fish bones and flower tea

Wrapping up Mel's visit:

temple of heaven

We had another whirlwind weekend in Beijing. Highlights include the Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace,  and Wangfujing street.

hot pot with mel and hannah in beijing

Another week of classes passed uneventfully, and then it was the first weekend in December! A couple weeks ago my favorite co-teacher, Ada (first grade) invited me to visit her hometown with her. We had planned for this weekend, and then I hadn't heard anything further. I was waiting for her to say something, not totally sure if we were still on. Luckily, as I found out Thursday, we were!

So Friday night Ada (whose English is really excellent) and I have a sleep over in  my room, since her accommodations (on campus dorms) were empty, and I'm guessing kind of creepy and cold. Saturday we wake up early and walk to the long distance bus station. At this point I really don't even know exactly where I'm going or what I'm going to be doing. But no worries. So we meet up with one of her college classmates (his English was also great) and the three of us are on a bus by 8am heading to Anguo - the Chinese Medicine capitol of China. She warns me that none of her family (other than her) speaks a word of English. She wasn't exaggerating!

It takes about an hour and a half, and then we are at this huge medicine mall. Ada's mom meets us, and we start wandering the aisles of really crazy stuff. Seahorses, dried cow placentas (when Ada realized what that was she screamed and dropped it and tried to wipe off her hands for like 5 minutes), insects of many varieties, and tons of herbs and plants and flowers. Although her English is good, there was a lot of back and forth with phone translators to explain some things. (Placenta, for example, is not a commonly learned English word). So that was cool.

Ada's mom wouldn't stop buying me things. First she bought me a necklace at the medicine market, and then we went and looked at flower teas. Despite my adamant protests, I left with around 10 packets and containers of a variety of flower teas. She finally decided it was enough, and we went to leave, only for me to do the dumbest thing ever. I was thanking her profusely, and said I couldn't wait for some of my friends back home to try these -- when she goes: "your friends?? this isn't enough for your friends! I'll have to get you more!!" and dashes back into the shop! Oh I was so embarrassed.

Then we met up with Ada's younger brother (20) and his wife and headed to lunch. The restaurant was known for fish, as I discovered when I walked in and saw the giant tanks we were supposed to choose from. I declined to choose my lunch, and let the waitress pick for me. The tables were round and had a big pot in the middle, with a fire being stoked underneath. After we ordered, the waitress filled the pot with broth and added wood to the fire under the table. Then she brought out a plate with four whole, freshly killed fish, which were added into the pot with some vegetables. A short while later, I was informed that the fish were cooked, and I should help myself, being the guest of honor and all. Well, I was kind of hoping I could watch someone else do it first, seeing as I'm not completely aware of how to pull a whole fish out of a boiling pot with chopsticks. No such luck. So I dug around in there and looked hopeless for a while until they really felt sorry for me, and then Ada snagged a fish and plopped it on my plate, so everyone could dig in. Cool.

The meal went on, everything was delicious. I continued to embarrass myself with dropped veggies in laps, splattered tables, and a really insurmountable aversion to tofu. But I tried, and they didn't seem to mind my helplessness. Everyone took pity on me and made sure my plate was full of the best bits, since they knew I wouldn't be able to score them myself. By the end of lunch I was full of, and covered in, some really good food. Ada's mom, however, refused to believe it, and the whole trip was spent plying me with food.

The afternoon was spent watching tv in her brother and sister-in-law's apartment. It was really nice, 3 bedroom, pretty standard place. They kept asking me if it was like apartments in the states. It was. Just sitting on a couch, watching tv was really enjoyable, seeing as I have neither a couch nor a tv. Every now and then we even stumbled on to a channel with English subtitles, so that was cool too. Ada's mom cooked us dinner; rice, green peppers and beef, chicken and some other vegetable. It was delicious, but again she didn't believe I was full.

The next day we get up early and go to her parent's Nongcun (village/countryside farm) house. It was about 15 minutes outside of town. The whole area was made up of many similar one or two room farm houses with yards full of Chinese medicine. Her family has made their living for generations buying different medicines in bulk, and then cutting them up or refining them and reselling at the market, so here I got to see their yard full of a medicinal root looking thing, and how they cut, sort, and dry it. Ada and her mom made dumplings for lunch, and they were delicious! I tried to make a couple, but they pretty forcefully insisted I just go watch tv...

Then we got a bus back into Anguo, and from there took the bus home to Baoding. It was a great weekend!

a Thanksgiving visit!

Thanksgiving went by almost entirely unnoticed, with the exception of a wonderful visit from Mel. I picked her up from the airport (after a couple hours of staring at the arrivals board in frustration -- damn delays!) on Friday night in Beijing. We had a great weekend, starting with dumplings for dinner, a visit to the Great Wall the next morning, and a jam packed Sunday. The wall was freezing! I may have left a couple fingers and toes there. We also crammed in a trip to the forbidden city, street food, shopping, and some hanging out at the hostel.

Monday morning it was back to the excitement of Baoding. Back to lesson planning for me, and an introduction to what I like to call "the real China" for Mel. At least part of the real China. This week has gone by fast, and mostly uneventfully. Highlights include great food like Peking Duck, Korean BBQ, donkey, and much more street food. Other than that, Mel has been sitting around in my dorm waiting for me to get out of class. =[

Now I'm finished and it's time to get back on the train to Beijing, have another busy sight-seeing weekend, and then see Mel off! I loved having her here (and I loved all the goodies she brought from my mom and sister).

I can't believe it's almost December! I can't believe how many exclamation marks I've used! I can't believe I've eaten all my candy! I can't believe Felice just called and made me give directions to the taxi driver so Mel can get back to Dongfang Shuangyu Xue Xiao (my school) -- we'll see if he understood me, I sure didn't understand him, but don't tell Mel! I can't believe how much coffee I've had today! Real coffee! From Bridgitte! made with a french press from Mel! Not instant! Woo!

payday!

The best day of the month is here -- payday. So I'm going to share some of my finances with all of you that are curious (all 2 of you reading my blog that is).

First lets talk about Chinese money. Chinese Yuan (CNY), Renminbi (RMB), Kuai 块 (slang like 'bucks'), it goes by a lot of names. and symbols: ¥ or 元. the exchange rate is about 6.35 CNY to 1 USD, which means that the 4000元 a month I receive is about $ 630 in real money. Which doesn't seem like a lot. But you forget, I'm in China.

