http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Guangdong , Shenzhen en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:47:39 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:47:39 UTC When I die I want to relive this trip. I want to see myself walk through this country and I want to hear the English translation of everything each Chinese person has said in my presence. I can not stand this language barrier. I was in a deparment store tonight searching for an egg crate for my piece of shit bed you can feel each spring in the mattress and though Irsquove always been a h http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-351277.html I didnrsquot even want to read it. My weekend had been that good. Just seeing it waiting for me in my email inbox deflated the life out of me. hellipif you want a thursday night playbyplay here goes i went over to yantian but hadn't made my arrival time clear enough i guess. so i waited for over an hour and a half for the guys to get back from tutoring. i was livid and more than anythin http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-351106.html I begin every class for my junior students by putting a sentence on the board that has mistakes both grammatical and spelling within it. The students enjoy the routine of making the sentence ldquo100rdquo and I am enjoying watching their progress with English grammar. I always write the sentence based on that weekrsquos lesson and so last week my sentence for the kids looked like thisEve http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-350251.html I was able to talk to three of my best friends from Connecticut on skype on Sunday It was glorious. They were all home for Thanksgiving and a cocktail party at Erica's. It reminded me that Thanksgiving came and went and although we had a dinner it was seeing them and receiving an email from Enrique that made me realize I hadn't actually taken a moment to think about what I'm thankful for. So he http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-350217.html JWest and I visited the Shenzhen Daily Wednesday afternoon. We received a small tour and spoke with news editor Roger Lin Min. My article on Thanksgiving ran the next day. They cut out the quote from the Chinese man which means I didnrsquot have to hang out with Zealot but Irsquom still glad I did. It was cool interviewing people with the help of an interpreter. Roger informed me that http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-350171.html Before I departed for China I had a mental list of things I wanted to try when I got here. One thing on my list was to learn to play Mahjong or at least try it once. Tonight I got my chance.A group of us gathered again for a game night with pizza but this time the organzier managed to get one of his student's parents and some other Chinese friends to come too. And they brought Mahjong. I a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-349106.html I would like to introduce everyone to my favorite person in all of China...my baby stalker. I am sure I have mentioned him before but I will go into a little more detail here. He is the baby of my next door neighbor a woman who is a teacher at my school. Her husband older daughter and elderly parents also live in the apartment where they all fit is still a mystery to me. Anywho I don't know http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-348940.html Before I begin this entry I must inform you that the Chinese equivalent of ldquoWhatrsquos uprdquo is ldquoHave you finished dinnerrdquo When people meet friends on the street instead of saying hello or whatrsquos up they will sometimes say ldquoHave you finished dinnerrdquo This is what several Chinese people have told me and Irsquom not sure if they are pulling my leg http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-348531.html My last few entries have sucked pretty bad. I should have edited the shit out of those emails I shared with you and I have half a mind to go back and do that but I think Irsquom going to leave it the way it is as testament to my laziness. hellip. Have I ever mentioned that air comes shooting up through my toilet making the toilet water bubble and gargle as if itrsquos about to explode http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-348395.html When I sent out that massive email last week I knew three things to be certain about the response I would receive. One only girls would write back. Two the number would be single digits. And three Megan VaughnAlbert would be one of them. Irsquom not sure if I have written about Megan. I probably have in passing just because shersquos pretty. hellip And she has enormous breasts. E http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-348239.html ...and call him George Disclaimer This entry is about my friend's cat. I'm including photos and videos for her family and friends back home. So if you're expecting one of my usual entries about my life in China this isn't one. If however you want to see some pictures and a couple of videos of a really cute and vicious kitty then enjoyAnother teacher Amy found several stray kittens a co http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-348039.html 3794126495240502115229105 2418024773303402428223376313591997830333333942104626381 314492231225105204973875421069 208082049819968406702783322312379412649519978 28982244602522619977292553977022602259181997821435 386172516325343338792084120491235673785 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-347509.html Meeting other foreigners is always an interesting experience. A lot of Americans or possibly Eurpoeans I don't positively know will avoid looking at you. It's almost as if other foreigners aren't allowed to existthey want to be the only one in China. Other people are just escapingfrom what though I don't know. Others will notice you let you notice them and then ignore you. We're an http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-347402.html I believe in karma. I believe that there are forces in this universe that God has no control over. The diety that created existence wrote the laws and has been sitting back watching laughing and crying ever since. Itrsquos like a National Geographic host It can not and will not interfere. But It wrote the laws of karma and karma has a way of righting the universe a way of putting things http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-347345.html Thanksgiving doesn't just happen on the fourth Thursday of November. It happens whenever you want it to and let it. My teachers group held ours today.A friend of mine made a comment that you can tell the economy here is changing because there are more street vendors now. Where I'm at is an upper income neighborhood and there were only 2 stands by my school when I got here in Sept. Now within http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-347341.html Last Friday morning I received the following email from Roger Lin the person I was told to contact in regards to getting parttime work with the Shenzhen Daily. I sent the man a cover letter and my resume on the previous Sunday morning.Dear Mr. Jenkins Thanks for your email. I'm very sorry for the late reply. I'm very glad to know you are willing to contribute to our paper on various topics. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-347138.html All of the students at my school and probably everywhere in China wear uniforms either blue sweats for gym day or black pantswhite shirt for boysplaid skirtwhite shirt for girls. Whether it's gym day or not all students wear a red scarf tied around their neck. I'm kind of a dunce sometimes and just thought it was part of the uniform. I didn't realize it was symbolic of the communist party. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-346511.html SHENZHEN CHINA Itrsquos probably a good thing that American expatriot Gavin Jenkins is unable to speak Mandarin.ldquoI wouldrsquove cussed out both of those referees and my teammatesrdquo said Jenkins following his faculty basketball teamrsquos loss on Monday night. ldquoThey handed the game away and why Because the headmaster was on the other team.rdquoJenkins a Verona Pa. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-346295.html Sunday November 9 my friends and I went to see the new James Bond movie at a theatre in Dongmen. I've mentioned Dongmen before but it is such a wonder to behold that I feel it deserves a larger entry in my blog. The movie was enjoyable. I still have trouble accepting that soccer hooligan as James Bond but he does well enough I suppose. Movies are expensive here. They can cost anywhere from Y40 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-346241.html I once watched a movie that shall remain nameless for the simple reason that I don't want to own up to loving it. One of those guilty secret pleasures. In unsaid movie there is a conversation between a prince and a commoner disguised as a member of the court which explains how she is able to talk to the prince. She is envious of his freedom and he of hers neither of them realizing that th http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-345905.html Hello from China Alright. I get the picture people. You can stop haranguing me about the blog. I should have blogged a while ago. A long time ago. Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa. Alas because it has been so long since I blogged instead of organizing the entry in a chronological order I am going to instead do it more topically. I will try to recap most of what has happened but I wil http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-345624.html That's right I made it to the zooA group of 5 of us went on Sat am. It consisted of Caitlin James Samantha AKA Sam who I hang out with from time to time but have never mentioned by name Meg and moi.We arrived around 1130 ish which was later than I had wanted. The park opened at 830 I wanted to get there by 9 to beat the kiddies and the heat. James used to work in a zoo in the Stat http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-345612.html There's something to be said for spending the afternoon with your jaw in your lap and your arms moving with such speed that you resemble a hummingbird.On Thursday Carrie asked me if I was going to the theatre the next day. I had no idea what she was talking about and said I had class. Then she told me it was free. I love theatre. We have a substitute in class right now. She's not as good as http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-345157.html Remember the old Skin Bracer commercial Jack Palance slaps some lotion on his face and says ldquoConfidence is sexy donrsquot you thinkrdquoDo girls find confidence sexy Or do they see confidence immediately think the guy is a manwhore because he has confidence and then write him offI like being the center of attention in short spurts. Itrsquos a class clown thing. You make a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-344780.html After Chinese class and a brief stint at 3D Bar a place where fun nights out go to die Dan Cody and I found ourselves wandering around Shenzhen on a Wednesday evening. We walked aimlessly imploring China to provide us with some form of entertainment. Due to the severe lack of benches in China we sat in the filth against a wall to people watch. China instantly came through for us. Within fi http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-344769.html Election day in China. I prefaced each of my lessons today with pictures of McCain and Obama the words election vote candidates and campaign. Most of it went over their heads but they all recognized Obama and shouted his name over and over mostly because they like the way it sounds but also because most Chinese seem to think he's soo good soo good They were praising him before his victo http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-344691.html There's a Taiwanese restaurant around the corner from our Chinese classes. We'd been there once before and the Taiwanese owner who speaks perfect English was really cool with us. He gave us his business card and told us to call him if we ever needed any help kept talking about what a favor we were doing for China and gave us the most delicious lemon spiced tea for free. The food was good and http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-344619.html Last week I got a new tutoring job in addition to the two eight year olds I teach once a week for an hour. I'm currently tutoring a CEO of a major chinese company. The ad on the listserve said looking for female tutor and was about this 40 year old ceo who wanted to meet frequently. SHE wanted someone to practice conversational English before SHE moved to Vancouver for business.I was like oh co http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-344613.html None of this needs any set up. Enjoy.Hi Kavin I am Craigyour acquaintance .The topic of last English solonDatingis very interesting and we had a good discussion.Thank you very much for bringing us so much fun as well as sparks of insight.Would you mind my asking you a questionDo you happen to know the contact information of Carloinean Amercian girl teaching at a primary school who ha http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-344447.html