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 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 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...

Hello friends and family!! Monday evening we had our farewell get together for Caleigh.  She's been at Shane English School in Changzhou, China for 3 years. Wow! Now that's a long time. We arrived in Changzhou on December 29, 2016. Besides, the welfare officer, Caleigh was one of the first people we met. We had Muslims for dinner with her and Pete. Caleigh is around the fifteenth foreign person we have had to say goodbye to in China. Not all of them were at Shane, but most were. She will come back to China, but has a new career in a city about 11 hours away by fast train. Congrats Caleigh! She made it out of ESL teaching and is onto a bright future! Here's some photos of her last days in Changzhou. After 3 years, she had made a lot of friends in Changzhou. I am sure she will do fine wherever and in whatever the future holds! Bye Caleigh! You will be missed by many. #nextsteps #sayinggoodbye #onedaythiswillbeus #seeyouontheflipside #ShaneEnglish #lifeofaneslteache...

Hello everyone! It's been a few months since we posted. Sorry, it's been a crazy time. First, we decided to stay with our current school in China. Why? 1) We are here already. Like the saying goes, "the devil you know..." 2) They did give us a competitive second year contract.  Not everything we wanted, but in the end it was a win-win. And 3) Transferring the Z visa seemed like a big process full of what if possibilities.  What if it doesn't go through, what if the new school does it too late, what if ... Second update, we will be flying home February 1-February 17, leaving again for China bright and early on the 18th. We are looking forward to seeing family and eating all that processed sugary foods we grew up with! The chocolate tastes different here. There isn't twizzler or tootsie rolls in the stores. Forget about cheeze its. We will definitely stock up. Third, our school had its 2017 Appreciation Night.  The foreign teachers did a short Robin Hood pla...