Alex Herron
I\'ve just moved to China, and have decided to call Hangzhou my home for the next six months. This is going to be a bit of a rubbish travel blog as I\'m not really going to be travelling for the moment but it\'s easier then sending out the big group emails which no-one reads anyway. alexinchina
Travel Blog Posts
April 4th 2007
Just doing this now because I'm currently sat in a library in central Hong Kong. I don't have long before my time is out, plus I want to see if I can buy any hobnobs for the other teachers before I have to leave again. I came to Hong Kong yesterday to get my working visa (the school paid for my flight which was brilliant) and it's been so good to be here, it's almost like going back to the UK but with more Chinese people. I've even seen proper pubs here which are unheard of in Xiaoshan. Dispite being surrounded by all the mod cons and western luxuries and food I'm glad that I live where I do, if I was living here it'd be little difference to living in London. Everyone speaks English and ... read more
March 20th 2007
I'm tired and cold as I write this, I've got a cup of tea at least and I might break open the biscuits in a moment, but that's not important. I went cycling today with Christine which is where most of the photos are from but I'll wrack my brains first for any other news that people might find interesting. I've been out more with the guys from work seen most of the best bars that Xiaoshan has to offer (which is three). There will hopefully be a couple of photos from a night when we for Trudie and Patrick's birthdays a couple of nights ago. It was pretty good but the only problem here is that whenever we go somewhere we get a lot of looks and you can't talk to anyone who's not ... read more
March 8th 2007
I think I'm finally sorted now in China, signed the contract with English First (EF) a couple of days ago for a year's tenure (is tenure the right word?) so going to be here for a while. I get 10 days paid holiday which is really good for China plus I have this lovely apartment all for free. They have this liason officer person at the school who sorts out any problems the teachers have, and she's great she's fixed me up with the internet and in the next couple of days I should get a house phone and all my bills get taken out my wage at the end of the month so I don't even have to worry about them. Can't remember how much I wrote before, so sorry if I'm repeating myself, but ... read more
March 4th 2007
Finally sorted out here now. I'm moved apartment again (I've moved five times in the last month) I'm living further away from the centre of Hangzhou in a suburb called Xiaoshan. The apartment's nice, the kitchen and bathroom are a bit small but it's free so can't complain. It's come with this new and finally full time job I have at a company called English First. The students range from 4 up to 18 plus they'll soon introduce an adult learning class too. The best thing about the new apartment is that I'm a five minute walk from the school which means I can still wake up late and be here on time. The other teachers I've met here seem really nice and we're going out for a big meal tonight, there are eight others mostly ... read more
February 22nd 2007
I didn't get the job I went for the other week, which is a shame as it looked pretty good and they paid a decent wage. They asked me to give a lesson where I had to explain all these English language terms to four students, but I didn't actually know what these terms meant so I just skipped past them in the lesson. The woman evaluating me did say I had a good way with the students and offered me some part time work which made me feel a bit less of a loser, but I'm still trying to get a full time job with a visa. I went for another interview last week too, which I haven't heard back from yet but that place looked kind of fun. The walls were bright yellow and ... read more
February 12th 2007
This is going to have to be quite a short entry as although I've moved into my own place now I can't connect to the internet there yet so I keep having to come back to Christine's place to use it (there's an internet cafe just down the road from where I live but I need skype and I like Christine's webcam) and the last bus leaves here at 20.00. Anyhow, about my new place, it's awesome, and I don't use that word lightly. The actual apartment is so so I guess, there's a decent size bedroom a small kitchen and a room connecting the two. The shower's above the toilet and the only sink is the kitchen which I thought was unusual but you get used to stuff like that real quick. When I moved ... read more
February 4th 2007
Day 25 - Twenty-five quick days here in China and I feel like enough has happened since my last entry to entertain you with some more tales of my exploits and adventures... Firstly and most importantly I now have a job! I am officially a teacher from this moment on, well since Sunday when I signed the contract. I think the fools hired me almost entirely because of my 'BBC accent', who knew that the blessed BBC's influence had reached this far into central China. I watched a couple of Katie's lessons (she's the girl who's job and flat I've taken) and it looked like a piece of piss but then it was Katie's last lessons so she was just playing games with them, plus she speaks fluent Mandarin which helps. Almost a year after Tarn ... read more
January 25th 2007
Okay, I'm finally getting round to starting a blog. It seems a bit stupid now as I've already been to Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Macau and Beijing and I'm only now starting. But never mind. I'll do a quick recap as I don't want you to feel cheated by not getting the full lowdown on the trip so far. So I left London on the 6th December I think, flew straight to Hong Kong on a flight which took about 12 hours but felt like 24, I booked a window seat but when I went to sit down this little old Chinese lady with a wrinkled face and beaming smile had taken my seat so being English I said nothing and smiled back politely at her choosing instead to sit in the middle seat where there ... read more
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