Today I had my first day of kindergarten all over again. The children were arriving and some were excited while others were a little nervous and unsure. There were a few that shed some tears and it reminded me of my first few days of kindergarten.
---- When my mom dropped me off for my first day of kindergarten I cried very hard but I knew I had to stay in line and not get out so I just stood there and cried while my mom waved at me with a smile on her face. I cried all the way into the classroom, but my teacher had a smart plan. She would sit me on her lap at circle time so all my classmates were staring at me while I was on her lap. It made me stop crying pretty fast haha. But I did cry for many mornings after that and she just kept putting me on her lap so I would stop pretty fast ahah. -----
There are a few students in my class that don't speak any English and some that speak very little so it is going to make it more challenging when teaching. Today was a busy and challenging day but it will all get easier as the children get more used to the routines of our classroom. There wasn't much accomplished today but the students got to see how the day will go, for example how they line up and how they sit on the carpet. Just small little tasks like that can be difficult for a large group of children this age so we will spend the first few days establishing these.
It was very hot at lunch break today so standing outside with the students was very sweaty ahaha I have heard that this month stays very hot like this.
I am very tired after my first day of school and am happy to have my feet up and resting. I think it will be an early night for me tonight and hopefully a good night sleep so day two can be a little more lively for me.
The children are all adorable and I can't wait to learn more about them! I will try to take some pictures of the classroom I am in so you can see how cute the place looks.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
First Day of School Tomorrow!
I have finally got everything all unpacked and it kind of feels a bit more like my place! The walls are kind of empty because I have no decorations haha but I am sure the time will fly and i won't even notice!
I haven't really done too much more exploring yet, I've just been getting ready for the big day tomorrow. I met my teacher that I am going to be working with. She seems really nice and excited to have me in her classroom so that's good. It is her first time teaching here in Beijing but she has been teaching in Dubai for the past two years so I am planning to learn a lot from her. There was orientation at the school yesterday so I got to meet some of the students that will be in my class as well as the parents. It will definitely be a multi cultural classroom and I am excited to learn more about each of the students in my class.
I still haven't been sleeping the best, this whole time change thing is really hard to adjust to. I did better last night though, I forced myself to stay up later and ended up sleeping most of the night and not waking up tooo many times ahha I'm hoping to do the same tonight so that I am well rested for my first day of school!
Wish me good luck ;)
I haven't really done too much more exploring yet, I've just been getting ready for the big day tomorrow. I met my teacher that I am going to be working with. She seems really nice and excited to have me in her classroom so that's good. It is her first time teaching here in Beijing but she has been teaching in Dubai for the past two years so I am planning to learn a lot from her. There was orientation at the school yesterday so I got to meet some of the students that will be in my class as well as the parents. It will definitely be a multi cultural classroom and I am excited to learn more about each of the students in my class.
I still haven't been sleeping the best, this whole time change thing is really hard to adjust to. I did better last night though, I forced myself to stay up later and ended up sleeping most of the night and not waking up tooo many times ahha I'm hoping to do the same tonight so that I am well rested for my first day of school!
Wish me good luck ;)
Friday, August 27, 2010
I made ittt!!! : )
I have to apologize for this new post being so late but I was soo sad to find out when I got here that I can't get on to a lot of websites. My blog website, facebook and youtube are all blocked here. So I will be emailing my posts to my sister and she will be adding them for me. I might be able to find a way to get on...but I will keep you posted on whether I can figure it all out ahah. Feel free to email me your life updates since I can't go on facebook and message everyone :( .
So now on to my adventure half way around the world.
The night before we were leaving I couldn't really sleep and we had to be up at the airport at about 5 am so I didn't sleep much that night and then met my fellow interns at the airport very early. One of my suitcases ended up being too heavy and I had to switch some stuff last minute to make sure that they were both under 50 pounds. Luckily it all worked out! One ended up being exactly 50 pounds. We went through security and had a seat before we had to board the plane. My parents stood up top and waved and chatted with my friends' parents and then our teacher showed up to say farewell but sadly we were already through security so we couldn't actually talk to him but my parents said they had a nice chat with him.
Then we got on to our first place and headed to Toronto. We all got to sit in a row together, two on one side and two on the other and we had our own little TVs to watch which made the time fly by. Our layover in Toronto was very short before we had to get onto our next plane but we made it, and off to Vancouver we went. Sadly my TV wasn't working for this flight...so it went by veryyy slow and then it made me nervous for the longggg flight we had to take next but I tried to keep myself occupied. Mark and I played crazy 8 countdown...i lost :( . When we got to Vancouver we had a few hours before we had to get on our longgg flight so we had some food and went to the bathroom and just tried to be relaxed as possible before getting on the flight.
