So it's been a little over a month now and . . .

Hello all . . .

Well Dylan came back successfully from Hong Kong with his z-visa which is his working visa that allows him to come in as many times as he wants, pay Chinese taxes (only as long as we stay out of the US for 335 days we don't pay), and gets to work in China. It was kind of lonely not having him around for a week but allowed for me some down time which we all need every now and then.

A couple of weekends ago Dylan, Andy (a guy who Dylan works with), and one of Dylan's US friends and business associates Travis went to a temple here in Shenzhen. It was amazing to say the least. After I left the temple I had such a wonderful feeling inside and I was filled with peace.

The weather here has been just as unpredictable as the sights I see. Last week we had a typhoon roll through that was downgraded to a tropical storm. There was massive flooding and they canceled summer school for a day. I think that is a first for me to have school canceled because a tropical storm. As for summer school, things are actually starting to lighten up or maybe its me. In the county where I used to teach in the US they were test driven and taking the creativity out of teaching and creating robots as for teachers and students. No fun or letting you teach. Now being given the opportunity to have fun and be creative I am rediscovering my teaching roots that I was taught in my undergrad classes. I am loving teaching these days and I am seeing the students increase their academic successes within these last 3 weeks. It is something indescribable. So now my days are like this: I get up and push snooze 3 times get ready for work. Find my driver whom I have adopted. His name is Joe and speaks semi good English. We actually have a conversation on the way to work instead of sitting in silence. He has a family and a teenage son. We talk about me teaching and if I like it and my feelings about life. Then I say good bye hand him 15 RMB and walk into school. Get started in the classroom make sure everything is ready go and meet the kids in the gym at 9:00 and walk them back to class. We get started with normal morning activities such as calendar. Then break up into reading groups. Then come back together and go to specials. Come back from specials and have lunch. After lunch we go to recess in the gym in fear of the crazy old man and its just too darn hot. Then go back and grab our bags then go to the library and then go home.

This past week our theme for the week was Rainforest so we did divided into four groups (mixing low English speaking with high English speaking students) and did a really small research project on a rainforest animal. We made a clay creature and safari hats. Graphed in math and for our field trip we went to the Evergreen Park in Shenzhen where they have a pseudo rain forest and the kids loved it. The Evergreen Park reminds me of Helen GA when you first drive in and for a split second you forget you are in China until you get off the school bus and are approached by the staff "Ni Hao" (hello). The parts that remind me of Helen GA are the greenery that cross over the road as you drive in. Also it has mountain looking rooms or so I've been told.

I have been taking up a new hobby of cooking. I am trying to watch my weight for it jumped when I got here. Scary thought huh? Oh well. So I am on the Zone Diet which is very beneficial for my blood sugar levels and sugar cravings. I am making vegetarian dishes for Dylan and I for dinner. Finding the things to make these new found dishes is a bit tricky and slightly pricey but I love being in my closet of a kitchen. By the way there is no oven in the kitchen so I am getting creative in "baking" dishes. So far I have made an eggplant parm which is pretty good and a vegetarian chili that is pretty good but not as good as the eggplant. For breakfast I made an apple melt with raisins. Not too bad either.

So life is awesome here in China. Meeting new people and exchanging exciting stories with one another. It's a wonderful feeling living here in China. You feel as though you are a part of something special and that its "alive" here versus being "complacent" where I was before. Speaking of being a changing person, just found out I am going to be teaching kindergarten again next year. I am excited about going back to where I started as a teacher.

In getting back to the visa issue because many of you are so sweet and kind in asking about Dylan and I's situation so here it goes. As for Dylan he is complete with his but now as for me....the fun has just begun. In order to do the visa process you have to get a "physical" at the "local" hospital. One of the girls who works at my school took me to the hospital last week. It was a 30 minute trip. I kept thinking....If I have a life threatening problem I am better off throwing myself in the ocean and dying in peace. Scary thought but thats China for you. So we arrive at the hospital and then we walk up to the floor that does physicals only. They are open from 9:00AM-12:00PM and then reopen at 2:00 till who knows but this I think applies only to floor where you get your physical. So we fill out a form and thankfully I had the girl help me who brought me to the hospital for there were three thing that said something in English. We wait around kind of like at the DMV where you are constantly looking at the digital signs above the help desks and waiting on your number to pop up and when it does you make a mad dash to show passport and other crazy information. Then you pay first for it and then you get to go on a scavenger hunt of a life time. You have to go to these different rooms to have these different tests performed. The girl who brought me was like Speed Racer zooming into room after room with me. So the first "test" was cardiovascular where they put these zapper things on your chest and print out what your results were. Then I went and was tested for tuberculousis where they did a chest x-ray screen. They scanned my stomach looking for who knows what and did an ultrasound. I told the women I was not pregnant because the test was performed just like looking for a baby but all is well and no baby. Then there was the teeth screening to make sure you had all your teeth I guess. Then there was the "Surgery" room and I was "hell no I am not going in there and no one is going to cut me up especially here in China". And the girl was like "what??? No they just look in your ears and throat and make sure you are OK". I was like they need to come up with a different name for that room. Then we had to have my blood drawn. Dear God that was not so fun. I did find out I am o positive which is a good tidbit of information to know. Next I got to pee in a cup. Gee whiz thats a story within itself. So you get this flimsy little cup with a handle on it kind of like a measuring cup that could hold only cotton because everything else is to heavy to put in it. So you take the cup downstairs and go to the bathroom. Dear God this was interesting. They didn't have toilets like we know. They had a hole in the floor (yeah I about peed my pants laughing when I saw it) and there were these places to put your feet while you squat. So being a girl we all know its not possible to write our names in the snow with pee so there is a process to go about handling the peeing on a hole in the floor. Take off a pant leg (I now understand why Chinese girls always have skirts on) and hold it with the opposite hand. Hold the flimsy pee cup with the other free hand within pee catching distance but don't pee too much or it will overflow and then you got a new problem which is trying to pee again to fill the cup up. Then put pee cup down carefully place your leg back into the pants and grab the pee cup. You are carrying this thing like a prized possession because you don't want to go through that process again or at least for awhile. Then you walk out of the bathroom and place your pee with everyone elses on a a cart that is in between the men's and women's bathroom. I kept thinking..."someone's going to contaminate my pee with something" but everything turned out OK. Then the girl that brought me to the hospital was like "hurry hurry...we have to catch the bus". So I was running around and there was the QSI school bus (the school where I teach at sent a bus to pick the girl and I up) waiting for us and they came just to pick us up so that we didn't have to pay for another taxi ride. That was so nice I thought.

If this is what the physical turned out like I can't wait to go for my interview at the police station. Should be just as interesting if not more. Probably they will put me in Chinese prison over night to see if I will crack up or something. Too late I already did.

Well I hope this finds you finding my life a smidge bit funny and I hope you and your families are doing well. I wish for cool gentle breezes and a big nice tree to sit under to relax and reflect.

Amanda and Dylan!