Thanks to everyone who posted comments on the blog sofar :)
For some reason I can post onto my blog and read all the comments as the blog emails them to me, however I cannot add comments to the blog, only new posts.
Keep on commenting though! I love to read what you think about it all!! :)
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
A star is born and died!
Be very grateful you are all quite far away and were lucky enough to miss the big performance last Saturday. The kiddies were absolutely adorable…teacher Anna sucked big time. I had to subject the poor audience to my singing and that my dear friends was an Event to say the least. Remember a few years ago when Great Britain received “zero points” in the Eurovision…. my performance was as great as theirs was. I could not hear the music, so when I finished yelping the song, the music was still playing. My new cd “Anna sings the Josti Band” is coming out shortly, available from all good music stores. For those who don’t know the Josti Band….look’em up on Google :)
The evening itself was great. I can say I rubbed shoulders with a local celebrity, as the cohost of the evening was a local TV presenter on the Wenzhou Channel. Most of the kiddies were performing like pro’s, some cried their eyes out or just stood frozen on stage. It was very cute and hilarious :)
I got some piccies up below; the video (the censored parts, that is) will be posted once I get a copy of the DVD from school.
Jordan’s Language School is a private school that has three branches in Wenzhou.
My two above classes are children who are in the main school. They go to Jordan’s full time Monday to Friday.
I also teach some evenings and the weekends in one of the branch schools. Those are children from public schools who only come to Jordan’s for their English lessons.
And I also teach two classes a week in two public kindergartens. These are my least favourite classes, as the class size is much bigger than in Jordan’s (more than 30 kids per class in the public school; max of 10 / 12 kids per class in the private school) and the level is severely lower than in the private school. I wish we could split the class in two groups and do more lessons with the smaller groups. How it’s now, it seems like a big waste of time as most the children just sit there and move their mouths with the big group. Unfortunately the lesson is too short to actually pay individual attention to all kids.
This morning I was at the park with one of my main school classes. We were singing songs, watching the fish and running around playing games. The only fight occurred when it had to be decided who was walking holding hands with “laoshi Anna”. Unfortunately “Teacher Anna” still only has two hands, so hard decisions had to be made. Pictures are posted :)
Tomorrow will be a graduation to the next level for my other class from the main school. On Monday we made some pictures with the kids in their graduation clothes. I was honoured to be asked to join the official pictures :) I posted a few we made ourselves; I think I’ll get a copy of the photographer’s pics tomorrow. I’ll be doing the hosting tomorrow night as well, but luckily no more singing only a little dance with the kids. It’s great to be popular :) :)
More pics and news soon. Bye for now :)
The evening itself was great. I can say I rubbed shoulders with a local celebrity, as the cohost of the evening was a local TV presenter on the Wenzhou Channel. Most of the kiddies were performing like pro’s, some cried their eyes out or just stood frozen on stage. It was very cute and hilarious :)
I got some piccies up below; the video (the censored parts, that is) will be posted once I get a copy of the DVD from school.
Jordan’s Language School is a private school that has three branches in Wenzhou.
My two above classes are children who are in the main school. They go to Jordan’s full time Monday to Friday.
I also teach some evenings and the weekends in one of the branch schools. Those are children from public schools who only come to Jordan’s for their English lessons.
And I also teach two classes a week in two public kindergartens. These are my least favourite classes, as the class size is much bigger than in Jordan’s (more than 30 kids per class in the public school; max of 10 / 12 kids per class in the private school) and the level is severely lower than in the private school. I wish we could split the class in two groups and do more lessons with the smaller groups. How it’s now, it seems like a big waste of time as most the children just sit there and move their mouths with the big group. Unfortunately the lesson is too short to actually pay individual attention to all kids.
This morning I was at the park with one of my main school classes. We were singing songs, watching the fish and running around playing games. The only fight occurred when it had to be decided who was walking holding hands with “laoshi Anna”. Unfortunately “Teacher Anna” still only has two hands, so hard decisions had to be made. Pictures are posted :)
Tomorrow will be a graduation to the next level for my other class from the main school. On Monday we made some pictures with the kids in their graduation clothes. I was honoured to be asked to join the official pictures :) I posted a few we made ourselves; I think I’ll get a copy of the photographer’s pics tomorrow. I’ll be doing the hosting tomorrow night as well, but luckily no more singing only a little dance with the kids. It’s great to be popular :) :)
More pics and news soon. Bye for now :)
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Gonna be a star! :)
My school is hosting performances for the parents to mark the end of the school year. Little old me has been asked to co-host these events.
Unfortunately for all having to watch/listen I will be singing and dancing together with my kids.
This Saturday is the first event.
Keep an eye on this spot as I should have piccies / commentaries on Sunday :)
Unfortunately for all having to watch/listen I will be singing and dancing together with my kids.
This Saturday is the first event.
Keep an eye on this spot as I should have piccies / commentaries on Sunday :)
LEGAL!!!!
All legal…WEYHEY!
Sorry, I’ve been a bit quiet lately, all with the getting work papers and feeling slightly under the weather due to all the continental hopping around All is well now again; I’m not sniffling anymore and the tiredness is gone. Flying does take a lot out of you.
After a daytrip to Shanghai a week ago, I have now received my passport back with my resident permit and my official work permit book. I am happy to announce that I am completely legal and documented now ……FINALLY! :)
Shanghai was great. I really have to go back there for a while longer next time. I did not have enough time to see even half of it. And next time I will probably be more awake as I was wrecked from the night train trip from Wenzhou. I think the school tried to save some money and booked me a “hard sleeper” bed. Now for those who plan to travel around China: always go for the “soft sleeper” beds. They are a little bit more expensive, but trust me; you will not regret getting them. The hard sleeper train car is divided in compartments with six bunk beds each. Unfortunately there are no doors between the compartments. So basically it is one big dorm room with about 60 beds. It is doable, but very drafty and noisy.
