October Holiday in Phuket, Thailand -The Glass House

Well, it is now October and I am finding it hard to believe how quickly time is passing again this year. I am of course trying to embrace each day and enjoy the present but I do find myself looking forward to the holidays and hoping for time to keep right on ticking (I'm only human…or maybe it's just my career choice?).  

This past week was spent in Phuket, Thailand with 11 friends and fellow teachers from ISNS. I know, living abroad really offers no travel opportunities and you’re not sure why I keep coming back!? Haha We were all separated into groups for flights but the 4 of us (Patricia, Krista, Brittany and I) left for the Shenzhen airport on Friday evening (our thought process: why wait until Saturday when holiday begins as soon as the kiddies are gone on Friday afternoon) and were off to Singapore for the evening. We got a little shut-eye on the flight to over but we arrived around 4:30am so we decided that rather than sleep we may as well have some breakfast and get our Saturday started. We arrived in Phuket with no problem and it was there that we met up with Patrick, Jordan, Michael and Emma. Mr. Man was awaiting our arrival (with a poster board) and took us, in our private van with leather interior, to what truly was a Glass House Paradise. Our villa was spectacular! 

                                                                               
Our very own beautifully designed mansion on a hill with an infinity pool and it’s own private beach to boot…we clearly accepted quite quickly that it was going to be a terrible week... Once room assignments were complete a group went off to get our first of 3 rounds of groceries in the city and the rest of us lounged; Meg arrived a few hours after us and that afternoon celebrations began. We laughed a great deal and the evening ended with all of us howling to music while dancing in the infinity pool during a very large storm (high winds and insane amounts of rain). On Sunday Ross and Mariya arrived which completed the arrivals, we were all at The Glass House and ready for a week of luxury.

Now, we had to keep reminding ourselves that October is rainy season, everywhere, and therefore it was ok that we didn’t luck out with pristine weather BUT we did get some sun. We also really couldn’t have been in a better place for a storm; a glass house full of windows, yes please! I read 3 books while away and it was a treat! The house was big enough that people could be all together or go off on their own and do whatever it was they wanted to do (watch a show on the big screen, lounge by the pool, sit in the living room, etc..).

The food in Phuket is ridiculously delicious and therefore we all left very well fed. We made group breakfasts and dinners and found ourselves eating on the beach for lunch, going into Patong Beach or walking to The Ship’s Inn so that we could enjoy some Pad Thai, curries and spring rolls (among other things). Thank goodness I can have rice (kind of), I would have had to starve if not since all meals included either rice, rice noodles or rice paper!

Wednesday was by far my favorite day on vacation! A group of us got up early and Mr. Man took us to catch our boat over to Koh Phi Phi for the day! I was beyond excited to go as I had already fallen in love with this crazy island over Christmas last year. It took us about an hour and a half to get to the beautiful island of Phi Phi and we had the best time! We began puttering through the markets as soon as the boat docked and were on a mission to buy matching Chang Tops and Thai pants. Once our mission was complete Patricia took us to eat ‘The Best Pad Thai in the World’ which truly wasn’t far off, it was delicious! Due to the stunning weather that Mother Nature provided us for the day we couldn’t stay away from the beach any longer. After scarfing down a large plate of Pad Thai we made our way to the beach. 

We grabbed some drinks and waded out into the crystal clear water where we parked ourselves on a sand bar and soaked in the sun while admiring the beautiful view. The time to leave the island came much too quickly as we were all ready to stay forever but we grabbed some buckets (classic Phi Phi drinking glass) and made our way back to the boat. We piled in and made ourselves comfortable at the back of the boat where we proceeded to laugh harder than I had laughed since…probably an hour beforehand. My God we had fun. Mr. Man was ready and waiting for us and was such a good sport while we howled to music and indulged in some pretty wild car dancing all the way home. After launching ourselves into the infinity pool and splashing around for a bit we all got on our matching Chang shirts, played some games (including two-story beer pong) and then headed out to Patong Beach for what turned into a great evening of dancing at Seduction (we teachers were all convinced we went to a place called Sed-ucation....). 

Our final day of vacation the four of us traveling together departed our Glass House with heavy hearts and made our way to Singapore. Our hearts weren't heavy for long as a lightness and joy took over, Singapore is a spectacular place and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! We left our bags at the airport (locked up of course) and went into Clarks Key where we enjoyed a delicious meal with margaritas and beer on the water, a walk through the bar and restaurant district, a putter through the mall and a beautiful boat cruise; all of which allowed us to take in some of the famous sites of this lovely city. 

