But...where is she going?!

The answer to that million dollar question: Wenzhou, China!! Yippie!!

I have recently signed a contract to teach English at the Wenzhou Medical College in Wenzhou, China. That's right folks, I'm China bound! In the words of both grandpa and mom, "the Chinese won't know what hit 'em!"

In doing a little bit of research, I have found some lovely facts here they are:

- Wenzhou population = 7.5 million people...I'll be safe dad!!

- Prominent treaty and trading post located right on the Yangze River and open to the East China Sea

- The city's history goes back until about 2,000 BCE (before current era...not before Christ) and was known for its pottery.

- It received its current name in 675 CE

- Alunite capital of the world - don't even try to ask me what this is!!

- In 1978 Wenzhou was the first city to set up "individual and private enterprises" according to wikipedia - it's the birthplace of Chinese capitalism... Oxymoron? Hmm, this should be interesting!

- Language: Wu Chinese, which means that they are difficult to understand in the rest of China. Think New Jersey accent in California...I think you get the picture.

- Sister City = Union County, New Jersey...see previous bullet point and I think you'll understand why.

- According to National Geographic, Wenzhou makes 70% of the worlds cigarette lighters. Yay for industry!!

(Image of university)

Here's a bit about the college - one of my colleagues at Newberg High School told me today that Wenzhou Medical College, see beautiful college images, is the Harvard of China - "Charvard" or "Harvina," just because we like to make up our own words in the Hamilton clan. 

 

Yippie, skippy I'm teaching at Harvard - China!! The school is known for its medical stuffs. I'll be teaching about 18 units worth of speaking and listening English in addition to some regular English classes. It should be wicked fun, and as 2012 is an election year, I should have a plethora of reading materials. :)

Well, that's all for now, I will post more soon.

Jaime

Boxes, boxes, boxes...coffee!

Hello all,
That's right - I'm packing up and leaving town. Most of the week has been dedicated to going through my incredibly small apartment - looking for trash! I love throwing shit away...literally - I just emptied the cat box, too. How accomplished I am!

Hannibal has been a great help, offering some well-needed distraction as I go about my days. Even now, as I try to get this post out, I am distracted by the sound of sand-paper on glass...he's licking my sliding-glass door. Someone wants to go outside and play!!

I packed up my bathroom - it seemed fitting to go first - and managed to put the whole room in one 8x10 box. Wow! I guess I don't really shower or use the bathroom that often! Is it so surprising, dad?  In keeping with the bathroom, I've picked up Jeanette Walls' fictional memoir about her grandmother - it's titled Half Broke Horses and I've been wanting to read it for some time now. The family in question lives in a mud dugout in New Mexico, which they trade in for a house built with scrap wood from other buildings and what not. I laughed out loud yesterday while reading on the porch - father and mother cannot fathom having a crapper in the house. Now, we cannot live without it - either argument seems backwards to me.

Laundry - you all know how I hate doing it. I got myself mentally prepared to not only throw a load in the washing machine, but to actually have the patience to wait it through, throw the damned soggy pile into the dryer, distract myself for another hour and hang up - or in my case shove the clean clothes in a bag to take to mom and dad's. In love with my sense of accomplishment, I began throwing odd scraps and bits of clothing into the wash. Usually by the time my clothes finish in the dryer I have usually found some scraps of paper and odd bits of torn nothings left behind. Oops - I forgot to pick my pockets again. Well...why should this time be any different? Of course - and totally by accident - I threw the cloth satchel containing a year's worth of cat-nip into the washer and subsequently the dryer. When I realized my mistake, I tossed the satchel, but not before encountering a crazed cat, hell-bent on destroying my hand with nails longer than my mothers. After discovering he did not like the taste of blood, he moved to the trash bag, where - stoned out of his mind - he proceeded to get at the cat-nip. Believing it most likely tasted like bacon, he ate a trash-bag and now sits, staring at me the next day with eyes like slits - screaming "I've got a raging headache, I cannot remember who I am, and it's all because of you! Why do I want raw beef right now?!" I don't think I'll ever be able to wash away all that cat-nip...I guess I'll just have to be "cat's best friend" for now.

More moving woes to come!
Oh...and, I'm running low on COFFEE...better get this crap packed soon!
Jaime

Wowzah!

Hello all, today I start the blogging craze again. Hopefully this one takes.