August - October, 2011

August – October 2011

Hello all,

I finally have a free moment to catch up with all of you.

These last 4 months have been some of the most hectic months I’ve ever been through. Between teaching, lesson plans, organizing things for the new house, cleaning the new house, and wedding preparations; I have had very little time left to myself. This is not necessarily a bad thing either. Let’s start with a quick history from when I first got back here.

So I landed back in April, I got set up with my school and figured out it’s routine just in time to make and grade final exams. Just as I finished handing in the report cards to the school my landlord had asked if I could move out a little bit earlier so his new tenants could move in closer to the beginning of the month. At this stage the new house would be finished within the month at the latest so I agreed to move into Jing’s parents house until the new place was ready. Packing and moving took place between my summer lessons, which wasn’t much time. My summer consisted of 12-hour days 6 days a week and on Sunday only one lesson, but the rest of Sunday was making lesson plans for all those classes. It was pretty busy, but because of it I was able to contribute some money to help with the cost of construction in the new place. Yayy!

This brings us to where I am now. Construction was delayed so I ended up staying at Jing’s parents place longer than anticipated. I didn’t see Jing’s dad too much, but did hang out with his mom a bunch. Our official move in date to the new place was October 3rd. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my time here. Jin has really made a comfortable home for me. I’ve baked bread a few times in my new oven and cookies are next on the list. The steam oven we have is amazing, I’ll have to bring one back to Canada. It’s essentially an oven but instead of heat, it steams the food. It’s quicker and retains more vitamins. I love it.

School has been pretty decent. Busy as usual, but I am back in the groove of it and it’s great to see the kids again. My private lessons are going well. I’ve even been offered a job at a competing school. They said they could offer me a competitive contract, unfortunately though, I’m going to take Chinese lessons at the university next year. Well, not unfortunately for me, it’s unfortunate to the school.

I’ve made a few new friends. Pauline is from Scotland and Naomi is from Canada but lives in Israel. They are fantastic people; a lot of fun.

Thanks to Jin’s mom, my wedding is starting to come together. We will be having a very traditional Chinese wedding. Our candy bags will be going out in the next couple of weeks, unfortunately anyone who doesn’t live in Wenzhou won’t be getting a candy bag. Sorry guys. :-(

Well that concludes my quick; long waited blog. I’ll try to give more details next time.

Zai jian ~ Julia

June - July 2011

June-July 2011

I know I promised to write at the end of May, but circumstances have delayed me.

Firs of all, Jing proposed to me!!!! I said yes and since then have been busy with minor wedding preparations. If you’d like to see his proposal to me you can go to this website: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/0bcE4R7yTmA/ . It’s very romantic; Jing really outdid himself. Our wedding day is March 24^th, 2012 in Wenzhou, China. We are planning to have a traditional Chinese wedding. I’m not sure when, but we do want to have a reception in Canada as well. It will be a traditional western style ha ha ha. I’m thinking one year after the wedding here so that we can have time to save up, but that’s just a guess.

June was mostly just writing up final exams for the students and marking them. At the end of the month I had lots of schools offering me part time jobs for the summer, which I greedily accepted.

Work over the summer has been insanely busy! All of July was filled from 9 am to 9 pm. I did end up getting that job with the high school, which is what made my daytime schedule so busy. Now that August is here, I only have evening classes and have time during the day to catch up on emails, blogs, and hobbies.

I was really hoping that all my hard work would go towards my business, but because of a certain proposal, I have had to pause that dream for a short time. Once Jing and I figure out what costs are needed for the wedding, I’ll be able to start saving money again for my shoe company. Jing has been helping me with finding an appropriate factory for my shoes, and I have been doing research on different kinds of leathers and materials. I’m hoping that I won’t have to delay it for too long, but we’ll see how everything unfolds first.

Well there it is; short and sweet!

Talk to you sooner than last time I hope!

Julia

April - May 2011

April-May 2011, (Pictures to follow)

Here’s to the first blog of 2011. Well my trip back to Canada was wonderful! I got to see all my friends and family for longer than I anticipated. I arrived in Calgary on January 18^th 2011 and was scheduled to go back to China on Feb 10^th 2011. Due to visa troubles I was held up until April 15^th 2011. As I write this I am on the plane heading back to China.

I gorged on delicious, fattening foods that are not as accessible in Wenzhou and by doing so have gained 10 lbs. I would like to say it’s been worth it, but most of the time the richness of the food upset my stomach.

My visits were nice; I got to spend a couple weeks with my grandparents, a couple weeks with Nea, a couple weeks with my mom, and a couple weeks with my brother. I went for coffee frequently with my friends and was able to see almost everyone; us girls even managed a girls night in all the hustle and bustle.

Because of the hold up on the visa I had a wonderful time and was very grateful for the delay.

Now, on my way back I am looking forward to concentrating on my language learning this year and enjoying many more massages. In fact, that’s one of the first things I have planned on doing as soon as I get back.; shower, massage, then food! YUM I can’t wait!!!

I’m now on movie number two out of a possible six, I’ve read a bit of my book and even napped a bit. Hopefully the trip will go by quickly and I will fill in the rest of the details when I arrive.

So back at it…

School:

School is good. I work 20 hours a week not including my lesson planning time. The kids are grade 7 and 8 and most of the time fairly well behaved. The school was just constructed so still looks clean. I get a free lunch at their cafeteria if I choose to go. I’ve taken a few pictures to show you. I get to choose 4 items from the food they have prepared, then they give me a fruit and I go to collect my soup and rice. Overall I’m pretty happy with it.

Food:

Oh the food! How I have missed thee. It’s so delicious! I’ve had BBQ, noodles, lots of rice, veggies of all kinds and a few select meats; I’m still careful on that.

Weather:

The weather has been nice so far, a couple really hot days as a brief reminder of the days to come but that’s about it. I definitely am not looking forward to the summer heat.

Other:

As far as the rest of my life is going, so far it’s just been catching up. I’ve had my feet massaged and plan to go for a hair washing/cut soon. I’ve gotten into the rhythm of my lessons for the most part and have my daily life all organized. I start my Private lessons soon too.

I bought a mixer the other day. It’s meant to puree anything! I have been making tons of soya bean milk and am getting pretty good at it! ^_^ I also bought a printer which should help me with my lesson plans and worksheets. I’ll have two months off of school for summer vacation, but I have already filled one of them with extra work. I was originally planning to use those months for a Chinese course but the offer was too good to pass up. It’ll be three weeks of work, 6 days a week, 6 hours a day for 15, 000 rmb. That’s about 2,238 Canadian dollars. How could I say no. It’s not set in stone yet, but it was pretty certain last I talked to them.

Okay, so that is all for now… I’ll write again at the end of the month.

Julia