2 weeks in...

Well I've officially been in China for just over 2 weeks. Not too much has changed since my last post thought. I'm still living in a hotel with my new friend, Laura, but we will be moving this week. We were placed in the city of Wuxi, and will head there on Wednesday to look at apartments and hopefully sign and move in before the weekend. Then we start school! Laura and I will be living together and both be teaching kindergarten, probably even at the same school! This past week was a bit more flexible that the first week of training. The new teachers were able to go to a school here in Nanjing and watch a few different people teach English classes. It's interesting to see how everyone's teaching styles differ, but it's good to know that you can put your own spin on things to work for both you and your students' benefits.

We also had our "medical exams" last week. I put it in quotes because it was one of the more interesting things that we've been through thus far. Basically everyone had their file with empty boxes on the front and you had to go to each room for a different type of exam and they gave you a stamp in their particular box. Once your chart was full, you were done. Some of the exams were simple eye tests, or looking at your throat or something but others were weird. I had an ultrasound to look at my organs, and a less than private ECG (whatever that is) exam with other people in the room. Granted, everything was more private for women. Usually the doctors closed the door for anything if a female was being examined, but that didn't mean you were alone. There was usually 2 or 3 other women in the room waiting too. Anyways, it wasn't horrible, and I checked out in good health.

A group of Westerners made it out to the clubs a few times, and it was a blast. If we knew the right people and our group wasn't too big, the clubs treated us like rockstars. Free drinks and VIP tables, it was so much fun. I think they are trying to expand the popularity among Westerners, so they like to make sure those that do go have fun. Laura and I are usually the only two white girls in the whole place, and we are both blonde, so we tend to get attention. People are really nice though and we just dance all night! The one thing I did notice though is that I should have brought more clothes. I have good stuff for in the classroom, because dress is a bit more conservative, but when we're just out on the street, or especially in the clubs, things are much more relaxed and I miss my wardrobe!

I did manage to run into my first trouble with food here this weekend. I've been hanging in the hotel for the last two days just waiting for my body and stomach to re-balance. You really have to be careful here, and while I'm not sure what exactly it was that got me sick, I'm going to be even more particular, just to stay healthy. It's not fun being sick in foreign countries, and I'm going to be here a while so I need to learn fast!!! I posted a few pictures too so you can see a little bit about my life, but there will for sure be a whole bunch of photos once we move into our apartment, and get to our school!!!!