No, I'm not living the high life, and no I'm not adding to my savings account, but I'm certainly not slumming it either. My accommodations are included, as are my electricity and water bills, which makes it a lot easier to afford some luxuries on 630 dollars a month.

Groceries:
5 gal. jug of water: 7
5 apples: 10
pack of 5 ramen: 8
veggies (green beans/broccoli/etc): 10
rice: 10
potatoes: 10
oatmeal: 20
nuts: 20
chocolate bar (import): 15
instant coffee: 15 (2-3 weeks worth is 30 or 40)
bread: 10
peanut butter: 10 (a jar is 20)
week total: 150元


eating out:
breakfast (street food -- jianbing, etc) = 5
lunch (noodles, or a plate of some dish with rice) = 10 - 15
dinner (group orders a bunch of dishes, veggies, rice dishes, meat, etc) = 20 - 40
nicer dinner (Western food, fancy restaurant, etc) = 50 -100

misc others:
bathroom scale: 60
cleaning supplies when i moved in (broom, mop, bucket, soap, etc): 200
dvds: 10 each
shampoo: 20
phone credit: 50 for a couple weeks
bike repairs: 50
comforter: 80
bath towel: 90

wireless router: 100
crappy little speakers: 20


Beijing:
round trip fast train: 100
hostel: 35 - 100 a night
eating out: 50 - 150
drinking out: 20 - 50 a drink
shopping at Yashow clothing market:
fake Longchamp bag: 30
small knock off gucci/coach purse: 100 - 200
fake D&G winter coat: 220
fake uggs: 125

During the week, I really don't spend any money. When I head to Beijing, however, all my money disappears on American luxuries. I fall into such a trap by being willing to pay out the wazoo for American comforts like familiar food. Which is why you should mail me some Whataburger. Anyone? Or some American candy?

My address is:
Kelsey Adams
+86 15830844021
中国
河北省
保定市071000
东二环路 166 号

166 Middle of the 2nd east loop RD.
Baoding, Hebei Province
071000 China

If you just copy and paste and print it with the Chinese and the English, it's more likely to arrive. Send me a Christmas present!

China in a nutshell

Ok I can't really put China in a nutshell. It is too big, too crazy, too varied, and I have way too small an understanding... but I can summarize my experiences thus far.

So.

FOOD
pros: It's delicious. Dumplings (Jiaozi or Baozi), Kung Pow Chicken (Gong Bao Ji Ding) and fried green beans to name a few
cons: It's delicious. And oily, fatty, grisly, and most likely filled with gutter grease and sewage. Also very weird at times. I really have a disturbing love for donkey burgers.

LIVING SITUATION
pros: It's free. It's on campus, I don't have far to walk to class (like, it's out my door).
cons: Campus is in the middle of nowhere. To get anywhere I have to bike, taxi or walk. (which takes time, money or is exhausting). There are a lot of stairs.
pros: stairs and biking means working off that gutter grease.
cons: my bike is about one second from exploding at all times

TEACHING
pros: i'm getting better. I think. the kids are so sweet. it's fun sometimes.
cons: I'm really not getting better, that was a lie.
pros: there are only two months left

CHINA ITSELF
pros: it's cheap. it's exciting. it's interesting. people are nice when they aren't pushing and shoving and cutting in line (haha what line).
cons: people are always pushing and shoving and cutting in line. it's smoggy. it smells terrible most of the time.
pros: i can put off showering for weeks and nobody notices. i can (and do) wear the same clothes for days (and days) in a row without washing them

OTHER
con: internet is super slow
pro: at least I have internet in my room

con: teaching 1000 kids is exhausting and I'm always tired because my bed is rock hard.
pro: ?

Is it really november? already? no way.

Other than the first exciting week of October, not much happened last month. No exciting halloween (in fact no halloween, period), no crazy stories, no personal revelations.

So what has happened?

I still stink at teaching. I still haven't mastered Chinese (and never will). I still crave American food like Whoa!

But I have championed the devilish washing machine. I have discovered I do in fact have heat and am kind of a moron. I have made it half way through my China misadventures!

I have been twice to the police station to plead guilty for charges of not notifying the authorities every time I leave the city. I've signed my confessions, accepted my punishments (warnings), and been fingerprinted. The government requires advance notice of any foreign movement. Every hotel, hostel, and fast train requires my passport, and then reports foreigners' whereabouts  to the po-po. If I fail to notify the police in advance again I'll have a 500 rmb per day fine. So I'll be a little more careful next time.

I've started using the electric steamer the Americans that were placed here before left, and have fresh steamed veggies that I buy from the many street vendors all the time.

I've gotten good at navigating Baoding traffic on a rickety old bike without killing myself. I've also gotten good at finding random bike repair guys on the side of the road to fix said rickety old bike.

I've been to Beijing quite a few times, and every time I've splurged on American luxuries like burgers and pizza, and in the process spent way too much money. (but I only paid about 4.50 USD a night for the hostel, so I say it evened out).

I saw Liz Hannah! and hopefully will see her many more times.

And here are some pictures of my kiddos.

the never ending saga of national week

Ok lets see I left off in Chengdu.
Thursday morning I said goodbye to the amazing bed and mom and I cabbed to the airport. Made it back to Beijing no problem, and then found a bus to take us to Beijing West train station (opposite side of the city) to continue on to Baoding. Also no problem. Got dropped off about a 15 min walk from the station, where a crowd of rickshaw drivers were waiting. Before I could say a word they had grabbed our bags and told us they were taking us to the station. We went with it.

We arrived at my school a couple hours later, introduced Mom to the gate guards, made sure everyone had signed off on her being there and we were all set. 

I worked Friday and Saturday, and Mom entertained herself on our thrilling campus. We had a few excursions into town on bikes to eat at local restaurants and see the supermarket, etc. It was a quick trip, however, and Saturday night we got back on the train once more headed for Beijing. We went straight to the hotel near the airport and once again ordered room service and called it a night. 

Sunday morning Mom took off (bummer) and I turned back around and went back to the train station, back to Baoding, back to my school. This short Beijing excursion (about 16 hours all told) resulted much later in a trip to the police station to have some fingerprinting and wrist-slapping done, but that's a story for another day. 

So Mom had left, and I was back in my room, back on my rock hard bed, and back to work. 

i guess i'll start with the pandas

Wow.. it's been a month since I've updated. I don't know where to begin, but I can't put this off anymore or the blog is done. So here goes..

