Blogs from Dalian, Dongbei, China, Asia - page 11

Asia » China » Dongbei » Dalian April 11th 2006

So the following is what happens when you try to combine Democracy with Communism. First of all you end up with relationships like the one I and Camillo have. Second of all you end up with an absolute mess. In actuality combining these two is an art. An art that I am doing my best to manage but always throws me curveballs. Camillo and I have to go to Shenyang on the 18th of April to go through the Visa Application process. I suppose I don't really HAVE to go but I'm sure I'll be of some use (as I have been already). We started the application process last Thursday when we went to buy a phone card (that you have to buy to start the Visa process for whatever reason). Then Friday Camillo and I ... read more

Lax

Asia » China » Dongbei » Dalian April 10th 2006

Jupe

Don't know what's up with the title just decided to put it. This past weekend was a bit of a wreck. I had one class that was absolutely awful. I had to make one kid stand up and face the blackboard and not speak, one other kid I sent out of the classroom and then I had to have three kids stand at the end and the whole class thank them for giving extra homework. This class is a K6 class that acts as a whole like a K4 class because their level of English is so low. I have two K6 classes and two K7 classes and I feel like I'm teaching K5, a K6 and two K7 classes. It's a bit strange. I have two extremely slow classes - one of my K7 classes ... read more

Living alone

Asia » China » Dongbei » Dalian April 6th 2006

Cat

Jupe

When I was little I used to think to myself how awful it would be to live alone. Now that Russell got this cat I'm beginning to understand that for me it wouldn't be such a huge deal to live alone as long as I had pets. Something to come home to that you know will curl up next to you and sleep - the best thing for that is a pet because people just aren't that reliable all the time. Had a pretty decent day today, got a bunch of things done. This morning I woke up and went with Camillo and Hui to the bank to get a phone card so we can call and talk to them about the Visa. Then Camillo and I went to lunch while Hui was getting her Visa ... read more

So Much To Do So Little Time

Asia » China » Dongbei » Dalian April 5th 2006

Jupe

Today was quite an exciting day surprisingly enough. Did the usual this morning - woke up with JUST enough time to walk to school before the meeting. We had a fairly uneventful meeting and then Wayne, Kelvin and I went out for lunch. I used to say that Wayne and I didn't really get along - and we don't. He's a very macho man and I'm not really into too much of a macho man (nor can I really hold a conversation with one). However fortunately I was able to bring up my trip to Guanzhou and he was able to help me with it. We've decided that Hong Kong isn't really the place for me. According to Wayne it's just another New York, same like Shanghai. Just another modern bustling city - doesn't really show ... read more

Walking

Asia » China » Dongbei » Dalian March 30th 2006

Jupe

If I ever hear another American whose not working 12 hours a day complain about working long hours I'm going to strangle them until ... wait, I'm not a violent person, really! But seriously people here work freaking crazy hours. The L Salon boys work 9am-9pm and then have class at the Salon until around 11pm every night. The construction workers at the building in front of mine work from around 7am-10pm every night and then sleep in the building they're working in (like in little tents). Taxi drivers work all around the clock - they sleep in their taxis and if you wake them up it's their duty to take you. I told Cat the other day that I remember a long time ago here when the two of us went with Russell out to ... read more

Unchangeable

Asia » China » Dongbei » Dalian March 28th 2006

Jupe

It's strange how there will always be some things that never change. Like the three taxi drivers that are always on the corner of my street late at night (around midnight) washing their taxis, or the fact that walking up to my door at night still scares the shit out of me even though I know I'll do it and be fine, or the fact that I always walk the same way home from Cat's place even though there are three ways to get home or try the fact that no matter how much I prepare for a class (not tutoring an actual class) I'm still nervous about it until I walk in and teach it. Today I realized that I've been taking a little backwards way to get back home from Samuel and Sally's house ... read more

Moments

Asia » China » Dongbei » Dalian March 27th 2006

Jupe

I just saw my baby Justin get the crap beat out of him with a baseball. I've been watching Queer as Folk lately. Justin is one of the main characters of the show. As I mentioned I've been a little bit of an insomniac so I've gotten into the show a bit and have seen almost every episode but just decided to start from the beginning and go until this particular episode. Well, I finally got there. Gay bashing is such a strange thing. The episode made it very obvious that Justin was being bashed because the boy who was bashing him was jealous of him and the relationship that Justin had with another main character Brian. It's funny how gays are mentioned here. According to a bunch of people I've talked to if you talk ... read more

Should be Teaching

Asia » China » Dongbei » Dalian March 26th 2006

Jupe

So I feel a little weird as I'm currently at home feeling a little bad but not so bad that I couldn't teach. Yesterday I came home from work and absolutely passed out. It was 5:45 and I didn't wake up until 8:45 at which point I still didn't feel very well. I had a fever of 37.7 degrees Celcius (which according to my handy National Weather Service converter is 99.86 degrees Fahrenheit) and felt fairly weak and dizzy. Russell was also home with the same thing and fortunately Shina had been out to get him some medicine and a bit of food (which I also ate). A bit later Shina called Wayne to let him know that the two of us were sick and Wayne scheduled some other people to work for us. I just ... read more

Insomniacs R Us

Asia » China » Dongbei » Dalian March 23rd 2006

Jupe

Normally when you watch a movie really late at night it puts you to sleep. Normally when it's 4am and you've been going to bed at 4 am for the past four nights you're finally tired and want to sleep. But that hasn't been happening with me. I don't know if it has to do with the fact that I'm thinking about too much or what. I yawn about twice a day yet I've gotten about 6 hours of sleep for the past four nights. I just can't sleep. I've been over to Camillo's place to study with him twice now this week and both times I looked down at my watch while we were studying and cussed out loud because it was 2:30am and I wasn't tired at all. Camillo soon told me to leave ... read more

Sunday Exhausted Sunday

Asia » China » Dongbei » Dalian March 19th 2006

Jupe

Sunday Bloody Sunday, Sunday Exhausted Sunday. Good song. Anyways, it's Sunday (yet again) and that means my brain is barely functioning right now. I was just telling Russell and Cat this but for whatever reason when I do tutoring my brain can at least still function at the end of the day, but when I teach actual classes my brain is pretty much fried at the end of the day. So at the end of a Sunday (the second day in a row of at least 7 hours of class a day) my brain is almost completely fried. I stop being able to really talk and just kinda sit there listening if I go out with people. Tonight Kelvin, Cat and I went to look for a movie but there weren't any in English showing so ... read more

Brief history of China

For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A...more history

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