Chinese Names

The Chinese have their normal Chinese names and then some elect to pick an English name for themselves as well.  Most of the children that come to Disney English use their English name when they come.  Sometimes the parents pick the names for their child and sometimes they let the child pick. Sometimes the English name is a literal translation of their Chinese name. Most children that come have normal names like David, Matthew, Yvonne, Melilnda, etc... Then there are the kids that have "Disney English" names.  For example, I have a little boy that goes by Simba and another that goes by McQueen (Lightening McQueen from the movie Cars).  There was a little girl that came the other day for a demonstration class and her English name was "Big Tarzan".  I wish I was kidding but I'm not.  The parents said that was the name she wanted.  She had come to a demonstration class before and apparently at that one she had a different English name so I'm not sure why she changed it but seriously, can't the parents just pick a normal name?  I have some students that are named after animals like "Panda" and I have a couple of girls named after foods like "Cherry" and "Grape".  I asked "Cherry" to pick a Chinese name for me and she told me my name should be "pingwu" which is "Apple".  So apparently she thinks I should share the name with Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's daughter.  Well, I am thinking that I will figure out a different Chinese name for myself and I'm open to suggestions.  

Christmas in China

Spending Christmas in China away from friends and family while feeling sick and adjusting to a new job kind of sucks.  I'm very much looking forward to next Christmas.  

The Sunday before Christmas we had a Christmas program in church.  I was feeling really sick and spent most of the meeting in the foyer so I didn't hear all of it but what I did hear was really beautiful.  There were some musical numbers and some narration of the Christmas story as well as other passages from the scriptures and church leaders.  A few days later I went to the home of Nicola and Andrew Dougherty.  They are a couple I met at church and they were having a get together with others and invited me to come.  I was tempted to stay in my warm, cozy hotel room but I forced myself to be social and I'm glad I did.  I met some really nice people there from church and they had yummy food including guacamole which I couldn't stop eating simply because I was just glad that they had it!  A lot of people that were there were from other countries so we went around and shared Christmas traditions.  After that they split us into groups to have a Christmas songwriting contest so my team came up with "The Twelve Days of Christmas in China".  This is what we came up with to the best of my memory (please excuse my misspellings):

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me..

1 great wall

2 chopsticks

3

4 (is bad luck in China so we skipped four)

5 kuai dvd's

6 some kind of food I can't remember

7

8 rip offs at the silk market

9 fake louis vouitton handbags

10 sweet potatoes

11 

12 spitting cab drivers

Chinese businesses try to get in the holiday spirit by putting up trees and various decorations.  The only Santa I ever saw was skinny and short Chinese guy wearing a Santa suit that was way too big for him.  He was standing outside a restaurant not far from where I work and obviously he was there to help bring in some business.  I spent Christmas Eve at work and then afterwards going out for dinner with my friend Glen who works here for Disney in the hr department.  Seriously, this guy has been my lifeline here and has done so much to help with logistics, getting around, and any other questions I have!  It was impossible to find a Taxi.  Apparently Friday nights are the busiest and when everyone goes out.  I am sure because it was Christmas Eve, there were even more people out than usual.  In America, most people spend Christmas Eve at home with family and friends eating food, watching Christmas specials, etc...  but in China, everyone goes out to restaurants and spends the night out on the town.  I spentChristmas day at work all day.  I left for a couple of hours to finish meeting with my relator and landlord to secure the deal for my super groovy apartment.  It felt so weird conducting that kind of business on Christmas.  Business goes on as usual here that's for sure.  I took my dvd of the movie Elf to watch between my classes so that helped put me in a more cheerful mood.  I finished work about 8:30pm and fabulous new friend Sheri Bensfield and her husband Dave told me I could come over for leftovers so I went and they fed me potatoes and gravy, turkey, veggies, pumpkin pie, etc...  I was probably more grateful for that Christmas meal than any other one I had ever had.  I came back to the hotel and was pretty tired but tried to take a few minutes to review the Christmas story from my scriptures.  

