The grapevine is a wonderful if not inconvenient thing at times! It is probably best that we discovered this little treasure trove so late as I would have gone broke making purchases and then had no way to get them all home.

Katie had been told by Kelly who had been taken by Charlotte who had been taken by Daria who had been brought by someone to this little painting school downtown.  They produced originals as well as reproductions of contemporary as well as traditional works of art. It sounded too good to pass up so we got verbal directions to a side street without any specific address.

Can I just say if you ever have to find a little place with no address,  only verbal instructions to go by, in a foreign country in which you really don’t speak the language, Katie and Thomas are the two to go with. They can find anything. We hopped on the bus, Thomas found the stop and we began looking in window fronts for what we wanted. We soon found a small school but when we walked in a children’s calligraphy class was in session. The teacher soon directed us further down the street. He didn’t speak English but between the three of us we are getting quite good at charades. We discovered this was an annex of the school but we were looking for the main building.

Just a sampling of what we browsed through

We soon found the main part and headed in. Again as it was Saturday classes were in full swing. Drawing classes downstairs, with still life, and calligraphy classes upstairs. We met the director who turned out to be the contact Kelly had mentioned.

She happily took us on a tour then led us back to the annex to look at paintings.

I was a little shocked when she started pulling out manila envelops with folded paintings. Katie saw my hesitation but reminded me that Kelly said their mounting jobs were phenomenal and all imperfections would vanish in the mounted work. We hungrily sorted through works with Xiong explaining their origins.

Some were originals by local artists or professors others were replicas of the great masters. Katie and I started forming piles of possibles. Prices ranged from ¥10 – ¥80 for the paintings with a flat ¥30 mounting fee.

I soon found two pieces I just couldn’t live without and three small flower pieces that I thought would be a beautiful gift. I arranged to pick up the mounted works the Saturday before I was to leave for America.

(3 graces/Lady with Blue / Flowers)

Second choice was still beautiful!

When I went to pick them up I unwisely  agreed to browse through their new works with Katie. I fell in love with yet another piece and agreed to purchase if they could rush mount it before I left on Tuesday. Xiong said she could and I hastily agreed.

I returned Monday afternoon to pick it up, to find a rather distraught Xiong. She told me she had written something down for me to read as she wanted to make sure I understood it all. She had had to send the piece to a friend to be mounted that weekend because he husband had been out of town. It was mounted and ready to go when her friends shop had been broken into and robbed. My piece along with others and cash had been stolen. There had been two Cherry Blossom works and so she quickly mounted the other and had it mounted to give to me. She felt awful and apologized profusely. She gave me this piece free of charge with an additional flower painting.

Second Choice was still beautiful although that first piece was AMAZING! So now I have no excuse for empty walls. I mean really with the prices hoovering around $12 for portable art lookout next semester.

So I’ve debated typing this post but I might as well get it out in the open, once I tell a few people its going to get out there anyway and blown out of proportion so I might as well get my side out….

Goodness knows I could count the dates I’ve been on, on one hand but could someone please define what qualifies as a date because I think I accidentally went on one with a complete stranger I met on the train.

I got home from Weihai at 11:30, cleaned up, packed up and headed to Qingdao by 5. I purchased a ticket last min and hoped for the best. There was a huge line at the gate already so stupidly I went and stood in it. Why, I don’t know after five months in China you would think I’d wised up by now. Mom please skip the following paragraph.

I stood in line and then they open the gate. Here is where my stupidity comes in. Lines mean nothing in China, as soon as the gate opened the line turned into a mob. Forgive the expression but there is just no other way to explain it. You feel like you are back in the birthing canal. I’ve learned to throw a mean elbow while here and being a foreigner and a head taller than everyone else it tends to work quite well. But today that wasn’t even helpful. I’ve never been pressed so bad in my life. Never understood the concept of stampede until today. I finally gave up struggling and just let the crowd push me. Some lady’s carry on caught the back of my legs but luckily the crowd kept me upright as she pulled forward.

Anyway I finally made it to the platform relatively unscathed and headed for my car. As if going through birth for a second time wasn’t bad enough I soon realized there was no seat to be found on the train. Great, two hours to Qingdao and I get the aisle. Okay truth be told I had a second option, smoker ally between cars. I figured relatively smoke free air standing in the aisle getting hit with a food trolley every 15min was better. I found a bench to rest against, turned on my kindle, put in my head phones and zoned out as best as possible. I did notice the decent looking guy standing next to me but kept my scowl to myself as the the trolley and I danced each time it past.

