Working for the Weekend!

I am a working girl now!! Yay ME!! After a year of not working, this has actually been a big adjustment. The first week, I was absolutely exhausted every single night. But, when I withdrew money from my very own bank account for the first time it was all worth it!! I am somebody!! hahaha :)
The job definitely has it's ups and downs. Right before the school year started, the principal was replaced with someone new. So, the first week we were supposed to report (new teachers only) everything was in disarray. They knew who the new principal would be, but he was vacationing in New Zealand and wouldn't arrive until the following week. Although decisions had already been made about the upcoming year, it was all subject to change with the turnover! We spent the first week doing nothing, and it was a total disaster. The second week, all of the returning teachers came back and everything seemed a bit more organized. We also met our new principal, who is really wonderful. The following week, our children finally reported. After two full weeks of teaching, I am beginning to get in a routine a bit more. As of right now, I only have 5 children. After the first week of October, I will have 7. I will have 3 Chinese children, 1 Australian child, 1 child from Thailand, 1 from Brazil, and 1 who has a Vietnamese mother and a father from the UK. Wow! What a mix!! This means, that only ONE of these children speaks English as a first language. This has been really difficult, and something that I will struggle with all year. Although, I have already seen some growth in them. The kids are really cute, and they truly seem to enjoy learning. I also have a cooperating teacher in my room who speaks Mandarin & some English. She is usually able to translate for me, and we get along really well.
I know this will really be an adventure for me but...I am up for it!!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I realize this is a little late, but had to fill everyone in on what a fantastic birthday I had. My birthday festivities actually kicked off 10 days before my actual birthday when Andre and my girlfriend Zar threw a surprise party for me. Let me preface this story by saying, I make it next to impossible for people to surprise me. Especially Andre...I pick up on EVERYTHING!! Plus, I ask incessent questions and want to know everything!! That being said, Andre is a terrible secret keeper. So that, combined with my being so nosy...well, you get the picture. Anyway, for several weeks the boys had been talking about having a guy's night out. So we said fine, we will have a girl's night out! With this alibi in place, Andre was able to keep secrets becuase anytime he was acting sneaky and I asked him questions, he would say..."It's official guy's business, I can't tell you!" And I would drop it without much bother, because I knew this was legit. So that Friday night I went over to Zar's and we had a few drinks and were just hanging out with a bunch of girl's. People were complaining about being hungry, and then they "spotted" this restaurant near the apartment pool and said we should go check it out. I didn't think much of it as we walked over there. As I rounded the corner to the pool, I saw a big group of people including the BOYS! My first thought was, uggghhhh...why are we crashing the guy's party??!?!! Then, I saw the huge banner that said Happy Birthday Kelly and everyone yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" We proceeded to eat and drink and have a huge pool party which was an absolute BLAST! I was totally surprised! Andre later told me that Zar had told him that if he ruined the secret she would slit his throat...it must have worked! ;)
My actual birthday weekend, we went to Hong Kong. Several of our friends from Dongguan joined us there. We went out for Mexican food on Friday night. On Saturday we hung out, then went for a Harbour Cruise at night. It was really beautiful because the skyline was all lit up, and they even did a light show to music! It was pretty impressive. After that, we went out in LKF (which is a really popular bar district and there are always a TON of foreigners). The next day we went to the champagne brunch at the Intercontinental Hotel. It was a fantastic weekend, and fun was had by all!!

What a month!!