National Week Vacation!
October 1st was China's 62nd birthday, and China celebrates this event annually with a week holiday.

So Fri, Nov 30th, after an hour long train ride with Jesse from Baoding, we grabbed lunch near my hostel. He then headed to his hostel to meet up with some other CIEE-ers, and I headed to mine for wait for mom. Once she checked into the hostel (Sanlitun Youth Hostel aka Wangfujing hostel aka Beijing Sanlitun Hostel), I immediately started unpacking all the goodies she brought. It was like Christmas, not gonna lie, althought probably better since I won't see any family on Christmas this year. Reece's peanut butter cups, candy corn, halloween socks (thanks Martha!), current American magazines (Martha again!), kids books and materials for my classes, and so much more. That was great.

Then it was off to Blue Frog for some amazing American burgers (I hadn't had American food since I got here other than McDonalds once, but I'm sure mom was less than thrilled since she hadn't even had a Chinese meal yet) and to celebrate the births of China and Steve, another CIEE-er placed in Changping. We (Changping crowd: Steve, Mar, Kelly, Emma, Joel and then a couple others including John in Anhui, and Chris somewhere in Hebei, Jesse, Mom and me) had a couple beers, and then the group moved on to a bar. Once again, I managed to catch a cold right before getting to Beijing, so I headed back to the hostel with mom and turned in.

Sat we got up early and decided to be real Beijingers and take the subway to the train station to buy tickets to Baoding for after Chengdu. Note: the Beijing subway is amazing! Clean, fast, efficient, reliable, and easy. I love it! So we get there no problem, and then are faced with mobs of people trying to work out their transportation needs. You can't do anything in China without mobs of people. We succeed after some garbled Chinese from me and a lot of confused "what the hell does this dumb foreigner want" looks. So we looked at a map and decided since we were near the middle of the city, why not check out Tiananmen on this auspicious occasion. BAD IDEA! After a walk substantially longer than the map led us to believe, we found it was an absolute mad house. The line into the forbidden city probably contained the population of Stephenville and College Station combined. So we wandered around, had our pictures taken by countless strangers with and without our permission and moved on. Or tried to. Crowd control wasn't so effective, and we were exhausted and sick of the crowds and the noise and the chaos, but luckily after some navigating we got to a subway station. Unluckily it was closed. I learned later that this was because all subway stations are closed near tiananmen on major days like that. So we tried to get a cab. That was a no go. The few empty, on-duty ones we saw wouldn't pick us up (racism is alive and well), so we walked. And then walked. And then finally got a cab and somehow directed the cabbie where to take us.

After a little relaxing we walked over to YaShow, this giant clothes market. You can bargain for anything there, and we did. Got some sweet fake purses, fake Columbia jacket, and a some other little things. Spent way too much time and money (although spending too much Chinese money, when you look at it back in dollars, doesn't really seem like spending all that much anymore).

Back to the hostel to drop off our haul, and then it was dinner time. We walked to a pizza place to meet up with the crew. They had been there close to an hour, had only just been seated, and hadn't successfully placed an order yet. Once we got there, luckily things had started happening, and we got some delicious pizza pretty quick. After dinner we decided to head to the club (VICS) next door. The cover charge was 50 cny (8 USD), which was steep, but they lured us in with the promise of a free drink ticket with the cover. That was a lie. We weren't thrilled, but no refunds were forthcoming.

Sunday
Woke up and grabbed a cab to the airport, it was time for Chengdu! The airport, like the metro, is also clean and efficient and easy, so there were no difficulties. I did forget about the water bottle in my backpack at security, but they just made me take a sip of it and I was through.

We arrived in Chengdu (Sichuan province) and the adventure began. The cabbies at the taxi stand refused to turn on the meter, and refused to accept anything less than 150 cny for what we believed was only a 10 mile, maybe 20 min drive. So we got a black cab (just a guy and a car) for 100 and got to the Sheraton in about 30 min (I booked the hostel, but mom splurged for the Sheraton.. woohoo!). It was around 330 but our rooms weren't ready. We decided to splurge again and pay hotel prices for a snack and a drink. When we got the rooms and I sank into one of those heavenly beds, I knew instantly the rest of my time in Baoding just got harder. I had gotten so used to the hard as rock bed I have here, it didn't even bother me. Now it sure does. But anyway, we checked in and then headed out to see what we could find nearby.

skulls of something on the snack
street

Chengdu, and Sichuan in general has a ton of these neat little traditional snack streets, kind of similar to Wangfujing in Beijing, but not quite as huge and extravagant. We found one of those, walked around, people watched, and had a beer at a little patio restaurant, where people watched us.

Monday -- PANDA DAY
Got up at the butt crack of dawn (this is my life now, I can't sleep past 7.. what has happened to me??) and took a cab to the Xiongmao Jidi -- or the Giant Panda Research and Breeding Base. It was awesome. I hugged a panda bear. And saw a lot of other panda bears. And learned a lot about panda bears (xiongmao = panda bear). There was also a lot of walking, and we saw some red pandas. Red pandas are more like raccoons than pandas, and are also called "lesser pandas". A little insulting I think, they're very cute. It was raining a little, so I think the place was a little less crowded than it normally would have been on such a huge holiday. The mobs were beginning to arrive as we left.

adorable babies! i wish i had a better pic but we had about
30 seconds to snap a pic without flash from behind a glass
window before the guards were like "move along"

We shared our cab with a nice French couple back to the city center (a little ways away), then it was back out on another adventure.

This time we decided to walk a different direction, towards a canal that goes through the city, and a famous Daoist temple. Once again, the maps were very misleading, being that they were neither to scale nor oriented North (also no compass rose -- wtf people?). So we walked. and walked. and walked. saw some interesting sights. heard some interesting sounds. In fact, we did find a couple city parks and walked through them expecting peace and quiet, maybe some serene tai chi practitioners, but no. It was chaos! Of the deafening, cacophony of sound variety. Every little corner had their own blasting boom box and screaming and yelling and argh! It was enough to drive you crazy.

Then there was more walking and we found Yongqinggong -- a really famous Daoist temple. It was massive. Like acres big. With tons of little temples and incense and statues of daosit deities and lots more walking. We explored and saw as much as we could and then, to my great relief grabbed a cab back to the hotel.

