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Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.

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By bohemian_astray
September 19th 2005

Ni Haos and Shie Shies

Asia » China » Shandong

Mooncake!
There's only one kind of mooncake I tried that I like.. the fruit and nut kind. This is the date paste mooncake.

This past weekend was the Chinese Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival. The moon festival is the second most important festival in the traditional Chinese calendar and Mid-Autumn day is called so because the autumn season in the Chinese calendar is the seventh, eighth and ninth months. Because in Chinese culture the full moon is a symbol of family reunion, the Moon Festival is usually celebrated by a family reunion dinner followed by the eating of traditional moon cakes and gazing upon the full moon. The ingredients used in moon cakes differ from area to area in China, and include things li [View Full Entry]

By bohemian_astray
September 16th 2005

Trials and Tribulations

Asia » China » Shandong

Chick!

I've spent the last week living out of my coffee mug ("soothing lemon relief") and package after package of tissue. Happy to say I'm feeling a lot better. Not much to write about except the trials and tribulations of everyday life... I called Danny over one night to take a look at my sink, which was draining all over the floor because a piece of the pipe was "missing". He asked me if anyone had broken into my house and if anything else was missing... which is wasn't. So we pondered the reason why someone would steal a piece of pipe... [View Full Entry]

By bohemian_astray
September 13th 2005

They.took.a.day.off!

Asia » China » Shandong

OK.so.short.update.because.my.computer.has.issues...I.finally.got.the.DVD.driver.fixed.but.now.my.space.bar,backspace.key,and.return.keys.have.decided.to.take.the.day.off...BUT.AT.LEAST.THE.CAPSLOCK.KEY.WORKS!!!...*grumble*only.in.China.....but.anyways.I.am.sick.and.being.sick.in.Jinan.sucks.because.the.air.is.horrible.so.it.just.makes.everything.worse.and.I.am.such.a.crank....so.I'll.leave.it.at.that....I.promise.a.better.update.when.my.keyboard.works.properly.and.I'm.not.so.tired...XO [View Full Entry]

By bohemian_astray
September 10th 2005

Shama the #@$&! Tales of Tai An!

Asia » China » Shandong

Mid-Gate to Heaven
You can see the Mid-Gate to Heaven between the two peaks at the very top.

Stories to tell, stories to tell. I've been spending the last week with Danny and Molly, two Chinese friends who both used to be students at Omar. Tuesday night I went out with Danny, Molly and Sophia to Danny's favourite hot pot in Jinan. This was a GOOD hot pot! So spicy, and we just had the regular spicy.. not "very spicy" or "super spicy", mostly because Molly is "afraid of the spicies"! Secretly, I don't think I could have handled more than regular spicy! Danny and I were sweating as it was! Oh that was a fun night, we made [View Full Entry]

By bohemian_astray
August 31st 2005

Stop Struggling!

Asia » China » Shandong

Yue, Daphne and I
Here we are at the Brazilian BBQ the night Daphne left for Shenzhen.

The last few days have been a blast! Saturday I taught at the JAC until 11:40 and was scheduled for another class there at 4:00. In those 4 hours between classes, Snow and I just hung around and did some shopping. We headed over to Silver Plaza and all the way down the street there were a bunch of mean selling these small aluminum cans. Turns out that they're crickets, and you can buy them for anywhere from 1 RMB to 50 RMB and then FIGHT them and bet money on them. We saw a couple of fights, where a bunch [View Full Entry]

By bohemian_astray
August 25th 2005

"Oh Damn"

Asia » China » Shandong

Cinderellas
Me, Duncan, and Melissa at Cinderellas the night before Duncan left for Shenzhen.

And it's time for the weekly news report. Today's been frustrating.. figuring out schedules and hours, etc. I taught my last "After School Activities" class at the JAC to the class I love so much. I was sad to see them go.. I might see some of them again in other classes, but a lot of them I won't and they are such sweet kids, always giving me little gifts and watching my face turn upside down when they give me sour candies. Though today they picked on me a bit, told me I have a bastketball belly (!!), a long [View Full Entry]

By bohemian_astray
August 18th 2005

Umbrella Locks

Asia » China » Shandong

I just got out of my last Elementary class (they finish the Semester tomorrow), where I made pancakes for my students. I've been ranting and raving about pancakes since the day I walked in that class, so I got some pancake mix, and some "real Canadian maple syrup" and I attempted to recreate something similar to home. Not a chance in China! First off, I cooked them in a little oven, I didn't have good oil, it wasn't quite hot enough, and they ended up raw and doughy and white. BUT I smothered them with syrup and the kids ate em [View Full Entry]

By bohemian_astray
August 11th 2005

Luxury Items and Cheap DVDs

Asia » China » Shandong

Bling!
This is Daphne's bling that she received from a student. This is the Chinese equivalent of a dentist ring.

I haven't written in a few days, so here's the 411 (ahaha). Saturday night I went to a Korean restaurant called Tudali with Daphne. We had all kinds of food, including "crushed apple juice" which is a thick pretty much tasteless nectar with apple shrapnel floating that sits on the bottom. Not my favourite drink, let me just say. I had some egg and noodle soup, which was great, and we ordered a spicy bean and peanut dish that wasn't bad until I decided I could eat a huge chili pepper. It wasn't bad at first, but then I just felt [View Full Entry]

By bohemian_astray
August 6th 2005

News and Pictures!

Asia » China » Shandong

Food Class
My "Food" class. The little one on the left with the pigtails is my FAVOURITE of all time.

It's been a long day and I'm eager to get home but I want to update on what's been going on so I don't forget later, and I want to keep you all up to date with the "high life" that is life in Jinan.... Yesterday was a really rough day. I taught at Shanda all day, the elementary class, then for lunch I went to the UBC Cafe again with Duncan. They have a "chocolate coffee" that I've grown quite fond of, but coffee here isn't anything compared to home and I still pay about the same. We had a [View Full Entry]

By bohemian_astray
August 3rd 2005

Underground Malls and Maccers

Asia » China » Shandong

Monday was my day off so I went shopping with Snow in the afternoon. We took the bus to an average looking road, but down about 20 steps there is an entire mall underneath the road, that just goes on forever. We spent a while in there, a few hours at least and I bought a few little things that Snow bargained down for me. That's the nice thing about shopping with a Chinese person! I saw a building with pink glass windows. Apparenty, Mr. Je, the school's handy-man and van-driver is a gangsta. No shitting, either. Kinda freaky. I bought [View Full Entry]

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