Blogs from Jinshitan, Dalian, Liaoning, China, Asia
February 22nd 2012
Hi all – The last few months here have been very busy; seems like a long time since I have written to anyone, so hope this will catch us up. This is a real marathon blog with so many pictures! Rick is enjoying his role as vice principal and surprisingly has really enjoyed being on the boys campus. It was a real concern for him about how he would leave the girls that he enjoyed so much. But aside from the cold building and smelly bathrooms, he finds the job interesting and the boys really great. Working with the Les, the principal, Ryan and Brad has been a good admin team. We now have almost 3000 students so there are always issues to deal with. My job as Director for the Language Elective program has been ... read more
November 28th 2011
A short little update seeing as how I haven't blogged in over a month. Things are going fairly well all things considered with my classes. My upcoming trip is coming together. I have a break from Jan14 - Feb 19. I will be going with my original plan as posited back in the summer. First half will be in Vietnam, flying into Hanoi, touring around the north for a week and a few days, then busing down the coast stopping at anything interesting along the way, until I reach Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). I then will fly (flights for this section are booked) to Manila, Phillipines and then to Legazpi, to go swimming with whale sharks and diving. I then fly to Cebu, where I have a few ideas of where to go but figuring ... read more
Back to Dalian - 1 month in
Published: September 25th 2011Asia » China » Liaoning » Dalian » JinshitanSeptember 25th 2011
Well I have been back in China at MLES for about a month now. It's been interesting to say the least. I was originally assigned to 4 Science 10 blocks. They were going along fairly well, although doing the same thing 4 times a day was monotonous and I was quickly forgetting what I did and didn't do for each class. After a week and a bit, they shuffled the system massively and I lost 2 Science blocks and got 2 Math 10 blocks instead. Of course I found out (by myself) the day before. I had no Math 10 resources and was taking over another class and had absolutely no idea where they were or what chapter they started on or anything. Fortunately one of the teachers tracked me down. I took over one of ... read more
September 4th 2011
Well, I guess our two year adventure in China is now officially three years- who would have thought! It’s a big surprise to us that we are still here too, but doing well and enjoying it. Summer was great and really recharged our batteries, which we needed. One really great thing about our new life is how much more time we actually spend with family. Funny that being away has brought us so much closer to the people that we love. My only regret is not having my camera closer at hand with all the visits that we had with Rick's family! Thanks Fred and Dianne for the trip to Canada that you made. Our summer started out with a few days in Whistler with Chris, plus a day trip to Qualicum to check out the ... read more
August 29th 2011
I made it to Dalian. I arrived very late at night and was greeted by a man holding a sign with my name on it who spoke no English. In CQ one of the secretaries picked me up and showed me around – not this time. Oh well. My first night in Dalian sucked. My apartment that they gave me is disgusting. There was some sort of insect genocide right before I came because there were dead flies and other critters everywhere. EW. Its also really muggy here so things kind of smell funny and mold is a common sight. My blankets stink too. Ugh. The next morning my big brother came to see me. He has been living here for 4 years and one of the big reasons why I moved to China in the ... read more
July 4th 2011
Editor's comment Apologies to subscribers who were sent part of this under separate cover. There is additional text and some new pictures if you have the patience to read through it all... The beginning of the end We have started the Big Pack prior to returning to Canada. Dianne decided she wanted some bubble wrap. After reviewing the various entries in the school email system and having had several conversations with people ”in the know”, she decided she wanted a roll of bubble wrap that was 1.2 meters wide and as long as necessary. She heard about a wholesale place that had “half a roll”, about 70 meters. This should be more than enough and we could sell the excess to other movers. Now, how to get it from the wholesaler to the boys’ campus apartments? ... read more
June 11th 2011
Our second year in China is quickly coming to a close- time has just flown and when we see friends and colleagues packing boxes and crates, we have mixed feelings. With the education system cutbacks in both BC and AB, not much chance of working there; so we might as well take advantage of the opportunities here. Therefore, as most of you know, we have signed another contract, with different positions in the school. It will be a real challenge for both of us and neither of us will in the classroom - Rick as vice principal and me 2nd in charge of the ESL. But Jim and Carrie, Peter and Dianne, Linda and Lynn - we will miss you so much - our potlucks, singing, going out for dinner, card playing group! It won't be ... read more
April 18th 2011
I spoke too soon. I completely lost my voice today. Can't talk right now. Hopefully a good night's rest will clear that up. China seems to have throttled the internet lately and applied randomized and moving blocks of websites. All internet speeds are drastically reduced, even below an already slow rate. For a point of reference it currently takes 2 hours to download a 10 MB video. Back in Victoria, I could usually download up to 4 Gb in 2 hours. That's 400x slower. Even an average website takes ages to load now. I also found out today, about 10 minutes before the class started, that I was to take on a new class of my own this semester, IT 10. As seems to regularly be the case, no one tells me anything, but then assume ... read more
April 13th 2011
I spend such a lot of time describing our travels on travel blogs - it seems like all we do is travel. The Chinese teachers in my office just shake their heads at the amount that we have seen in two years. One of them told me a saying in Chinese which basically means that when you borrow a book, you want to read it quickly; when you own it, you savour it slowly. We are definitely borrowing China for these few years and want to see as much as we can of this amazing country. But most of our time is day to day; work, shopping, sports and I guess what everyone does no matter where you live. Now in our second year, we are into daily life in small town China. It is still ... read more
April 12th 2011
It has been about 3 weeks so far. Overall it's been pretty good although not without it's challenges. Many of the boys are incredibly lazy, have dismal English skills, and are rampant cheaters. It can be incredibly difficult to keep them on task. Some students will refuse to do work unless you literally stand over them. And then they get confused on why they are failing when they have handed in about 10% of their assignments (and no effort on the ones they do hand in). That said, they are very respectful (to your face), although as a TOC they will tell me all about how much they dislike their regular teacher. I've even gotten cheers when I told them I was their teacher for the day. But all that said, many work diligently and do ... read more
