Travel Blog | About TravelBlog | World Facts | Travel Wallpaper | Travel Forum | Backpackers Travel Insurance | Services | Cameras

Sue Treadie - Susan Storr

Susan Storr At the end of 2004, after seven years of "semi-retirement" from fulltime teaching I was ready to "reinvent" myself. The question - what to do?

I have taught in various fields at Secondary Schools and at TAFE colleges over a period of around 25 years full-time and seven years part-time, and also created and managed a small merchandising business during my "semi-retirement". I am also an avid traveller who has backpacked to various parts of the world over a period of about 30 years. TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) seemed a natural choice. Decision made.

Over the next 12 months I studied part-time and in December 2005 completed a Professional Certificate in TESOL from the Global TESOL College in Brisbane ( now known as the Australasian Training Academy). After a whirlwind online application process I accepted a position teaching Oral English at a Normal College (teacher training institution) in Taizhou, Jiang Su province in the East of China for an initial period of one year, commencing February 2006.

I have now been here for over two years, and have had many varied adventures while exploring the great "Middle Kingdom". Many of these adventures are yet to come to light on this travel site ( I have 92 blogs saved but only 43 published!), but they will get there eventually! It will just take a bit of time!

This blog was originally inspired by my colleague Mr Hans Schneider, who has an excellent blog on this site. I am keen to extend my limited knowledge and skills of technology while providing a regular (?) update on my old and new adventures for family, friends and other interested visitors to this site.
In addition I use this blog as a tool to encourage my students to practice their English out of class and to learn more about their own country and beyond.

Read on and enjoy!

Visited Countries Map


Private Message Subscribe 11 Forum Posts Top Photos Blog Map
Joined on: June 25th 2006
Last Login: July 24th 2008

Blog Entries: 43
Photos: 2009
Visited Countries


RSS
TB Code: [blogger=19423]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Sue-Treadie, order by Date newest first.

« back 1 10 20 30 40 next »

Ice Lantern Festival 1
Ice Lantern Festival 1
Olympic Friendlies welcome visitors in Zhaolin Park
This is the second of two blogs featuring my visit to Haerbin/Harbin in Heilongjiang Province in the NE of China. As previously stated, the main attraction for me to venture into these frozen realms during the coldest Chinese winter in 50 years, was to experience the Haerbin/Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, a series of gala events involving ice and snow carving art. The Ice and Snow Festival came into being in January of 1985. Initially the main events were the Ice Lantern Festival in Zhaolin Park and surrounding streets (particularly Zhongyang Dajie and the waterfront parks) and the Snow Sculpture [View Full Entry]

Sue Treadie - Susan Storr | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 2 Comment(s) | 74 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | 1702 words | [diary=263199] | 2008-05-11 11:16:40

Snow Sculpture Festival Sun Island 1
Snow Sculpture Festival, Sun Island  2
Snow and Ice World 1

Dove of Peace
Dove of Peace
Taking pride of place at the river end of historic Zhongyang Dajie was this giant ice sculpture, setting the main theme for this, the 24th Snow and Ice Festival.
Have you ever been somewhere sooooo cold that your eyelashes temporarily froze together? This was one of the more unusual experiences I had on a visit to Haerbin/Harbin in the North East of China this past January! Part of the joy of travelling is in setting personal challenges in order to stretch your boundaries of comfort. This is how, I, as a woman from the sub-tropics of Queensland, Australia, found myself travelling north from my temporary home in Taizhou, Jiangsu to the frozen north-east of Heilongjiang Province in what was later referred to as “the coldest winter in over 50 years”! [View Full Entry]

Sue Treadie - Susan Storr | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 4 Comment(s) | 58 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | 622 words | [diary=237318] | 2008-05-02 14:19:56

Flood Control Monument
Front view St Sophia
Golden Buddha

Freshmen Arrive
Freshmen Arrive
Lots of fanfare, including the inevitable inflatable archway, welcomes our new freshmen(1st years) who arrive on campus about 3 weeks after the continuing students.
Finally, I can publish this blog after it being "almost" completed since January. So, for those of you who have wondered what has become of me, here is a synopsis of the last semester in Taizhou Teachers College! From the arrival of our freshman last September, through our Autumn Sports Carnival in November and the many activities and cultural events since, I hope you will enjoy this overview of my everyday experiences in Taizhou Teachers College. There are a large number of photos, so apologies to those of you who have slow internet connections! In coming weeks I will take you [View Full Entry]

Sue Treadie - Susan Storr | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 6 Comment(s) | 99 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | 176 words | [diary=237276] | 2008-04-05 04:49:01

Welcome crew and a few ring-ins!
More welcome crew from the Foreign Language Department
Never miss an opportunity!

