I found Wally!
Trip Start
Dec 28, 2005
1
37
55
Trip End
Sep 01, 2006
Yantai and Penglai,
China
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
However, still love China and have had a great time all in all. Have had some really good nights out in Havannas over the last couple of weeks - especially the night of Daniel and Paul's leaving do as pretty much everyone was out - sadly no camera, so no piccies of it. Think the people at the gate are looking forward to Mhairi and I leaving so that they don't have to open the gates in the early hours of the morning - haven't had to climb it for awhile because they've heard the taxis and got up (once in a pair of long johns and a vest - mmm nice)! I took some High School classes and had a great time - I really enjoy working with the older students and we had some interesting discussions and debates about computers taking over the world, time travel, Mars and life expectancy! Also, particularly love my primary class 5 - they are full of enthusiasm and seem to really love learning English - it's great.
01 How hot do I look?
Tutoring is generally going well - sometimes they seem tired and fed up (they have lessons with me Mon to Fri so pretty hard going) but they are engaging in the activities well, getting more and more competitive and improving overall. Still getting a good collection of weekly presents from my students - the prize for most unusual goes to the girl who gave me a water balloon with a smiley face drawn on it!! Been out for some great dinners (although really really missing food from home now!!), especially the Korean restaurant that I went to with Angel, Tracey, Helen and Mhairi. Have also had some classic girly nights with Mhairi, champagne (well...) and face masks included. There are new volunteers in the shape of Carlos (who we thought was called Carter for the first couple of days - then he asked, "who is Carter?" We were very confused!), Cong (although Mhairi calls him Hong) and Jenny. We had a great night out getting to know each other, drinking beer under an umbrella whilst it poured down with rain around us. Jack, the coordinator from GVN, also took us all out for dinner one night - all expenses paid - v yummy! The other volunteers and I also ventured to Penglai (Fairyland and Ancient Pavilion). Here there is one of the four most famous pavilions in China - looks like a long wall on the ocean - and it is also where the 'legendary Eight Immortals' originated; these are Chinese Deities who have the power to give life or destroy evil. Had such a good day - it's a really beautiful place with amazing scenery and it was so sunny. Loved it.Been trying to get through all the DVDs I bought. Mhairi and I saw Snatch for the first time the other day - brilliant! Have also got started on The Godfather trilogy - it's taken me four attempts to get through the first one, but I did enjoy it, mostly thanks to Pacino - mmm...
Have had a couple of great days out. Went on a cherry picking trip with a Chinese family and a couple of the office staff. Met some lovely Chinese girls who were thrilled to practice their English; they were so impressive! They took me into the country side (beautiful landscapes - so interesting) and we visited their grandmother's house which is very traditional - outside, doorless toilet, fire stove, hard beds, home-made cherry baskets etc... Then we went up some hills to pick and eat a lot of cherries before lunching back at "Grandmothers'". The mother was continuously taking photos the whole day "white girl walking / white girl picking cherries / white girl eating etc"! And I found myself in the newspaper a few days later - so funny!
So that's all for now. I will leave you with the best news - I found Wally - check out the photos! :)
