Beijing World Park

We took our two favorite studetns with us yesterday as we traveled the at the Beijing World Park.

Al-Aqsa Mosque

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Aggie and Lina are two middle school studetns that we both teach English at the private school we work for and I tutor in math after school. It was great that their parents trusted us foreign teachers to take them all the way across this large city by public transportation to a place we had never been to before. They maybe had been on the subway once before and only one of them had been to the park before. It took three subways and a bus, plus some walking, to get to the park, but half the adventure is getting to where you're going. We got to ride another of Beijing's subway lines that we had not been on previously and see another part of the city we hadn't seen before. Some of these don't have titles or links because I don't remember what they are.

 
Entrance to the park.

St. Basil's Cathedral

Acropolis of Athens
 DJ in the splash zone.

 Suzanne with Santa. DJ wouldn't go near him.

 Golden Gate Bridge

Statue of Liberty

The Big Apple twin towers

Empire State Building

Washington Monument
 DJ makes new friends every where she goes.

Tower Bridge

 Eiffel Tower
 Big Ben

 Alexandria Lighthouse

 
Pyramid

The girls having PB&J sandwiches for lunch.

Egyptian columns
  Chichen Itza

The White House

U.S. Capitol building

  Lincoln Memorial

Trojan Horse

  Colosseum

 Rialto Bridge

Pisa Tower

 St. Peter's Basilica

 Arc de Triomphe

Great Wall

 

Stonehenge
  

Borobudur Temple

 Ishtar Gate

Taj Mahal

  Angkor Wat

  Easter Island

 Sydney Opera House

 These were the cleanist public restrooms with no flies or smell that I have seen in China or any other country.

 

 
In the evening, after the World Park, we went to our follow Arkansas's friends apartment to have pizza and visit. DJ played with their two boys and new dog until the boys ran off to play with their friends and then she kept us entertained and found new things to get into.

Day off for Deb and museum and view from the top of Beijing for us.

I decided to give Deb a little break from the kids and everything, so I took the kids to the Military Museum and to the CCTV tower while she stayed home and relaxed. The museum and tower are both just off of subway line 1 on the west side of the city. When we arrived at the museum, I was expecting to pay for admission, but was surprised that all they asked for was our passports or ID's. I had my passport, but not the kids. While searching my wallet for mine, they went ahead and gave us the tickets. After going through security with bags being x-rayed and hand checked to make sure we didn't have any lighters and such, we finally were able to enter the museum grounds. It turns out that the actual museum was closed for some reason, but there was still plenty to see on the grounds.

DJ and Suzanne are playing news reporters.

Two bombs under the old bomber.

MIG-15

This is the remains of the U-2 that was shot down by the Chinese during the cold war.

The plaques explain how the U-2 was shot down by a radar guided missile like this one.

U.S. P-51 Mustang.

Sherman tank. Half of the tanks they have on display are old U.S.

I saw this in the back of the room behind the old bomber and zoomed in to see what it was. The plaque says it is a ship to ship missile.

Chinese Hummer.

Jet powered torpedo.

Anti-aircraft artillary.

Old cannons.

DJ liked the small tank.

There was also an art exhibit in a neighboring building on the same grounds as the Military Museum.

The Millennium Monument is right next to the Military Museum. We walked by it, but didn't go see it today.

What we went to go see after the museum was the CCTV tower. At 405 meters, it is the tallest structure in Beijing.

There is a revolving restaurant at 242 meters, an outside obsevation deck at 238 meters and a closed in observation area at 225 meters.

DJ didn't mind the large clown outside.

The tower also had tight security. You couldn't take backpacks into the tower and smaller bags had to be x-rayed. The cost for just the observation part of the tower was 70 Yuan each.

DJ wouldn't come within 10 meters of the clown on the inside.

There was several things for the kids to see and do on the inside.

We all enjoyed the view of the city.

Suzanne was leaning against the window looking down on the city when she started feeling a little vertigo.

This is the view to the southeast.

This is the view to the south.

This is the view to the southwest.

This is the view to the west.

This is the view to the northwest.

This is the view to the west northwest.

This is the view to the north.

This is the view to the northeast.

This is the view to the east. This view looks back in the direction of the city where we live. Despite a little haze, this was a clear day for Beijing. If you click on the picutre and look into the far distance, you can see Beijings tallest building, the Chinese World Trade Center building 3. You can also just make out what the locals call 'Big Shorts', the new CCTV building. I teach at a public school near the CCTV building. We live way on the other side of the city past those buildings. The view from the tower is special because it truly shows the size of the city.

