Blogs from TEDA, Tianjin, China, Asia - page 8

Ni Hao people we LOVE! Well... the girls have been here for just over two weeks now, and we are getting very excited to move on from Tianjin to VIETNAM!!! The last two weeks have been awesome. I was really starting to get homesick, especially on my birthday, but two of my lovely girls helped to make it very special. School has just been finishing up here. It was nice that the girls got to meet some of my students, but that meant that I had to work during the weekdays. It was a little lame- since I so badly wanted to be exploring and hanging out with my girls... BUT this has forced them to have to learn a lot on their own :) which is great- it has made for some funny stories. John's ... read more

Porque é que eu escolhi a localização TEDA? Também eu não sei, talvez porque é a Technological Development Area de Tianjin e ultimamente alguns amigos têm-me falado muito deste sítio. Enfim, já não escrevo aqui desde que começaram as férias. A passagem de ano na China: na realidade ninguém liga nada à passagem de ano do calendário solar portanto não se passa nada de extraordinário nesta noite, fomos comemorar a passagem na casa das catalãs e vimos a CTTV9, que lá se deu ao luxo de passar uma cerimónia de passagem de ano do calendário solar. O que conta de facto é a nossa festa 'privada' de estrangeiro extraído violentamente do seu habitat. Depois seguiu-se a discoteca chamada sitong - que é uma espécie de wide-giles mal lido - coisa que se compreende já que deve ... read more

The bonus of the service component of my job is that I get invitations to community events. The first event Craig and I have been able to attend was last Monday September 24th, 2007 - The Mid-Autumn Day Tea Party. This was Craig's first time out with me representing the school in the community, so I think it gave him a taste of some of what I have been experiencing. You walk into such an event having no idea as to the proper etiquette, really having no idea of what to expect and you just have to stay on your toes. Watch others before diving in, mimic gestures of politeness etc. Additionally, you have to be ready for anything you do to possibly be photographed. This tea party was hosted by the Teda Chamber of Commerce, ... read more

My Biggest Workout Since Landing in China Well Friday rolls around, I'm tired from a week's work, tense from sporting my backpack daily, and well, I think still full of kinks from the 16 hours on an airplane a month or so ago. It was time for my first massage. Yvonne (another teacher at the school) brought Shelby and I to her favourite masseuse. This is not like any massage I have ever had. It was fantastic but not relaxing. She was working out my knots with her elbow. Karate Chopping my back. At one point she had me on a stool, with my hands behind my head, with her back to me, she locked her arms through mine, bent over and lifted me right off the stool. While parts were...painful, most of the time ... read more

We are all slowly getting settled into our routines. You have to relearn/revisit/rethink your old routines and discover what you can handle here. As requested, in this blog I will try to focus less on the adventures, and more on the basics of living here. The Apartment I think we really lucked out. We chose our apartment on our first jet lagged day in China. We had no concept of the layout of the town, a small concept of price range, and no real idea what we should be looking for. We live in an area called "Cui Hen Cun" pronounced (tsway hung tsun with inflections). It took me a few days to be able to say it properly so that the taxi knew what I was saying . Its absolutely central to TEDA. Its a ... read more