Zai Jian

So this is finally it - the final few hours to which it all boils down to. I leave Wuhu in just over 12 hours (& yes, here I am on the net writing a blog entry!!) at 1:40pm tomorrow & then in less than 48 hours I leave China. It's quite a strange feeling to be honest. I wouldn't say it hasn't hit me yet, but its deffinately bitter-sweet.

I was packing with a hangover today... well, this afternoon. It was Neil's birthday yesterday so we went out last night & celebrated in Chinese style by going to KTV (karaoke) & then onto Royal Hero where we drank an awful lot. It's fair to say I didn't surface untill lunch time & I had a wopper of a headache! As if packing isn't hard enough!

Two salpadines & a few cups of black tea later I was sitting on my case desperately trying to get it to shut but having no success what so ever. I'm having to pop down to China Post tomorrow morning before I leave to mail a bunch more stuff home as it simply will not fit in the suitcase, despite having two bags of hand luggage as well! And a handbag. To say I feel like a pack horse doesn't begin to describe it!

So I have my bus ticket, my hotel is booked for tomorrow night at Shanghai airport; it would seem I'm all ready to go. I'm feeling a bit nervous about tomorrow though as it's the first real solo traveling I've done as Melissa met me at the airport when I arrived & Patrick & I got the coach together. Any traveling I've done whilst I've been here has been with other people as well so tomorrow will be the real test! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

My kids at Shui Yang yesterday were very sweet. I had told them that it would be my last lesson this week & some of them had bought me presents, pens, apples, cards, photos of them & things. I was very touched as one class I didn't even think liked me all that much! They shouted as I left the classrooms at the end of thelessons, "no, Amie, stay, please stay!!" I'd like to say I'll miss them... but in all honesty, I didn't feel that attached to my students as there was so many in a class that you don't really get to know them all that well. But they were sweet kids. :)

So what's next??

That's kind of the question of the hour really! I'm applying to do a CELTA (a certificate to teach English as a foreign language) in New York or Denver & also some internships, hopefully in the US as well. This would be for February time. Then it's on to Argentina for late Spring & Summer, possibly to teach English again but also to attempt to learn Spanish.

(I know I haven't really ended up learning Chinese so perhaps this is a foolish ambition for the next stint of traveling, however Spanish seems somewhat of a more realistic option than Chinese which is so far removed from English & really, I couldn't see me ever using once I left China so had no real insentive to learn the language!!)

Then I start Uni on September 22nd, 2008. This, however, seems too far away to even contemplate at this time!! I still don't quite know what my plans for the Christmas season include yet!

By the way; even more photos went online this week & the links are as follows...

Brush Painting Lesson: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=19370&l=2f883&id=500193915
Tongdu School Promotional Day: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20745&l=07736&id=500193915
JiaHua Shan Weekend Trip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20748&l=2c5e4&id=500193915
Random Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20754&l=5caca&id=500193915
Preparing Aston for Xmas: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20757&l=fdbf9&id=500193915

On this note, I think I'll bid you farewell. I hope the blog has been interesting for you & given you a taist of what life has been like here for me. I will continue to keep my blog once I resume my travels in the new year but untill then, thanks all for reading & maybe see you in the not too distant future!

Zai Jian! (Good Bye!)

Amie
xx

So one week today I leave Wuhu. I'm not sure it's hit me yet that I'm actually leaving; it feels as though I should still have another 3 months to go in a way. Tell you what though, I sure am looking forward to the central heating - I can see my breath when I breath out indoors today. Not impressed.


JuaHua Shan


We went on the company trip last weekend to JuaHua Shan - a mountain with lots of temples & what not. It was pleasant; there was fresh air & quite pictoresque (reminded me of an Alpine resort but with a Chinese edge) & really, I wasn't complaining as it was free because the company paid. But it was bloody freezing & it poured down on the Sunday to the point where I looked like I had just got out of the shower! We then had a 4 hour bus ride home with wet feet & of course, no heating on the bus... Fuuuun.

We also couldn't have a shower in the hotel as "we were in the mountains, so the conditions are not so good & so there is only hot water between 7 & 8pm" - as the guide told us in her bright & by this point annoying tones -which of course was when we were eating dinner. There was no way I was having a shower in the morning either as the tap was practically spitting icicles. Hmm.


Lady Luck ain't on my side


Last week, I wrote how Habby had been planning a superstitions & luck lesson. After discussing this my luck began to go down hill.

On Friday morning, my new bank card arrived from mom which I was very excited about as after my wallet was knicked in Hefei a few weeks back, I had been taking subs off friends here & stuff & was very happy to have my own money supply again. The day was off to a good start.

On my way back from English Corner at Medical College - at which, a girl had started practicing her French with me which threw me a bit to say the least! - that evening, I got out of the cab & left one of my nice gloves in the front seat. So now my hands are freezing with this cold weather. My bank card then didn't work in 3 banks which I tried which have always worked before saying the bank couldn't issue my money. For some reason, at this point, I knew it was going to be a bad evening.

That night, in the club - one of the 2 in Wuhu - which we frequently go to, where we know all the staff & many of the other regulars, my bag was swiped from table I was sat at. When I realised, I was not happy as you can imagine & couldn't believe this was happening all over again. Just topped off the evening really. My new bank card had been in there though there was nothing else of value as it was such a small bag... I suppose I should be greatful for that much but somehow didn't see it that way!

So now I'm back to square one, transfering money into my friends' accounts so they can withdraw it for me. *sigh*


As my time here draws to a close, I seem to have less & less to report &I don't want to bore you with too many ramblings about daily boring life here so I think I'll draw this entry to a close. See you all in a week - which I still can't quite believe!
xx

The countdown begins...

We had quite an interesting conversation with Shining, one of the Chinese girls we live with the other day. Habby is doing a lesson on superstition & luck, etc with one of her adult classes so we asked Shining about Chinese superstitions & customs & what have. Turns out, that pregnant woman are not allowed to touch cold water throughout their 3 terms & also, for about 4-6 months after the baby is born. Their reasoning for this is that it will cause brittle bones in later life......... hmm. We decided not to dispute this & simply agree to disagree.

Lazybones & Broken bones

Well, what a boring week. I've actually done very little of anything really. For example, today, my alarm went off at 9am, I looked out the window, couldn't see the building across the way due to the fog (!!) & so I went back to sleep. When I woke up again around 10:30, it was still foggy. So decided today was a good day to spend in bed watching DVD's! Some may say this was a waisted day. I prefer to think of it as a day in which I culturally enriched my life via film........ yes, that's my excuse & I'm sticking to it!

By the way, if anyone's interested, 'Black Book' is a really good film, bit long, but if you don't mind subtitles, worth watching.

In some ways, it's been quite eventful, however, as last Tuesday night, a crew of us went to the Forgein Student's Bar down the road & when leaving, Habby simply missed the step by mistake, tripped & then tripped over the curb as she fell & broke a bone in her foot twice. She's been in bed all week though she was back at work today as there's no such thing as 'extended sick leave' in China! She was practicing the stairs yesterday with her crutches though so she's taking it in good spirits, despite the 30 Chinese random herble pills a day! *shudders* I wouldn't take them!!


Road Safety


When I was at school, we had 'road safety' talks about looking left & right before you cross, etc etc. Then, when I learnt to drive, I had more 'road safety' talks from my instructor about looking left & right at junctions & not aiming for pedestrians & that sort of thing. This does not seem to exist in China.

I was on my way back from Medical College on Friday & my taxi driver drove straight into the side of a scooter, knocking the man to the ground! The biker sprang from the road to greet the cabby with shouts & violent arm gestures, which is not really that surprising. They taxi driver, however, was more concerned about the damage the scooter may have done to the front of his car despite the fact it was clearly his fault. As far as he was concerned, he had honked his horn & the scooter hadn't gotten out of the way, thus he was not to blame.

The meter was still running as they had their barny on the side of the road & cars were pushing their way past the taxi beeping in protest that the cabby hadn't moved his car. After a few minutes of watching the meter climb & I decided to blow this for a lark, jumped out & scurried into another taxi before he could notice. Perhaps it was wrong of me not to pay, but as far as I was concerned, he'd hit a bike & there was no way I was paying for him to stand there & argue on my time & money!

