About a week ago I developed a cough. I thought that I was starting a cold or, hopefully not, the flu. But I'm not sick. Not really. I just can't stop coughing. There is nothing sick about my cough or anything to indicate an infection, and then last night someone told me about the "Beijing Cough". Apparently it is quite common for newcomers to Beijing to develop a cough not unlike a smoker's cough. This morning I decided to do a little bit of google researching and as it turns out there are others who developed a similar cough while in Beijing, and most of them report that nothing helps except for leaving Beijing, which won't be happening anytime soon. I don't know how long I will be able to stand myself with this cough. Hopefully it will go away on its own once the change of season is finished.
Other than the coughing fits, I am having a great time here. Yesterday we celebrated Halloween at school and the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves. Tonight the teachers are celebrating with a Halloween party and then many of us will likely hit the town. I will be sporting a funky blue wig, skinny jeans and hilarious shades along with a blue cape and flashing guitar pin. My theme song for the evening is "So What" by Pink.
Last night I went out to the most amazing restaurant. It was fairly expensive costing 258 RMB a person (roughly 40$), however it was an all you can eat/ drink buffet. And it was a buffet like I've never seen before. The food was incredible and very diverse. I tried as many things as I could. The Sushi was amazing, not to mention the crab legs and pasta and steak and deserts. I think we spend about 4 hours there sampling all the delectable foods and drinking wine. Afterwards we went out a tiny little bar called Swing, a favourite amoung the teachers. They have an amazing band and we danced ourselves into a frenzy.
Hope you have a fantastic Halloween!
3 comments:
There is smog in Beijing. That's your distressed lungs talking to you. Anyway you can get an air filter for your classroom?
Hey Tessie!
Sounds like you are having a good time, other than your poor lungs going into shock being away from our clean Maritime air.
What's the teaching like? Bet it's different from here.
Hope all is well--take care.
Dawn
Dawn- I am having a fantastic time! The teaching here is, generally speaking, actually a lot like home, because we are teaching NB curriculum and almost all of the teachers are from the maritimes. There are a lot less behaviour problems, but more language barriers. I have two students who are very new to the language. Another difference is the limited resources. We have all the basic things, but extras are hard to come by. And unlike home- I can't just run to the mall and buy what I want for my classroom. Chances are I wouldn't find what I am looking for anyway (things like decorations, stickers, prizes etc). One of the things I do love is how close knit the staff is- they are so much more like a second family than co-workers.
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