http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/sunketing/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from sunketing en-us Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:14:42 +0000 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:14:42 +0000 In honor of my 200th blog entry I'm sharing a story of triumph. It's only fitting.On Monday I went to Starbucks to get a coffee before heading home from my lesson with my tutor. I needed to stay up and study so I could meet her for an extra lesson on Tuesday. A Dark Cherry Mocha seemed like the perfect motivation.I ordered I paid I went home. I took a drink. It was a plain mocha. No cherr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-460613.html Being foreign does affect the way things work for me. Especially as a female with blondish hair. Today for example I was in line at the post office to mail a card. I only had one thing and obviously it's going to take less time than a package. I lined up like I was supposed to watching the yellow footprints on the floor that everyone else was oblivious to. The sign above the desk is green http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-458364.html One of the things I discovered and got very excited about when I first arrived was seeing things I recognized that were just a little different. It's fun to see your favorite soft drinks breakfast foods and other household items with slightly different packaging. It's also fun to guess what the writing says or how to pronounce it. It makes everyday just a little more interesting.Here are som http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-456753.html It was time for another trip to Hong Kong. I don't get there as much as I'd like it's a tad expensive and there's so much to see yet I don't want to kick myself down the road because I didn't see parts of the city. I went with my friend Candy. She's got a visa to go Chinese Nationals need visas to visit and had only used one of the visits the visa is good for two. Her first trip didn't http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-460439.html Have you ever had one of those days where so many things are frustrating and you're about to give up on people... at least until tomorrowToday was one of those days. And then something wonderful happened.I was waiting for the bus tonight. It was starting to rain coming down in a fine mist. I enjoy the rain. Many friends and my parents can tell you I enjoy dancing in the rain. There's someth http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-460596.html Not much to report but I thought I should assure you that I'm still alive. And that I'm not sick.It's December now. The school year is one third over. Time flies when you're in a pattern. I feel like yesterday was Fridayhow did it get to be Wednesday already Wait where did November goI've done some grocery shopping this week. Twice in fact. Both times I was assaulted by music that sh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-459322.html 1. As I was riding the bus home one night it became apparent that a woman was asking the bus driver how to get to the University. Our bus didn't go by the University. She started to look a bit worried. It was late and she had a lot of bags to carry. The bus driver told her she should go back to the metro and take a different bus. She nodded. But howThen the bus driver pulled over and stop http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-443280.html One of the seasonal foods in southern China this time of year is crab. Tamara was kind enough to buy me one at her local market. And then I got sick so it sat in the refrigerator in our office for a week. When I finally pulled it out of the black plastic bag to cook it I was a bit worried. I know if it's not alive it's not safe to eat. How will I know I had tapped the bag and nothing happe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-456929.html Alright a quick update on life here.Thursday I had my last IVs at the local clinic. Luckily this time I brought a book with me so I could escape the mindnumbing children's TV. Many of the adults were glued however.Yesterday I ventured out to the grocery store to stock up. My food supplies were low after eating every meal in my room for a week. And I wanted some western food. So I got soup http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-456757.html Today is Thanksgiving though you wouldn't know it in China. In honor of this important holiday I thought I'd make a short list of the things I'm thankful for.1. I'm thankful for my health even this week.2. I'm thankful I have wonderful friends and family both here and abroad.3. I'm thankful I am able to write this and then read it with understanding.4. I'm thankful my travels have taught http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-456290.html Boy do I know how to make blogs fun.So again today I slept in way too late. My overstuffing by spaghetti last night left me feeling less than fantastic today as well.Roy messaged me to see how I was doing. In truth worse than yesterday. So I contacted Anthony about having some work done on my leaking shower since I'm obviously here all day and the worker can come. I now have a finely re http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-455806.html This morning around 830 Anthony called to see how I was feeling. I was still in bed obviously and said I was feeling much better. And I am. My stomach is no longer doing funny things. I said I thought I could come back to work today. Today he asked. Oh well don't you think you should take an extra day or two to rest See the students many of them are sick and you are weak and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-455468.html It finally happened. I got sick. Not in the I have a stuffy nose and a bit of a cough sense but in the I need to stay home and not go to work sense. I managed to avoid it last year though there were probably a few times I should have stayed home.I got up today feeling fine. I felt a bit off yesterday but figured it was something I ate or drank. An upset stomach in China is nothing to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-455251.html Hello folks I realize it's been a while since I've written anything and I do apologize for that. I've been in a funk lately and it's been killing my motivation to do anything. The past week has been spent trying to stay awake long enough to get the most important stuff done before crawling into a warm bed at 10pm and conking out before the opening lines of Pride and Prejudice have finished. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-454846.html 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 jacko http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-451410.html One of the many things that still fascinates me in this country is the tshirts. Yes tshirts. 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 we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-449840.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-447293.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Zhaoqing/blog-443274.html 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... halfway through.The bus ride to Dinghu Mountain was about 3040 minutes and took us far outside the city. We arrived at the next town http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Zhaoqing/blog-443830.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Zhaoqing/blog-443828.html