1.16.2015

Arrived. And SO Happy!

Nanjing is nothing what I expected it to be, probably because I had seen pictures of China with people crowded all over the streets, and my boyfriend told me about Japan a lot, so I assumed it would be similar!  Nevertheless, I LOVE IT!!  I’ve learned a lot of lessons in my life, but one of the most important ones is to love every opportunity and everything Heavenly Father has given us.  I truly am grateful to be here!  

The two weirdest things for me to adjust to are:

-              Not being able to flush my toilet paper…that’s a little weird!

-              Never seeing the sun!  (I hope it comes out of the smog one day soon!!)

So far, we’ve moved in, had some trainings, created a few lesson plans, and gotten our teaching assignments!  

My assignments are second grade gym and basic reading and I will also teach third grade every other week!  I’m so excited to start teaching on Monday!  I’m sure my teaching will be an ultimate mess because I’ve never taught English before, but hopefully it will improve slowly but surely! 

We cleaned out our classrooms and organized our supplies yesterday, that was a great adventure!  The supply room was already packed with supplies and we had to figure out how to fit all of ours in as well, but it went great! 

On Wednesday night, our neighbors, Belle (Chinese) and Mickey (Born and raised in Chicago, but also teaches English at the school) walked us over to the Golden Eagle Mall so we could exchange our money. You feel like a millionaire when you're holding 3000 yuan!  Haha

Yesterday afternoon, we learned how to use the Metro and took it to the grocery store!  The grocery store was a fun adventure!  We all bought toilet paper…I’m sure that was a sight to see 20 Americans all walking around the mall with 10packs of toilet paper!  I also bought apples, of course, my favorite!  I love the apples here!  They’re way more crisp and delicious than the ones I used to eat in America!  

After we shopped, we walked through the mall and got street food for dinner!  Taylor and I ended up trying the fried squid!  It was absolutely delicious!  I never knew I’d love it so much, but it was seriously awesome!  It was also great because usually, we have no clue what meat we’re eating for lunch…but this time we knew what it was!  I mean…squids are a pretty obvious shape! 

  In case you’re wondering, no, I haven’t used a squatter yet..but there may be a post one of these days about my experience when it happens….or I’ll save you all the tears because you’ll be laughing so hard!  We shall see! 

Happy Friday from China!