http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Ranjana/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Ranjana en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:04:04 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:04:04 +0000 Liz Megan Lauren and I arrived in Lijiang this afternoon. It was raining we were starving and the bus ride had been uncomfortable and smokey some of the older men on the bus apparently couldn't read the 'no smoking' signs on the bus. We had checked into our cozy and whimsical hostel and were waiting for our food to arrive at a Chinese restaurant next door when I noted that there hadn't bee http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-411087.html I woke up early showered.... went back to bed... got up again. I straightened my hair. It's getting long....er. I walked outside and waited for the double decker 2 bus. I got on the bus and headed to my usual seat second floor at the very front. It feels like you're gonna run over people squish them from up there. I recently added some 2Pac to my ipod. Excuse me I just added 240som http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-387004.html With only a few months left Liz and I made a list of things to see and do both in Shenzhen and in all of China. Last weekend's destination MACAU a former Portuagese colony the first and last European colony of China often dubbed the Las Vegas of China. Friday was cool and rainy and Kiki called me to meet her at the 4 kuai dumpling shop to eat some ban mian noodles in in peanut sauce wit http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/blog-386033.html Regretably it's been such a long time since I blogged and although the past few weeks haven't been particularly special I thought it might be important to record some of the usualtype goingons...After about one week of posttravel blues things started getting better as I settled back into the routine in Shenzhen. The first week of teaching was extremely busy and tiring. This semester's sche http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-380998.html All students must complete military training and this week our own students were to attend. Horn their head teacher had invited us to visit the training site. We arrived in a van with a few other teachers and entered the site. We were greeted by Principal Qiu our vice principal and several other official looking men who led us past waving red and gold Communist flags and past children line http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-334989.html Something bad has finally happened. Since I arrived in Shenzhen things have gone smoothly. I have not lost luggage suffered from exotic illnesses or chronic diarrhea crashed in any motorbiking accidents. I've been fortunate to live in a decent apartment and work at a good school so I guess it was my time... Yesterday morning I rolled over in bed looked at my cell phone saw that it was 8 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-333931.html I opted for school lunch today and it lived up to my expectations. Shite. I walked into the teacher canteen late so the pickins were slim.I had the usual green stuff scraped up what I could of some sweet and sour sauce with pineapples sticky white rice and what looked like an enchilada but seemed to be a roll stuffed with spam and red bean. Are you on a diet the Chinese teachers sitt http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-332790.html I quietly left my apartment after a satisfying nap leaving a sleeping Serena behind and wandered towards the Bus 12 bus stop. Kyle another teacher in my program had unexpectedly and very randomly I don't know him too well and didn't know he even had my phone number interrupted my afternoon beauty rest to let me know he was meeting a woman who had information on tutoring young Chinese childr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-327541.html Our first weekend in Shenzhen was a fun one and a busy one. On Friday after classes Serena and I decided not to punish ourselves with school cafeteria food and found a nearby restaurant where we were able to buy dumplings for 3 yuen so we bought two orders and a frightening chicken soup with unidentifiable gray masses floating inside. We decided to walk home and cool off before meeting Serena http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-323675.html I am sitting in my office at my desk and my stomach is rumbling away but I am hoping if I am still it will calm down. The school bathroom facility is a bit frightening and after having only used it once I think I am dehydrating myself so that I won't have to use it again. Basically I have to hike up my skirt and straddle a trough that goes lengthwise across the floor and through all the sta http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-322551.html My roommate Serena and I are extremely proud of ourselves. We rode the public bus today we figured out how to get from our school to our apartment all by ourselves After our morning classes we decided not to wait for our school bus to take us home in the evening. Instead we found the right public bus to go home and while she naps I type away.So far Shenzhen has managed to make me to feel ov http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-321461.html Last night was my first real night out since I got to China. I've been so focused on my Chinese classes and TEFL training and of course feeling a little jetlagged. Having finally recovered from my jetlag and completed my rirst Chinese exam and practice teaching lesson in front of my fellow teachers I decided to reward myself with a full body oil massage and a night out. A group of us went to a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-318892.html Today in Chinese class we began our Chinese character writing lessons. IMPOSSIBLE Not sure I will be able to retain any of the writing. I prefer Pinyin which is the Chinese pronunciation written out in English alphabet. Though it's absolutely crazy how the word ma can mean mother horse shit or question mark just based on the tone used to say it. Between Chinese and TEFL training we ha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-315987.html Not sure if it was practical to take a little vacation in San Francisco prior to moving to China but it turned out to be a lot of fun. When I managed to push thoughts of my family Kevin and friends in Charlotte out of my head I was able to really enjoy this Californian city. Ian my travel partner and former coworker who decided to take this journey with me and I stayed in a cute hostel so http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-315578.html