Exploring Yangzhong!

This past week was spent getting settled in the beautiful town of Yangzhong. Experiencing our first shot of teaching english and learning to make travel arrangements. Teaching has been a lot of fun. Combined we have over 1,000 students. Alan and I teach 12, 45 min. classes a week and split the seventh and eighth graders.

The above pictures are of myself teaching a class of seventh graders. I am the short one at the front. Below is Alan teaching is first class. 

Theo, Marian, Susie, Sherry and Alan. Looking good guys, Looking Good! 

Hello, Hello, Hello,  Hello (teaching the Hello song) 

On our second day of teaching we were asked to speak at an assembly. Before we spoke they had us hiding under the stage.

Alan giving his welcome speech. 

When we first got here our school told us to boil the water. We were a little unsure if that was safe. We asked them to provide filtered water and after five days of boiling the water we were thrilled they gave us filtered water.

Over the next few days we traveled around and explored more of Yangzhong. We located another market and downtown shopping center. There is a harp next to the shopping district and at night it lights up. There is also something that we were thrilled to locate! KFC. We usually don't eat any fast food, back in the U.S. but finding this is like heaven on earth. We now know, we will not starve to death. 

the harp

Us eating at KFC. So excited about our chicken sandwiches. 

When we left KFC we walked around Yangzhong and found that a lot of the buildings light up at night. I think it felt like Vegas, but with Chinese people every where. 

We spotted this walking home. Alan loves these claw machines, but when we saw that it was full of cigarettes it was not as exciting. 

The next evening we went out to dinner with the Biens, and Heidi (another girl with our same program. We went to this place that looked like all the places we ate at in Beijing so we assumed we'd be safe. At dinner we were served soggy peanuts as an appetizer  It was very interesting. Dinner was good. We ordered shrimp and some type of other meat. We think it was pork or beef. 



The only down side to eating in China is everything is served with bone or fat on the meat.The shrimp are served whole with heads and all. You place the entire shrimp in your mouth and peel it with your tongue  It is something I just can't bring my self to do. I just skin them with my hands then eat. Much better! All the Chinese laugh when I eat with my hands. 

After dinner we walked down the street and got dessert at this little ice-cream place. This was our first point and pick item off of the menu. We both felt it was safe cause it was only ice cream right?

this was the menu

these were the treats we got! the one on the left is Heidi Griffens, and the one on the right is the Greens (to share). They were so good! We will be going back for sure! 

this is the outside of the ice-cream place! 

After classes the next day we meet up with the Biens and went for a walk. It is finally cooling down a little bit. It is nice. We are looking forward to sweatshirt weather! We ate dinner at a little place next to the SG Market. It was pretty good. More like the food we found in Beijing. 

the Biens!

We found this cool little pathway that walked over a little stream that you could see the fishes in! 

Alan and I on the little bridge in the garden we found 

This lady is cleaning out her mop in the "clean river" 

more pictures of the garden. 

Dinner time! 

On our way home from dinner we found this car parked on the sidewalk going the opposite direction that one would think it should. (one of the interesting things we've found in China)

For our bed time snack we had oreos! We thought we were pretty lucky when we found a whole tin of them. Sadly though once we opened them we felt pretty cheated.

Coming up next, exploring Nanjing!