The soft sleeper train cars are the luxurious ones. Little compartments with 4 beds each and a lockable door to shut out strange people, noise and drafts. That is…. when you don’t get snoring people in your compartment. The loud noises coming from the three guys in the compartment were deafening! To keep from throttling them I had to resort to listening to Guns ‘n Roses on max volume on my mp3 player. Slept like a baby! :)
All had been pretty quiet since then. The kiddies are still great. The annoying ones are beginning to learn that I can be a hundred times more annoying than they are, so they are behaving themselves. And if being annoying does not help, swearing at them in either Dutch or Polish does wonders: both they and the Chinese teachers don’t have a clue what I am saying :)
The river Nanxi crosses Wenzhou. I visited a small island in the middle of the river called Jiang Xin. It’s a lovely little place ideal for daytrips and picnics or just to escape the city for an hour. It is so close to this busy big city, but in places you can forget that there is anything around you.
Last weekend was the Dragon Boat Festival and Sunday and Monday were public holidays. I was looking forward to see the dragon boat rowing competition, but little did I know that this already had taken place earlier last week. All we poor foreigners had to go to the pub to drink our sorrows of missing the race. Since I wasn’t able to make any piccies, I have downloaded one from the internet.
Another milestone in my life was me going to a Chinese hairdresser on my own. He had no clue what I was saying, I had even less of a clue what he was saying, but we got there in the end! :) my hair is a tad shorter than I expected, but it’ll do me just fine in this heat and humidity. It’s amazing how everyday things can become such an adventure if you don’t speak the local lingo :)
I was warned that June would be the rainy month here and oh boy did we start the rainy month with a blast. It must have been the biggest thunderstorm I have ever been in. The world was behind a blanket of water and the lighting was spectacular!
Today was a very rainy day as well, but the humidity is the killer! There is no point in trying to stay dry from the rain, cause you will be drenched in sweat the moment you walk out the door. I’m sure I will get used to 86% humidity eventually…I think…I hope…..
Well, that’s it for now. I’m happily settled in so far and really enjoying everything :)
I have posted loads of piccies, so I hope you enjoy them. :)
So when can I expect my first visitors?!?!?!?!
Sorry, I’ve been a bit quiet lately, all with the getting work papers and feeling slightly under the weather due to all the continental hopping around All is well now again; I’m not sniffling anymore and the tiredness is gone. Flying does take a lot out of you.
After a daytrip to Shanghai a week ago, I have now received my passport back with my resident permit and my official work permit book. I am happy to announce that I am completely legal and documented now ……FINALLY! :)
Shanghai was great. I really have to go back there for a while longer next time. I did not have enough time to see even half of it. And next time I will probably be more awake as I was wrecked from the night train trip from Wenzhou. I think the school tried to save some money and booked me a “hard sleeper” bed. Now for those who plan to travel around China: always go for the “soft sleeper” beds. They are a little bit more expensive, but trust me; you will not regret getting them. The hard sleeper train car is divided in compartments with six bunk beds each. Unfortunately there are no doors between the compartments. So basically it is one big dorm room with about 60 beds. It is doable, but very drafty and noisy.
The soft sleeper train cars are the luxurious ones. Little compartments with 4 beds each and a lockable door to shut out strange people, noise and drafts. That is…. when you don’t get snoring people in your compartment. The loud noises coming from the three guys in the compartment were deafening! To keep from throttling them I had to resort to listening to Guns ‘n Roses on max volume on my mp3 player. Slept like a baby! :)
All had been pretty quiet since then. The kiddies are still great. The annoying ones are beginning to learn that I can be a hundred times more annoying than they are, so they are behaving themselves. And if being annoying does not help, swearing at them in either Dutch or Polish does wonders: both they and the Chinese teachers don’t have a clue what I am saying :)
The river Nanxi crosses Wenzhou. I visited a small island in the middle of the river called Jiang Xin. It’s a lovely little place ideal for daytrips and picnics or just to escape the city for an hour. It is so close to this busy big city, but in places you can forget that there is anything around you.
Last weekend was the Dragon Boat Festival and Sunday and Monday were public holidays. I was looking forward to see the dragon boat rowing competition, but little did I know that this already had taken place earlier last week. All we poor foreigners had to go to the pub to drink our sorrows of missing the race. Since I wasn’t able to make any piccies, I have downloaded one from the internet.
Another milestone in my life was me going to a Chinese hairdresser on my own. He had no clue what I was saying, I had even less of a clue what he was saying, but we got there in the end! :) my hair is a tad shorter than I expected, but it’ll do me just fine in this heat and humidity. It’s amazing how everyday things can become such an adventure if you don’t speak the local lingo :)
I was warned that June would be the rainy month here and oh boy did we start the rainy month with a blast. It must have been the biggest thunderstorm I have ever been in. The world was behind a blanket of water and the lighting was spectacular!
Today was a very rainy day as well, but the humidity is the killer! There is no point in trying to stay dry from the rain, cause you will be drenched in sweat the moment you walk out the door. I’m sure I will get used to 86% humidity eventually…I think…I hope…..
Well, that’s it for now. I’m happily settled in so far and really enjoying everything :)
I have posted loads of piccies, so I hope you enjoy them. :)
So when can I expect my first visitors?!?!?!?!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
