End of training...

After two weeks of training, I am officially a Disney English Foreign Trainer. Yay! It was quite an intense two weeks but we all survived. Michael (from England) described it as the hardest training program he has ever been through, which sums it up pretty well. It was a ton of information and methodology to integrate with the Disney way and our own teaching styles. Don't get me wrong - the training was difficult, but the teaching is going to be fun once the methods become more routine and familiar. I love the content and the use of the Disney property such as the characters and the songs. There is definitely a learning curve but I am looking forward to having my own classes of Chinese students. They are so adorable!!


To celebrate the end of training and my birthday on Monday, a big group of us went out to dinner last night. Since my birthday is coming up, I could pick where we went to eat. Of course, I chose mexican food; I've been missing it the last two weeks. We found a restaurant owned by a man actually from Mexico so the food ended up being delicious. Definitely going to have to go back to that place during my stay in Shanghai when I get a craving for burritos and quesadillas! To top it off my friends surprised me with a homemade birthday card signed by everyone. I was very touched by their thoughtfulness. After all, we've only known each other such a short time which makes this gift so much sweeter because they really tried to make my birthday special. I can't believe I will be turning 29 in a few days. However I do think it is pretty cool that I will be spending the last year of my 20s in Shanghai, China. What a way to end a decade of my life and begin a new one than to be in a foreign country experiencing a different culture and meeting so many fascinating people. I am feeling very blessed right now :)

Homemade Birthday Card

Alex (from England) and I 

Birthday Dinner - Chicken Quesadilla

Anyway, we all had today off to rest and recover from training, which was very much needed. I ended up taking a walk with my fiends Candice and Liz down the road a ways until we came to a place called Jing'An Temple where we hopped on the metro to Nanjing Road. 

Jing'An Temple

Xmen have a hideout in the Shanghai Metro System

Nanjing is known as one of the premiere shopping areas of Shanghai and boy is that an accurate description. There were shops galore along both sides of the road with several multi-story plazas and malls interspersed along the way. It was a bit pricy but we did find a market where you could anything from sweets to nuts to bread to dried/cured meats. You would fill up a plastic bag, someone would weigh it and you paid by the pound. Pretty fun experience! 

Nanjing Road with Candice (left) and Liz (right)

Market on Nanjing Road

Meat section of the Market - All the dried/cured meat you want!

Apple Store- You can look but not buy. Weird.

The rest of tonight I've just been chillin' in my room and relaxing because tomorrow is my first day at my Disney English center. I'll be primarily observing classes and demos (held for prospective families who want to see what goes on in a DE class) until my LLD (Language Learning Director - my boss) thinks I'm ready to take on subbing for a class or two. Then in three weeks or so, the new term begins and I will most likely have three classes to teach which is nice because every else at my center began with 10 classes right off the bat. At least I get a chance to ease into my teaching schedule, which I am very grateful for since I feel very new and green when it comes to this job. I also found out I will have Sundays and Mondays off once the new term starts which is great because I can find a community to join on Sunday mornings. I love my group of DE friends but it will be nice to find a group of people who believe some of the same things I do.


It feels like I have been here so much longer than just two weeks. So much has happened in such a short span of time. Sometimes it feels like months instead of weeks. The language is still an issue but it's amazing how well Westerners can get along here in Shanghai knowing only a few words or phrases in Mandarin. People in Shanghai are more familiar with interacting with Westerners than other parts of China, I think. Although I still get stared at multiple times every day. It even surprises me when I see another Westerner so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I surprise the Chinese people I come across. I choose to find it humorous when people stare at me rather than offended. I mean they are just being curious. I have never been accosted or anything so I choose to find it hilarious that I startle some people when they look up and see me instead of a fellow Chinese person. I might feel the same way if I were in their shoes. I don't want to cause a heart attack or anything but the occasional startled look brings a smile to my face :)


I'll post on my experience working at my center in the next few days or so. I won't be able to post pictures of the kids or anything Disney because of permission needed and copyright rules but I'll try to let you know how it's going so far. Thanks for reading!