Blogs from Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, Asia - page 21

Hello, Another week has passed! I have a feeling that time will really fly here. We had an ok week. We had different schedules this week, which wasn't fun. Next week, however, we have everything the exact same, which is nice. HMMM. Bartering. In Suzhou (maybe all of China), the set price tag means very little. I do know one thing. If you pay the price on the tag, you are getting ripped off hard. Some say that these prices are inflated several hundred percent. Ely is not a very good barterer. Neither am I. Many Westerners have let us know of the scenario that is very common. ::You walk into a store. They notice you are not a local. Some places don't have tags, so this makes it easier for them to test how little ... read more

Wow! It has been cold, but not as cold as the midwest I am sure. Anyways, we started our job last Thursday after our training. The training consisted of 2 hours shadowing with another teacher. Pretty ridiculous, but we don't have a lot of clout here I guess. Maybe just a cultural difference. Anyways, we are teaching adults. They are usually wealthy it seems. Most people can't afford English lessons. Our students are very ambitious. This makes them easy to teach. However, they aren't afraid to give negative/positive feedback. I guess it is a relief. They don't know enough English to know the difference in being tactful or tactless. I suppose it is fine. They tell us what is on their mind. Our school is very disorganized. We have an office and a school. They are ... read more

Our second day of the tour dropped us off at a Buddhist temple garden. There were Buddha's carved into the rock everywhere. Mostly the laughing Buddha, which is the most popular in China, and my personal favorite. Everytime I think of Buddha, I think of Melissa. She'll know what I mean. "Who is this jolly fat man?" He reminds me of Santa Clause a little, but mostly resembles a character out of my favorite book: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. If anyone has ever watched "A Muppet's Christmas Carol", which is my nirvana, I always imagine Buddha as sitting while surrounded by massive piles of meat, fruits, and vegetables. Then he laughs while his belly jiggles and bellows, "Come in! And know me better man!" And it is such a joy to have four Buddhas ... read more

Depuis notre dernier blog, nous nous sommes promenes de Hangzhou a Suzhou, deux villes beaucoup plus modernes que celles visitees auparavant et beaucoup plus civilisees aussi. Nous avons pu y admirer de beaux jardins ainsi que faire une promenade sur le "West Lake", visiter un extraordinaire temple boudhiste et son histoire. Les visites furent agrementees des commentaires de notre guide, un jeune homme tres dynamique et possedant un style tres particulier que tous ont su apprecie. La temperature nous a joue un p'tit tour et avons du se promener sous la pluie - ce qui n'a pas empeche les touristes de faire leur chemin, chaque groupe etant accompagne de leur guide respectif et tous ayant un parapluie ou un poncho. Alors imaginez le nombre de parapluie. Je n'en n'ai jamais vu autant. Il fallait suivre notre ... read more

Today we took the 9 a.m. train to Suzhou sitting in hard seats. The ride was only 45 minutes long, so it was not too bad. We were expecting a town of all canals, which is not what we got. I am not sure if we read too much into the town’s description or if they embellish a lot. There is one main canal that surrounds the town and others connecting but not the “whole town is a bridge” concept that I expected. We did visit a lovely garden, called “The Humble Administrator’s Garden”. We spent the afternoon wandering around checking out all the waterscapes, landscapes and buildings. This is considered one of the four top gardens in China. It was first built around 500 years ago. It is peaceful and I am sure during the ... read more