I love China

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So it's been ages again since I wrote an entry and I've had loads of angry emails from relatives saying I've not kept them informed. This is a condensed version of the last 6 or so months:

1. My mum came to stay in April. This was fun and so welcome as I was beginning to get homesick. We did Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou. My limited Chinese at the time was a problem. I got lost in Hangzhou- I decided to go off by myself one afternoon as my mother was tired. I went to go to linyin temple ( I'm pretty sure that's how you spell it). I have since relised that if you want to take buses in China it's best to learn some characters (so far my knowledge of characters is about 70, so my resolution since getting lost has not really stuck well!). Anywho, I found a nice bus driver who switched off his sign and took me up the mountain. It was so worth it- the sun was setting, the monks were chanting and it was so peaceful (a rarity in China). The problem was getting back to the hostel! there were no taxis and no buses going my way! I jumped on the only bus I could find and got off where I saw some familiar places. The walk back to the hostel was about 2 miles, but I got some awesome sunset pictures!

2. Cockroaches. Summer in this part of Asia is soo hot and humid and one drawback is these lovely creatures. They decided to move into my appartment for a few weeks. I now sleep with a can of raid spray next to my bed and a cup to trap them with. I really don't know why these creatures exist and they don't die! I once trapped one under a cup which appeared to be dead. It was late at night and I thought I would flush it in the morning. 2 minutes later, it came back to life and decided to run around the cup to try and knock it over. I spent nearly an hour staring at the cup until my flatmate returned to help me kill it! by the time she arrived I was in a right state- I've never cried so much in my life!!

3. Summer school. This has been crazy hectic, but I had the best class of teenagers. Their humour and enthusiasm got me through the summer! When teaching cooking verbs I asked them what 'to stir' meant. It was met with blank faces. So I asked 'what can you stir?' This was met with the reply 'shit'. Made me chuckle that these kids, just like us English teachers learn the swear words before any others!!

4. Teachers left. It's so sad to see people you build such a good relationship leave. I've made some awesome friends here and it's such a shame that you may only know some of them for such a short time.

5. I hate school trips. So we had an all expenses paid trip to Beijing with the school. In theory, this is a great idea and so good for us teachers who want to see a of of China and get paid. In reality, it was chaos!! The kids were naughty and I hardly slept. The highlight really was a 3am start to see them raising the flag at Tiannamen square, followed by a hike up the great wall - all before lunch or a proper breakfast!! I am greatful to see Beijing before I leave China, but I'd rather travel without 30 spoilt noisy kids!

6. New school. Yesterday we moved into a new state-of-the art school. We have interactive whiteboards and funky coloured walls. It's pretty cool, and we get our own classrooms, which is pretty cool. I just have to figure out how to use all this new technlogy!

7. Qingdao tomorrow! The school is taking us teachers to the beer festival for three days- yippee!! All of us need to let our hair down after summer school and the big move!

So the last thing is to mention what am I going to do? I finish my contract here in a few months and I love China, but not sure whether I should stay here or explore another part of Asia. I know I need to go home for a while, so we'll see. Maybe Indonesia? maybe nowhere if the world ends next year!!

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