TeamWaWa and their crazy adventures

Wow, it’s the middle of October. Time does fly.  Soon it will be Kristin’s birthday. I wonder what the kids will do this year for her 🤗 At Shane English School Changzhou, we are focusing on two holidays; Halloween and Christmas. Kristin planned, sourced, and purchased the activities for our school’s event. Hopefully, it turns out to be a blast. For the Shane Christmas show, the school placed us into teams to create mini skits and themes for the students to perform. Matt’s team has Thailand. He wrote out a very fun skit based off tourism. Kristin’s team planned a superheroes theme. Her country, USA. So easy. Hello, we are American!  Other teams include Mexico, Canada, South Africa. I think this years Christmas show will be one of the best. Our school is going through a lot of course changes at the moment. We’ve been tasked with putting together new English club themes, powerpoints, course guides, progress tests, new demo structures..... So, lots of late nights. We don’t m...

Hello, hello, hi, nihao! It’s Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival time in China. The biggest thing I notice is temperatures in Changzhou are finally early fall like. That makes us happy! Morning and evening walks will resume. But, what traditional meaning does this time hold for the Chinese? First, it’s held on a specific day each year which is determined by the lunar calendar. It’s when the moon is at its fullest. Moon worship has deep Chinese roots. There are a number of myths surrounding this festival. One myth that makes the most sense is the Zhou dynasty workshipped the moon for a good harvest the following year. Festivities include mooncake making and eating, lighting paper lanterns, and spending time with families. #changzhou #livinthedream #teamwawa #moonfestival Look at the awesome moon pictures. So bright and beautiful!

Family and Friends, hello! Today is Teacher’s Day in China. Being a teacher is a respectable job here. Teachers work hard to prepare fun and engaging lessons, provide a safe environment for the children and please the parents. The pressure on Chinese students is high. At 9-10 years old, they take extra lessons outside their primary school. They are forced to learn English. To get into a good school, they need to score high. Grades do matter here. We never thought of teaching young learners in the States, but we do enjoy what we do here. And our students do seem to love us! #china, #teachersday

Hello my friends. Hello my family. And hello to any passerby.   It's the middle of August. And at Shane English School Changzhou we are officially done with summer courses.  Yes, there is a lot of excitement in these words. Since Shane English School is a training center, the teachers don't get summer or winter breaks. You work more in the summer. And the pay is the same. And you do work in the summer. It's not all playing with the kids. We are a little perturbed with the school due to the summer courses. They didn't sell enough courses in August as July so some teachers got 9 days off in a row. And Kristin got none in July. Matt got 4 days off. As you can see, there is a slight injustice in the scheduling. After being with Shane English School Changzhou for 20 months,  we have seen a handful of injustices. This is definitely not a school where all things are created equal. The general theme is "it is China". After our Taiwan holiday at the end of thi...

Hello friends and family! It’s August. It’s so damn hot here in Changzhou, China. I know we took climate controlled buildings and central air for granted. Driving really is a privilege. We walk 10 minutes to our school, and we are dripping sweat. Our gym doesn’t like to use the AC and so you have extra sweat. Too bad it hasn’t made us lose weight. Hahaha! Kristin was in Zhoushan, China for 5 nights 6 days on a summer camp trip for Shane English School. Spending 7 hours outside in the heat wasn’t fun. Also, the town isn’t foreigner friendly. She doesn’t like authentic Chinese food. And there wasn’t any Starbucks, KFC, McDs or Costa Coffee. The fun news ..... Our summer vacation spot is Taiwan. We are staying in the Keelung area. We’ve read a lot of good things about Taiwan. We are looking forward to seeing the wonders. And hopefully, eating delicious food.  Last year, we went to Malaysia and had an awesome time in Langkawi. This years vacation isn’t as long, but (fingers cros...

Hello friends, family, and passerby! It’s summertime! July and August are busy months for ESL teachers. Since the students are out of school, we offer more camps and classes during the week. We’ve finished round 1 of phonics, public speaking and Shane Stars (drama class). Today is the last day of our exp or demo courses. These are 6 days straight of teaching potential new students. They essentially are recruitment classes. We also had one group of students go to America. We have another camp in London. And then 3 local camps visiting places around China. These camps focus on different areas of growth for the students. But, above all, the growth of confidence is number 1. It’s been really hot these last couple of weeks. Summer in Jiangsu province has been sticky and muggy and not enjoyable. The schools only have AC units.....central air isn’t a thing here. Buses get packed and you are standing next to another sweaty person bumping elbows. That’s the biggest amenity we miss from t...

Hi, hello, hey! Welcome back to our story. It’s almost mid year 2018. It’s amazing to reflect on events in life.  To think yesterday is history. It can not be changed. You look towards tomorrow but that’s the future. You live in the present, today, but barely notice what you do... what you say, what you choose, what you don’t choose, this all affects tomorrow. For us, sometimes it feels like we are living two lives. The one we left behind or put on hold in the States, and the one we are living here in China. We stay in touch but it’s not the same. We really do miss all of you. But, we love our life in China as well. Sometimes it feels like we are cheating on the other. Finding that perfect balance is hard.  We’ve had coworkers and friends leave recently. In a way, it’s very sad.. We wish them the best of luck in their new journey. The adventures of life. Half of 2018 is gone. Soon it will be 2019.  We are still figuring out our next adventure. We’ve never been one...

Friends and family, good day! Today, May 17th, is Matt’s birthday! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! To show their love for Matt, Nico and Lucy took us to see the Avengers movie in 3D. I give the movie a 7/10. It was okay. This was our first movie in China. And to those who are wondering, YES the movie is in English. It had Chinese subtitles for the Chinese people.

Hello everyone! After (another) year in China, Lis is moving back home. She has been in China for a total of 3 or so years. For the past year we’ve spent with her, she’s been a cool chick. She will definitely be missed at Shane and around Changzhou. Over the year and a half that we have been in Changzhou, we have seen over 15 people leave. Not all of these people were coworkers. Some were very influential friends. Nonetheless, it’s hard to say goodbye. Life is funny, and it may not be a permanent goodbye...more like a see you later. All these “see you later”  events remind me to enjoy life. Enjoy the little things. Our promise is to do more little things. Drink more beers at the canal. Hop on the train and go to Wuxi or Suzhou. I can’t say go to Ellen’s more often. Man, those are too crazy of nights. We are getting too old for that much fun. Haha. See you later Lis! I hope we see you again; preferably in the States. Make your dreams come true at home. #anotheronebitesthe...