I also nearly got run over twice today on the way to & from Walmart as bikes randomly decided to drive down the side walk & then down the wrong side of the road which I wasn't expecting!


Not much else to report, however. I'm beginning to think about getting things ready to come home as I only have 2 & 1/2 weeks left now which is quite a strange feeling. Having been living in this 'bubble' as it were for the past 3 months suddenly it's going to be popped & I'll be home. I am looking forward to it; dognuts, cheese on toast, a comfy bed for the first time in 3 months... oh & seeing friends & family of course as well. Tee hee!

While the Tiger's Away the Monkey is King

Caroline, the boss, has gone away to Beijing this week & from there is going to London for about 3 weeks. The girls in the office are all quite excited & keep saying, "while the tiger's away the monkey is king" which basically means, "while the cat's away the mouse will play".

We also learnt another new Chinese idiom this week:

"Ni che wo dofu!" - you eat my tofu!

This translates as meaning that a man takes advantage of a woman as tofu has a similar, how can I put this so that it won't sound crude... feel to a woman's breasts. We find this one highly amusing & so we've been shouting throughout the appartment all week, "Ni che wo dofu!!"

Party on Down at A5

A5 is the appartment off site where a bunch of the others live & they had a party last Tuesday with all of us & a bunch from the University. It was a really good laugh actually & at around 3:30am 7 of us decided it would be a good idea to go to the 24hr Maccy D's on the way home to get burgers as we were hungry. We sat around chatting in there - & having our photos taken by the staff - tilla round 5am when they started making breakfast so we ordered pancakes then as well! Was a good day. Got home about 6am & slept.

Was refreshing though as the guys from the Uni down our road have all been here at least 6 moths - a year & so can speak pretty damn good Chinese so I basically said to them, I want that one & they ordered for me! Herah! For once none of this dilly daddling around while we attempt to make people understand us!

Us in Maccy D's at around 4am - the staff wanted photos so I took one too!

There's a good reason I didn't take GCSE Art!

On the Wednesday, Caroline has organised a Chinese Brush Painting lesson for us at the 'old people's' vocational college. Though I have no artistic talent what so ever, decided to go for the 'cultural experience' & also thought it would be a laugh.

Only 7 of us made (though Neil left after about 30mins to go play football at the Uni) it as the others were all to hung over from the night before & the brush painting was actually really hard! I was useless & the instructor seemed to give up on me actually as he stopped attempting to give me advice on how to hold the brush & 'stroke' the page...

That being said, it was an interesting afternoon & at the end of the lesson, all the usual students insisted on giving us their paintings they had done throughout the term so we each got 2 free paintings! They're actually very good. Though one of mine I have since noticed has a blank ink smudge on it.

Escape from Wuhu Number Two!

9 of us went to Shanghai on Friday for the weekend as there was a Drum & Base Party in a club there on Friday & in the day I thought there would be better shopping!

After a very long train journey which just became a nightmare really as we left Wuhu at 3:45pm & didn't arrive in Shanghai untill 11:30pm (depsite the fact the train should only take 5 or 6 hours!) we finally arrived at teh train station. We then had to check into a hotel, but couldn't actually find it in the end & so after another hour (as you can imagine, I was getting quite annoyed by this point) we finally rang Katie & Spela who had gone up the day before & asked them where they were staying & wen there instead.

Finally, at 2am, we got to the club & it was a really good night. The DJ wasn't actually that good, however, when you've been clubbing in Wuhu for nearly 3months, anything would have sounded good! Also, the beer was free if you gave them back your empty bottle so really, no one was complaining! ;)

We got chatting to some people who showed us another bar around 5am & so we all trooped off there & around 7am we all got hungry (seeing a running theme here!?) so went to City Diner with them for a full English Breakfast. Bacon has never taisted so good!! We were in there till around 10am we finally decided to head back to the hotel. By this time there was only Neil, me & 2 guys we'd met in the club left & I wanted to get some shopping in on the Saturday so needed to head off.

I only had an hour & a half's sleep that day. I lived off regular caffine boosts from Starbucks & Costa Coffee. It was a happy day to see coffee shops!

There was a 7 story mall which made me happy just looking at it though in reality when you got inside there wasn't all that much to buy sadly as it was still all Chinese fashion. *sigh* I did manage to find one top though which was good - I've been having withdrawal symptoms from the lack of clothes shopping . I do miss browsing the shops.

Despite the fact that last time I wrote about Shanghai after our trip during Golden Week I didn't really warm to the place, I've decided after this trip that I actually quite like Shanghai. Perhaps it was the clubbing, the fact that I blended in quite happily & could have been in London when I was in coffee shops or bars or maybe it was simply the fact that it's a fun place to be! It's quite easy to navigate (had I had longer than a few hours to do so on more than 1 hour's sleep!) & it was just a nice place to be. I really liked it this time.

It's funny really; you spend your hole life trying to think of ways to make yourself 'stand out' if that makes sense but in reality, I was so happy to blend in this weekend!! Ironic!

Nanjing

On Monday, Jenny, Habby & I planned to go to Nanjing - the old capital of China which is only 2 hours away from us by bus. As it's a bit bigger, we thought the shopping may be better & also, it's just nice to get out of Wuhu for the day sometimes.

Nanjing was the capital of China untill Chairman Mao's revolution in the 1950's & he moved it to Beijing. 'Nan' means south & 'Bei' means north so they literally translate as 'South Capital' & 'North Capital'. Very original thought process for the names there!

Sadly, however, Nanjing isn't quite big enough to have the compitent transportation systems of Shanghai or Beijing or the easy navigatory systems. That being sad, it's not quite small enough, like Wuhu for example, to not need these & so we spent the morning simply trying to find out where it was we needed to be & where we wanted to go!

We never did find the Forgein Bookstore for Jenny who is desperate for something to read as she's hear untill June & already finished her books! I on the other hand did have a successfull day as I found a lovely pair of ankle boots & we did manage to find a little souvinier type market which was quite nice to meander around & there was a rather random golden tree!? We still don't know why it was there!

All in all though, by 5:30pm when our bus back was, we were ready to leave as I'm ill again (walking around in the rain in Shanghai on an hour's sleep probably hasn't exactly helped me fight it off!) & we were all tired & sort of had had enough of how difficult Nanjing is to navigate even with a map!

I'm back at Shuiyang tomorrow - joy of joys - & really can't be bothered if I'm honest. The early morning simply doesn't appeal to me! Hope all is well in the UK - I hear it's snowing!! Not impressed that I'm missing that!! See you all in 4 weeks - damn time is flying by!! xx

Yi ping bing Tsingtao!

Sorry I'm a week late; it's been a bit mental here for the past week & so I didn't get a chance to update the blog last week.

My Medical College students, as I have explained before, are on a two month cycle & the cycle started again last week so the weekend before I spent planning my new lessons for them - literally a day & a bit at a computer searching & organising, etc etc etc. Fuuun.

I then did the lesson on Monday morning - English slang & idioms was the bulk of the lesson - & it went down really well, so that was a relief!

On Thursday morning, Rebecca, who deals with all the timetabling, comes into the apartment & says that the crazy Medical woman who's the head of English or something there has rung to say that the students can't understand us & that what we're teaching isn't acceptable as it's not relevant or from the book. I wasn't happy. So all my hard work is now for nothing & now I have to replan all my lessons. Not impressed.

On top of this, the assistants quit 2 or 3 weeks ago & so I now don't have a Chinese assistant for my lessons at Shuiyang. To be honest, I teach sets 1-6 & the top 2 I can get away with it I've found over the past 2 weeks. However, sets 3 & 4 are a bit tougher & 5 & 6 without an assistant is simply a joke. Their English teacher sat in with me incase I had any problems but actually, their English wasn't good enough to translate for me in some cases!! I was shocked & very frustrated!! Also, the head of English there (who was actually the worst one) wouldn't let my students think for themselves or speak & whenever I asked the class a question, he would go right up to the students, let them whisper it in his ear in Chinese & then tell me!! I got a bit narky with him in the end because he wasn't getting my polite hints, & said, "this is my class today, I want them to speak, not you & I want them to tell me, not you. You're my assistant today." So yes, Shuiyang is slowly going down hill as well & Caroline, my boss, is having problems recruiting new assistants & the 3 she has can't do Wednesdays. So looks like I'm flying solo from now on! Give me strength. It's going to be easy peasy lessons for them from now on in then!

