Nanjing Life

We have been so busy now that we are settled into life in Nanjing! I am really loving my new city and am enjoying getting to know all about it!

Last time when DK was here, she made friends with Sherry, one of her supervisors. Sherry is the one who picked us up at the train station this year and has been such a great help. She, and everyone we have met, has been wonderful to us. I am completely in awe of how far the Chinese will go for someone they barely know. Everyone has been so nice and inviting to us.

I got my class schedule this week. I have 6 classes, 4 different subjects. I am teaching Audio-Visual Oral English to Spanish Majors, Reading on Western Culture, Writing, and Marketing for English Majors. I will be working 12 hours a week across 3 days. I am really excited for my schedule, I still get a good weekend but will be busy enough that I shouldn't get bored.

Tomorrow I have a meeting with the English department, so I will learn more about my classes then. I have a co-teacher for the reading class. I met him on Tuesday. He has been here for 3 years and is really nice. He is from China, but grew up in Florida, so he speaks Chinese and his English is terrific. I think he will make the class more fun and easier for all of us.

This week, we have had a lot of time to explore Nanjing. I have ridden buses, taxis, and subways. Yes, the subways are just as crowded as on the internet videos. It is quite an experience. We also walk a lot. Luckily, this is good exercise to work off all of the great food I am eating. It feels like I have not had a single moment of hunger since we arrived. Between street food, little restaurants, and Sherry, we are very well fed. My favorite foods are baozi, pancakes, and hot pot. I definitely won't have to worry about starving while I am here.

In addition to all of the great food, we have gone shopping a lot. One of the best places we have been is Fashion Lady. It is an underground mall with hundreds of stores. Everything is really cheap and there is some super cute clothing. I bought an umbrella there and we all got our nails done. Gel nails were only 40 RMB. That is less than $7! Also, today I bought a wallet at Sanfu. Sanfu is a lot like Forever 21, but with more accessories and random add-ons. It was really neat and I am so glad to finally have a wallet.

Yesterday we met all of Sherry's family. We met both of her parents, her husband, and her daughter. Her family is wonderful! They fed us dinner last night and lunch today. It was so delicious. DK and I were both stuffed by the end of the meal. Sherry's daughter is named Sissi and she is 4 years old. She is absolutely adorable! She is learning English and sometimes she will say words to us in English. Her name means princess and she is definitely living up to it. We absolutely adore her!

After lunch with Sherry today, we went and got massages. They were so great. $10 for 45 minutes! I feel so much better after the massage. I definitely could get used to this! After massages, we went to Hunan Road and walked around. There were so many restaurants and food stands. It smelled amazing. We shopped a little bit and then got dinner. We had hot pot for dinner with Sherry. Hot pot is when you have a pot of soup and you add in any veggies/meat that you want. It all boils and mixes and then you eat it. Mine was delicious!

After dinner, we said goodbye to Sherry's family and headed home. Today was pretty exhausting. I am ready for a shower and then to pass out. I need to make sure I am rested for tomorrow's meeting!

Hopefully everyone has a good weekend! I miss you all very much!