We really enjoyed Suzhou when we visited our daughter in Shanghai. We loved the silk factory getting to see how they make it from the little worms eating through to the beautiful silk pieces.
I think the little round thing on the men's "valet" is for their keys and pocket change.
Glad you are enjoying your life in China.
Hotel Room "Sculpture" If you look at it closely, you can see it is a place to put your suit at night (if you are a man). The jacket hangs from the top part and the pants go over the wire part 1/2 down. The round part...for a hat, perhaps.
Sounds like a great trip.
smoking Everyone here seems to smoke! And smoking is allowed everywhere! I guess they have not had enough people die of lung cancer yet...or else they don't care!
Pig Blood Soup I think I'll pass on the Pig Blood Soup. Good on you for exploring. I wonder how long they would spend on my bald head. If it was 2 hours, I would expect them to put some back on top. Hairspray was a big ticket item in Korea as well. Unfortunately for you, there isn't a US commissary nearby. The other big ticket items were Jonnie Walker Blended Whiskey and Marlboro Cigarettes. Do the majority of the Chinese smoke? It sounds like you’re having a great time and experience of a lifetime.
You sure are taking it all in and what fun you seem to be having. Wonderful that you are taking advantage of all there is and trying new things. Hope you will keep me on your list as I enjoy reading about your adventures. I have a webcam to give you parents so you can see them. I just have to remember to take it to church.
Enjoy:) Helen Russell
LOL, it sounds like you're having a blast Joc :) I'm really glad for you. The culture of China sounds so weird! I wish people would come stare at me. I think I'd just start making weird faces and see what they do!
Hey its Ashley from middle school! I saw that you had a blog when snooping through myspace. it is so neat that you are getting to do something so fabulous such as this! Are you done with college or just taking a year off? I would love to do something like that, well the food part might hold me back lol Seems like so much has changed! I can't remember the last time we spoke to each other lol. You are in China doing major things, and I am still in tucson getting married in november....Its weird how quickly we became adults! Well I hope all is well with you. I will be subscribing and reading up on your adventures. if you want you can contact me anytime. I would love to hear from you! :)
Ash
We have computer class twice a week. I am also the only teacher with student computers in my room, so now that I am losing a student we could just work in the classroom. We have only standard keyboards. They have chinese software that turns pinyin into the chinese characters. All of our work is done in English though so that is not much of a problem. We have all HP and Dells. The operating systems on the Dells are US, but the HPs are chinese.
"Some KTVs offer additional services you can rent a girl to sing to you amongst other things"
Oh really?.....
We gotta go there for sure!
"It is so cute, because at night, the center squares all over the city turn into aerobic/dance classes. "
This sounds amazing, all I can think of is crazy musicals where everyone in the city is dancing, you should take pictures of this.
Recent Adventures My office mates wonder what joke I'm laughing at, but I tell them I’m just reading my daughter’s blog. I'm not sure I should be laughing when you tell me your meeting complete strangers online, but that would be my daughter....be careful! I'm glad we don't have the half shirt tradition here but I guess our woman have the half dress tradition. I guess being a star isn't what it's all crack up to be. I'm glad you are working on your Chinese and that you are getting some Intel on the good restaurants for our visit. Don't kid everyone; you normally wait until your 3000 pieces of clothing are dirty before you do your laundry. Be careful about teaching everyone foosball, it might become an Olympic event!
Computers Do you do much work in the computer lab? Are the computers made in China or the west. Are the keyboards standard or a combination of western/Chinese? Are the computers hooked to the internet and if so do they have world-wide access?
avaconflava@yahoo.com You have the cutest classroom! I would let the kids decorate. Maybe you could get coloring books filled with animals from around the world for them. I say you're never too old to color! Perhaps an oragami book would be even better. Def. don't know if I agree with the usage of two names like we talked about before, but I would have to get more info. on the background history and social impact on it to decide for sure. It is a beautiful area! I love the greenery!
*HUGS!!!*
*Ta Déesse*
avaconflava@yahoo.com I am literally cracking up laughing at each blog I read! hahahaHAHAHAHAhahaha I love it! Your experiences and the way you write about them are great! I actually started with your last entry and had to start back at your first ones. I'm SO jealous of your apartment!! Book me up for December lol. Move over Chucky, here I come! haha I love that there are environmentally conscious appliances! No English videos for you! Chinese videos with English subtitles! Practice, practice; practice...and talk to the strangers in English when they know enough English to do so, 'cause then they can also help with your Chinese :D. Soooo basically the meat market is like my personal hell :( lol. I was laughing when I saw the water cooler. I was like...yeah, that's definitely Jocelyn's apt. hehe. A security guy totally took my airport form from me and started filling in my passport info too!!!! haha I was like WHAT!?!? haha But then it gets worse! He held out his hand for money and I had to give him like the last bit of cash on me lol! It was so sad! Love the apt and moss you much!!!
*HUGS and KISSES!!!*
*Ta Déesse*
Your first blog! Aaaww! I feel so bad for you! I thought I was the only one to have random bank/travel issues! lol - guess not! haha I'm so happy it all worked out for you!! Yuh know, my bank cut off my debit card when I went to Spain...it was so random! I was lucky I still had my ATM card!!
*Ta Déesse*
P.S. So sorry it has taken me this long to read your blog entries! You've went through my Facebook stuff a couple times now and made comments (Thank you!) I started feeling bad lol - *HUGS!!!*
Helen at CC Jocelyn: One hint our daughter and son-in-law used when in Shanghai was to collect business cards everywhere they went. Most have the address in English and Chinese...at least in Shanghai they did...this way, they could just show the taxi driver where they wanted to go and like you said...have your own address written in Chinese to show them. They had a big business card book filled with cards by the time they left Shanghai. Lots of luck. Before you know it you will be telling the driver exactly where to go. Is it Mandarin or Cantonese spoken there?
Helen from CC Hi Jocelyn: Got you blogsite from your Mom and Dad the other night at church. Looks like you are having a great time and your apartment is great too. Those massages sound absolutely devine. Give them time. I remember my first and I was sure I would never go back. Now? I go anytime I can afford it. Which is not often at US prices.
Enjoy it all....Blessings to you...
Doc
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Shenzhen is a very beautiful place...thanks for sharing!