New Job, New Home

Oh my goodness, my life since my last post has been crazy!! I have been at my center every day except last Tuesday. My work schedule is pretty flexible until the new term starts and then it will become much more routine once I have my classes to teach. I really like my center and the people I am working with there. It's a super busy center, especially on the weekends, and there are kids everywhere during teaching hours. It's going to take some time to get used to the Disney English teaching methods. I've never had to teach English as a second language and it is more difficult than I expected. I enjoy the methodology that DE employs; it's just going to take some getting used to on my part.

My DE uniform. name badge, and Center

Last week was also moving week for me. My roommate and I found an apartment, signed our lease, paid a deposit and rent, and moved in within three days. Yeah, it was a bit hectic last week to say the least. My roommate Liz and I have slowly but surely been putting our place together in the spare time we have between working, sleeping, and traveling around the city. We have promised ourselves that we will explore more of Shanghai and of China once things have settled down a bit at work. Then we can use our days off for fun outings instead of shopping for groceries and cleaning the apartment.

Some interesting things that have happened:

Celebrated my 29th birthday in China with burgers and ice cream at a Western style diner.
Tripped and almost fell down a flight of concrete stairs at the metro one morning and I have the bruises to prove it.
Substitute taught four classes over the weekend for a teacher who was sick.
An ATM ate my Chinese bank card which is not fun to try and get back.
Finally got a seat on the metro one morning and had to deal with a guy who kept falling asleep on my shoulder.
Visited a Walmart in China where everything is in Chinese which makes it a bit difficult to figure out what to buy.
Still being stared out whenever I go out into the city. Still feels weird.
Went to a British Pub last night for a Trivia night which ended up being some of the hardest trivia ever but still fun.
Played foosball with some friends the other night and found out I am better at offense than defense. Go figure.
Think I have walked more in the last few weeks than I ever have in my life. Welcome to big city living!