live in downtown Rome and we saw just about everything there is to see- The Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon, the Roman Forum, Sistine Chapel (very awesome), the Vatican Museum, San Pietro, and the Spanish Steps. And so many churches that I lost count! My favorite sight was the Coliseum. It’s truly magnificent. In fact, when Travis and I got off the subway and went outside, we both actually had a tear in our eyes. I know that sounds super cheesy, but it’s really breathtaking. I’ve always wanted to see it, so we got a guided tour and learned about all the history and stuff. It was nice to be in a country where you could actually make out what they’re saying and you could actually read some words. In China, they look like an ink-blot test. One of the days, we took a train and spent the night in Florence. We stayed in a hotel right next to Cathedral Square (where the Duomo and Baptistery is). We also saw the Ponte Vecco (old bridge) and the statue of David. The statue of David, the real one, is actually pretty cool. We walked around and stared at it for about a half-an-hour. There is something mesmerizing about it. Travis and I were both re-living our Fine Arts 101 course that we took at Wazzu. I guess we actually did learn something from that class because it was all coming back to us when we were in Rome. You know, the “Renaissance” period and all the famous works of art and the statues. I was definitely not disappointed; the food was “Oh my gawd” good- especially the pizza and gelato. I think we ate that everyday. The pizza doesn’t have sauce on it and the crust was thinner, but I liked it better. The coconut and nutella gelato was my favorite. Thanks Toby for introducing that to me! The people in Italy are gorgeous. People take good care of themselves. In general, that country is just beautiful, I suppose. We had a great visit and it was hard to leave, but we’ll be back someday. It’s a country we’d like to visit again. Next time, I’d like to go to Venice and Pompeii.
4. Travis and I both celebrated our birthdays. His was October 21st and mine was November 16th, in case you forgot. ; ) There was a huge 80’s party the night of Trav’s birthday, so that was really cool. For my birthday, I wanted American food, so we went to the “Hard Rock Café.” It was alright. It was over-priced as the rest of them, but they did have decent guacamole- so that made my day. That was first time that I chose American food instead of Mexican, Indian, or Chinese.
5. We saw our first movie in a Chinese theatre, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” It was in English and it was great watching a real movie in a real movie theatre. The next day, I saw someone selling the DVD of it for 2 bucks. They pirate everything, it’s funny. A student said they pirate game systems too. He’s going to buy a fake X-Box 360 for twenty bucks.
6. The karaoke bars are awesome here. We went to one for our friend’s birthday. It was in a huge place with like 200 separate rooms. You rent one out and its two stories with big, fluffy couches and chairs and flat-screen televisions. Good times…
7. Thanksgiving was so much fun! Our friends had us over on the Sunday afterwards. There was about thirty of us and it was potluck style dinner. The turkeys were delivered frozen and not cooked at all, so we had to cut them up and cook them. We had to wait a little while for dinner, but we had good company and plenty of wine- so we were okay. What’s a Thanksgiving without a problem with the turkey? On the actual day of Thanksgiving and the Friday afterwards, we had to work. In fact, I totally forgot it was Thanksgiving until a student mentioned it to me. Travis and I had a Chinese dinner at home on the actual day. No big deal, really. It felt like another day.
8. Work is going fine for us, I can’t believe how much there is to learn about high school counseling! However, I’m starting to find my “nitch,” so to say. It’s taking a little more time then I’m used to back in the States, but the kids are really warming-up to me. That’s been nice. I won’t bore you with the details, but our counseling department is without drama and issues. I stay out of it. I have thought about moving down to the middle school, but I’ll wait and see how things pan out and if my colleague (Jenny) moves or not. It’s like being in a bad relationship- you know it’s not a right fit but you still try to make it work. I also just finished doing a series of parenting workshops with Jenny. Yup, because I’m the guru of parenting. Surprisingly enough, I guess I do know a lot more then I originally thought. You work with teens long enough and hear about all the crappy things their parents do and say, you begin to learn what works and what they need. We also got some good feedback from the parents, so that’s pretty cool. Travis, on the other hand, is still diggin’ the little ones. He’s adjusted well to teaching a different grade level and a new subject (math).
9. We need a break. Seriously. We work a lot at this school. It seems more demanding than the other international school jobs that I’ve heard about. So for the winter break, we’re going to Singapore and Australia. We are SO EXCITED!!! We didn’t get a summer because we were all stressed-out from packing, moving, storing stuff, and saying goodbye that we didn’t really enjoy it. As I’m sure you’re aware, it’s summer there. In fact, it’s in the mid 80’s. I can’t believe that I’ll be able to wear flip-flops and tank-tops soon. Big difference from the shocking cold of China (it’s been in the teens and low 20’s here). We have some friends scattered in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney, so we’ll be traveling there and staying with them part of the time. We have three weeks off and we’re renting a car too, so we’ll be doing things off the beaten path. I’ll let you know how it goes…
As I mentioned in earlier emails, we LOVE hearing from you! Even it is to just say hello. Take care and have a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones…
Cheers,
Cara and Travis
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