As we said our goodbyes to our trusty guide Dhon and the awesome countryside that is Tibet we all thought about when (if at all) we would be back. For some, once was more than enough and yet for me, I cant wait to be back in the mountains, whether it is Colorado, here or somewhere else i cant get enough of the scenery. The plane ride back was good, we had a layover in Chengdu, panda capital of China. Then to Beijing where we got to see the two schools we would be teaching at, and then moved in to our rooms at the first school, BDA in southern Beijing.
The first week of classes went really well considering. The first morning of classes I was stuck in the room sick from an obscenely spicy beef dish that I got at a restaurant the night before. Needless to say, I know know what it means to breath fire out my butt. I healed up quickly and helped Diogo finish lessons for the day which really did go quite well considering none of us had ever taught before, and we really had no idea what to do. All I can say is thank god for BINGO. combined we probably played it at least 100 times over 3 days. Fortunately the kids loved it.
At the conclusion of our first week of classes, we all retired to the local massage parlor for foot massages...quite possibly the best idea ever. so relaxing. and 70 minutes for about $5, how can you say no to that? We also treated ourselves to some fine restaurant cuisine...it really wasnt that fancy, but in comparison to what we've been eating at the school's cafeteria it was heavenly.
Over our 3-day weekend, we adventured around Beijing by ourselves by buses and taxis to see the temple of heaven. We also were able to spend the day at the Kelly's friend Rick's house, which ended up being one of our best days so far in Beijing. The day consisted of hiking the Great Wall all morning...about 4-6 miles of steep hills and crazy man-made steps. There was also a race from one tower to another tower between Pat and I...I almost beat him but collapsed right at the end, we both realized it was a bad idea about 5 steps into the race...haha oh well great workout. and according to Mao, we are officially men now that we have hiked the wall. After that we were able to go swimming and relaxing in the spa near Rick's house. All followed by a delicious mexican food dinner, first and probably only mexican food we will find in China. We finished the day by buying about 8 pirated DVDs...when in rome? haha
Yesterday we went on a field trip with our 2nd group of middle school students to the Summer Palace as well as two major universities here in Beijing. The summer Palace was amazing. Probably one of the cooler things to see in Beijing for sure. The kids are awesome and they know a lot of english. This makes us kind of nervous about having to teach them english because our strategy of using categories of easy vocab words with bingo games might not fly with these kids...Im sure it will be fine, and Im really looking forward to it.
More to come soon...
The first week of classes went really well considering. The first morning of classes I was stuck in the room sick from an obscenely spicy beef dish that I got at a restaurant the night before. Needless to say, I know know what it means to breath fire out my butt. I healed up quickly and helped Diogo finish lessons for the day which really did go quite well considering none of us had ever taught before, and we really had no idea what to do. All I can say is thank god for BINGO. combined we probably played it at least 100 times over 3 days. Fortunately the kids loved it.
At the conclusion of our first week of classes, we all retired to the local massage parlor for foot massages...quite possibly the best idea ever. so relaxing. and 70 minutes for about $5, how can you say no to that? We also treated ourselves to some fine restaurant cuisine...it really wasnt that fancy, but in comparison to what we've been eating at the school's cafeteria it was heavenly.
Over our 3-day weekend, we adventured around Beijing by ourselves by buses and taxis to see the temple of heaven. We also were able to spend the day at the Kelly's friend Rick's house, which ended up being one of our best days so far in Beijing. The day consisted of hiking the Great Wall all morning...about 4-6 miles of steep hills and crazy man-made steps. There was also a race from one tower to another tower between Pat and I...I almost beat him but collapsed right at the end, we both realized it was a bad idea about 5 steps into the race...haha oh well great workout. and according to Mao, we are officially men now that we have hiked the wall. After that we were able to go swimming and relaxing in the spa near Rick's house. All followed by a delicious mexican food dinner, first and probably only mexican food we will find in China. We finished the day by buying about 8 pirated DVDs...when in rome? haha
Yesterday we went on a field trip with our 2nd group of middle school students to the Summer Palace as well as two major universities here in Beijing. The summer Palace was amazing. Probably one of the cooler things to see in Beijing for sure. The kids are awesome and they know a lot of english. This makes us kind of nervous about having to teach them english because our strategy of using categories of easy vocab words with bingo games might not fly with these kids...Im sure it will be fine, and Im really looking forward to it.
More to come soon...
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