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sunketing - Kris Sonsin

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TO SHENZHEN, AND THEN...
IN AUGUST 2008 I MOVED TO SHENZHEN, CHINA TO TEACH CONVERSATIONAL ENGLISH TO MIDDLE SCHOOL CHILDREN. I AM ALSO THE RESIDENT WESTERN "EXPERT" FOR MY SCHOOL. I'VE BEEN HERE ALMOST A YEAR WITH PLANS TO RETURN FOR ANOTHER, BUT WHERE I'M GOING AFTER THAT . . . I HAVEN'T DECIDED YET! LET THE ADVENTURE CONTINUE!

After years of aimlessly plugging away 9 to 5, and having people continuously ask me what I really want to do with my life (while offering some good and not so good suggestions), I've taken a bold step in this adventure called life, and I'm teaching English in China.

This is not an undertaking for just anyone, as my friends assure me. I have documented the ups and downs of my preparations and now my actual experiences in China.

Come with me, if you will, on what I hope will be the experience of a lifetime. Share my joys and agonies; laugh with me and cry with me. I'm sure you'll laugh at me, too. Let's see how this shapes me and maybe it will even shape you, too.

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Joined on: June 4th 2008
Last Login: November 7th 2009

Blog Entries: 186
Photos: 1673

TB Code: [blogger=75478]
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by sunketing, order by Date newest first.

By sunketing
October 31st 2009

Pirates, Students, and Sheep--Oh My! Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

Me, Little Bo Peep, and her Sexy Sheep

Once again, the moon rose and out came the foreigners in all their costumed glory. It was Halloween, the festival of candy, pumpkins, and if you're in China, beer and pizza. For my 7th grade students this year, I gave them the same presentation I gave 8th and 9th grades last year... except that only 2 of the classes could play the Charlie Brown movie. I am now the proud owner of 350 drawn jack-o-lanterns and a population of students who think I am awesome because I give out candy. My 9th graders got to have a drawing contest on the [View Full Entry]

By sunketing
October 29th 2009

Odds and Ends: Part 二 Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

It does exist.

One of the many things that still fascinates me in this country is the t-shirts. Yes, t-shirts. In the US, for example, they're plain or they have advertising on them. Don't kid yourself, that University of Wherever tshirt is advertising for the school. Americans love their free tshirts for athletic clubs, bars, alcohol, etc. Here, it's a whole different ball game. In the US, it's "cool" to wear tshirts with Chinese characters on them. They are fascinating to look at and they're interesting. The same is true in China but in reverse: Chinese like shirts with "English" on them. In the [View Full Entry]

By sunketing
October 17th 2009

The Wedding Banquet Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

Me and the Groom
I'm wearing the dress I had made for the wedding!

Finally, after months of anticipation, it was time for Tyler and Nova's wedding banquet. They married in the US over the summer and decided to have a banquet in China to celebrate with their friends here. Having nothing to wear (all I had made last year were "teacher clothes") I was excited to have an opportunity to get something fantastic made. Which I did. And which everyone commented on. Kent was even flying in from Taiwan for the big day. Remember Kent? Yep, the friend I went to India and the Tiger Leaping Gorge with. He moved to Taiwan this year [View Full Entry]

By sunketing
October 8th 2009

I'm on Top of the World! Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

The View from DiWang

After putting it off for a year, I finally took the plunge. Or rather, I should say I took the elevator. Up we traveled to the 69th floor of the DiWang Building, the tallest in the city. Eric and I walked around, admiring the view, me snapping photos. It was a clear day, almost too clear. With no clouds to difuse the sun there was quite a big of glare. But I could see so far. It's amazing. On one hand SZ seems small, or at least, it's gotten smaller in the past year. But from the top of the DiWang, [View Full Entry]

By sunketing
October 6th 2009

A Perfect Morning and a Long Afternoon Asia » China » Guangdong » Zhaoqing

Xi River

Toni and I arose early to get the most out of our morning. Abby stayed and slept since she wasn't feeling the best and thought she was coming down with a cold. After a leisurely McDonald's breakfast and delivery of Abby's food, we headed out for one last adventure. We walked south from our hotel toward the Xi River. The river was wider than I expected it to be, almost reminding me of the Yangtze in Chongqing. (Except that it wasn't brown.) We walked east along the river, taking in the fresh air, cool breeze, and warm sun. The views were [View Full Entry]

By sunketing
October 5th 2009

Dinghu Shan 鼎湖山 Asia » China » Guangdong » Zhaoqing

Ding Lake

We started our day off right: we all had a delicious McDonald's breakfast. Now, this may seem a bit unhealthy, and even a bit odd since we're in the land of Cantonese cuisine, but pancakes for the first time in months was the best thing to kick off a vacation... half-way through. The bus ride to Dinghu Mountain was about 30-40 minutes and took us far outside the city. We arrived at the next town over and had to walk through it before reaching the park. We opted to pay Y15 each for bus tickets around the park and were so [View Full Entry]

The World's Largest Ding, the Nine Dragon Vessel

By sunketing
October 4th 2009

A Song Dynasty City That Got a Little Bigger Asia » China » Guangdong » Zhaoqing

By the Lake

Today was off to quite a start: up at 5am, out the door by 6am, on the train by 7am, arriving in the small city of Zhaoqing shortly after 9am. How small you ask? Size is relative. 3.9 million people makes for a nice small city in China with the same feeling as a small town in the US. Really. Our hotel is just just a block from the lake. It is possible to take tours of the crags surrounding the lakes, but we've opted not to. LP says it's beautiful but not worth the steep cost. Besides, seeing the rest [View Full Entry]

By sunketing
October 3rd 2009

A Royal Tomb, an Orchid Garden, and a Memorial Asia » China » Guangdong » Guangzhou

Entrance to the Museum

Ahhh, the first full day of vacation! Today we got up and headed out to Starbucks for a leisurely breakfast on the patio. The old, leaning trees covered in vines and front porch made for a very secluded feeling and induced intimate conversations about Tang Dynasty poetry and ancient writing in China. I had a warm apple turnover with my black coffee. We then headed to the train station to buy our tickets for part two of our trip. We ended up eating fast food for lunch--much to everyone's chagrin--because by the time we figured out where in the massive station [View Full Entry]

By sunketing
October 2nd 2009

Rocky Day, Fantastic Night Asia » China » Guangdong » Guangzhou

Church on the Island

For my National Day adventure this year, I and two friends (Toni and Abby) headed out by train to visit 2 towns in the province. First up: Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, for 2 days. Then, off to destination number two. We met up at the train station around 2pm and got seats on the next train to Guangzhou. One of the reasons we decided on this trip instead of going somewhere else was the availability of tickets. Since we couldn't buy anything until we were paid, and many Chinese travel during the 8-day holiday, getting tickets anywhere was difficult. Luckily, [View Full Entry]

By sunketing
September 27th 2009

National Day is Coming! Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

Flags as far as I can see
They're all over the bridge, too.

Last week was insanely busy and this week promises more of the same. National Day, China's version of our July 4, is on October 1st. This year is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC and everyone is getting excited. Everywhere I go I see a sea of red flags waving in the wind. People are out en masse, shopping. There are more movies in the theaters about the founding of "New China" than I can count. (The one I saw last week, The Founding of the Republic, was well-done, fairly unbiased, and had subtitles!) I've seen flower arrangements [View Full Entry]

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