Again saddened with the idea of leaving another wonderful place, we hopped on our flight and we were home before we knew it (thanks to a long chat with Patricia)...physically in the right place to begin work on Monday but perhaps mentally still somewhere else. 

I <3 Holidays 

Mid-Autumn Festival

Time for another September update J

Tall People Problems...

After a great deal of flight searching many of us decided (on account of prices) that staying in Shenzhen for the long week-end was the wisest decision and man am I glad that I did. This past weekend was eventful yet uneventful, a lovely balance if I do say so myself! I have little problem admitting to you that I have not been as lazy as I was this past weekend in a very long time – apparently my mind and body needed the rest. Kathryn, Jennie and I spent hours upon hours each day lounging on my bed against mountains of pillows and blankets with our laptops. We finished the last season of How I Met Your Mother and then started the last season of Modern Family (with some movies thrown in to change things up). Of course with all of this rest through the days we found the energy to gather and socialize in the evenings, can’t be full-time hermits.

Patricia had some of the ladies over to her flat for wine, aps and a movie (He’s just not that Into You…fitting for a girls night haha) to kick-off the long weekend and it was delightful. We polished off a few bottles of wine, had some yummy treats, laughed a lot and had some entertaining conversations about the movie and life in general…oh, and of course we enjoyed some great tunes when the movie was finished. When it came that time to say good night Jordan and I decided that dancing the night away was probably the best decision, so we did. The two of us headed to Shekou, ended up meeting the boys at Viva and it was there that we created a dance floor and sang at the top of our lungs into the wee hours of the morning; a Great way to say goodbye to the short week and hello to the Mid-Autumn Festival.

On Friday morning I was woken up around 8am by the musical sound of a jackhammer jumping around above my house. At the time the only vision that I had in my mind was The Grinch…but instead of drowning out the noise of Christmas joy it was drowning out the quiet of a Thursday morning off. Not ok. Of course the noise was not only heard by me but also by everyone else on campus and therefore we all got an early start to our first day off. It only seemed fitting to gather in Jennie’s room for some food and then shift over to my bed to watch tv shows, all day, and go through pinterest with fine-toothed combs. We enjoyed being such lazi individuals that we did it until it was time to get ready for Ladies Night in Shekou (Every Thursday night is Ladies Night at Viva and drinks are Free, all night). 

A group of us went to eat at Mexican first (which is always delicious), had a meal and a drink in a bowl before heading to Viva. Due to the amount of sugary drinks that were consumed and the general tiredness of everyone no one lasted very late; Kathryn, Patricia and I were at the rear of the going home bus … dancing of course.

Saturday was spent on my bed lounging, again. Kathryn and I spent hours upon hours planning our Christmas adventure with Mom while watching How I Met Your Mother. The day of laziness had us up and raring to go for Tapinyaki, which was a total success. We filled a room upstairs and our personal chef cooked us delicious food (in front of us) while being served countless bottles of wine (all for 180rmb). After we couldn’t ‘all you can eat or drink’ anymore we shuffled over to the Terrace where we danced the night away for the phenomenal Pilipino Band that we have come to know and love.

Sunday turned into quite a day when we found out that Typhoon Usagi was in fact coming straight for us and school on Monday would be cancelled. Of course with this news in mind Jennie, Kathryn and I had to brave the increasing winds and spurts of rain to get a delicious breaky at the boathouse before grabbing food, water and wine and heading home to hunker down (priorities). The rest fo the day was spent relaxing, trip researching, struggling with the internet and preparing for an afternoon of Typhoon madness. Leave it to Patrick to come up with the brilliant idea of making a delicious bucket of Sangria and having everyone over for some games – we piled into his place, had appetizers, drinks and played catch phrase until our stomachs hurt form laughing so hard. 

At one point in the evening I was even able to get through on Skype and had a great chat with my family – what a treat!!

Having a Monday off was a blessing and I finally was able to get myself into my classroom for a few hours of productivity before going to the gym and then resuming my position on my bed with the girls to relax and later cook a delicious meal.

What a wonderfully relaxing, eventful and thirst quenching weekend!

Staff Beach Retreat - Xichong

Well, we've returned from the beach and it's back to reality...at least for the next three days (gotta love long week-ends). At this point September is shaping up to be a delightful month that is going to fly on account of this past beach weekend, the long week-end coming up and then we have the October Holiday that will put an end to September all together. 

