The Great Wall Music Festival - Beijing

I’m finding it difficult to sort out how and where to begin when trying to describe the epic-ness of this past weekend. A couple of months ago Jill (Matheson from NS), a friend of mine who live and works in Beijing, had mentioned the festival to me and had said that David Guetta would be headlining. Naturally I was super keen but wanted to check around with friends to see if there was any interest. Although everyone agreed it would be a great time due to a variety of reasons I was the only one that was going to be able to go. When I looked at flight I didn’t think that I would be able to go but while sitting with Mariya at the Boathouse one night I looked online just for fun; flights had gone from $600 to $400 to $250ish. I decided this was a sign and I had to book it (Dad would understand this as a sign as well)! Jill was able to buy an early bird ticket for me and just like that I was scheduled to head to Beijing in May!! Fast forward a month and a bit and I was packing a bag in a hurry and heading off to the HK airport – it felt as though I had simply blinked and May 10^th had arrived!

Step 1: Ferry ticket, check!

Step 2: Find my gate, check!

Step 3: Charge my iPhone, check!

Step 4: Board my flight, settle in and nap, check!

Step 5: Party, check!

The flight went very smoothly, luckily! I was asleep before we took off (classic) on account of the long week and after a little rest I had some dinner and a beer (no need to ask how excited I was to learn that the beer was free, I was pretty thrilled), watched a show and poof, I was on the tarmac in Beijing. I survived a monstrous cab line, arrived at the school, met Jill and Carrie (visiting from PEI), dropped my things (in the apartment that I had all to myself across the hall from Jill) and we headed out to a pub (great live music)! I was thrilled to reunite with everyone – Jess O, Chelsey and Katrina (Shenzhen friends), Jill, Carrie, Joe and Chris (Bed friends)! The first night was spent first at a pub with live music that then escalated to dancing the sun up on a rooftop bar by the name of Kokomos (fantastic spot)!!! 

We woke up the next morning, had a delicious breakfast, got our drinks ready for the day (including Gatorade, vodka and plastic bags) and headed to the buses. Leave it to China to have it all very disorganized. We ended up having some drinks and holding back from the ocean of wild animals fighting to get on the buses that were coming and going. By the end we had to throw elbows, were nearly crushed, lost an entire bag filled with bottled water, got a few bruises but made it on the bus (Jess O and I…the others didn’t make it through but were able to get on the next bus). I won’t lie, in the thick of it I may have considered laying down and giving up but then realized…moving enough to lay down was not an option (HA!). Within the first 10 minutes on the bus there was a guy (there’s always one) who didn’t use the bathroom before leaving and was forced to use a water bottle…he filled 1 and ½…apparently it really was an emergency. 

After an hour or so we arrived at The Great Wall of China…what a sight! We bought some beer, went for a wee walk around and met up with the whole group outside of the entrance gates. The atmosphere of the place was insane! From here I’m not exactly sure I can put into words the experience of rocking out to David Guetta’s songs with a zillion other people…on The Great Wall. EPIC. By the end of the festival we were physically exhausted…our bodies didn’t seem as thrilled as our minds and hearts were about dancing and scream singing for hours on concrete. We all slept on the bus home, grabbed some McDonalds and went to bed. Going out was not an option.

I was up surprisingly early on Sunday and when the girls were ready we cabbed to The Pearl Market. Found the underground Lululemon (it was so cheap I simply couldn’t say no) and did some market shopping. Unfortunately my visa stopped working (it must have been a sign of some sort) so the shopping ended with Lulu but I enjoyed looking around. I couldn’t believe it, the people in the stalls actually spoke English (a true rarity here in Shenzhen)!  After some dinner Katrina and I headed to the airport, hopped on the plane and were home before we knew it. I even got a row of 4 seats to myself, a dream come true for my long legs.

 This past weekend is one of those weekends that I will be forever glad that I decided to spend the money and Just Do It.

