I really enjoy giving end of the month updates and I am way behind! For a good 10 weeks I had awful wifi and vpn connections. I have talked about vpn before and it gives access to sites that are blocked in China – a lot of sites are blocked. At any rate I’m back to end the year strong! Here’s a quick update of the past few months.
And if you’re like … these months look off KG has been gone longer than this … I started these ‘monthly’ updates after I was here for awhile and I was settled in with life in Shanghai!
August (Month 18) – Finished a great summer of traveling with a train trip to Hangzhou (one hour speed train ride from Shanghai) and university teaching and started my second school year at Shanghai HD Bilingual School. I have 25 students in my class and there are 4 teachers to a classroom. I am a Kindergarten English Homeroom teacher at a bilingual school. My students have classes in Chinese and in English!
September (Month 19) Something very exciting about September is that my mentor from Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship came to visit me. We had a fantastic time and even took a visit to Xiamen, China! I shared in an earlier post about Teachers Day and Mid-Autumn Festival which both happened in September.
October (Month 20) This month was beautiful! Two holidays you really look forward to in China are Chinese New Year (CNY) -the dates change every year,but its always at the beginning of the year and National Holiday/Golden Week (First week of October). This year in October I went to Singapore and Malaysia with my friend Kim from Dallas and we had an absolutely fantastic time! Singapore is a small country, but lovely. The weather is great, the country is super clean, the people are nice, and the metro system is easy to use. Malaysia was so nice! We did a food tour and relaxed a lot! I could definitely go back there.
I also partnered with my friend Kristen and threw a great Halloween party that my friend Kim came too! Trap or Treat was a huge success! We had a great time, folks dressed up, we had great prizes and the venue was packed.
November (Month 21) November was a good month. Busy, but good as we worked hard in our classroom with our language skills and began preparing for our holiday show at work. We had two big events in Shanghai – FTCA (For The Culture Awards) and BE (Black Expo) both great events! I won at award – “Game Changer” for being a Game Changer in the Shanghai Black Expat Community and I performed at Black Expo! I did two songs in sign language and I was excited to share something I am so passionate about with the folks here in Shanghai! November was great and full of Black Excellence.
November was also lovely because we had a great pajama themed FriendsGiving. Its wonderful being an expat and having great friends that you can count on and do life with while away from home!
December (Month 22) It is now December. I am typing this message on Christmas Eve morning in Shanghai, so its still December 23 in the states. I am excited about what the holiday has in store for me. I will meet my friends in South Africa for Christmas! What a joy to see them in Africa. I am super excited and I leave tonight.
We ended the school year great… post to come and had a fantastic holiday show! My students did a great job with their English performance and their parents are pleasantly pleased with their students progress so far this school year. I am looking forward to their growth and continued academic development in 2020! Teaching in Shanghai has brought me so much joy!
So here’s months 18-22 in a short recap!
I hope that you are all well and that you are able to relax during this holiday season.
Blessings!
I’m sure more has happened, that I have missed pictures, events, and life updates- and that there is more to say but here are a few pictures and a quick catch up of the past few months …. Life is good in Shanghai and I am looking forward to a visit to the states in 2020 during Chinese New Year!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Blessing to you to all of the holidays that you celebrate.
Wishing you a prosperous holiday season and new year full of love, light, happiness, joy and laughter!
FEARLESS in SHANGHAI 