My latest adventure

I've been in Sanxia for the last three days, at a teaching inservice.  Which wasn't that bad, actually.  I went up Wednesday morning, dragged my little pink suitcase (the new one!) through the streets of Tongxiao and boarded a train to Banqiao station.  I met up with the FET's from orientation in August, and some that weren't there, but were new teachers.  Day 1 was a little orientation and after lunch, the first three presentations.  We each had to put together a slide show about where we were teaching, and what our schools were like.  We stayed here:

National Academy for Educational Research

It was kind of funny, actually, I went from the train station, got on a bus, and got assigned a dorm room with a roommate.  I had to wear a lanyard and name tag all weekend.  We ate our meals at assigned tables, and had an itinerary set for the short time we would be there.  Deja Vu P2P people?

I had the first presentation on Day 2.  It went well.  I listened to 8 other presentations over the course of the training, and it was nice to share ideas and experiences.  A lot of us have the same frustrations and funny stories about adapting to the new culture.  After lunch, we took a field trip to an indigo dyeing museum.

We got to dye our own pieces of cloth, which was an interesting and smelly process.  I stole some of Ben Lu's pictures from FB.  There's a reason why he's called "picture Ben."

"Sharon, I think I'm gonna need more than two pairs of gloves."

My tablemates.  

Listening to a speech and a demonstration.  Notice Anita and Judy on the left.  They're fighting mosquitoes.  We all were at one point.

Thomas, Judy, Linda, and Jack.

It smelled as good as it looks.

Mine.  I should have put more chopsticks on it, it's too plain.

Then we had a chance to walk around Sanxia Old Street.  

A famous calligraphy shop.  Someone pointed out the giant brush on the side: "You could paint your house with that thing."

After returning to campus, we had dinner, and had a little KTV (for the record, I did not sing) in the dorm.  

Day 3 was the final presentations, and we had cake to celebrate Lina and Vivian's birthdays.  Another bus ride, then a train ride, and I'm back in Tongxiao.  Normally, it takes days to get unpacked, but it only took a few minutes this afternoon.  It's a miracle.  Only because I need to repack before I leave again on Sunday.  Keep watching for my next adventure :)