Blogs from China, Asia - page 2313

I can’t remember the last time I had been invited to “climb a mountain” but I got one Wednesday. The women who manage the studio decided to get out of the office for a little quality time. Sean, my manager and co-teacher, gave me an inkling of what to expect: “I’ve never seen a mountain in China that didn’t have stairs to the top,” he said. Lynn picked up Sean, Shirley and I at 6am. Ten minutes later we’d packed Merry and Sunny into late-model Audi and after as short ride, arrived at Jade Emperor Mountain. The parking lot was crowded, which kind of goes without saying around here. Everything is crowded. But there is always one more space and as soon as we’d squeezed the car into a spot another co-worker arrived. Aida lived just ... read more

Shenzhen is the place to bargain. It's only across the border from home so its easy to get to. But beware the stench of the river when you cross the border. And watch your pockets. Cheap cheap manicures, pedicures and massages. Yum. Oh and good chinese food.... read more

The girls have fun attending lessons in class and learning all the terms in mandarin. Some girls even had a taste of crabs ...as it's the season for crabs now. Weather's great - between 12 to 22 degree and our girls formed an impromptu team to play soccer against the Xing Hai girls. Some were captivated by their handsome teachers....and found lessons more interesting :) Hands on paper cutting session was a fun time for all - esp to those who discovered that they can do a complicated design effortlessly...*grin..for others...it proved to be quite challenging !! Even Physics teacher, Teresa couldn't resist having her "xuang xi" cut out in various sizes... Home was cosy for the girls and the host families were all out to pamper their singapore friends...Beiyu has a room with a good ... read more

So things have changed a bit around here. I'm not sure if I wrote this or not but our old principal has retired due to personal reasons (and basically working herself way too hard). We have a new foreign teacher who, surprisingly enough, is from Cleveland. This is strange because not only is he from Cleveland but he went to OSU (main campus in Columbus) which is 40 minutes from my school. Also he dated the daughter of a woman who works at Denison's library (where I worked). I don't know this particular woman very well but it's still a very small world. He's only 4 years older than I am so I may have even seen him at some point during my freshman year. He's been in Dalian for a year now and so knows ... read more

friday 23 oct. 9:02 pm the approach to narita airport japan took us over a seemingly agrarian community . observing the checkered layout of the land and noticed its organic nature - how the irrregularly shaped residential areas was weaved into the rectangular patchwork plots of lland and copses of trees . from the air i could feel a sense of rural sobriety and harmony. brief stopover in japan - the somber atmosphere reminded me more of kingston airport than a so called first world transit hub......the calm comforting. after 23 hours of travelling i finally arrived in china, the fabled middle kingdom, mother of the orient. my flight was for the most part, comfortable..the northwest airline stewards in bisiness class were exceptionally pleasant and ready to serve. the space generous, the creature comforts quite ... read more