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!

I'm Back!

Good morning from jet-lagged Jess! I have been doing supper well lately on sleeping into an ok time. However, today I went backwards... 4:30am and I was ready to go! Today is the beginning of day four so I'm sure I'll be normal again within a week. :)

My trip out to Beijing was pretty smooth. I had a seven hour layover in Chicago which was actually pretty nice. I got to call some people and downloaded things for my class. The best part though... as I was boarding my flight I heard a stewardess say, "He doesn't speak English, he can't sit in the exit row". Then she turned to the line and asked loudly, "who is traveling alone?". Well, I knew the follow-up question to that one, so I raised my hand quickly. I got the exit row! Unlimited leg room! I could go to the bathroom anytime I wanted and never had to stand in line (it was right in front of me, so I could see when it was empty).

However, as we were about to land (over an hour late), we started gaining altitude again. The pilot said that we had to fly around again and try the landing again because we were too close to another airplane. Never had that happen before, but I'm glad it was easily avoided.

My first days in Beijing have been pretty simple. I'm trying to organize my apartment, which will take a while. I'm also preparing for school. I'll take some classroom pictures soon to show you what it looks like! 

Not sure if you can tell, but the Packers were playing as I boarded the plane.

I've never had this much space...

We have a ton of hand-me-downs! Our living room can't hold it all!

Final Days

Here are some pictures from the last few days in Wuhan. I'm now back in America and when I return to China will stop my journey in Beijing!

Quick update

Well, usually I'm much better at doing blogs, but lately my life has been a little crazy. Since May 1 I I've been on at least 14 trains (kinda lost count), 3 airplanes, and lots of subway lines. I finished teaching April 26 and have been traveling pretty much every since. I've made a few trips to Beijing for visa and passport stuff, out east for an amazing retreat, a trip up to Qinghai with my roommate, another trip out east to travel with some buddies for the last time, and I will head up to Beijing again shortly.

I'm very thankful that I was done with school so early so I have been able to slowly transition to Beijing. I've attended one of their studies a few times and have gotten to know some of the Chinese. My apartment is rented, contract signed, bike bought, and visa in process. I've explored the area for food and shopping and have unpacked most of my stuff! My new life in Beijing is waiting for me!

However, before I leave, I have lots of good-byes to say here. I don't think I really understand that my time in Wuhan is so limited. I've seen a lot of friends the past few weeks and it's hard to think that it might be the last time I see them. Yes, I'm still in China, but Beijing is a bit far away and some of them are also leaving Wuhan.

On another note, I'll be celebrating the 4th in America this year! I arrive July 1st in Chicago. :) Grill-outs and fireworks, here I come!

Beyond Expectations

I just got back from about two weeks of traveling and will spend about three days in Wuhan, then leave again for about two weeks (business this time, not all pleasure). So, since I'm here for a few nights, we decided to have a game night. I invited about 30 people to the game night. Only two told me they could come. I figured we'd have a small group since Dan (fellow American) also had only two friends say yes.

The night started at 7pm with... two friends, then it began to expand. It expanded quite rapidly! By the end of the night we had about 25 people! We almost ran out of chairs. And the best part, three of them said they would like to join on Sunday. So, I hope that they really will. HE is still doing great things here. He blesses our work beyond our expectations.

One table played Apples to Apples (and later UNO).

My table played Rummikub. (They LOVE this game!)

This table played Dix It... It's a very fun game, but hard to explain on here.

These people are such a blessing. :-)