Sadly for this flight we weren't sitting near each other :( So the time went by kind of slow since we didn't have each other to talk to or play cards with. I watched two movies and slept and listened to music. This plane was way bigger and we got fed two meals which was nice. I got to sleep a lot on this flight but my neck was getting sore because sleeping on a plane is really not that comfortable! haha especially when you are sitting next to someone that you don't know and don't want to accidentally touch them as you pass out in your seat.
Then we arrived in BEIJING CHINA!!!! Wow! and we had to show our passport and then take a train to get our luggage ahah. Luckily everyones' luggage arrived safely and we were on our way in search of our ride. We found a man holding a sign with KIM and JESSICA written on it! yay!! : ) we felt like celebrities haha Mark and Aaron had some trouble finding their ride but eventually found it. We drove to our school and when we arrived were given keys to our place and shown where to go to get to our rooms.
I came up to my room and started to unpack and then the VP of the school came to take us out to eat and pick up some food for the next day. I was so tired by this time because I had been awake for over 24 hours and it was only dinner time but in my brain it was early morning. I got back to my room and tried to stay awake so I wouldn't be up too early but it was impossible to keep my eyes opened. I am still all mixed up on my sleep and awake times ahah I think its a combination of the bed and the jet lag that is making my sleep all messed up (the beds here are only box springs...not a mattress so its a little hard on the body to sleep).
It was also interesting when we were walking because pedestrians here don't have any rights so cars take over the road and you have to watch out when they are coming!!
Here are some pictures of my apartment! Living room, kitchen and bedroom. I have my own bathroom and washer but i didn't think that a picture of those would have been too exciting ahah
There are also two pictures or the view from my window. The one with the field in it is the school which is right next to my place!
More to come on getting all settled in!
So now on to my adventure half way around the world.
The night before we were leaving I couldn't really sleep and we had to be up at the airport at about 5 am so I didn't sleep much that night and then met my fellow interns at the airport very early. One of my suitcases ended up being too heavy and I had to switch some stuff last minute to make sure that they were both under 50 pounds. Luckily it all worked out! One ended up being exactly 50 pounds. We went through security and had a seat before we had to board the plane. My parents stood up top and waved and chatted with my friends' parents and then our teacher showed up to say farewell but sadly we were already through security so we couldn't actually talk to him but my parents said they had a nice chat with him.
Then we got on to our first place and headed to Toronto. We all got to sit in a row together, two on one side and two on the other and we had our own little TVs to watch which made the time fly by. Our layover in Toronto was very short before we had to get onto our next plane but we made it, and off to Vancouver we went. Sadly my TV wasn't working for this flight...so it went by veryyy slow and then it made me nervous for the longggg flight we had to take next but I tried to keep myself occupied. Mark and I played crazy 8 countdown...i lost :( . When we got to Vancouver we had a few hours before we had to get on our longgg flight so we had some food and went to the bathroom and just tried to be relaxed as possible before getting on the flight.
Sadly for this flight we weren't sitting near each other :( So the time went by kind of slow since we didn't have each other to talk to or play cards with. I watched two movies and slept and listened to music. This plane was way bigger and we got fed two meals which was nice. I got to sleep a lot on this flight but my neck was getting sore because sleeping on a plane is really not that comfortable! haha especially when you are sitting next to someone that you don't know and don't want to accidentally touch them as you pass out in your seat.
Then we arrived in BEIJING CHINA!!!! Wow! and we had to show our passport and then take a train to get our luggage ahah. Luckily everyones' luggage arrived safely and we were on our way in search of our ride. We found a man holding a sign with KIM and JESSICA written on it! yay!! : ) we felt like celebrities haha Mark and Aaron had some trouble finding their ride but eventually found it. We drove to our school and when we arrived were given keys to our place and shown where to go to get to our rooms.
I came up to my room and started to unpack and then the VP of the school came to take us out to eat and pick up some food for the next day. I was so tired by this time because I had been awake for over 24 hours and it was only dinner time but in my brain it was early morning. I got back to my room and tried to stay awake so I wouldn't be up too early but it was impossible to keep my eyes opened. I am still all mixed up on my sleep and awake times ahah I think its a combination of the bed and the jet lag that is making my sleep all messed up (the beds here are only box springs...not a mattress so its a little hard on the body to sleep).
It was also interesting when we were walking because pedestrians here don't have any rights so cars take over the road and you have to watch out when they are coming!!
