tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73305488820771285402024-03-13T05:39:39.021-07:00Here we go#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-28955385025284556232012-04-09T01:10:00.003-07:002012-04-09T01:29:21.144-07:00KindergartenI teach two kindergarten classes every week on Monday. Each class is only 25 minutes long but I fear these two classes more than all of my Junior classes combined. If you were to run a lawnmower in the classroom during my first class, you would have no idea that anything was different. My second class is much better and they love to raise their hands and answer questions. I still lose them quickly as they have the attention span of a goldfish. Anyhow, I guess its a good experience for me and the kids enjoy the class. Here are some pictures from both classes today.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JXhpcr7QRLA/T4KdSODchPI/AAAAAAAAAW0/oAiVbhcXzGE/s1600/IMG_4290.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JXhpcr7QRLA/T4KdSODchPI/AAAAAAAAAW0/oAiVbhcXzGE/s400/IMG_4290.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729314612304446706" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gPGYyA44yL8/T4KdRQcULmI/AAAAAAAAAWs/IQR_4UGpB2E/s1600/IMG_4292.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gPGYyA44yL8/T4KdRQcULmI/AAAAAAAAAWs/IQR_4UGpB2E/s400/IMG_4292.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729314595765759586" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-92J8JCYba-Q/T4KdQ2_mXhI/AAAAAAAAAWc/SDs89H3RU1g/s1600/IMG_4293.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-92J8JCYba-Q/T4KdQ2_mXhI/AAAAAAAAAWc/SDs89H3RU1g/s400/IMG_4293.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729314588934430226" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FFfiaJ8rvz0/T4KdQvzxgJI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/tTP_HCSW6NI/s1600/IMG_4295.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FFfiaJ8rvz0/T4KdQvzxgJI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/tTP_HCSW6NI/s400/IMG_4295.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729314587005780114" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jW1yJ3b2aNI/T4KdQDYlTCI/AAAAAAAAAWI/61Ye5PTFfzU/s1600/IMG_4298.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jW1yJ3b2aNI/T4KdQDYlTCI/AAAAAAAAAWI/61Ye5PTFfzU/s400/IMG_4298.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729314575080573986" border="0" /></a>#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-91589873917937183482012-04-03T08:05:00.003-07:002012-04-03T08:19:58.719-07:00from the rooftopsHere are a few pictures of the city that I took from on top of my apartment building tonight.<br />(the red lights on top of some of the apartments are phrases in English and Chinese characters. One says Huai Te Community of Wisdom and Knowledge, the other says Huai Te Palace of Advantageous Community (or something like that) (Huai Te is a family/company that owns a lot in our part of town)))<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9idQ5ilLPNk/T3sTy1DMd1I/AAAAAAAAAVw/1Xnx2P2fpuk/s1600/IMG_4267.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9idQ5ilLPNk/T3sTy1DMd1I/AAAAAAAAAVw/1Xnx2P2fpuk/s400/IMG_4267.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727193115086583634" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DrNXWHqNqlM/T3sTzWW276I/AAAAAAAAAV8/4GV_PxpvMqU/s1600/IMG_4265.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DrNXWHqNqlM/T3sTzWW276I/AAAAAAAAAV8/4GV_PxpvMqU/s400/IMG_4265.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727193124027428770" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NjYehE9ZCzY/T3sTDRZCx2I/AAAAAAAAAVY/pS3FZy4Ym2M/s1600/IMG_4261.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NjYehE9ZCzY/T3sTDRZCx2I/AAAAAAAAAVY/pS3FZy4Ym2M/s320/IMG_4261.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727192298060695394" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-byzHgtUGDJ4/T3sTDEmvy6I/AAAAAAAAAVM/inQWXD1E-nI/s1600/IMG_4267.JPG"></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--GORwTx0zbY/T3sTChUf_qI/AAAAAAAAAVA/8Br5mUWq48k/s1600/IMG_4269.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--GORwTx0zbY/T3sTChUf_qI/AAAAAAAAAVA/8Br5mUWq48k/s320/IMG_4269.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727192285156736674" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ApAQXAq37tM/T3sTDxum0eI/AAAAAAAAAVk/0fx20NXZTBI/s1600/IMG_4257.JPG"></a>#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-80963451995441493772012-04-01T08:58:00.005-07:002012-04-01T09:26:15.625-07:00The cityMaybe someday I'll get around to finishing my vacation blog but not this day. Here are some pictures that I took while on a walk around the city.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2avt5NQp7g/T3h93ICWsgI/AAAAAAAAAUc/MoiVlFRShSg/s1600/IMG_4221.