So I know this is a long entry but I do want everyone to know that I am really very grateful for the Christmas season.  I am grateful the Savior came to earth and lived a perfect life.  I'm grateful for the faith of Mary and Joseph and for those that sought him out.  I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

APARTMENT HUNTING

I've been out three times looking for an apartment.  The first time I went with a girl from church who knew someone who was renovating a place so I went to check it out.  It was in a ghetto building and I didn't care for the neighborhood at all so I said "no thanks".  The lady had actually turned it into a really cute place but it was pretty small.  I finally contacted a realtor named Liam.  He took me to look at some really nice studios but were a bit out of my price range and far from work. They had fabulous views and were located near the Central Business District which is where a lot of action is.  What I have figured out here is that what you can get for a certain price here in Beijing varies a great deal.  You can pay the same price for two completely different places.  I will try to go out tomorrow and look some more.  I need to be out of the hotel on New Years Eve so time isn't on my side right now.  So everyone please pray for me that I will be able to find a good place that doesn't cost more than my price range.  

Oh and did I mention that my realtor is kind of cute??  Well I think he is.  Pic to come soon I hope!

CHINESE FOOD

okay so I have been here almost two weeks and finally went out for authentic Chinese food last night.  I went with The Bensfields from church (Oh and did I mention how super awesome and amazing they are??  Well they are!!).  They work at the Embasssy so I went with them and some other people that they work with.  They all go out to eat often and refer to themselves as the "food hooligans".  They were a really fun bunch and super friendly so I felt bad I was feeling under the weather and not very conversational. We were supposed to go to a super hip and cool American style pizza place called the Kro's Nest.  But they weren't open when we got there so we went next door to a Chinese place that looked like a hole in the wall but it was really good.  We ordered a bunch of dishes and I can't remember what any of them were called in Chinese but I did have cashew chicken and kung pao chicken which were both actually pretty much the same as what you would get in the states.  We had some pot sticker things with pork and some with beef and I really liked the eggplant cooked in whatever it was because it tasted really sweet like a plantane.  We had a plate of meatballs and I will admit I couldn't identify exactly what it was.  I was told not to ask but to just eat it if I liked it.  My favorite was a beef dish that had pieces cooked in a thick sauce of some kind and then you wrapped the pieces with cabbage into a piece of flat square bread but it didn't look like bread so I'm not sure what it was made out of.  It was yummy though.  

So at some Chinese restaurants they try to translate the dishes into English and the translations get mixed up and are pretty funny.  They had things on the menu like "exploding chicken balls", "beef with black fungus", and our favorite from last night, "the flaming cowboy".  We were pretty fascinated with the name "flaming cowboy" so we ordered it.  The girl brought out  a dish with food wrapped in aluminum and there was salt poured on top and all around.  The salt had been soaked in alcohol so she lit it on fire and we sat there and watched it burn out.  Then we weren't really sure what to do with it so she came back and opened the foil and it had a peppered beef  in it that was really good.  It kind of reminded us all of a very yummy hobo dinner!

Well hopefully I can try some more Chinese food soon. There is a traditional food court in the mall where my school is located and they have some things there I want to try.  I suck at chopsticks.  I need to invest in silverware I can take with me in my purse.  

SICK

Friday night I was exhausted and started feeling sick.  I was told when I got here I'd probably get sick after about a week but was really trying to fight it by taking allergy pills and airborne.  Well it probably helped a little but I still got pretty sick and spent most all weekend in bed feeling like crap and of course I am a big baby when I get sick so it made me wonder why I came to China and I totally started getting homesick too.  The Nyquil helps me sleep which is really what I need most.  Last night I went to do my laundry at a friends place and she let me stay over in her smoke-free apartment and there was also a humidifier in the room so that made a big difference too.  I must buy a humidifier but will wait until I get my apartment.  Today I started feeling a bit better so that is good.  Hopefully I will be on the upswing and I think as long as the temperature doesn't drop too much during the next few weeks, I should recover.  I also found out today that you don't need a prescription for antibiotics here so yahoo for that.  I don't need any and try to not take them unless I have too but it will save me a trip to the dr for a prescription if I end up with an infection.  So if anyone is planning on coming to visit, consider this your warning - you will most likely get sick when you come.  Bring meds with you.

Disney

Yesterday I completed my first day of training with Disney.  It was great!  I seriously feel so blessed to be working for this company!  I learned some interesting Disney facts such as...

1) Disney Tokyo is the #1 ticketed attraction in the world (and because of that I can't get free passes to go - boooooooo!)

2) Publishes more books and reading materials than any other publishing company

3) Still does not own Pixar

4) Opening day at Disneyland is known as "Black Monday" and no one is supposed to talk about it

5)  Walt Disney died right before Walt Disney World opened and his sick brother Roy went to the grand opening and died 6 months later.  He changed the name from Disneyworld to Walt Disney World so his brother's name would always be associated with the park.

