Blogs from Henan, China, Asia - page 4

Le soir du 5 septembre, nous avons pris le train de nuit, direction Luoyang. Nous avions reserve les billets aupres de notre hotel de Beijing, quelques jours plus tot. Rendus a la gare il n'a fallu que trouver le bon endroit, mais les panneaux etaient egalement affiches en anglais alors ca a ete assez facile. Il y avait beaucoup de monde par contre, du monde partout! Dans la salle d'attente pour prendre notre train, tous les bancs etaient pris et une partie du plancher aussi, avec des gens qui attendent. Mais finalement, ce n'est rien compare a Xi'an, ou meme le parvis de la gare, a l'exterieur, est sans arret occupe par des gens, partout (autant le soir que durant la journee). Mais comme le present message concerne la journee du 6 septembre, nous reviendrons a ... read more

Back to present time. There will be pictures added to this one at a later time too. This will be my last entry for the day as I think the people in the hotel would like me out of the office. This may be my last entry from China too as I head home Sunday - it is now Wednesday morning here. I leave Xinyang in the morning by train to Beijing to join the others. It is a 9 hour train ride. Hopefully this train won't be 2 hours late like the one from Nanchang to here! June 30 - Charles comes to visit me from his home. It is a 4 hour bus ride for him! He was my student, with his wife Mary, in 2004. They are both English teachers in their home. ... read more

Still on Sunday the 29th. There will be pictures with this one at some point to - when I am able. Sometime around 6pm. Time for noodles from our favorite mom and pop noodle shop! I head out of the Sunny Hotel and head back towards "my street." I decide to walk as it isn't that far and I have to have that shirt fixed on the way anyway (I saw many seamstresses with there sewing machines that are probably 100 years old on my my earlier walk from church). I cross the street and as I make my way to dinner I see a seamstress in an ally and make my way to her. There is a toddle there and as I look down I gasp. The child has a large syringe with a LARGE ... read more

After one month, I have finally moved into my new apartment. The contrast in neighborhood, living accomodation, and pace of life is stark from the first place to the current place I live. While the hotel I temporarily lived in was near the heart of the city, my apartment is on the outskirts in 'new city' much closer to where I work. There begins the explanation for the differences: recently completed, the 'new city' is not yet overly crowded as many apartments have been purchased by wealthy families on behalf of their children. By the time their kids marry, the neighborhood will be hustling and busy; plus the families will have a new apartment to begin their new life. Several Chinese friends have told me that people choose to invest in real estate rather than the ... read more

I am not a clever writer. I am not going to pretend to be. So with that see if you can guess the theme of this post. Last I remember, I was telling you of my surprise of how comfortable I was in China compared to the first time... And that is still true. After I arrived in Zhengzhou (ZZ), I was picked up by Chinese Tim who works for Tengda (my school). Talk about VIP treatment, he waited with a namecard and once we were in the car he handed me an envelope with 2,000 rmb and a cell phone. Then he took me to my temporary apartment where I crashed immediately. Not a bad place, living room, a little kitchen with a washer, bathroom and bedroom (with a rock hard mattress) So yeah comfort ... read more