Shuiyang is actually canceled this week, however, as they have exams - yey! A week off practically!

My week just went from bad to worse really as my bank cards then stopped working as well last week. Between it rejecting the pin in one & saying the other had insufficient funds when I know full well that wasn't the case, it just was a bad day!

New Recruits

Two new girls arrived this week (they are living off site with the others, however) from the UK; Helena & Rebecca. They're only here a month as they're traveling on to New Zeland as well before they return home to start their 18 years in the RAF.

We get on well with them which is good & we're actually going to a 'gathering' at their's & the other's appartment tonight which should be good fun.

"Hello... Hi... Good Afternoon... Hello... Hi there... I'm bored how are you? Oh you don't speak English? That's a shame..."

2 weeks ago, we had to go to an education faire & promote Aston Language Centre by standing there at the stall handing out flyers & answering questions to the few who could speak English. It was rather dull.

I did speak to 4 11 year olds though who were justs so sweet! They disappeared after a while & then reappeared with a bunch of orchids & a red rose for me! Made my day! They also gave me this squishy toy thing which is quite fun to play with - bit like a yoyo. They insisted no matter what I said!

Felt a bit like an animal at the zoo though as people would walk past the stall & just gawp at us! Or when you were talking to someone, they'd form a crowd around you to listen in or watch. Very odd. Wasn't exactly how I would normally spend my Saturday but it comes with the job, these random bits & pieces liek meet & greet dinner & promotional stuff we have to do. Fun fun fun!

Escape from Wuhu

This weekend just gone, Neil & I headed off to Hefei (the capital city of Anhui Province) as, well, in all honesty, the bars are better & I thought because it was the capital the shopping would be better!

As it happened, I didn't get to go shopping as my wallet was stolen on the Saturday & so I had nothing. Luckily, it was only my wallet & not the iPod, Camera, phone or Neil's passport which were all in my bag as well, so really, could have been a lot worse. There wasn't really any money in it, the most they'll get out of it is the VIP cards for Pizza Hut, a few restaurants in Wuhu! Unless they intend to get in a taxi & don't speak English as all my 'taxi cards' with all the places I may ever need to go were in there too with the Chinese characters written on them... that reminds me, need to get them reprinted!

Other than that, it was actually a really good weekend, however. We stayed in a rather local hotel despite the fact there was a perfectly good Holiday Inn we could have stayed at. But where's the fun in that!

The receptionist came to our rooms after we'd checked in - after much gesturing, phoning Shining for a translation & then drawing pictures on paper as well! - & motioned 'sleeping' & then pointed to the locks (yes, plural + chain) indicating that we made sure the door was locked when we went to sleep. (Now you see why I was carrying all my valuables with me in my bag!) But it was fine, & we felt perfectly safe to be honest.

We went clubbing Friday & Saturday night & made some friends who we'll never see again. Neil got dragged up by the host singer man to play the club games (they stop the music 1/2 way through the night to play random games like 'Beat the Intro' on the dance floor!) both nights & had to win one girl's heart one night & the second, do as many pushups as he could with another girl sat on his back. Very bizarre! But highly amusing for the rest of us!

On the Friday, I got chatting to a group of people, mainly through a girl called Baby (think she'd seen Dirty Dancing too many times!) as she spoke the best English. However, Baby seemed to think that we were suddenly the best of friends & girls in China are much, umm, closer shall we say than they are in the UK. For example, on the dance floor, she grabbed my hips & starts daning with me like a guy & a girl would dance at home & later tried to come to the loo with me! I shut the door rather quickly to my cubicle! She was nice enough but I like something we call Personal Space which she didn't seem to get!

On the Saturday, we went back to the same club & played dice (a drinking game here which we've gotten really into) with some of the staff & they taught us Chinese dancing - somewhat similar to 'Saturday night' dance from year 7 discos! But we were having fun & at 2am, we were the only people left with all the staff & were having quite a laugh. Suddenly, the owner says, "dinner!" So we all troop off to a restaurant down the road & he pays for everything. However, this means in China that you cannot be rude & not eat it as it would be highly offensive... those of you who know me know how picky an eater I can be... you understand my dilemma in these situations...

So, what's the first thing they put down in front of us? A tray of cray fish, heads, shells, tentically thingies & all! I don't eat seafood. Hmmm. So Chen, a girl next to me took delight in showing me what I had to do & I picked up my chopsticks, took a deep breath & bit into the meat. Actually, I was shocked, but it was really nice! Just the shelling bit I have issues with! I ate a 2nd, which i shelled myself - badly - but then another dish of vegies & what I swear was worm looking things arrived & by that point it was a case of, 'just don't look or think about what your eating!'

The owner kept plying Neil with Bei Jiao as well (Chinese alcohol which is over 50%). He surreptitiously poured some in the soup instead but then he simply refilled his glass! Chen, bless her, kept telling the owner to stop but he kept ignoring her until she reached across & literally took Neil's cup away from him - he was very appreciative of this!

The host singer man kept telling me he loved me as well which was a tad awkward. I was like, "umm, thanks?!" I mean really, what do you say to that! Very strange night!

We didn't end up getting home & to sleep till gone 6am. & then I was up at 9:30 to get breakfast as I was hungry & we had to check out by 12!

Anyway, not much other news. Going to a party tonight at the apartment of those who live off site so that should be fun & we have more promotional work this week to do as well which won't be quite so fun. Never mind. See you all soon xx

Frozen Toes & a None-Feeling Nose

Well, the temperature has certainly dropped! *shivers* It's about 11 degrees here today which is mighty cold compared to how it has been. What really takes the biscuit is that there's no central heating in China either & so we're all wandering around in coats indoors & drinking cups of piping hot tea! However, I asked Andy to pick me up a water bottle whilst he was at Walmart today as if I drink any more tea I'll turn into a tea pot but there's currently no other way to keep warm!

What brings insult to injury is that this morning, I went to get in the shower & even after letting the water run, it was like icey arrows shooting through the shower head as opposed to the usual steaming hot water. Each one of us in turn went in only to hear a yelp & the scurrying of feet back to our rooms in shock! It was not a pleasant experience! I also did 4 lots of washing yesterday but none of it has actually dried as we don't have a dryer & so it just hangs on the balcony waiting for the breeze to catch it... that's hard to do when it's rainy & freezing cold!! So I'm also now running low of clothes - not clean or dirty, just clothes in general as they're all wet!! Not impressed. Not impressed at all.

Buying clothes here is interesting. I braved the shops again this weekend in a vain attempt to find something again, however, all the fashions I hated in the UK are here, but twice as tacky, twice as cheap (in price but sadly also how they look) & just embellished with a mesh of sequins or beads or, my personal favourite, bad English!

For example, one girl was wandering around Number 11 Middle School the other day with something along the lines of "Easy to Open" across her chest... She didn't realise how that could be perceived! I didn't think it took a great amount of knowledge (or brains) to know what that meant, but apparently, here, it doesn't matter what it says as long as its in English!

Also, 'Kappa' - the clothing range with Vicky Pollard from Little Britain wears - is mega popular here. I think it's safe to say that I can't bring myself to buy that despite it being practically being designer here! We tried to explain how they had had to stop selling the brand in the UK after the Chavs just simply massicred any kind of positive branding it had had but the Chinese just don't understand. They think it's great!


Who knew 'layers' were so complicated!


Those who know me know how particular I am about my hair. You also know, that I get it cut pretty much every two months. Well, yesterday, I couldn't stand it any longer & had to get my hair cut... in China.

It's safe to say that it was an interesting experience. Elly, one of the assistants who we trusted, recomended a place to us & so off Jenny & I went.

