new school

phew..have we been busy. Last week we had to pack up all of our stuff in our old school building to be moved to the new building. It took two full days to pack up all the classrooms and offices. Friday and Saturday( Christmas Eve) the movers came to move all the boxes from the old school to the new one. This took a VERY long time. The new building is about a 45- 60 min. drive from the old building. Eight trucks were used with 4-5 workers per truck. We helped out on Friday just directing the workers to the rooms and watching our stuff to make sure none of it was stolen. We had put our new room numbers on the boxes so the workers would know where they went in the building. We compare the movers here to ants, because they can carry very heavy things on their backs. For instance, a book shelf that would take two-three "American" men to move would only take one Chinese mover. He just throws it on his back and walks totally bent over and carries it to wherever it needs to go.
This week we have been cleaning and setting up the new school. It is beautiful. There is still a lot of work being done. Some floors still need laid, the air cons aren't in yet ( air cons are the heater/airconditioner units), the library is still being put together, etc. etc. Because the air cons aren't in yet, the rooms are very cold. Everyone keeps their big winter coats on all day, and many of us also keep our hats and scarfs on. The building is a mess with dirt and dust everywhere. The end of next week will be spent cleaning the school from top to bottom. Students come back on the 9th. I will try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow.
I have been riding my scooter out to school and back each day. It is about an hours ride each way. Nate has been riding his bike, but has decided to get a scooter also because it is a long ride on a bike. It is cold being on the scooter, so I wear lots of winter gear and wrap a blanket around my legs. We bought scooter helmets the other day. They have a leather lining which also helps keep me warm. I prefer riding my scooter for an hour than being on a bus for nearly that long, as the bus takes almost the same amount of time to get there. It will be a really nice ride once it warms up a little. We will be moving closer to the school sometime before the summer.

We had a nice Christmas, but it didn't really feel like Christmas, because it was right in the middle of all this school stuff. We played some games with some friends and had some cookies. We didn't buy each other gifts because of our recent television purchase.

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas!!!