My first Chinese Massage!!

When you think of "Chinese Massage" a lot of things pass through your head as to what techniques they would use, how good it is and so on. I had NO idea what to expect last night when one of the other teachers, John from Kansas, suggested that we go get foot and body massages, and a thing called "cupping" which involves taking a glass cup and placing it on your back and removing the oxygen with a flame, so it sucks to your body and "removes toxins". I'm not sure about that, but it did give me EPIC bruises over my back. It looks like I got hickeys from a shark. To top it off, it was 158 Yuan or $23 for about 2 and a half hours of work. wow.

Facebook is dead

I can't access Facebook from China because of the racial fighting in the North West province. Super.

So today is the beginning of what will surely be some of the hardest work days I have ever experienced. I will not have a single day off, pending heart attack or swine flu, untill August 23rd. Yippee! 236 hours of classroom time between now and then. Eesh. I hope that kids and I don't kill each other. Wish me luck.

Where is the Bicycle Shop?

Yesterday I had the whole day off and to myself, so I decided I would try and find a bicycle shop and buy some things so I could do home repair if I needed to. So I left the house around eleven and took the 316 bus towards where I guessed the bike shop was. (the only directions I got was "It's close to the Navy Museum") OK, so I headed out that way.

After about 45 min on the same bus, I came to what I believed to be close to my goal. I got off and walked over a retaining wall and saw Beach No. 1, with 1000s of patrons. I also saw the "Navy Museum" about a mile back down the beach. oops, overshot my goal.

I took a stroll down the famous Qingdao Pier and then headed off toward the museum.

I was walking and sight-seeing for a good hour and a half and suddenly I looked up and there it was!! The Bike Shop, right in front of me!! I went in and the super nice guy named Chin, who spoke English, helped me get what I needed. I felt like a million bucks at this point. A huge sense of accomplishment indeed. I then went down and around to the lighthouse island, Xiaoqingdao Park, and took some pics of the Navy Ships and the city from a distance. By this time it was around 2:30 pm. I then back tracked to the bike shop and decided that I was ready to go home. Time to look for a bus stop. Ummm. no where close. So I began walking away from where I started and came across Beach No. 2, again packed with people, Tonnes of them. I meandered through the boardwalk and vendors, had my picture taken a few times. Finally finding the bus stop around 3:30 pm. Got on and got home around 4pm, just before rush hour. Whew, what a day for just a bike shop.

Soooo, yesterday was spent mostly in bed kicking my little cold. With lots of rest and psuedoephedrine I feel tip top. Went back to the night market in Taidong, rode the bus all the way there and back for a whopping $0.60, about 1 hour round trip. Always fun. Today, I worked out and am about to go to work and teach "TPR1" which is a fancy word for "5 year old." Tomorrow, I have two, three hour classes, both are high school students, it might be disaster or really fun. The "Wind of May" is what is in the picture. enjoy.

Your Future!! (in 13 hours)

Today I went and worked out at the Gym, only $90 for a six month membership. Crazy Cheap! When I got home, Nathan and his lady,Sissi wanted to go eat Hot Pot (a chain resturaunt done similar to a Fondue). While we were out we saw this person (above) toting way too much stuff on a bike. Oh China, when will you learn.

Tonight I had my private tutoring w Jasmine. That's going great and is nice for the extra change in the pocket.

I have a small head cold and want to kick it as soon as possible so it doesnt grow into a monster!

Bowling

Last night, we (the American/Canadian teachers) all went bowling, SOOOOOO fun. We were the only people in the place and it was a nice taste of home.