Sharing the Xmas Spirit
Sharing the Xmas Spirit
Catherine (Xie Lin Ping) & Maple (Shi Jing) of 071 “share" the Xmas Spirit. These are two of my tiniest students who good naturedly agreed to don the Mary Xmas dress for a cute photo opportunity!
Yes, it's been some months since I published a new blog, but this is proof I have not fallen off the edge of the earth! The approach of Xmas is always a good impetus to put pen to paper, or in this case, fingers to the keyboard! In the next week or so I will bring you up to speed with a synopsis of this past semester, my fourth at Taizhou Teachers College. That is if our appalling internet connections will allow! In the meantime, read and on and share in some of the fun of the past week or so [View Full Entry]

Sue Treadie - Susan Storr | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 3 Comment(s) | 43 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | 717 words | [diary=230216] | 2007-12-27 15:27:43

Jennifer leads Jingle Bells
071 Sleigh mob
Cool sheep

Amazing Opening
Amazing Opening
The Chinese never do things by half when it comes to entertainment!
For those of you who actually look at the date on my blogs, you can rest assured that you haven't missed a heap of blogs! I'm back from my summer adventures and into my third week of my fourth teaching semester here at Taizhou Teachers College. It really is hard to believe I've been here for such a length of time and despite having a wonderful summer, it's really good to be back. I am especially relishing my own bathroom and not living out of a backpack! It's also great to catch up with friends, colleagues and students who all seem [View Full Entry]

Sue Treadie - Susan Storr | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 2 Comment(s) | 26 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | 598 words | [diary=158008] | 2007-08-10 16:16:58

What a welcome
Chatting with a star
Student Hosts

End of term 05BE
End of term 05BE
Goodbye to my most hard-working class!
Well, the end of yet another term! I have now been in China for three teaching semesters. In that time, I have had the pleasure to work with over 700 young people, all aspiring to achieve their potential in this incredibly competitive society. For most of them this was their last term of Oral English as next year they will be preparing to enter the workforce. I will be particularly sad to say “Goodbye” to my 05BE Business English class as they have been with me for the whole time I have been in China. They are a very hard-working [View Full Entry]

Sue Treadie - Susan Storr | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 3 Comment(s) | 24 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | 513 words | [diary=169725] | 2007-09-04 11:56:41

05BE cake celebration
05BE cheers!
Paula wears the cake

Rick and Dorathy at home
Rick and Dorathy at home
My good friends Dorathy and Rick relaxing at home in Shanghai.
After the celebrations in April and the adventures of my May Day Holiday week in Gansu (blogs still to come!), it was time to say good-bye to my good friends Rick and Dorathy. Rick & Dorathy and their two children Tara and Shane are relocating to the USA after eight or nine years in Shanghai. I first met Rick & Dorathy in Cardiff, Wales in 2004 during an international hashing event. (Hash- an international group of social running/walking clubs) Hashing, as people who know me well are aware, has been a large part of my life for the past 25 years [View Full Entry]

Sue Treadie - Susan Storr | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 3 Comment(s) | 34 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | 413 words | [diary=158013] | 2007-08-10 16:03:53

Drunken Dragon H3
Founding Four
Scenic trail

Birthday Girl Toasts
Birthday Girl Toasts
Cathy toasts our table, flanked by Gary (left) and Oliver (right)
The significance of a Chinese young person reaching the age of 20 years cannot be underestimated. It is roughly equivalent to the importance that used to be associated with turning 21 years old in the West, only much, much more. For the young person involved it marks their entry into the adult world and all that that entails. Their dreams of increasing independence are tempered with the realization of the equally increasing responsibilities. Responsibilities such as entering the workforce with a “good” job; finding a suitable partner, getting married and having a family and, of course, providing for their parents [View Full Entry]

Sue Treadie - Susan Storr | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 2 Comment(s) | 44 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | 357 words | [diary=162859] | 2007-05-15 00:00:00

Birthday Smiles
Cathy,  Hannah and Penny
Conny & Hannah

View over Labrang
View over Labrang
Starkly beautiful in the dry season.
While in Xiahe on my first visit in May (as indicated by the date on this blog), I went on many walks out and around the edges of town just to explore and also get great views and a different perspective of the impressive Labrang Monastery and the locals' everyday life. In May, much of the area was dry, brown and dusty as the summer rains had not yet arrived. The locals were preparing the dry, infertile-looking soil for the summer crops of rape seed and barley. I wondered how on earth they irrigated effectively, as the Daxia River at this [View Full Entry]

Sue Treadie - Susan Storr | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 3 Comment(s) | 45 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | 436 words | [diary=158011] | 2007-08-10 16:50:36

Fabulous views down the valley
Lushness of summer
All purpose channel

On the way to Sanke
On the way to Sanke
"Big" Sanke, that is! Here we stop for a photo shoot with "Little Sanke" in the background.
Surrounding Xiahe are vast areas of grassland used by local nomads as pastures for herds of yak, dzo (bull crossed with female yak), Tibetan cattle, sheep, goats and even pigs. The more famous areas are Sanke (about 13km away), Ganjia (about 34km away) and further away still, Takkar ( famous for its enormous rock formations). Ganjia Grasslands (not a joke, by the way!) were my first choice as they are supposedly less developed/commercialized and they can be combined with a visit to an ancient town, a cave, and a monastery of the less well-known Black Hat Sect of Buddhism to make [View Full Entry]

Sue Treadie - Susan Storr | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 4 Comment(s) | 30 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | 513 words | [diary=157301] | 2007-08-10 16:52:14

Mr Ma- Mr Horse
"Little" Sanke
Golden Carpet



« back 1 10 20 30 40 next »