An hour into the ride a kind gentleman offered and held his seat for me when he disembarked. The guy who had been standing next to me soon found a seat across the aisle. He leaned over and began asking about my Kindle. His English was definitely not the best I’ve encountered but he was nice, okay sweet. The fact he said he read Plato gave him major points. Before I knew it he was asking me to coffee. I didn’t know what to say so I tried to mumble under my breath, as his English was not great he  took it as an affirmative and started suggesting places.

I figured I would lose him once I got to the station, but he helped get my backpack off the rack and insisted on carrying it for me. (It was only after did I realize how bad that could have gone if he had decided to run, Passport and Y2,000 bad.) Him having my bag and all I decided not to lose him. We caught the 304, he insisted on paying my fare, and headed into town. We decided on Coffee Spark as it was located on both our bus routes. On the bus he began helping me with Chinese. A few points in his favor. One, his is one of the first Chinese people who have actually wanted to help me learn Chinese rather than just wanting to speak and learn English. Two, when teaching me Chinese he actually spoke slowly and clearly, repeating words often, wow what a concept when teaching someone a language. (In China like many places people often think it is the volume that makes foreign words magically become understandable.) Lastly, he encouraged learning Chinese Characters as he feels it is a vital component of learning Chinese.

Now before you flip out and think I’ve completely lost my senses, I did text Victoria and let her know the change in plans. I also asked for a bailout call come 8:15 if wasn’t on the bus to the University yet. My Chinese lesson was going so well we missed our stop, but he had a contingency plan apparently. He quickly suggested another place that was just two stops further. We went to Starbucks and I ordered a Hot Chocolate, after a brief argument over the bill he said something curt in Mandarin to the cashier and she refused to take my money. He ordered two and found a table.

We sat and conversed for about 45min before I had to head out. Between his minimal English and my non-existent Chinese I was surprised the conversation lasted as long as it did. It did come to an interesting point when I finally asked for his name. Okay yes one would think before we got to Starbucks names would have been established but in China names are just tricky. Family names go first, then first name. To top it off you refer to new acquaintances by their family name. His name is Hu pronounced ‘who’. When he asked for mine I of course gave him Kayte, he was a little taken back and asked if he should call me Miss. That was a definite NO! Names got squared away and numbers exchanged. I was soon on my way to Victoria’s before the designated bailout time.

Overall the evening was fun. Most definitely not a usual evening for me but if China has taught me one thing it is taken every opportunity thrown at you.

So back to the original question, if he asked, escorted to and paid for everything was it considered a date? If so I guess I just went on my first Chinese date. Oh and for all those wondering he is barely my height but hey he’s not shorter!

The center of life!

 After dinner I was shown to my kang in the adjoining room. One thing I’ve learned the Chinese pull out the red carpet for foreigners. I felt truly guilty when I realized they had given me the large Kang in the Master Bedroom, all to myself no less. There were no heaters in the house so I went to bed in thermals skeptical of the kang’s ability to keep me warm. Wrong decision! I soon learned the errors of my ways as I began stripping layers, then I was glad no one else was in bed with me as I eventually got down to my skivvies and still had to throw the blanket off at times. Holy smokes who knew!

Full Squid, hummm, did I really say that was the great dish?

 Friday morning I woke at 8 and entertained myself until I heard Wendy get up in the adjoining room.  Breakfast was leftovers from dinner and a larger dish of what I had commented on the night before. My bad, it was squid. Okay I hate squid unless it is battered and deep-fried and smothered in a cocktail sauce but I had to admit last nights did taste good surprisingly. But now it was the full squid not just strips.

Peter's Junior High

There is just no way to describe the loss of feeling when you finish this one.

Who said Exercising couldn't be entertaining?

That was a good stretch.

On to the Open Air Village Market. I was the only foreigner obviously and mostly likely the only to have ventured there. I was shocked when I few asked if I was Peter’s wife. Did not see that one coming. We finally just stuck with Wendy’s little sister, Can’t you see the resemblance?

Village Outdoor Market

A relative of Peter's, he gave me two free Candied Hawthorn sticks.

Oh no, please don't, oh great Peter just bought that for lunch. Umm do I have to I mean really what is it?? Oh just Pupas well in that case of course.

Then a quick spin to the beach, on the way we stopped at Shandong International College. The campus was dead.