Here are some pictures of my apartment! Living room, kitchen and bedroom. I have my own bathroom and washer but i didn't think that a picture of those would have been too exciting ahah
There are also two pictures or the view from my window. The one with the field in it is the school which is right next to my place!
More to come on getting all settled in!
Monday, August 23, 2010
TOMORROW!!
My bags are packed and I'm ready to goooo!!
I managed to get everything into two suitcases. I thought I was going to have some extra room in my suitcases but it does not look like it so I'm going to have to leave some stuff behind so i can do some shopping while I'm there haha
I just have my carry on left to pack but I am not planning on bringing too much with me. My laptop, purse, a book and some granola bars just in case I get really hungry and the plane food just doesn't fill me up enough ahha
Tomorrow my first flight leaves at 6 am in the morning for Toronto and then from there I head to Vancouver and then from there I will be heading to BEIJING!!! I have a feeling I will be very tired once I arrive there but I am hoping the excitement of being in a new foreign place will keep me awake. I will have been on a plane for at least 15 hours ...eeekkk!! But I bought some hubba bubba bubble gum to chew on the plane haha
I am spending my last night at home having a nice dinner with the family and then relaxing while watching a movie on the couch later. I don't think I will be able to sleep much tonight because I will be so excited but I am going to try my best.
The next time you hear from me I will probably be in Beijing settling into my new place. I will post pictures so that you can see where I am staying.
See you on the other side of the world;)
I managed to get everything into two suitcases. I thought I was going to have some extra room in my suitcases but it does not look like it so I'm going to have to leave some stuff behind so i can do some shopping while I'm there haha
I just have my carry on left to pack but I am not planning on bringing too much with me. My laptop, purse, a book and some granola bars just in case I get really hungry and the plane food just doesn't fill me up enough ahha
Tomorrow my first flight leaves at 6 am in the morning for Toronto and then from there I head to Vancouver and then from there I will be heading to BEIJING!!! I have a feeling I will be very tired once I arrive there but I am hoping the excitement of being in a new foreign place will keep me awake. I will have been on a plane for at least 15 hours ...eeekkk!! But I bought some hubba bubba bubble gum to chew on the plane haha
I am spending my last night at home having a nice dinner with the family and then relaxing while watching a movie on the couch later. I don't think I will be able to sleep much tonight because I will be so excited but I am going to try my best.
The next time you hear from me I will probably be in Beijing settling into my new place. I will post pictures so that you can see where I am staying.
See you on the other side of the world;)
Saturday, August 21, 2010
3 dayss!!
I just spent the past few hours going through my clothes and saying "will I want to wear this in China", "will I be mad if I don't have this". I think I narrowed it down pretty good. I haven't put anything in suitcases yet but its all folded and on my couch in my room. I am just hoping that I don't get there and wish I had brought that shirt, or those pants ahah
For my birthday my parents got me these bags where you roll them and it takes all the air out and it makes my clothes flat so i can make more room in my suitcase. I have 3 bags and its amazing how a huge pile of sweaters can shrink so small haha *Thanks mom and dad!
I am planning to have everything packed in my suitcases tomorrow so that on Monday I can just have a relaxing day and not worry about making sure everything fits in my suitcases.
My room still is pretty messy and that's something I am gonna have to clean too since apparently when I'm gone my room will be used as a guest room.
Alright back to cleaning I go, more to come tomorrow!
For my birthday my parents got me these bags where you roll them and it takes all the air out and it makes my clothes flat so i can make more room in my suitcase. I have 3 bags and its amazing how a huge pile of sweaters can shrink so small haha *Thanks mom and dad!
I am planning to have everything packed in my suitcases tomorrow so that on Monday I can just have a relaxing day and not worry about making sure everything fits in my suitcases.
My room still is pretty messy and that's something I am gonna have to clean too since apparently when I'm gone my room will be used as a guest room.
Alright back to cleaning I go, more to come tomorrow!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Countdown is on!! 5 dayssss
Had our meeting today to talk about the final touches on our adventure to China.
I am going through so many emotions...from excited to nervous to scared!
I have already started laying out stuff that I need to pack...basically my room looks like it threw up haha
Visa arrived today! That was the last thing I was waiting for and now I think I have everything I need (thats only because yesterday I spent wayyy too much money shopping for things I "needed" to bring with me)
More to come on getting all ready!
I am going through so many emotions...from excited to nervous to scared!
I have already started laying out stuff that I need to pack...basically my room looks like it threw up haha
Visa arrived today! That was the last thing I was waiting for and now I think I have everything I need (thats only because yesterday I spent wayyy too much money shopping for things I "needed" to bring with me)
More to come on getting all ready!
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