I am summing up the last few months in a nutshell and adding some more information

Hello All . . .

I am sorry that I have completely but not entirely fell off the face of the Earth. So let's bring everyone up to speed on the lives of the Mr. and Mrs. Dylan Blankenship.

Well as you know I have started school in August at the QSI Shekou International School. This entire school concept is different than what I know of at good ole' Suwanee Elementary in Suwanee, Georgia.

Suwanee/ Pretty much all Gwinnett County Schools vs. International Schools
> (or at least the one I am working at)
> Report Cards GCPS vs. Outcome cards and narratives
> -yeah so this is an odd thing. Talking major old school style on this one.
> So when we complete a unit (there are 10 to complete for the entire year) we
> have to write the date of when we began the unit and when we ended it and
> the grade we gave the child. Everything is handwrittten. No typing it in.
> That is what our reception office workers do. Which sucks because they end
> up either loosing the cards that you worked your butt off in filling out or
> they enter in the wrong thing. Narratives are written on each child for five
> subject areas and a paragraph on each child. That is for 17 children. Yeah
> thats a bit different but luckily I did mine during conferences and just cut
> and pasted into the documents.
>
> Suwanee Lunch time vs where I teach
> -So we eat in the classroom. We do not have duty free lunch but we do have
> duty free recess which rocks. Our parapros take them out. Everyone gets
> their own parapro from grades K-2. Thats pretty nice. Mine is pretty cool.
> She is Chinese with broken English and it is so funny listening to the kids
> talk to her and she talks back to them. She also takes me shopping and shows
> me where to buy thing cheap near our school. That's pretty sweet! Also the
> kids have their lunches delivered to school from high end restaurants either
> they choose a Western lunch which is food that we eat in America, a Korean
> lunch from a nearby Korean restaurant or a Japanese lunch which is catered
> by a Japanese restaurant. Yeah these kids are majorily spoiled. hahaha
>
> Suwanee Specials vs where I teach
> -We get a special everyday and sometimes two in one day. The kindergarteners
> have the most jacked up schedule in the school. Some mornings first thing in
> the morning we have a special and other days we have two back to back. Yeah
> . . .not to sure about that one but at least we get some time away from the
> little cuties. We have PE twice, Computers, Library, Art, and Music. Also
> the kids go to Chinese classes on Monday Wednesday and Friday. We do after
> school activities much like SOAR but ran differently. At Suwanee you have a
> choice of whether or not you want to teach SOAR class whereas at my school,
> you choose a class and teach it for 6 weeks twice a week on Tuesdays and
> Thursdays for an hour. I am doing Cheerleading this time around and its so
> fun with 7 and 8 year olds.
>
> Suwanee Grades vs. QSI (where I teach)
> -So we call grades in the states kindergarten, first grade, second and so
> on. At QSI they call them by age levels which can be annoying at times when
> for the last seven years as a teacher I have referred to them otherwise. So
> instead of teaching kindergarten it is called the five year old class. We
> have 4 five year old classes at my school. Two women and two men. Coolest
> grade level I have ever taught with.
>
> USA laws vs QSI
> -So we are not allowed to administer meds back in the states for obvious
> reasons. Well that is acceptable at the school I work at and I have the
> hardest time doing it to this day. Also we are allowed to ask them to empty
> their pockets and check their bags if we suspect someone stole something.
>
> Suwanee/GCPS vs QSI
> -We have the most sensible writing and reading continuums I have ever seen
> in my life. I believe they make sense across the board. you guys should
> adopt them because the other ones you had last year sucked to say the least.
>
>
> Suwanee population vs QSI
> -In my classroom this year I have a broad range of cultures in my room. I
> have first of all 12 boys and 5 girls which might seem pretty messed up and
> it was in the beginning of the year but my boys are as sweet as pie and work
> well with their peers. I have two japanese girls, one American/Chinese girl,
> one brazilian boy, one french boy, one russian boy, one hungarian boy, two
> tawianese girls, one canadian/chinese boy, two korean boys, two british
> boys, one dutch boy, two tawianese boys. So yes we represent the land of
> change. The parents are not the ones I primarily deal with. It's the Ayi's
> (nannies/maids). The parents are so super busy that they have someone take
> care of their child for them and clean their house too. Dylan and I have an
> Ayi but she only cleans our house, does our laundry, irons and walks Lucy
> once a day Monday through Friday. Yeah thats a pretty sweet deal.
>

Now let's see here what else have I got myself into. Well Dylan and I found out I was pregnant in August but I miscarried after 7 weeks. I am OK about it because neither one of us were ready for such a change to occur in our lives. We just got married almost a year ago and then moved to a new country to work for new jobs. . . . really not the most appropriate time for a baby. It made us think though that we can do it here in China (actually more like in Hong Kong after seeing what the mainland Chinese hospitals look like). It makes us think more about having a family in the near future and that there really is no such thing as the perfect timing for a baby. I will say this, that I am so glad to be back to my semi normal self again. It felt like an alien took over my body and I was possessed or something.

