Holiday Season (8 months down)

It has been 8 months officially now. I have also missed last month post/update whatever you want to call it, but I’ve been busy with teaching, celebrating Christmas, planning my trip to Thailand, New Years and now Chinese New Years.

Celebrating Christmas here was a little tough for me to be honest. I’ve grown accustom to not working for a week or so around Christmas, and spending it with family and friends, but this year I worked on Christmas day so had a small yet joyful celebration the following with some fellow expats in Harbin. We all exchanged gifts, stories, ate like no tomorrow, we also had our fair share wine and beer.
All in all a very good of people under one roof. New Years wasn’t anything to special just hit up a few bars, seen some friends, went to a club and seen some fireworks! More of quiet night, but with a heavy crowd of people as there should be.

Right after this holiday hours started at work. Meaning longer hours to put in prior to having my vacation time start, and I will tell it was like murder with all the weird hours I had to complete during those last two weeks of teaching before the break, but all in all worth it.







Chinese New Years was a good celebration. I was invited to a party/celebration with a co-worker and her family, they played games, cooked together (I hand made dumplings!), drank together and shot off boxes of fireworks! I was lucky enough to aloud to light a few of them myself. After that we all headed back inside to resume eating and drinking. My coworkers husband was trying to challenge me to see who could drink the most, and I can honestly say that man can drink! I lost count of how many we had fairly quickly. To summarize this occasion, I was shown a great deal of hospitality and love that night, it really made me feel like I was home with my family back in Canada.

All of those events have gone successfully, and next is time for me to relax under sun, in a hammock (God willing), with cold beer and explore Thailand to the best of my abilities! This was just a quick little update of the last two months. Next post will be my experience in Thailand, until next time!

Did a little Hiking

Fenghuangshan Geopark 

Did a little hiking in Wuchang, Heilonjiang, China at Fenghuangshan National Geopark. It was an amazing experience a truly great way to break in my 4 months of living in China!

This hike so was a work excursion with the school I work with here in Harbin. Great co-workers and leaders I honestly couldn't asked for a better environment to work in, especially since its my first time not only teaching in China, but living here too. The journey began from district in Harbin to Wuchang, which was a 5hr bus ride filled with games, trivia, laughter, food, a karaoke and of course some amazing country side views along the way.

When we finally arrived to our hotel, which was surprisingly a lot nicer on the inside than I would of expected after seeing some of the nearby hotels and motels along the way. As we entered the hotel we were greeted kindly, cleaned up and served lunch before our first hike which was 2500m that took about 2hrs to complete at a good steady pace. There was one view in particular I wish I could of gotten a better look at was, at one the viewing points on the peak of the mountain when the clouds parted a gave you a strong sense of just how high up you were from the bottom of the mountain.

After this we headed back to hotel cleaned up ourselves ate dinner together like a big family, gave toasts, went outside for some more karaoke, team building exercises and a little bonfire to end off the night. 

The second mountain was a 6000m hike with a lot steep steps, plus rain which made it a little challenging to hike through and navigate through safely, but luckily we all came prepared for the unexpected weather patterns. Throughout most the hike when weather was good believe it or not I practically ran up the mountain to each rest area just in case it decided to rain cats and dogs along the way up. I have since been called "Superman" by my coworkers and they wonder if I can fly haha! The entire 6000m hike took me around 4hrs at a relatively steady pace with my team. 

The views along the way and even at the peak of each mountain were breath taking "literally" lol

All in all it was a very rewarding experience of accomplishment, team building and like I said before a great way to ring in my 4 months living in China. 

 

 

This experience was even better, because it was with not just co-workers and leaders, but individuals who are very family oriented have now become family to me and make me feel more welcomed to this country.