Last China Adventure Part 1 - Beijing with No Passport

June was a busy time for me in Beijing. I had just organized all my belongings to be sent by boat back to California (they have now arrived at my new home), school was finishing up, and I had some visitors arriving for a last trip around China. The plan was to have them (Dad, Uncle Geoff, and Aunt Heidi) arrive on the Friday before school was out (June 10th) and we'd leave for Tibet the day after school was out (June 16th). We would arrive back in Beijing on June 25th and then all fly back on the same flight to San Francisco on June 26th. We had already paid for the trip and had our itinerary. All was good until...

Tibet got closed to tourists about a week and a half before we were planning to go so our permits were not granted. Apparently the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party is a big deal.

So, we changed plans. The crew already had their flights into Beijing and I reorganized with my travel agent friend, Hunter, for a Silk Road trip. School was finishing up and I made arrangements for a driver to pick up my family at the airport on Friday afternoon and I'd meet them at my apartment. All was good until...

I lost my passport and Foreign Expert Certificate. This was not good. When they arrived, I had my dad help me look through all my packed suitcases and throughout my apartment. No luck. I also searched my classroom with the help of several coworkers. No luck either. Nothing else was missing from my bag so it was unlikely that they were stolen. I called restaurants I had been to since I last saw them and they had not been found anywhere. My best guess is that I had them in my hand at some point and set them down and walked away. I didn't really have time to continue searching for them hoping to find them so I needed to get them replaced.

I informed my school's Government Affairs Office and they set things in motion for me to get replacements. I figured I would get things done but also show my visitors around while we were still in Beijing. At the moment, there was a possibility that we wouldn't be going anywhere due to me not having the correct identification. Hunter began planning a new alternative trip but he was waiting until we knew exactly when I'd get a new passport. I made an appointment at the US Embassy for Monday morning.

On Saturday, Dad, Geoff, Heidi, and I went to the Dirt Market in the morning where we found some things to buy.

I had a splinter in my finger that had worked its way down to the point of needing surgery to remove it. Thanks Uncle Geoffrey. Dad tried to open an umbrella and failed to do so safely - probably because he was opening it in my living room. We got matching band-aids.

In the afternoon, I went to the police station near my apartment to file a police report but it turned out to be the wrong police station to do that so I had to walk up the road to another one. There, no one spoke any English so, with a Government Affairs person on my cell, we passed the phone back and forth to get all the information they needed. They gave me a police report all in Chinese to take to my embassy.

On Sunday, I went by the photo place to get photos for my new passport, new Foreign Expert Certificate, and new visa. We also went to the Temple of Heaven.

In the afternoon, we had a driver take us to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. We were there in time to have nice afternoon light and fewer other tourists walking around with us. We took the chairlift up and rode the toboggan slide down.

While on the Wall, I began to think that the photos I got were not the correct size so we'd need to go back that evening to get new ones printed. We got them.

On Monday morning, I dropped the crew off to have breakfast while I went to the Embassy. I had to have a half-day substitute teacher for my classroom. The Embassy trip was quick and pretty painless. They apologized that it might take nearly 40 minutes for them to get me an emergency passport and I could leave and get a coffee if I wanted to. I opted to stick around and wait patiently and coffee-less.

With my new passport in hand, I picked up my family and we headed to school. Once at school, I went to the Government Affairs Office to give them my passport so they could get started on getting me my new Foreign Expert Certificate and visa. They told me that I would need to give them the money for those plus an expedited fee plus a fee for posting in the newspaper that I had lost the two things, etc. They said it all looked good until...

They asked for my new Temporary Residence Permit. Shoot. I didn't go back to that other police station to get it. I had my old one but it had my old, lost, passport's number on it. After school, I went back to the police station and got across that I needed a new Temporary Residence Permit. These are good for one year and you need to get a new one anytime anything changes, like you lose your passport. When the officer opened my new passport and saw that there was no visa, she started looking very surprised. I asked her to wait a second while I called the Government Affairs person to help again. All worked out and I was able to get my new Temporary Residence Permit.

On Tuesday, Dad, Geoff, and Heidi had a driver take them to Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City, a museum, and the Confucius Temple.