The weather report according to DJ is clear and warm.

DJ update.

In this blog post I have included some new pictures of DJ and a couple of the beautiful roses the city has planted everywhere in the city. I also will tell you about our recent visit to the local clinic with DJ. DJ had a runny nose all of last week, but on Thursday evening, she also had a swelling under one of her eyes. I knew right away that this wasn't just a cold anymore; that it was an infection. She didn't have a fever, but we took her to the local clinic the next morning anyway. In just thirty minutes we had completed her paper work, seen the doctor, had a blood test done, seen the doctor again and gotten the medication she needed. Not only was all this fast and easy, but it also only cost about $20US. Some people will say that China is behind the times when it comes to medicine, but I don't think so. Just like in the states, there are good doctors, clinics or hospitals and bad. We weren't the only ones at the clinic that day. There were about 40 to 50 others patients. The blood test was done, not using a needle, but a laser to prick her finger. We only had to wait a few minutes to get the results which included a long list of things they tested. She is taking both traditional and modern Chinese medicine. The next day she was already showing great signs of improvement including the swelling under eye was almost gone. Just like people in America, the Chinese complain about their health care system. Having experienced both, I don't see why they complain.

New electric bike.

It cost about $400 US including a chain lock and helmets. It is just for quick short trips around our part of Beijing. It is not for bad weather or night or going across town. It can also be used even if the battery is used up. I think Suzanne likes it. Maybe she can learn how to drive it. Of course, she doesn't know how to ride a regular bike. The back seat is not very user friendly for Debora, because she has to put her knees in her chin to use the foot rest. I might could get a seat put on the back for DJ. And then later, Deb could get her own to share with Suzanne. We will have to take it slow until we get used to it. Getting around in traffic isn't that big of a difference than walking, since sometimes you have to walk in the street or get out of the way of cars driving and parking on the sidewalks. When in Beijing, do as the Beijingers.

Beijing Aquarium

Even though the Beijing Zoo wasn't the best, we think that the Beijing Aquarium was awesome. DJ's loved all of it, especially the dolphins. The Beijing Aquarium has a very large collection of jelly fish. They also have a part where you can pet a sea turtle. There are many different sections. Some people have said you can see the zoo and the aquarium in one day. If you did want to see everything in one day, I would recommend spending most of your time at the aquarium.

Beijing Zoo

On the second day of our five day break, we went to the Beijing Zoo. It was a far better zoo than the one in Jiamusi. Since we had already seen a Giant Panda before, we did not pay the extra to see them on this trip. We did buy the combo ticket to see the zoo and the Beijing Aquarium. Some of the exhibits were not open or appeared to have missing animals. For visitors that have seen zoos such as the one in San Diego, this will be a great disappointment and maybe even a little sad. We did not get to see everything, but one of the things that we did see that I liked was the kids area. Just walking around our local community, some people are a little afraid of our middle sized dog. We have found that many people in China are afraid of dogs. For a long time in China, people have not been able to afford having a dog, except for dinner. Now more are starting to have pets. For those kids that don't have a pet, but would like to play with one, the Beijing Zoo offers kids a place to walk and frolic with cats and dogs of all bread and size.

Beijing Olympic Park

We had five days with no classes leading up to and including the May Day holiday, so we took in some of the local attractions before it starts getting too hot in the city during the summer.

This is the start of what is called the Sunken Garden at the north end of the Olympic Park. It has a large underground mall.

This is a very big wind chime.

DJ was copying the girls dance moves.

These ducks seemed to be standing in the middle of the river. It is really a very shallow fake river that is on top of the mall.

We will have to come back another day to visit the Beijing Science and Technology Museum.

This is something new they are building at the north end of the Olympic Park at the entrance to the Olympic Forrest.

We made it to the end of the Oympic Park but never did make it very far into the Olympic Forrest. Again, we will have to save that for another day.

The kids were tired and we sent them home. This is a a very nice couple that approached us as we were walking to have dinner that evening. They are from Greece and had been in town on business but decided to take in some of the local sights. They were looking for a good place to eat and we went together to Tim's BBQ Tex-Mex. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Ritan Park

After we left the Beijing Folk Custom Museum, we went to Ritan Park.

Beijing Folk Custom Museum

We went to the Beijing Folk Custom Museum saturday afternoon, April 21st.

