Winter Holiday Success!

你好 bloggers! Get ready for a long post because I have three weeks to catch you up on :D

Week 1: I started my break on January 23rd. I chilled in Jinan for a  couple of days and quite frankly, I don't remember much of what I did because no one was around, I was pretty antsy to leave for Hong Kong, and I had nothing to do. So let's fast forward to January 27th when I left for Hong Kong. After a rough few hours traveling, Michael, Christine, and I get to our hotel around 2am. We were tired and cranky so we took that first day of getting there to just rest up. We explored around the hotel and got our bearings. We bought our Disneyland tickets and learned the ropes of traveling while in Hong Kong. We stayed at the Auberge hotel in Discovery Bay... I highly recommend it. It's on the pricier side but everything they offer is TOTALLY worth it! While in Hong Kong M, C and I went to Disneyland, Central, and Kowloon. Everywhere we went we were in awe of how orderly and clean everything was. I guess that shows how low our standards became from living in Jinan for 6 months. People were friendly and helpful everywhere we went. We found that mostly everyone speaks English, Cantonese, Mandarin, or at least two if not all three languages. I was incredibly impressed. Although I liked being there for the week, by the end I was missing mainland China. I was ready to go on to my next adventure. My recommendations if you ever go to Hong Kong: Disneyland (of course), Central (go up the outdoor escalator and just walk around), and The Peak (go on a clear day and you'll get amazing views of Hong Kong).

Week 2: I came back home to Jinan and spent a day to recover from traveling. I did laundry, hung out with my roomie and her bf, and enjoyed the peace and quiet of not having many people on our floor of our apartment. Then my family came! I met them at the Jinan West train station and showed them my neighborhood. Then we went to their hotel and went to dinner. Eric joined us for dinner. I had a chance to brush up on my Chinese since I didn't need it much in Hong Kong. The next day we were off to Beijing. While we were there we did EVERYTHING. Great wall, Tian'anmen square, Forbidden city, Temple of Heaven, Confucius and Lama temple... I mean honestly... If you think tourist location, you found us there. We walked A LOT. I got a lot of shopping done as well ;) My family had a great time and I loved being in China with them. I can't wait for them to come back next year. If you're like us, and like seeing the major sights in foreign countries, I highly recommend hiring a private tour guide and hiking the Great Wall in a spot that isn't where many other people go. The tour guide should know where to go. Also, Forbidden City is definitely somewhere to go during warmer months because there will probably be more activity than what we saw. The temples are a neat experience so if that peaks your interest, definitely go but don't go on a Monday. If you're more into shopping and experiencing the modern day Beijing, hang out in Xidan. There you'll find malls next to malls connected by malls. Joy City has the world's longest escalator and that's totally worth a visit. You can also see many younger people and business-looking people moving from place to place in a hurry.  It's a fun place that feels more developed than the rest of China. After our week was up in Beijing it was time for me to move on Shanghai. I had to say goodbye to my family at the train station.

Week 3: I spent three nights, two full days, and two half days in Shanghai. I got there Wednesday evening and struggled to find my hostel. I checked in and started exploring immediately (I only had a few days there). Before I even found a place to eat I ran into my friend in the hostel I was staying at! We started playing pool and she introduced me to her other friends. I ate at the bar while they played more pool. Then we met more people in the hostel (turns out pool is a pretty easy way to meet new people) and hung out all night. A group of them went out to a club but I stayed back. I was way too tired. The next day I met up with another one of my friends and he took me around Shanghai. We walked around Nanjing road, The Bund, and Tianzifang. It was shockingly warm even though it was drizzling and overcast. Later that night I went shopping with some new friends from the hostel and we went out to a club to celebrate Valentine's day eve. Then I met up with them the next day to do some tourist sites. If you get a chance to visit Shanghai I recommend: The Bund, Pudong, Nanjing East Road, and Yu Gardens and Bazaar. I loved the environment of Shanghai so much! It reminded me a lot of Brisbane in Australia, a big city but didn't feel crowded. I can't wait for Disneyland to open in Shanghai!!! I want to live in Shanghai soooo badly that I've already started planning for when my contract ends in 2015 >.< I'm setting myself up for a long year a head of me....

Today: So now I'm back at work and turns out it wasn't that hard to come back to Jinan. I started working yesterday and hit the ground running. It wasn't until I had a lull in the day that I started to realize, yea vacation's over and not traveling for another 6 months is gonna suck. Oh well. I start teaching my culture class tomorrow so I'm pretty excited for that. I have 35 students, most of whom I don't know so this should be an interesting semester. It was snowing in Jinan again today so whoever told me that it should start warming up second semester was seriously mistaken. It feels colder than when I left. Oh well. I'll live... I hope lol. In April I have two 3-day holidays... Tomb sweeping day and labor day. I hope I'll be able to travel during those so that I won't be too depressed from not traveling. This week is a long week and I'll be working my 7-day work week... I'll be sure to update you on all things Jinan next week when I get through the first week of the new semester! Until then... Laters!