Tuesday
American breakfast in the hotel -- eggs benedict! Yum! Then it was to the bus station for another adventure involving mobs of people, noise, lines, and various modes of transportation.
We got a ticket to Emei (city where Mt. Emei, a sacred Buddhist mountain is located), got on the bus and a few hours later were in Emei city.
Then we taxied to a different bus station, then bused up the mountain where we were told to switch buses to go further up. Got on the next bus, and discovered very quickly it wasn't going further up, it was going back down. That sucked. So we got a black cab up the mountain to our starting point, took a cable car up a little more, and actually got on the trail only shortly before sunset.

We briefly checked out Wannian temple, and with the sun rapidly disappearing, we were approached by multiple people trying to offer "hotel" rooms. We went ahead and agreed to see the room, and were led off the main path, down some stairs, around and into a little building with a kitchen, a living room, and four or so rooms. The room had two beds, the sheets seemed clean-ish, the price was right, and they had beer so we accepted. They offered to cook us dinner, but the thought of being closed in our rooms at 6pm after the somewhat hellish day we had endured was not so appealing. So we went back up to the trail with our phone flashlights leading the way (thank god "there's an app for that") and wandered towards the area we thought we had seen some restaraunty places (this wasn't still in a touristy, populous part of the trail, so there were a few). We started walking in one direction, passed a couple walking the other when we heard English! English! I blurted out "where are you from?" and discovered they were a sweet couple from Singapore, who were staying at a hotel a little ways down the other way. They said there were a few non-vegetarian restaurants that a way, so we turned around and followed them. I'm thrilled we did, we sat and had a beer and a good conversation with them. The way we were originally heading only had vegetarian restaurants, like much of the mountain because of the whole Buddhism thing. Then we didn't want to impose so we left them and got some fried rice and kung pao chicken nearby.

pay no attention to my double chin

Wed -- More Emei Shan and LeShan big Buddha!
Spent the day walking down stairs. Up some too, but mostly down. Good thing we got dropped off decently high so we didn't have to hike up them. Most of the trail is just stairs.
It was a beautiful day, lovely scenery. Saw some crazy monkeys, and even more signs warning us in chinglish about the monkeys. They are very clearly trained by the vendors to harass you unless you buy their "monkey food" and walking sticks.

After we had our fill we walked to a bus station at the bottom and took a bus into the city. We were going to buy a ticket to Leshan to see the biggest Buddha in the world, but were quickly approached by black cab drivers and instead agreed on a super cheap price to be dropped off right at the Buddha (about 30 min to an hour depending on traffic). Way more efficient than bussing to Leshan, and then taxiing to the buddha, and cheaper too. So we follow her to her car, which turns out to be a van with 6 chinese tourists who look about my age already crammed in. She stuffs us and our bags in the bag and we take off.

We get to the big buddha, buy tickets and head in. Once again, mobs and mobs of people. We walk around, have some super expensive tea, and realize that to actually walk down the stairs from the Buddha's head to his feet involves waiting in a 5 hour line. So we veto that. We see the giant head, and then decide to walk over to where we can get a boat ride to see the full Buddha from the water. Then its time to try and find our way back to Chengdu, which means getting back to the bus station. The thought of hours and hours more lines, crowds, buses and taxis kind of terrifies me. Instead we head over to a tour guide booth thing and ask if

any of them speak English. No response, nobody looks at us. Protip: This doesn't mean they don't care/don't want to help! Although it seems they are ignoring us and continuing their conversation, they are actually frantically trying to find their colleague with the best English. She appears and asks us how she can help. We inquire about finding a driver to just take us straight to Chengdu (about a 2 to 3 hour drive). After some negotiation, and calling a friend who calls a friend who calls a friend, we have us a driver. We grab some noodles while we wait for him to arrive, and thank our kind middle man. The guy arrives and she tells us to write down his license plate number if we're worried. She then also tries her best to explain that he needs to fill up with gas before leaving, so we will have to get out of the car and wait a little ways away while he does this. She does a good job, but we were a little confused.
 Everything worked out though, we got to Chengdu, got back to our room, got in bed, and ordered room service.

cutest baby ever. love the traditional hair cut

And that is more than enough for today. Tune in next time (hopefully less than a month from now) to hear the rest of my adventures from holiday, and getting back in to the swing of it in good ole Baoding.

i've noticed some things are just a little off..

there is just something that gets me about this
lobster having cheese poured all over it -- not even
the weirdest flavor

Liesure Club? -- we think brothel

apparently the "chicken patty" tasted like
hot dog whereas the hot dog thing tasted
like something entirely different

my paycheck felt a little like a drug deal --
 but at least now i can go to the leisure club and
make it rain!

"chocolate chocolate-chip cookies" -- with neither chocolate
nor chocolate chips.

i remember when I turned elephant =]

Weekends tend to fly by

It's Sunday night, and I'm once again mourning the fact that I didn't get anything done this weekend. Back to the daily grind, and to a new schedule. Again.

Recap: There have been schedule changes galore with the holiday for the mid-autumn festival and the addition of International classes. Today, while out with friends in Baoding, I received notice that I've been assigned 3 more classes a week, starting tomorrow! These classes are kindergarten, and are only 20 min each. It shouldn't add much to the work load, but now I have to figure out which building to go to for the KG classes tomorrow (OK shouldn't be hard, there are only 6 buildings on campus).

Current total: 25 classes. about 900 students. and somehow this all only adds up to 16 class hours a week (which is what my contract stipulates, so even if I wanted to, I couldn't say anything). The petty, lazy, easy-way-out side of me is a little (ok a lot) jealous of the other CIEE-ers only teaching 40 or 50 students max, and working under 10 hours a week. But it's ok, I'll shut up about that.

Things are going well. I'm so lucky to be here. I'm so spoiled to have a very sweet staff willing to work with me, help me get things fixed as fast as possible (even though, lets be real, that isn't that fast), and help me figure out what exactly I'm supposed to be doing. The other teachers are so sweet, so helpful, and genuinely care about my well-being. Even though they have practically been baby sitting me, and I most likely get paid similarly to (or more than) them, have free accommodations, and am completely unqualified to be a teacher, they are much kinder to me than I would be in their shoes. So I can't complain.

But I will.

I have to admit how shocked and disappointed I am in myself to realize that I'm not as adaptable as I had thought. I'm not as flexible, I'm not as patient, and I'm certainly not as adventurous as I had convinced myself. I have this awful nagging voice in my head telling me how much easier, better, and simpler it is back in Texas. I'm not sure if it's homesickness or the-grass-is-always-greener syndrome, but I feel so small and useless here. Hopefully that, along with my debilitating feeling of inadequacy, fear of loneliness, and inability to digest Chinese food will pass.

