Camden, Arkansas 25th annual Daffodil Festival

Here are a few pictures taken over this past weekend at the Camden, Arkansas 25th annual Daffodil Festival: http://www.camdendaffodilfestival.com

Destiny and I enjoyed the beautiful day walking around downtown looking at all the vendors. There were many arts and crafts and homemade items for sale, as well as all kinds of delicious food, and many activities for kids. Later in the afternoon, we went outside and practiced archery.

Experience and tips.

I HAVE LEARNED A LITTLE BIT OF FRENCH, SPANISH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, CHINESE, AND SOME RUSSIAN.
SO, I KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE. I KNOW THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO PRACTICE.

LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE IS NOT SOMETHING WE CAN LEARN NOW, AND EXPECT TO REMEMBER IN THE FUTURE, WITHOUT ALWAYS PRACTICING.

I HAVE TEN THOUSAND HOURS EXPERIENCE, TEACHING TEN THOUSAND STUDENTS FROM OVER 50 COUNTRIES ALL OVER THE WORLD, ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE, AND I HAVE DEVELOPED THIS NATURAL METHOD TO LEARNING.

THIS IS THE NATURAL WAY WE LEARN A FIRST LANGUAGE, AND IS ALSO EFFECTIVE IN LEARNING OTHER LANGUAGES.

Listen and repeat – Watch movies / television / films in English, preferably with English subtitles. And then repeat what they say. You can also listen to news or talk radio. (vocabulary / listening comprehension / pronunciation) at least 10 minutes each day

Reading – Read something that is interesting to you in English; nothing too difficult or too easy. You should read speaking the words. If you can, record your reading to listen to later. (reading comprehension / vocabulary / speaking practice / pronunciation / grammar and sentence structure) at least 10 minutes each day

Writing – Write in a notebook words and phrases by topic or category in your language, and then translate to English, also writing down the synonyms and antonyms, and other definitions and forms of words. Write questions and responses, in past, present, and future tense using the new vocabulary. Read the questions and responses speaking the words. Review. You can also practice by describing something in detail. (vocabulary / grammar and sentence structure practice / speaking practice) about 5 to 10 minutes each day

Speaking – Speak English all day, and then your native language after. (speaking practice) 35+ hours each week

ENGLISH ONLY at home for 30 minutes with family.

Read English bedtime stories to your children.

***THIS IS NOT THE ADVICE OF EDUCATION FIRST.***
***THIS IS MY PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.***
You still need to keep you private lessons with a native English speaking teacher, so you can listen to the different accents and ask them: ‘Is this how I correctly say this word?’ And, ‘Is this how I correctly use this word in a sentence?’
The teachers are here to help you learn, but you should be doing more outside of class than inside of class.

I am usually available Monday to Friday from 0900 EST to 1600 EST, and then 1630 EST to 1900 EST.
You can book a class with me through the EF system or by contacting me at: Carl.K@teachers.org

Carl K.

FINAL POST: Goodbye China?

