A new post...FINALLY!

I have been a little behind in posting- my apologies (ann). A lot has been going on this past month and I have lacked the energy to think of anything to write about. I am going to break down the events of the past month into a couple of blog posts in order to cover all the different highlights haha

Last month, Abbie arrived from the U.S to join me in teaching at the University here. She is the latest foreigner to grace the city of Tianjin (and I am glad another young lady joined the teaching staff so we are not as outnumbered hehe). I think she is handling herself well and is adapting to the culture change. We have been pretty busy exploring the city and traveling around- actually headed to Beijing in the beginning of the month (more on that in another post).

My students this term are as lovely as ever. In an interesting twist, I was given graduate students to teach this term. I love how this university feels that I am qualified to teach the graduate level students...definitely putting that on my resume!! One of the best things about teaching here another term is that I can re-do my lesson plans and create even more exciting activities and discussions for class ((if only I did not have student loans, I would totally love this as a permanent profession)).

When I was back in the States for the holiday, I went to my mother's school and had her 13 year old students ask a questions for my chinese students to answer. Some questions included: "What is the one child policy about?" "Do you eat dog?" "Where do you like to shop?" etc... I loved the 'eat dog' question, because it is something you assume about China. My students are currently in the process of creating a video response that I will send back with my mother for her students to watch. The chinese students LOVE this direct question and answer session lesson plan, because they actually get to 'converse' with foreigners in a way... this gives them the opportunity to ask the all important question about american culture- "Is life like the 'Gossip Girls'?!?"

China doesn't have plows...it has people

It snowed last night in Tianjin, the evening before classes were set to begin. As I was showing Abbie around the campus today, I kept seeing well dressed people dragging shovels behind them as they walked down the main street on the school's property. Finally we ran into someone we knew and asked where everyone was off to-- Apparently the teachers and faculty had to all grab a shovel and help with the clearing of the snow! (I do not think that would go over too well back in the states) No need for machine power when you can use MAN power.