To move past the thrilling self-analysis:

Today I went to see the Lotus Pond, which is one of the few well known (ish) sights in Baoding. It was nice, although I imagine it's pretty breathtaking when the lotus flowers are in bloom. Here are some pictures from that:

Also, my attempts at pawning off meat or red-bean filled Moon Cakes (Yue Bing 月餅) on unsuspecting taxi drivers has been moderately successful. Well actually highly successful seeing as even when these delicious treats (ha!) are turned down, I just leave them in the cab. Our Waiban gave us a box filled with them, and unfortunately they are not well suited to my discriminating American tastes.

working weekends, quick trip to beijing, and changping

Once again, I've let too much time sneak by, and things are piling up.

After being overwhelmed by the week of teaching I found out I had to work Friday and Saturday in order to make up for having the following Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off. Having such a big break for the Mid-Autumn Festival, Jesse and I decided to take the train into Beijing to see some CIEE friends we met at orientation.

Friday night after classes we decided to go to the train station and try to buy tickets for Sunday morning. We realized very quickly how stupid that was. Lining up Friday night only 2 hours before the ticket windows closed, the weekend of a big holiday... ha, look at us silly foreigners. We waited in line for about 45 minutes when suddenly our window closed. Oh good. We ran, elbows flying into our fellow desperate travelers, inside to more windows. We got in another line, only to realize that the reason it was going so slowly was that another equally long line was merging into ours, both lines for the same counter. Suddenly it was 8:40 and we had 20 minutes before closing time. We looked at each other, crossed our fingers and watched the counter get closer and closer. 8:53 and we were two people away. That is, until 3 Chinese individuals edged up from the side and pushed in front of the window, with barely a whisper from the crowd. Somehow we got up there, with me half expecting to see the window shutter fall in front of our faces. We handed him a paper on which I had poorly scrawled "Beijing South Station" "Sunday morning" "fastest train" "earliest train" in hanzi. Well there were no more tickets to Beijing South, but we were issued tickets to Beijing West at 7:30 am Sunday (perhaps I was a but overzealous with the "earliest" business) for about 5 or 6 USD a piece. So we were successful.

Another long working day Saturday and then I was free for the weekend. We met up with Felice, Hannah and John from Hebei Agricultural University for drinks at a little bar. Then I stayed in Hannah's apartment (3 bedroom!) and was up at 6:30 to catch the train. Which we did, although it was way too early.

Then we were in Beijing before 9, hungry and tired and searching for the hostel (Kuai le Kuai zi or Happy Chopsticks). We had directions involving buses and walking and taxis, all of which we navigated like pros. Made it to the hostel in Houhai (really neat, touristy area with a big lake, tons of restaurants, shops and bars), met up with Steve and Mar, checked in and walked around the area for a bit. Then Kelly, Emma and Joel arrived (also from Mar and Steve's school -- Huijia in Changping just north of Beijing). I ended up not feeling well and went back to the hostel to nap for the afternoon while the 6 others went and did some of the touristy things like Tiananmen and Wangfujing.

Then, back at the hostel, we enjoyed some delicious Baozi and Jiaozi (dumplings -- bread and noodle covered) and played card games. We went out for a little, and found some neat bars. Shisha at the first one, a surprisingly talented Chinese singer covering lady gaga at another, and french fries at the last. Jesse found drunk Chinese men to be fascinated by him at every place, and was given free beers, kissed, and danced with. It was pretty hilarious. All in all a good night, hindered by the fact that I had a pretty unpleasant cold, and helped by the fact that the cold meant that I wasn't drinking, and spent almost no money (unheard of for a touristy area like Houhai).

Then back to the hostel where the 7 of us met our 3 other roommates (dorm style with 5 bunkbeds -- 10 beds). There was a little confrontation involving self righteous Europeans calling us obnoxious tourists who should be embarrassed of being American. Highlights included the comment "I know more about your country than you could dream of knowing" followed by very blatantly disproving this. (Steve was trying to explain where he was from -- Buffalo -- and the guy clearly had no idea where that was, or any of the major landmarks he was giving). It was entertaining.

The next morning we went for an American style breakfast, with pretty decent coffee (Americano -- espresso with water). Then it was on to YaShow -- a huge 5 floor shopping area with everything you could need. First on my list was a foot massage (oh yeah. it was amazing), then a little shopping. I got a backpack for about 15 USD and a cute little Gucci (haha Fucci?) watch for about 10 USD. Now I need to go back to stock up on gifts for everyone back home. Handbags, jade bracelets, pearls, watches, trinkets galore, they have everything. And bargaining is quite a lot of fun.

Shopping done, we got lunch in an area Steve used to go to school. (sidenote: turns out Steve was doing a study abroad in Beijing the same time as me. Not the same school, but I know there were times we were in the same place at the same time, such as St. Patty's we were at one of the only Irish bars.) He was disappointed his Kung Pao Chicken Place was gone but we had some great dumplings and noodles.

Then we spent some time on the metro (Beijing metro is sooo nice. Easy to navigate, fast, clean, and only 2 CNY to get anywhere!) and took a bus, and in less than 2 hrs were at their place in Changping. Their school is huge! There are about 70 foreign teachers there, compared with the 2 at my school. We showered at Mar and Steve's (nice apt, 3 bedrooms), felt about 100 times better and then met up with the crew for dinner. This time we did have our Kung Pow Chicken, and it was delicious.

The next day me and Jesse headed back into Beijing to get train tickets. We ended up getting them for Wednesday, so we'd be staying another night in Changping. It was quite a trek getting there and back, but we managed it. The stop at a Mcdonalds made it all worth it in my opinion. Then Jesse went and played soccer with Kelly and a bunch of the foreign teachers, while I waited for our hosts to finish class. We met up again for dinner in the village (a short walk away from campus with little local restaurants), had a couple beers, met some Chinese people that spoke decent English. Then it was back to the apartment to get some sleep for our 10am train.

We made the train and were back at our school around noon. I showered, checked my email, laid down and was dead to the world. I did nothing productive all day and then went to bed.

Today I intended to make lesson plans and clean (the floors need to be scrubbed again) but all I've done is sit around. Now I can't put it off anymore and I have to face tomorrow. Then it's off to bed to rest up for 40 third graders at 8am.

