I got a phone, I got a phone, I got a phone hey hey hey hey

So these past few days have been crazy and curious. We've had lots of general info sessions where teachers have given us tips and tricks for teaching the kids English. While most of the time it's been alright, sometimes it's downright boring. BOR. ING. In fact, yesterday, I resorted to counting the number of times the speaker showed us pictures or videos of himself in which he was wearing the same yellow shirt that he was wearing during the presentation. I lost count.

Yesterday I was told I was going to meet the Vice Principal of one of the kindergartens that wanted me to teach with her school. The school is a Montessori school (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method), which has this really alternative method of how to teach children and how children learn. I love it, and although the school is around the 4th ring road in Lido (further than I originally wanted to be), it's in the expat/foreign district, which is supposed to be quite a nice area.

Last night we had a big bbq buffet with unlimited beer between 6:30-10:30pm...all for free. It was quite interesting bonding time, and it was also a nice de-stresser. I waited till I had had my interview with the VP of the school, KeEr international kindergarten, (http://www.keerlido.com/) before getting my drink on. The woman I met with was incredibly nice and seemed very open, which makes sense since Montessori teaching seems like a really open form of teaching - more based on a child's interaction with their environment than with the teacher's command of the child's environment. She was wearing slight eye glitter in powder form along the creases of her eyes, and her head had a long silk scarf that she wore as a cap, tied off to the side so that it draped on her shoulder. It was really inventive, although I still haven't figured out how she kept it from falling off of her head. Her only complaint about the school was that the walls were too white. Not so bad, considering some other people have had much more nerve-wracking experiences with their possible schools.

After the interview I actually spent a lot of the night attempting to talk to the Chinese staff and workers at the lodge we're staying at. I talked to them for about an hour at least, and although a copious amount of hand signals were used, I think it was all-around a success. Today, they even gave me some green tea and invited me to sit with them. Last night she gave me a plum. Lol. They are are quite the gift-giving people, the Chinese.

ANDDDD today we got out phones!!!!! Yayy!!! Mine is so cute. It was 268 yuan (about $40), and I am abnormally excited about the prospect of adding a cell phone charm to it (like all the Asian girls have). But now, I must go. We have a park excursion :D Woot woot!