Blogs from Zhuhai, Guangdong, China, Asia
March 29th 2012
Who would have known that a bunch of British male 30-somethings care more about what they wear while tramping through three foot-high brush than a high school girl picking out a dress for the prom? Instructions dictated that one should wear "country chic," meaning a conservative country sweater underneath a barber coat, tweed pants, and (ideally leather) boots. A country cap and leather hunting accessories are a plus. The morning of the hunt we met at the lodge to select shotguns and shoot clay pigeons. The men pulled out tin shot glasses and a lethal ginger liquor from a leather canteen. Shot number one. The glasses went back in the canteen. We started our first "drive" about a mile from the lodge. A drive consists of a bunch of Chinese peasants tramping through the brush to ... read more
February 20th 2012
Almost three years ago I lived in Zhuhai's Mei Li Wan Apartments, and saw several new high rises sprout up across the street. In two years I never saw a body or piece of furnature inside the buildings. Noone comming or going. I came back for a visit the other day and decided to ask how much an apartment was and who lived there? The answer was 20,600 RMB per square meter, which makes a person wonder: who lives here? The answer is noone. Allegedly retired people from northern cities have invested, but no renters. Though last year China saw a 40% drop in housing sales. The three year old complex has map of the url=http://www.arup.com/Projects/Hong_Kong_Zhuhai_Macau_Bridge.aspx#%21lb:/Projects/Hong_Kong_Zhuhai_Macau_Bridge/Hong_Kong_Zhuhai_Macau_Bridge_Gallery_2.aspxHong Kong Zhuha... read more
December 9th 2009
Sitting in the UIC computer lab, I have a half hour before I need to go to Modern Chinese history class. It's easier to stay on campus then trudging through the saturated roads back to SHCV. It's been raining in Zhuhai for nearly 3 days straight after some of the most perfect "December" weather I have ever seen. Last week was nearly 70 degrees everyday and clear, made me feel bad for the Minnesotans back home. Spending December in a tropical-ish climate makes no sense to me. I went downtown to Jusco and it was surreal to hear popular Christmas carols in English, Putonghua and Guangdonghua. It made me sad, happy and frustrated. I still have no plan for Christmas and it's making me feel increasingly more anxious. A lot of people are going to Hong ... read more
December 3rd 2009
So in breaking news, I am still in China and not in Minnesota. Who would have guessed it!? I think living in China has increased my sarcasm to a pretty extreme degree. I blame fellow international students. I have now been away from MN for 85 days. I think the most important thing I've learned at this point is that: Regardless of location/situation/etc. I can adjust to just about anything. It's insane that what was once seen as "crazy" or "overwhelming" is now everyday moments. Taking the buses to get stuff done? No big deal. Speaking Chinese? Still hard but hey, I've made some progress. Regardless of what I get used to, there are still moments of complete rejection of where I am. I think November was spent finally "normalizing" life in China but then I ... read more
November 1st 2009
Well, It's November 1st, 2009 and I am back in block 3 after celebrating Halloween in Zhuhai. It was an enjoyable night, we had a birthday party for Devon at Mike's Pizza (a local place run by an ex-UIC English professor). Candy and Sherry organized the entire thing and what a job they did-- It seemed that the plates of pizza, salad, fried chicken, garlic bread, etc. were endless. We only had to spend $6 which seemed like highway robbery to me but then again, the value of goods here is so different from home and I still can't adjust to it. After the pizza place, we ended up going to downtown Zhuhai to "Bar street." People were in costumes and festive and I enjoyed myself but all in all I'm glad to be back in ... read more
October 20th 2009
If I was in Minnesota right now, it would make complete sense to be awake right now. But it's 3am and I have class in 6 hours, so I am not enjoying this. So I'm still here and waking up in China is still confusing. I still haven't managed to fully adjust to sleep here, it was going well for a couple weeks but now I feel I'm off somewhat. It seems that the little things (essentially the things you never even notice) are the things that throw off any sense of normalcy. I had a relatively fun week last week. I spent it socializing, getting to meet some new people, drinking too much milk tea, etc. But somewhere over the weekend, I had a very sudden mood shift. I was at Gong Bei with Panhia ... read more
October 6th 2009
I'm sitting in my dorm and it's nearly 11pm here in China. I made a little calendar to map out things I need to get done and I'm looking at the date. It's almost October 7th which means I left Minnesota almost exactly one month ago. First of all, I can't believe that is possible-- it seems like only yesterday I was getting on the flight (dreading the monotonous 15 hour trip) and moving into my room at UIC. I look back at my Zhuhai photo album and already I've collected 100+ pictures and I can barely grasp that amongst all of the craziness that is studying abroad, this room and these pictures are my life and will be my life until January 19th, 2010. I still wake up each morning thinking, "What is going on? ... read more
August 1st 2009
I'm leaving Zhuhai for Shenzhen today. I'm aware that I never made a post mentioning that I'd arrived here, but trust that I did a so a month ago, and have been here since. The city is very nice. The streets are lined with palm trees, and the climate is very tropical. I did only a little sight-seeing, because of the demands of the course I was taking. At one point my friends Will and Brian from Wuhan came to visit me, and we took a trip to the beach to see the fisher girl statue, which is the local symbole. Alas, there was a mansoon soon after we arrived, and the wind broke my umbrella. It was fun nonetheless. I'm right near the Macua border, but somehow I didn't make it to Macua. I do ... read more
June 22nd 2009
I always want to own a blog.I have opened a few blogs in Chinese.But i can not keep on writing it. Now i just graduated from university,and i found English is very important in my job...So ,writing an English blog is a good choice of improving my poor English?? Now i introduce myself.I come from zhuhai,China.I like travelling ,i have travelled some cities in China,guangzhou,yangshuo,beijing,wuhan,changsha,haerbing,ganzhou,jiangxi,guilin.I have never been to foreign countries. I dream of Europe,from the beautiful pictures, i fall in love with the different cultures and environment. But now,i have to go to work and few holidays...If i have saved enough money and have day-off,i will travel in Europe!!!(^o^)/~(^o^)/~ MY hobbies are very wide,i like reading the classical books,yoga,kick boxing,photographing(not good at ),computer games,belly dancing,cartoon,,,, I love to communi... read more
April 9th 2009
Hard to say good-bye to Manfred and Susanne, a very nice couple! We held a private farewell party for them on Feb. 13th, 2009. I built up friendship with Da Xing Xing through 2-year "fighting" at work. Hope to see them in Austria again.... read more