So that was my week. Hopefully I can find some pictures to break up the monotony, but I haven't been great with that.

'Til next time!

temper tantrum

Well, it happened. I threw my first temper tantrum at China.

When I really had to use a bathroom, and the only public bathroom around had no stall doors, no toilets (squat pots only), plenty of stink and filth, but certainly no toilet paper, I handled it. I waved at the women staring me down, nutted up, and dropped trow. That I laughed off.

When my air conditioner broke, my other air conditioner broke, my water cooler started dumping water all over the power strip, my toilet wouldn't flush, my shower had no hot water, and I could barely communicate any of that to the waiban, I took it in stride. That I laughed off.

When I had to spend a day going from Baoding to Shijiazhuang, then to the hospital, back to the train station, to the hospital, to the train station, and back to Baoding, I dealt with it. The poking, prodding, ultra sound, EKG, blood drawing, urine samples, all the unpleasant mess that it was, I got over it. That I laughed off.

But today, when I finished my 3 morning classes, climbed the stairs to my room for lunch break only to receive a phone call telling me I was 10 minutes late for a class I was not aware I had -- I lost it. I was angry I was late for something I didn't know I was supposed to do, I was frustrated that the schedule is constantly changing, I was irritated that I had another class added to my schedule without letting me know, much less receiving my consent. And I'm embarrassed to say I had a little temper tantrum. I silently fumed all the way to my new class(18ish yo International students from Mongolia), and I loudly grumbled all the way back. But newsflash, Kelsey: You're in China.

daily workout routine: stairs and "head, shoulders, knees and toes"

Living on the 5th floor, I really hope the amount of stairs I climb daily will even out my fairly excessive caloric intake. Rice isn't healthy when it's loaded with oily fried food! And that's the only way I eat it. In addition to the stair climbing, rousing games of "head, shoulders, knees and toes" (yes game, not song, these kids are competetive) are really helping me get in my exercise.

In other news, my floors have all been mopped twice, although they still look filthy. Ill probably give it another go today. Half of the appliances are now working, only the bedroom AC and the leaky sink need to be repaired now. Repairs completed: main room AC, leaky water heater, leaky drinking water cooler, replaced power strip.

Tomorrow morning we leave early to take the train to Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province. In Shijiazhuang we get to re-do all of the medical examination crap and paper work! Hooray for more time and blood given to a hospital. At least the school is paying, although we have to shell out the massive fee of 5 dollars a piece for the train tickets.

It seems to be an issue that I didn't bring my diploma. The diploma that is beautifully dry-mounted, framed, and hanging on the wall in Houston. Nope. I looked into ordering a duplicate but I was told processing could take 12 weeks, and shipping another 6-8. So who knows, maybe I won't get my residence permit, and my trip will be cut short. I can't seem to get a straight answer.

Getting a straight answer isn't exactly easy though. Other things I can't seem to get a straight answer on: getting a bike, getting a calendar, getting a finalized schedule, curriculum, books, what I'm actually supposed to be teaching, how serious they are about the 10pm curfew (the previous CIEE teachers said very serious), and many many more subjects.

Also, I don't seem to be getting accustomed to the constant and pervasive urine odor. What method are we using in the US that counteracts this, and can we possibly suggest it to China?

All in all, things are going pretty well. Oh except for the fact that my plans to head to Beijing for what I thought was a long weekend have possibly been thwarted. My schedule is such (I thought) that I have every other Friday off. It perfectly lined up for a four day weekend (I thought) because Monday is a huge holiday here (Mid-Autumn Festival -- I had better go buy some Moon Cakes, and preferably the kind without red bean paste). Last night I was informed that yes, I do in fact have off Monday (and Tuesday!) buuuut, am working Friday and Saturday to make up. So we'll see how that turns out.

If you don't have me on skype, add me, I would love to hear from you! kels974
Also, round 1 of postcards should be leaving in a week or two, so email me (kelseykadams@gmail.com), fb me, or leave me your address here so I can send you one.

food food food

It seems like my China experience revolves around food.

So Friday after discovering I'm a terrible teacher, I had an uneventful night. Stayed in, convinced myself I would unpack, organize and clean, and then did none of the above.

Hannah, John and Felice in
front of their Uni

navigating the dirty street

Felice's apt building

some street food

Saturday afternoon Jesse and I met Felice, Hannah, and another foreign teacher from their school at their apartments. They teach at the Agricultural University of Hebei (i think?) and are in a much more central, busy location. We walked along their street, where clothing, shoes, street food and a variety of other junk was being hawked. We stopped at a Western style coffee shop and had ice cream (I had a hot fudge sundae just like mickey-D's. man was that good!). We checked out Felice's apartment (only about 3 times bigger than ours, and about 100 times less supervised.) Met another teacher from their school -- Maggie -- who it turns out taught at A&M the first year I was there! Small world, huh?

Felice and some Sichuan
food. Yum!

the walk way on the
street past my school

Then, we acted on Maggie's recommendation and the five of us (4 CIEE-ers and Maggie) went to eat at an amazing Sichuan place. We must have ordered well because there wasn't one dish we didn't all love. Of course, the oily, spicy, delicious dishes my taste buds love aren't the ones my digestive system loves, so I need to find a happy medium there. Then me and Jesse, worrying about our 10pm curfew (even though it was nowhere near 10 pm) grabbed a cab back to the EBS (eastern bilingual school).

so  many kinds of ramen

the park (DFM park i
think)

Sunday morning I really tried to sleep in, but was unsuccessful. Jesse and I had been planning to meet up with the other CIEE-ers at a big park a couple kilometers away a little after lunch. We decided we would walk, so we left a bit early to explore the area around us. It only took us about 20 min, not a bad walk at all, so we were there earlier than expected. It was a beautiful day, and the park was really lovely. Clean, well maintained, huge, and mostly empty.

cheesy lobster chips
anyone?

Underneath the park is a huge shopping center. Giant supermarket (which was an adventure in itself), clothing stores, and much more. We got a couple groceries and walked back to EBS.

