Blogs from Inner Mongolia, China, Asia - page 4

What should I expect? The accounts all differ. Some new American fellow-expat friends, who have lived and worked overseas for many years, tell me to expect to get bitten by the travel bug very soon after returning home. To find dating more difficult than before, because my perspective and lifestyle are very different from what they used to be. To discover that I have changed in ways I don't even suspect yet. From my Chinese friends who live Stateside, however, I have heard that living abroad for several years is bittersweet, for the simple fact that home will always be home. One craves foods that are not to be found without some difficulty, one misses family; and these dear friends have been away from their families for years, while as for me, it has only been ... read more

A Morning of Celebrity Lately, I have been in the stage where I'm so caught up with getting ready to come home that I haven't been going out as much on social visits. But last weekend I had the unique opportunity of being involved in a "Question and Answer" session hosted by my friend Lulu and attended by her classmates, who are all studying English as part of their major. I felt a little anxious about it until the night before; then Lulu texted me with the topics and possible questions I was supposed to "lecture" on: they were not weighty, and I could just kind of outline answers in my mind before I went to sleep. Sunday was the day of the event; Lulu's campus is outside the city, so at 8:30am she picked me ... read more

We were in Inner Mongolia for the open spaces of the grasslands and the fresh air they bring. To reach them we had taken a bus 2hours north from Hohhot to the little tourist settlement of Zhaohe. On reaching Zhaohe the coach dropped us off in a large, developed camp. I’d read that slightly smaller, more bijou camps could be found further north in more peaceful surrounds, so we left, leaving a trail of unhappy hawkers to search further afield. In the town itself we were approached by a masked woman on a motorcycle wanting to sell us a Ger for the night (or as it is in Chinese - Menggu Bao, Bao being the word for white steamed bread buns). Both negotiating parties then played their part to the textbook; she was insistent with initially ... read more

Mongol Vs Conductor We had taken our seats and were waiting for the bus to fill when the old Mongolian got on. Every craggy feature on his wizened old face had a story to tell - none more so than the large cleft in his left ear. Aimless, incoherent mutterings fell from his toothless mouth. Here was a character who had many a battle behind him. Bent double, he slowly lurched down the bus before listing heavily and landing with a bump in the corner of the back row. But soon there was some discontent. There was one more person than seat, and our Mongol didn’t have a ticket. He was stubborn and stoic though and wasn’t about to give in. And thus the problem had been defined. On one side of the negotiating table ... read more

Dans le train je croise un Alexandre qui a commence un voyage autour du monde a partir de la Suede ou il a bosse pendant deux ans, et avec un projet original que je vous invite a decouvrir ici . Et il a envie de faire du stop, comme je le comprends...c'est donc a deux qu'on quitte Eerlian apres un controle d'entree en Chine tres decevant (pas une fouille anale, pas une torture rien ; meme ma bouteille d'essence n'a pas eveille leur curiosite...), pour nous retrouver sur une route au milieu de la steppe, et apres moins de trois minutes le fruit des amours contrariees d'une 650cc et d'une remorque nous embarque a fond de balle. Apres une heure et demie de vent dans les cheveux (bon ok dans la barbe) on arrive dans un ... read more