I may not have any money BUT I have Lots of wonderful Memories!! hahahahahaha

45 Days until Summer..Yes, I'm counting!

How we celebrated 3:30 on a Friday...(Great Wall Wine-yikes)

I find it absolutely incredible that we have found ourselves in the month of May…I feel like this year has flown. I remember rolling my eyes when people used to tell me that as we get older each year flies faster than the previous but I’m beginning to see the truth in that statement. I blinked and now I’m 24 years old and a teacher working in China. When did I get old enough to live and work in China!? Anyway, enough about my momentary panic about time, I’m well aware that I still have a lot of it (fingers crossed).

'Because it's a Tuesday and I love you' bouquet!! OH Gr2

Life here in China continues to bring me great joy and I really don’t have much to complain about; the sun is shining, I have great friends, I’m busy and summer is right around the corner - life is good. Although life is good we are all finding ourselves chatting about home…A Lot! It isn’t that I want to get our of here or that I hate it, I’m just simply ready to sit on my deck that overlooks my beautiful backyard/river, drink wine with my parents and sisters and simply chat (for hours). I’m ready for an East Coast Summer and everything that includes. I want to visit family and friends that I haven’t seen in what seems like forever, drink tap water and breath fresh air!! My plans are not extravagant and to be honest having no schedule/plans thus far leaves me excited about the possibilities that summer 2013 holds!! WooHooooo

Week-end to Week-end is the Name of the Game!

It would seem that as we approach the end of the year we have begun enjoying our weekends that much more (if it’s possible to love a week-end more). The weeks have been very busy, making us that much more thankful for 3:00 on Fridays. Due to the business of the weekdays and my desperate attempt to balance the amount that we drink with working out, I have admittedly become somewhat of a nana. Although this is my new Monday-Friday face, last weekend briefly pulled me out of my newly found nana-lifestyle (up early, workout, work, workout, dinner, bed by 9) and I loved it. We had a wonderful time having drinks and singing on 5^th in the Acoustic Corner, having drinks on the roof, eating out, working-out and doing some tutoring on the side. 

Of course Monday came all too quickly and it was back to the grind bright and early on Monday morning. I had a good week, perhaps a little trying, but all in all it went well. It included a field trip to the Safari Park on Wednesday, which was a brilliant way to break-up the workweek. It’s now Friday and I won’t lie, I’m a little thrilled! The weekend is shaping up to be a great one – no nana aloud (we’ll see how it goes).

Heritage Fair Fun - Not Sad it's Done

Well, it's all over but the crying (tears of happiness)!! Heritage Fair is something that has been happening here at ISNS for years and although it's truly wonderful it certainly adds to the workload.

Quick review: the concept of Heritage Fair
The premise of Heritage Fair is to celebrate the many different cultures/nationalities of the students that attend ISNS. Each class must pick a country, they learn about that country, create projects and then put them on display so that they can educate visitors on what they have learned. It's a wonderful opportunity for students to not only learn about one particular country but the students are then introduced to many others when the Heritage Fair takes place (students teaching students). It's important for students, especially being in such an international setting, to learn the importance of acceptance. It is a week or two in a school year that we spend celebrating the many different cultures of students that our kids see passing through the hall ways each day.

Anyway! It was a huge success and the students Loved learning about Egypt! They also really enjoyed showing off their projects and knowledge of ancient Egypt with the students and parents coming through during the Fair :) It was a lot of work but well worth it - until next year!! haha

Guilin/Yangshuo 4 day-vacay

You can count on us here in China to take any opportunity to hop on a plane and visit a new place as often as possible; this past 4 day weekend was no exception. About a month ago Patrick bit the bullet and bought his, Patricia and my flights to go to Guilin and Yang Shuo with Michael and Emma (don’t worry, we paid him back haha). Having gone over a month without a break after Chinese New Year I’m sure you can imagine that we were all very ready for a wee break (I know…we’re spoiled). 

We flew out on Wednesday evening from the Shenzhen airport (how convenient) after a few beers and landed around midnight in Guilin. We had a wonderful sleep and woke up to have a yummy breakfast at our very cozy hostel. Michael and Emma’s flight had been delayed and they hadn’t arrived until the wee hours of the morning but they were up and ready for begin our adventure. The night before Patrick, Patricia and I had booked a bamboo raft for the 5 of us so after breakfast we hopped on our bus and headed out. After a put stop to pick up rum and cokes, a few bus changes and Patrick nearly wetting himself we made it to the boats.