I took a nap, worked a little on lesson planning, and then we left again at 5 to cab it over to the Agricultural University people's area. I need to figure out what part of town that's in exactly, and street names. We had decided to have donkey for dinner, since Baoding is known for it, so we headed to a popular local chain restaurant known specifically for its donkey meat. We all (all the foreign teachers incl. John, Maggie, Dennis, a Japanese teacher who's name I can't remember, Dennis' Chinese gf, another american guy, and the 4 CIEE-ers) braved the donkey burgers (kind of like a pulled pork sandwich on fresh hot bread). They were pretty delicious, not gonna lie I'll probably be eating that again. Then we treated ourselves to more ice cream (not a good habit...). Then it was back home where I was in bed by 10.

Back to Teaching

Today I'm half way through my classes. They are going a little bit better thanks to many tips from Felice, and so many other people (keep them rolling in, folks).  I need to get so many more materials -- speakers for playing songs, posters and pictures and other visuals, i need to find a place I can print handouts, and I need markers or crayons, etc.


One of the most difficult things for me is that I'm teaching 20 classes of about 40 students (not including kg which I haven't gotten a schedule for). That is 800 students! I see each class for only 40 minutes, once a week. How am I supposed to learn students names and assess their level when I have so little time and so many faces!

view from my window

Names is another interesting thing. Many have already been given English names by past teachers, but many have asked me to give them one. The ones that already have names can be called anything from Bacon, Yellow, Grease, Juicy, to Tom, Peter, Paul, and John. I've been taking inspiration from people I know in naming them, so my classes have many Jims, Tims, Toms, Mikes, Marks, Carsons, Kristens, Sarahs, etc.

view from my room

Small victories is the name of the game

I think the thing that helps me through uncertainty the most is winning those small victories every day. Successfully ordering a meal I enjoy and the drink of my choice. Being able to understand the answer to a question asked in mostly mangled Chinese. Learning a new word, using it, and having it understood. Not getting terribly lost on a short trip.

I could not have been packaged off to Baoding, China, and kept my mental state (mostly) intact without taking pride in every tiny little completed accomplishment, without recognizing every minute blessing (and the huge ones), and without trying to enjoy enjoy every small step.

I am no where near the end of this journey. I am nowhere near reaching my goals. But I am where I am because of everything that's happened along the way, and I'm going to do my best to enjoy it.

Acclimating or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the calm

After my first night alone in Baoding with only my frayed wits, things got better quickly. The next morning (thursday) Jesse and I met our waiban at 9am and had a school driver take us into the city. Li (our waiban) told us we were in an area where the foreigners lived, a more affluent area with big hotels. We didn't see any foreigners. We went to the Bank of China and opened up new accounts for depositing our salaries. It didn't take as long as I expected, and with Li's help, all I really had to do was sign on the dotted lines and let them photocopy my passport.

Before long we were shopping for a shouji (cell phone). The cheapest available was a pretty basic no frills LG phone for ¥268 ($42). Then ¥50 for the sim card and minutes. Next was cleaning essentials, bath towels, and some other miscellaneous goodies. We found ourselves in a huge store similar to a carrefourre or a walmart. Prices reflected that, but we knew it was probably the only place we would be able to find some of the stuff we needed. We spent about 300 cny each, and then stopped to grab some delicious beef noodles on the way out. Then it was taxi time back to our new homes.

Jesse was a busy bee that afternoon while i slacked off, which is why his floors are now mopped, his clothing hanging nicely in the wardrobe, and his bathroom door is pleasantly free of bird shit (yeah, that was actually an issue he faced). Tonight I will finish all that. 

We had been acting under the assumption we were going to do all the medical crap fri (today), but it turns out the trains were booked. Instead we were told we would be having class. Despite the fact that we have received neither books nor curriculum, and didn't even get a class schedule until this morning.

Then there was today.

Yeah, teaching. ha. haha. I don't want to dwell on how bad a teacher I am, so I won't. And fingers crossed I will improve soon.

I had five classes varying from 1st to 4th grade, and only the 4th graders knew any English at all (and it wasn't much). They were all very enthusiastic about saying hello though. I felt like a celebrity in the hall, and I'm quite sure every student has said hello to me about 15 times. I may have mentioned that Jesse and I are the only foreigners at this school (it's a boarding school), and one of very few in Baoding. The kids are very sweet. I haven't had kindergarten yet because the schedule hasn't been made, but it should be interesting when I do.

The name of the school is Baoding Eastern Bilingual School (if you're interested in hunting it down on the map, you'll have to copy paste: 中国河北省保定东二环166 号). Here is a map showing Baoding in relation to the rest of the country a little.

View Larger Map
It's been only a short time, and I'm by no means settled in but I am getting there. I feel more comfortable with my surrounding, with the people I'm working with, and hopefully soon also with the students. Things have been hectic, but I've started to have downtime, and I've had a chance to retreat to my own space (what a luxury!) and process everything that's happened, and that will happen. I know I'm going to have curve balls thrown at me from now until the day I leave, but I know I can deal with it, and I know there are people here to help me. 

Anyway, to my family and friends back home, I miss you all, and wish you were here to experience this with me. 

Onwards to Baoding, Hebei

Ok wrapping up orientation:

The last day consisted of our usual survival language lessons. Then met with our lesson planning classes, and went to a debriefing by Kelvin, our ever cheerful and wonderful program coordinator. I wish I had gotten a picture with him. We went over departure times for the next morning, and some other info.

Lunch rolled around about 12:30 and there was an optional walking tour of the city. I believe it went to the art street area, and I'm a little ashamed to say I opted for a nap instead of seeing the city. I hate to waste an opportunity like that, but jetlag was still getting the best of me, and the busy week was taking its toll. The nap was wonderful if it counts for anything.

That night we had a fancy group dinner at the hotel. I couldn't tell you what my favorite dish was, but there was a lot of deliciousness. After dinner we had the good fortune to experience a magic show by Felice (who was placed in Baoding with me, actually, at a different school). It was awesome, as I've come to expect from her.

By this time in the week, my clothing and other bag contents had basically taken over my hotel room (still no roommate). So i had a fun time gathering them, refolding everything, and squeezing it all back in to my bags to head to the airport at 9 the next morning.

The Airport

We flew into PVD (Pudong) at the beginning of this adventure, but now we were leaving from Hongqiao. We left our lovely assistant (CIEE staff member Tom) to check in, and met our first obstacle. We were quite a sight, the 8 of us foreigners (4 for Baoding, 4 for Beijing on the same flight to Beijing) with our luggage stacked high on our carts, and the confusion clear on our faces. We get to the counter together, and are told that 1 bag is permitted, and under 20kg at that. Ha. With some fabulous leader-ing by Mar, and about $100 (US) per person, we were past the obstacle and heading for our gate. Everything else went smoothly.