July has come and gone leaving us hot & SWEATY!!! At the beginning of the month, I thought...it can't possibly get any hotter than it is now. Boy, was I wrong. This is the hottest, most humid weather I have ever experienced. Right now, it is 3 in the afternoon and the temperature on our sun soaked porch is reading 126.3 degrees. Last night as I was talking to my family, (who were complaining about wearing long-sleeves) the temperature was reading 101.7 degrees...at 11:30 at NIGHT!! We can't seem to get a break, and I have a feeling August has more hot weather and sweat soaked clothing in store for us!!
Ralphie still continues to adjust to his life in China. He is not a fan of the heat. We take him outside where he immediately does his business and then pulls us back to the apartment. He collapses on the floor panting, and occasionally takes dips in his water bowl when he knows we aren't watching! ;) He has made some friends here and enjoys playing with them. He still continues to be shy when we have guests over, but is warming up to some of our friends who come over frequently. He actually makes me feel like a bad Mom when he cowers away from people trying to give him treats, but then bounces around the apartment like a crazy dog when only Andre & I are here. Hopefully he will get used to everyone soon. After a month and a half, though, he still isn't used to our maid. The good thing is that he usually doesn't bark when she comes in anymore, but he still runs away from her if she gets too close for too long, or she talks to him a lot. He appears to still be freaked by the Chinese language. I am sure after a year or two of living here, he won't even understand our English anymore!! :)
I was supposed to start work on the 6th of July, which fell through at the last minute. The government mandated that all summer schools & programs close for the summer due to H1N1. Because of this, I won't start until August 17th (MY BIRTHDAY!!). This will be orientation, as the students don't start until the end of the month. I am really anxious to start, and I know I will have many fun stories and pictures to post then!!
Andre has been busy visiting factories and travels around 2 times per month. He enjoys staying busy & does not like times that are slow.
I have a week off at the end of September/beginning of October and we have just booked tickets to Malaysia. We will be staying 2 days in the city of Kuala Lumpur and then traveling to Langkawi Island to relax at the beach and spend some time snorkeling and doing some diving. We are REALLY looking forward to this vacation, and have heard some really wonderful things about Malaysia.
I will be sure to update again after my birthday. I know I will have lots to share as I start my job and we spend my last free weekend in HK with friends to celebrate the big 2-7! :)

Our Photo Page

I have created a page on Shutterfly that I will be using from now on to upload photos. If I have your e-mail address, you should have received an e-mail with the information. The address is http://andreandkelly.shutterfly.com. Continue to check back to this blog, as I will still be updating it.

Ralphie's in China!!

For those that don't know...we finally decided that we couldn't live without Ralphie any longer!! He has been staying with Andre's parents since we left in October and we have been going back and forth on whether or not to bring him since we left. However, we finally decided that we wanted to bring him back with us, and I am so HAPPY with our decision. He has been adjusting wonderfully! He was definitely sick of his cage and ready for some love (AND FOOD) when he arrived in Hong Kong, but since we arrived in Dongguan (after he got over his doggy jet-lag) he has been happy and well adjusted. He has some friends (Potter & Penny, dogs of our friends' here) and we have been walking them all daily. He is still not quite sure about our maid, but I am convinced it is because he doesn't understand Chinese! :)
I took some pictures of him in this new place, but unfortunately it is not allowing me to post them. Hopefully this block on blogspot will be lifted soon, and I can post some really cute photos of our guy. Until then, Ralphie says "Ni hao" to all his friends back home!

Wow!!

Sorry for the HUGE gap in my posts. For those that don't know, I was back in the US from May 12th - June 16th and SUPER busy with seeing and doing everything I could while I was there. Being able to spend that much time with family and friends was a huge blessing, but I am happy to be back home for awhile.
This website, blogspot, is now being blocked here in China. I have finally discovered a way around that, which is allowing me to post this now. Hopefully this continues to be a way for me to share info with you all!!
I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying summer! :)

Happy Birthday Andre!!! Part 2

In an effort to do something special for Andre's birthday, we went in to Hong Kong for a long weekend. Andre had Friday off for the Chinese Labour Day, so we left on Friday after lunch. Our friend Idah was kind enough to let us crash at her place, which was nice because Hong Kong hotels are small and EXPENSIVE!!! On Friday night, we went to Wan Chai for Mexican food and margaritas with a group of friends. Then we ended up at this bar where we danced to some really old school songs. After that, we went to Lan Kwai Fung where we had one drink and then called it a night.
Saturday, we took a ferry to Lantau Island with our friend Zar and a guy she works with. Lantau Island is where the HK airport is located. Once we arrived we took a bus to a fishing village called Tai O. All of the houses were located over the water on stilts. These people make their living by selling whatever they catch to tourists. If I had seen pictures of this place first, I never would have believed that it was located in Hong Kong.








After we spent some time in Tai O, we headed out to see the giant Buddha statue. This statue is the world's tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha.




From the giant Buddha statue we took a 25 minute cable car over the mountain to the other side of the island where we did some shopping, and then took the subway back to Idah's place.

I have to admit, I was kind of scared...we were REALLY high up!! :)



But, it was SO beautiful!!



All the Chinese people in our car were asking to take pictures with us, and doing their best to speak the little English they could!



That's the HK airport on the left of the photo.





That night, we went out with Idah for a nice dinner at a steakhouse called Wooloo Mooloo. It was a pretty good dinner, and we had the waiters sing "Happy Birthday" to him.



Us, with Idah.



Finally, on Sunday, we went to a champagne brunch at the Intercontinental Hotel. The brunch was so lavish with tons of fresh seafood, foie gras, meat, cheese, and the BEST dessert buffet I have ever seen!! It was a great way to end a lovely weekend!!