This past weekend could not have been a more perfect week-end, it was exactly what we all needed! It was such a treat to get out of the city, away from work and relax. It was a week-end spent in a beautiful place (Xichong Beach), in lovely wooden cabins only a two hour drive away from home. We spent our time away relaxing, laughing, dancing, eating delicious food cooked over a fire, laying on the beach and lounging in the sea; I know, life is difficult for us here at ISNS...




Our weekend truly began at 5:00 on Friday as our buses pulled out of the school gates to the sounds of 'Wake Me Up' and bottles being popped (Kathryn and I shared a bottle of red to begin the journey to paradise). We arrived at the beach roughly 2 hours after our departure and only had to stop once for everyone to relieve themselves (bathrooms on the road never cease to amaze me...gross).

After getting our keys we set off in search of our cabins; we four girls (Patricia, Krista, Jordan and I) truly lucked out and got a private cabin that only had one neighbor (Michael, Emma and Josh). It even had a little terrace where we could leave our clothes to dry. After some celebratory drinks and a little dance party we all made our way down to gather with everyone and enjoy a huge pot-luck. 
With full bellies we set up the canopies, lights and music system up on the beach and thus began our first evening on the beach. We shared a bucket of sangria (delicious) and danced the night away under the stars. Jordan and I even tried to go for a nice swim but after a few failed attempts we gave up and went to bed; apparently the beach cops don't support evening dips like we do...


Saturday: Beach Day #1

Saturday was a very difficult day...we woke up to the sun, screened up and hit the beach (I told you...difficult). It was our cabin's duty to help Thomas with lunch so we headed to the fire pit around 11:30 and began to chop, grate and mix. In the end we created what turned into a delicious feast of pasta salad (perhaps the largest pasta salad I have ever seen) and melt-in-your-mouth pork tenderloins. Following our feast we all hit the beach to relax and sun ourselves. It reached a point when laying in the sun and reading was simply too hot so the ocean kept us 'cool' for most of the afternoon while others played vball or soccer (silly..haha). It was a dinner feast of hamburgers, salad and hummus that brought us out of the ocean and around the fire pits at around 6. There we were entertained by groups Chinese people enjoying their Saturday night in their own special ways; one group was rattled and a shirt was thrown into a fire for example. Following dinner we gathered on the beach (those of us that could keep our eyes open after such a long sunny day in the heat) for some music. A few teachers brought along their guitars and egg shakers and we played and sang our way into the wee hours of the morning; I was in my happy place! It was the perfect way to end such a lovely day! 

Sunday: Beach Day #2

Well, Sunday was just as difficult as Saturday: I had had a wonderful sleep and was screened up and ready to hit the beach with the girls around 9:30. We couldn't believe how hot it was and definitely got more sun on Sunday than we had on Saturday. Due to the heat the ocean really did get our full attention. We left the sweet feeling of the water only for food, drink and an occasional short walk. By the time Claud's famous paella (a delicious Spanish rice dish) was served we were all very ready to eat and take a break from the suns rays. It was after lunch that we slowly began to pack-up, shower and mentally prepare to head home and our bus pulled out of the lot at around 3. Thanks to a good nap we got home in no time! 

Of course we couldn't simply end such a wonderful week-end with a bus ride and a 'see you at work tomorrow'... so instead we ordered Bombay (the most delicious Indian food around) and piled into Patrick's Green Room, cozied up and watched The Heat. The perfect end to the perfect weekend :) 

Life is Good! 

Sweet Summer, 2013

Procrastinator here…

I would first like to begin by saying that I had every intention of posting pictures and beginning my blog as soon as I arrived here in Shenzhen…I also had every intention of using a parachute when I took off from YSJ…my planning seems to have fallen by the way-side early this year. Clearly I didn’t use my parachute and this is my first blog post. I suppose things can only improve from here!

To quickly sum up my summer home in my beautiful town, with my marvelous family and friends, in one word I would have to say that it was “PHENOMENAL”. I truly could not have asked for a more joyful, relaxing, delicious, thirst-quenching, loving, delightful, and eye-opening 2 months. Not exaggerating! I can’t think of anywhere else I would have preferred to be. Just to clarify the answer is no; I didn’t stay home with my family all summer because I had no car or bicycle (on account of selling it for a feed of lobster), I did it because they are such brilliant, funny, loving people. I adore my parents and my sisters and feel so lucky to have been able to enjoy such a laughter filled summer with them. 

