Minzheng Hotel Xiangtan

Whew!

It's been a while, eh? Quick review of what we've done lately: went to Changsha for New Year's, visited Shao Shan (aka Mao Zedong's birthplace), came back to Xintian via bus and speed-train, and have been teaching and not to much else since.

Now for a bit o' detail:
Changsa. It's a really big city, about 8 million ...

Adam and I just got back from a weekend in Changsha (the capital of Hunan) It was about a 5.5 hour bus ride up north. We went with our foreign affairs officer and another student from our school. The city was a completely different scene from our small town, so it was nice to change things up a little. I got to do some shopping, we went to some ...

Last weekend was amazing. We have been in the groove of teaching for about 3 months and can see much progress in many of our students. Of course, there are the speed-bump classes that make us want to pull our hair out! Overall, it has been quite the positive experience. Our students 'Wow' us everyday. The first half of the semester we were teach...

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 partic...

Changshan jälkeen otimme junan Zhuzhou:hun tapaamaan uutta tuttavaamme Erikaa. Asemalla meitä oli vastassa Erikan lisäksi myös pilvenpiirtäjät ja kirkkaat neonvalot. Yllätyimme ensi näkemästä, koska luulimme saapuvamme pienempään kaupunkiin. Zhuzhou ei ole lonelyplanetissa, joten jostain syystä oletimme kaupungin olevan pieni idyllinen maaseutuk...

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 foot...

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.
Changsha, Hunan, China evanforrester

This morning I woke up at 7am to try and watch my Gators play against Charleston Southern, but unfortunately for the first time my internet was down until 10am. I was only able to watch the last minute of the game. Also I had no running water until 12 b/c they are doing construction on the new gym and shut the valve off, they just forgot to tell...

Cool. Just ate frog for lunch. That now makes it frog, turtle, chicken's feet (not again) and something's eyes in a soup in Beijin. Frog's not to bad. Tastes a little fishy, with the texture of chicken thighs. Not much meat really. The other foreigner at the school hinted, in-directly, that I may not be here in September. Better not be friggen t...

Just spent 3 days in a hospitality traning college. Very cool few days. I think my boss doesn't have any work for me, so she sent me off here to look around. The school was on holidays, but a few students stuck around to receive next year's in take of students. The students were great fun. They all wanted to get to know the foreigner, practice t...