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Published: March 11th 2011
I don't know why I haven't blogged for a while...I guess Tonglu doesn't seem to offer much to report after the adventure of our travels!
Actually, there has been a flurry of excitement in the past week or two, as we've all noticed an increase in the number of foreigners here. Two and a half years ago, my brother was the first foreigner to live here, then another school got an African person to work for them, then, almost a year ago, I moved over, swiftly followed by Rachael. Well, now there are at least half a dozen more, and a wee family that we've seen. One or two might be teachers, but we have no idea what the rest are doing here! There really isn't that much to do, and there are no international schools. It's most odd. I'm even toying with saying hello next time... 😊 Hangzhou (the nearest city) is an extortionately expensive place to live, and there is a high speed rail link due next year, so Tonglu is seeing the benefits of that, and in terms of property investment it seems like a pretty safe bet so maybe it's something along those lines. Before I decided on my MBA I was actually thinking about buying somewhere here, but actually finding someone I could trust to keep an eye on it for me (once my brother leaves, obviously) was just too much of a long shot.
Oh, and Rach and I do appreciate the irony of our now staring at foreigners, like everyone used to stare at us!
What else...I posted some pics on facebook of a recent day off spent out and about in Tonglu. We were supposed to be going through to Hangzhou to see Amanda but owing to our front door lock breaking we found ourselves trapped at home until midday, so she very kindly came through to see us. We went to an old favourite restaurant and ate faaaaar too much food then wandered across the bridge to the other side of Tonglu. We were trying to find the main square on that side, but instead stumbled across Tongjunshan (shan means mountain). It is more of a wee hill than a mountain, and in common with most here had steps cut in. It only took about 35 minutes to get to the top, where we found a Buddhist temple and pagoda, and very expensive gift shop! Amanda and Rachael went on the shortest boatride ever (about 4 minutes) but I decided to just be the camera person because it was a speedboat and I get seasick from even just sitting on a boat.
Oh, we've been really spoiled with strawberries recently. They are in season now and so sweet, almost every single batch we've had tastes like it's been doused in sugar when all you've done is wash them! Beautiful. And just melon season is just around the corner. I am really, really going to miss the freshness of the fruit here.
It's weird, now that Christmas and our travels have been and gone Rach and I are thinking a lot more about coming home. I guess we (particularly she) are on the home straight now. We are filling our diaries with things we want to do before we leave, including seeing more of the surrounding countryside and going to Shanghai a few more times to get some clothes made. I'm thinking about what I want to do in September. We're opening the new school around that time, so I might not actually get away until a few days before I need to be back in Glasgow for my course, but if I can wangle leaving at the end of August I want to go travelling for a couple of weeks...trying to resist the temptation of going back to Singapore in favour of visiting somewhere new, so sugestions are more than welcome!
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Paul
non-member comment
Hawaii, but you better get there quick...