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2avt5NQp7g/T3h93ICWsgI/AAAAAAAAAUc/MoiVlFRShSg/s320/IMG_4221.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726465312205222402" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fvXd0AwkdJU/T3iA0DUQU9I/AAAAAAAAAUo/0lv8CXUMigs/s1600/IMG_4216.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fvXd0AwkdJU/T3iA0DUQU9I/AAAAAAAAAUo/0lv8CXUMigs/s320/IMG_4216.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726468557933401042" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g4qwvlkiDxk/T3iA0YhrMFI/AAAAAAAAAUw/W6mwwEu_rmk/s1600/IMG_4208.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g4qwvlkiDxk/T3iA0YhrMFI/AAAAAAAAAUw/W6mwwEu_rmk/s320/IMG_4208.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726468563626831954" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X9dwPSpVSE4/T3h92IY_2EI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/vtgq0t3Bov8/s1600/IMG_4225.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X9dwPSpVSE4/T3h92IY_2EI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/vtgq0t3Bov8/s320/IMG_4225.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726465295120324674" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-opUrU_omrRw/T3h91555QSI/AAAAAAAAAUE/Mu56tr6Q9Dc/s1600/IMG_4236.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-opUrU_omrRw/T3h91555QSI/AAAAAAAAAUE/Mu56tr6Q9Dc/s320/IMG_4236.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726465291231772962" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3pmxFnB0M7E/T3h91fTdfvI/AAAAAAAAAT4/Fj1UHZVpUVI/s1600/IMG_4239.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3pmxFnB0M7E/T3h91fTdfvI/AAAAAAAAAT4/Fj1UHZVpUVI/s320/IMG_4239.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726465284091248370" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5q7CBW-kQLg/T3h909wqV3I/AAAAAAAAATs/D7fceCBCw1k/s1600/IMG_4245.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5q7CBW-kQLg/T3h909wqV3I/AAAAAAAAATs/D7fceCBCw1k/s320/IMG_4245.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726465275086919538" border="0" /></a>#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-72869739928298038162012-02-10T23:51:00.000-08:002012-02-11T00:54:05.345-08:00Hong KongOn the 9th, Laura and Elijah took a train to a city near the Vietnam border. That night I took a shuttle bus to the Guilin airport and I arrived at the Shenzhen (a city about 20 minutes away from the HK border) airport at around midnight. I tried to sleep on an iron bench but I probably only got one or two hours of sleep (sleeping right next to the doors probably didn't help, the temperature was surprisingly cold for how far south I was). In the morning I shuttled to the border, then trudged through immigration lines for about two hours. I then purchased an Octopus card which you can use to pay for public transportation and at 7-11s, it turned out to be really handy. After taking the MTR (HKs metro system) into the city, I tried to find the clock tower where I was supposed to meet Tyler and Emily that afternoon.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x_SbDM0YRlo/TzYiEz9S9ZI/AAAAAAAAASc/0YTtwkberYU/s1600/IMG_3679.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x_SbDM0YRlo/TzYiEz9S9ZI/AAAAAAAAASc/0YTtwkberYU/s320/IMG_3679.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707787043800806802" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />On the way I walked along Victoria Harbor and over the Avenue of Stars. The skyline across the harbor is absolutely amazing.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XMfrVMP020Q/TzYiFQAVseI/AAAAAAAAASs/SXSc_kisEe4/s1600/IMG_3674.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XMfrVMP020Q/TzYiFQAVseI/AAAAAAAAASs/SXSc_kisEe4/s320/IMG_3674.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707787051329761762" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_T7oAhEurM/TzYnc7DPluI/AAAAAAAAAS0/U9WXCPYsAao/s1600/IMG_3709.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_T7oAhEurM/TzYnc7DPluI/AAAAAAAAAS0/U9WXCPYsAao/s400/IMG_3709.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707792955579799266" border="0" 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mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]-->After a quick tour of the village, we got to take a ride on some legitimate bamboo rafts.<br />(See first video at the bottom)<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QifK4uZ7LO0/TzNcYFE2YbI/AAAAAAAAASQ/evaJsNVLN6E/s1600/IMG_3618.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QifK4uZ7LO0/TzNcYFE2YbI/AAAAAAAAASQ/evaJsNVLN6E/s400/IMG_3618.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707006721557684658" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">At the first stop we made, some farmers brought their water buffaloes over for us to feed.