Roger Waters Concert (Pink Floyd) Amazing contcert!!

Teaching Kindergarten on my birthday might be one of the highlights of my life. These students where more excited than I was on my birthday. They were awesome! They kept counting down all week until it was my "Happy Birthday" not just my birthday but my "Happy Birthday" I got lots of cards and flowers and treats from my students and parents. Judith made a huge sign for my class room and made this delicious strawberry and cream treat, YUMMY! We made a chocolate cake with the class and they were able to frost and put sprinkles on their own pieces. Chocolate faces every where:) A bunch of teachers and friends met out for happy hour after school and after a couple double monster magarittas everyone was HAPPY! It was a fantastic birthday. Thanks for all the phone calls and happy wishes!

February 1st was our 100th day of school and what an exciting day of school it was. We have been counting the days of school since the first day and the students couldn't wait for this day to arrive. Each student brought in a collection of 100 items from home. The collections were so creative from 1oo legos, straws, stickers, tooth picks and even oragami stars. The cafeteria staff made the Kindergarteners this delicious 100 day cake. Now the students can't wait to get to 2oo days:)

We had a little bowling get together with some people from work last weekend. It was a lot of fun, but man I bowled like crap:)

My assistant teacher's mom was visiting from the Philipines and invited me to join them to visit the Jade Budda Temple. It is one of the few active Buddhist temples in Shanghai. It is also one of the very few temples that was not destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. In order to save the temple, the monks pasted portraits of Mao Zedong on the outside walls so the Guards couldn't tear them down without destroying Mao's face as well. There is a 6 1/2 foot 455 pound Buddha made with white jade that is wearing a robe covered in gems. Unfortunatly you are not allowed to take pictures of the Jade Buddha. It was a gorgeous temple though and I enjoyed spending the day with Judith and her mom.

Eric Clapton performed in Shanghai two weeks ago. It was a great concert! People that have seen him perform before said that it was not one of his better concerts but I was impressed none the less. His band was amazing, they were almost more impressive than Eric Clapton.
Last weekend I went to see the Beijing Ballet Company at the Shanghai Grand Theater. The whole performance was to Pink Floyd music. I really enjoyed it, it was very abstract but I guess it needs to be to be performed to Pink Floyd. Roger Waters: one of the main members and song writers of Pink Floyd is performing here on Monday. I may try to get ticked to that concert also.

This is a huge birds eye model of Shanghai. It is located at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibiton Hall. This museum shows how Shanghai will develope in the next 20 years. Shanghai is just growing and growing. It will be amazing to see all the advances being made to this city in the next couple of years. They are in the process of building the tallest building in the world, next to the already tallest building in China and fourth tallest in the world.

Every weekend parents gather in People's Park with pictures of their sons and daughters. They walk around holding the pictures and a description of their height, weight and educational background. The objective is to find a husband/wife for their child. What an amazing, eye opening event to see. It was quite entertaining to say the least.

Bears and Penguins were our theme for the month of January. The students learned all about polor bears, black bears, brown bears and of course panda bears. We finished the unit with a teddy parade to the zoo. The students brought in their favorite teddy bear and showed them off to the bears in the zoo. It is so fabulous to have the zoo at our back door the kids had a blast! We went back to class and had a bear picnic with honey bear sandwiches (peanut butter, honey and banana).

I had a fantastic trip back to NY for the holidays, it was so wonderful to see my family and friends. I was able to spend some time in NYC with my sister and nephew. It was so nice to be able to hold him and cuddle. He received nonstop kisses the whole time I was there. I look forward to seeing him on my webcam every chance I can. The time flew by when I was home as it usually does but it was so great to be back in the comfort of home and surrounded by the people I love.

I flew back to Shanghai for New Years Eve. I flew into Shanghai around 3:30, and went to my friends Betty and Jimmers to spend New Years with them. I had about two hours to rest and shower and then out the door for an eventful New Years Eve celebration. We had an incredible 5 course dinner and wine tasting and then the wigs came out for drinks and dancing at a bar upstairs from the restaurant. It was a late evening andI was exhausted from traveling all day. Jet lag is a very interesting thing! I slept the whole next day and was awake from midnight until 4:30am everyday for the next four days. I finally got back on track about a week later.