THE SITUATION:
About the middle of January, my most recent school to teach for and I parted company over disagreements on how to teach. (That's keeping it nice.) We were given an option of showing up to the Exit/Entry Bureau and getting our Visa's changed to tourist until February 21st or do nothing and have them automatically expire in ten days. The school was also kind enough to let us stay in the apartment until the end of January. I tried to find other employment and had a few first and even second interviews, but nothing worked out. No matter what the outcome for work, we still had to leave the country to renew our Visa status to a Z-teaching Visa. We were waiting on our tax return money to come in so we could buy tickets to go home and visit anyway. When the end of January was near and we still didn't have the tax return, we had to have another plan. We contacted the US Embassy and they could help us with an emergency loan, taking our passports, and we would have to pay the loan back before they would allow us to get new passports. Before we followed through with this decision, my mother let us use her credit card to buy tickets to return home. We got tickets with a round-trip  date of April 17th, in hopes that we would find work in time to do the correct paperwork to come back to China. We didn't have enough money to get our family dog home, so we found him a new home with a nice American family in Beijing.
THE TRIP:
We spent three hours going to the airport by subway carrying a dozen bags and a three year old toddler. After going through security and on the way to our gate, we were told that our flight had just left the gate. We had to return to the front of the airport, reclaim our checked bags and try to find out what to do next. After getting sent first one place and then another, we finally discovered we had to sleep the night at the airport and wait for the airline personnel to come in the next morning to find out what to do. The next day, we were placed on stand-by. There were only three flights going out to America and they wre all full. We were placed on the waited list for the last flight, because it had the connecting flight we needed. We were lucky enough to be the first of a dozen other people to get seats. We made it through security again and had to run for our flight. We left about 45 minutes late, but landed on time. We barely made to our connecting flight, only to find it was cancelled due to mechanical problems. This time, the airline put us up in a hotel with dinner and breakfast. The next morning, we finally made it to Little Rock from Chicago. My parents picked us up at the airport and gave us a ride home for the final hour and half. It had taken 64 hours from the time we left our apartment in China to get home.
THE FUTURE:
The tickets for round-trip didn't cost anymore than one-way. With over ten weeks before our return ticket date, we are looking for work here at home to off-set some of our cost. We are also looking for work in Beijing with the hopes to find something before the middle of March. After that time, there would not be enough time to do the paperwork to return to China. Even though there are some good reasons to return to China, there are also some good reasons to stay in America. Our decision may be made for us. We will have to wait and see.

Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner.

 

We haven't had an American traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner since moving to China. For Thanksgiving we have had KFC and the first two years we had a nice dinner with our Canadian friends for Christmas, but no turkey.  Mainly because turkeys are hard to come by over here. We did see a live one in Jiamusi, but weren't prepared for killing, cleaning or cooking it. Now that we are in Beijing, there are several restaurants that fix complete meals you can order ahead and even have delivered.

 

We had purchased this large toaster oven and after Thanksgiving saw frozen turkeys for sale in one of the import stores. We decided to buy the turkey and have a Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner ourselves. We don't have a freezer so we had to cook the turkey once it was thawed. It only took 3 hours in our new convection oven and it turned out wonderful. Golden brown skin and juicy meat that just pulled off the bone.

 

Deb made deviled eggs.

 

It was a feast for the six of us, including Spot and the rabbit.

 

Turkey, deviled eggs and gravy.

 

Mashed potatoes, asparagus and cornbread dressing.

Halloween Party

This is the boss at the school Carl works at, Andy.

Carl

Chanley, Andy's daughter

Debora

DJ and her friend

Eric, another teacher

Frank, one of the staff at the school

Fred and Ilinka, teachers

Gabe, another teacher

Things in Beijing leading up to Halloween party

DJ wanted me to record her singing the Twinkle Twinkle song that she learned in school.

DJ thought this was a seat.

This is one way to watch TV.

This is the new bike that Susan got.

Beijing Mutianyu Great Wall of China

Waiting for the subway early in the morning to start our trip to the Great Wall.

This is Linda, another teacher at the school I work at. Several of us went together to the Great Wall.

You have to get up very early to beat the crowd on the subway. It was and hour ride on the subway.

 

Another hour and a half on the bus. And 45 more minutes by taxi to get to the Great Wall.

It had always been a dream of mine to eat a sandwich at the Great Wall. We bought Subway sandwiches at the base and walked up the steep hill past the vendors to take a cable car up to the wall. Because we had DJ with us, we did not go down the steep steps on either side of the section of wall we were on and reversed the process to go home.

This wasn't the best air quality day. It is best to go right after a good rain.

Rule 2 - No scratching.

Saying goodbye on National Day.

We took my parents to the airport and saw them off.

The only way to get DJ to stop crying was to take this picture.

After we saw them off, we went to snack street where Suzanne and I had fried scorpion and starfish, and she had fried seahorse. This was a first for both of us and a last for me. We did have pictures, but they accidentally got deleted, so you will never see this from me.

It was China's National Day, which is like America's Independence Day. Many Chinese have the whole week off and travel to be with family. Beijing's population must have increased by at least 25 percent. Wangfujing snack street and Tiananmen Square were very crowded. 

