Last Day of Teaching!

Tomorrow (Monday) will be our final teaching day of the year. This year has flown by and yet, it feels like such a long time since we were home with family and friends. Still, this last day really crept up on me and will be bittersweet, as Jeff and I have both really gotten to know and like our students.

Though it's our last teaching day, we will still have a week and a half of work to go - finals on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, followed by a few days of entering grades and comments, parent-teacher conferences, and administrative odds and ends.

Summer Noodles

Once it started warming up here, the local noodle shop reintroduced this cold noodle dish. It's an amazing concoction of chilled noodles, veggies, peanuts, and a chili peanut sauce. (It can also come with meat, although I usually order it without.) It makes for a feast of a meal and costs a whopping 8 kuai (just over $1.) Add it to the list of food I'll miss!

Moganshan Arts District

On Monday (the first of our three-day break for Dragon Boat Festival), Jeff and I went with our friend Bradley to the Moganshan Arts District, located off of Moganshan Rd., in the northern part of the city. It's a maze-like complex of abandoned warehouses and industrial buildings that has become home to many artists and their work. It was fun to wander in and out of studios and galleries, which were filled with diverse collections of recent work by Chinese and international artists. The work ranged from gentle landscape painting and Japanese origami to edgier, more political pieces.

More pictures here: http://hsinchina.shutterfly.com/5549.

No Country for Tall Men

Though there actually are plenty of people Jeff's height here, he has had to deal with more than his fair share of low ceilings and other obstacles this year.

 

I snapped this picture of him while we were walking around the Moganshan Arts District yesterday.

World Cup Fever

In such an international city, there's been a buzz of excitement about the World Cup for a while. Jeff and I joined a group of friends (all teachers at our school) to watch some of the first games on Saturday night. This picture was taken just after Korea beat Greece. We have so many Korean students that it was fun to cheer the team on. A few of the teachers stayed on that night to watch the US - England game, which aired at 2:30 a.m. our time. With both British and American teachers at our school, there was a healthy rivalry leading up to the game (and continuing since it.) Fun that there are still many games to look forward to!

Cubicle Life

After promising a glimpse into Jeff's office space a while ago, here it finally is. This is his desk in the middle school, which is located in a large office shared with six Chinese teachers and ten foreign teachers. His desk has gained character throughout the year, thanks mostly to sweet - and sometimes a bit strange - gifts from students.

Eighty Steps

That's how many steps we climb to get to our fifth-floor apartment. With no elevator in the building, there's no other option and we usually trek up and down them several times a day. I think it's been good, actually, as it's a little extra built-in exercise and anything else will now feel luxurious by comparison!

Food on a Stick

Much like at a good state fair, food on a stick is plentiful here. Street corners are often occupied by a vendor with a grill and a wide selection of raw meats, seafood, and veggie on a stick. Here are two treats that Jeff bought on the way home from our Metro station recently. On the right is a regular favorite, eggplant (heavily seasoned and spiced), and on the left is a new adventure, octopus.  

Qibao (Again)

Before our dumpling-making party on Saturday, Dave, Jeff, and I spent time walking around old-town Qibao. It's an ancient water town outside of Shanghai. It's close enough to be accessible by subway, but still feels like a departure from the city. Though small, it offers plenty to explore. There are mazes of narrow streets filled with shops and interesting street food, all centered around the small river and its many crisscrossing bridges.

Jeff and I had visited Qibao early on in our time in China, but it was fun to visit again. It makes for a great afternoon adventure. More pictures here: http://hsinchina.shutterfly.com/5502.

Full Week of Work

Today was Day One of our seven-day work week. Because we have off for Dragon Boat Festival next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the government is requiring workers to work seven days straight, from Monday - Sunday, this week. We're in the home stretch of school and it's going to be a challenge to keep the students' attention for this many days in a row (not to mention the teachers'!)