Ever since I left Yulara, the suburb next to Uluru (Ayers Rock) at the beginning of 2002 I have dreamed of coming back. There is something about the red earth, the wide open spaces and the silence and whispering from the winds that gets into your soul. Now my dream has come true and I have returned as a Tour Guide. I am fortunate enough to get ‘on the job’ training. Hopefully I have escaped the chains of office work for good as I embark on a new career. I have been in training since I arrived here on Wednesday and I have learnt more about this area in the past couple of days than I did in 7 months when I was previously here. I feel honored to be back at such a sacred area. ... read more

Abroad. Adv. at large; in a foreign country. On my side of the world life is quiet, relaxed, manic, surprising, overwhelming, fun, nerve racking, homely, pure, interesting, old, traditional, fresh, littered, tasty and I am definitely attending the University of Life! Many people in this tiny rural town have never seen a foreigner so our every move is watched with intrigue, confusion and curiosity. Today we had a line of at least 10 people follow us around the supermarket while trying to do some basic shopping. Everyone stops and stares while we are walking down the street and when we give a friendly hello they seem shocked that we actually talk. But, I feel oh so lucky to have found a place that still feels like China. There are no restaurants, no bars, no KFC or ... read more

We started off early on Sunday morning to catch the bus to Guilin where we would catch our flight to Beijing. We got to the bus station early but the bus was booked out. So back to our home for a morning nap and by 11.30 we were on our way. The bus trip was SO long but we arrived in Guilin stepping off the bus to ladies pushing lists of hotels in our face. We bargained like usual and ended up staying in a modest hotel 5 minutes from the Bus station. Guilin, our first taste of decent western food in 5 months. We headed straight to Pizza Hut. We found a pedistrian mall and sat outside a cafe and fested on Coronas and Carlsberg. We headed off early to catch our plane to Beijing ... read more

Guigang in the morning is wonderful. Life is a lot slower, the air seems to be cleaner and there is a relaxed smile on peoples faces. A morning stroll is well worth while. But within the school grounds it is go, go, go. The students get up for a quick wash and some hot noodles for breakfast, then they have 2 lessons and it is time for morning excercises. The kids look like they hate it, but I think they are just trying to be cool in front of their friends and pretend they dont like it. Every morning from our apartment we hear Yi, Er, San, Si, 1,2,3,4..... coming from the permanent speakers around the school in a military style voice. The evenings are the opposite. Neon lights flashing from every building, music blarring ... read more

There are 5 stages of culture shock. 1st stage is the honeymoon stage where people enjoy the excitement that arises from being in a new place where everything is interesting, one is constantly experiencing a mild ecstasy, traveling to new and interesting places. Then there is the 2nd stage, this is the actual shock. Realising that one is REALLY living in a new country. With patience I hope to jump quickly into the 3rd stage of culture shock which is plunging into the life of the new country and immersing oneself into the new way of living. Fourth stage is the assimilation characterised with full participation in the way of life in the new country. This takes around a year. Fifth stage is reverse culture shock when moving back to homeland. I have been in ... read more