It was quite a trendy looking place & they spoke a little bit of English - by which I mean, they understood we wanted our hair cut & could tell us the price. Other than that, Elly had written down 'trim' & 'layers' for us in Chinese characters in hope that this would help us to explain what we wanted!

The wash itself was interesting enough - you basically lay on a bed with your head in a sink which worked well for me as it meant I didn't have to sit on a phone book in order for my head to reach the sink as I often have to in the UK because I'm always too short for the chairs! She washed my ears though which I found quite bizarre & the head massage was not particuarly relaxing as she only concentrating on one section of my head which actually began to ache a bit after a while!

Then, a guy - who in England we would lable as 'deffinately gay,' but of course, here, he's simply being Chinese - begins to cut my hair. It was all going well untill he says, ok, dry straight or, then motions the 'curly hair' to which I replied, what about the layers? I received a blank look to this comment & so tried to mime layers - this is not an easy task I would like to add! So we start looking through hair style books, me pointing to all the layers, then he understands, but tells me it will cost me 280 kwai rather than 35 kwai! Errr, I don't think so. Jenny's getting layers in the chair next to me at this point, all for 35 kwai so I was quite confused. It then warrented a call to Rebecca, one of the Chinese girls we work with, for a translation. Turns out, he said that he could not cut my hair into layers as I had English hair. I told him this was rubbish & to do it anyway & low & behold, it looks fine, despite me having English hair!

It's a bit different to my usual style; it was the first time in nearly 3 years that I've come out of the salon with long hair rather than it getting shorter with every visit, but I"m happy with it & he gave me the cut for 35 kwai, despite giving me layers. He also said, 'like Chinese hair!' when he had finished & was waxing it into place... I was dubious about the wax but though "meh! We'll go with the flow whilst I'm in the chair & see what happens!" I haven't waxed it today & it's fine. So yes - I have a Chinese hair cut now! Which looks relatively normal... thank god.


I got a present!


Class 4 are my lesson before lunch at Shuiyang & they are by far my favourite as they are just good fun, & even though their English isn't the best, they are willing to speak & answer my question which is always good!

Anyway, this week, I had planned to do music. One of the tasts was to fill the board with as many adjectives (describing words) as they could & then use these words to describe the music I played them e.g. Queen - We Will Rock You, Green Day - Basket Case & Celin Dion - My Heart Will Go On (with which they are obsessed to this day in China!) It was going reasonably well but after this, the lesson feel apart with most classes as the other task I had prepared was too difficult & so I was desperately trying to think of something else to do when they asked me to sing! In the end, the 2nd half of the lesson for each class turned into more a talent show of students singing than a lesson, but they were having fun & it was an easy lesson for me so I wasn't complaining!

There are usually two rows of boys at the back of each class - some things obviously don't change from country to country! - & in Class 4 last Wednesday, I noticed a lime green thing flying around the back of the room from one boy to another. I asked what it was & they began passing it under the desk to each other frantically untill one boy gets up & approaches the front of the class, saying, "for you".

As sweet a gesture as it was, it was the ugliest looking green duck I've ever seen & we've been using it as a football up & down our corridore all week! I'm not entirely sure if they had bought the duck especially for me, or if I effectively stole some poor boy's toy duck - in which case I was probably doing him a favour as if he's 15, 16 years old, he really shouldn't have a cuddly toy duck!


A stalker in the making?


We had an 'English Corner' on Sunday night which is basically an informal chat with the adult students that attend classes in Aston. All 7 foreign teachers chat to the students informally about whatever springs to mind & the students can move around the different teachers, ask questions, etc.

Anyway, I managed to find the only 4 18, 19 year olds in the group & chat to them & they were actually pretty cool. One gir, Field (yes, that is her name) listened to Green Day, My Chemical Romance to name but a few which is really unusual here as they rarely know any Western music beyond Westlife, Back Street Boys or Michael Jackson! So I gave her my email as she wanted to keep in touch (I've set up a separate account for this reason so they don't have my regular email). The next day, I'm watching a 'Sex in the City' box set DVD I've bought here & my phone rings. It's Field letting me know that my email doesn't work & wondering if I was free this weekend! God knows how she got my number but it sort of creeped me out a bit & I feigned not knowing my teaching schedual yet for this week... She didn't ring today, but I've stored her number for future reference.


Anyway, that is pretty much all my news for this week. I sent some postcards when I was in Tibet/Xi'an & I do believe they should arrived this week so would be nice to know if they did!

See you all in 6 weeks
xx

Man Flu vs The Common Cold

So I'm ill. In China. It's a great experience - not. It would seem it is simply a summer cold, but I spent most of the morning in bed drinking tea with honey - mmm yum - & then went off to Medical College this afternoon. Surprisingly, they could understand me amidst the flem & coughing! God knows how! However, when I returned back to Aston, Rebecca, one of the Chinese girls who works here, was making Andy (who has 'man flu' - *Amie seethes as Andy copmlains of impending death whilst Amie sniffles & gets on with her life.....* such a typical man!!! - Andy I mean, not me!) & I some kind of ginger soup concoction... it's umm, what's the word... disgusting! Think I'll keep to the tried, tested & tasty method of blackcurrant lemsips before bed!

The big killer is that tomorrow is Wednesday which means, Shui Yang day, which mean, up at 5am. *winces* Ironically, it's the two Shui Yang-ers that are ill so tomorrow will be fun...

My question to you, however, is this: How is it that a woman continues her life as normal with only minor complaints of a nose which appears to be attempting the marathon run & a cough yet a man is 'dying of flu' when in reality, they both have exactly the same symptoms & illness?! I was not impressed...

This seems to be a recurring issue in the Aston household as, for example, Habby managed to Superglue her fingers together the other week. She laughed this off with a blazay comment about how her fingers were now peeling - delightful! The next day, Andy scurries into the living room fussing about having super glued his fingers together as well. However, this resulted in a wimpish squirm to Aiyi, the Aston cook; after much frantic motioning & attempts at bad Chinese (as Aiyi doesn't speak any English bar, 'potatoes' & 'OK') she fetched some random Chinese remedy to unstick his fingers. He then managed to do the same thing only a few hours later. I despair!

What do you want to do when you leave school?


This is the question I asked my students at Shui Yang last week. I received some of the most interesting answers including, Superman, a thief, a policeman so I can use an AK47 & a beggar. I was laughing quite a lot last week as the boys stood up to tell the class their answers. I asked AK47 boy if he had ever shot a real gun; when he replied no, I smiled & shocked them all by saying, "I've shot a real gun (not an AK47 mind)" I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head! - it's probably seen as un-lady-like here or something. Woops!

They all have problems with the 'th' sound here as well. So last week, a few of my students said, "I want to be a seif". I looked blankly & said, "A what?!" It took me a few minutes to realise what he meant! We did some pronunciation work then... Bet this week they still get it wrong!


Who would have thought it - Amie in the kitchen!


I'm finally learning to cook more than just a Seeds-of-Change jar & some pasta or a baked potato & chicken escalope! I know, it's hard to believe but I have actually managed to make a few good meals since I've been in China - & trust me, that is no easy matter! We can only find pork mince & we don't have an oven, so already, our possibilities have been dramatically cut down. I've managed a spag bol which was pretty damn good & we attempted chili concarne this weekend, but due to the lack of chili & kidney beans (which I wasn't too bothered by as I don't like them anyways!) it was more of a spicy mince with veg & rice thing. Tasted pretty good though.

Melissa has also taught me how to do fried rice which is definitely a meal to remember for when I get to uni next year! Very easy & only takes a minute. However, think I need to perfect it yet as I attempted this on my own on Friday and it was not quite as successful. I went about boiling the rice as you would do at home - all was well. Then Melissa entered the kitchen & it began to go down hill as she was shocked by how I was cooking the rice, telling me it was wrong & starts adding more water. The rice was then over done & more like a gloopy risotto rice... but without the herbs & just as plain, bland boiled Chinese rice... niiiice. Melissa then continues to try & add water - bad idea, as I & now Jenny & Habby were also trying to tell her. In the end, I took the pan away from her & dealt with it. I fried to veg but the rice was no longer fry-able. It was not a pleasant meal by any means.