I am currently teaching five year olds (kindergarten) and absolutely love it. I am also doing an after school cheerleading class for 7 and 8 year olds. It's so funny . . . I am unaware that my body is getting older because I thought for a mere hour that I was 17 again doing toe touches and cheers with the girls and cartwheels and round offs. I am still paying for it three days later!!!

Speaking of pain . . . so my dearest husband suggests I go for a "blind man massage." It is exactly what it is . . . a blind man massaging you more like a blind man beating you up! At times I couldn't tell if I was crying because I was laughing so hard or because I was in so much pain. It was ruthless. I had to go home and take ibuprofen to go to bed. My skin even hurt. A week later and I can still feel remnants of where he "stabbed" me with his fingers and hands. AGGHHHH!

The weather here in China is now finally starting to get cooler. Whereas before when coming down the elevator, or should I say "the lift" I had sweat trickles everywhere and could have used another shower and another application of make up. No now it is really nice weather. I have began to enjoy the new concept of hiking and have ventured out to Hong Kong on the famous hiking trail The Dragon's Back. Very cool and amazing! With the changing of the weather comes the changing of the food delicacies here in China. Yes so now we have gone from pork, fish head with eye balls inside still, bones in everything to dog!!! OH MY GOD . . Is all I can say. So I am walking basically across the street from where we live which is dominated by many expats (people not originally from China) and in a glass box on display like a trophy or something is a dog that has been shaved and gutted. It was awful!! I made Lucy cover her eyes and told her if she ever ran away she would be next!! Oh it's just awful awful awful.

As for Dylan, he is doing some of the most amazing things in technology these days. Recently his company that he had originally came to China to work for, dissolved and went their separate ways. So Dylan and one of his business colleagues from a past job linked up to form a software company that designs anything from web portals or social networks. Dylan is understanding the ins and outs of owning his own company and juggling not only this new endeavor but going to school full time and be married to me. I too am playing with the concept of changing jobs and working at another local international school here in Shekou. We are exploring many different venues and looking for the one that more conducive to our requirements and family arrangements. Will keep you posted on this situation if and when things may or may not change.

I work with amazing group of people and they dynamics of the school are so wonderful to work with. I can honestly say that I am so thankful not to work with those who are consistently outdoing each other and being a fashionista or putting on a front for others to follow. We all have the same thing and accept each other for what is inside. This is something I felt was missing from my life in the states.

On a side note . . . so riding bikes here is not such a safe past time as we all remembered from our childhood. For the last three or so months I have heard at least four people who have gotten seriously injured while riding their bikes. Just this past week one of the teachers at my school fell off her bike due to uneven ground and broke her collarbone, fractured her hip and elbow. She opted not to go to the Hong Kong hospital as that would provide better care. She went to the Beijing Hospital which is about 30 minutes away from where we live. Grant it is further to go to Hong Kong but when Dylan and I went to visit the teacher the situation and care giving was not what a westerner (someone whose native language is English) is used to. For starters you have to provide your own care. Someone who will help you go to the bathroom, fluff your pillow, basically what a nurse would do in our minds. The nurses at the hospital serve as taking temperatures and coming back in a hour to check them, changing the IV drip. Providing food to the patients is also not a luxury that we get in the states. The person you bring to help you also provides meals for you or your American co-workers bring food to you. I was thinking and told Dylan that if anything happens to me Med-Evac me Hong Kong. In Hong Kong there is standards in place that resemble the ones we are used to in the states. Actually the doctors are British decent and are very good. Just like in the states. I plan on having children over there someday but not today.

Life is great these days and I would not trade it in for anything in the world. We hope you families and loved ones are doing well. Dylan and I are planning on returning to the US to visit family and friends on Dec 13 and leaving on the 30th. We will be staying at his mom's house.

Amanda and Dylan