Blogs from Jiangxi, China, Asia - page 14

On Wednessday Mike and I decided to visit famous Lu Shan ("Mt. Lu"). We arrived at the long distance bus station at about 10:30, bought a ticket for the 11:30 bus, and ate some ramen. Unfortunately, the bus was half an hour late, so we didin't get on Lu Shan until about 1 PM. Mike then found out (good thing I had a Chinese-speaking guide) that the last bus back to Jiujiang left at 4:30. So we had about three hours to explore. Lu Shan has been famous in China for thousands of years. It rises quite suddenly out of the Yangze river plain to some 1,400 meters above sea level. On the graceful slopes of Mt. Lu, the doctrines of "Pure Land" Buddhism (of the Mahayana, or "big wheel" tradition) were formulated. It has been ... read more

Slept well, got up early and was taken around campus by a student volunteer. Perhaps they have a sense of humor in selecting these facilitators, because mine was about 4 feet 10 inches tall. At any rate she had me introduced to my boss and had me registered at the police station. Tomorrow I have my Chinese physical examination. When I got back to my place, I met my neighboor who lives directly acrosss the hall. He is also a foreign teacher on a nine-month contract (he teaches medicine). And wouldin't you know it, he hails from a land where the people speak the fifth most spoken native language in the world. That's right folks, he's a Bengali! We were both very pleased by our mutual serendipity. Apparently there is a large community of South Asian ... read more

We're still here... so the blogging continues.... After having been away from the UK for over ten months we thought that we'd want to go home in early September in time for graduate recruitment and university intake time of year. But instead we've accepted a great job offer where we will remain based in Zibo but will do bits of work in lots of cities around China. We couldn't miss the opportunity to travel more whilst still getting home in time for Christmas, avoiding rainiy recession autumn in England. We finished at school a few weeks ago following final exam week and parent meeting week. Leaving the classes that we've taught for 24 weekends felt funny but we soon realised that children are fickle so we shouldn't get too emotional. We took all the staff out ... read more

Hello All: I'm finally getting settled here in Nanchang, reality has set in, and now I know that I am actually in China! I am starting to miss family and friends back home, and am having the realization that easy access to people who know me very well does not exist here. However, these moments are all part of the travelers experience, and one cannot have the access of familiarity and uncertainty simutaneously. I finally got my teaching schedule from my head teacher named Sophie. She is a Nanchang local and appears very inviting and is an excellent resource. I will be teaching freshmen, Business conversation (oral), and a Freshman writing course. My schedule is awesome, and Mondays are my only full day where I teach 3 classes. Tuesdays and Wednesdays I have one class in ... read more

Ahh. So its the end of my 4th day here in Nanchang. My sleeping schedule is still awry but today I didn't take that midday nap that I usually would have. This of course was particularly difficult because there was a raging storm, and stormy weather usually makes me wanna clunk out. I figure after this additon I will hit the sack. The last two days have been both especially interesting and boring. First of all I got my medical approval to get my foriegn experts liscence. This little red book with my picture and all my very personal health information will allow me to retain a residence permit. Apparently, there were issues with John's ECG and he had to go back to get another test before they would approve his liscence. I decided to go ... read more