Hello Beijing, Goodbye Beijing!

A quick flight later (2-3 hrs maybe) we arrived, collected our bags without incident (i know! amazing!), and were off. Jesse (the other CIEE student assigned to my school) and I met our contact (who spoke no English but had our names on a sign) and became separated from the group without a good bye (there were a few sniffles when i suddenly had to come to terms with the real world, rather than the Shanghai fantasy land). Luckily, they are close enough in Beijing that we will visit, so I won't worry about that too much. Then we got into a van and started the 3 hour drive to Baoding.

 first view of Baoding: somewhat underhwelming

It was hot (no AC in the car), it was humid, it was smoggy, and man was I exhausted. But we got there.

Baoding!

It was around 6 when we arrived in our new home and met our Waiban (foreign affairs office contact) Li Yanhong, and were shown to our rooms. I think they were a little stunned by the amount of crap we (ok... I) had brought.

We dumped our stuff, and were led to the dining hall. I was told (at least from what I understood through my delirium and the language barrier) that I needed to eat because the next morning I was leaving for the capital of Hebei province to redo all of my medical examinations, and I had to fast from that night until the blood was drawn. I was less than excited. We grabbed food (they had the cook keep some food warm in the dining hall from us, even though dinner was over.)

the water cooler was
really unexpected and
awesome =]

Left to my own devices that night, I freaked out. I wrote out a lot of what I was feeling:

"the word of the day is overwhelming. so beyond overwhelming. i didn't even realize how strongly i am attached to my routines. how bizarre it feels to step into a situation where i cannot communicate effectively, have no transportation, no freedom, no idea of the rules. no familiarity. i have everything i need, and much more. i have a roof, a bed, air conditioning, a water cooler, a small fridge. perhaps most comforting, i have a fellow american who can share my complete sense of helplessness, and i have the internet. i'm not cut off, i just feel like i am.

bedroom -- sorry it's
so messy

i wish i could take a picture and show you what my glasses looked like at the end of the day. i haven't touched them, but they are grimy and dirty, as is the rest of me. i need a shower, but im just not ready to delve into the world of chinese showers. not to say there's anything wrong with them, i just need the time to process a few other glaring oddities and curveballs first. plus i just used my only towel to mop up the water that keeps inexplicably pooling under the fridge. note: chinese showers involve a bathroom with a drain in the floor, and a shower hose. there is no separate area for showering and using the toilet, in fact they can now be done simultaneously. and with the help of the bathroom mirror, i hear the typical male chinese shower occupant can shave as well, completing the trifecta of 's's (shit, shave and shower). every man's dream?" For the record: the shower was totally fine. The water was delightfully hot, and the water pressure was surprisingly good. It's still a little strange though, and i haven't mastered the art of not getting everything on the bathroom counter soaked. and no cabinets or anything. Ok back to what i wrote the other day:

"i discovered a brand of chinese snack crackers that taste exactly like ritz bits.

i have a curfew of 10pm.

the bathroom!

i'm not used to the noises (the toilet -- unfamiliar in itself -- is constantly running, the water heater is gurgling, the water cooler bubbling, the building creaks and footsteps put me on edge), the smells, the sights, the feel of being constantly dirty, or the interactions. i have it so much better than any local in my position (teaching); higher salary, better accomodations (and free), but i still am craving the comforts of home.

i feel as though i have so many obstacles to deal with tomorrow. getting a calendar. asking what age i'm teaching. getting text books and creating a lesson plan. finding somewhere (with the help of my FAO/ Waiban) to print passport pictures. finding meals. navigating campus. putting money on my meal card. figuring out where the bugs that keep falling on me are coming from. buying trashbags, cleaning supplies, dishes, a pillowcase without blood stains (at least they provided the one set), and so much more. groceries -- a whole other obstacle. i dont know what most produce sold here is, much less how to prepare it. i dont know what the kitchen situation is. i have to go to the capital of the province by train to go to a major hospital to redo all the medical evaluations i enjoyed doing so much a couple months ago. bloodwork, x rays, ekg, chest xray. all of which i already provided and paid for, now i get to pay for it again. our waiban is also resistant to sending someone with us. i dont know how she expects us to successfully get to the city (a place i don't even know the name of right now) alone. she asked us if we would prefer an escort, to which we pretty emphatically confirmed. she hemmed and hawed, and said we'll discuss it later, which is the closest to a straight no i've ever received from the chinese. note: saving face is so important in this culture. they will not come out and say no to anything. protip: never ask for directions. it is completely useless. even if the individual has no idea what you're talking about, or where said place is, they will enthusiastically tell you exactly which direction to head in to save face.

so far we've met nobody that speaks english fluently. our waiban has very good english, but there are still major communication gaps at times. it will be impossible for me not to improve my chinese.

it is so hot and muggy and the smog was terrible. i think it will begin cooling down soon. i suppose i was mislead about Baoding being a "health city". maybe tomorrow will be more clear. drove through a lot of agriculture to get here. didn't see much if any of the city. so many questions still. a lot of anxiety, and lot of emotion.

arrived and immediately met the waiban, took our bags to our rooms (fifth floor of the foreign experts building.) we are next to each  other which is nice. then were told about needing to redo medical crap, but we couldnt do it tomorrow because we didnt bring 8 passport photos (waiban was frustrated) but we were never told to. we had no previous contact with the school. then she collected our passports, took us to the dining hall to grab some food which i still haven't touched but didn't look too bad. rice and a dish with green beans and maybe tofu, and a couple other options. they kept it open for us which was nice, and said that we needed to load our meal cards with money for next time, but this one was free. then brough the food back (overflowing little plastic to go container which has already made a mess that i have nothing to use to clean up. i need trash bags. brought the food to the rooms but then had to go put a deposit and buy a bottle of water for the water cooler. enjoyed carrying that sucker up 5 flights of stairs (ok i only carried it 3 floors then jesse took it).

the computer teacher (another asian woman. everyone we've met or seen so far has been an asian woman mid 20s ish except the waiban who is closer to 40 i'd say) came to hook up our internet. maybe she had never encountered linux because she was a bit baffled. that took a little work but it got sorted thankfully, and yay internet.

so so much. sensory overload. emotional overload. "

Anyway wow I have a lot to say, and I have to head to classes now, so I will finish and be up to date (!) hopefully by tonight.