Fliss K
An Edinburgh lass, I headed up to the Granite City to do some studying, drinking and p/t working. Having gone to India for six month's before University I had itchy feet the whole time. This wasn't helped by my choice of studies which was all about the Religion and politic's of other lands. After graduation I dabbled in student politics as a Sabbatical within the Student's Association. After having a lot of fun and learning some new things I realised I still had itchy feet so thought I would hot foot it to China to do a spot of teaching. fk82
After a fantastic year living in Chengdu, Sichuan teaching I headed back to the Granite City to earn some pennies and set up house with Gordon and a wee westie.
I've been a couple of places since my China travels, Baltimore, Budapest and Paris but not for very long periods of time. I've not update my travel blog for a while but hope too soon. My next trip is to Chicago in April 2009 and I can't wait. Hoping to go back to Chengdu this year if I can afford it and back to India in 2010.
Travel Blog Posts
May 28th 2007
Sunday night (May 27th) I headed out with Sugar my ex-private student for some bbq. I promised I would take her out for bbq if she passed her English exam and she did. It was up to her to pick a venue and she chose KuanXiangzi Street beside the Dragon Youth Hostel. It was the two of us and her boyfriends sister. We ordered loads of food and some beers. We got some bbq on sticks and some bbq'd seafood. The seafood came with a vinegar dip and some Japanese spice which I thought I could handle but it nearly blew my head off when I had it. We also got some special Chinese wine which is a bit like mulled wine and better than normal Chinese wine. We were there from about 7.30pm - ... read more
January 27th 2007
I had to dedicate a wee blog to Lhasa itself. Lhasa was a pretty small city and the difference between the Tibetan and Chinese areas was so marked. We stayed in the Tibetan area and it was so full of life that I found it hard not to like it. I can see how some travelers don't though especially if they go in peak travel season because the place would just be full of other travelers/tourists. We were lucky though because we went in winter and the place was pretty quiet in terms of travelers. I loved just wandering around the streets especially near the Jokhang. We only spent about ten days there but I wish we had stayed longer. We did a few day trips and saw the sights of Lhasa like the Potala. ... read more
January 25th 2007
One morning on our Tibet trip Brad, Gordon and I got up early to head to the bus for a trip to Ganden Monastery. We headed to the square bright and breezy at about 8am and found that there were quite a lot of buses heading off to various destinations. After calling out 'Ganden' to a lot of people we were shuffled on a bus with three seats at the back. The only foreigners and non-pilgrims on the bus we caused a little bit of interest but not much after the bus got moving. After a 3 hour + bus ride that involved various police checks (I think there was three in total) and a scary twisting mountain road we arrived at Ganden. It was literally at the top of a mountain and I soon ... read more
January 20th 2007
I got up early to finish tidying my room and flat before heading to Shangliu airport to pick up Gordon. Leaving in plenty of time I managed to get a taxi pretty quickly that took me to the airport for about 40rmb. The taxi driver was really friendly and I ended up speaking to him in my basic Chinese and his basic English. He helped to calm my nerves as I was excited and nervous about seeing my boyfriend after not seeing him for over five months. I got to the airport in about 30minutes and was pretty pleased I had made it in plenty of time for the plane's arrival. With the flight number from Amsterdam at the ready I figured I had between 30minutes and an hour until Gordon's flight arrived. Making my way ... read more
January 15th 2007
We were all invited through to Xindu for Barry's leaving party. He has been teaching at the same school as Sarah and Claire H in Xindu for the past 6 months, but his teaching time finished in January so he was getting ready to head off on some travels before heading back to Australia. Since we had a day to kill Iona, Claire and I decided to use the day as a chance to visit Baoguang Si (Monastery of divine light) in Xindu during the day. Xindu isn't to far away from Chengdu so we hopped on a bus and got there in about 25-40 minutes. Once we got there we found the Monastery pretty easily and I bought some incense to light outside one of the temples. The complex was fairly large so we spent ... read more
January 1st 2007
So New Year was random but pretty damn good. I didn't know what to expect since New Year's occasionally ends up being an anti climax. After a wee shopping trip I headed round to Charlotte's and Daryl's. It was C & D, Iona, Claire, and me + Santa (their v.v.cute puppy), Stephen & William joined us later. Iona and I started to get ready when disaster nearly struck and we got locked in the spare flat. I thought Iona was either joking or being daft, but we were in fact locked in. After Daryl saved us we finished getting ready and started the drinking and the chatting. I was on the Bacardi and Coke so I was pretty pleased with that apart from when Charlotte made me down loads of it (I was forced obviously?!). ... read more
December 25th 2006
My Christmas in China was pretty good. My flat was all nicely decorated and I was suitably in the Christmasy mood when the Christmas weekend came along. Normally I am a bit of a ba humbug because the Christmas preparations in the U.K start stupidly early. Luckily I didn't have to deal with all that here. Christmas eve and my flat mate Claire and I had a party in our flat. We provided Mulled wine and snacks for the party goers and the mulled wine went down a treat. We even bought buijio but not even a drop was touched. Two Chinese friends turned up to the party with a Christmas tree, very thoughtful but I have never been given one of those at a Christmas party before. It is certainly a gift that won't be ... read more
December 19th 2006
So our Senior 1's had an English Karaoke competition on Monday. It was on when we usually have Chinese class so we decided to ditch Chinese and head to the competition. We thought we might end up being judge's even though we had not been officially asked. This turned out to be correct. Not that I minded doing it but I wish that people in China could communicate better. It was a bit similar to what happened with the Junior's play competition. We only found out about our Junior's English play competition because the student's told us. I think the teachers at the school don't want to bother us or ask too much of us. I was like, if it's English, it is our job to help. Definitely a cultural thing. You have to be ... read more
December 18th 2006
I was getting some iced tea at our local small shop and was intrigued at what the owners were eating. It looked to me like a stick!? It was in fact bamboo. Because I looked so interested the lady gave me two pieces of bamboo to take home and taste?! I was utterly baffled by this until a friend told me they don't eat the bamboo they just chew it for the juices and then spit it out. Its supposed to be good. Not given it a go yet but I am sure I will. Will I turn into a Panda? Anyway I saw a Bamboo seller on the street the other night and took a picture. It must be popular in Winter because I have not seen it before. ... read more
December 16th 2006
Luodai Ancient Village, forty minutes East on the Bus from Chengdu was our Saturday day trip destination. After a late lunch at Grandma's Kitchen on Kehu Bei lu, Iona, Claire and I headed towards the bus station to get the bus to Luodai. The bus took forty minute's and passed the poorer outskirts of the city and new development area's. We had managed to get a seat which made the journey a little more pleasant and for part of the journey had a local baby being amused by us. The bus took about forty minute's and when we arrived it was pretty easy to find the entrance to the village. At the foothills of the Eastern Mountain range it was established by the Hakka community. From what I have briefly read online and on the ... read more
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