Shandong International College

Can we say a little Europe in Shandong?

 

This was a random building on the campus. We never did find out what it was for but it just seemed so out of place.

Wendy says this place is packed in the summer.

I'm going to miss these two!

Sea farming

Are engines damaged when they get water logged?

Everyone does it! "Happiness to China"

Peter has quite the arm.

Collecting shells, I collected shells, Peter collected rocks and Wendy just shook her head asking what we planned on doing with them.

 

Beach homes of the rich.

We soon headed back for lunch, which I must admit I was not looking forward to as I knew the menu!

Don't these just scream yummm? Yeah I didn't think so either.

I'll try anything once, the second time is optional.

Pupas are Peter’s favorites it turns out so I turned to him for eating tips, wrong idea should have just waited for his dad. I tried Peter’s way first, pop the whole thing in you mouth and chew don’t swallow the casing just the creamy inside. After a few that way, yes I had a few, his dad came in a insisted his method was better, I have to agree with his dad. Pull off the end and using your teeth to squeeze/suck the filling out. I think I had about six although Lao lao didn’t think that was enough. I never could bring myself to eat the heat sack on the inside it was hard, after the gooy insides I just couldn’t bring my self to chew something crunchy.

Lunch with the family

Friday evening I watched “The Founding of the Republic” the Chinese film about the birth of China. It was on television and had English subtitles, surprisingly good subtitles to boot. I was also surprised at the sypathetic way in which Chang Kai Shek was portrayed throughout the film.

Saturday was colder than Friday so we remained in doors most of the morning. I took the time to study Chinese with Wendy.  A’yi and Lao lao made fish dumplings for lunch which were to die for.

A'yi and Lao lao making dumplings, yumm Now there's a wok.

After lunch I asked if I could take a walk around the village, Peter volunteered to give me a tour. It was fun just walking and looking but the guided tour made it amazing. He showed us all his old haunts and favorite spots.

Main Street

Peter's home village. Looking down Peter's street back to the Main Street.

 

Peter and his childhood home. His home is at the end of the lane.

Side Street

Nothing like a good game of "Arrows & Bows" Peter's favorite growing up.

The boundary between villages, crossing over

The villiage across the river - This is where Peter attended Elementary school.

Before garages where needed this was the original parking space.

This is a piece that has been up since Peter's childhood days, I'm guessing the original from the 50's. Where is Mao?

Exploring the villiage in the late afternoon was picturesque, now if I could only learn to capture that.

The family garden.

Saturday evening I watch one of Wendy’s favorite films, a good Chinese Spy movie. When I discussed the plot with Victoria upon my return boy did she have a good laugh at the historical inaccuracies of the aligencies portrayed in the film. It was intriguing and the subtitles were dencent. If you haven’t caught on by now the quality of the subtitles is something of a running debate in China. There is no point in commenting on the quality of the film, I mean what do you expect from bootlegged copies. But really are subtitles suppose to be legit no matter the picture quality?

 

Sunday Morning A’yi and Lao lao woke early to make a fresh batch of dumplings in China it is a tradition to serve dumplings prior to a departure as a sign of good luck. The dumplings resemble little boats and the attached saying is equivelent to “Smooth sailing”.

Sunday's farewell breakfast. Traditional dumpling sendoff.

You enter into a courtyard and rooms are situated along the right and back walls. The front walls are storage and pig pens there is only the outhouse along the left wall and a staircase to the roof.

 

 

Feeding the Kang

 

* The Kang is heated from outside. Corn husks are dried and stored all winter to feed the fires lit beneath the stone beds.

 

 

 

 

Christmas Day…humm…lets just say it was an adventure.

My first Christmas waking up to an empty house. I didn’t want to get out of bed as there just didn’t seem like any point. The usual hustle and bustle of Christmas morning was not there nor did I have the pleasure of looking forward to it. I finally dragged myself out of bed and over to the computer excited for my Christmas call home. I finally made it through but to my disappointment, as it was still Christmas Eve in the States, everyone seemed busy and some where not even home to chat. I did an unusually short call with and become rather childishly disgruntled by the whole thing.

I finally just turned my attention to the afternoon and weekend in Qingdao! One frustration of living alone is the fact that I have to remember to prepare the house for a trip. Mom thank you for all you do! I hate coming home to a dirty house which means the morning before a trip the usual list includes: laundry, dishes, trash, sweep, organize and close and lock up.

Christmas morning!

