# 1 Retiring Teacher preparing to teaching in China (Preparing the TravelBlog)

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This will become the adventure of my life-time. Retirement commences this New Year. I have loved my job as a Foreign Language Teacher for the past 38 years, but the time has come for me to decide the direction of my life's journey, and perhaps it will develop as the journey of my life. This past year has brought me to this point of preparations: 1. Voyage as a passenger on a Freighter from the Port of Miami to N.Y. to Kingston on through the Panama Canal to Korea and ending in Shanghai/Hong Kong, a journey of 35 days. (June 2006)
2. Travel from Hong Kong via train to Guilin to meet Principal of Even Int. Lang. Schools (Ms. Liz Lee) and spend 4 weeks, helping train her English teachers. (July 2006)
3. In August 2006, by Train to Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, 3 hrs North of Shanghai in preparation for the beginning of the Fall Semester at Taizhou Teachers College. A one year teaching contract will take me there. I visited the College for 3 weeks in July of 2005 and it was an amazing experience. I will always be grateful to Mr. Arthur Lee, the Foreign Affairs Officer of the college, for providing me with an unforgettable 3 weeks, and I will comment more on those experiences as I prepare these notes, since they may give other retiring teachers the opportunity to consider the benifits of such an undertaking. As I begin to understand the mechanics of these pages, photos and maps will add to the journey.

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Photos

Guilin, the beautiful China
a common scene while visiting South China

Nanjing
everywhere I have travelled, new towers were under construction

Street commerce
Commerce is conducted in small shops 7 days a week

Comments

[monika]

what an awesome adventure you are about to go on. I have always admired your commitment to your job/vocation, your sense of adventure along with a giving of yourself to your family, students and community. Have fun in this next phase of your life...look forward to reading all about it. Your neice!!

[andrewyan]

dear hans
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/andrewyan/ please open it . andrew yan

[anonymous]

5 years on, you've contributed all of your energie and precious post-retirement time to our hometown. I was overwhelmed when I read you stories in our local paper. Best wishes.