Mid Autumn Festival (AKA Mooncake Day)

Amara here.....
So the last few weeks here have been eventful (in a good way). I experienced my first Teacher's Day. They make a really big deal of it here in China. Since I had only been teaching at Kid Castle for a little over a week, I didn't expect anything, but I did receive one gift from a student.

It's a Fuya. They're the mascots of the Olympics. While the teachers in China may not be paid all that well, they are greatly respected.

Here's some pictures from my day in Suzhou.

Here's me with some of the girls I work with at Kid Castle.

Here's me with one of my closest friends here, Iris.

Things have been going much better for me in terms of getting the paperwork I need in order to work here legally. Although the previous school I worked at, Shane, continues to refuse to give me the results of the health exam I had to take in order to work here, I have managed to get another copy from the hospital. Ten dollars later and I'm good to go. When Erik and I go to South Korea, I will go to the Chinese Embassy in Seoul and apply for my work permit. Once I have my work permit, I can apply for my residence permit. With that I can stop reapplying for visas all the time and I'll also be able to move freely in and out of China. So, needless to say, I am very happy right now. Things are beginning to work out.

So today is Mid Autumn Festival. It's the celebration of the full moon that occured tonight. During Mid Autumn Festival, it's traditional to spend time with family and eat mooncakes. We spent the day at the zoo. Yes, we finally made it to the Shanghai Wild Animal Park. Erik has been waiting to go there since we got here. It was fun. Much like last year. We rode the bus through the lion and tiger pit and fed the lemurs. At night, we visited one of our friends who lives near Fudan University. Fudan is like the Harvard of China. Our friend Benjamin is busy studying in hopes of being accepted there this winter. The campus is beautiful so it was a nice night.

So things have been going well. I have a three day work week, and then Erik and I are off to Korea! We excited for our first trip out of China.