Thursday, September 27, 2007

Posting comments

If you've posted comments for me and I haven't responded its because the Chinese gov. has blocked my ability to read them. I can see if I have any comments on a post but unfortunately I can't get to the page that tells me who wrote it and what they wrote :(

So keep reading and and send emails. Sorry I can't respond to your comments

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

An Exhausting Day Off

Well, everything is going well here. Yesterday was a vacation day for the Korean School because it was the Korean moon festival (I think). Rajdeep also had off so we spent the day together. I woke up early and made French toast for breakfast mmm then we set off on our bikes for what would be a 6 hour journey all over the city. First, we went to a furniture store and bought a nice comfy sofa for my apartment. Then we went to a culinary school where Rajdeep and his friend arranged a private vegetable carving course. Their teacher is amazing. In 5 minutes he showed us how to carve an intricate dragon head out of a gourd!

Then we rode our bikes to the other side of the city to look for a clothing market and a store that my Korean friend said makes inexpensive curtains. We rode and rode but never found it. ... Then back closer to my home we found another huge clothing market and we found a fabric store. I decided to ask the woman if she could make me some curtains. I chose the fabric, she measured, cut it, and sewed it within 10 minutes. And it only cost 50 yuan (about $6) for the whole thing! Now I can change in my bedroom without worrying if the neighbors can see.

After that Rajdeep and I watched a new movie "The Namesake" about a Bengali family living in America. It was really good. And finally, Rajdeep taught me how to make Chicken Biriyani, my favorite Indian dish!

It was a looooong day but I accomplished so much. Next week we have the entire week off work for China's National Day Holiday!

Monday, September 24, 2007

Sofa hunting

My apartment here is pretty nice: 2 bedrooms, modern, nice little kitchen which is my favorite room in the house, and a hard leather sofa. That sofa has got to go. I'll be living in the place for at least a year and I want to be comfortable so yesterday I set out on an epic bike ride across Tianjin to hunt for a new sofa. I found a few furniture places but they're a little too posh and pricy for my tastes. I'll try again tonight or tomorrow.

I also need to get some curtains. In the meantime I turn off the lights when I need to change my clothes. Who knows if the neighbors across from me are looking out their windows at me. I went to the Home Depot across the road to price curtains and they are not cheap! 180rmb per meter!!? That's like $23 per meter. NO Way. I'm going to find a tailor and have them made that way.

Tomorrow I have off because its the Korean mid autumn festival and I have all of next week off for the chinese national day and mid autumn festival!! I love working at an international school...we get both countries' holidays off!

Friday, September 21, 2007

Hey everyone! I"m getting settled back into life in Tianjin. I've been back 3 weeks, I have a nice apartment near the school where I'm teaching, and I'm learning to cook Indian and Chinese food pretty well. I cook all my meals at home so I'm getting lots of practice. In case you didn't know, my boyfriend, Rajdeep, is and Indian chef here in Tianjin. That's why I'm learning Indian cooking.

I'm teaching at the Korean International school and its a great job. Everyday from 8:30-5pm is tiring but its nice to have a full time teaching job. I'm getting to know my students well and even the kids who were bad in the beginning are behaving much better now that they are used to having class with me everyday. The 8 other native English teachers at the school are great too...as well as the Korean teachers.

Well I'll update more when I get another chance. For now, here's my mailing address!


中国 天津市
河西区,梅江
玉水园 25号楼,2门,502号
CHINA

I hope to hear from you all! Keep in touch and I'll try my best to update the blog

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

I'm back in China

Well I arrived last Friday back in my home away from home, Tianjin, China. Being back seems perfectly normal but living and working in a new area of the city with different people is strange. I started work at Tianjin's Korean International School yesterday and today was my first day teaching. All of the students and teachers at the school are Korean except for 9 foreign English teachers and 12 Chinese teachers. There's actually a large population of Koreans here in Tianjin...mostly businessmen and their families.

I'm living in a hotel, provided by my school, until I find an apartment. I've GOT to find one quickly, living in a hotel is just hectic!

Anyway, it's nice to be back in China. I really enjoy living here and I have a good job. La vie est belle :)