Gong Hay Fa Choy! Happy Chinese New Year

Today is Wednesday and it is our last day of school before the holiday. This morning Lois and I got pastries for breakfast. The pastry streak is still going strong! We didn't arrive at school until 9am because there are no students today. Just teachers inputting grades and making report cards.

The whole week has been filled with lots of exams and lots of grading. I actually really like grading. The teachers all sit together in the library and help each other too. This week we took breaks from grading to eat a dim sum take out lunch with about 10 teachers on Monday, and homemade sushi on Wednesday. On Monday there was a surprise baby shower celebration in the library for Jenn’s pregnant mentor teacher. They gave her a pretty cake.

Monday we took class photos with P3B. They turned out cute. I got some on my phone and then a professional also took some.

During grading the students’ names are covered up. And then at the end for adding up the score you can see their names. Interns are only allowed to grade objective exam parts. There are some pretty funny responses. I got to grade classes that I don’t teach too.

After grading when our mentors were dismissed, we got to leave school early. On Monday we had singing practice for our performance. And yesterday during the day we had another singing practice with the 7 who have solos/duets. Lois and I got to sing a duet together! I felt less nervous after practicing.

Fancy Dinner Celebration

Sunset on our way to dinner

Yesterday at 6PM all of us went on a school bus and took it to main Macau for the big Chinese New Year dinner. Over 300 (Maybe 400?) people were there!

Just a snippet...More restaurant to the left and right

It was a very nice restaurant by the Grand Lisboa Casino. They even came around to unwrap our chopsticks for us. Lois and I were too nervous to eat before the performance. Our group was the 5th group to perform. It was actually really fun! We couldn’t really hear ourselves though because of how the speakers were facing.

There were also TV monitors that projected us all around the entire restaurant. Other teachers from our school in the audience held up their phone flashlights when we sung which was so nice and supportive. Throughout the night there were really good performances: Dancing, more singing, a fashion show, and more singing!

The dinner was eleven courses! Very impressive. All the meat dishes included the animals head… Each table got their own full pig. Other dishes along with these were some rice, meat rolls, noodles, soup, mushrooms, abalone, and so much more… For dessert we had red bean soup with mochi, mixed fruit (with Dragon fruit) and cookies.

Before dinner Ms Alison taught us about dinner manners; Like not to eat before the eldest eats first and to tap two fingers on the table and say “xie xie” (thank you) when served tea. Ms Alison used to be an intern from CWU awhile back, and now she is an English teacher at HKP.

After the dinner we all took a public bus back to Taipa.

Ms. Ming, the lady who works at the Tuk Shop is so nice to Lois and I. She gave us free congee and red bean soup earlier this week! We found her at the dinner last night and got a pic with her and Ms. Alison. I love the noodles she makes me for lunch! We teach her some English and she teaches us Cantonese.

Learning about bad luck colors

Yesterday I handed out my Chinese New Year red envelopes I made for my 55 kids. Inside included a personal note and a hamburger gummy candy inside.

At school, Lois and I learned that certain colors are bad luck here in China. I learned that writing a students name in red is bad luck. Ms Alison said she had a bad experience doing that where a girl was very worried about her name in red. Google said something along the lines of: Deceased family members’ names are written in red. And when writing a name in red for the living, it is like wishing death upon them (Yes, a very terrible message). I didn’t know this, and I wrote all my students’ names in red on their notes! But it was too late and all my envelopes were taped up. My mentor said not to worry about it because sometimes she will write in red if that is the closest pen. It also depends on how superstitious the kids are.

Before handing them out, I had to explain I didn’t know about the bad luck, and that in America, red doesn’t really have any meaning but luck or love for Valentine’s day. They seemed unfazed so that was good. They were too excited about the candy. And at pick up time at 11:45am I got to meet a lot of their parents who said they liked the personal notes I wrote to their child!