Although we had to struggle with the men running the service we were able to get a 6man boat and set off on our Li River adventure. This is highly recommended – it was spectacular!! The sights were breathtaking and the idea of floating down this famous river on a bamboo raft made it all that much more marvelous (that, and the beers we took along with us). We took pictures, played waving games and laughed a lot (not sure how much the woman steering the raft loved us but she survived).

From the Li River tour we hopped back on the bus and headed to Yang Shuo. By the time we arrived in Yangshuo the three of us girls were near tears (just as Patrick had been on the way to the bamboo rafting) and thinking about resorting to trying to pee in water bottles (yes, we were that desperate). Luckily, we made it and we all returned to our normal selves.

We found our hostel that fortunately ended up being in a brilliant location, got some Italian pizza and thus began our Yangshuo adventure!

Friday, April 6th: Bike Tour to Dragon Cave

Saturday was spent on bicycles touring around the Yangshuo countryside, which was breathtakingly beautiful. The natural views were so refreshing and our lungs greatly appreciated the break from the pollution and the extra trees. We biked about 8km until we arrived at Dragon Cave. We changed into our matching silk boxers (Jill, Patricia and I) and began our tour through the ‘natural’ cave (we laughed a lot as the guide explained the deep meaning of what seemed like every other rock in the ‘natural’ cave). After going deep into the earth and walking through the neatly lit cave we arrived to what we were most excited for – the Mud. We stripped down and hopped into the huge, natural mud pool! 

After getting accustomed to the weird feeling of being surrounded in mud that we could not sink/stand well in (we all decided we had never floated or struggling so much trying to stand, ever) the fun began. We had mud fights, climbed rocks and slid down into the pool and then had a man take a ton of pictures of us at our finest. When it was time to leave the muddy mess we took forever in the showers trying to get ourselves ‘clean’… there was mud Everywhere!! From there we took our things further through the inside of the mountain and enjoyed the natural hot springs!! 

After the muddy fun, the showers and the chilly walk soaking wet the hot springs were just what the doctor ordered!! Needless to say, it took us a while to get ourselves out, changed and ready to get back on our bikes. The evening was spent playing games and having some drinks in Patrick and Patricia’s room before heading out on the town (where we were a little surprised/not thrilled to find that the dance floor, in every bar, was a stage where everyone would sit and watch you).

Saturday, April 7^th: Creating our own tour for the day…

On Saturday we were positive what we wanted to do. Michael and Emma had headed off on bikes for the day but the four of us (Jill, Patrick, Patricia and I) knew that we wanted to have some drinks and see more of the countryside). After some deliberating we decided that we would simply pool our resources and hire someone to take us on our own tour. We found a woman, who happened to be a woman I had said no to the day previous, who helped us find a tuktuk that would be willing to put himself up for hire. She wanted 200rmb for ½ an hour, we made it clear that this was too expensive and that we wanted him for 4 hours. She then said 4 hours would be no problem but that it would cost us 250rmb, in total for all 4 of us…how could we refuse?! We bought the necessities (five 6packs, 4 water bottles) and met our tuktuk driver, who turned out to be a wonderful sport!! 

We had a spectacular day touring around the countryside with our trusty tuktuk driver and my word did we laugh! We ended up playing Dare. This resulted in some funny photos of each of us doing silly things and yes, this meant asking the tuktuk man to stop on countless occasions. We arrived back in town after about 5 hours of shenanigans around the countryside (including a lunch at Moon Hill), met Michael and Emma, showered and enjoyed a second night on the town (much better than the first) in matching hats.

Sunday, April 8^th: Back to Reality

None of us were feeling like a million bucks on Sunday morning but we dragged ourselves out of bed, threw on some clothes and headed the Minority Café, where we had become short-term regulars. From there  we had to quickly pack up our things and head to the Guilin airport where we were unpleasantly surprised with a very long delay on account of our flights tires bursting when it had landed to pick us up. Patrick, Patricia and I didn’t get home until 5am and had to work the next morning (far from ideal). LIFE, I suppose. It was all worth the exhaustion that we felt on Monday and I would go back to Yangshuo in a heart beat.