Blogs from Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, Asia - page 6

My incredible luck once more came into effect as I went to visit an area called “Xili Lake”. It is one of the new metro stations created in Shenzhen and I was thinking a nice park could be found there. Instead of a lake with a lakeside park or beach, I found Safari Park Shenzhen. I relished the chance of seeing another wonderful safari park after the great experience I had in Guangzhou (Chimelong Safari) but wasn’t prepared for this slightly smaller place. I will note that with the bright colours and cartoonish statues within the place, the Safari Park Shenzhen is geared for children but still enjoyable for adults (or children of all ages). Once more, I will not list the many animals present in this safari park since you can see all of them ... read more

There's a song by TLC called "Don't go chasing waterfalls" and after this adventure it is definitely something I think everyone should live by! Laura and Val had read about a mountain that had beautiful cherry blossoms, gushing waterfalls and fruit you could pick from the trees and eat. The waterfalls, cherry blossom and fruit were all on the same hike path so we decided to do it. We found out where we had to go and met at the tube station. We then had to take a bus. We thought we knew which bus we wanted but a Chinese lady said we needed a different bus. Why wouldn't we listen to her? She's local and knows the area better than we do. The bus she suggested arrived and so we got on. The hike was ... read more

For the past few weeks we have been rehearsing Christmas songs with our children to perform at the Christmas show. Today is the dat of the show and our Christmas Party. The show is all day with K3 first, then K2 and K1 finishing it off. I started the day at the entrance gate waving hello, and handed out seaweed as a present from the school to all the children, dressed as Santa. Yes that's right, I was dressed as Santa Clause -I even put a pillow under my coat. After that parents and children crowded around a red carpet that ran around the whole school. K3 walked the red carpet first saying Merry Christmas to every one as they walked past. I had to walk with our class at the front smiling and waving and ... read more

I know what you are thinking. Halloween isn't until the 31st October and yes, you are right. But this is the school's Halloween day. A day of games, dressing up and fun. We were told by our contact teacher that we could dress up. Val and I decide to get Minnie Mouse outfits. Val wore hers as advertised and went as Minnie Mouse, and with a few alterations I became Zombie Minnie Mouse. Every one loved it, especially the children. I had my photo taken all day long. Laura, Val and I were tasked with an out door game for the children during the morning. We decided to use the holla hoops, putting them in a row of four and showing the children they need to jump from hoop to hoop and putting each one over ... read more

Oh my what a week it’s been. After arriving in China I was met by a Chinese lady who works for the company I'm starting with. She was kind enough to meet me at Huanggang border Checkpoint. However what she forgot to tell me and what I didn't know, was that you had to get off the bus in Hong Kong, go through security to get back on the bus to be taken to China for more security checks. Consequently I stood around in the bus station for approx. half an hour waiting for her. I started feeling as though something wasn't quite right. I had a text message in Chinese that she had sent me earlier and after showing it to someone at the station they pushed me on the next bus. Luckily I have ... read more