Day 3 - Teacher's Day

These pictures are in a random order. However, I wanted everyone to get a glimpse of China. The first picture was taken in the Huaqiang Bei area. You can buy any cellphone under the sun here. You can even bargain for a good price. Don't worry you can bargain even if you don't speak a lick of Chinese. The seller will pass you a calculator and you will put in your price. Next, the seller will put in his/her price and you go back and forth until you come to an agreement. It is pretty intense. I kind of got a headache after the whole ordeal. But I did end up with a cellphone which leads me to the next picture. Oh...I almost forgot. Someone was blasting techno music. So Liz and I, the lovely lady in the blue shirt, noticed some little kiddies outside dancing. As friendly teachers, we couldn't help it. We had to join in. I have more pictures of this night if you are interested. Send me an email if you want to see more. Now moving on to my cellphone.

I finally decided on a cellphone. I actually got a phone that has a one year warranty just in case. I paid a little bit more but it was purchased from a certified Nokia dealer. There were tons of really cool phones that were much cheaper but I wasn't familiar with the brands. Kofi and Mike bought the coolest phone ever but it was a Chinese brand. Our program coordinator warned us against some phones that stop working within a couple of weeks so I was pretty weary. This isn't always the case but I wanted to play it safe. I plan on coming back home with a really trendy phone. I will figure out the ins and outs of the whole cellphone thing while I am here. Now, the guys in the picture are the certified Nokia dealers. They gave me a discount and they also gave me the red bag you see me holding in the picture. They were all very nice. I actually took a lot of pictures in that store. It is extremely rare for Chinese people to see Black/darker skinned people roaming around local streets so I was asked to be in so many pictures that night along with my friend Ranjana. It's like being a celebrity. Yet, it feels very strange because you get so many stares. It can also be beneficial. I purchased the same phone from the Nokia kiosk my friends used and I am the only one that got the free gift.
The Contract Signing Ceremony took place 2 days ago before I arrived here in NanShan. I will upload a map and highlight my district so everyone can get an idea of where I am located. During the ceremony, each teacher is introduced by name and district and we are given a beautiful bouquet of flowers by our headmaster and contact teacher. It was actually pretty elaborate. It also made me realize that each school invests a significant amount of time and energy in their foreign teachers.
This is Wallace my Contact Teacher. He's the best! If you are wondering why his name is Wallace...well most Chinese people that study English have a English name. I also have a Chinese name but my teacher said I can change it when I find a name that is more suitable for my personality. Anyway, Wallace is in charge of making my transition to my Chinese school a smooth one. He has gone above and beyond the call of duty. He is great! My next door neighbor AnaLiese (my former roommate from training) is teaching his son in one of her classes. We had no clue his some attended the school.
This is a picture of my school. It has a pretty large campus. I really like it. It also has a brand new state of the art pool. There is construction going on here everyday. Well China is constantly under construction. I was in Zhuhai for about 10 - 13 days and I literally saw a Nike store get built in two days. That is no exaggeration at all!

Today's Updates: I taught my second class of Seniors today. They are all so cute. I completely forgot it was Teacher's Day and in the middle of the lesson a student in the front of the classroom said...1, 2, 3, and everyone said in unison, "Happy Teacher's Day!" It was so exciting and then they started to clap. This was my first time every seeing this class and they made me feel so overwhelmed with joy. I introduced myself to class and we discussed topics they are interested in learning about his year. One student even said his favorite singer is Jay-Z. I am also a huge Jay-Z fan so I was very excited. Some other singers student mentioned were: Britney Spears, Rihanna, One Republic and Leona Lewis. They are totally into pop culture! : )
Wallace took AnaLeise and I to meet the Headmaster today. He is very nice and thoughtful. The school provides us with 3 meals a day during the week. He was very concerned about how we are going to eat during the weekend. We had to explain to him that we plan on eating out and exploring a bit on weekends. He said he very happy to have us here.

Well...that's it for now. I am going to grab a bite to eat and do a little studying...