I also made envelopes for the interns and my mentor teacher/staff I am with the most. I used shiny envelopes for them. When I gave a red envelope to Ms. Alice (GS), and Ms. Charlotte (English mentor) they told me that in China a single red envelope with candy means I am getting engaged (I am not engaged)! So they thought it was funny.

In China, an engaged person gives red envelopes to announce it, and then at the wedding a red envelope is returned with money inside from guests. Single red envelopes can also mean you are single or getting a divorce. Ms Alice also said to tell my students that there would be no money inside (which is typical of an envelope). But kids wouldn’t necessarily expect money from me because I’m not married. And when someone is married, two envelopes given is customary.

The actual Lunar New Year is February 5th. Ms Alice said we may get some red envelopes after the holiday. There is so much symbolism for color and items here! It was fun to learn about that yesterday.

Today at school Noe, Lois and I will be lexiling books in the library. We read/look up books and label them for the correct reading level. Teachers are finishing up report cards and that is pretty much it.

Chinese New Year Holiday

Tomorrow we leave for the Philippines (Manila)! Our Chinese New year plans are going to Manila, Cebu, Bangkok, the Phi Phi Islands, and Phuket for our 18 day vacation (Philippines & Thailand). We come back to Macau on the 17th in the morning (the day before school starts again)

Ms Alice gave us some ideas of things to do in Thailand. She says she did a really good scuba diving tour which is cheaper than in Mexico or Australia. We’re all really excited to go.

The OSU girls and I are unsure of what our time in the Philippines will be like since most of energy has been spent on looking up places in Thailand. We're staying in a mix of hotels and hostels during the weeks we're adventuring.

While in Thailand we have a 5 day stay on the Phi Phi Islands. We will have to take a boat from Phuket to get there.

What I’ve been up to:

ZHUHAI, CHINA:

The past weekend some of us went to Zhuhai, mainland China! Mel took 5 of us across the border. Jenn and I have the 10 year Chinese visas, and the other 3 were able to get a 6 hour visa from Alexis’ mentor teacher’s friend. When we were leaving Macau people handed us tissues. This came in handy for the squat toilet bathroom I used with no toilet paper…

Before entering China we had our fingerprints recorded on a scanning machine. It took about an hour to go through customs and immigration.

Right when you enter Zhuhai there is a big underground mall. Lois and I got a $20usd manicure. Very good too! They were so polite and had great service. They were very detailed and not sloppy either.

Afterwards we had a yummy lunch ($5usd), got some Pineapple tea ($2usd), and then took a taxi to the center of Zhuhai.

The palm trees and golden sand along the ocean looked like California. Weather was a bit windy but very warm.

We spent most of our time at the Yuan Ming palace in Zhuhai which is a mini replica of the one in Beijing. The place was huge! And in the summer includes a water and amusement park. The buildings were so beautiful.

And there was a place in the park to fish for goldfish. That was interesting to see.

Before we left we did more shopping at the underground mall. I could spend all day there. We didn’t even look at half of it! I got 2 shirts ($5usd each) and a Nike hoodie ($8usd). The mall has cute boutique stalls and very high quality knock offs. Better than the Hong Kong Ladies Market.

It was a very fun day. So much walking though! I saw a very pretty sunset in Zhuhai too!

When we were crossing back into Macau, Lois had trouble at immigration. Her passport photo isn’t very high quality for some reason and gave her trouble. They asked her if she has a sister or has been to Thailand! Hopefully no issues for our CNY travels.

Food:

Lois and I recently ate dinner at the best Ramen place. It was in an alleyway in Taipa. She found the restaurant online with high ratings. It was a make your own ramen type of ordeal. I will definitely go back. Very affordable too. And they served us lemon water at the beginning. It is rare to receive cold water with a meal. Usually it is hot water, or tea, or no drink.

After that dinner we went to the Taipa view point and then got drinks from Chamali. We both got a yummy Mango & Dragonfruit smoothie. I'm keeping the plastic cup it came in. They made our drinks different. The guy got in trouble for making Lois’ more tie dye looking. I liked how it looked tho!

Thanks for reading! --Maia :)