A year teaching in China. The pleasures and mysteries of learning about my students, their country and culture, and not least learning about myself.
About this blog
An opportunity to get a more in depth view of a rapidly evolving, hugely important country with a culture foreign to my own. The picture shows what awaited - one of my life's more rewarding experiences.
A smart friend once told me his motto when abroad, "not bad, just different." He´s right, but I´m forever aware that my percpetions are shaped by my own origins. For that, I make no apologies, nor will I concede to political correctness.
I travel to engage and broaden the mind, and to amuse myself. I´ll write for the same reason. Life, thinking and writing are all evolutionary so I await my contradictions with interest! One thing´s for sure which is that nobody - not least the Chinese - understands China.
Trip Start
Oct 05, 2004
1
80
Trip End
Jun 30, 2005
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There are 80 entries in this blog
-
1
Blagging my way in -
2
Welcome to the Dustbowl -
3
Niggles and doubts: aka getting older! -
4
Rules of the Chinese Road -
5
Squatting and sleeping -
6
Who said teaching was difficult? -
7
Get a haircut! -
8
The Pace of Change -
9
Let's go somewhere different -
10
Dicing with alcohol poisoning -
11
Omnipresent Security and a Guilty Conscience -
12
Ping Pong at last! -
13
What Colour's the sky? -
14
In Remembrance -
15
It´s the simple things - like football... -
16
My friend Pat -
17
Building China -
18
Swamped by hospitality -
19
Trapped in an Expat Bubble -
20
Starbucks and Christmas Decorations -
21
Commoditised women?? -
22
What have I let myself in for...? -
23
What's wrong with the TV? -
24
A Tale of Two Christmas Parties -
25
Don't mind us we're British -
26
Happy New Year! -
27
3 months in... -
28
Admiration for hard work -
29
Happy Birthday to me -
30
Reservoir Dogs -
31
Trapped by work?? -
32
Get me outta here! -
33
Living in a frontier town -
34
What Tsunami? -
35
Wales-England in Hong Kong -
36
Life amidst the dynamic contrast -
37
The "Family" -
38
If you want to find your friends... -
39
In search of silence -
40
Being like Charlton Athletic -
41
Toxic? -
42
It's easy to feel like a superstar in China! -
43
Can Do Country -
44
Food, glorious food -
45
Read the Signs! -
46
What sort of Chinese students have you got? -
47
The Greatest....? -
48
The Game -
49
Enjoy HK, but don't imagine it's like China -
50
Guanghou - China's secret powerhouse -
51
Home of the dragon dancers -
52
Things I think are normal -
53
6 months... -
54
The Gateway to Southern China -
55
The Phenomenon of Ming -
56
Why I love colour blind people -
57
Heading North -
58
Xinjiang, I think I love you! -
59
A Man of Honour -
60
Why do they call it Heaven Lake? -
61
Across the Desert Plains -
62
Chinese Siberia -
63
Kanas: a needed antidote to urban jungle -
64
In the Mafiosi´s cradle -
65
Where do I come from? -
66
Finding your friends -
67
Flicking the off switch -
68
Cultural Adjustment and Communications -
69
They did it - Liverpool European Champions -
70
Take me home country roads... -
71
Brave people take the plunge -
72
Time to go! -
73
The green mountain -
74
More than a means to an end -
75
1.3 billion can't be wrong can they.....? -
76
Goodbye -
77
An Ode to Yes -
78
The best things this teaching job taught me -
79
The Rogue's Gallery - Me in the Frame -
80
Regrets...?
