http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Inner Mongolia , Hohhot en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:26:18 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:26:18 +0000 Bin wieder heil aus der Inneren Mongolei daheim angekommen Mir hat es richtig gut gefallen und ich waere gern noch ein bisschen laenger geblieben.Aber gut ich fang lieber mal wieder von vorne an. Der 1.10. ist in China ein ziemlich wichtiger Feiertag. Am 1.10.1949 wurde naemlich die Volksrepublik China gegruendet. Die Mathegenies unter euch merken jetzt auch dass China dieses Jahr also einen ru http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-443713.html I never made it to the sand dunes or grasslands of Inner Mongolia but the capital city of Hohhot was extremely interesting.We set off on a Friday night for a location further north but by the time we had bought our tickets all of the beds had been sold out and only seats were left. We spent the whole night and the rest of the next day sitting in seats that couldn't recline on a crowded train http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-424013.html I finally saw Transformers 2 last night it was incredible The movie was only in Chinese and did not have subtitles... but still so awesome I just wish I knew what they were saying. Oh well I guess that means I have to see it again when I get home. Kaye http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-420853.html Jaycee left today. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-418351.html Monday morning the teachers at New Times the managers and the foreigner jumped into a bus and drove an hour south to the Er Long Shi Tai national park. The park is surrounded by farmland and is beautiful. The drive seemed short we were telling jokes and looking at the beautiful scenery. As per my CIAparents conditioning when I was a baby I wanted to sleep the minute I got into the bus but Car http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-414666.html I've been meaning to write this post for a while but have been procrastinating for various reasons. One of the most interesting things that I have encountered while in China is crossing the street. If you are reading this in the States while sitting on the couch you may laugh thinking that it is more complected than waiting for the signal to turn. Instead in China it's more like the 100m dash http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-413707.html As you may have read I have been experiencing some stomach issues. On Monday I had the day to myself. No students no school no class. This was probably a good thing because I was feeling horrible to say the least and to keep the blog PG. Around 8 pm I was finally hungry enough that I rolled out of bed after waking up at 9am and spending the day on the computer to attempt to make it to the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-411843.html I just realized that I have been in China for a month... it doesn't feel like it. Also I am officially back in Hohhot where I will remain until I return to America in November. I made a rather stupid decision a few days ago I drank the water out of the tap. I was feeling a little thirsty and it was late. I thought What the heck I filled my bottle with cold water took a few swigs and went http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-410619.html Today rather than my usual English class I took my collegeage students out on a field trip. Or more accurately they took me on a field trip to Hohhot's newer history museum. The museum is only a few years old and gigantic. It's a must see if you are interested in the history of Inner Mongolia. But the best part is that the museum gives away 3000 free entries each day. All you have to do is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-405197.html So I finally had a day off. This English speaking contest has thrown everything off. I havenrsquot had a day off for 9 days so Irsquom going a little batty. But the school decided to give us today off and some of the teachers took me to Da Zhao Temple. So at 930 this morning Caroline Seven Wendy Emma and I took the bus to meet Addison at the Temple. If you ever find yourself in Inner M http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-404538.html Well after talking about going for a few days now I did it. I went to KFC. Now this may not seem like a monumental task but after the aforementioned Duck Head Incident you could say that I've been a little paranoid about the food I've been eating. Don't get me wrong I love the food I've eaten for the most part. But every time I tuck into another meal I have to ask whether or not I am goi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-403271.html Got through today with minimal trauma. I had to give a teaching demonstration to the director but they didn't tell me what to talk about. So I talked about American culture. Apparently I speak very quickly when I am nervous a habit I thought I had gotten rid of so I had to redo my presentation again so that the English teachers could translate for the directors. When I was done Caroline explai http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-401401.html Guess what I had for lunch on Thursday If you said Spicy Stewed Duck Heads yoursquod be right. Yes. Duck HEADS. I enjoy duck. The breast the thigh the wing not the head. And not fully intact split in half for the world to see. I nearly ran from the table and just to be polite I had to sit there and pretend to eat it. I actually played the ldquowhat would Susan Yester dordquo And I kn http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-401230.html Irsquom writing you from Huhehaote in Inner Mongolia. Believe it or not but this town is more like a big city than I would have ever expected. I was thinking maybe this would be small like Birmingham or Gaylord but this is more like Detroit. Itrsquos pretty cool although if you think I drive like an asshole you should never come to China. Pedestrians and people on bicycles just jump in fron http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-401055.html So I fail. I didn't realize that the Chinese government was going to reblock blogger five days before I leave for China but this site is not blocked So the blog begins again and I have stories for you http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-401052.html It's been a long week of traveling I've decided to split the week into more than one entry because I have so much to tell and 1000 photos to sift through. This entry is about my trip to Inner Mongolia.We the entire ACS CIEE group 20 people left Shanghai on Friday morning for Hohhot the capitol of Inner Mongolia not to be confused with Outer Mongolia. Inner Mongolia is part of China and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-385531.html A bit late lost a lot of pictures coz my hard drive broke but I had these 3 upoaded already.Seeing that I'm almost ready to set off and head back to Asia I reckon it's time to publish it after all.Flown this route Beijing lt gt Huhehaote many times during my 15 month stay.09092009Isle of Terschelling The Netherlands http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-371255.html With temperatures being below 20 again and with Spring festival Chinese New Year on our doorstep which means a whole week to myself its time to hit the skies again. This time unfortunately to anotso warm place. Still compared to the Siberian temperatures here in Hohhot Qingdao is gonna feel like a tropical paradise with possible daily temperatures of somewhere between 0 and 8 degrees... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-366607.html It was Tuesday moning which is the second of my two days off. We had planned to cycle to the local rotisserie where we would buy half a chicken leg a bakery for breadrolls school to pick up some books and probably the local shop too for a bottle of wine. Yeah well... NO.Downstairs inside our appartment building where we've been parking our bikes since we bought them we discovered some bast http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-334079.html Itrsquos the MidAutumn holiday... and after working the actual holiday on Sunday I am enjoying a nice three day break during the week...As usual Monday was quiet lame recovering from work... Tuesday my mission was to get the Mongolian visa because this is were I will be heading during the October holiday in two weeks time... 5 days... but you will find out about that soon. We went to the co http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-324592.html