Oh, and No, I didn’t ask mom and dad to come to PEI to my work reunion because I felt I had to, I did it because we may have missed each other over those few days and well, there was no need!! Hahaha As I get older I am coming to realize more and more how lucky I am to have such a abnormal family J

 Anyway, enough of that, it’s making me want to hop on a plane and meet my parents on the deck for a bottle of wine! Dangerous thoughts for my bank account…

The first three weeks of my summer were spent exploring pieces of the East Coast with friends from China. What a treat that was! We explored Grand Manan, St George, Hampton, Moncton, Halifax and PEI, leaving a trace of our presence in each place. Of course leave it to me to leave my intact ribs at the beginning of the journey in St George at the Lake House…a harsh fall off of a water ski resulted in a messy business of cracked ribs and bruising but I made the most of it (once I accepted that they weren’t just sore on the third day). Over a couple of months later I’m happy to report that they are just about back to normal; laughing/sneezing/breathing, etc no longer makes me wish for death. The next half of the summer was spent in and around Hampton with family and friends mostly. We drank our way through a cellar of wine (that my parents craftily created in our downstairs closet) and batches of homemade beer. 

We spent a great deal of time outside enjoying the fresh East Coast air, which was a true treat for me. Garden parties, deck gatherings, family fundays, and sailing adventures were among some of the repeated pleasures that we enjoyed over the summer months. Of course writing about this past summer is making me wish that we had it all to do over again! I just have to keep reminding myself that life back home is not Summer all year round (an unfortunate truth)…

It can’t come as too much of a shock that this past summer was extremely difficult for me to give up. It was such a treat to be able to actually physically sit down and chat with my family and close friends. To hug them whenever I wanted to and not have to worry about the dreaded Internet that we all must cope with here in China. It was a treat to be able to run next door and say hello to my abuelo’s, to stop in at nana’s to have tea and spend time with her when she had to have her knee scoped and to go for a walk with my mom each morning and sailing with my dad in the afternoons. I suppose it was simply nice to be physically present in the lives of those that I love rather than to be there in spirit – as silly as this may sound! Haha I truly love being included in family gatherings through Skype (what a riot) but the real thing is so much better J

I digress! As I kept reminding myself through the summer, it is in fact summer and we all know what that means. Summer turns to fall which turns to winter which means: Kate Gets Cold! Although I found myself excited about the idea of taking up skiing again with my family one day….but I’m not quite mentally prepared for the white dust they call snow (bad Canadian, I know). So when it came time to pack my two suitcases (thank god for my mom’s packing skills and dad’s strength) and head to the airport to begin the long adventure back to my China home I was extremely torn, sad and anxious but knew that once I was settled in all would be well. Sure enough, I reached Toronto, we all began gathering and it was like we never left!

The first few weeks here in China have been a whirlwind! School is keeping us all very busy; I have some challenging students but they are all awfully sweet and improvements are being made each day. They are funny little things, each day it amazes me what they come up with. Just yesterday I was given a bouquet of large dead leaves and was told that I was a ‘cutie pie’…hahaha Sweeties. Outside of school madness my social life is really what I blame for being so behind on this blog post…we’ve been having too much fun and I haven’t had an evening to settle in and get writing (until now). I am Loving my new room, it’s feeling homey and I have a ‘real’ kitchen this year!! 

That’s right, no more ‘my kitchen is a microwave’, now I have a microwave, hot plate and a toaster over! Not only do I have a lovely little kitchen but I also have a wonderful outdoor living room that is well used J My outdoor living room makes my heart smile – I love having people over and already we’ve made some truly delicious breakfasts and dinners as well as enjoyed evenings filled with music, drinks and great conversation. I’ve made some wonderful new friends this year and we are keeping each other happily busy. We’ve begun a girls group here at ISNS and it’s a treat; we have tons planned but we’ve started a running group and some of us are training to run a half marathon in December – I’m so excited! 

Some of us have also begun a Sunday morning tradition that includes running or walking to the Boat House for a delightful breakfast…I know what you’re thinking…life is very difficult here in Shenzhen and you can’t sort out why we all keep coming back!? Haha

It’s a difficult lifestyle to give upJ

I’m off now to bake cookies that I can’t eat (gluten and wheat free, remember) and practice some new songs with Jennie! We’re all off to the beach for the week-end but stay tuned, I’ll try not to take too long to upload a beach post J