TeamWaWa and their crazy adventures

Good day friends and family. Monday, January 14th was Shane English School’s annual banquet celebrating year 2018. I can’t believe this was our third banquet. Time flies. These banquets aren’t like the company parties in the US. The Chinese staff rent ball gowns and we are all required to do performances. The foreign teachers were split into two groups. One set performanced to “Another Brick in the Wall” and the other set “Evolution of Dance”.  I’ve posted the video of “Evolution of Dance” on the Shane English School FB page. It’s 8 minutes. Go check it out. These events definitely aren’t our scene. Required to attend. Required to perform. But, you do what you have to do.  It does provide a nice conclusion to 2018. Those 365 days are part of the past. The good, the bad, the remarkable memories made here in China are now part of a photo album. Wow! We are quickly working to build up our 2019 library. I hope you all stay tuned to what’s up and coming with us. Kota Kinabal...

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 friends, family, and any passerby reading this blog. We have returned safely from Taiwan. We spent 3 nights, 4 days there. It was worth the trip! We have been to approximately 17 States in the US, Jamaica, Mexico, Bahamas, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and China. The Chinese will tell you that Taiwan is part of China. I count it as a different country since they stamp your passport as Taiwan. But, anyways, the point I am trying to make is we have seen a lot of places and experienced different cultures. I mean, hell, America is considered a melting pot right? In Georgia, you have a whole town dedicated to “Asia”. I want to say Korean, but I can’t recall specifically. It’s near that H Supermarket near Roswell. China is not one of my favorite countries. Yes, we currently live here. And yes, we’ve been in China for almost 2 years. That’s a lot of hours and days to experience authentic China. And, well, it’s sad. Here are the top reasons we dislike China (Jiangsu Province): 1) S...

Hello! Hello! We had a great day at the spa in Xinbei Wanda yesterday. Any spa day is going to be great. Here in China they give you food and movies to watch. They have large comfy beds instead of hard massage tables. Okay, the reason for this post. We tried Traditional Chinese Massage. Kristin had cupping performed, and Matt had scraping and acupuncture. Cupping - We has only heard about cupping when Michael Phelps was in the Olympics. We thought “oh it’s for the sports Stars”.  When it was offered to us, Kristin really wanted to try it. For starters, her back has really been hurting from the beds. China beds are notoriously hard. The guy lit the glass cups on fire and auctioned them to her back. She said it just felt uncomfortable. Afterwards, it didn’t hurt a little. Her bra strap was pushing against one of the spots. Scraping - Matt didn’t want cupping. He didn’t want the purple welts on his back. He chose scraping. The woman came with what looked like a straight r...

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...