It turned out that she had never seen rice cooked in a pan before as they all have rice cooker machine things & so that was why she was so confused. Despite clearing up this misunderstanding, she's never coming near the kitchen again whilst I'm in there!

I hasten to add that when I cooked rice the next night for the chili that wasn't chili, it was a great success without anyone's interfering.


Company BBQ


On our only full day off - Monday - we were asked to attend the company BBQ this week. Although we thought it would be a nice day out in the park, we were all a bit annoyed as we lost our only full day off which we would usually use for more helpful activities such as lesson planning, food shopping and such like.

It turned out to be an ok day actually, we played tennis - which Neil had never played before & managed to hit the ball directly at Melissa's hands which was holding Caroline's, now broken, camera & send it flying. It was a good day for him!! We also played badminton, which I am rubbish at, as the others found out the hard way - I stopped playing in the end! And after searching the whole of Wuhu, we had found a plastic bat & ball which nearly ended up in the lake a few times!

The BBQ itself was, Chinese to say the least! A small oblong metal box on the ground filled with newspaper & coal! We weren't entirely sure the meat would be safe to eat but actually it was fine. It was the potato salad (which Caroline "was up ve'y earee to make" as she kept reminding us) that disagreed with people. Ironic to say the least!

It was a bit sad in the park as there was a 'zoo' which consisted of 3 tigers in cages that were literally metal bars & they could barely stand up in; same with the lioness, skrawny black bear which was pacing & rocking from side to side - classic signs of dementeur in captive animals - & a horse & goat. I was mortified & nearly in tears when I saw them.


On a lighter note, I am home in 8 weeks, so see you all then - there are some times when I am counting down the days! Others I am not. I'm usually online around 6pm or 10pm my time - 11am or 3pm your time - on a Monday & some other days. Hopefully speak to some of you soon!

Zai jian
xx

I miss my bed.

When I was doing Psychology A Level, we breifly studiedI a fatal illness known as Fatal Familial Insomnia in which, people usually around the age of 40 or so, will suddenly stop sleeping with no explantation or understanding or why. Due to lack of sleep, the body ceases to function adequately after a hwile & so they die. It's very sad.

I appear to have developed some kind of inability to sleep untill the wee hours of the morning which is not helpful when your alarm goes off at 6am that morning for Medical College! I'm not suggesting I will fall down dead tomorrow - I sincerely hope I don't I hasten to add - but I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that it may be the level of dusgust with my bed! Chinese mattresses are, in a word, upsettingly crap. I can feel the slats in the bed it is that thin & thus, sleeping, what was once one of my favourit past times, is no longer quite so enjoyable. It also doesn't help that Habby & I sit on our balcony gossiping about the day till 2am or so some nights... But that is hardly the point now is it!

I'm planning an early night tonight so that for once I don't feel like I'm a walking Zombie at Shhui Yang tomorrow... yet here I am writing on my blog at 9:30pm.

Speaking of the rural school which sits in padi fields, last week we did a geography lesson where they had to name flags & find a country for every letter of the alphabet (in English of course) & such like. Was remarkably successful which was great & the students were really into it. However, I noticed that they all reached for their dictionaries for the country ABC task, which I would not have minded had they been looking up country names as this would have shown that they already knew something to begin with. However, I was not happy with them turning to the bag pages where every country, with its flag, was listed! I conviscated many dictionaries & electronic dictionaries last week! i Also learnt the word for cheater: "qi pien!" [chee pee-en]. This made them laugh.


The delights of Medical College...


I started teaching Medical College Freshers last week too. They are by far the best classes I've had at M.C. They are so enthusiastic, ready to listen, despite being unprepared in some cases as one guy didn't have a pen or paper... This is the same guy who told me he loved me but hey! Comes with the job... I think...

My lesson plan for M.C. goes something like this:
1. Question Time - ability to ask me anything about myself or my country, etc etc. (I have ability to refuse any questions).
2. If you had Y10, Y100, Y1000 or Y1000000, what would you do with each some of money?
3. What is your dream? What will your life be like in 2020... etc etc
4. Text Language & Tongue Twisters.

Topic 1 I've spoken about before, having questions such as;
Do you like China... yes, yes I do.
Do you like Chinese food... most of the time, yes, yes I do.
Where are you from?
What do you do in your spare time?
Do you have a boyfriend?
Do you like Chinese boys?

I have also spoken before about our 'faux profiles' that we all have fabricated for this job, Neil & I inparticular as we teach people either our age or older. Today, however, mine was given a bit more colour. One girl asked me the usual, 'do you have a boyfriend,' which I replied 'yes, but he lives in England' which usually suffices. 'What is he like' she asks. I laughed, as did the rest of the class but they stared at me - it was a nursing major class so all female - waiting for any morsel I may let go about something as juicy as 'my English boyfriend'.

Apparently, he's about 5ft 8", my colour hair but wavy with bright blue eyes, he's smart & very funny. Was wondering, if anyone sees someone with this description, could you snap a photo for me, email it across & then I'd have the whole package to display for them!

In Topic 2, on Friday, with my freshers though, the guy without a pen or paper said that he would spen Y10 on a bunch of flowers to give to me, because he loves me. I was someone stunned, ratehr embarassed & the class roared with laughter! Keep in mind, I have never met this class before & won't see them again. Then, in the break, he comes to the front & asks me to sign his report slip (yes, exactly, he's on report - at Uni!?!? - I do attract the gooduns don't I!) & then offers me a present which was his canvas, relatively ordinary looking wallet. When I said, 'no, I can't accept this I'm sorry,' he thrusts it forwards saying, 'but Y10, Y10! This is how I would spend Y10!' I refused again politely & he hung his head & went back to his seat after saying, 'ok, ok'. I felt quite bad but I couldn't take the poor guys wallet!!


Chinese Lessons


Due to a change in Andy's teaching timetable, he is no longer able to be with us during Chinese Lessons, therefore leaving Neil & I to our own devices. Our teacher has also changed to Vicky who was apparently very nervous as she had never taught before... comforting. (Mind, I hardly havea leg to stand on on that note as I myself am new to this malarky!)

Nevertheless, she has truely surprised us & I feel as though I am actually learning now. We've done a colours & numebrs lesson & have used this successfully to buy "yi ge huang se, yi ge fen hong se he yi ge lan se" cotton candies from a cart Neil found down Restaurant St (which is aptly named). This translates to, 'on yellow one, one pink one & one blue one" - we didn't know the word for 'cotton candy' sadly. We've also covered greetings & such like but this was more difficult & I'm not going to embarass myself by getting it wrong in writing on the blog! All I can rememebr is, "Ni che le ma?" Meaning, "have you eaten?" which is an informal greating between friends here. (They like food... it's the centre of their lives here... my kinda place!)

I wouldn't say I would be able to have a conversation by any means, but my vocab is slowly (slowly being the optimum word there) growing & I'm able to read a few character such as beef, fish (so I know what to avoid) and such like which helps somewhat.


What's going down on a Saturday night? Pins!

We have discovered a very small but perfectly formed bowling alley not far from Aston. So Andy, Habby, Neil, Shining & I trooped down on Saturday night as we were in lack of anything to do & some of us didn't feel like going clubbing after Friday night's, how shall I put this, 'heavy outing'.

Shining had never been bowling before & so we taught her how to play & she actually ended up beating Andy who didn't appear best pleased by this - especially as we all found it so amusing! There was a bit of a tadoo about payment as they had said one thing when we first started then changed their minds afterwards, but in reality, it was still only 1quid a game per person.

Turned out to be a really good night, even though I came home with a cracker of a bruise on my knee after falling down twice as I went to bowl. (The floor was exceptionaly slidey in my very stylish bowling shoes) & really, at least I didn't get pulled down the ally by the ball as I have been in the past! So I'm improving! I actually came second as it happened, so my 'release & collapse' technique must have some use even if it does mean that my knee clicks each time I bend down now... Niiiice!


