Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Lowlights: I was sick. I had to teach 3 classes over the weekend. Nearly threw up on a sweet 10th grader.

Highlights: Went to a business meeting and got picked up in a 2012 Audi A8 (verrry niiiice). Ate a 12 course lunch on Christmas Eve. Went to dinner with Olivia, my fellow teacher and friend. Got some small gifts from my students (and sweet letters, too!) And on Christmas Day I taught 1 class and then had dinner with some friends and then played arcade games for nearly 2 hours.

Last year my brother and I were on a train headed to Berlin, Germany, (see posted photo) but now I'm in China. Life is so interesting. Looking forward to seeing where I'll be next year. Hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas. Can't wait to see what the new year brings.

Japan.was.beautiful.

Things I did in Japan. (Friday through Sunday)

On Friday, I arrived in the evening, so Chris and I ate dinner at a restaurant where the sushi was on a belt and it went around. "Sushi-Go-Round" Pretty much all the sushi was different from what I get in the United States but it was all tasty! I had never had mayonnaise in my sushi before...who knew it would be so good.
After dinner, we went to an Illumination light show
and before going home we stopped in a pet store to see the cute cats and dogs.

On Saturday we went to a fish market in the morning and after wandering around and tasting a bunch of seaweed we had some of the best sushi of my entire life! It was so fresh and the exact opposite of what I eat in China, so I was in heaven.
After lunch we went to Harajuku- the fashion district of Tokyo. We enjoyed crepes with Australians and then saw a store that featured the AKB48 (famous singing group in Japan). We rode around on the metro line for a long time, just talking and looking out the window before going to the Parasite Museum.
While walking home we decided to stop and eat a chocolate croissant and have some tea while watching Tokyo traffic. Then we went to Akihabara- the technology section of Tokyo, and we explored a 7 story toy store and some other fun stores as well. I got a piggy back ride from the metro station to where we decided to eat: We had dinner at sukiya before turning in for the night.

My final day there we went to a Cat Cafe, where you pay to pet cats for an hour (loved it!) and then we went to a comedy show at night. On Monday, Chris and I ran all through Tokyo Station and I missed my bus to get to the airplane, but all went well, because I caught the next bus (thankfully). Tokyo is amazing, and so is Chris for having me. I'm definitely going to be going back.

To Japan!

I'm leaving tomorrow (Thursday) to fly to Japan to see my friend, Chris Dame. We met in Vienna, Austria at this time last year and now we are meeting up again in Tokyo. He is at a language school learning Japanese and he knows all the awesome places to go. I'm really excited to meet up with him and also, as always, so excited to travel.

Be back on Tuesday. Love!

Also, teaching 5 classes a week is boring. I miss my busy schedule.

Final day with grade 3

No more classes from 8:20 to 9:20 or 10:30 to 11:30.

My awesome kids are all going to Canada....I am so sad.

I'm going to miss my students.

My class schedule till Jan.

Student suggestions for my class

"I think that your classes are great so I don't have suggestions" ~Tina.

"I feel happy in your class and you make me like English. So I have no suggestions or ideas" ~Unknown.

"I like you and your class very much...Suggstions? Let me have a thought. Eh...No suggestions here........" ~Bryan.

"I don't have suggestions because I think it's perfect" ~Tony.

"Ok. You are my favorite teacher (>.< Alan is too strict..) and I think you did the best in your class, including taugh lectures and spoke with us....We all love you >.< ! ~Vera.

I did get some suggestions for my class, but I was very surprised (and so happy) at the amount of love that I got. The actual suggestions were to watch movies or listen to music, and I can do both, actually.

Travel Plans!!

1. Japan for a weekend in December
2. South Korea for a weekend in January.
3. United States for almost a month in January till February.

Two of my favorite 12th graders and me.

The time flies by

My gosh, it's already Wednesday night. Tomorrow and Friday will be my easy days teaching.

I'm slowly learning how to get lost and/or navigate my way around my little piece of China. Sometimes I'm awesome, other times I'm lost.

I got invited to go to a Chinese wedding, and then I was uninvited when I refused to let the person who invited me be more than a friend. Oh well. Now I can sleep in on Saturday.

I'm trying to learn how to cook, but really I'm just making myself sick.

I'm going to cry when my 12th graders leave me on December 10th.

Travel plans are in the works.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Great Wall of China

I had such an amazing time. Any one want to come to China and do it with me?

I arrived in the early morning on Saturday, ate my breakfast in Tiananmen Square and some English speaking Chinese teachers started talking to me. We went to a traditional tea ceremony and then they bought me a turtle. (It died.) Then I went with a tour group of 6 (total) to the Great Wall. Everything was provided, the food, the beer, the sleeping bags, and the transportation. I came back to Zhengzhou on Sunday, around midnight.

It was wonderful!

Lisa Baer on the Great Wall of China!

Great Wall in the distance.

A local family gave us lunch after the hike.

Sometimes the hike meant that we
couldn't be on the Great Wall.
Some of the wall was not safe.

Brushed my teeth off the Great Wall.

About to sleep on the watch tower of the Great Wall.

This was the section that I walked on.

When I first arrived in Beijing, this woman took me to
a tea ceremony and bought me a turtle.
The turtle's name is Jackie Chan.

My new friend's friend.

Eating tiny oranges in Tiananmen Square while a random
man looks in.

Sleeping on the Great Wall of China!

I am leaving for Beijing TONIGHT (Friday night) to hike along and sleep on the Great Wall of China this weekend!

SO.EXCITED.

Also, here's my current work schedule and the second schedule is what I will have in 6 weeks. I'm working more hours now so I work less hours later.

Kaifeng, China

Well, I had a lot of fun last weekend. I went to the flower festival with my friend, Beryl.

It was her brother's birthday and so we ate cake, checked out some beautiful flowers, and got stared at a lot by people.

Oh, I also saw where the Emperor used to live and work as Kaifeng used to be the capital of China. It was very cool! I loved the food.

Leftovers after a huge lunch.

The best soup I have ever had. It has candy, sugar,
raisins, beans, and nuts all in it. Amazing.

Some pictures of the flowers at the festival.

All of these flowers share one single root.

Getting into a groove

Just being a teacher in China.

Apparently there is a Chrysanthemum Festival going on in Kaifeng, so I am going to that this weekend.

Traveling! Flowers! Sounds perfect.