6) Walt Disney was fascinated with trains so that is why all the parks have trains

7) There is a place on all the Disney castles where there is a stone or brick or portion of the building that is not complete because Walt Disney wanted his parks to never be finished.  He always wanted them to be developed and to grow.

8)  The Europeans got angry when Disney Paris opened and no alcohol was served at the park

9) One of Walt Disney's first jobs was with the Kansas City Star newspaper.  Disney now owns the paper and acquired it when they bought abc and it's subsidiaries

People at Disney are great - super nice, professional, and energetic.  Some of the new teachers are from the states or other countries and have worked here at other schools.  All had mentioned how Disney is sooooo much better than where they were before.  For lunch we were taken out to this pizza place.  I don't care for seafood at all so when the shrimp and lobester-squid pizzas were brought out, I didn't try them.  In the afternoon we learned more about the business side of things and had to endure the cheezy "sexual harrassment in the workplace" video.  I don't think it matters what company you work for, those videos are always soooo poorly made.  Anyway... I got my official Disney name tag so woohoo for that!  I really appreciate the energy and enthusiasm of our trainer, Richard.  I kept thinking about some of the KISD trainings I had to go to that were so boring and uninformative.  It hasn't been like that here at all.  

Vending Machine

In the lobby of my hotel there is a vending machine.  Most vending machines as we think of them sell things like candy, cookies, and other snacks.  The particular vending machine here does not sell any food products.  But if you come to China and forget your underwear, then no problem because you can buy a new pair from the vending machine!!  I'm not sure if it is "one size fits all" or what but really, does that matter? 

First Weekend

Well I survived my first weekend in Beijing but before you get too excited I must be honest and say that I've really been playing it safe here.  I didn't do anything exciting or noteworthy but I will tell you all about it anyway.  Saturday morning I went down to the lobby for buffet breakfast at the hotel.  The Chinese have a very different idea of breakfast than we do.  There doesn't seem to be much of a distinction between what they eat for meals down here.  So it is normal to see rice, dumplings, and meat served for breakfast.  They also drink their water hot.  If you go to a restaurant and order water, they will serve it to you hot because they think cold water is bad for digestion and actually contributes to the obesity of us westerners.  They also drink tea and beer ALL the time with almost every meal.  

Well after breakfast I decided I needed some snacks for my hotel room so I went to a grocery store called Carrefour.  It is a French chain and has one aisle of imported goods but most of the imported food items they have come from Great Britain orWestern Europe.  i did snag a box of nature valley granola bars and then headed toward the chip/cookie aisle to see what was there.  Lays potato chips are all over the place.  They have traditional flavors like what we have in the states but had some other interesting flavors like tomato, cucumber, and blueberry.  I tried the tomato and it's not too bad.  They also have "beef" flavored everything - chips, cookies, noodles, candy, etc...  Most food was pretty inexpensive.  I had to get some lotion because it is sooooo dry here and I forgot to pack a razor so I bought one of those which was fairly expensive and had a security tag on it.  When you check out of the store, you have to pay extra for your grocery bags too.  It's a good incentive to recycle.  I made sure to avoid the meat aisle - I was afraid of what I might see over there.  

After I returned from my crazy adventure at the grocery store, I decided to relax in my room the rest of the day.  I was pretty tired and overwhelmed and ended up taking a long nap which I definitely needed.  Saturday night I went to the church Christmas party.  I met some super awesome people - soooo nice and helpful.  We had a traditional ham Christmas dinner served with a few asian dishes thrown in.  I met this fabulous couple that works at the embassy, Dave and Sheri Bensfield. 

 I went to church on Sunday morning and the meeting was your standard LDS meeting.  The branch isn't very big and is mostly comprised of American families but there are some from Hong Kong, Korea, Australia and even a family from Venezuela.  Expat members are not allowed to talk or congregate with the native Chinese members either.  We are suppossed to be out of the building before they arrive in order to avoid contact.  Anyway...The Bensfields brought me a recyclable grocery bag and some helpful information I could use to get around the city.  They invited me over for dinner after church which was super awesome.  They live in the area near all the embassies so the housing there is really nice and more western. Unfortunately my housing allowance won't allow me such luxury but I still hope to find a decent place.  After dinner, Sheri took me on a walk of the area and pointed out some locations for me.  She lives right near where my school is so we headed over to see if we could find it.  My school is located in a shopping mall called Solana.  Solana is a very, very western style shopping center similar to what you would see in California or something.  It has some awesome stores including Sephora and LL Bean,  a movie theater, and a ton of restaurants.  We located my school and went up to check it out.  My supervisor Lesley was there and I got to meet a few others also and pick my room.  The center is really, really nice.  The classrooms are small with small smartboards on one wall, a small white board, and another wall that is a giant digital white board.  Disney has state of the art technology in each room which is great.  I get to be in the "Reef Room" which looks like the coral reef from Finding Nemo.  After visiting the center and getting to know the area a bit more, I headed back to the hotel.  