 

Boss' daughter's birthday.

Our boss, Andy, was giving a birthday party for his daughter, Chanly, on Sunday. It was also Mid-Autumn (Moon) Festival. Suzanne, Deb and I went. She turned five. It was also a staff BBQ. In the back are two of the other foreign teachers, Eric and Fred. Behind Suzanne is one of the Andy's friends and foreign manager, Gabriel.

We met Andy's mother from Hong Kong and his famous artist uncle, Willy Wang, who lives in Houston.

We gave Chanly a Barbie and some clothes. I have her in several of my classes. This cake taste much better than the moon cakes they eat for Moon Festival.

Suzanne also received a pearl braclet from Andy's mother.

We had just finished singing Happy Birthday and she was ready to blow out the candle.

Then her two year old little brother blew it out before she could. She was very upset.

Downtown Daxing

This almost looks like a upside down Mcdonalds sign...but since you are in China, then it's a chinese eating place.

Giant mooncake for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival.

laterns

One of the malls we went into had rides and DJ loved them.

She got this mask from Pizza Hut when we ate lunch there.

Daxing is in the outer suburbs of Beijing. It is a relatively small section of Beijing and about half-way to the actual countryside from Beijing center.

Three year old's take naps where ever they want to.

Maybe something a little smaller.

We are looking for something bigger than the last e-bike that was stolen.

Getting closer.

This is an e-bike for the cops in Beijing.

Clear day in Beijing.

Is having a smog free day worth taking pictures of? In Beijing it is.

 

 

Meal out with parents.

 

 

When we saw that we weren't going to be able to go back to the US this summer my parents came to China to visit us. I know that took a lot of money, and some giving up things, and planning. Thank you very much for coming to visit and being able to visit. We took them out to a Chinese place to eat one night. 

 

 

Granpa Gil, grandma Linda, Susan and DJ.

Amazingly everyone was eating with chopsticks.

DJ always finds friends

To market, to market, to buy a fresh....anything.

This is an open air market that is fairly close to us. It is open in the mornings and closed pretty much in time for the nap time after lunch.

 

 

They have people who make fresh things while you wait.

If you can't find it here, then they don't use it in China

Yes,this is food that they eat...on the ground.

They have spices and fresh ingredients all over.

Fresh meat,with or without flies?

You can even get duck.

Fresh noodles.

Going to see the great wall.....

Carl had the day off, so we wanted to go to see the Great Wall. That meant a lot of walking and getting up early etc. The rest of the crew decided to stay home, but we wanted to go. When we went to catch bus 936 at Dongzhimen, a lady dressed in a bus shirt told us it would be quicker to take bus 980. It didn't take us to the right place or even anywhere near the wall, but at least it was only 3RMB each way for one person and was an air conditioned bus with a nice view of the countryside.

 

Mountains in the background

 When we got off the bus, we were in a smaller town.

 It looks nice enough huh?

It happened that the person that we thought was ok to get off the main bus with, was a crook. So, when we got off then the cabs to go to the wall were high priced ones.
We had a nice outing, and got a few bus rides.
Did we see the Great Wall? Not this time.

 

More catching up with pictures

Here are the rest of the this and that pictures. Pictures that we have taken of different things.

 

 

Susan was trying to dye her hair.

We were trying to dye it green, using Kool-Aid.

Things You'll Need To Make Homemade Green Hair Dye

• Glass mixing bowl Lime sugar-free gelatin dessert mix Green food coloring Whisk Hot water Hair collected from your hairbrush Foil or plastic bags Blow dryer
• It is better to have things all within reach when you start.e

Instructions

1. • 1
     Boil two cups of water, and allow the water to continue to simmer gently while you're preparing the green hair dye.
   • 2
     Open the envelopes of gelatin and empty them into a glass mixing bowl. You'll need one box of dessert mix for short hair, two for medium length hair and three for long hair.
   • 3
     Add 1/4 cup of boiling water for each package used to the powdered gelatin and whisk to mix well. A thick paste will form. Begin adding boiling water a tablespoon at a time, whisking with each addition, until the paste becomes thin.
   • 4
     Study the color of the green gelatin dessert depicted on the box of Jello. Decide if that shade is the color that you want for your hair to be. If you want a deeper shade of green, add green food coloring a drop at a time, whisking well and following each addition until the paste deepens to the shade that you desire.
   • 5
     Allow the green hair dye to cool just enough for it to be comfortable to apply to your scalp. Use it immediately. Wear disposable gloves when handling the dye because it will stain your skin.

