Christmas did not feel the same this year! There was lots of decorations around the city, Christmas music playing in every store, lights and more. But family and home was missing. So Christmas day was just another day of the year, but Christmas holidays was one of the coolest things I have done in China so far. 
My roommate and I decided to get away, and it just happened that as a nice little gift on Christmas day I got my 1 year China resident visa meaning that I could now book trains and flights in and out of China. We decided to go to Guangxi province to the west of us where we could get out of the city and see some of rural China.
On Christmas day we headed to our companies main office to pick up my passport and visa. One of the assistants had booked our train for us so we paid her for them and ventured to the train station to figure out how to get our tickets. Originally someone was supposed to come with us to help us pick them up, but no one was available so we were on our own. We ended up getting them after a few hiccups and found out that our train that we thought left at 4pm didn't leave until 7:50pm, so we had some time to spare and went to a park near by to waste time.

After what seemed like forever we arrived at the train station and were soon boarded and on our way. We had a 12 hr train ride and were sitting in the seats instead of the sleeper beds. Next time we will get the soft beds for sure! But we managed to get a little sleep and arrive in Guilin around 8am, an hour and a half behind schedule. 

When we got off the train we really had know idea where to go. We knew that we wanted to get to Yangshuo and we knew there were buses but didn't know when or where. Right after we got off the train and were walking in to the station a lady asked if we needed any help or info, she was from the tourist information centre. We went with her colleague up to the centre and ended up booking a Li River cruise and a bus to Yangshuo. Even though it was really cold and rainy we decided that it would be fun to take the bamboo boat cruise down the river. 

The river and the Karst hills surrounding were breathtaking. It was so beautiful and peaceful, a nice break from the city. After we got off the boats the group was taking a break and I headed over to the fire where some of the locals were warming up. I asked to take a picture and one lady blushed and shyed away and the others were laughing, then they motioned me to be in the picture and another girl took it for me.

After the cruise there was an optional tour where we got to tour a small village, float on a real bamboo raft, watch a demostration of a fisherman fish with cormorants and hang out with some Water Buffalo. This was my FAVOURITE part, especially watching the cormorants. 

The guy in the picture below was singing for part of the way and when I took a picture of him this is what he did!

Here is a short video...

After this amazing tour the bus dropped us off in Yangshuo and we managed to successfully find our way to our hostel. We booked the hostel through one of the grade 1 student's mom, who gave us the number and said it was a good place to stay. We had no idea what it would really be like, but we totally lucked out; There were 6 bunk beds and we were the only ones staying there, there was a nice bathroom with a western toilet (which becomes quite the luxury) and a hot shower. The beds were softer than my own and they had electric blankets. Most buildings here aren't heated so it is very cold inside in the winter, but between the nice blankets and the warm electric pad we were cozy warm. This place was above a cafe/bar/restaurant, so we had to walk through the seating area and into the back and then upstairs to get to our room. That night we explored the streets around our rooms and met with a tour guide that we booked for a following day to discuss plans. Then we had a great night sleep and were well rested for the following day.

Before I got to China, while I was preparing to move and even before that, when I was dreaming of living somewhere international, I couldn't really picture in my mind what it would be like to live here. It's so distant that you almost believe that there are just a bunch of mindless robots roaming the streets. How could real people live in China?

Well one of the things that most often surprises me is the usual, the ordinary things that happen day to day, like people walking dogs, or running, or reading the paper. I prepared myself mentally to experience things that were totally different then I was used to, but it surprises me and makes me smile every time I see something familiar.

One thing I have noticed is that people are the same, even when there are cultural and language differences.

Every morning, I get up and walk out of our building and smile at the building guard. Then my roommate and I get on the bus. Sometimes there is lots of room and everyone can sit, but when it is crowded people stand up to let the elderly or small children have their seat, people are kind, they make room.

Once we get off the bus we look for a driver, these are people who have their own cars and get payed to drive you somewhere, much like a taxi only you decide on the price before hand. Now that we have been getting a driver every morning for a few weeks they recognize us, know where we are going, and how much we will pay them, so all we have to do is nod at who we want and he takes off running to get his car. I am pretty sure we are the running joke, all these men stand around and compete or take turns on who gets to drive the two foreign teachers to work each morning. Now that we know them we have our favourites as well as ones that we don't like. Being good Canadian girls we feel bad saying no to one and choosing one over another. But this one driver in particular is so awkward to take. Chelsey named him The Snakey Driver, he has a TV in the front dash of his car that has music videos of chinese pop music with half naked girls dancing around and the occasional english word such as tequila, party, or sexy. In addition to his creepy car he also tries to pick up other people to make more money. So we decided that if he tried to drive us again we would decline.

One morning we were walking towards where all the drivers stand and Snakey driver was walking our way making eye contact. Before we got close we agreed that we would say no and get someone else. He walks up and says taxi, we both look at the ground and say no, boo, and continue walking past him and then nod at the next guy who takes off running for his car. He is still behind us speaking chinese and all the other drivers were chuckling. I think it is probably a good thing that we couldn't understand what he was saying.

