Blogs from Tianjin, China, Asia - page 22

Zondag 1 juli. De morgenstond heeft goud in de mond. Dat goud heb ik niet gevonden, maar wel een wekker die zeer vroeg is afgelopen. De afspraak is om 6 uur, aan het onthaal, met pak en zak. Hier begint een stap in het onbekende. Er is zeer weinig informatie over de busverbinding. We nemen de taxi naar het treinstation om daar per bus naar Huangyaguan af te reizen. We vragen of onze bus er is, en krijgen als antwoord: “hij is nog niet hier en zal dus niet meer komen”. Voor niks zo vroeg opgestaan om de bus van 7 uur te halen. Het back-up plan bestaat ook nog, dus naar het oostelijke busstation. De taxichauffeurs zien ons graag komen en brengen ons ter plaatse. In het busstation is het niet druk (wie staat er ... read more

My apologies. In the interest of getting something on the blog, I have decided to skip putting pictures on for now. I will get them on in a few weeks. Now for some party info!! Most of you know us…We can’t go a year without our Mardi Gras party. I know I promised a few of you that I would come back to have it in Austin. I apologize. We thought it might be fun to share our Mardi Gras tradition with our new found friends. One of the great things is that we had it at a local (western food) restaurant. The owner, Hank, is from Chicago. All I had to do was decorate. All the cooking and cleaning up was done by the restaurant. I found some great decorations. You all will get ... read more

I am back after a length of time. We actually have had some internet problems the last couple of day. I have actually been waiting for good stuff. I am going to start with something that happened about a month ago. It is called the Melbourne Cup. It really is the Australians excuse to take a 3-5 minute horse race and turn it into an all day party. Here is an excerpt that describes the race... (www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/melbournecup/) Melbourne Cup Day is Australia's most famous Tuesday. At 3.00pm AEST, on the first Tuesday in November, Australians everywhere stop for one of the world's most famous horse races - the Melbourne Cup. It is a day when the nation stops whatever it's doing to listen to the race call, or watch the race on TV. Even those who ... read more

..A wiec ruszamy. Lecimy do Chin na Akademickie Mistrzostwa Swiata w Brydza. Jako ze pisze te notke z 2 tygodniowym poslizgiem nie bede sie zbytnio na ten temat rozwodzil. Impreza byla zorganizowana z naprawde wielka pompa - kazda reprezentacja miala do dyspozycji 2-3 chinskich wolontariuszy, ktorzy rozwiazywali dla nich wszelkie problemy. Poza tym duze naglosnienie imprezy - dziennikarze, fotoreportezy, plakaty jak na zawody tak skromnej i malowidowiskowej dyscypliny jaka jest brydz. Otwarcie mistrzostw, a zwlaszcza pokazy artystyczne powalali wszystkich na kolana. Naprawde. I oprawa otwarcia tez. Napisze moze kiedys cos wiecej teraz podsypiam. Powiem tylko, ze drobne spoznienie jednego z reprezentantow Polski na wyjazd na ceremonie otwarcia spowodowal znaczny korek na autostradach tego ponad 10 milionowego miasta - na czas przejazdu autokarow zamknieto ruch na trasie, a polic... read more

Wow! I can't believe it has been over two weeks since I last updated the blog. We have good news. As we settle into Tianjin TEDA, we have found out our relocation package has been approved. We decided on our apartment today and look forward to moving in by mid to late October. I also now have a cell phone so Dave can find me when I am out shopping and playing. The last two weeks have been pretty sedate. Dave has been working long hours. He is currently doing the job of two people. The local manager left to do other things and Dave is filling in until they find a replacement on top of the job he was sent here to do. He also is trying to find time to visit other offices around ... read more