Chinglish and Surprises

On Saturday (8/13), some of us went to the Beijing Zoo, where we saw the cutest baby giant pandas!  We found a Chinglish example (many more to come) at the Beijing Zoo that perfectly demonstrates why we're here teaching English:

                    "Lift me up & you will know how weight I am!"

Then we went to this marketplace that had multiple floors with dozens of rows of wholesale clothing and accessories (it took us 1.5 hours to get through 1 row); it was the size of a mall, but filled with clothing that cost less than 100 Yuan (about $15)!  It was pretty ridiculous- and most women's dreams come true.  After that, we went to Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City.  The Forbidden City was absolutely breathtaking!  It was built in 1406; 24 emperors ruled the country from it; and it's comprised of 19 palaces and 15 halls with over 9,000 rooms!  China has so many amazing natural and man-made landmarks- if you ever get the opportunity to come here, definitely take it!

On Tuesday we found out that in order to work here we had to take/pass a residency-type test... the next day.  SURPRISE!!!  So we all basically had a 24-hour panic attack about that.  But China is full of surprises, and I'm quickly learning to give up on being a control freak!  On Wednesday, an official came and trained us on all things China; right after training, we took the test, and guess what??  WE ALL PASSED!!  Yay for being allowed to stay and work here :-)  Wouldn't that have been fun to explain to all of my supporters?  "Uh... I went to China, but then I failed an exam in week 3 and couldn't stay.. so I'm back!"  But thankfully that isn't going to happen... because, guess what?!  This picture perfectly describes my feelings about this place:

I love China!!!