Walking around Dongtan

So last weekend I decided to walk around Central Park for a while.  It was a nice day, but the pollution was pretty bad so I had to wear my mask... I found out that if I wear my mask and sunglasses at the same time, I have problems with foggy sunglasses.  So after this pic, I had to take off the glasses.  I feel like this could be my audition pic for Hollywood Undead ;)

I like this pagoda - in the background is one of the towers that makes up the metapolis. 

This is also where the fake river must start.  There's the possibility of a lot of water features around here, but I imagine that they're all dry because it's technically the winter.  Here's why I think this is supposed to be a river...

A very shallow river, that is!  And here's the Metapolis - this is my homing beacon - as long as I can find these towers, I can find my way home and to work.

So then I continued walking around and I found the weightlifting area.  I guess they want people to be good and healthy... considering the pollution, I found it a bit ironic.

I liked that you could be on the pavement or take a dirt path.  So the park is pretty nice.  I had a good time on my walk.  This was before the other 2 new teachers (J and M) came in.  The day after they got here, we took a trip to Emart so that they could get some stuff for their apts.  It was a successful shopping trip.  We learned about how fun it is to take a mop on a bus ;)  Emart is more than one story, so they had these moving walkways that you could take your shopping cart on.  I tried for a pic, but this is as good as it got.

We also went to Daiso for some stuff and I have to share with you my favorite things there.  Plushy, fun veggies!!!  I want to buy all the tomatoes and send them home.  They're not quite the same as the plushy tomato my sisters and I used to fight over, but they're so CUTE!  I was also thinking of getting the cabbage cuz it's cute.  Hehehe

So we went out to dinner on that Sunday at a new place called Mekong (Mekang?) Thai.  This is what I had... it was SUPER yummy!  We had planned on going back to the same Korean BBQ that they took me to the first night, but they were closed because it was the Korean Independence Movement day weekend.  So we ended up at the Korean BBQ another day. 

Now I know that I've talked some about work, so here's the pics.  Here's me in my classroom with the Smart board behind me. 

 I also learned that Windows operating systems are great because I may not be able to read Korean, but I know which button usually takes you to the control panel and how to get from there to where you can change your background!!  This is the view from my classroom - please disregard the dirty windows ;)

On Tuesday, we decided to go to the pub after work.  There's one close to work called Cocky Pub.  M and I ordered the same beer and it came with a cinnamon and sugar rim!  It was kind of strange, but also delicious.

 I also decided to try a different kind of pizza.  This is my pizza - the crust was super thin and the cheese is mozzarella toward the outside and the inside is gorgonzola.  There were a few almond slices and they give you honey to dip your pizza in.  It was different but SUPER GOOD!  M had an amazing looking burger with an egg on it and J had some SUPER yummy mac and cheese. 

 And I have to share the cutest coffee cups ever.  These are from a place called Paris Baguette.  It's a bakery and coffee shop and the food is great.  Really, I have not had anything here that I thought was crap. 

So on Friday we went back to Cocky Pub after work to celebrate the fact that J, M and I all made it thru a week at work.  I ordered a Guinness and here's how it came... and yes, that's a shot of Jameson, too.  Being Friday, I had their fish and chips... which were ok by American standards... the resident Brit (M) figured he'd find them disappointing, so he did not try it.  The fries at this place are INSANELY good. 

I am officially loving this pub.  We then decided to head out to Baby Guinness - turns out it's not too far from all of our apartments.  We stayed out way too late, but we had a great time.  We also met some other expats there and I saw my first car accident (which is surprising because it seems like the way people drive around here, there would be more).  I may still be recovering, and have no plans for drinking like that again for... you know... at least another week. 

I think that's probably enough for now.  Sometime this week, I'll update you on this past weekend's shenanigans.  It's an interesting dynamic that we all have - we're all co-workers, but we're also becoming friends because we kind of have to.  It makes the line between work and out of work a little hard to define.  The good news is that it's easy for us to relate to each other because we're all going thru the same stuff.  We are all bonding over our shared commiserating about being internet-less in our apts, how it feels to be the newbies, the quality of the food, the stuff we miss from home, etc.  I am probably the oldest in the group, but everyone is so sweet that it never feels really weird that I'm older than everyone else.  :)