viet freakin nam!

I haven't blog in almost a year....shame on me.  Well, i survived a full year of teaching history at a crappy school.  Wow.....I had to put up a fight about way too many things.  I survived due to awesome co workers :)  I am now moving onto bigger and better things......a new country and a new school.  I am super grateful to have gotten this new opportunity in my life.

I am currently in Cali for the summer and then I will swing by Shanghai to pick up my things....then Da Nang, Vietnam.  I can't wait!!  Beach life for me :)

 My new playground :)

 I really like this quote!!

back into the swing of a real teaching job

quick update:
taught k-2 esl for a month this summer.....quite torturous!
went to the philippines for 2 weeks...much needed break from reality and china.
got switched from 2nd grade to highschool social science.
now i am teaching:  us history, us gov, econ, ancient history, modern history and world geo.
got my iphone jacked out of my purse while listening to music on it...lame!

yup i am the ONLY highschool social science teacher.  it was a bumpy start due to our business manager trying to now pay us and me being given NOTHING to start my classroom.  but, now we are heading into week 4 and i am into the swing of things. i have missed teaching history so much!  i am grateful to be back into my subject area.  i know that i can only move onto to a better international school after this year is done!

my dad will be here in 3 weeks..craziness.  we will be headed to beijing for 3 of the days he is here...stoked!

i am planning on coming back to mv for xmas....about 10 days. i still need to buy my plane ticket.  i can't believe that when i go back it will be a year and a half since i left.  insane!

m50

i haven't had a new blog in about 2 months...i am lame, i know.  last monday was dragon boat festival.  erik and i both had the day off.  we were bummed bc it was raining all day...but we finally left the house and headed out to m50.  m50 is an art district in shanghai.  some of the studios were closed due to the holiday...but enough were open to check it out.  my favorite part was the graffiti wall...so colorful!

china pavilion

the expo has been done for almost 6 months now....but the china pavilion is still open daily.  i have realized that i have been hibernating all winter long. i forget how much there is to do in this city...but the coldness has kept me inside and unmotivated.  plus, i have been subbing at the international schools on my days off....so i havent had a lot of spare time.  this weekend i decided to say no to subbing...i needed some sanity and i needed to catch up on sleep!

today erik and i and his friend susan met up and went to the china pavilion.  we didnt think the lines would be long...boy were we wrong!

china pavilion

lines, lines and more lines

chinese ppl are not very patient waiting in line....we saw ppl trying to rush the front, cut, etc

so close, yet so far away!  we waited about 2 hrs total

shanghai apartment, 1978

shanghai apartment, 1988

shanghai apartment, 1998

shanghai apartment, 2008

shanghai apartment, 2008

really cool painting that also had moving parts to it

cute lil girl

view of the city.....gross day out

child art work

as the water falls, chinese characters (letters) appear

concept car...runs on CO2

taking the escalator down...leave the pavilion

so many ppl!

Adventure in Southern Thailand

Ahhh vacation.....seriously the countdown for this trip has been going since the end of Novemeber when Erik and I bought our plane tickets to go to Thailand.  The thought of a warm, sunny place for our trip was no question when we were deciding where to spend our week off for Chinese New Year.  This winter has been so freakin cold in Shanghai.  Yes, last year I worked in the mountains, but it was always sunny, blue skies, even if there was snow on the ground.  And I think having a lot of snow on the ground makes it okay to be cold.  Shanghai has just been cold, dismal, grey skies, windy...blah!  It's hard to motivate yourself to do things after work when the weather is such crap.

Okay, moving on to Thailand!  We worked all day Monday the 31st......brought our backpacks to work and all.  After our last class we quickly changed into our clothes, ditches our heavy winter jackets and took a cab to the airport bus station.  The takes about 45 min to get to the airport and is sooooo much cheaper than taking a cab!  Our flight was about 4..5 hrs to Bangkok...we tried to sleep on the flight...but it was not so comfy.  We arrived in Bangkok around 2 am, cleanred customs and then took turns sleeping.  Well, let me rephrase that...Erik mostly slept the entire time.  Around 4 am we deicded to get some food, so we got some pad thai.....so yummy!  People were asleep all over the airport, it was pretty entertaining.  After we ate, we were finally able to check in for our next flight to Phuket.  We bought our tickets seperately to get to Phuket so we had to wait to get our boarding passes.  We only brought lil backpaks with us so we didn't have to worry about checking luggage.  We got our boarding passes and found an area to sleep in for a bit. 

