I went to Shanghai a couple of days before Chinese New Year to stay with Scarlett, it was pretty fun! most of the time we just chilled out, but i also went running round the French concession, ice skating, and had some nice days wandering around Shanghai at the Longhua Pagoda, the Bund and some markets and things. I'd been to Shanghai before so i didnt do much of the touristy stuff, although we did manage take a ride in the 'tourist tunnel' which is the tackiest thing ever, its a kind of train thing which goes under the river. Chinese New Years Day was Sunday 19th Feb and we went out the night before to celebrate, first to a curry place and then to a Salsa club, i was with Scarlett, her brother Ross ... read more

Due to Chinese govt regulations, there is only so much i can write about our time in the Welfare centre, and i cant add photos...but if you want a more detailed review of it i can send you an email! HENGYANG (ICC MISSION TRIP): SETTING THE SCENE: ICC (International China Concern) has been working with a state run orphanage for about a year now. There has been an enormous improvement in the quality of life of the children since they stepped in, but it still obviously not the nicest place for the kids to live in. Since ICC have been in charge, the boys and girls have been separated (they all lived together in a tiny space) , the girls have had some apartments built for them in a different area of the welfare centre ... read more

As our class is made up of a load of different nationalities, and our 'class monitor' is Korean, our class nights out are usually to a Korean restaurant and then to Kareoke! The place we went to the other day we all sat down on the floor for the meal (tables were very low) and apart from eating korean food (which to be honest i'm not a huge fan of) we were all drinking this absolutly terrible drink, The Korean version of Bai Jiu, i cant remember what its callled but its about 80% pure alcohol so you can imagine the chaos, especially as the Asians aren't best known for being able to take their drink. They were bright red. It was rather amusing, then we gave them english names, including Josh, Tim and Keith ... read more

At the weekends I’m now teaching art and crafts to some of Beijing’s Migrant Children. They are the kids of migrant workers who have come to Beijing from other provinces and because of this they are denied various basic benefits that other children get, like education. So there are some schools set up by the migrant communities for their kids, but its not up to the standard of proper Chinese schools. So as a result, an NGO (non-governmental organisation) has been set up by Westerners to accommodate these kids, The vision being for these kids is for them not to be ‘marginalized, treated as secondary, peripheral or of minor importance.’ At the moment, the Saturday programme is teaching 500 kids English and Art and Crafts over a period of 12 weeks. There are 6 other ... read more

Before we moved into our flat, our teaching building was actually attached to the bedrooms so we could get up pretty late! Our apartment complex is only about a 10 minute walk away now though (or a 5 min bike ride with our new Beijing bicycles!) So now I get up at about 7 every day and head into uni for classes at 8am every morning (its tricky) We have 3 classes, Hanyu (Chinese grammar), Kouyu (speaking) and TingLi (listening) Tingli is by far the worst lesson I have ever ever had to take, including GCSE Physics! Today our teacher chose me and a few others to be her 'V.I.Ps', which basically means she picks on us all lesson! There are Brits, Americans and Koreans in my class, altogether about 20 people and we’re taught ... read more