Blogs from Jinhua, Zhejiang, China, Asia - page 3

China-continued… Day two (Thursday) is a long one—three classes starting at 8:00 and finishing at 3:20 with a 2-hour break in the middle of the day. Still very hot and humid and even the locals are commenting on the humidity in particular. I am in the break period in the foreigner’s office, which fortunately is air-conditioned, although it still feels very ‘moist’. Apparently, it will continue like this for another couple of weeks…. Yesterday was “interesting’ as I had more or less run out of cash and I had been trying various ATMs around the city to no avail: I used the ones from last time, which worked fine two years ago but for whatever reason, no luck, no cash. I thought I would try Western Union transfer to China, but no luck there either—at this ... read more

China! The mysterious Orient...actually mysterious is not really the right word--perhaps 'exciting, puzzling, frenetic, frustrating rewarding...' might start to describe a fascinating country and equally fascinating culture and people. I am in Jinhua for a four-month teaching gig at Jinhua Polytechnic University as part of an exchange program with Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC, Canada. The intent of the program is to deliver RRU's Hospitality program to Chinese student at JPU. The program is taught in English and the Canadian teachers work with Chinese translator's in the classroom to help facilitate the course. I teach Marketing and Sales: this is my second placement and I have just arrived and anticipate getting going in the classroom in a few days. I arrived in Shanghai from Vancouver where I stayed to 'acclimatize' and de-compress before heading to Jinhua--this ... read more

It took me two months to finally work up the courage to ask why one person always filmed and photographed every minute of my teaching with Kingways. For the blog, of course! With patience, or a knowledge of Chinese, it is possible to see a Chinese Eye View of my teaching... demonstration lessons with up to 150 students from grade three to ten, and up to a dozen highly skilled and experienced English teachers watching on. Choices of photographs and segments of the lessons are not always what appeal to me, so I ponder what it is that made that image or song worthy to a Chinese audience. The parents are the target audience, with about 100 hits after each posting that contains photos and videos of the children enjoying their english lessons. When I found ... read more

Fashion is absolutely specific to a place and time, and reflects a great deal about the local people. Fun and cheer and colour surround me. Pick your favourites.... read more

Learning new skills is part of life. I remember where and when I learnt to fillet and serve mangos many years ago, and mastering this has served me well. My latest skill aquisition came about because I was begifted not one, but three red fleshed pomelos in quick succession. They are the most delicious, sweet tasting citrus. Perfect for autumn snacks. Previously, the fruit seller had skinned them, and Chinese friends segmented and peeled them. Finally, I had to tackle my own pomelo, so with knife (and camera) in hand, let me share this art.... read more