http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Beijingpants/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Beijingpants en-us Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:59:42 +0000 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:59:42 +0000 Well I've decided to come home. My flight will land in Detroit on the 24th at 1120pm. First order of business Hunter House... or maybe Primo's. I've enjoyed each experience that I've had for the last three months the good ones and the bad ones. I will miss my dear friends who are more like the Chinese family I never had. But I'm very excited to come home. This concludes my experiences. I will http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-429355.html Well here is the situation. The school I work for has broken the contract with my internship company and I need to decide what to do. I can renegotiate my contract try and find new placement or come home. I'm leaning towards the last option. But we'll see. The Matouqin lessons are going fabulously. I love playing the Matouqin. I'm not very good though. But for studying for 1.5 months I think I'm http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-428662.html I finally saw Transformers 2 last night it was incredible The movie was only in Chinese and did not have subtitles... but still so awesome I just wish I knew what they were saying. Oh well I guess that means I have to see it again when I get home. Kaye http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-420853.html The look on her face was priceless. She looked at her classmates wondering if I was serious or joking. Yes we were having class on a Ferris Wheel today. No there was no hidden camera this was not a joke. I wish I had teachers that broke the rules when I was in school. I understand that education has a goal and forgive me for using my blog to voice my opinions but I learned so much more by doin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-419495.html Jaycee left today. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-418351.html Monday morning the teachers at New Times the managers and the foreigner jumped into a bus and drove an hour south to the Er Long Shi Tai national park. The park is surrounded by farmland and is beautiful. The drive seemed short we were telling jokes and looking at the beautiful scenery. As per my CIAparents conditioning when I was a baby I wanted to sleep the minute I got into the bus but Car http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-414666.html I've been meaning to write this post for a while but have been procrastinating for various reasons. One of the most interesting things that I have encountered while in China is crossing the street. If you are reading this in the States while sitting on the couch you may laugh thinking that it is more complected than waiting for the signal to turn. Instead in China it's more like the 100m dash http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-413707.html As you may have read I have been experiencing some stomach issues. On Monday I had the day to myself. No students no school no class. This was probably a good thing because I was feeling horrible to say the least and to keep the blog PG. Around 8 pm I was finally hungry enough that I rolled out of bed after waking up at 9am and spending the day on the computer to attempt to make it to the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-411843.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-410619.html I ran into Brian a professor at my university and after seeing all four exits of the Liang Ma Qiao subway stop we had dinner on Tuesday. We ate at this great Middle Eastern restaurant near Sanlitun and it was delicious. On Wednesday I finally had some time to go an explore Beijing on my own. I wanted to explore some of the Hutongs and grab a bite to eat but my main goal was to see the Forbid http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-407509.html Back in Beijing It was a uneventful train ride as I was asleep for most of it. Piece of advice if you have to take a train for more than five hours get a bunk. It costs a bit more 170 kuai for a hard sleeper v. 98 kuai for a chair one way from Beijing to Hohhot but your tailbone will thank you for it. I was on the bottom bunk so no funny stories about climbing the 8 ladder sorry. Maybe nex http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Olympic-Park/blog-406009.html Today rather than my usual English class I took my collegeage students out on a field trip. Or more accurately they took me on a field trip to Hohhot's newer history museum. The museum is only a few years old and gigantic. It's a must see if you are interested in the history of Inner Mongolia. But the best part is that the museum gives away 3000 free entries each day. All you have to do is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-405197.html So I finally had a day off. This English speaking contest has thrown everything off. I havenrsquot had a day off for 9 days so Irsquom 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 930 this morning Caroline Seven Wendy Emma and I took the bus to meet Addison at the Temple. If you ever find yourself in Inner M http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-404538.html Well after talking about going for a few days now I did it. I went to KFC. Now this may not seem like a monumental task but after the aforementioned Duck Head Incident you could say that I've been a little paranoid about the food I've been eating. Don't get me wrong I love the food I've eaten for the most part. But every time I tuck into another meal I have to ask whether or not I am goi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-403271.html 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 explai http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-401401.html Guess what I had for lunch on Thursday If you said Spicy Stewed Duck Heads yoursquod be right. Yes. Duck HEADS. I enjoy duck. The breast the thigh the wing not the head. And not fully intact split in half for the world to see. I nearly ran from the table and just to be polite I had to sit there and pretend to eat it. I actually played the ldquowhat would Susan Yester dordquo And I kn http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-401230.html Irsquom 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. Itrsquos 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 fron http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-401055.html So I fail. I didn't realize that the Chinese government was going to reblock blogger five days before I leave for China but this site is not blocked So the blog begins again and I have stories for you http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-401052.html