So there are good people, creeps, and of course those who want to rip you off. All in all, much of life here is still the same. I still have daily routines, and see familiar faces, I have favourite spots for coffee and lunch, and go to work each day. It is these similarities that often surprise me more then the unusual.

My first five days flew by. I ended up only having one day to really get any planning done before I started teaching and a lot of that day was used to clean and organize my room. I felt  well taken care with the help of my fellow teacher and roommate and the staff of the school and organization. They showed me around and helped me get everything done.
On my second day in China I had to go into the city area to get my medical done. I met a person from the company I worked for at the closest Metro station and rode the Metro for the first time. When I got on there was lots of room and not too many people, about two stops later it was crowded enough by western standards that people would have just waited for the next train. Four more stops where several people got on each time and no one got off, it was beyond squished, I was continually amazed that anymore bodies could squeeze on. 
On the way home the assistant didn't need to go back into Panyu (where the school is) and so she gave me directions on how to ride the Metro back and wrote out the address of the school in Chinese to give to a taxi so I could make it back. I was so nervous. The good thing was that it was early afternoon and the Metro wasn't near as busy as before. Once I made it to my stop at the Metro Station I walked out and started to look for a Cab, 10 min later when one finally stopped, I showed him the address and he nodded his head. So I got in and hoped that he understood where I wanted to go and knew how to get there. 
When he finally stopped I didn't recognize where we were, I was sure that this wasn't where I was supposed to be and didn't want to get out of the car. He kept speaking chinese and pointing at the sign. I eventually got our chinese teacher on the phone so she could tell him where to go. After he drove around I realized that I was lost on the wrong side of our school! It looked different, I swear. lol. I am sure he was calling me a stupid foreigner the whole time and hoping that I would just get out of his car and pay him already. 

These are some pictures that I took Sunday morning around the lake outside my apartment. There is always so much going on. I can hear music every morning and night in my apartment and see groups of people dancing and people doing Tai Chi, and lots of grandparents taking care of children.

There is so much that I want to do here! There are times where you want to talk to someone so bad and hear what they are saying and it is so frustrating that I can't understand their language and they can't understand mine. A lot of what I want to do starts with being able to speak some chinese. The picture below was a group of people dancing outside a restaurant, Chelsey and I stopped to watch and the leader motioned us over and started to teach us the steps. After tje song ended he tried talking to us and we had no idea what he was trying to say. Too bad! But we had fun.

There is so much to talk about! I wanted each blog post to have a topic or theme but there is so much to say that this will be a little of everything.
Before I left Alberta, while I was getting ready to leave, Home was on my mind more than ever. I was thinking of the place where I was lucky enough to call my home and the amazing people who I get to call friends and family. I am very thankful for the community I grew up in, before leaving I felt the strong support of everyone which made leaving both easier and more difficult. I will definitely miss this place and all the people that made home home. 

Okay, now on to my travels. I arrived at the Calgary airport early Monday (Nov 26th) morning and flew to San Francisco at 7:18am. From there I boarded a connecting flight to Hong Kong after a 2hr layover. My first flight was delayed due to fog, and my second and longest flight, to Hong Kong took off on schedule.

The flight was long an tiring, but I got lucky and the seat between myself and the guy in the window seat was empty, so I could stretch my legs more and have extra room for my things.

{Fisheye lens's are great for travel photos, not so flattering for portraits!} 
I arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday night where I was met by the principal of my school. He helped me pack my heavy bags and took me to a hotel by bus where he checked me in and then took off to go to Macao. I settled into the hotel, showered and headed to bed. 

I woke up the next morning, got dressed, and packed up my bags. Next I decided to venture out and look for a place to eat breakfast. After walking around for a while I found a McDonalds not far from the hotel and was happy to have something familiar. After eating I went walking around and took some pictures of the city.

In the afternoon, after I had explored a little, my Principal returned from Macao and we road the train for about 2 hrs. When we got to the train station in Guangzhou the school bus (more of a van) picked us up and drove us across the city to Clifford, the community that I live in where we went for a chinese supper before going to my roommates house and heading to bed.
I have so much more to talk about but it is getting late and tomorrow is my first day of teaching and I still have lots of planning to do. I will try to update this again soon. 
Goodnight! or Good morning for you!

Well, it is getting close to the time where I hop on a plane and fly half way across the world. There are only a few days left until I officially say good bye to my friends and family and head out on a BIG adventure.
This trip, or should I say move, will be a lot of firsts for me: It will be my FIRST time on a long (13hr) plane ride, my FIRST time out of North America, and my FIRST real teaching job. Also my first time living in a city of over 100,000 residents, there might be a little bit of culture shock!

I hope to use this blog to post about my adventures travelling and teaching and to share pictures with my friends and family and anyone else who might want to read. My goal is to try to update it once a week or so on a variety of topics. I also hope that this will help me keep in touch with every one back home, which means I want YOU to comment and let me know what you are up to as well.