Bailaohui Hotel Pingxiang

Nov, 20th was my 23rd birthday. I am aging well, but I am seven years from thirty!! It is crazy!!

Anyway, I (with some help from friend) booked a suite at the HuaTian (5-star) Hotel. It was incredible. About 15 people from all over Hunan came for the celebration and it was swell.

This month my buddies (Team Sharks) and I participated in No-Shave-November ...

... koulun vieressä, niinkuin suurin osa muistakin opettajista sekä oppilaista. Erika tuli Kiinaan puoleksi vuodeksi opettamaan englantia, ja pesti kestää hänellä tammikuun loppuun saakka. Saimme tutustua muihin opettajiin sekä oppilaisiin viikonlopun aikana. Perjantaina kävimme esittelemässä itsemme yhdelle luokalle, kerroimme jotain Suomesta ja sen jälkeen oppilaat kyselivät meiltä kysymyksi ...

... is a published poet, 2 books in total.

We grab a signed copy of her book, it is in chinese. However we notice a few words of English, PJ Harvey, Nirvana. Leo explains she learnt english by listening to music and watching Independent films.

A good journey and interesting people.

现在再 见

I just got back from a night in Changsha. I went with three students and the heads of the English Department for an English competition. I have been training the three students for about a month now and they had their competition today.

I was unable to stay in Changsha tonight, so I will not be able to see Willow's speech. I have a ...

I have finally returned from a well needed break. The last nine days, I have been in Changsha and Shanghai. I went to Changsha for two nights and then Shanghai for seven. It has been a good adventure.

I went to Changsha to celebrate National Day with all of my fellow teachers. It was a huge day for the PRC and Changsha was wild.

Besides partying with everyone, not much was done.

Here are the few pictures from the nights in Changsha.

... It smells worse than when I dropped it off. It was definitely not worth our $6. We flagged down a taxi because it is getting late. He took us the long way to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum and dropped us on the opposite side of where we need to be. The cab drivers here are really starting to get on my nerves. We had to walk an entire block over. The guards will not let us walk on the road or through the paths in the park to get to the mausoleum. Are you kidding me??? We ...

... mess. Lots of people had flights into Thailand but lost them during the airport protest, so they had no choice but to re-route to Hong Kong and then travel overland all the way to SE Asia! That's quite a detour, and it doesn't exactly take you through great parts of China either. On the Pingxiang train, I already feel like I'm in a different country. This is very rural southern China, quite different from modern ...

... guy leading us to the bus was glad we - well, really I - could translate for the two British backpackers. I'd thought that my real Chinese practice had ended after the hour or so I spent chatting with a family from Guangzhou before we left for our bus, but I was wrong. I quickly got to practice all the arguing and cursing I knew. The bus 'company' guy first lead us a few blocks from the train station to the side of ...

... haze. Constant traffic jams, relentless horns punctuated of course by a whole range of "flobbing" techniques. It wouldn't be a shock to one day see someone bring up their innards given the force of some guttoral efforts! On the subject of roads, if someone hasn't already, there could be a useful guide written on how to fathom Chinese traffic lights. Our conclusion was that the "green man" actually means jay walk with extreme caution as buses, cars and bicycles will be ...

... at us from behind the glass indicating to skip the queue...much to the interest of the surrounding queues. They started shouting at the other ppl to make way. We half felt important - but a little more embarrassed at the extra unwanted attention! we paid EUR27 for a 14 hr train journey in a sleeper/ couchette. this was top class as these regional trains went - and we had a special VIP waiting room with leather couches. We ended up sharing with a chinese ...