Here is DJ.

Sometimes playing is such hard work.

This is a balloon that I had found for DJ and she loved.

DJ and her grandpa Gil.

DJ and her grandma Linda.

Spot had to get in on the picture with grandpa and DJ.

"Well I always see you all using toilet paper, and now you say bad DJ?"

This is the back of the baloon.

DJ's costume.

DJ's belated birthday gifts

 

Carl's parents came to visit us here in China about the end of August. Right before they got here, we left our other job and moved etc. In all this going on, we have sort of neglected the blog. The next few days I will spend time and update you on everything, and also be able to clean out our camera.

 

This first batch here is presents that I got for DJ for a late birthday gift from money that Carl's dad and step-mom sent for her.

 

 

This is a trike for when her legs are strong enough to peddle on her own, but for now I can push her and she can ride. We had to modify it some and take off the baby holdings so she would do better with it.

 

 

 

After modifications.

This one and the next one will be her Christmas gifts, some of them anyways.

Z-Visa problems.

When we were first coming to China to teach, we had to go through a process of exchanging information with the school and sending papers to get our Visa. We believed until recently that everything was alright. It turns out that the first school did not give us the correct visa. We had a Z-Visa for working, but not for teaching. As a teacher, you should also have an expert certificate book. We thought the first school had this, but kept it for some reason when we left and that the second school would get another for them. An expert certificate book is something that is gotten once and is not the schools, but the teachers. Something else that you keep with you is a resident registration book. This is something the school helps you get, but you hold onto and get a new one each time you change schools. If you are coming to or are already in China, be sure you have the correct paperwork. A sticker in your passport may say you have a Z-Visa, but it might not be the correct kind. Your passport may have a sticker that says 'resident permit', but this is only used for entering and exiting the country and is not the same as a resident registration permit. All the correct paperwork takes about 6 to 8 weeks to process. The school should pay for everything and the total cost is less than $100. you should also ask to see the schools license to hire expert teachers. It will have a license number and you should make note of this for future reference. There are places you can contact and may get some help if you have problems with a school, but the best thing is to be alert to fakes or scams.

New pets for us.

Susan had said that she would like a rabbit for finishing her 11th grade on time. Susan and I went out one day and found her a rabbit cage,water bottle, and three rabbits. One of the rabbits,the black and white one, is for DJ. They all have names also. The black one is Harry for Harry Potter. The brown one is Joel, for one of Susan's friends. The other one is DJ's black and white one which we call Jenny. She can say Jenny pretty easy.

Carl is holding Harry, DJ has Jenny and Susan has Joel.

Back to the Hutong for a day

We had talked about going back to the hutong area, where we had been when first comeing to China in 2010. We just had to find a day when we all had time to do it though. Susan was missing the restraunt where she had tried to break the door going to eat breakfast one time,inside joke. Also a bar that we had went and ate at a few times. It finally came to when we had a Saturday free, and could go. Here are some pics of a lake that was close to a pizza place that TJ and Jennie had taken us to. The pizza place, we just didn’t find. The other two places we went looking for had also been changed, and weren’t there. It wasn’t a wasted trip, we all had fun and it was a nice day for it then.

Don't you love the chinglish?

This is DJ's way to see Beijing.

Chicken Nuggets, a 3 year old's favorite meal.

DJ has new things

DJ has been growing so much, that she really needed some new clothes. One day while Carl and I were out shopping, we found some shirts and a few shorts for a good price. She just had to try one of them on.

Susan and I went out shopping one day, and found some DVD’s that we liked. I have shown DJ the Teletubbies some, and she likes it. If we could just get her off the Sponge bob though.