http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Sandijoy/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Sandijoy en-us Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:23:05 +0000 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:23:05 +0000 The first two and a half months back in China have been fastpaced but fairly decent if I examine the experience holistically. It was a little dull for the first few weeks back considering a large number of my close friends chose not to renew their contracts from last year but those of us remaining quickly formed new bonds and there have been some good times had by all of us now. The school itse http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-447933.html Four weeks in Canada have flown by. My trip from Thailand left me exhausted and overtired but on arriving after flying BangkokBeijingDalianTokyoVancouver I was perkier than I thought I would be and immediately lunched with the everwonderful Jocelyn and Dee lay on the beach in Kitsilano staring at the mountains and then having a few drinks and watching the fireworks before crashing at http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver/False-Creek/blog-429072.html The first three weeks of summer holidays I spent in Thailand with my Belgium friend Sophie. We met around 1am in Bangkok at her friend Vincent's apartment. We spent only 2 days in Bangkok as I had already been and Sophie had two days at the end of our trip so we spent the time touring the neighbourhood where Vincent lives Suhkumvit I appologize for any spelling errors when it comes to place n http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-420844.html The months since the spring holiday have been filled with visits weekend trips and surprising changes. My delightful parents came for a three week visit and toured me around Qingdao home of the 2008 Olympic sailing port and Dandong directly on North Korea's shores I partook in a glamourous photo shoot that lasted 10 hours without food and learned a model's life isn't actually as easy as it http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-408303.html Mundanity I feel as though it suits what the past couple of months have been since returning from holiday. I was sick with a lung infection for about 4 weeks check out my exciting lung xray in the photos and this weekend I was finally struck by a rather horrific stomach bug that has been plaguing our school. It was the first weekend I finally felt well enough to go out since my lung infection http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-387874.html The five week break from school flew by leaving me with a whirlwind of memories from the places I visited across Southeast Asia. I'll give a very condensed version of events and let some of the pictures do the talking. We left Dalian on January 19th and flew to Hangzhou just outside of Shanghai. While we were really only there a few hours discounting sleep we managed to squeeze in a boatrid http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-375712.html I worked hard to bring Christmas to China when I was packing for this journey in the summer. I sent a box that had a stocking several familiar ornaments and a box of Stovetop stuffing with gravy I downloaded Christmas CDs and stocked up on red pillowcases and tea towels I'm slightly Martha Stewart. I pictured using a plant as a Christmas tree. As it turned out Christmas is alive and kicking http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-361398.html It's been a LONG time since I last wrote and nothing I've written has really been of substance. This won't be any different. I've been living offcampus in Kai Fa Qualmost a month now almost 4 months in China as of next week and it's been greatI don't even mind the 35 minute commute. I take the light rail train into Jinshitan which first thing in the morning isn't bad. I have the company http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-353326.html As of today I have a new home in China. I went to view three apartments today and the thirdon the twentythird floor of a yearold buidling was the winner. It has two bedrooms two bathrooms and two floors with views to the ocean the city skyline and the mountains as well as one giant apartment building directly in front of me but who notices that. The apartment has never been lived i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-338481.html It's been a while since I've written and the reason for this is due to the frenetic pace of the classes and marking that we've had as of late. The classes are starting to feel more comfortable to me despite the stress of the end of term and first report cards looming. I've finished teaching one full term of art and drama and now the kids in each respective section switch to whichever course http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-337991.html After just under a month of teaching I found myself on a week of holiday time. A small group of us ventured by plane first to Beijing for 3 days and then on to X'ian for another 3. Visiting Beijing on my own terms was much nicer than the whirlwind tour I took 4.5 years ago. I actually got a sense of the city. On the first day we went to the Forbidden City and T'ianamen Square again but while ev http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Great-Wall-of-China/blog-330607.html Today I finally ventured with three others into Dalian. When we arrived at the final light rail stop we were met with my first line crush. As in we were in deadlock with a few hundred or thousand people all trying to move through the turnstalls to get out. Irsquove never in my life seen so many people squeezed into such a tiny space my memories of Korea donrsquot match that Every othe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-323067.html I just need to make a note that I am aware in the original blog I wrote tears where I meant to write ldquotiers.rdquo I had jetlag and I only noticed this horrific fauxpas the day following its posting. The school year has started and the students in their green and gold uniforms are swarming the grounds. My teaching schedule is pretty fantastic what with all the art and the drama cla http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/blog-320679.html Irsquove survived my first week and a bit in China To those who have emailed and received no response I apologize. We havenrsquot had any time to breathe thus far on the journey Since arriving we have been moving nonstop from meetings about the school and the job to shopping at the German version of Costco Metro and Walmart but not just regular Walmart. The Walmart SUPERmart both wi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/blog-317196.html