Merry

The title says it all. This is the story of my fruitless journey to the border and back again. The jouney started on the wrong foot. It is inevitable that travel companions will have little tiffs on the road. Trying to get from Old Dali to Dali City I had a fight with my beloved and contant companion, Lonely Planet. It started as an innocuous dispute over the meaning of the word "terminus". It was my understanding that terminus means "the end, the final place" and it was based on this definition that I caught the number 4 bus to the terminus, or, until it stopped and I was kicked of. This is where the problem started. According to LP I was only a short walk north of the long distance bus station. So, in the ... read more

On my second day in Dali, feeling refreshed, I decided to climb a mountain. They recommend that you attempt climbing the mountains as a group because solo hikers are likely to be mugged, so I latched onto a group of American travellers who were staying at my guest house. They were such a lovely group of people. A father, who was an english teacher as well, his Chinese, non-English speaking girlfriend, his two grown up daughters, a boyfriend of one of them and an American guy who, like me, had latched onto the family in order to scale the mountain unmolested. It was hard work, but god it was great! I have to admitt that we cheated a bit, there is a chairlift that takes you half way up the mountain. But we climbed the rest ... read more

Just when I was really starting to think China didnt have much to offer I found Dali. An ancient city nestled at the foot of the Tibetan Platau, recently refurbished as a tourist destination, synthetically charming and very, very user friendly. When the bus from Kunming pulled into Dali city my stomach dropped and I though "here we go again." Dali City is just another big, dirty city. But then I discovered (with the help of some oppertunistic touts) that I needed to catch another bus to get to Old Dali. As the expensive little mini bus bumped along the narrow cobbled streets between rice paddies and corn fields I could only sigh with relief. The first thing I noticed was the altitude. I had never been at high altitudes before. Dali is at 2000 meters, ... read more

I dont think its a coincidence that pronouncing Kunming sounds like hocking up phlegm. Phlegm decorates the filthy streets like little yellow green flowers in a field of debris. I hated Kunming from the minute I got off the train. It was dirty, noisy, smelly and busy, but even more so. The road was the footpath and the footpath was the road and no matter where I stood I was pushed and shoved and beeped at. The touts were aggressive and persistant, grabbing me by the elbow and trying to pull me in the other direction. And some bastard stole my wallet right out of my bag. I tried not to get angry about it. I only carry minumum cash (about $30) in my wallet, and they could have taken my camera, or, gulp, my ipod. ... read more

I was surprised by how beautiful Nanning was. Nanning is the capital of the Guangxi province, close to the border with Vietnam. Its easy to think that if you have seen one Chinese city you have seen them all, but Nanning surprised me. After the pervasive grime of Wuzhou Nanning sparkled like the Emerald City. The streets were clean, the traffic was organised and there were lovely landscaping with trees and flowers. There were even security guards with whistles every couple hundred metres to yell at people making the place dirty (didnt stop the spitting though). The part of Nanning I was in was called "Economic Zone" and consisted of hundreds of spanking new and epic shopping malls. There was even a Walmart! I went in because it was airconditioned and it is HOT in Nanning. ... read more

With the students gone and my job finished Wuzhou still had one more suprise in store for me. The principal called it "propaganda", it seems Chinese people still use this word without any negative connotations. I called it "false advertising". I was taken around to all the neighbouring villages where I gave little "speeches" about the benefits of learning English to awestuck country bumpkins. Since they didnt understand a world I said the principal was free to translate my speeches however he wanted. His entrepreneurialism bordered on deviousness and I suspect he embellished my speeches to fit his own designs and make his school irresistable to the poor ignorant kids. All I know is that LOTS of them signed their names on the enrollment sheets. Travelling to the countryside was an unforgettable experience. It was worth ... read more

Finally my excruciatingly long and surprisingly short stint at teaching in Wuzhou has come to a close and I can look back at the lessons I have taught and the things I have learnt. I used to complain about the terrible state the Australian education system was in but it seems so effective and luxurious compared to China. I cant speak for the rich schools in the cities, these are apparently quite good. What I can say about the poor schools in the country is that it disturbs and saddens me. The school I was teaching in, New Cambridge English School, was a "private vocational school", I suppose it is a similar concept to TAFE where you learn trade related skills. It was a school for poor rural kids, aged between 15 and 19. There were ... read more

As most of us, in times of heightened and frazzled emotions, we look for guidence from the most revered and most holy source; the Simpsons. The passage of scripture that rings true in my troubled mind is "Mrs Pommohurst?......I'd like to get down now." I cant believe I have only been in Wuzhou for three weeks. It feels like forever. I have one more week left. Can I make it? Life isnt actually all that bad. I Think maybe the heat is affecting my brain. From torrential rain and flooding the weather has taken a hop, skip and a jump to severe heat wave. Lucky me, I get to experience both. It is nearly 40C today in the land that airconditioning forgot. The good news is that classes have finished. I didnt find out until this ... read more

Every time I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel it turns out to be a train speeding towards me. I am, of course, talking about my ongoing battle with getting photos uploaded onto my blog. I have won a small victory, the photos are now saved on a computer at the school. The problem that the internet connection at the school is so slow that they will not up load. I can say this with some conviction after 2 hot and frustrating hours of trying. And before you state the obvious, yes I made the files as small as I possibly could without making them look like a magic eye trick. Humph. School is going well, I am slowly learning peoples names and I think I am learning how to make ... read more

Ive been in Wuzhou for a week and I will be here for another three weeks because I am teaching in the English College here. Yes there is a funny story behind it and yes I will now tell you that funny story. Getting to Wuzhou was pretty easy. I had to catch the interstate bus from Zhauqing which was easy enough. I used my little pre-written cards to get my ticket and I just kept showing various people in uniforms my ticket and they ushered me in the right direction. The bus trip was disappointingly boring compared to the crazy local bus in Zhaoqing, but it did take me past some amazing sights. I was rice paddies for the first time. Not only rice paddies but water buffalo too! With all the mountains around it ... read more