I'm back!

I'm back in the States.  I'll be switching back to my old xanga now that I'm back.

Stay tuned for updates at www.xanga.com/poledra .  I'm going back to school so I'll have lots of time to xanga!

Bryanne

Wow, it's been ages since I've updated.

My time in China is coming to an end so quickly.  As of today, I have 5 weeks and 2 days left in China.  *sniff sniff* I will definitely miss it here.  The food, the people...

What have I been up to?  Just the same old stuff, which is probably why I haven't updated this whole semester.  I have been able to spend more time with students since I don't have to spend as much time lesson planning as I did before. I've been playing badminton a lot more this month. I will definitely need to find some hard core badminton players when I go back to the States so I can maintain what little ability I have acquired.

I wish I could upload some pictures, but alast dial up is too slow for that.  Y'all will have to wait until I get back to the States.  When I'm a student again I'll have tons of time to surf the internet and post pictures! I can't wait!

Hello everyone!

Just got back from a wonderful vacation in China!  Let me just say that China is a very beautiful country!  If you have the time (and money) to spare, definitely visit me in China! =)

We were travelling from 1-14 to 2-5 so there is too much to tell.  I'll just give a quick overview of the vacation like last year's.

Haerbin: ****
I loved it here!  It was COLD!  I believe it was -20 degrees Celsius or so when we were there.  For those of you who have no idea where it is, it's way up north.  Parallel with Siberia.  It's famous for the ice sculptures and the Ice Lantern Festival!  I wore about 6 layers and felt comfortable.  The only bad thing was that my camera battery died too fast from the cold so I don't have too many pictures.  My cheeks and ears also burned because those were the parts that actually saw sunlight in Haerbin.  =)

Scenery was great and there was really good ice cream at a cafe, they also sold popsicles out on the street...no freezer necessary.  Only bad thing is that we got conned in Haerbin. So sad...ah well. that was the only time on vacation.  Not too bad.

Shenyang & Benxi: ************ (out of a 5 star scale)
This was even better than Haerbin. The scenery was gorgeous, but I could walk around without gloves and my jacket didn't have to be zipped up and I only wore 4-5 layers!

Beijing: ***
There wasn't much to do in Beijing since I had done all the toursity stuff before.  I did get treated to an absolutely unbelievable Korean dinner. It probably had 12 courses or soething.  Each course was tiny and they would pace the dinner so I didn't feel like I gorged myself. Also had free housing because Sarah has a friend who lives there. Got my fill of Breadtalk and Starbucks.  WE did a lot of relaxing here.  Ate, watched movies, got a foot massage, and slept.

Qingdao: **
The scenery is great in Qingdao. Just not in the winter.  It was pretty dead in Qingdao.  The stores closed super early and the scenery wasn't that great.  The only cool thing about Qingdao is the extremely cheap hotel we got. Also, we met Lily on the train (she was the other person in our soft sleeper compartment) and we met up with her and ate dinner. 

Most interesting thing: We arrived in Qingdao at 5:30am, and Sarah and I stood in line to get train tickets to Nanjing until 10am (I'll have to check the time, but I"m pretty sure it was almost 5 hours).  Also, there were these security guards that were super cool because they wouldn't let ANYBODY (well, ok, the soldiers were allowed to cut) cut in line!  They were my heroes until the mean one tried to pull me out of line because I was standing next to Sarah instead of behind her. After that I was too scared of them to admire them!

Nanjing: *****
We were sad because we wanted to stay in Nanjing for 2 days, but because of the ticket situation we could only stay for 6 hours or so. Spent  the whole day in a park and it was GORGEOUS! Left me with an awesome impression of Nanjing. We're planning on going back around April.  Also got to see Karen (the tourguide from my China trip in 2003).

Huang Shan: *****
Scenery was awesome!  A bit too cloudy, but it was beautiful to see the snow on the mountains. Tanisha, Emily, and Viola advised us to buy the ice shoes and we are so glad we did!  it wasn't super slippery throughout the whole hike, but there were some moments that were really scary.  Ate good food in Huang Shan too!

Going there in the off-season so awesome. No crowd, cheaper prices, and snow scenery!

Shanghai: ***
Visited Uncle Andy, Auntie Kathy, and Jane.  It was good to visit them however brief it was.  Free housing in Shanghai provided by the Yuans. That was awesome. Treated to an awesome fireworks show by our friendly neighbors in Shanghai.  Relaxed...

Hong Kong: *****
Visited Auntie Laylung, Becky, Wai, Yee Ma, and Monica. Ate TONS of food. (I seriously think I gained weight!) Tried to go to the Hong Kong Disneyland, but couldnt' because of the ticketing fiasco.  Ate 3 buffets, stayed out til midnight or later each night.  Visited the AWESOME Hong Kong Museum of History! Truly awesome! I dont' think I've ever been to a cooler museum!  If you go to Hong Kong, you must go there!

And now I'm back in Nanchang...

Well, the semester has finally come to an end.  The closing ceremony was very, VERY anticlamtic.  We had originally planned to have it on Friday and that's what we told all our students, but Monica (our Foreign Affairs Officer) wanted to invite Mr. Yang (the head of personnel) and so we had to bump it up to Thursday when he was available.  The result was that only half of the students were there.  So there were many that we didn't get to say good bye to or take pictures with. =( 

On a happy note, we were done one day early! Yay!

Tomorrow I'm heading up to Haerbin where I will get to experience subzero temperatures! Hurray!  Probably the minute I arrive I will finally understand why people hate the cold.  As it is, i'm looking forward to it! From Haerbin we'll be travelling south back home.  I'm hoping to hit Qindao, Suzhou, Nanjing, and Dalian along the way. We'll see. iT is all dependant on the availability of train tickets.

I'll try to update when I get back on February 9th or so.

I was inspired to rewrite the lyrics to the Christms Song.  You know, the lyrics begin with Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

Hopefully this will give you alittle taste of life in Nanchang.  Too bad only my teamates can truly appreciate it. =)

Nanchang Christmas 2005

Chestnuts cooking in a Chinese wok,

Jack hammers drilling up above.

Jingle Bells being played in Wal-mah.

Folks dressed up like Eskimos.

Everybody knows that Wal-mah has central heating.

And you must go there to keep worm.

Tiny tots bundled up like marshmallows,

Will find it hard to walk ¡®til March.

We know that cold is on its way.

Maybe snow, and definitely rain.

And so to survive this winter we will drink

Lots of hot cocoa and bundle up.

And so, I¡¯m offering this simple phrase

To all of us freezing in Nanchang.

Although it¡¯s different than the Christmas you know,

Merry Christmas to you!