Blogs from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China, Asia - page 5

I just realized that I have been in China for a month... it doesn't feel like it. Also, I am officially back in Hohhot, where I will remain until I return to America in November. I made a rather stupid decision a few days ago, I drank the water out of the tap. I was feeling a little thirsty and it was late. I thought, "What the heck?" I filled my bottle with cold water, took a few swigs, and went to sleep. The next morning I looked at the bottle in the sunlight and saw yellow sediment that had collected on the bottom the night before. Suffice it to say that I am feeling ill. My intestines are making sounds that would fit nicely into an Alien remake. So when the nice people on the ... read more

So I finally had a day off. This English speaking contest has thrown everything off. I haven’t had a day off for 9 days, so I’m going a little batty. But, the school decided to give us today off and some of the teachers took me to Da Zhao Temple. So, at 9:30 this morning Caroline, Seven, Wendy, Emma, and I took the bus to meet Addison at the Temple. If you ever find yourself in Inner Mongolia, and anywhere near Hohhot, you need to see Da Zhao Temple. If you don’t mind the bus, route 58 goes right to Da Zhao. Or you could take a cab. Either way, you have to go. (On the record, I am sure there are other buses to Da Zhao, but we took 58.) We took a 10 minute ... read more

Got through today with minimal trauma. I had to give a teaching demonstration to the director but they didn't tell me what to talk about. So I talked about American culture. Apparently, I speak very quickly when I am nervous, a habit I thought I had gotten rid of, so I had to redo my presentation again so that the English teachers could translate for the directors. When I was done, Caroline explained that my presentation was more about testing the English teachers at the school than my abilities (or lack thereof) as a teacher. Huh. I was also paraded around the school, and had a chance to talk one-on-one with a student who was entering a speaking contest. We spoke for a while about what she could do, I mentioned my experience on the train ... read more

I’m writing you from Huhehaote in Inner Mongolia. Believe it or not but this town is more like a big city than I would have ever expected. I was thinking maybe this would be small, like Birmingham or Gaylord, but this is more like Detroit. It’s pretty cool, although if you think I drive like an asshole you should never come to China. Pedestrians and people on bicycles just jump in front of cars, and the cars don’t tap the breaks. Merging is a foreign concept, as the lines drawn on the road here in China are mere suggestions of where you are supposed to put your car when it is moving. The trick to crossing the street, according to Evan, is to wait for a big group of people, as drivers are less likely to ... read more

It's been a long week of traveling! I've decided to split the week into more than one entry, because I have so much to tell, and 1,000 photos to sift through. This entry is about my trip to Inner Mongolia. We (the entire ACS CIEE group, ~20 people) left Shanghai on Friday morning for Hohhot, the capitol of Inner Mongolia; not to be confused with Outer Mongolia. Inner Mongolia is part of China, and most of the residents in Inner Mongolia are Han Chinese, not Mongolian. Though the street signs generally are bi-lingual, with Chinese and Mongolian. Hohhot is a nice city in Northern China and features blue skies and lots of three-wheeled cars. We spent Friday night in a rather nice hotel in Hohhot before heading out to the grasslands on Saturday morning. The Xilamuren ... read more