Blogs from Benxi, Liaoning, China, Asia

This is my nephew, so cute.... read more

Benxi Future English School (http://www.benxifutureenglishcentre.com) is a private language school in the industrial city of Benxi in north-east China. Benxi offers an unrivalled chance to immerse yourself in Chinese culture, in a real working-class city, away from foreigner orientated larger cities, where Western amenities and English speaking locals are close at hand. Alongside my wife, I taught here for fourteen months between 2009-2011. It’s easy to say my time teaching here wasn’t one of unadulterated passion. It was sometimes a long, hard slog. An experience though that has enabled some of my most rewarding and satisfying moments. I doubt I’ll ever get use to feeling like an expendable commodity, where qualifications and experience count for very little. I’ll also never understand how respect can be measured in wealth rather than personal attributes. On the other hand, ... read more

This has been my second Christmas spent in China. While last Christmas still felt like the festive season, this year, even with a full day off on Christmas Day to celebrate, failed to ignite the giddy levels of child-like excitement of yesteryear. With just over a week left in Benxi before I can shake away from the shackles of permanent employment once again, this was proving a far more appealing date than the birth of Mary’s first born. As usual, most businesses and shops waited until the last possible moment to put up their Christmas decorations. I’m sure the majority have no idea to the real meaning behind this season of festivities, only the commercial, non-religious side gleamed from Western images. Once these decorations are up, there is little chance of them coming back down until ... read more

Since coming to China, adaptation has been key to any successes enjoyed. Being viewed as an expendable commodity, even with plenty of experience and qualifications, has been the hardest truth to swallow. A little sweeter on the ego though has been the celebrity status granted my presence for nothing more than having blue eyes and white skin. You can never grow tired of such attention, whether it be excitable teenagers or giggling mothers. It cannot fail to boost self-confidence levels. With any positive though, there’s always a negative, and like any ‘z’ list celebrity I’m sure would tell you, with ‘fame’ comes plenty of mocking and abuse. Up until now, I’ve taken the mocking and constant gawping in my stride and with only weeks left in the ‘Middle Kingdom,’ I thought I would leave with my ... read more

I have lost track of the weeks but I have gotten better about the days. October has come and gone like a leaf in the wind. I have taken this time to really soak up China and now I finally feel at home. More or less. Traffic I find that I always choose a taxi with the most aggressive driver. Where that would have originally scared the bajeezus out of me, now I think, yeah, he knows how to drive! There have been a few close calls where I thought we would hit a motorcyclist or a person crossing the street. People here, though they have guts, are sometimes very oblivious when crossing. Horns go off right and left. That has always annoyed me, even back home, and it's more obnoxious here. Especially when I'm crossing ... read more