Beijing World Flower Garden

Went went with our students on a field trip to the Beijing World Flower Garden on friday, April 20th. Everyone had a great time.

Happy feet.

This is Dawn from Colorado. She was working in another part of China for the same school we work for, but now she is here in Beijing.

This is Jane. She is our new 'ayi'. She helps with cleaning, cooking and shopping, but her primary job is to take care of D.J. Jane speaks pretty good English. Besides her pay of $100 a week, we also provide room and board.

D.J. loves Jane already. They read and play together.

Easter 2012 in Beijing

I was so completely exhausted from my first very busy Easter in Beijing.

It all started with my usual sunday morning bus ride to church with my parents and sister.

After church, we went around the corner from the church to a big mall called Solana.

They had a central courtyard for us to walk around.

One part of the mall has everything for kids including ice skating.

Since I am not big enough for ice skating yet, I played in the little kids play area.

I really like going up and down steps now that I can do it by myself.

I see you.

Excuse me, coming through.

This was my first time in a ball pit.

It had a lot of very colorful balls.

It was very fun.

Where does the train go?

When mom and dad finally got me away from the play area inside, we went outside just in time for the Easter egg painting.

I found one just my size.

Here comes the paint.

This is fun.

We should have Easter every sunday.

Can we do this at home?

Many other people enjoyed Easter at the Solana Mall with us.

The mall is at the northwest corner of Chaoyang Park and this is what looks to be a giant fried egg.

Lookout Spot, DJ has wheels now.

I forgot to tell you about DJ's new toy. She has got a new motorcycle. It makes sounds. She can push a button and make it go forward and backwards. She can have it make sounds, and lights. She really prefers to just push it along, and not have it moving yet. She likes the sounds though.

Apartment, shoes, church and more things.

We have finally taken some pictures of our apartment to post on here since we as of yet, do not have internet at home. We also still have no micrwave at home yet. We did finally get a water cooler at home, because we took the one out of the classroom and then got water ourselves. We got Susan some sneakers to replace her old ones. We have started attending a International church that TJ and Jennie go to also. They have a 9:30 and a 11:30 service. DJ likes her class, and Susan likes her youth group. I think we are starting to get into a routine now. We have found some places that will deliver food, when we don't want to cook, and some grocery stores close by. Susan is finishing up her 11th grade so that she can be ready to start 12 when she goes back next year.

This is the front door that we come in. 

 Susan's new shoes.

 This is the sign for the group that DJ goes to for her church service.

This was the early service we went to, it is usually a much bigger group, but even this one filled up quickly.

Things are getting done

Looking outside the window here at the school, all I see is grey sky! Rain? No, just normal day for Beijing. Things are getting pretty settled down now. We have our Visa's done and final. How did that happen? Grace found a lady that could get the paperwork done, even though our last school didn't send everything they needed. It only cost us 6,000 RMB, of which this school paid none. We have our classes getting into order, and have found out which ones need more help. My teaching is slowly getting better. My teaching is getting better. The classes I have are from two students up to 6 students for now. We think that by the time we come back from the break they will have next week, then Carl will get moved to the public school full time, and I will have classes from 2-16 kids then. We have also learned that our approximate date for summer will be about July 13-August 26. Hot parts in Arkansas I know :( . We will have to shop for more shoes for everyone, a printer, one last computer, and also a ayi for DJ. We have found a potty chair for DJ, although she hasn't used it much. We had talked about getting her a stroller, and then I had found a rolling bag that is very good size and sturdy for putting groceries in and wheeling home, and it even has a side that a seat folds out to use in a subway, if she wanted. We have been using that as groceries/stroller. 

This is one of the international classes.

This is her new stroller, looks like she is having fun right?

Moving with a dog from America to China. How?

I thought that you might want to know how it worked that we got our dog to China....