A few students dropped by to give me Christmas cards and Wendy dropped off a gift. I sat down and try to recreate a little Christmas opening my gift and reading cards. By 11 I was headed out the door to meet up with the  Gang at the train station.

Katie and Thomas invited a new friend along to join our foreign group for Christmas, no one should spend Christmas alone. The train was crowded as usual. The plan was to have a big familial Christmas dinner then hand out blankets to the homeless. [Last Christmas Victoria had experienced her coldest day in China and was horrified to see homeless people sleeping on the streets under nothing but a sheet of plastic. This year she vowed to correct this and purchased blankets to hand out to the homeless. We Weifangians were happy to help deliver the purchased blankets.]

Americans and Canadians

We arrived and headed to THE DINER for Christmas dinner. We were a merry party! There were about 28 of us in all, and the table next to us was all foreigners too! You felt like you were back in the states. It was interesting to be able to eavesdrop again, to be fair both tables were doing it because we were commenting on each other’s conversations. THE DINER had a wonderfully scrumptious Christmas menu but it was just out of my price range so I settled on a lamb sandwich. Not as good as their steak sandwich but NOT Chinese in the least so I’ll take it. Some days I just don’t want Chinese, Christmas is one of them.

After dinner the hostel hunt began. Thank heaven for Katie and her prepared self or we would have being sleeping on the sidewalk accepting blankets from Victoria. This Christmas was the coldest day in Qingdao and it even beat out last Christmas Victoria said. The BYU teachers headed back to the university and told us they would call when they were going to head out to deliver blankets. The Walk: we decided to forgo the bus and just go for a cab wrong idea. There was no cabs to be found and we were forced to keep walking to keep warm we finally ducked into a hotel and asked the door man to find us a cab. We soon realized we had headed in the opposite direction of the hostel. The doorman returned empty handed explaining there were just no cabs to be found on a night such as this! Oh just keep piling on the frustrations. We were all froze and our brief stay in the hotel lobby only seem to half thaw us. Working from a small google map we found a bus that would take us west and hoped for the best. We got off hoping the map was spacial correct, wrong again. After what seemed like eternity in the cold we found the hostel at the top of a hill. Katie had been unable to book a hostel online due to technical difficulties on the website, “Welcome to China”. Big Brother Hostel’s, yes no lie on the name, dorms were all booked and they only had a 4 person room at 200Y. That is hotel prices by the way and no way were we going to pay hotel prices for hostel accommodations. By the way the dorms had been 25Y so you understand our hesitation here.  Prepared Katie had a back up plan, we ventured out into the cold and by some miracle were able to find a cab within 5min. Mind you we were a double fare but hey we were out of the cold and sardines are toasty when they are packed together. I don’t know if the first passenger was fully aware of what he agreed to when the taxi driver accepted us. Somehow we were able to cram 6 people and all our luggage and bedding into a small cab not using the trunk.

Hostel Lobby

We finally made it to the next hostel when I realized I didn’t have everything that I needed to check in. At that point we were near the train station and I just figured I would catch a train back to Weifang if I had to. The Receptionist was kind enough to let me slide with numbers and a Driver’s License. She was even kind enough to give us member prices and we settled in for the evening. Victoria called and said there were no homeless people out so we would not be venturing out either. We dropped off the bags and headed down to the lobby to chat.

All decked out for Christmas

Okay this is were I go off on hostels! I LOVED THIS PLACE. The rooms were clean and warm once the heater got going, the lobby was phenomenal and the help well I don’t have enough glowing words in my vocabulary to cover how amazing they were. Their English was excellent (boy does that sound snobby) and they were extremely accommodating. We threw ourselves into the center lounging area and were soon joined by a British guy who had been sitting at the other end.

His name was Lew, he took a hiatus from school to study Martial Arts for a year in China. He is a drama major with a growing resume. We all had a lovely chat for the rest of the evening. It is always nice when you can sit and have a stimulating conversation at a normal speed with a normal vocabulary, excepting of course the occasional translation hiccups between British and English. We turned in around 11.

Christmas was an adventure or to be more honest was one adventure after another. But the company and accommodations at the end made it all worth it!

 I met up with Wendy at 8:40 this morning. The chairman’s daughter and her classmate met us at the at t

 

Wood-Cut station, amazing details.

 

Watching the printing was breath taking, the maticulous efforts that are applied are awe inspiring to say the least.

