Earlier on in the year I wrote that I was going to do a TEFL course and then become a teacher in Asia.... Well..... here I am in China, with a TEFL diploma and a year contract with a large language school! After my arrival on Beijing airport, I was picked up and driven to Qinhuangdao, a city on the eastcoast, accross from North Korea so to say. Here I have spend my first night in a chinese restaurant (and bar afterwards) meeting all people associated with this school. Today I did a little bit of sightseeing with another new teacher, we went to Shanhaiguan, which is basically next door to Qinhuangdao. Here the famous Chinese wall meets the ocean....! Tomorrow I am going to experience Chinese healthcare first hand with a full on medical check, ... read more

whitchurch on thames, berkshire Europe » United Kingdom » England » Berkshire » Reading By frisian travellerApril 7th 2007johannesA short note: As usual i am again pennyless, and desperately waiting for my first paycheck. In the meantime i'm enjoying the start of spring, and spending my free saturdays in the city of Reading. Life on an alpaca farm is great by the way, no 6 o'clock wake up calls and a golf cart to drive around in. Very intelligent animals, they know exactly where and ... read more

Well, there I am....back in holland behind the computer, having just finished my first day of wellpaying, mindnumbing work. Thanks to my dad who provides me with limitless acces to internet, I have discovered the wonders of things like YOUTUBE. So now i am listening to my very own playlist, which is ofcourse full of foreign music. TIP: FOR SOME REALLY POPULAR INDONESIAN MUSIC, search for "SAMSON-KENANGAN TERINDAH" , I promise you'll love it. So, yeah, left kanchanaburi by bus and train. Was very surprised to see how dry the landscape looked south of bangkok. Everything looked like it hadn't seen rain in weeks. Arrived in the heat of the day, but the guesthouse was very close to the trainstation luckely, so after dumping my bags, i went for a stroll. Man, i was so happy ... read more

With a big delay, the bus to denpasar arrived at 22:00. Immidiately got asked ridiculous prices by bemo and taxi drivers. Decided there and then i did not like bali. With the knowledge of having to go home early, due to financial reasons, i choose to head for lombok the next morning, just to get away from it all if you know what i mean. Afetr a very long ferry ride, and 1 hour on the back of a scooter, i spend the night in senggigi, sonya's place. Then went over to gili trawangan (island) for new years. Didn't have a blast, but wasn't really looking for it either. Just had some quiet beers on the beach with a german couple. On the first of january i went back to sonya's place in senggigi, wher i ... read more

It's been a while, in fact it's been a month. But here are finally my indonesia blogs. Left Melaka, malaysia, on the 5th of december by ferry. I was waved of by literally hundreds of those fish with legs, sunbathing on the mudbanks. After about 5 hours, i arrived in Dumai, wich basically is a very ugly industrial city. Got hold of a minibus that left 2 hours later then announced, and shared it with 2 english guys and a couple of very grumpy local lady's. At about 1:30 am we reached bukittinggi, and although the town seemed to be sleeping, managed to get a room in an old dutch colonial builiding. A huge room including mandi for less then 5 euro's. Visited the local zoo, wich made me close to tears (example, an orang oetan ... read more