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_AxbqbHJSgA/TzInFPt1QsI/AAAAAAAAARQ/JRq76kJaLjw/s1600/IMG_3606.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_AxbqbHJSgA/TzInFPt1QsI/AAAAAAAAARQ/JRq76kJaLjw/s320/IMG_3606.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706666648903434946" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I took this picture from the near the water buffalos (from almost the same place where the Windows XP wallpaper picture was taken).<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qqUz_VjKh7c/TzInFePpUGI/AAAAAAAAARc/UAJ68qx2580/s1600/IMG_3616.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qqUz_VjKh7c/TzInFePpUGI/AAAAAAAAARc/UAJ68qx2580/s320/IMG_3616.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706666652803354722" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dh-vjbM_6ac/TzInGCd-YnI/AAAAAAAAARo/bJWJ_DECgd8/s1600/images.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 259px; height: 194px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dh-vjbM_6ac/TzInGCd-YnI/AAAAAAAAARo/bJWJ_DECgd8/s320/images.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706666662527132274" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Then we stopped on the river and one of the guys from the village put on a cormorant fishing show for us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It only took the birds a few seconds to bring up a fish. (See second video at the bottom)<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P_FV4wmpF28/TzInGglEfFI/AAAAAAAAAR0/_TvhGxg34OE/s1600/IMG_3637.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P_FV4wmpF28/TzInGglEfFI/AAAAAAAAAR0/_TvhGxg34OE/s320/IMG_3637.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706666670609955922" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We went a little bit further down the river after the cormorant show.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At one point one of the men paddling the raft lost his balance and fell in (and it was probably about 35 degrees out).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The other drivers gave him a pretty hard time. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jnc3uL1Rz0w/TzInG21B_UI/AAAAAAAAASE/61Lw9Eh4iLo/s1600/IMG_3654.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jnc3uL1Rz0w/TzInG21B_UI/AAAAAAAAASE/61Lw9Eh4iLo/s320/IMG_3654.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706666676582481218" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If I went back (which I would like to when it’s warmer) I would probably stay in Yangshuo over Guilin. Guilin was fine, but it was a lot of traveling to get to any of the scenic places.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Yangshuo is much smaller and has many scenic areas close by for biking or hiking.</p><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy46uSM56Z6pz_pKXUipcPo_iGl_UgHzuEm7IBZST7nSSxCsM_v-4l7Bi6k8WJunDZMeDW1u-1BNF_CIiQrOg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxxXRbJgd81NEad5TkcHg-mZiUMiCdNTOEjWuibWXHYmaHkWKFGWylYt12HYx5ZxekRQccsWxQOvDTmhd7l' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' 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mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]-->Following the Li River tour, we started another tour of a small village on another river.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was interesting to be in such a small village, it was really the first time I had been anywhere other than a multi-million person town.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>According to our tour guide a relatively recent law sought to establish a government subsidized medical clinic and a Communist Party HQ in every village.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In this town one was right on top of the other.<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tPU0fTgZYvw/TzIefnhP7LI/AAAAAAAAAQk/I481lpf8VNQ/s1600/IMG_3580.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tPU0fTgZYvw/TzIefnhP7LI/AAAAAAAAAQk/I481lpf8VNQ/s320/IMG_3580.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706657206365056178" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l3jP9TYkMg4/TzIefVGj9gI/AAAAAAAAAQU/fToLiWz9EAI/s1600/IMG_3577.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l3jP9TYkMg4/TzIefVGj9gI/AAAAAAAAAQU/fToLiWz9EAI/s320/IMG_3577.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706657201421284866" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We also looked at a traditional doorway in the village, our guide (looking like the goofball he was) explained that the red around the door and the mirror at the top were meant to keep evil spirits away (which I guess come around more during spring festival time).