Blogs from Wangfujing, Beijing, China, Asia - page 2

The deprived little Korean children are only given ONE meager week of summer vacation, which means myself, a teacher, only gets one week as well. When trying to decide where to spend our precious week, the choices were narrowed down to Japan, Thailand and China due to proximity. In the end, the choice was obvious: Beijing, China! It was half the price for a flight, only one hour away from Seoul, and once there, room and board were ridiculously inexpensive as well. We knew it was going to be a good trip when we boarded the plane and realized they had bumped us up to first class! We were treated like royalty the entire time: extra drinks, slippers, blankets, pillows, and more leg room than necessary. I almost wished the flight was longer! Once we arrived, ... read more

On Donghua Men Daije as you walk towards the Forbidden City you will see a long row of vendors dressed in white selling a variety of food in their shiny red carts. This is the Night Market. Unlike other night markets in Asia, this one only sells food. Winter fare would be much different from summer fare. On our first night there we decided to brave the cold and check it out. We headed out around 7ish and found the vendors were starting to pack up. The night was bitterly cold so there weren’t many people around the stalls. Unlike Hong Kong, the snacks consisted of a lot of insects and bugs, it was interesting to see. The other interesting food was a sort of mini candy apples piled together with some sweet sticky coating. If ... read more

Det har småregnat och varit mulet hela dagen, men precis då kaffesuget kommer spricker molnen upp och solen letar sig fram över centrala London. Med en Starbucks kaffe i handen sätter vi oss i gräset i Embankment Park. En orkester har ställt upp sig och spelar musik för en grupp tillresta pensionärer. Med musik i bakgrunden och med barnen som försöker leka med duvorna, njuter vi av utsikten över Themsen och vårt korta lunchuppehåll i London. Tidigare under dagen hade vi gjort ett obligatoriskt stop på Emirates Stadium och Arsenal shopen, bara för att upptäcka att butiken var halvtom inför kommande lansering av de nya kläderna. Tanken var annars att vi skulle köpa några av de nya tröjorna men vi kom en dag för tidigt. Istället dricker vi upp vårt kaffe och vandrar längs The Strand ... read more

Visite de Yihai Middle School Après une demi-heure d'embouteillage, nous arrivons au lycée privé de Yihai où nous avons été chaleureusement accueilli par le sous-directeur. Après la séance photo nous avons le droit de participer à la récréation "gymnastique" de tous les élèves chinois. Nous avons pu observer qu'ils s'alignent parfaitement lors des rassemblements et suivent les ordres du professeur de gym qui s'adressent à 1200 élèves simultanément ! Ensuite, nous assistons à un cours d'anglais et un cours d'EPS avec d'autres lycéens. Lors du cours d'anglais nous avons pu échanger quelques mots.... en anglais sur leur vie en Chine. Puis après avoir donné nos cadeaux, nous avons pu déjeuner dans leur gigantesque self. Nous avons été impressionnés par la discipline imposée aux élèves (lors du repas entre autre). Découverte de Wangfujing street (Champs E... read more

Today is the flight to Beijing, China and I couldn’t be more excited. I will skip the nitty gritty and flash forward to the events. Kaori and I met an amazing couple at the Osaka Airport. Tohru and Atsuko Ozaki were born and raised in Japan but are now living in China. We got to talking and found out some very good tips from their personal experience. First off, they mention that if you are offered a price on any item in the streets or at store, divide it by ten to get the local price of item. Tohru mentioned that while shopping in China she paid 80 Yuan, about $12, for an item at one play then later in she found the exact same item for 20 Yuan. So if you are shopping around, don’t ... read more