Wow! It has certainly taken us a while to get used the pace of our new lives in China. After a whirlwind first week of adventures including apartment hunting, medical exams, and moving (Grant is still alive BTW:) we officially started school at CISQD (Confucius International School Qingdao).

While inservice can always be a bit of information overload, being a foreign teacher seems to come with it’s own unique set of challenges. Not only are there new procedures and rules, but we have found ourselves at a proper English boarding school where house points are awarded for good marks and being helpful, and detentions are earned for students caught speaking Chinese. It’s all an attempt to help prepare them for lives abroad at various prestigious universities. Again, lots to take in and learn..but we came prepared! Stepping up our game is why we chose CISQD in first place.

We can’t seem yet to put this new experience into words. Our lives now seem to move even fast then before. After a few weeks on the job we’ve realized that the work week is for work; it’s fast paced and professional. As soon as you arrive at school in the morning you hit the ground running until you’re on the bus headed home in the evening. And you work so hard on the weekdays that you really want to capitalize on the weekends by hitting the beach, going out to eat, exploring new areas, etc.

So that’s what we’ve been doing! When we’re not working, we are out exploring the city and surrounding areas, checking out the local parks, hanging out with our friends, or eating. There is so much great food here!

More to come later!