That's about it from this reasonably uneventful week I'm afraid. We have made friends with a Russian who is learning Chinese at Aston, Demitri & Speila, a woman learning Chinese here who lives in the apartment below him. They are very nice & a good laugh, though Speila leaves in a month which is a shame.

Oh! How could I forget, Kalie, aged 26, the new arrival started on Wednesday. She has arrived here from teaching English in Vietnam - where is sounds like she had a pretty sweet deal, teaching & living on the beach! - & before there, Peru. She is rather cool with us which we were a bit miffed about I suppose as we had been ready to bring her into the crew & stuff, but she lives with Speila & Demitri off site so perhaps she is happy to just hang out else where. We will see, it has only been a week.

Other than that, nothing much else going on so I will leave it here. Hope all is well with all of you; I think about everyone at home reguarly, especially this week as I became somewhat disechanted by it all after coming back from holiday, wishing I could just travel round China instead or come home for a bit & then jet off again elsewhere. But all is well, still having fun - most days when we aren't creeped out by someone for some reason!

I'm off to bed now I think - what a joy. *sigh* how I wish I could fit my bed in my suitcase. Or even just my lovely cushioned mattress on the floor with my cozy duvet would be good.... ok, I'm slowly driving myself into a downard spiral of depression here so I'll stop before I cry for my bed. Because that would just be sad.

Cheese & crackers beckons; much love & hugs & all that jazz
xx

"It's the infatuation!"

Sorry it has taken me nearly a week to finally get around to writing about my holiday to Tibet & Xi'an but it has been a tad hectic this week now that we are back into the swing of it all!

Shanghai & the train to Lhasa, Tibet

On Sep. 28th we set off from Wuhu at 8am on the bus to Shanghai where we would catch the train to Lhasa. The bus was just as delightful a ride as it was on my first day & this time, I even got shushed by an old biddy in front. I wasn't actually being loud, simply speaking English! Even better was the fact that Habby & I watched two carts pass by the window; the first, was loaded with animal carcusses - greeeeaaat - the next was piled as high as the coach with cages full of pigs which weren't entirely sure if they were dead or alive - niiiice!

We were in Shanghai for 5 hours & decided to go to the old town - Yuyuan - which really, is now just a tourist hot spot. However, I was not complaining as I saw my first Starbucks in a month. And what a happy site it was! I had my first coissant & chocolate muffin in far too long. It was a good day!

I did like Shanghai, it's safe to say that I will be going back in a few weeks when I need a chocolate muffin, some decent shops & a dose of modern, Western style normality, but I did feel it lacked something which I can't quite put my finger on it. I think it felt, maybe, a bit soleless, like perhaps becaause it was striving to be so modern that it had forgotten that actually, had they retained some of the older style architecture & way of life that they would have given the city more character. But like I said, it was modern & we weren't stared at so I wasn't complaining!

We then went souvenir shopping round the little shops & soon we were on the train to Lhasa.

The train itself was actually very comfortable, if not a little cramped. We decided to travel hard sleeper (brave, I know) which means 6 bunks no door & to a cabin. But it was ok; Andy, Habby & I were in one cabin with Patrick next door (which he was happy about as he could more easily practice his already reasonably good Chinese).

This is my bunk - which was the top one of 3. They decided that as I was the smallest, it was a good idea for me to have to clamber up there. However, one problem with that is that I couldn't reach the little steps down the wall of the cabin to get down as my legs weren't long enough! I ended up simply having to jump down.

We shared our cabin with 3 Chinese men, one of which decided to impersonate a fog horn during the wee hours of the morning. Now, I have heard snoring, but this! This was like sleeping in Euston Station! I tried everything short of hitting him with a pillow to get him to be quiet (he was in the bunk across from me) & in the end, sat & read in the corridore for 2 hours in the middle of the night. I was not impressed. What made it worse, was due to my lack of sleep that night, I decided to take a nap that afternoon... & geuss what! So did he! It was slow & horrible torture as the snoring began again.

This is also the same man who had the ordacity to then impersonate everything I said the next morning. For example, Andy tried to take a photo of me after not being able to take a shower for 2 days on the train (the worst bit of the whole trip for me - man I felt grimey!!) & I went, 'No Andy!' & so the man goes, 'No Andy!' I just glared at him as he wasn't allowing me to sleep & now this... he was seriously asking for a lamping.

We spent a lot of time in the dining car as there were bigger windows & so you had a better view, however, cabin fever set in after 1 day & playing cards solidly for about 3 hours.

The views were really quite impressive once we were into Tibet on the second day. There were snow capped mountains & barron rolling hills on the other side of the train which was quite biazzare. We passed a lot of yaks & sheep & the odd wild horse. There were many many yaks in Tibet along with the odd random person just walking though where they could possibly be going or coming from is beyond me - there was nothing there! Apart from yaks & sheep of course, but I highly doubt they are good company.

We finally pulled into Tibet station at 9pm on Sep. 30th. The cool air of Tibet was very refreshing, espeially after Wuhu!

Lhasa, Tibet

We were all quite excited in the cab from the station to Hotel Ding Feng. Our guide, Jimmy, greeted us with traditional white scarves, symbolizing purity, cleanlyness & happyness. Habby & I shared a room, as did Patrick & Andy, however, the window in our room actually looked into the corridore thus our curtains stayed shut at all times for fear of prying eyes! The hotel was very clean (apart from the suspect wet patch in the corner when we first arrived) & it was a relief to have room & be able to unpack!

Habby suffered from headaches throughout our stay in Lhasa which was a shame although common at such high altitude - over 3680m. What made me laugh though on multiple occasions was that she could not remember the word 'altitude' & came out with various other malapropisms such as 'it's the infatuation that's causing me to feel so crap!' which was by far the funniest. Andy also complained of headaches... though they somehow didn't seem to affect his ability to power forward & not let Habby & I meander through the market...

On our first full day, we went to the Dalai Lama's home, the Potala Palace. It was very impressive from the outside, as you can see, but actually, when you get up close, it's in need of a lick of paint & some TLC!

There were over 300 steps to climb but luckily my asthma was fine, despite the thin air.

Inside the Potala was interesting but not exactly awe inspiring as had been suggested. The use of colour is vivid which is lovely but other than the previous Dalai Lama's tombs which are simply massive, 30ft plus each and solid gold through & through, nothing was really that amazing.

That afternoon, we went to Jokhang Temple in the centre of the old town - the Barkhor. Again, this was interesting but nothing special I didn't think. One freaky thing, however, was that the main statue of Buddha in Jokhang is known as baba (father in Chinese, grandfather in Indian). When we were in front of baba, Habby's nose began to bleed & wouldn't stop. Jimmy got very excited as he said that baba used to paint using blood from his nose & so he had blessed Habby. Habby was a bit freaked out to say the least but, assuming you believe Jimmy's tale & not that it was just a reaction to the high altitude, it was interesting he 'chose' Habby as she is Sikh & the Tibetan culture is a real mix between Chinese & Indian which is very clear & quite interesting to see how they gel.

This is the view of Jokhang Temple when standing on the roof.

In all the sacred places we visited in Tibet, there was an overwhelming smell which would engulf you as you walked in. In great dishes in front of every avatar, they would burn wicks in yak butter which gave off the pungent stentch... I wasn't really a fan it must be said!

A market surrounded the temple called the Barkhor which you must walk around keeping the temple to your right as a sign of respect. This became a pain if you wanted to go back to a stall you had seen; you had to walk around the whole place again & it was reasonably big!

That night, we went to a Tibetan restaurant & tried the local dishes; yak. I was very good & tried everything (I know, don't fall off your chair now!) & it actually wasn't too bad, just like a bland beef. Some of the dishes had nasty coatings on them but that couldn't really be helped. Andy had ordered barely something-or-other for us to try which was like chewing cardboard & butter tea was truely vile as well. But at least I tried it all!

On our second day, we visited the Drepung Monastrey which is the largest in Tibet. I turned the prayer wheels on the way up to bless my friends & family - let me know if it worked! Again, it was interesting but after a while, all the rooms began to look the same as all the Buddha avatars look similar & the yak butter burning became quite oppressive.