When we knew that we were going to move from America to China, we had to start about 6 months before that time, to find out what to do about Spot. He is a brindle colored Boston Terrier breed. He is a very loving, now four year old dog. It didn’t really take any major doing to get him ready. Paperwork from a certain vet, that has authority to do certain papers, a trip to Little Rock to get papers signed, and then flying out of Dallas airport, instead of Little Rock. The trip to Little Rock, was for the official paper saying he was healthy. The Dallas part, was because the airline we used, that is where the headquarters was, and he had to go through that way, There are only certain airports that you can fly out of when taking animals internationally. It all depends on what airline you are using, as to which city you must go out of then. We used American Airlines. He was taken care of very well. When we all got to Beijing, then we were just going to stay for about 7 days, and then take him with us on to Jiamusi. Well, that was our plan anyways. It ended up where it was a good thing we stayed close, because Carl had to spend one day doing paperwork and paying money to get Spot into quarantine. When he had gotten to China, they took him off the plane and put him in a cold warehouse. If it had not been for someone calling Carl, and telling him then Spot would not be here now. After the 30 days in quarantine, then he was put on another plane and that is when I went with a assistant from Ivy, and got him back to our home. Think that was hard? Now, when we went to move Spot from Jiamusi to Beijing, then we were going to just do it ourselves. We had a book saying that he had all his shots etc., and all we needed was him on the plane. I checked the airline and saw that they could take him on certain flights, but then when we got to the airport to find out how to do things, and where to go the week before leaving, then the airport said with him and his cage, he had to be less than 15kg, and he was 20kg. There was a man there, that moves dogs, and he offered to help. We paid him, and gave him Spot, his cage, and some food. He is supposed to be here today. It was actually easier to move him here in China, than to China. If you are wanting to know about moving with small dogs in China, it is very easy. Big dogs, you need help. We love our dog, so it had to be done.

The adventure continues.

This new “adventure”, as Jennie Johnson calls it started on February 19th .

On the 19th, Carl finished working at IVY, got his letter and money. They also done a inspection, and we had to pay allot of fines for things that had not worked since we had been there. We had just made things work, and not complained about everything.

On the 20th, We had a guy that we had found at the airport, with Chinese help, that came and got Spot to get him to Beijing for us, costing 900 Yuan. We had to have two taxi’s, to get all our things to the airport. We flew to Beijing. When we got to the airport, we met our helper Grace(her English is okay, and she tries). We learned that our apartment was not ready yet, and we were going to be going to a hotel, near the school, for a few days. We went out that night and walked around some, and found a Mcdonald’s.

On the 21st, We went to see the school, Beijing Experimental Foreign Language School. We gave Grace the Visa’s. We also had a chance to meet Mrs. Dee, the vice principal(she speaks no English). Later, we all walked some and found a pizza buffet place and ate lunch, and then Susan went home, and we took DJ downstairs to a place she could play. It was 30 Yuan for her to play for a hour, but she loved it. Her favorite toy there was the car that she can sit in and push around.

On the 22nd, We heard about the apartment that we are supposed to be in, on the 24th floor. We found out that we would each be teaching a class on Friday.

On the 23rd, Today we met TJ downstairs at our hotel and went for lunch at Burger King in a mall close to their home, Joy City. We went and got phone cards, so that we would have Beijing numbers. We got our teacher books that we can use if we wanted to. Spot was also delivered to the school today. He will stay there until we are in our apartment. He had a big cage, soft bed, and 2 food bowls. Then when he got here, he was in a small wire cage. The man said that when he got to the airport, that the crate was too big and Spot weighed too much, so he had to keep the cage. We also got to go see our new apartment. It was near where TJ lives. It was very filthy, and unsafe for DJ.

On the 24th, Today we both taught our classes. I had the first one with about 26 kids in it. It was awful. They would not hardly talk or anything. Carl’s class was great though.

On the 25th, We went out and walked around. We moved out of the hotel and into our new apartment, on the 5th floor. This apartment has nothing in it.

On the 26th, Today we went to church with TJ and Jennie. We all went to Peter’s, to eat lunch cause they had root beer etc. Susan went to TJ’s house and watched DJ, and their 2 kids. TJ and Carl went to Carrefour and went shopping for household supplies. I went with Jennie to go find me some clothes better for teaching.

On the 27th, We were teaching again, and then went shopping for food at a local store.

On the 28th, We were having to go to a immigration office, because our Visa’s expired on the 25th. I went shopping with Susan at a local mall.

On the 29th, We had to go the police station. We went to the immigration office again for a hearing, and penalties. Tomorrow starts a new month, and it will be better, (that was a nice thought).

On March 1st, I got up this morning and had cereal, with real milk. I had arranged to meet Jennie at the mall close to her, and then go shopping with her for the afternoon. Getting to that point from our school, meant me having to take some subways and a bus. I did that with no problems. When I started back though, I got on the right bus just going the wrong direction. It turned into a very long bus ride, and finally having to get a Taxi and go home. We found out that Burger King has a number you can call and they will deliver it to you. Mcdonald’s also has one.

