My students love me

So I had this girl in class yesterday who, when I passed out a practice SAT test, decided she didn't want to take it and wanted to read instead. She sat there reading her huge book until I approached her and asked if she was finished with her practice exam. She looked at me, said no and that she wasn't interested and went back to reading her book! I didn't say anything to her, but when I got home, I sent an email to the office saying that she was rude and disrespectful in class. Today, she walked into my classroom before the bell rings, handed me a note and walked out. I was like... OOOK?

It's not everyday your students tell you you're a cute girl. HAHAH. Ooo China!

Guess who's back!

Annnd I’m back. Sorry, I’ve been MIA for a while. Part of it was due to being away and eating and drinking way too much. The other part of it was because once you don’t write for a while, each subsequent day you don’t write, makes it harder and harder to jump back on the blogwagon. But, regardless of my absence, I am back!

So reason one for being away: eating and drinking too much! I was in Moscow with my mom and was actually on top of my blogging. But then I went to Hong Kong and things changed! My time was consumed with 5:30pm happy hours, scrumptious wines, and the deliciousness that is non-chinese food! All I can say about Hong Kong is that I came, I saw, I ate! J Well and we did some sight seeing too. O and I did some kicking ass in Pinochle even though it was my first time playing! Overall I had a great time with Brandon and his parents, Barry and Rhody. :) (Thanks for a wonderful time in Hong Kong!)

Hong Kong is a unique mix of rich and poor. You have fancy shiny skyscrapers, mixed with dull and dreary falling down apartment buildings. You have alley dwellers, and Ritz dwellers. You have 5 star Michelin food, and street food. In other words, you a little bit of everything. I enjoyed my time in Hong Kong and am looking forward to going back there. O except the passport control part. Apparently, my brand new fancy biometric passport is broken. Yup. I have a chip in my passport and Hong Kong officials told me (twice!) that it doesn’t work. My information has to be entered manually and I have to go to the little room with the official and overall it’s just a pain. Look forward to doing it again two more times. :/

Run down old buildings. They stick out sometimes.

Alley dwellers.

The rich skyline (and famous too)

Hong Kong's very own Walk of Stars. It's Jackie Chan!

Junks are adorable.

The old village of Tai O where the houses are on stilts! 

So freaking cool! But I wouldn't want to live here, ever!

Pana of Tai O

Pana of HK at night

Streets of HK

Dog cutely guarding the stall as the owner sets up.

Ladies' market setting up. Boy did we find some great steals here!

The boathouse restaurant right on the water at Stanley's Market. Yummy seafood!

Big Bus Tour around HK Island

Tram on Victoria's Peak!

Construction is everywhere in HK

Literally everywhere!

O and I forgot to mention! We met a wonderful lady, Xana, who lived in Macau for four years and offered us a personal tour around the old Macau. Obviously, we took her up on her offer and had a great experience roaming around Macau and buying Portuguese port/wine! (Macau used to be a Portuguese colony).

Cutest crab I ever ate!

Cute European looking street in Macau

Holiday time = soooo many freaking people!

MGM Casino Macau

Qingdao

Here are some late coming pictures from our trip to Qingdao for the Beer Festival. Below you will find the hostel that we stayed at in the old part of town, an old pagoda, and then beer street and the beer brewery.

Shuyuan Hostel- Best I-miss-the-US-so-I-need-a-taste-of-Home hostel

To think, a hostel with better mattresses than we have at home. Now that is a rarity.

This is getting back into the groove of being a backpacker. I kinda missed these bunks! They were ultra comfy. The hostel also had a pizza oven! I haven't had pizza that I could call delicious since I left Chicago until I found this place. Needless to say, it was a good weekend for my stomach and taste buds. They also had silly straws and free coffee. The lounge was cozy with different flags. I found North Dakota and three Lithuania flags! Downstairs was a Buddha bar with live music. I call this pretty sweet!

Lesson learned: it is possible to find home away from home. You just have to look.