Blogs from jiujiang, Jiangxi, China, Asia

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Asia » China » Jiangxi » jiujiang December 7th 2010

A large banner at the entrance to the zoo lions promised lions, tigers, bears, snakes, and dinosaurs. Padraic and his three coworkers were skeptical - only fifteen renminbi to see dinosaurs in south-central China? Surely they would charge more. Disturbingly-upbeat techno music blared at the gate. A bear lay on the concrete floor of its tiny cage. Padraic and his three friends approached it and looked deep into the beast's defeated eyes. The pair of lions next door were somewhat livelier, if only because the mother lion had her cub as a companion. At least they had each other. A liger in the next exhibit paced its cage and made a particularly pitiful sound. The abomination's lamentable environment was predictably placed between the lions and a defiant solitary tiger. A small cage could not contain the ... read more

Asia » China » Jiangxi » jiujiang April 16th 2010

in fog I trust (under construction)... read more
in fog I still trust
rowing mankind

Asia » China » Jiangxi » jiujiang April 3rd 2010

Introduction and First Day 15th of March I have always impressed my friends with my…. let’s say “frugality”. My natural inclinations towards economic simplicity were encouraged by my family. Mom and dad did not really have a taste for “nice” things. Wholesome, delicious, entertaining and functional items would suffice. The tendencies towards minimalism in spending habits have been further reinforced through my traveling experiences. While living in India for six months in 2008, I kept track of every single rupee I spent (for the first four and a half months, at any rate). Even now, I often calculate my expenditures in terms of the amount of food I could purchase in Kolkata. For example, one dollar is not one dollar. It is two paneer egg rolls, two plates of all-you-can-eat rice and lentil curry, three ... read more

Asia » China » Jiangxi » jiujiang December 27th 2009

Christmas Eve was wonderful. I treated myself to a Fish Fillet at McDeath's. I was then invited to a dinner at a freind's house. He is Chinese-American-Chinese. Raised in New York by Chinese parents, living in Jiujiang for the last decade, has a wife and a kid. They had pizza with REAL CHEESE! I got to sit by my friend's father- an honored elder. Next was the party at my co-workers apartment. Lots of merriment, and a secret Santa game. I got a thermos, very useful for tea. I gave some Jinjou, a santa hat, and Mongolian milk-candy. Later on that night I met two tour guides while visiting my friends at the local watering hole. I was able to speak enough Chinese to have a very simple conversation (only one spoke English, at it was ... read more
Little Red House
Catholic Church
Buddhist Temple on the Lake

Asia » China » Jiangxi » jiujiang December 23rd 2009

I'm finishing up the semester. Yes that's right, of the nine month contract, two months are paid vacation! I love Socialism with Chinese Charactaristics! I had a good discussion in my class about China in 20 Years. I had them discuss good things that could happen, bad things that could happen, how to achieve the good things and how to avoid the bad things. "Increasing Economic Growth"- good thing, "More pollution"- bad thing, "India Will be #1 in Population" -good thing (they say), "Aging Population in China" -bad thing. I made a point to show how the good things and bad things are linked together- economic growth leads to more pollution, slowing of demographic expansion leads to an aging population. I was very impressed by my student's saavy. They seem to be well-informed, reasonable, concerned about ... read more

Asia » China » Jiangxi » jiujiang December 13th 2009

The weather here is reminiscent of a typical Seattle winter- cold and wet, alternating with periods of really cold and dry. Still, the days are not as short as those of Washington State in this time of year. I spend my time teaching, reading, practicing Chinese, writing, wandering aimlessly, eating food, and socializing with foreign and local friends. There was a feast hosted by the Foreign Languages Department on Thursday. All-you-can-eat Western food. I especially enjoyed the salad bar and buttered bread. Packed away five plates. Yesterday I was honored with an invitation to dinner at the apartment of Liu Yao, my Chinese teacher and co-worker. It was wonderful to have some home-cooked Chinese food and practice some phrases with his mother. They are from Heilongjiang Province, bordering Russia and North Korea. Probably plenty cold up ... read more
Liu Yao
Homemade Feast
American Friend

Asia » China » Jiangxi » jiujiang November 26th 2009

Well I have failed my mission. I had to buy winter clothes (and a halloween costume) so I spent a bit more in my second month than I did over the course of my first. 2,890.1 yuan total. However this is partially offset by the 15 yuan I found on the ground! Just came from a Thanksgiving feast at Jessie's. Lots of food, and good fun explainging Thanksgiving to a Chinese friend and an Englishman. I gave a speech aswell.... read more

Asia » China » Jiangxi » jiujiang November 22nd 2009

First snow came to Jiujiang on the fifteenth of November. We got roughly 5cm over the course of about 10 hours, and then it switched to rain, leaving an unpleasant remmnant. In other words, much like most Seattle snow. Seems like it changes from Summer to Winter in Jiangxi Province, no fall to mess around with. One week, its muggy and hot, seven days later long-johns are required. It might be a bit tought to adjust, I haven't had a proper winter in two years! I was recruited into a musical performance. First my friend Laura had me do some back-up clarinet to a vocal piece about three weeks ago. A third-year student (English name Elva) saw this small performance, and asked me to do a song with her on the main auditorium stage for a ... read more
Stage
Basketball Uniform

Asia » China » Jiangxi » jiujiang November 3rd 2009

Last week, I taught a class on jobs. I ellicted from my students descriptions of their "dream jobs". They had to come up with particularls (such as CEO, Lawyer), and general charactaristics of an ideal job. All four of my classes came up with similar lists- they wanted jobs that were creative, high-paying, involved travel, were helpful to the community, exciting, and allowed them to excercize authority over others. After they came up with these lists, I asked them to guess what my dream job would be. After two seconds of pondering, a few shouted out "teacher". My students are quickly picking up on my (perfectly serious) sense of humor. As an English teacher, I do get to travel, I am helpful to the global community, I am allowed to excercize my creativity, I am payed ... read more
Hardworking Students
Professor Brendan

Asia » China » Jiangxi » jiujiang October 14th 2009

As it turns out, I have a significant amount of free time when my in-class teaching load is about twelve hours a week. Lesson planning isin't too tough, and I think my students like me so far. I've been drilling into their heads every chance I get: "Seattle is the best city in America." Luckily, I have found a wonderful Chinese teacher. His English name is Ross, and he is from Inner Mongolia. He also has a fairly light load this quarter (nine hours of English teaching a week). His wife "Echo" is lovely, and their English is great. They were kind enough to invite me to their apartment for my first home-cooked Chinese meal! Lots of fish- turns out I rather enjoy fried eel. Furthermore, Ross is a big Nirvana fan, so not only did ... read more




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