These past five days in China have been full of excitement and adventure!! The first two days I spent time exploring this new city that I'll be calling home ~ with a veteran teacher very close by my side, of course! Friday we went to WalMart and I experienced my first time of taking a bus, the light rail, and safely crossing the busy street. I was surprised at how many familiar brands I saw in WalMart. Perhaps living here won't be as difficult as I first thought! 
A whole bunch of us new and veteran teachers ate lunch at KFC after our shopping trip and, again, I was surprised at how similar the menu was to America. Except of course for the Chinese characters scattered throughout the whole paper. In the afternoon, I went on a tour of my new school. I feel so much more comfortable now after getting to meet some of the teachers, see the classrooms, and find out where the dining hall is.
Friday evening was perhaps my favorite activity so far. All of teachers gathered together for our weekly evening meeting. I've already decided that Friday will be my favorite day of the whole week! Gathering together to eat, talk, laugh, and encourage each other is so special.
Saturday afternoon I went to Zhong Dong ~ the flea market type area that sells just about everything ranging from clothes to showers, shoes to couches. I was amazed at how many different varieties of towels, shoes, purses, and shirts exist! I even tried my hand at bargaining, but wasn't very successful. I guess I need to be a little more persistent next time!!
Monday morning our teacher training officially started. We've only had two sessions, but my head is already spinning with all that I need to remember to be an effective teacher. I'm trying to take really good notes so I can refer to them when I actually start teaching. 
Tonight, I had my first teacher’s meeting with the other teachers I'll be working with during camp. We're trying come up with creative ways to make our classes interesting and exciting for the students! So much has changed in the past five days, I am just trying to take it all in and learn as much as I can.
~Lisa