My favourite room at Drepung was actually quite lacking in colour (unlike the rest of it) as it had black walls but with images outlined onto it in golden paint. It was really delicate & so understated that I thought they were by far the prettiest thing we'd seen!

We also went into the General Assembly Hall at Drepung which was a reasonably large hall with little shrines leading off it. In one, women were not allowed in as Tibetan Buddhism believes that they may be harbouring evil spirits & therefore may corrupt the monks or make it 'un pure'. Andy & Patrick went in, however & told us that there was a monk inside chanting sutras whilst texting on his mobile. This made us laugh. On the other side was an ornate & intricately decourated 'cupboard' style thing which stretched the width of the room. Inside was a sacred painting which they only brought out during special festivals. Reena, our guide that day, told us that if we walked underneath it, we would be blessed... so we did! So far, don't feel any different & it's been just over a week... feel a bit conned. Here, we were told to sit on the mats in the centre of the room (of which there were many) & suddenly monks began to spill through the main door in time for the General Assembly. We then watched them chanting & rocking for about 20 minutes though we felt a bit awkward & out of place. A few monks, however, looked like they were having a gossip than fulfilling their holy duties as they kept turning around, looking at us & then turning back and whispering! It's good to know that Buddha's work is in such committed & capable hands...

For lunch that day, we went to a famous restaurant in the Barkhor & sat a roof terrace which was very pleasant. However, the true greatness came with the menu when Habby & I saw 'Club Sandwich' on the menu. Keeping in mind, China don't seem to understand sandwiches, we were very excited & despite the guilt, bit into a very large & very taisty Club. Damn was it worth it!

We then went on to Sera Monastry, quite a bit smaller than Drepung but I actually prefered it. There was an interesting scroll room in which they wrote, copied & printed sacred scripts & also the Debating monk's courtyard. Here, monks would debate philosophical ideas & theories all day. It was fasinating to watch, even though we had no idea what they were saying! To reiterate their point they would viciously clap their hands or thrash their rosemary beeds; was all very noisy & active!

Everyone laughed at me as I managed to get sunburned in Tibet. It was quite a bizarre line as well as I had a bag & sweater strap which was great. Not.

I did like Tibet & I was glad I went as I doubt in a few years it will ever be the same as he Chinese are quickly killing the traditional Tibetan culture which is a real shame as sitting back & just watching it unfold before your eyes was actually one of the best bits of the trip; just people & culture watching!

Xi'an

After yet another 2 day train journey which was equally dull, we finally reached Xi'an. I was far more excited about this than Tibet in a way as I have wanted to see the Terracotta Warriors since I learnt about them in history when I was 10 years old.

We were greeted at Xi'an station by our guide and taken to Motel 168. It was lovely to see such a modern & clean & Western looking hotel both inside & out. Our only complaint was that there was a floor length window looking in from the bedroom into the shower... we felt this was a bit bizarre!

Andy, Habby & I went to Pizza Hut for a Western meal - happy days - but we were then interupted by a Motel 168 lady. We felt this was a bit odd as for a start, how did she know we were there, but it turned out our guide had taken us to the wrong branch of the hotel... and so the disaster began...

When we were taken to the new hotel - after our dinner - we had a smaller room (the chairs were jammed up against the bed side) but there was no window into the shower which was good, though there were plants in the shower in which, Habby was sure there was a camera. As in Lhasa, we had the nightly phone call to the room from the hookers. habby got sick of them ringing & started asking them how much; they were so shocked by an English speaker that they hurridly replied, 'ah! No English!' & slammed the phone down! This amused us.

We went to see the Terracotta Warriors on our first day in Xi'an & I was so excited. There are 3 pits; the 1st being the photo which is by far the biggest. The 2nd is reasonably impressive, however, most of the pit is still in tact as the building the warriors were burried in & so you can't actually see many warriors in it which is a shame although it's still quite cool. Pit 3 is the smallest & has come under the most damage as the roof of the building caved in over the years. Pit 1 is deffinately the most impressive however due to the sheer amount of warriors they have been able to uncover. They say there are possibly another 6000 yet to be found as well!

The only complaint I had from the day was the vast anount of people that were there. We arrived just after 9am & by the time we left around 1pm, there were just hoards of people swarming towards the exhibition!

There was a really nice market in Xi'an as well where I bought loads of souvenirs... seriously spent so much yuan that week! - Habby & I got lost in the little market streets, neon lights & 'lookie, lookie, just lookie!' calls. Was a really nice evening.

However, when we reached the hotel again, our card keys didn't work so Patrick kindly took them downstairs & sorted it out for us. once we got into the room, it was found that Habby's suitcase was in a state of dissaray & had been rooted through, probably by the cleaning staff & half her fags were gone. It was dead lucky there was a lock on my bag as my passport & iPod were inside it! Nothing was stolen rfom Habby - other than her fake Marlboro Lights whch she wasn't that keen on anyways - which was very lucky; she'd had anything of value in her handbag.

Later that night, Habby & I were writing in our travel journals about the day when the phone rings. Assuming it would be another hooker, Habby tells me to take this one. So I answer the phone & the lady goes, "hello, Amie?" I found this rather freaky & after a long silence after she wouldn't tell me who she was, she tells me, "you owe us money." Well if I wasn't worried before I certainly was now! I had images of Chinese gang masters coming & dragging me away in the dead of night never to be seen again. After a long & very confusing discussion that consisted of, "who is this!?" "you owe us money" "ok, but who are you..." silence... "hello? I'm sorry but who is this!" "you owe us money..." (we weren't getting anywhere fast) the phone clicked off. We went down to the front desk & asked if a call had been made, "oh yes!" the receptionist replied, "that was me!" The confusion grows...

According to her, we owed the hotel 200 yuan for some reason & if we didn't pay we would be chucked out. Keep in mind, it was now gone midnight so we were not best pleased by all this. We went & found Patrick & And (who had fallen asleep and therefore didn't really appreciate our rapping on the door) to discuss the impending doom that seemed to lay before us; shell out or be chucked out. So we shelled out & Caroline assured us that the guide company would pay us back in full for the mistake, which they have now done.

The next day, we went to check out to find that our train tickets for the Xi'an to Wuhu stretch had not arrived yet thus adding to an already crappy stay in Xi'an. Patrick, again, kindly insisted on coming back to retrieve them at 3:30pm for us & we agreed to meet at the station at 5pm for our 5:45 train.

We then went & sat in Starbucks (again) for about 2 hours to wheil away the day in our last dose of civilization. Habby then receives a calls from Caroline saying, "you must go to the station now, your train leaves at 5pm!"Well, Patrick of course knew this as he had picked up the tickets, however, Andy had gone off for a strole & all our phones, other than Habby's had run out of credit.

Welcome to the genious phone system in China: you can't top your phone up outside of the city or province which it was bought in (we were outside both) & if you don't have credit, you not only cannot make calls, but you can't receive them either!

So you see our dillema; we had no way of telling Andy. Caroline luckily was able to top up our phones here in Wuhu & thus ring us all to let us know the deal. As you can see, Xi'an just felt like one problem after another & we have complained to the guide company & actually received compensation since we returned 'home'. Sadly, if we thought that our troubles stopped here, we were wrong.

Once on teh train, it turned out that Andy's ticket was a seated ticket, not a sleeper like mine & Habby's (who were in the same cabin) & Patrick's which also only went to Hefei - half way to Wuhu - & so needed extending as well. So all in all, was the perfect end to our perfect stay in Xi'an!

After all these shinanigans, Habby & I taught 2 kids to play snap in the carriage who then wouldn't stp playing - it would seem that kids world wide have the same obsession with this game!

The train wasn't as 'luxurious' as the other trains - if they were classed as 'luxurious' - as it was not geared for tourists but locals but it was fine in the end. Sadly, we were just happy to be back in Wuhu - despite being faced with those 12 flights of stairs again - & be able to flop & make a cup of tea.

It was a good week, I'm glad we went, but it's safe to say that there's no place like 'home'. .. if Wuhu is classed as home...

more photos can be seen at the following links:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14318&l=0ff9d&id=500193915

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14321&l=bf646&id=500193915

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14322&l=28aa0&id=500193915

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14323&l=856ea&id=500193915

enjoy!

