Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Here are some pictures from a party I went to this past weekend.

Mole Day

Every year on Oct 23 from 6:02am-6:02pm Mole Day is celebrated by Chemistry classes around the world. It is to celebrate Avogadro's number, 6.02 x 10^23. Mole is a unit we use in Chemistry and thus we have Mole Day. My classes had parties and they were required to make a stuffed animal mole. (Just for fun) So here are some pictures of their creations. (By the way, a mole the animal has nothing to do with the mole in Chemistry, it was just a silly project) You can click on any picture to make it bigger!

A Visit From Ecuador

Most of you know I have been spending my summers in Ecuador learning Spanish. The family that runs the school came to China on vacation so I was able to spend some time with them. I took them to the "fake" market and learned some great bargaining skills. The picture of Patty's brother climbing the ladder is where the store workers take you to show you the "real" good stuff!

Ty Alexander Togneri

Just wanted to share some more pictures. My closest friends here, Nick and Karen, just welcomed their first kid into the world. Here are some pictures of Ty Alexander. Isn't he the cutest? He is 5 hours old in these pictures.

Beijing

I took my first trip to Beijing this week. As many of you know my good friend Berta Garza lives in Beijing. We met when I worked at Ticketmaster and she is now getting ready for the 2008 Olympics. We mostly relaxed since is was a holiday but we did manage to make it to the Great Wall. Unfortunately it was a really polluted day, which they all are in China so the pictures aren't that great. Even though Beijing has 14 million people, it felt very small compared to the 25 plus in Shanghai. I have realized that I really love Shanghai. I have many more "western" options here which makes life even that much more comfy.

It's been a while since I posted but I have been doing some traveling. This past week me and two other teachers took the 9th graders to Guizhou which is a province in China. While there we did a lot of hiking, we worked in the rice fields, and visited with some of the local schools. I think these pictures speak more than my words. Enjoy!


Me with some local students of Bai Bai village.
Some of my students putting in some hard work in the rice fields.
Some men and women working in the rice terraces.
Some of the people in Bai Bai village waiting for our arrival.
Two of the local villagers who taught us how to pick rice.
Me, Ashley, and Peter after working in the rice fields.
Two little boys watching the performance in Bai Bai.
Students and me with a local family in their home. The family gave us a tour and then we asked questions about the Maio people.
Dennis, Ty, Lashca, Klara, Dixon, Sam, Jerry and Jon. Some of my 9th grade students on the bus.
Man working in rice field.
Dinner at a traditional restaurant with students.



This is a picture of two of my students, Ashley and DaSom acting crazy as they usually do.

Me, Dennis and Ty carrying rice like the Chinese do. (or trying to is more like it)