Jacky's Birthday 5.15.2014

This year I haven't been as excited about my birthday as usual. I usually have a countdown, make all sorts of plans, and can barely sleep the night of the 14th in anticipation. This year has been different. Maybe because I've grown up a little and didn't need to make a huge deal of it (although I made sure my students knew what the balloon meant our May calendar) or maybe because I'm here in Beijing. I knew celebrating without my family and friends would be weird and possibly make me miss home more. But alas, here we are on the fifteenth of May and it's been different in a really good way.

Charlotte is an amazing friend. I knew that even though she is on crutches and has 10 stitches in her foot, she would surprise me with something clever. I woke up to signs around the apartment wishing me a happy birthday and a hanging display of cards. She asked some of my favorite people to send her birthday wishes that she hand wrote in separate colorful cards. It was adorable and the sweet words everyone wrote made me cry. Especially my dad's last sentence, I think the world of you. So special!

Then she sat me down and played me an awesome video of a compilation of birthday messages from people I love at home. It was amazing and there were so many people I was surprised to see. Thank you ALL for being a part of it! It was so special to see you all on my birthday!!

But THEN she said she had one more surprise for me… She played another video set to the music of Pharrell's Happy and video clips of all my family and friends dancing to it! It was absolutely amazing and I was cracking up the whole time. It was perfectly edited to have everyone lip syncing different parts and dancing to the music. Again, my dad stole the show with a clip of him dancing on the table during a "meeting" in his office. Hysterical! Thank you all for being a part of it - check it out here!!

Morning love on the mirror

The adorable card display!

Notes from my parents

Stickers & a little extra love today

Had a small birthday party the following weekend - a girls night to remember! We invited a few of our Chinese co-teachers and had a great time with them. We learned a Chinese drinking game and taught them "Never Have I Ever." It was a great time and such a special way to celebrate my birthday! 

"I am so so so excited today!"

What we were doing while we neglected blogging...

On our second Buddhist retreat in the mountains in northern Beijing. We learned how to make mandalas, meditated and enjoyed good food and company! 

It's the season of street pinepples! 

Another day in smog city

"Nice to meet you!"

Jacky with Ciel, her co-teacher and our dear friend who recently left the school. 

      

We've been cooking a lot these past few months...and loving it!

We get asked to be in photos everywhere...even at our gym!

Enjoying a delicious meal at our favorite restaurant with our Buddhist group.

After a terrorist attack in southwestern China we weren't allowed to go to the park for two weeks...when we finally went back the kids were overjoyed!

Making clovers to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

A particularly beautiful sunset view from our apartment.

Spending the day in the beautiful 798 art district. Took us 2 hours to get there (Beijing is big!) but it was worth it! 

Getting asked inappropriate questions...it was weird. 

Our school guards got a uniform upgrade! 

Charlotte's kindergarteners reading their "Hobbies Book" to Jacky's "baby" class.

Spending time with our co-teachers! 

We ate a mix of Chinese and American food. Nothing like watching people eat chips with chopsticks and dip PB&Js in guacamole!

Wandering through the market near our apartment...

Rollerblading with our co-teachers Yenzi and Anna.

We went to a print museum for a field trip this week

As part of our flower unit we took our students on a nature walk around the park, paired the kindergarteners with the babies!

With our students who participated in CCTV's english competition.

Beautiful flowers at the park.

A new teacher at our school is a photographer and took some photos of us at the park yesterday!

"We should probably write a blog post soon…"

We've recently exchanged these words often, meaning to write to fill you all in but somehow never really get around to it. So here's the general update:

Beijing has flown through spring, we're nearing the end of it and feeling the start of summer already. Yesterday we both wore shorts. Two weeks ago we were both in our giant bear coats. Beijing isn't good at slow transitions. Which reminds me of the air fluctuations we've had recently. Last week was terrible, the air was bad enough to wear a mask until it sprinkled a little bit on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were gorgeous, sunny and hot. Last night we went to sleep with dreams of taking our students to the park this week - dreams which were shattered when we woke up to an AQI of over 150. Back to the smog….

On Saturday we're headed on our next island adventure. We're flying to Malaysia overnight on Saturday and arrive on Langkawi island Sunday afternoon. Spending a few days there, ferry-ing to a quiet Thai island and relaxing in the jungle there for another few days. Have we mentioned that we know how lucky we are?

Two months and counting… we're both really content here (with the exception of the bad air days - then we're ready to hop a plane out of here!) Spin class is still fun and exciting, and we've been cooking a lot more recently. Trying to live in the now and not plan too much for the future. The being said, we're psyched to spend some time at home in a few short months. Happy April!

Love around the world - xo

Snowy Beijing

Last week we finally experienced snow in Beijing! It was nothing like you folks are experiencing back in New England but it was enough to finally introduce the word "snow" to our students and make small snowmen with them. We had a lot of fun in the park! See the pictures below:

Snowy view from our apartment window

Snowball fight!