I'm taisty... Are you bitey?

The boys have taken a liking to the name 'meow' & whenever our Chinese names are mentioned, they all go 'meow!' to me. So it would seem I am not a sighing piece of rice but a cat sound instead... wow, life here is just getting better & better!

We also had a sad moment this week. We got given a new fish by Caroline which looked like it was dying to me from the start, but we named him Kim Jong Il after the Korean leader as he was all black. He died last night. He was a creepy fish though, flaking which was just plain gross so I wasn't that sad to see him go!

Also, we've found luxuries in Walmart such as cheese & pringles! But cheese only seems to come in two varieties, 'taisty' or 'bitey' which makes me laugh. I prefer bitey personally, but others seem to like taisty. It causes great conflict as you can imagine!

Shui Yang Middle School - shoot me!







Man, Shui Yang sucked this week. Andy & I were under the impression that we would have the seem classes every week at Shui Yang & so we would get to build more of a repour with our students. But when we showed up with Bain & Nakata, our assistants, on Wed, we found that we were teaching different students again! He was teaching the classes that I had taught the week before & vice versa. We weren't happy.



We also didn't really get on with each other's classes which didn't help. For example, one of my original students actually threw something at him, for in China is very out of character! They are usually so timid & polite! Similarly, my 7th & final class of the day just didn't gel well with me. I had one girl, who admitedly,her English was far better than anyone else's in the class but she kept shouting at me, 'this is boring,' 'I'm bored,' which just irritated me more than anything as I have to cater to those in the class of the lowest level to make sure they are on board. However, this week coming, I'm putting a lot more effort into my lesson plan just to shut her up!



That being said, Andy & I complained when we got back that we wanted to return to our original classes for good so that's what we're doing which is good.



They are funny though! Their school bell is actually a little tune which is played over the sound system & twice a day they have to do eye exercises! Apparently because they work so hard here, they have to keep their eyes in good condition... sounds a bit odd to me!

Woohoo! We have a social life in Wuhu!

The social life here is beginning to pick up somewhat as we're finding more bars & places to hang out which makes me happy! Last weekend, we were in Bar 8 (one of our more chilled hangouts) playing pool & a Chinese girl wanders through the door. She makes a beeline for Andy & just wouldn't leave him alone; this aroused our suspicions & we also began to find it quite entertaining as we watched Andy squirm!

We came to the conclusion that she was a hooker - which is very illegal here & could end up with the death pentalty if you're found to be 'working the streets' - especially after she complimented Andy's "tall nose". She also kept commenting on his "big muscles" which we all found highly amusing as, to be polite, Andy resembles a twig! There's now a sign, compliments of Neil & I, on his door reading "tall nose" in Chinese characters!

We've also found Club 1001 - 'the best club in Wuhu'. It's gotta be said, there isn't a lot of compotition for it! But it is good fun. There's a bouncy dance floor! Admitedly, it's actually very hard to dance on as if you dance out of rhythm with the floor, you go flying as though you've double bounced on a trampampoline, as I found out when I went flying into a group of Chinese guys - eek! I was like 'eeeeew' as all their eyes lit up as they'd 'touched the Westerner!' Neil wasn't so impressed as Habby & I attracted a lot of male attention (again, a bit creepy) & we went to get some water at one point leaving him & Andy & they looked around to see three rows of guys surrounding them. In their words, "we felt a bit gay!"

The dancing technique here is, ummm, interesting! You plant your feet firmly on the ground & rock violently from side to side, sometimes singing your head so that your hair wacks everyone within the space around you. Unusual, I think you'll agree. Habby & I didn't really know what to do as if we'd danced like we normally would, we would have looked really out of place... what am I saying, sorry, I meant, more out place than usual (!) but we didn't really want to 'rock violently' so we struck a happy medium.

We also won't be forgotten by the barman at 1001 as we ordered tequilla shots & were banging them on the bar as you do & then shooting them back. The barman's face was a picture! I'm not sure they've ever seen anyone even drink more than a few beers (which in China is only 2.8% & thus more like drinking sour water) let alone down tequllia shots! Andy hadn't been well the few days before & so was not up for shots. But we'd already bought them, so, not liking to see alcohol go to waist, Neil picks them up, pours them in one glass & downs it. I honestly thought the barman was going to drop dead there & then from the look on his face - it seemed like a cross between awe & sheer horror!

Habby also took photos of the singer at the club who then came over to us as he wanted to check they were ok or something. Then starts talking to Patrick in Cantonese & wanted me to dance with him. It was so embarassing! In the end, he was very persistant & so I didn't really have much choice. But it was quite odd; dancing was at arms length, holding hands. I felt like I was back in year 7! I wasn't complaining mind, it meant that it was all very innocent & safe! He also then got up to sing again & dedicated a song to me. *cringe* We left shortly after...

Half way through the night however, it was quite strange, they stopped the music & started playing the card game, suck & blow! They just pulled a couple of people out of the crowed, one of which was Habby who won 15 free entries into the club. Very strange entertainment for a club we thought!

Caroline's birthday

We all had to go out for another company dinner on Sunday night as it was Caroline's birthday. Fun fun fun! There was a really down mood in the office all day, all the staff, the assistants, even us wai gou ren (foreigners) were not looking forward to it. Then we realised it was a free meal with free booze... our spirits picked up a bit then but not a whole lot!

On the up side, it wasn't another 'come speak to this person so we can show you off to the local businesses' meal, it was truely just a staff dinner which was a relief. It was quite bizarre though as foreigners were on one table, staff on another, assistants on their table with volunteer teachers & then 'top table' if you will with Caroline etc. We had a laugh in the end though, & the meal was actually very nice. Much closer to what you would find at home - which we found odd in a way!

The 'wai gou ren table' were the only ones drinking beer (of course) & Bain, one of our assistants, we have discovered likes a tipple. So we took advantage of this & kept reaching over to his table with a bottle of beer for him. The others wouldn't drink, but slowly, we got Elly drinking beer as well, then Nakata & slowly but surely they all followed suit. Was highly amusing as they don't usualy drink at all so as you can imagine they are rather the light weights, bless them!

Afterwards, we persauded them to come out with us to Bar 8 & we all ordered alcohol, but the only way we could get them to come out was if we said they didn't have to drink... once we got to Bar 8, Neil ordered a bottle of tequilla & well, they all joined in eventually! It was quite the experience for them; we showed them how its done & opened their eyes to the world of drinking!

We got Nakata doing drinking games (which we were all pretty surprised at) & the girls wanted me to teach them how to dance which I just found funny as I'm not exactly an expert. As I have said, however, here I seem like a great dancer! They were funny though, they tried on my heels & could barely stand up let alone walk! Girls here just don't wear heals that are very high or that are little more than a wedge so as you can imagine, my 2 1/2 inch skinny heels were a trial for them!

I got a text from Elly when they had got home saying, "thank you so much, we are happy. We had much fun," which I thought was very sweet. They had to leave at 9:15 as the university gates shut at 9:30pm (!!!) and so they were worried they already would have missed the curfew! We were all a bit shocked by this custom as it's quite different to home!

Golden Week - Tibet & X'ian

The week of Oct 1st - 7th is our week off as it is a National Holiday here: Golden Week. Habby, Andy, Patrick & I have booked to go to Tibet for a few days, stopping of at X'ian to see the Terrocotta Warriors for a day or two on the way. We're all very excited. We're going by train which will take 3 days but it's a very modern train which is good (with Western toilets!!) & it will allow us to see a lot more of the countryside on the way & way back.

I niavely asked, "will the train have a shower on it?" Everyone just laughed at me. So that will be lovely... sponge baths in the bathroom it is then!

Neil was dafter though as he asked, "what are the Terrocotta Warriors made of?" We all just looked at him in disbelief it that needed explaining!

So we leave on Friday, Sep 28th & return October 7th I think. Obviously that means my blog entry will be a bit late & also that I won't be able to access emails for a week. There will be lots of photos which I'll put up for everyone to see.