Differences

So, I've been MIA for the past 11 months. I am NOT proud of that and I know when I'm looking back through my blogs, I'll be really sad that I don't have anything posted about my time in Beijing. It was (as expected) another great year in China. However, now I'm back in the States full time and beginning to start my life as not a foreigner. My goal is to make a series of posts about the differences in China and America. These differences will include the food, people, lifestyle, work, and some other culture aspects. By doing this I hope to remember what it was like as I was a foreigner in a land that's not so foreign to me anymore.

A short update on my life now. I got a call to serve as the fourth grade teacher at St. Paul's Muskego. I have pretty much fully moved in (however, still working on getting things on the walls) and working hard in my classroom. Hopefully I'll also include some pictures of that in this series.

Here's a difference... blogger isn't blocked in America. I have no excuse as to why I'm not posting... :)

Trekking soon

Tomorrow Melissa and I start our trekking adventure! It rained a little at our current place so hoping it's not going to rain tomorrow! We are excited to begin even though we don't really know what to expect so no matter what, it should be good. We had a long bus ride today but not much else happened. I'll be out of internet for the next six days. I'll give you an update when I'm back!

Back to a world

I've returned to a world with free access to blogger and Facebook! I arrived in Nepal a few hours ago and am awaiting the arrival of my sister! First thoughts of the city... small! But still crazy. No stoplights or buildings over five maybe four floors. It's cold here too! Without heat. Reminds me a bit of Wuhan in the winter.

They have electricity outages often so it's not very reliable. I got here at 6 and it didn't come on til 10. They also have water shortages and have been told their water is quite expensive. I haven't noticed yet. Enjoy these few pictures I took from the car to my hotel.

School update

        Beijing has been absolutely beautiful the past few weeks. There was a special world-wide conference in Beijing which means they completely change what it's like. Factories are shut down and traffic is restricted so the pollution leaves. Wow!!! We could breathe fresh air for a long time. In addition to that, we got six days off of school. Granted, we need to make some of them up, but... it was a very nice break to have. :)

    The first quarter has been going really well. Sometimes I feel like a real teacher. Yesterday I lead a professional development day for the teachers (I had to as part of my master's class). My students seem to be learning and most of the time the classroom is under control. Here are some pictures of the reading projects we did for the past book. They turned out really well!

Hallway bulletin board

Fourth Grade

Third Grade

 

   Each semester we need to go on a field trip. This semester we went to the Temple of Heaven with the students. The first grade teacher created a scavenger hunt complete with different tasks they had to do. It kept the students involved and allowed them to see a large part of the park. I LOVED spending a whole day with the students outside of the classroom. You remember more and more that they are kids, not just students. They worked together so well and each group had fun!

We were supposed to look scared.

   The holiday break gave me a chance to catch up on homework, do some Christmas shopping, and visit the 798 Art District. Now, a two day week and another weekend!!!

   Thanks for keeping us all in your thoughts. It's great to see my students growing as young chstians. It's great to know that the HS is working here and elsewhere. Enjoy the holiday season!



My group by the Temple of Heaven

10 Things you can do in Wuhan

I decided to go back to my Chinese hometown of Wuhan for the October holiday. I had a lot of fun doing the things I can do there and did there for four years. Here is a list to summarize my trip back "home".

10. Watch "ants" work out and run back to their classes at Becca's high school. We also played a trick on them. That I would be their mean teacher after the break They were afraid!

9. Eat hot, dry, noodles AND Zhou Hei Ya (spicy duckneck),

8. Blind massage AND a massage with Rob all the way from Wuhan!- my timing there was perfect.

7. Lunch with smiley Renner, my buddy (otherwise known as bubby- there once was a misspelling in a text.) Also lunch with Elsie.

6. Ride a motorcycle taxi!- no picture of this one, but I was super excited. They are hard to find in Beijing since the gov regulates them a bit more here.- Maybe that's saying something,..

5. Ahao and Zhang!!! They have been awesome hangout buddies for a long time.

4. Coffee with Mouyee- well, I had coffee, she had wine. :)

3. Drink with Brian!!! Yes, his picture is an advertisement!

2. Hold Linda's baby, have a facial, and afternoon tea with her. What a blessing!

1. See countless friends, encourage people in their Walks with Him, be encouraged in my life, see the overwhelming love and blessings my great DAD has given me. I'm thankful for the time to go and visit.

Week 2 complete!

So, I've officially finished two weeks of teaching. Every day I'm feeling more and more like a real teacher. It's a stressful job, but man, can it be fun! The kids are awesome and surprise me every day. They also challenge me. I'm learning more and more about the important characteristics of a teacher. Consistency is key! Unfortunately, the first two weeks were both only four days. So... this next five day week will truly challenge me!

Here are some highlights of the last two weeks:

A third grader came up to me and said, "Sorry, Miss Gierach I didn't bring you a birthday present. My mom said I didn't have to." She really felt sad about it. I assured her that saying happy birthday was a good enough present.

A fourth grade girl freaked out when she saw my eye. A blood vessel broke so I looked pretty scary if I looked up. She didn't know how to explain to me what was wrong, so she ended up just walking away.

A group of six students spent 10 extra minutes during Bbl time making sure everyone understood the story. I couldn't stop that!

Tonight I plan to get a massage. First one since arriving this year!!!

The first week

Well, I'm two days into my first week. It's been interesting to say the least. I have some very sweet kids that will help me through the year. I have a few little rascals that will challenge my everything. Today I started the day with a little Brain tai qi. The question... "What makes your new school great?" Some of the answers were pretty cool:

I think mabe is the teacher is good. And I think is Gd help the teacher. And Gd help the studens. And the teacher is good teach. - oh yeah, baby! Teacher got two points on this one! :)

I like books. I like the food. I like the teacher. I like firend. I like the plant.

Making new 朋友 will make my new school great. I like my new 老师. I like the books in this school. I like the light in this school. I like the songs in this school.- I like that this student used Chinese in her English writing :)

I thing the student and the teacher. And if the student be great and the school will be great and every one is happy. new fries make the school graet and graet teacher. And the most is Gd made this school grate. It was graet at this school.

He said it! the fries here are great (he means friends) and Gd made it great!

Teacher bedtime is coming up!