hey erin!! it's Melissa...from the Xi'an volunteer program last spring. Drew sent me your blog address because I am thinking of coming to china. I want to take a year off starting next January to be there for the Beijing olympics. I won't be officially studying abroad...so I'd like to get a job as an english teacher. I was wondering what you did about visas and residential permits and whatnot. It's so exciting that you are back in Xi'an! I wish I could be there, I think about China every day. How is your mandarin coming? Are you improving? Please tell everyone I said hi! Sanne, Drew and I are doing well, I am actually meeting Drew in NYC tomorrow to hang out. My email address is maj46@cornell.edu...hope to hear from you soon!
~Melissa
Merry Christmas Hey, merry Christmas Erin, and yes this was sent on christmas eve which quite good for me usually i wait til i'm half drunk on christmas day! hope all is well .
take care
love t
Very funny!! Erin... It's great reading your stories. It's nice to see that movie star still have problem plumbing problems like us mortals. ;-)
Does Artemis speak Chinese or English?
Thanks for the great stories!
Poor Carrot For those of you who know Erin well, she also has a rather pathetic Yorkshire Terrier dog (currently being housed at her Mothers - ie ME!) and he was given the name CARROT - SO HE IS EXTREMELY MIFFED THAT THE 'UPSTART' IN CHINA HAS SUCH A POSH NAME!
Subarashi! Fantastic entry Erin! So funny and full of information that you barely notice you are picking up. Sounds like you are "home". Artemis Q O squiggleson priceless!
Real Smiles You look very pleased with new placement Erin - and the chaps are taller than you are! It looks far more interesting and colourful now the blossom is out - what a quick switch from winter to Spring! Great to hear from you again.
Love Mum
Chif an chips I do hope that lovely little dog was only there to keep you amused Erin and not as emergency lunch in case you all got lost! Sorry - stereotyping again. So glad you had a lot of fresh air, hope you can tell us a bit more about the new placement when this blog starts to operate properly again. Take care
Ignorance and Arrogance I'm afraid that young childs naiivity in asking why you came without the language is neither confined to China nor to children. I got a 20 something lady banker from Tokyo attack me for not being able to speak her language. I told her I was learning but this wasn't enough. At least the child can plead youthful ignorance. Keep the writnig up I enjoy it and there are many parallels as well as many differences that I enjoy spotting. :)
Fantastic Erin, your journal is fantastic, I really can see everything you are doing through your writing. It made me laugh out loud a couple of times, watch out for old Americans, they have a problem with accepting their limitations.
Love.
New Job Travel by proxy is exactly what this is! If you get stuck for a job then rest assured that travel writing is something you are good at! Please don't stop. Makes me want to pack a camera and go somewhere other than grey England!
Hello from home (one of them, anyway) Hello Erin: I'm enjoying your diary very much, it's like travelling by proxy! Still think I'll stick with the old-fashioned journal, pen and water colours for my trips, neanderthal that I am. Were the words "pineapple" and "watermelon" in that little book?! Love, Geraldine
so jealous Hey Erin,
Your description and pictures of Ang Thong are both wonderful. I am sitting in my office on a chilly friday morning. The view out of my window is a greay and misty one whose only notable feature is the A14 and its collection of stationary traffic. The view on my monitor on the other hand is of glorious blue waters and green islands. There is even a beautiful girl smiling at me in one of them.
Your entry a couple of days ago about Chinese New Year made me think back to my last visit to Thailand which was for Thai New Year last year. Have you ever been there for that? It was a lot of fun. The entire place seems to devote itself to a 3 or 4 day waterfight. Most impressive were the pick up trucks with a huge barrel of water and six to eight Thais in the back who would screech to a halt at a junction and then drench everyone there before hooning off laughing uproariously. As a somewhat conspicuous Farang (6'4" and white as a milk bottle) they seemed to take extra special delight in soaking me. Some of them even went to the trouble of refrigerating the water they were using!
Anyway, it sounds like you are having a blast, and I will continue to read along and live vicariously through you :)
take care,
Andrew
Its Tough but someone has to do it Sitting here in freezing cold Derby, I am not just envious of my little daughter's adventures, but bloody livid that I am not diving in Thailand with her.. someone has to look after the dogs apparently! She has been in touch and has promised to let me know everyday that she has surfaced!
Make you fell at home Hey Erin,
Here in Japan I once had a sushi chef top my grilled eel with melted cheese to make me feel more at home! Bloody minging it was! Keep well and updating.
Kieran
Melissa
non-member comment
hey erin!! it's Melissa...from the Xi'an volunteer program last spring. Drew sent me your blog address because I am thinking of coming to china. I want to take a year off starting next January to be there for the Beijing olympics. I won't be officially studying abroad...so I'd like to get a job as an english teacher. I was wondering what you did about visas and residential permits and whatnot. It's so exciting that you are back in Xi'an! I wish I could be there, I think about China every day. How is your mandarin coming? Are you improving? Please tell everyone I said hi! Sanne, Drew and I are doing well, I am actually meeting Drew in NYC tomorrow to hang out. My email address is maj46@cornell.edu...hope to hear from you soon! ~Melissa