 

The kites are made from thin sheets of silk. The paint is applied one color at a time let each color dry before applying the next.

 

Bamboo framework, all done by hand from selection to completion.

 

 

 

All the kites are handmade. The large one was Y600, reasonable I felt after seeing the entire process.

 

Yi, me & Yi, the wood-cuts on the door are protective deities to keep evil spirits from entering.

 

Intricate Paper-cuts, handmade

 

"Original" Ming Dynasty home.

 

Yi & me, can you see our personal stoves?

 

Hot Pot, it just might be my new favorite.

 

Driver, Yi & Wendy

 

Lobby, Largest Kite Museum in the World

 

My favorite kite in the Museum. Gold meddal winner at the Kite Festival.

 

An international kite donated to the Museum after one of the International Kite Festivals

 

a Ledgendary kite that is recognizable all over China

 

How many old men do you see? (answer: 3)

 

An aerial of Weifang, really if only I could expereince such a clear day.

 

Cabbage is a winter flower here, it does provide beautiful color in an otherwise dull landscape.

 

I never asked what this particular pagoda is currently used for but my guess is observation.

 

The path ran right along the water, more than once I gave Wendy a scare by walking too close to the edge.

 

______ Park, I just loved the Pagoda.

Today was delightful. From start to finish it was a great.

After five weekends of traveling and nonstop activities I was looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend curled up in my apartment only seeing people for my scheduled cooking lessons. But alas such plans have been ripped from my grip once again.

Wendy called me yesterday morning two min after I had fallen out of bed. She asked if I would meet with the President’s daughter on Saturday so she could talk with me. I was still groggy and out of it, yes I know it was 8:30 but I had had another late night. I was confused and asked if we could chat over lunch.

So my new plans for Saturday, hang out with the President’s daughter who will be coming into town for the weekend to visit with her father. She would like to practice her Oral English. Dantzelle already had plans to go to Qingdao and Adam is swamped with homework and finals for school back home. Luckily Wendy will join us. I am completely nervous. I’ve never met the President! Wendy didn’t make me feel any better when she admitted her nervousness. I know, I know really how bad can it be but let me honest people in high places in China make me a little nervous.

We have been offered a University car for our disposal, but I have do idea what to do? Am I suppose to be planning the agenda? I don’t even know how old this girl is. Luckily I have Wendy for translation I would be terrified if it was just me. Well I guess tomorrow I will find out! Wish me luck.

they’re letting me teach an English class to children!

Wendy came to me a few weeks ago with a proposition, the English teachers on campus proposed an Oral English class for their children twice week if I wanted an extra job. Okay for those of you who know me, know my initial reaction, an absolute NO WAY JOSE! But if China has taught me one thing it is to hold my tongue until all the chips have fallen and even then it is just best to swallow and keep opinions to oneself. Besides the extra cash would be nice for traveling. I agreed to meet with the parents and see the students levels first before agreeing to anything.

Wendy agreed to do all the translating and help with the negotiations. 10 students between the ages of 6 and 10 years old. 2 nights a week for 1 hour. I’m too much of a Reagan to do much negotiating which will change next semester that is for sure. If there is one thing about the Chinese I’ve learned they will squeeze you for all your worth and still try and make you feel like they are the ones getting the bad end of the deal, but because you’re you and you seem alright, they will live with the decision although you really should understand they are the ones suffering here. So with that said, I have to work Friday nights and underpaid in the tutoring world.

From Left to Right: Xuan, Rose, KeXin and Margaret

I did request all the students be given English names as I know it would be pointless to slaughter their Chinese names class after class. When speaking to the parents they just suggested I name the children as I saw fit. Maybe I’m uptight but that just didn’t sit well with me. Naming children is the responsibility of the parents in my book and I told the parents I would feel more comfortable if they discussed with their child and selected a name. Of course this method left the door open and I still have two students who have insisted on their Chinese name so Xuan and Ke Xin it is and slaughtered each week they are.

I have to admit the more I teach the more excited I get about the class. I don’t know what is happening, I think the world is coming to an end and I am growing a soft spot for children. For the first time in my life I am beginning to understand my parents love for kindergarten. The absolute joy on the children’s faces when they understand a new word or get an answer correct. Then of course there is they’re sweet smile and burst of applause at any Chinese I use.

Preparing for the one hour classes is labor intensive and I put more time into that one hour than anything for my college students, sad to say, but then the return is so much more from my ten children than all 8 classes combined during the week.

