6 months into the adventure .....

Farwelling the girls!

Yes, it's been 6 months since I sobbed my goodbyes to my family, friends and pets and headed off on the big adventure to China. There have been ups and downs along the way but what an amazing adventure it has been so far.

Hong Kong harbour.

Olympic Cross Country.

It all began in Hong Kong, where I got over my initial sadness of leaving home with several action packed days at the Equestrian events at the Olympics. I was so lucky to see so many of my childhood heroes competing. Hong Kong was an amazing city, so colourful and vibrant.

A life long dream - watching Grand Prix dressage.

Brand new bikes on the practice run out to school.

After settling in to Wuxi life, it was time to begin work. It has been a huge learning curve for me in the classroom - going from working with 25 middle/upper class girls to 8 ESL boys and girls with a full time teaching assistant has made me change the ways I do things in the classroom quite significantly. The PYP co-ordinator position is a big challenge too, one that I am really looking forward to over the next few years. It's something that I really enjoy, developing curriculum and working with teachers more closely as well as students. Champagne breakfast at the Kempinski - early days in Wuxi. Discovering the joy of foot massages. Adjusting to living in China has also had it's challenges, there are so many cultural differences to get used to. On one hand, it is a difficult place to live - the spitting, staring, pollution, traffic, lack of westernisation really do get me down at times. On the other hand, regular massages, lovely dinners out and so many new places to visit make up for the negatives (just, sometimes)

Weekend in Shanghai with Ash and Tim.

Yangshuo - a beautiful retreat from city life in China.

Lunch in Shanghai with Rob.

Having Rob come to visit has been a highlight of my time here, it was a special time for both of us, especially seeing two of China's unique icons - The Great Wall and the pandas in Chengdu. it was so sad to see him off but he is settled in England now, busily applying for an odd array of jobs (room attendant, tele-marketing?!) Thank goodness for skype is all I can say ..... it is simply the best invention! It makes keeping in contact with everyone at home so easy and has played a big part in me not really experiencing home sickness.

The Great Wall of China at last!

Cuddling pandas in Chengdu with Rob.

The travel opportunities have been amazing here, both within and outside of China. All trips have been special in their own way - Tibet is a definite stand out though and I'm already planning another trip back there next year.

Mt Everest - the trip of a lifetime.

PYP training in Jakarta.

The next 6 months will probably be quite boring here on my blog. We don't have another holiday until the end of April, so until then, I am busily saving my pennies to send home. More challenges are coming up to keep me busy though! I'm planning to run the half marathon (or maybe just the 10km run) in the Great Wall Marathon in May - what a great thing to say I've done! I'm also planning to get stuck into learning Mandarin. I've decided that the only way I'm going to get myself motivated enough is if I employ a Mandarin teacher, in fact I'm going to meet a girl this afternoon and buy the necessary text books. I'm looking forward to mum coming over in the summer time here, we're planning a fabulous trip through China and up into Mongolia.

Skiing in Japan.