While they were being tourists, I went back to school to give them my new passport back plus the new Temporary Residence Permit (and also to work). By this time (June 14th) they expected to get my Foreign Expert Certificate back by June 20th or 21st and an expedited visa by the 24th. This meant that I wasn't flying anywhere until then. I let my travel guru know and he arranged a new alternative travel adventure. China by train! I was advised by some that this is not a good idea as I would still not have a passport with me. Some said even if I was able to travel by train without it, I would need it for checking in to the hotels. I was betting on my photocopied passport to be enough. Plus I had that police report saying that I lost my passport and I also had my Chinese driver's license.

Wednesday, Geoff, Heidi, and Dad got to be tourists again. Geoff got a haircut.

Wednesday was the last day of school and was a short day for the students. I gave hugs, packed the gifts my students and coworkers gave me, and headed back to my apartment to see what Dad, Geoff, and Heidi wanted to do for the evening.

Part 2 up soon. Will traveling by train without proper ID work out for me? Will I get my passport with a new visa back in time? Find out soon!

--Sarah--

P.S. Sorry this post took so long. I've been busy.

Year Three Completed!

I tried to post this several times while I was still in Beijing, but I was having internet connectivity issues.

I finished my third year teaching in China and my eighth year in total. I wrote about the last day of school tradition my first year and second year. All of the teachers go out to wave at the buses as they carry the kids away. There are also fireworks crackling while the bus horns are blaring. This year, we had a new Head of School (I had his son in my class.) and I wasn't sure if the tradition would be any different from the first two years. I have a video of our zillion buses leaving on the last day of school 2010-2011, but every time I try to load it, something doesn't work. Now that we are in July and I still have China posts to post, I better just get on with it and post this one videoless. The video was pretty similar to the first two years.

On the Sunday after school ended I was off to Tibet different cities in China via train with my dad, uncle, and aunt. We all returned to California on June 26th. There were a few bumps along the way which I will write about soon!

--Sarah--

Christmas Party 2010

Each year my school puts on a pretty big shindig when all the teachers get dressed up. I've put up photos each year (see 2009 and 2008).

This year I got photos with some of my Grade 1 team (Dianne, me, Linda's husband Chris, teammate who moved to Grade 2 Sue, and Ceci):
with my friend, Manatsu:
with my friend, Emily:
with my friend, Sara:
and also photos with the other girls who came to Beijing at the same time as me who are also leaving this year (Emily, me, Manatsu, and Aixa):
--Sarah--

November - Jon and Kids' Fall Photos

Jon managed to get in another visit to Beijing last week and this time school was in session so he was able to come visit my classroom. The kids loved meeting Jon - they decided to call him Mr. Jon - and I think Jon had a pretty good time as well. While he was at school, we took the kids out to the playground to take pictures that remind them of fall. I love seeing the pictures they take - sometimes arranging the shot:

or directing their buddy on how to pose:

Some close-ups:

Here are some more photos by the kids:

And of course, our special guest for the day made it into a few photos. Here's my favorite:

Only five more weeks (and a couple of days) until I am in California for three weeks!

--Sarah--

Year Two Completed!

Today was the last day of school here in Beijing. Again, there was the send off of buses, but this time I filmed the buses with the compact video setting on my camera which gives me a teeny video. Enjoy it anyway.

Buses ready:

Fireworks ready:

And....GO!

I've completed my second year teaching here in Beijing now and my seventh year teaching in all. Tomorrow, I head back home to California for the summer. Before then, I better finish unpacking from moving to my new apartment (On the 30th floor! Well, actually the 26th floor because there are no 4th, 13th, 14th, or 24th floors.) and packing my bags for the summer.

Also, I saw this on the way to school today.

So now it is time for me to put on my angle wings and fly on home to California! (Like that?)

--Sarah--

P.S. Here's the video from last year. The video is bigger and we had more fireworks last time.

Winter Party 2009

My school held its annual winter party at a hotel near the Olympic area at the beginning of December.

One third grade teacher always makes lots of jello shots and brings them to the party. This year, the school sponsored him so we had plenty of jello shots in addition to the beer, wine, and champagne.

Yes, the teachers and staff at my school know how to have a good time. There was plenty of dancing and even some limbo!

Here I am with a friend, Annie. She's new this year and gave me lots of tips on places to see in India since that is where she worked before coming to Beijing.

--Sarah--

Signed.