My only real run-in when teaching this class is getting the parents to accept the fact that I am an American, born and raised with a Western Education with two amazing parents who do not encourage parroting teaching. I finally put my foot down and told the parents if they wanted a Chinese style class they would be better off getting a Chinese teacher. Chinese students are great readers and boy can they memorize, some of my students can knock your socks off with their vocabulary but get completely confused the moment you give them a complete sentence. The parents and I had a little disagreement on simple sentences and what was appropriate for their children.

What it really all boils down to is the definition of what an Oral English class is. Unfortunately, that is not a question I’ve been able to get answered by anyone in this country so far, not even for my college classes. The parents where upset with the simple “I have…” sentences I had the students practice when I asked them about their body. When I give a direct question they are able to answer but when given a simple instruction to describe something they freeze.

I’m slowly and at times painfully learning but all in all I am happy I took this job and who knows by the end of this semester I just might be able to say I like teaching kids.

Lets just say I could get use to this all to easily!

I had two days off this week for the school track meet. I love the fact that the school only tells the teachers of these days off, two days before. Really vacation time just isn’t important to these people obviously. I called Bonnie and asked if she would like to meet for lunch Wednesday, she agreed and suggested inviting Brad and Kelly.

I meet up with them Wednesday for lunch and had a splendid time. I must admit our combined Chinese was horrible okay worse than horrible. Brad and Kelly have been here 8 months and still don’t speak it. So part of me really just wants to give up now. They’ve managed life in China just fine, I know that is not the road I want to take but giving up is just so easy. Anyway back to lunch. Bonnie fortunatly knew some food words and it all seemed to work out in the end, tons of great food arrived and we dug in.

After lunch Brad left to teach a class and the three of us girls went out to explore the city. There is tons to do in Weifang I discovered. They both had a list of places they want to go and things to see. So new goal, stop hiding out in my apartment and get out and see the city.

First new place of the list was the Pets market. Bonnie had been before and led the way, okay, I’m not an animal fan and I even got depressed.

A flea market Pet's Mart

Not your average pet selection.

 

 

 

 

 

Bonnie with the...um...oh yeah they are suppose to be rabbits.

The most horrifying of all the Squirrel.

 

 The condition of the Squirrels were the most horrifying of all. To ease my pain I just told myself the squirrels where on some type of speed to make them hyper for customers. Although in all honesty I just think they have gone clinically insane with their living conditions and have lost it! Can you blame them? Look at the size of those cages they are in. The only reason the chipmunks don’t revolt as bad as them is that their cages are even smaller and they can’t even jump!

 

Okay enough with the depressing Pet’s Ally, I’ve already decided to skip the Weifang zoo. Kelly says these conditions are just thrust upon the few exotic animals unlucky enough to land here. The bears sit in bathtub of water in a cement cell all day and the other cages show no more imagination. So skip the zoo what’s next on the list?

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking the river path and ended at a western style coffee shop in the bookstore. We chatted for another hour and came up with plan! So turns out there is a fair number of Westerners in Weifang we just don’t see each other much since we all inhabit various corners of the city. We’ve decided to form a club. We are going to set up a standing dinner date for the 1st Monday of every month. If we happen upon in Westerner we should invite them to join us. From there we can start planning trips around the city or the adjoining areas. We are hoping that pooling our resources and knowledge of our own areas we will all benefit from a more active lifestyle.

 

I know Dad hanging with Westerners is not going to improve my Chinese but at this point going stark crazy in my apartment doesn’t seem to be improving it either.

 

 

 

 

I visited a private English school late last week hoping to get some information for a friend who is heading over next year. While at Aston School of English I met their two foreign teachers. One is an American from PA and the other is British from South London, both Bonnie they go by Bonnie 1 and Bonnie 2 no joke.

We exchanged info and they invited me out last night to meet their friends. We all went out for the evening and got to know the group. Two more Americans from Cali! and a Canadian. Fun group. They will all be here through January excepting Bonnie 1 one leaves at the end of October. So we now have a larger group and from the sound of it still more to meet.

So as isolated from Westerns as I once felt I am beginning to find them, you just have to know which restaurants to go to.

We are all English teachers and it is interesting to swap stories and experiences. Some of my worst fears were confirmed yesterday unfortunately. I’m definitely the rookie of the pack and am just now accepting the fact that in some classes I am just a glorified babysitter. They all have their stories. But I have my one favorite class, that will just have to pull me through my hard days.