We got into Phuket around 730 am.  As we were descending, I looked out the window and was so excited to see clear water, green mountains and palm trees.  I immediately knew this vacation was going to be awesome!  We had a driver from our hotel come pick us up...ya we are fancy, hahahaha.  The drive took about an hr, but there was so much to see.  They drive on the opposite side of the road in Thailand...which I did not know....this will come into play later when we get a motorbike.  Driving around we noticed a giant Buddhist influence, obcession with their king(giant pics of his everywhere) and lot's of tiny lil gas stations (bottles of gas!)  We got to our lil guesthouse around 930 am.  Our room wasn't ready....so we were able to change our clothes downstairs in a room and leave our bags.  We had them get a motorbike for us for the week....so cheap!  We took the motorbike to explore the town and to get over to the dive shop Erik had been in touch with.  Once we were on the main road, I have to quickly remind Erik that we needed to drive on the opposite side of the road..it took a lil getting used to.  We found the dive shop.  Erik organized a beach dive with him and then we booked a day on a boat to go out to the Phi Phi islands.  Erik will dive and I will snorkel...ya ya ya..I am a wimp and I am still not certiifed to dive!  After everything was sorted at the dive shop we headed down the street to get lunch....we were starving!  We decided that for each meal we would always get pad thai......yum yum yum!  I got cocunut juice..which came in a coconut and Erik got pineapple juice...good stuff.  After lunch we went back to our place, moved our stuff in and got ready for the beach.  I could not wait to get to the beach and take a nap.  The water was amazing and it felt so good to have sand on my toes and sun on me!  The water was warm...but not too warm and for sure felt amazing.  Looking around on the beaches.....everyone was sooooo tan......like miami jewish grandma tan (yes i can say this b/c that is how my grandma was!) and everyone in town is from Russia....so crazy.  Signs were in Russian, English and Thai.  After the beach we relaxed in our room and then headed out to dinner in town.  All the restaurants are open air....so nice!  We went to a bar after dinner and had a few beers...nothing like watching hookers work their magic and getting killed by mosquitos.  I don't know why mosquitos like me so much...blah!

Wednesday Erik did a beach dive for a few hours and I just wandered around town, ate breakfast and chilled on the beach.  People watching is so awesome!  We wandered around town and relaxed the rest of the day.  At night we took the scooter up to Patong Beach...about 30 min away.  This town is giant....well...giant compared to where we were staying.  There were tons of bars, hookers, ladyboys, shops, restaurants, etc.  For sure glad we were only going there for dinner...I don't think I would have liked staying in this town.  We bought some cheap Thai rum and made some drinks and chilled out on our balcony for the rest of the night.

Thursday we got up bright and early to catch the boat to Koh Phi Phi Islands.  It was super windy and one of the engines stopped working about 20 min into the journey...so we had to turn around.  We were not too happy about this.  One of the main reasons you go to southern Thailand is to go to the Phi Phi Islands.  We went back to the dive shop and we were able to rearrange things and take the boat out on Friday instead.  We went to lunch and then decided to go zipling for the afternoon.  I have been ziplining in Costa Rica, but it was fun to go again.  We took a truck about an hr away from where we were staying.  There were only 7 of us in ther group which was awesome b/c then we didn't have to wait forever to go.  One of the cables was super long, so the lady told me to video while I was going....so cool!  We met 3 guys from Iran that were in our group.  We had a really interesting conversation with them on our drive back to our hotel areas.  Really cool guys and I learned alot talking to them!  We got back from ziplining and made it in time to watch the sunset on the beach.  Oh how I have missed my sunsets!!!!!  We went to dinner in Kata Beach, about 10 min up the road and walked around.

Friday....we made it to Koh Phi Phi.  It took us about an hour on the speed boat to get to our first dive site.  I was paired up with a woman from Shanghai...random.  She was a great snorkel buddy.  We saw nemo fish, jelly fish, angel fish, turtles, a shark! and many other fist.  The water was pretty clear!  Erik went on two dives.  We got to see the beach where they filmed the beach....very cool...but too many boats.  The boat set up a lunch fo us on a lil bbeach....very quiet and beautiful.  the water was so clear and warm!  I was in heaven the whole time.  Everyone needs to go here!!!!  It felt so peaceful and calming to be in the water again ;)  We even saw dolphins when we were heading back to Chalong Harbor!  We were able to take showers when we got back to our guest house and then we went to have our last dinner in town.  We will for sure miss all the yummy Thai food...and its so cheap!

All in all a great trip and a nice break from reality.  We tried to extend our ticket in Bangkok, but we couldn't.........back to work!

chinese new year=vacation!

as u all know...my job owns my soul.  never thought i would be in a teaching job where i would barely get any vacations.  anyways...this week is chinese new year......so i am off to southern thailand with my friend erik.  we are flying into bangkok tonight, 6 hr layover...then off to phuket in the morning.  i cant even wait to feel the warm sun on my white body.  this will be a much needed break from reality.  happy year of the rabbit!

