TeamWaWa and their crazy adventures

Hello, We are on day 3 of vacation in Kota Kinabalu. First, we've been to Malaysia before. We went to Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi last year. That was a great trip so we decided to see the other side of Malaysia. The beaches are great. The water is clear blue. Of course, the resort is great.  Especially,  for the amount we paid for it. We've been posting photos on Wechat and Facebook, so if you are interested in those, check out those social media pages. It's off tourist season since Spring Festival is around the corner. So, it means not a lot of people. It's also jellyfish season so not a lot of people swimming in the beaches. Overall, for us, a great time to go. We walked through KK waterfront and city centre. We've seen Gaya and Sapi islands. We've seen monkeys and lizards. Even a jellyfish. Today we are going to the wildlife park to see the pygmy elephants.  Excited for this! Are they really super small? Or just like baby elephants that don't grow up?...

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...

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 everyone! October 1st is National Day in China. I would relate it to America’s Independence Day. The Chinese people usually get 4-5 days off. So, it’s better! Haha! Since, it’s a huge holiday, we decided to stay around Changzhou. Ticket prices were increased by 100-200 RMB. The bigger cities were crowded. Changzhou was quite peaceful. Ok, rephrase, as peaceful as it can be. We worked on some PPTs for work, went to the gym, visited s couple parks, and went bowling. Relaxing. That’s one word to sum up our 5 days.

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...

Taiwan Day 3 - Lovers Lake Park The day started a little less organized. We didn’t get the bus, so we had to take a taxi. It was 290 NT to go to the famous park. The park is free so that’s a bonus. We read online that it’s an easy hike around the mountain. I think our definition of easy isn’t the same as others. The stairs and incline are steep. Plus, it was very humid in this area. There’s no place in the park to buy snacks or drinks. Good thing, we planned for this and brought a cold water with us.  The park wasn’t very busy. There was a few tourist looking people, and some older people who looked like they came for the exercise. There was one annoying family who was playing their non English music through their speaker. Put on headphones! Be respectful to the people who want to hear nature. Side note: Asian culture does seem to be different in this area. Even people at the gym don’t always use headphones. Taiwan has beautiful green gardens and parks. Of course...

Day 2 - Wanli/Yehliu Day 2 of our Taiwan adventure started with a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel. Bacon, eggs, ham, chocolate muffin, orange juice and coffee. ahhh! Good breakfast spread.  We caught the 790 bus and went to the Yehliu Geopark. The bus ride was free! It was an interesting ride going up the mountain. Plus, seeing an old man defecate himself.  The Yehliu Geopark was so pretty. 80NTD each. Well worth the money. Such pretty blue skies. Clear water. And of course amazing rock formations. We tried to make it to the beach area, but couldn’t find it. And didn’t feel like asking for help. So we went back to the Keelung hotel. Kristin took a nap. Matt watched English movies on HBO. We had dinner at a place called MOS Burger. Pretty good. And we went through the night market to get a deep fried Oreo and some egg wrapped hotdog with sauce.  We went by the famous bridges and enjoyed the night breeze. It started to rain so we went back to the...