Grand Metropark Hotel Suzhou

... is this the Venice of the East, but it also has the Leaning Tower of China. Of course, both the city and the tower predate their Italian counterparts by a few hundred years or more. <br><br>We took it slow through the complex, and the pace was a welcome change from the running we did in Beijing. It was a peaceful area, and all of the different tourists seemed happy to be there. A few in our group were pulled into pictures with the ...

... outside of his small one room home having a morning stretch or brushing his teeth. His home is no larger than a small single-car garage and is situated on the edge of the road. We peer through the window of his home as we pedal by. Inside is a sleeping cot, a small table, a hot plate, and some shelving on the wall lined with canned food. I wonder about the stories this old man must have, and how, if at all, his ...

Suzhou<br><br><br><br>It is gloriously warm in Suzhou as we make our way to the central park. We find ourselves in "pet shop alley". I am tickled by a minah bird outside a shop which greets us with &#8220;Ni hao&#8221;, We understand the &#8221;Hello,&#8221; but unfortunately can't follow the rest of the bird&#8217;s chat. We meander past the fish tanks and flower sellers but then, unfortunately, our route takes us out of the pedestrian area ...

... University graduates, many of them with Masters degrees. A couple of Assistants that have worked in my classes so far have a Masters degree in Chemistry, and the other in English studies. <br><br>Our day begins at 7:30am. We are on a semester system. Each day has 3 blocks. Two in the morning and one in the afternoon. This semester I am teaching 2 blocks of Info Tech 11 and one block of Leadership that Lois and I team teach. And, I have my prep this ...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!! I'm dressing up *s * pir*te / cr*cked out gypsy loh*n, it's pretty legend*ry. Tonight were going to Pulp Fiction, who *re ridiculously nice *nd giving free beer to everyone who is dressed up. It should get f*irly rowdy. App*rently none of the chinese dress up so it's b*sic*lly drunk exp*ts flooding b*r street cre*ting *ll sorts of shen*n****ns. <br>H*ve *n *wesome h*lloween!!! <br>-B

... MANY! :) Usually you see a bit overweight expats - the paranoid ones - who took the job just because of the money and still think that "their way is the only way". In my "China and East Asia" course we learned about relationships - also in the International HRM - in Asia - you need time - because - we - the "westerners" - would like to do everything very fast and "get done with it ASAP" - but I think everyone who visited Japan knows that TIME is RELATIVE ...

... Maybe if you enjoy watching people in the shower? It also amused me and my roommate to find that the in-room bar basket was stocked with antibiotic wipes, men and women's underwear, and condoms. Go figure. Yesterday the weather was good. A nice breeze and less humidity also made it an improvement over Shanghai. We started off with a shared lunch, then had a nice cruise on the Grand Canal. Afterwards, I went with a couple of tour mates to one of the ...

... the most amazing carvings I've ever seen on them. <br> <br>Yes I know, ivory spells bad but they weren't carved yesterday mate or even yesteryear for that matter. <br> <br>The museum ends with an exceptional display of Chinese fans. In between you have amazing silk embroidery, jade works, paintings, unbelievable paper cuttings and many other 'fine arty' things to keep you ...

... of fun, and fairly deadly, we ride the city, apart from the east londener who can't ride a bike! it's pretty crazy. we enjoy a beutiful garden, see pics. on the way back we get split up at the crazy crossings, but all make it back safe and sound, before having a large korean dinner, cooking meat on the table, fantastic, followed by a few pints of expesive old speckled hen and boddingtons. the next morning, we take a small boat cruise, before jumping on the train to shanghai.

... I'm still whining on about that) &amp; the trauma it took to get the Russian visa, I really enjoyed myself. I shall be wearing my visa round my neck like a medal because of the sheer effort involved getting it. Once after a superb shopping day I went for a cheeky beer and was approached by 2 random Americans who tried to convince me to go with them to some bar that they couldn't remember the location of.... I declined as I was convinced that they ...