2010 in review

nye 2010:  spent new years at joe and alexa's apartment in carlsbad.  enjoyed drinks, mexican food, wii and good company.

jan:  missed 2 weeks of work due to massive snow in the canyon

feb:  snow snow and more snow at work
got offered a job in shanghai, started paperwork

march:  cousin jaime was in town for work....went out to fancy tea

april:  many trips
hung out with kristin and her fam in virginia beach, drove up to dc to hang out with cousin jaime and cousin ryan
weekend trip to lake mead/colorado river..camping and canoeing
met english kamran in vegas for a pre bday celebration
turned 30!

may:  closed another chapter in my life....finished working at outdoor science school.  no matter how much i bitch about that job...i loved everyone i worked with and i learned a lot.
spent a weekend in san fran for bay to breakers
6 week countdown to moving to shanghai
completed couch to 5k running program
taught swim lessons
got my visa taken care of in la
memorial day weekend:  on jackie's boat

june:  amanda and shelly came into town.  we participated in the hurricane olympics
world cup watching
packing, organizing my life
keith and mary came into town
june 23......got on a plane to shanghai

july:  signed a one year contract with disney english and decided to stay in shanghai
moved into my apartment

aug:  took a 2 day trip with tara to hangzhou...first trip outside of shanghai
said goodbye to my awesome summer camp friends

sept: teaching, exploring, sight seeing, sweating

oct: teaching, exploring, sight seeing, sweating
traveled to vietnam:  hanoi and halong bay with tara and ben.  amazing trip

nov:  2 day trip to nanjing with some friends from work
sage comes to visit during thanksgiving week!

dec:  started subbing at an international high school
city decorated for christmas
dec 15- first snow of the season in shanghai
spent christmas working, then dinner with friends, watched elf and then skyped my parents
first christmas away from my family
been in shanghai for 6 months

new years 2011:spent new years eve at teppanyaki and then to a bar.  no fire works, no countdown...kind of weird.

happy 2011....come visit me..i will be here for a few years.

first snow of winter

i woke up this morning....well at 1230 b/c its my day off....and i looked outside and saw snow falling.  ahhh.  the forecast had said it might snow, but i didn't believe them.  my friend erik and i went to get lunch and then went around and ran a few errands.  we took his scooter...the snow was now falling harder after lunch.  the snow felt like lil needles going into our faces as we drove around.  we went to see the avocado lady.  she sells imported goods for cheaper.....amazing! i got flour tortillas, cheddar cheese and 3 avocados for 70 rmb ($10)  super amazing.  i cant wait to make a quesadilla for dinner.  i am now sitting in my apartment watching the snow fall..glad today is my day off :)

here is a video from the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmgGgy1iHOA

snow on a palm tree!

a night of making dumplings

friday night was my friend alison's bday.  our friend ali invited us over to learn how to make dumplings.  the night was amazing.  we got to ali and fernando's apartment...which overlooks many lit up bars in the french concession.....and ali had made some gluwhein(spiced hot wine).  delicous!  ali's parents lived in shanghai for a bit and they had an ayi(maid) named anna.  ayi's cook, clean, do laundry, sew, pick your kids up from school, become part of the family, etc.  anna and her daughter lin lin (about my age) came over around 730 and took over the kitchen.  anna and lin lin have such sweet souls.  lin lin can speak english...even though she says she is not that good....so chinese!  anna knows a lil bit of english......when we were all chatting she would just smile and nod her head...she is soooo cute.  in the kitchen,  green onions were being chopped up and added to pork that was in a giant bowl.  after the onions were done...we moved into the living room and the table was cleared off.  the rolling of the dough was now beginning.  lin lin rolled each dumpling so fast.....and she was very kind and patient to teach us.  we then learned out to take enough meat with the chopsticks and place it in the dough and then pinch the sides to seal the dough.  mine looked pretty awful next to lin lin's and anna's.  we had quite the factory going on at the table.  making the dumplings was quite the social event.....i can see why families gather around and do this.  we had our mulled wine, flour filled hands, me taking pics, chat, music, good times for sure.  anna and lin lin were only suppose to bring the dumplings...but in true chinese generosity....they brought more.  we had eggs and tomato(very traditional dish) shrimp with veggies and then ali made some green chicken curry with veggies and sticky rice.  we also made potato latkas b/c ali is jewish as well.  we grated some potatoes and onions and fried them up....lil taste of home :) as the cooking went on, our stomachs were getting hungrier and hungrier.  we didn't get to eat until about 9 pm.......reminds me of italy :)  once dinner was finally ready.....oh the goodness that was about to be eaten.  heaven heaven heaven.  it was truly an amazing homemade meal, all in good company and yummy wine :)  i am so grateful to have a wonderful group of friends here in shanghai.  we truly had an awesome cultural experience. enjoy the pics below.

 pork and green onions

 anna and lin lin

 lin lin teaching me how to roll the dough

 megan rolling some dough

 alison's turn

 adding the filling

 pinch

 trying to look like a pro, ha

 badly shaped finished product

 back at it

 anna and i.  she is such a sweet woman

 lin lin, alison, megan and ali

 megan adding some filling

 alison starting the potato latkas

 more dumplings

 anna and lin lin cranking them out

 almost done

 my turn with the potato latkas

 eggs/tomato, shrimp and dumplings

 green chicken curry

 frying up the latkas

 dinner is finally served

HAPPY BDAY ALISON!!!!!!!!