Happy Birthday Andre!!! Part 1

On April 30th, Andre reached a big milestone...turning 30!!! Luckily, we have some AWESOME friends who really wanted to celebrate this special day with him. We ended up going to dinner with 20+ friends at a local Chinese place, having cake at our apartment, and then going to a bar. A good time was had by all...especially the big guy!! :)

Here I am, slaving away on Andre's birthday cakes.



We had a TON of food!!



Half of the group...enjoying their dinner.



Andre, gracing us with an entirely inappropriate song that everyone LOVED. :)



6 cases later...



I made him a cheesecake AND a chocolate cake. I am quite the cake maker!! ;)



After the cake, everyone had lots of energy to burn. This is Andre dancing with our friend Zar.



And this just isn't even RIGHT!! haha



Some of the guys, busting a move!



He was REALLY getting down!!



After this picture was taken, security showed up because we were being too loud and we left for the bars. What a night!! :)

Hong Kong

As an end to my friend Cindy's trip, we went to Hong Kong for the weekend. I have been twice before, but we did so much more this time in an effort to see everything. We arrived in HK on Thursday evening and went for a fantastic dinner at the Intercontinental Hotel. This place had the most fabulous view of the Hong Kong skyline. This skyline is AMAZING...all the lights and buildings, mmmmm...I love it!! Anyway, we had dinner at the steakhouse and then drinks in the lobby while we enjoyed the view. After that, we went back to the hotel to get some rest for the busy Friday we had planned!
On Friday, we got going and went to try this dim sum place I read about online. Dim sum is a really popular Cantonese dish, and therefore really popular in Hong Kong. We went to try it out, and ended up being an hour early! Apparently I am terrible at planning! ;) So we ended up going to Lan Kwai Fong, which is a really popular bar district that is filled with foreigners at night. We got some sandwiches and headed to the bus station. Here, we caught a bus to Stanley Market which is a typical street market that totally caters to visitors and carries all types of "Chinese" souvenirs. Cindy loaded up with little things to take home and we headed to the bay to take some pictures and have a beer. After that, we took the bus back and then boarded another bus to go up to the peak. The peak has the most beautiful views of Hong Kong Island. Because we were so high up, it was COLD and windy!! We got a coffee and soaked in the sights. Afterward we took the tram down and headed to Soho. We walked around Soho for awhile and took the Mid-levels escalators...which are outdoor escalators that move thousands of people everyday from district to district. We had a couple of drinks at a local bar and then headed out for Mexican food. If you know me, you know I LOVE Mexican food. It pretty much can't be found in mainland China so it was a MUST on my list. Once we were filled up with as much pintos and tortilla chips as we could manage, we headed back to Lan Kwai Fong to check out the nightlife. Since Cindy was leaving early the next morning we didn't stay out late, but this place was BUMPIN!! I couldn't believe all the gwai lo's...I felt like I was back in America!! (Gwai Lo is a term that Chinese people use to refer to foreigners...it translates to white ghost...hahaha) Here are some photos from our busy weekend in HK.

Cindy and I on the train from Shenzen to Hong Kong.


Cindy in the lobby bar at the Intercontinental Hotel.


You have to come see this place in person...pictures don't even BEGIN to do it justice!


A really bad photo of Cindy and I on the double-decker bus headed to Stanley Market.


We love HK!!! :)


Cindy posing for a picture in front of the bay.


Andre and I.


From the peak...sooooooo high up!!




These are for you Dad. I think the window-cleaners should come to Hong Kong and do some bids!! :)



Typical view of a Hong Kong street or alley.



Lan Kwai Fung at night...and this picture was taken fairly early in the evening!!

Our 1st Visitor

Last week, we had our first visitor...my friend Cindy. Cindy and I used to teach together, and she decided to come to Dongguan during her Spring Break. She was only here for a week, so it was pretty action-packed trying to cram everything in. Here are a few photos from her trip.

Cindy and I the night she arrived. Having dinner & drinks at our favorite pub.


Cindy at the wet market down the road from our house...posing with the white & black (?) chickens!!


Doing the traditional Chinese pose in front of the Papa John's. Why not? :)


Cindy & our friend Bella at Bejing Bar.


Oh what a night!! This one put Cindy down for the count!! :)


Cindy...all ready for her first foot massage.


We got pedicures as well!! :)


Here she is trying squid...she did NOT like it!!


We ended her time in DG with a full body massage and facial...for her birthday!! :)