It is very cool today. I didn’t realize it, but it rained last night. When I went out this morning everything was still wet. It is still cloudy. After work today I got together with a few other teachers for an early dinner. We went to a place they knew close by that served western food including Mexican, hamburgers, and pizza. I had a hamburger and fries, and while I do not miss western food, I must admit it hit the spot. It was well prepared. Most of my colleagues are Australian. There is one Canadian, and a couple I do [View Full Entry]

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Today is the Qingming Festival. It is the day when your dead ancestors are honored. Now that I think about it, your ancestors may not have to be dead. I will try to clarify. The newspaper said so many millions of people will leave Shenzhen to go home to visit cemeteries. The city buses had been instructed to make unscheduled stops at the cemeteries in town. I don’t know if there will be activities going on in the parks. I hope they have fireworks. Sea emailed me and asked if I accompany her to sweep her father’s grave. I said yes, [View Full Entry]

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Today after work I went to the main Shenzhen library to check out some reading material. I thought I understood their rules about checking books out, but I was a little wrong. I was able to check out 2 books after depositing 400 yuan (about $62.00) with them. I can leave then money on deposit with them as long as I want. I can return my 2 books and check out 2 others with no more paperwork. The book check out and check in are all self service. Foreigners are given special treatment at the Shenzhen Library. It seems that foreigners [View Full Entry]

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When I got up this morning I was sore all over. Apparently my power walk up Lotus Mountain was more than my body was prepared for. Both of my feet ached, my back hurt, I had a blister on my big toe, and the muscles in my legs were sore. The walk usually takes 3.5 hours. I made it in 3 hours last night. Apparently that was too fast. I thought my evening power walks in the small park close to my house had gotten me in better shape. So I took a couple of aspirin with morning coffee, and went [View Full Entry]

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I had been in Vietnam several weeks before I got the courage to take a motorbike ride. The traffic was always horrible, and there seemed to me no rules of the road. And I have never ridden any two wheeled vehicle since I was in grade school. And I never ridden anything motorized. When I needed to get around I hired a cyclo or a taxi. In Saigon there are motorbikes for rent everywhere. You can rent them to drive yourself or hire one with a driver to take you anywhere you want to go. The price was quite reasonable. The [View Full Entry]

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It was another rainy, dark, dreary, cool day. I liked everything about it but the rain. Dark, dreary and cool is good. I didn’t even stop at the library on my way home today. I didn’t feel like walking 2 miles in the rain. But right at dusk the rain stopped. I thought I saw a star, so decided to go out for a few minutes. I started walking and took a new direction I had not been before. Because it was dark I was a little worried about getting lost, so I kept a certain sky scraper in view. Eventually [View Full Entry]

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It rained all day again today. At times the storms were severe enough to include thunder and lightening. I did nothing but ride the bus, work, ride the bus, and eat at the noodle shop. I didn’t stop at the library. I didn’t take a walk. Maybe tomorrow… I took my camera to the noodle shop thinking I knew them well enough to take some pics of the guy throwing the noodles. When I got there, there was no business so the guy wasn't throwing noodles. Shortly thereafter it got crowded, and I was too self conscious to take pics in [View Full Entry]

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It is rainy again today and quite cool. My trusty pocket clock/calendar/thermometer/alarm/calculator/currency converter says 75. That seems very cool. I doubt I will do anything outside today as it is supposed to keep raining. In class we spent a good 15 minutes discussing the differences and similarities between “walk” and “stroll.” Are the words interchangeable? Are there times when a “walk” can be a “stroll” but other times it is not, and vice versa? Things like this are more or less intuitive to English speakers, but present challenges to [View Full Entry]

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Today was quiet and much like yesterday. I guess I am getting into a rut. Went to work, stopped at the library to read on my way home. Ate dinner. Walked home. The only variation is sometimes I walk home, then eat dinner. It rained very hard this morning. The temperature is very pleasant now. It has been cloudy all day. There is little humidity. I stopped at the market on my way home. Not for any reason, I just like it. I usually just grab some street food for dinner, or go to my noodle shop. Here are some pics. [View Full Entry]

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I thought I would vary my day a bit. In the Shenzhen Daily there was an article about an exhibit of ancient Chinese porcelain at the Shenzhen Museum. Unfortunately I went to the wrong Shenzhen Museum, and by the time I realized the mistake it was 16:00. The Museum closed at 18:00. So I will put it off until tomorrow or the next day. Here are a few pics of ancient artifacts at the museum I did visit. The pics of the porcelain will come later when I find the correct venue. As usual, the museum descriptions were in Chinese only, [View Full Entry]

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