Settling In

Interesting Tidbits:
- At least here in Beilun, they are OBSESSED with umbrellas. It's like an essential item. You leave the house with your cell phone, wallet, and an umbrella. It's funny, I never use an umbrella because I don't want to be a tourist, and I don't melt in the rain, but now I'm a tourist because I refuse to use an umbrella like the locals. It's only a drizzle!
- Free stuff. Anytime you buy something it comes with some free trinket. So when I got my cell phone, it came with a dual water bottle that the employees very excitedly draped around my neck, Miss America style. I waited til I was out of window sight to give the bottle to Rosalee. She promptly started inventing a way for me to have coffee in one side and cream in the other, and if I pour it at just the right angle out of the two spouts, I'll get the perfect ratio for my morning blend.
- There are one inch stairs everywhere. To get into the lobby, when you change rooms, anytime. Connie, I need you to come visit and trip more often than I do :).
- I've spoken more Spanish than Mandarin since I got here. Which I know has to change ... but it's a nice comfort.

Beilun from my bedroom at almost sunrise. Most of the buildings you see I swear were half as tall when I got here.

My apartment:
- Ridiculous-ness with the elevator. I live on the right side of the building, and a lot of teachers I like to visit live on the left side. So I have to go to my elevator, take it 12 floors down, walk across the lobby, and take the other elevator 19 floors up. When I went to visit Ariana the other night, I know I wasn't really "in public", but I think I should've rethought wearing sweats, that's a very American thing to do. I got the once over look AND the evil eye by this one couple, very disapproving of my public attire.
- The doors to the lobby are a lot like the doors at Kayla and Connie's apartment. Which I didn't realize at first. I knew I had to scan my ID card to get in. But when I tried to leave once, the door wouldn't open. I kept gently nudging it and shaking it, til I heard the guard giggling behind me. He walked up, and in a very exaggerated motion touched the button next to the door and held it open for me to pass, as only a true gentleman would, except he was still cackling his head off.

This is my aparment complex from my kitchen window. My building is like the one on the right. About 3 buildings to the left is where the school is located.

The Classroom:
- Now I actually only have 4 kids. One got moved up into kindergarten because she shows more maturity than the others. And she doesn't have that attention span of a bat.
- I have 2 Chinese, 1 Korean, and 1 odopted Chinese who's mom is from Spain. And them speaking English? Total lie. I have two TAs who speak Mandarin so that is super helpful.
- I'm a little worried I'm going to be the wicked witch for awhile. The students have never had an established routine or established expectations. They just kinda run everywhere and do what they want. But thus far, each time I've enforced a tough love policy, at least after the tantrum, they hug me or hold hand. Hopefully this means they know that I care and that is why I'm not putting up with any of their antics. There has been sooooo much crying though. Wendi says it's the most organized she's seen the class, but I feel like every other adult is silently screaming, child abuse!
- I'm tackling expected behaviors one mountain at a time. Today was walking in a line. (Normally the trip to the cafeteria is a screaming/running free-for-all) So I got a rope, idea being that they all stand on one side of the rope, and with one hand they hold onto it. Bam! Straight line :)  I had my TAs model how to use the rope to line up and walk together. Then I gave each student the opportunity to model how to walk very quietly, in a straight line, while hold the rope with the TAs. As one student modeled how to walk with the TAs, I was describing and praising each thing he was doing right when he shhhhed me! Apparently my praise interfered with how quietly he was walking.

The PTA decorated the whole front lobby of the school for Halloween, and they made each teacher a tombstone. (If you click on it, the photo will get bigger so you can read the tombstone) I think they had a little too much fun .

Street Noise:
- I'm honking because ...
             I'm about to cut you off.
             You're moving too slow so I'm going to pass you
             Notice me! I'm in your blind spot.
             I'm not going to slow down
- As in many other countries I've visited, the car horn is not rude, just an announcement, often a polite one. It says, "I'm here! Please don't hit me.", and when the other driver honks back, it says, "I see you, I won't hit you". Since they're constantly breaking the typical driving rules, the car horn is a VERY FREQUENT/almost constant announcement, informing other drivers of the fact that you simply refuse to choose a lane, etc.
- Contstruction. As I said things go up fast. And there is mass building here in Beilun. As the second deepest port in the world, once the subway and super highway to Shanghai are completed, they're expecting a lot of traffic to come through here from the cruise ships. The building is constant. Part of me doesn't want to adjust to the jet lag because it is sooooooo  peaceful when I'm awake at 3 am.
- As I'm walking down the street, I hear this melody, and I finally place it as the "It's a small world" song. I start looking for the ice cream truck, which frankly I'm surprised an ice cream truck would exist here. It's the myth of many Chinese mothers that cold things will make your child sick. That's why the drinking water is luke warm, and they never have ice cream. So with that logic ... it's not an ice cream truck that is playing the most annoying melody in the world. And it's not. It's a street sweeper. All street sweeping monstrocities play this tune over a loud speaker. NO CLUE WHY.

:(
- OJ is not OJ, and milk is NOT milk.