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Published: October 16th 2006
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Mystery
..And what kind of mystery meat is this? (Seinfeld, 1997) Hello and welcome, well what a big fortnight it has been not only in the Peoples Rublic Of China, but back in Terra Nullius and lets also throw in North Korea for good measure ! Unbelievable really, we'll start with home first. Thanks to the information super highway, and i emphasise 'super', i'm able to keep up to date with all the goings on back home. With the footy season done and dusted for another year, and Taz heading across the Nullabor to become a docker, theres nothing much else to do than think cricket! (Just for the record, Solomon and Tarrant over there in Perth will do twice the damge Taz ever did on the circuit in Vic!) At this time of year any normal Australian male will venture to his closet at this time of year to pull out the cricket bag. Usually comprising of left over morning tea from previous game played last summer and the cry of, "..oooh thats where that is..". Last season had its ups and downs for myself, mainly downs but i dont like to harp on it too much.
Obviously being over here i wasnt able to play down at A.P.C.C this
Back Window
I was hanging my washing yesterday morning, thought it was a nice moment for a photo. How Collingwood commission home is it? year, but an over qualified replacement has slotted in my absence quite nicely. None other than everybody's favourite barista/Hudson's Store manager/All round great guy, Hayden (Dos) Thompson. Also known as 'MS Dos 3.11', dubbed by Willy. The kid from the gold rush town (Bendigo) has deceided to down tools and venture east to try his luck wielding the willow out at Ainslie for summer 06/07. Haydos has only played 2 games and has already been labelled twice the 'clubman' i ever was! Probably a fair comment now i think about it. So the man with gold (and red) fever had his first "dig" last Saturday and didnt really trouble the scorers for 1, Eureka! However im sure he will soon shake the cobwebs and get amongst the runs whilst cementing that spot in the twos! Well done Hayds, great to have you aboard down there!! I expect your Four letter word vocabulary will be top notch by the time i return. Special mention to Willy also who knocked up 50no in his first bash of the year, pretty handy start to any season mate. As simmo and i love to say, "Would have taken that at the start of the
Hustle & Bustle
This is Tai Dom, the central shopping district in Qingdao. At about 5.30 every night a big market sets up, u can see blokes peddling their wares on the right hand side. day". Enough cricket and Australia anyway, im babbling already!
So china, thats the whole reason im supposed to be on here right? Spoke to dad recently as i always do and he asked if i could dabble with some political commentary on my next blog which is like Don Bradman asking his son how to play a cover drive! So I tossed up the idea of such a task and i have to admit my knowledge and insight in this field is significantly lacking! However i will try my best to briefly give u an idea of the political situation in China. Apologies for an glaring historical errors on my behalf!
Ok well as most of you would know, China is technically one of last surviving nations with elements of communism still present. Them, Cuba, Burma (Myanmar) with of course Kim Jong-Il and his mob up not far from here in North Korea. In the media, which is not surprisingly regulated by the government, China classifies their political position as 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics'. Just on that, you will never guess who reads the news over here in China on the english channel??? Former ABC anchor, Edwin Maher!! Gold! Anywho.. They are socialist in that there is a single state party in China which has rule over everything. Whilst there is other parties around influencing them, in no way can they ever be in power. So the People's Rupublic of China came about in 1949, post civil war with Taiwan i think, dont hold me to that though. Then Mao Zedong came to power power and communism was in full in swing "The people of China have stood up!" He claimed. Ever since then however they have been searching for some kind of an economic reform with many previous attempts failing (great leap forward etc). Mao died in the late 70s and i believe this was the first time the Chinese flirted with a market economy like we have in western culture, as opposed to a planned economy. I assume this is where they get the term "chinese characteristics'.
I've probably already lost a bunch of readers by now, but thats about all i know from reading bits and peices as well as speaking to a few locals. Throw in the Tiananmen Square disaster and u have pretty much have chinas history of the last 50 years. China has opened its doors a lot in the past 15 years trying to improve its economy like i said by establishing several trade agreements with powerful nations such as Australia and the U.S. Not to mention employing western shmucks like me to come and teach western business principles over here. All an attempt to transform them into a economic super power which they threaten to be.
Ok more than enough of politics for one blog. In fact i think that is my quota done for my entire time here. I do find CHinese history interesting, there is just so much of it though, dont know where to begin. So what have i been up to? Well as some of you may or may not know, Ash is coming to visit me over here for ten days in November. As you can imagine im extremely excited at the prospect of seeing her. We hope to go down to Beijing (Peiking) for the weekend to check out that pretty good wall, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden city! We will be sure to take lots of snaps and post them up when i get a chance.
This last week of teaching has been a killer. We came back frmo having a week off and were back to teaching as normal. On the friday, in typical chinese fashion, we are told that we have to teach classes over the weekend with zero notice to prepare, great news. My saturday timetable wasnt too bad, but the students just didnt wanna be there which is fair enough. SUnday was a killer, i had 4 classes throughout the day which is fully booked. 400mins of teaching, standing talking, explaining, getting frustrated, writing with chalk, getting covered in chalk etc... U can imagine. At the end of the day i felt like i had been running on a road in 'screw ins'. Definately have to opt for the moulds next time.
Today is Monday but feels like any other day after i have worked the weekend. Apparently we worked like this so we could have another holiday next week. NO idea what goes on or who makes these decisions. So from Wednesday, we get another 10 days off, unexpected. Because the holidays are always so random, its tough to plan anything, not to mention frustrating. At least it will give me a bit more time to catch up on much needed sleep and to return a few overdue emails. Just on that, thank u so much to everyone who has written comments on this site, always great to read and an excellent 'pick me up' on those long days. Special mention goes to Sonja, an old customer who used to come into work! So great to hear from you! If anyone needs any top notch natural skin care products, nip up and see Sonja at Perfect Potion in Melbourne Central. Best customer service in the world!! Wow, this has become quite lengthy, thanks for reading if u have made it this far!! I think i will leave it there for the time being! Best wishes to everyone back home! Hope to speak to u all soon!
Tom Munro......., China
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Antonia
non-member comment
I solely add comments because i know you wouldn't read any emails i sent you! Btw there's an email in your inbox from me, no need to reply, just read it. I must say i skimmed most of the political speel, it reminds me of doing politics in the asian studies units and i mostly skim those too so you didn't get any special treatment. You'll be pleased to know Willy donned your cap and scored 51 not out in his first game but i bet he'll tell you all about that. Take care, Cheers, Ants