High Time for a Holiday

I just got off the phone with my bank in the states, alerting them of my travel itinerary. 

"Where are you going?"

"Well, I'm in Shanghai now, but will have a layover in Moscow so there will probably be activity there. Then I'll be in Prague, Istanbul, Kyrgyzstan, oh and maybe Austria and Spain or Switzerland. Basically, if you see any activity on it in Europe or Asia don't worry about it. I may go to the Philippines too; I'm not sure." 

That got me just a little pumped. Which is needed. 

Because right now that just seems like a LOT of traveling. Seriously, what have I gotten myself into? It's this nuts FOMO issue and wanting to get as many passport stamps as possible while I'm over here. You guys, I need to chill! It is okay to just get one passport stamp during this holiday. My life will go on and no tears will be shed. I mean, who in their right mind wants to go all over Europe and parts of Asia for 3 1/2 weeks after the last couple weeks I've had? Another spa sounds good right about now, right? A beach? A cabin in the mountains? 

Even so, hearing my potential itinerary reminded me that I'm living out many dreams and prayers I've had for years! No matter the ups and downs and surprises along the way, I am thankful and continually amazed! It is especially good for that reminder after these last two weeks. They have felt like two years. Apparently it's showing because of the whole crows feet thing. Shoot. 

This week, I'm still recovering from last week's apartment fiasco and class assessments because, in China, even three year olds are assessed and teachers get the joy of freaking out their parents with the results it is safe to say every one of us started this week exhausted. Remember fapiao? That was due, then there were monthly comments for each child, and an end of the semester personal evaluation and review with our boss. 

In the last two weeks, aside from work things, we have had six parties/dinners and our classroom had two small party celebrations for birthday and Chinese New Year. Anyone who knows me knows I love a party! This was a bit much, though, especially when I was asked to plan three of them!  However, I think I can speak for my coworkers when I say it feels like as we said goodbye for the CNY holiday, we all felt a little more bonded after seeing each other night and day for the past two weeks!  

We were sad to say goodbye to a coworker who's moving back to the states as I write this. We tried to spoil her as much as possible. This is the seven of us, and one well-behaved tag-a-long, as the guest of honor's favorite restaurant, Hot Pot. They're all over here. For those in Colorado, the greens you see on the table are not the greens you thought of when I said Hot Pot.

We decided to celebrate the children's birthdays all at once at the end of the semester. My party-loving self would prefer we threw a big celebration for each child or at least each month! Alas, that requires planning and details. Perhaps another year. 

In Shanghai, when you email parents a birthday celebration and encourage them to dress their kiddos in something special, you never know what unique outfits you'll see! 

I couldn't get enough of the cuteness! 

This is Tillman, his laugh is as contagious as his smile. He is incredibly bright. He came into our class knowing next to no English and now is one of the leaders during teaching times. I count on him to sing loudly and get the other kids to sing too! He  has one of the happiest personalities I have ever seen in a child. This pic was taken after the fight went down with my apartment manager. A coworker saw it and was like "You don't even look like YOU!" Well, I survived the day and made it back in time for the party, so I was happy!

The little Indian princess is Shivangi. I was pronouncing her name wrong for the first two months. Some of the children still say her name wrong thanks to me. She came to school as one of the better English speakers but a typical only child and her world revolved around her. She's learned a lot and, now, instead of always bossing the children telling them what they are doing wrong or tattling on them, it is absolutely adorable watching her hold a book like I do and pretend she's reading it to the class or encourage another student saying, "GOOD JOB!" 

Iris is the red dress clad girl. She was the biter, but she hasn't bitten anyone in a month! During parent-teacher conferences her mom's translator told me Iris wants to dress like me and do her hair like me. It was cute and challenged me to pay more attention to her. Her mom dresses her like a movie star every day, but come lunch she has food all over herself, the table, the floor, her shoes, and usually other children. The dress in the pic? I scrubbed it during her nap so her mom could have the picture of her in it. It was a special day after all, but she's a mess, folks! She's also a sweet little girl now that she communicates in other ways than biting!  

He's in another class, but neat outfit!

Wednesday, before we left for our holiday, we had to turn in fapiao. Here's the store where we purchase it. I mean, it looks totally legit right!?

We go in saying, "Fapiao mao?" Basically meaning, "Could we purchase fapiao?" Then we show on our phones the number we are asking for. This time, the fapiao looked different and I was concerned we were getting poor quality fake fapiao. I started counting and arguing a bit with the man. For those questioning the ethics in this conversation, come visit me in China for a month. Then let's have an ethics discussion. Better yet, write down your notes and save it for when I go back to the states and can think clearly once again.

Best quote of the week was from my coworker as we left: "Here we are arguing with a man saying he's cheating us while we are doing something illegal!" We had a good long laugh at that! Turns out, we got more than double what we asked for. 

Maybe this holiday will help me realize not everyone is untrustworthy OR maybe I'll just realize some people are worse at counting I am!

My co-teacher informed me Monday that we must take down the Christmas tree before Chinese New Year. I did not know this was a bad thing. After all, Christmas trees are meant to stay up until February, no? Thank goodness she asked our ayi to help and the decorations magically disappeared one afternoon when I got back from a meeting. 

In their place were Chinese New Year's decorations. The parents LOVED LOVED LOVED seeing this! I would like to say I learned a lot about CNY. Unfortunately, I was out of the class more than I was in the class so I know nothing apart from it's a huge celebration where the entire country of China seems to shutdown for a week. I thought it was for nearly a month, but found out our school just has winter break around CNY so we can have a longer holiday.

 

Sara made traditional-looking Chinese fans with the children. She also made the lanterns you see hanging. Basically, she taught the class this past week and did a spectacular job. Sometimes I get righteously angry at how the Chinese teachers are treated and paid so much worse than English teachers. In my opinion, Sara should be teaching this class full-time and I should be under her. She is incredible! Through watching her teach and manage the children I have learned how to be a better teacher. I am indebted to her in many ways.

Wednesday morning I walked into my classroom and it looked very much like this except with a couple tables for the children to sit at. I was horrified thinking there was something wrong with our class! Sara laughed, apologized, then explained that's what happens before a long break. I guess they're afraid of mildew and who knows what else. I was nervous the parents would complain, but, apparently, this is normal to them and they actually were glad to see we are taking care of the classroom. 

It was kind of depressing sitting at my desk after the kids left! You can't see it because it's hidden behind the mountain of tarps. At one point during the day, as our ayi seemed to be taking things from underneath us, I told Sara, "If she tries to cover my desk so help me I will throw my computer at her!" I saw that as a win-win situation: she got stopped and my work computer broke! I promise, I love my classroom ayi. The massive cleaning just took me off guard! She loves me too. In fact, that day she came running up to me in front of another teacher, put her arm around me, and kissed my cheek saying "I love you!" I was impressed with her English - AND a little taken aback by the kiss. It was cute.

Okay, well now I'm off to pack and book hostels. I've put it off long enough. Actually, maybe I'll go cut my hair some more first. Earlier I decided to give myself bangs, then promptly sent these pics to our work group chat asking if I'd made a serious mistake! 

                       Whatcha think??