Blogs from Inner Mongolia, China, Asia - page 7

I really hope this link works... http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0098009/gp/49003535@N05/8n8r0E Created a Flickr account so I could display footage I took after climbing a "mountain" on Sunday. I find the video kind of humorous because my manager did NOT want to be on camera, so she took over. The first part of the video shows a donkey cart moving on the road in the distance; you can't really see it clearly but that was actually why I started filming. To my Chinese-speaking viewers: I apologize in advance for my horrible pronunciation. Rough trascript: "Manager Zhang!" "I'm too ugly!" "No, you're not! Tell my family hi!" Laughter, camera switches hands. "It's recording." "You didn't record me did you? Ok, hi Samantha! How was today?" "I'm feeling good. I'm at Shi Ren Wan, Stone Man Gulf" *attempts to end filming by ... read more

Me and my big mouth Today was another clear, beautiful day, although I did not get a chance to go outside. The weather was fine; work, not so much. In lieu of an adventure in rush hour traffic, I took a nap. I was still in a somewhat downcast mood when I woke up, but, like the weather, things can change really fast. It happened when I ran into one of my managers at dinner. She is one of the head honchos at the hotel, and this means everyone (self included, of course) is slightly in awe of her. She is really quite nice to me though, perhaps because I'm shy and living thousands of miles from home. Anyway, she was telling me about a recent hike she took in the mountains, and how tall and ... read more

Painted eggs, tomb sweeping and a synchronistic holiday weekend Yesterday I was called over to my supervisor's desk and told that I would have Monday off. I asked her if we had a holiday coming up, and she told me we would be off for 清明节 (Qingming Jie or "Clear Bright Festival"). She added that it was a holiday in honor of the dead. I felt a slight chill, because this weekend is also Easter. How odd that the two holidays should coincide! In fact, this year Clear Bright Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, falls the day after Easter Sunday. This wasn't the first time I had heard of Tomb Sweeping Day: one of my Chinese friends has a name that sounds vaguely like 清明; as a result, one of his more eccentric foreign ... read more

Blogging again! Finally found an...accessible blogging platform, although having to use formatting codes leaves a little to be desired. I can't even remember the last time I blogged...because I couldn't log in or even see the websites! (Can you tell I'm a little bitter about internet access issues?) Anyway, I'm glad to be blogging again and hopefully it will be entertaining for those who read it. Duration of "Mission: Sam in China" so far: six months and 18 days. I'm not counting, it's just that the day I flew into Huhehaote is burned on my brain. I was scared out of my mind: I had no idea what to expect or if I would be "good enough" to meet the challenge of living and working abroad. I haven't seen as much of China as would like, ... read more

Day 486: Wednesday 28th October - I thought travelling was stress free? Unusually I am writing this as it is fresh in the memory, the same evening sipping a beer and enjoying the sense of achievement. Let me explain. Winding the clock back half a day ago and I am woken by the guard on the train from Beijing half an hour before we arrive in Hohhot (pronounced Huhehaote), the capital of Inner Mongolia. I look out to the more barren landscape that confronts me now, a landscape closer to winter than that of Beijing and surrounds and psyche myself up for the day ahead. Tibet was meant to be sorted before I came to Hohhot but that plan, well didn’t go to plan as simple as that! At least the start of the day is ... read more