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Published: August 30th 2012
Well hello there! After months of worry my Chinese visa has arrived the day before I’m due to head out to China. 7 hour flight to Dubai then another 7 hour flight and I’ll be in the Middle Kingdom! First stop is Beijing for a week, then on to Jinan for a year.
The Chinese language learning is going slowly (phrase of the day: tou qing - to have illicit relations), but I’m sure I’ll pick up enough to get by when I’m there. How hard can it be?
The people at the school seemed really nice when I spoke to them, but I still have only a limited idea of what I’m going to be teaching, resources, etc. But I guess that’s half the fun.
Jinan is the capital of Shandong province in the North. It has a population of 6.8 million. That’s like 284 Chester-le-Streets put together! It’s known as “The City of Springs” due to a myriad of natural springs which have (ahem) sprung in times gone by, but it’s also home to a lot of industry and seems to be a very modern city from what I can gather.
Anyway, I’ll find out when I get there. So long Europe. It’s been an emotional 28 years, but I need a break. It’s not you, it’s me…
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Phil
non-member comment
Adieu mon ami
Well, it has been a fun time knowing you since we first met at the Wine Reception in Hen Goleg at UW Bangor those 10 years ago. I wish you all the best over there and look forward to reading your scintillating comments and diary of all your exciting adventures that you will be having over there in China. So as they say over here have a good one, and as they may say over there, wan de kaixin.