First weekend

Ni hao bloggers! So here I am finishing up my first weekend in Jinan. Let me tell you about my classes this week. I had my first class on Thursday, a 12th grade IELTS prep class. I'm supposed to help the students improve their writing skills. That class was actually pretty fun. I see them again Tuesday afternoon. Then on Friday, I was supposed to have another IELTS prep class with different students but because Saturday was some market day thing, the school switched the schedule so that we had a short week with our Saturday lessons on Friday.  So we had a half day Friday with Saturday classes.  That means that I had TOEFL prep with the main stream students who are studying Japanese.  They don't speak much English. I also had a TOEFL and an SAT prep class with Joanna for the 12th grade International Center students.  If you're confused, all you need to know is that I'm teaching 10 periods of test prep each week regardless of whether it's a short or long week.  They are IELTS, TOEFL, and SAT prep. I've also had students already come and talk to me about where they would like to go for college.
After finishing the work week on Friday I came home, unpacked, and met a couple more people at dinner.  Mina (my favorite person so far) is from Japan and has been speaking with me in Japanese.  I am so excited to have a chance to brush up on it! On Saturday, after a quick SKYPE session with J3 and Tiger, I was off to breakfast. I met up with Vincent (teaches kindergarten and is from Cincinnati), Eric (teaches grade 1 and 2 and is from Indiana), Mina, and Steve (the most obnoxious guy from the same program that I was hired through). The five of us went to Thousand Buddha Mountain.  IT WAS ABSOLUTELY THE MOST INCREDIBLE PLACE I'VE BEEN TO. There are literally a thousand if not more Buddha statues in this park. There's a cave that goes through the mountain that all the temples and the park is built on.  The cave is FILLED with so many faces and statues and art work. It gave off a very strange energy like I was being protected but at the same time watched for everything I did. I took so many pictures! After about 5 hours on the mountain, we came back to the primary school.  Eric was irritated and ready for a nap so we said goodbye at the gate and Scott joined the four of us.  He took us into town and gave me a ton of useful information.  We went to a Western store where, should I ever crave American food, I could buy pretty much anything I needed. Then we went to R-T mart which is like Don Quijote (for you Hawaii people) but on steroids.  For you mainland people... it's like... nothing I've ever come across. Lol sorry. It's got a first floor full of businesses like KFC, McDonald's, Disney store, jewelery, bags, shoes, etc. Then upstairs is where you would start shopping. Imagine Wal-mart but more. They sell almost everything, including international food.  They have the country's flag under each food so that you know where it's coming from.  When you're ready to check out, you go down stairs to the grocery section and find a cash register.  If you don't have your own bags, you'll have to pay for a disposable plastic one. I'll definitely be spending more time there.
So here I am, Sunday morning. I think I'm going to Parc 66 (I learned where the mall was that I went that first day and what it was called).  Giles wanted to go and I felt bad for bailing on him yesterday for Thousand Buddha Mountain.  Vincent and Eric may have wanted to go but after yesterday's adventure, I'm not so sure.  I'll see them at breakfast so I guess I'll figure it out then. Tomorrow starts a long week so I'll be working a half day Saturday. I have a holiday coming up 1st of October and I have almost an entire week off! I can't wait to share all my adventures with you. Until then... Laters!