Well, family and friends, the amount of time you have with a free place to stay in Beijing has just been extended. Yesterday, I signed a new contract for the 2010-2011 school year. I will definitely be here until June 2011. Let me know when you are coming over!

--Sarah--

Even More Snow!

We had a few more days of snow last week. We even had enough on Monday night/Tuesday morning that we got a Snow Day and didn't have to go to school! My friends and I decided to go for a walk in Chaoyang Park across the street where all the Chinese people we saw laughed at us. We weren't sure why they were laughing.




There was still plenty of snow left throughout the week at school for the kids to play in. On the field, there were around ten giant balls of snow that kids had rolled up, but they were all so far away from each other that they never got stacked to build a snowman. Obviously these kids need more practice with this much snow.



More photos at flickr.

--Sarah--

New Kid in My Class

I got a new student while I was gone on Tuesday.  He has begun in my class with this crazy schedule: Tuesday - substitute, Wednesday - International Day - a crazy day for all, Thursday - sub in the morning while I worked with a consultant, Grade 1 Performance in a huge theater for all the parents in the afternoon, Friday - sub in the morning while I was with consultant again, Monday - Field trip!

He has a severe peanut allergy and on his second day, one of my other kids nearly killed him.

He is also just learning English!  What a way for this little guy to start with us!

On Thursday, I took some time to see which letter names and sounds he knew and to briefly assess how much English he had and just to take some time to talk to the little fella!

We went through the letter names - both capital and lowercase - and he did really well.  We started on the sounds and after several he got to 'j'.  He thought for a moment, said the correct sound and then, "like jam".  I said, "Yes!  Great!  And the next one?"  But he had other plans.  He decided to go back to the beginning to give foods for each letter.  We were kind of pressed for time (performance in the afternoon), so I got him to give me all the sounds first and then go back to give me the foods.  Here is some of the conversation:

Kid: A, like apple

Me: Mm-Hmm

Kid: F, hmmm, have food with f?

Me: Yes

Kid: What is food with f?

Me: How about you think of an animal with F?

Kid: No.  F. /fffff/. Fox meat.  That is the meat of the fox.

Me: Okay.

Kid: P. (Cocking head) Have food with p?

Me: Yes.

Kid: What?

Me: What food do we give to the mealworms?

Kid: (Grinning) Potato.

Me: (Grinning) Yes!

Kid: W.  Have food with w?

Me: Yes.

Kid: What?

Me: Try to think of one.

Kid: You do like potato.  Tell me.

Me: Hmmm.  Xi gua? (Watermelon in Chinese)

Kid: (Grinning again) Watermelon.

We did this for a few more letters.  Sometimes he thought of the food on his own, sometimes I gave a hint in Chinese or another way.

Kid: Z. Have food?

Me: Yes.

Kid: Hmmm.

Me: Can you think of an animal with Z?

Kid: Foods now, animals later.  (His plan was to go through all the letters with foods and then go back and do animals.)

Me: Do you know zucchini?

Kid: Oh. Yes.  What country eat zucchini?

Me: America does.  Does your family eat zucchini?

Kid: Yes.  Sometimes.

Finally, my favorite part of this whole conversation:

Kid: We are very smart.

Me: Who is smart?

Kid: (gesturing to the two of us) We are smart.  (Grin)

I love this kid!

--Sarah--

School's Out!

Friday was the last day of school for us. It is a tradition for all of the teachers and staff to come out to wave goodbye to the students as the buses drive away. We also had a bunch of fireworks.

We have a lot of buses. Too bad some of the buses have only a few kids on them.

I made it through my first year here! Yea!

--Sarah--

Silkworms and Moths

The students in my class have been learning about insects so we have had pets for several weeks while we observe their life cycles. We started off with mealworms which became pupas and finally darkling beetles.

A few weeks into our mealworm observations we got silkworms. They quickly spun their cocoons and later emerged as moths. Once moths, they quickly mated, laid eggs, and died.

Great way to teach the kids about life cycles, insects, reproduction, and death! Now that we are in our last week of school (and all the moths have died anyway) we have to take care of the other insects. The moth eggs get put in the fridge until next year when they will hatch and we will get to see the tiny silkworms emerge. We tell the students that the beetles will be taken care of. And they will be "taken care of" if you get my drift. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to release them into the wild. Poor beetles.

--Sarah--