On the 2nd, Carl had to go back to the immigration office with Grace, to get some things finished for the kids. After everything, we found out that we would just get a warning, and then if this ever happens again, then we would be told to leave China, and never come back. After Carl had his classes today, then he went and ordered a washer/dryer to be delivered tomorrow. We also found out that this next week, the first few days would be normal. Wednesday, then Carl will probably have classes in the public school, and I will stay here at this school. DJ and Susan are both sick now with fevers.

On the 3rd, DJ got up today and her fever was gone. We got our washer/dryer combo delivered. Later we are going to meet some other people from Canada, that are coming to the school to look around.

On the 4th, We had an interesting time meeting a guy named Jim Karygiannis from Canada. He works in the house of common, as a member of the Parliament in Ontario, Canada. This school is trying to arrange a deal with Canada for this summer where kids can go there for 2 months and learn culture and English.

There are allot of things that this school doesn’t know exactly how to do, so it is very hard to figure out. I think we are the first teachers with families here though. They are trying their best to help us. For the most part, I have had about 6 classes, and Carl has had about 13 classes. There is one class that has all the kids in it. Other than that, there have been five kids that I keep seeing(Aggie,Lina,Dante,Emem,and Jack). Some of the classes cost extra, to learn about culture in America. This school is mainly for kids that had failed the Gow-Cow(not sure about spelling) test. That test is the one that they take and score good on, to be able to go to a university in China. So, now that they failed that, then they have to go take the TEOFL to go overseas and go to a university. They didn’t want to study enough to pass the test in Chinese, so we will have our hands full teaching them in English.

This time up until now, has been interesting. Can’t wait to see what the next month holds. Included with the pictures from these things, is a picture of a traffic jam that Jennie and I were in, she thought it was picture worthy, so it must have been a bad one for Beijing.

This is a picture at the airport.

This is the cage that Spot came in.

This is our classroom.

Dj was trying to figure out why that boy was in her car.

DJ was having fun with Nate and Noah.

This was the hotel we had stayed at.

This was Jim from Canda that we met. 

This is Joy City mall, near TJ and Jennie's.

This is our bags for leaving Jiamusi.

This is our office.

DJ again at playland.

This is the program that Jim was here for.

This is our school in the background.

This is a traffice jam that Jennie thought was picture worthy.

Is change a good thing?



Change can be a good thing, and sometimes it can’t be. Carl and I had gotten jobs, and accepted them for a high school in Quzhou,China. That was ok, it would be in a warmer climate, few hours, not all that far from Shanghai. It took us awhile to get all of the plans done right on how to get to Quzhou. When Carl finally found out that he wasn’t going to be able to leave until after his classes on the 19th, then we could plan some better. We finally figured out that where we were going, when we could leave, and when the Visa would expire, there was only one option--fly. We got our tickets booked online, which took some doing also. During this time, the last school,IVY, had turned off our Internet at our house. I had to get a Chinese friend to help me find a place to go and fix the plane tickets to make sure we had everything right. Then after we had it all planned, we were just killing time waiting. During this time, we were also getting rid of things to people who could use them. DJ was also able to have a last play date with her friend Mike. They both had fun doing things. It was at that point that the school started telling us that we might have to stop at their school in Beijing, so that they could do our Visa’s. Then it was maybe you might want to work there, and then finally it was you aren’t going to Quzhou, you will go to Beijing. Since we are going to be working in Beijing instead, they say they are going to give us more money. When things finally changed to us going to Beijing finally, then I had to change all the tickets etc. During this time, I was also working on getting things done with Spot, to make sure that he would come with us safely. There was allot of work that went into getting everything done in time, and correctly. I am very glad that I wasn’t working then, things might not have gotten done so fast.

Now, we have changed plans and know what is going on now. What will the next adventure be?

Brief update for now.

I know that there has been a long time since the last blog. There has been a lot of things going on here. We have gotten moved saely to Beijing now. I will update this blog in the next few days, to bring everything up to date with pictures and all.

2011 Taxes

We spent most of the day doing laundry from our trip. While I worked on a couple of blog post and doing our 2011 taxes, Deb and Suzanne went to get Spot from the kennel. DJ is fighting what we think is the flu and we all need a good rest after our long trip. I go back to work on the 1st of February and we leave on the 20th of February. We will spend some of this time off to prepack for our big move.