Blogs from Nanchang, Jiangxi, China, Asia - page 4

Monday was super cool. We all traveled to a cluster of small villages about an hour away from Nanchang that are all historically preserved. We spent quite a few hours there just walking from site to site exploring shops and viewing artifacts that were either uncovered or passed down through the generations. There was so much to see. There were people who had lived there all their lives and others, like us, who came in from the city to explore the cultural sites. There were people selling local produce, knicknacks, and resteraunts with local food. I bought myself some eggs which had been laid that day and then cooked for 3 hours. They were so hot I had to wait for almost 1/2 an hour to be able to handle it. There was a main path ... read more

So. I've got a week of vacation. What am I doing with it? Not a whole lot really. I'm not too worried about traveling at this point so chilling and shopping sits well with me right now. This weekend was pretty chill. I had the whole teaching on Saturday thing which was fine. My first class turned out ok though they were sad to be there and my second class was actually ahead of my first class so we just played games since I didn't want them to get further ahead of the first class. After that I just relaxed and packed for my week with the Cherians since I didn't have anything else planned for the day. On Sunday I packed the rest of the way and made my way towards Camilla and Pravine's. I ... read more

So I'm actually writing this in the morning. Why? Because I got a text from Rita telling me to check my e-mail. What does my e-mail say? "Hey, I know holiday starts this weekend, but since we screwed up the schedule again you should make up yesterday's class on Saturday even though on Monday when we screwed up that schedule by not telling you the change we said to never mind because it's too much work for the students. Oh and we want to track your wherabouts during the holiday so where are you going? Thanks!" So I'm really trying to be flexible but it was pretty hard to not to be upset. It's not like I have big plans or anything Saturday, but I just wish my school could just make the schedule and stick ... read more

So... I think I can officially say my school is a bit unorganized. Today I went to my classroom... no students there. So I go to the other classroom where I also teach at thinking they might be there (happened last week Wed. and the whole class was gone except one student who called at least some of them back)... no students except one who was sleeping on the desks. Another student from class B, the class I should be teaching walks up. After some bad English he wakes up sleeping student who comes out and they try to explain to me that the schedule has changed. Without me knowing. Crap.... Anyway I go find Rita because my phone hasn't been working all day and she's not in her office. Again. But it is open and ... read more

Okay we step back a bit. This would have been a week ago this past Sunday. First we have this unplanned meet with Larry - Larry is the billionaire that owns NIT. Martin wanted to go take pictures at the administration building after the closing ceremony. Low and behold down the stairs comes Larry. Andrea mentioned how hot it was and the next thing we know Larry is going to send us to Lushan to Lu Mountains in his private car for an overnight get away with Martin as our guide. He said so we could see the beauty and enjoy cooler temperatures after our hard two weeks of teaching in the heat! We had know idea the adventures that were to follow! Check out the pictures - I will add descriptions later. By the way ... read more