First Week In China

So, we have had a VERY busy week! The school that we do most of the teaching is called Weihai Daguanghua International School. It is an elementary, middle, and high school. It is a fairly new private school(though I'm not sure the buildings are very new). We work with the 6-7 year-olds. We also go to two Weihai public schools to work with the same age group and a public kindergarten. It sounds like a lot but we only work about 20 hours a week. This week was challenging to say the least. The kids are active! I think they are used to super strict teachers all day so when they get to our class they think it's time to goof off. But teaching got easier as the week developed. My favorite part was working with the kindergartners. When we got them they didn't know any English at all. It was neat to see how much they picked up in just one 30 min class!
Other than teaching we have been doing some more exploring. I had real noodles from a Muslim noodle shop. It was amazing! And it was only 5 yuan (which is less than a dollar) for a bowl full of noodles the size of a basketball cut in half! Wednesday was our head teacher's birthday. So after we finished teaching we went looking for a place that does massages. We found a place that was decorated to look like a tree from the outside. We started talking to the lady at the front counter, but there was a language barrier. She kept looking at us weird, and then she called down her boss. He walked out in thin pajamas and no underwear. We started to get nervous, so we called Wendy, a Chinese teacher at our school that speaks English. She said that the place we were at only serves men... Yeah we left pretty fast! We found another place that gives massages for men and women, and I had the best massage of my life! And it was only 4 US dollars! Crazy! After that we went downtown and found a McDonald's! I thought I'd never enjoy McDonald's but it was unbelievable! We savored every bite! Then we walked to the beach. It was very beautiful, but we didn't get any pictures yet. We will take pictures later and post them. Later that evening we strolled down the 'night market.' I bought a Buddha necklace and Bruce bought nun-chucks. We also bought Avatar and Lovely Bones on DVD (about $1 each). All in all it was a tiring week.
Also, it has been snowing on and off here. The snow usually sticks, but is mostly melted by the next day. Winds make it feel even colder, but everyone is saying that before March is over, it will be warmer.
I want to thank Cheryl for helping me post when I wasn't able to. I don't know if I will be able to post every week. I have to go through a proxy site. The government regulates what sites you can and cannot go to . . . lame! We miss you all! Love you!