The most frustrating part of being here is the language.  It is really hard to communicate with Taxi drivers.  I have a phrase book but it takes time to find what I need to say and then I can't pronounce it right so when I try to talk, I come across as this dumb American.  Hopefully I'll start learning more of the language this week.  I also hope to go out and find an apartment soon too.  That will definitely be on the agenda next weekend.  I'd like to be out of the hotel before Christmas.  

Pictures to come later this week - I promise!!

Well I have officially been in Beijing for 24 hours and it has been a bit of a whirlwind.  I hardly slept on the flight which actually worked a bit to my advantage.  I was met at the airport by a Disney rep and we went straight to the hotel.  There was another guy who had come in just before me on an earlier flight who is also going to be working as a new trainer so it has been nice to have someone else around to help with figuring things out.  
I was pretty tired when I got to the hotel but I walked around outside a bit and got a chocolate lava cake at this nice restaurant across the street to celebrate my arrival.  I took a benadryl and went to bed.  A few hours later I woke up at 1am Beijing time but tried to force myself to stay in bed and sleep.  About an hour later, I heard a noise at my door and sat up to look and some guy had come into my room - it totally freaked me out.  He shut the door and left but I went to the front desk to see what was going on.  Turns out a room needed more towels and he went to the wrong one to deliver them.  Well since I was up I took advantage of the moment and sent out a few emails.  I eventually went back to bed and slept some more but woke up well before my morning wake up call. 
I spent my first day with a Disney rep who took me and the other new trainer to take care of some things - medical check up (which I ended up not doing because my paperwork was so complete), foreign corruption training, bought a phone, opened a bank account, and filled out papers for Disney.  I was able to meet a few of my co-workers and they seem like amazing people and I've heard great things about the center I have been assigned to work at also.  I am going to be at the Solana Center which is in NE Beijing and that was the area I was hoping to be in so that is exciting.  
I haven't had a chance to try any local cuisine yet.  I spent most of the day walking through the business/financial district.  Beijing is a HUGE city but doesn't feel nearly as overwhelming as NYC does.  The buildings here aren't as tall or close together and there is a much more open feel about it which I like.  So far I feel really comfortable here.  The people have been very nice, the subway is super organized and clean, and I've been able to figure some things out fairly well already.  My one complaint is the air - sooooo smoggy here and smoking is allowed everywhere so the scent of cigarette smoke lingers around in just about every place possible.  
I have the weekend off but I'm not sure what I will do yet.  I need to pick a few items at the store and maybe I'll check out a park or something.  I'm in no rush to see all the sights since I have plenty of time to do all that.  I will be going to a church Christmas party so I'm looking forward to that and to meeting some other expats and hopefully, making friends too!!

New Adventure

Well I have been busy trying to get everything ready for my new adventure in China! It has been a stressful time trying to find a job and something that was right for me that I felt peace about and if you would have told me six months ago that moving to Beijing was the place I was to be, I would have called you a huge liar! I seriously never thought I would be living my life in such a place but I will be and I have a lot of different feelings about it but the most important feeling I have had is peace. This is a HUGE leap of faith in many ways. I can honestly say that I have no idea how this move will affect anything in my life to come but I believe it will all be very positive. I am going to try to not stress about having to figure everything out right away. I have plenty of time to see and do things. I will figure out essential things first and them move on to whatever is next.
I am really excited to be working again and for not just anyone, but for Disney! And not just anywhere, but in China!! Because the Disney English program is still fairly young, there is a lot of potential to move forward quickly in this organization which I am excited about. I'm going to be learning a lot of new things and I'm glad to be in an educational atmosphere that I feel will be in much more alignment with my personality and views on education in general.
Well I have a lot to do so I'm off to finish packing! I will miss America and all my friends and family! I love you all and please feel free to come visit at any time!! I really hope you do!