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There is also a wooden plank that you have to step over when walking through the doorway which also blocks the spirits (they can’t step over stuff for some reason). Also, during spring festival, the Chinese people scare away the spirits with fireworks.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dD96UNXAMhg/TzIf3Pk1EUI/AAAAAAAAARE/BIUeWXcSHvg/s1600/IMG_3581.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dD96UNXAMhg/TzIf3Pk1EUI/AAAAAAAAARE/BIUeWXcSHvg/s400/IMG_3581.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706658711766110530" border="0" /></a></p>#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-90085584014383757502012-02-07T22:47:00.001-08:002012-02-07T23:01:43.496-08:00Raft ride<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> 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unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">On our next excursion we took a "bamboo" (actually just pvc pipes) raft ride down the famous Li River to a smaller town called Yangshuo. It is pretty amazing stretch of river with mountains that rise out of the mist and tower over the river.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cW9Xeq1tUcY/TzIcbGl-iyI/AAAAAAAAAQA/TbyozpgRwY8/s1600/IMG_3538.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cW9Xeq1tUcY/TzIcbGl-iyI/AAAAAAAAAQA/TbyozpgRwY8/s320/IMG_3538.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706654929783786274" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7sWWtqWahZw/TzIcaKWgW7I/AAAAAAAAAPo/2DLmpl0MkSE/s1600/IMG_3547.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7sWWtqWahZw/TzIcaKWgW7I/AAAAAAAAAPo/2DLmpl0MkSE/s320/IMG_3547.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706654913612766130" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">There is apparently a tradition with this mountain (below) that if you can see all 9 horses (shapes that look like horses, not actual horses) in the mountain than you will become the number one scholar in all of China.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And as our tour guide told us repeatedly, Bill Clinton only managed find three. I really only saw one for sure and that was only after the tour guide pointed it out to us.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vfX-DrnDdbg/TzIcZruZUDI/AAAAAAAAAPY/aZa-9n5b0Vs/s1600/IMG_3550.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vfX-DrnDdbg/TzIcZruZUDI/AAAAAAAAAPY/aZa-9n5b0Vs/s320/IMG_3550.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706654905391468594" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On the ride to Yangshuo, we also stopped to see the location that is on the back of the 20 RMB note used in China.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The picture below shows me in the most cliché pose possible but everyone else was doing it so whatever.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NPbilsDT-lc/TzIdZE0w8DI/AAAAAAAAAQI/0IIc1AaNFGw/s1600/IMG_3559.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NPbilsDT-lc/TzIdZE0w8DI/AAAAAAAAAQI/0IIc1AaNFGw/s400/IMG_3559.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706655994460827698" border="0" /></a></p>#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-59018252371160311392012-02-07T01:07:00.000-08:002012-02-07T01:07:00.807-08:00lunchWhile we were near the top of the rice terraces we were getting pretty hungry but because it was low tourist season none of the little restaurants were opened. So when a lady in a little village motioned out the window for us to come in, we blindly obliged. The house had wood, stone, and dirt floors with a fire pit right in the middle of the kitchen. There were few decorations and no lights or technology other than a TV with cable (which was super odd) living room.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-icGKfVaxTTk/Tyuly7tEkrI/AAAAAAAAAPM/7oFTr4OkdBo/s1600/IMG_3510.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-icGKfVaxTTk/Tyuly7tEkrI/AAAAAAAAAPM/7oFTr4OkdBo/s320/IMG_3510.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704835647433642674" border="0" /></a><br /><br />They sat us down in a barren house around a fire and began making us food and selling us some "home-made" materials. They seemed nice so we didn't really agree on a price (being the trusting, apparently naive, people we are) for the food before she began making it for us. The one lady<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t0XcA9Ga8J0/Tyulye17LfI/AAAAAAAAAPA/EYOQl6bUuOc/s1600/IMG_3503.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t0XcA9Ga8J0/Tyulye17LfI/AAAAAAAAAPA/EYOQl6bUuOc/s320/IMG_3503.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704835639686147570" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hHXzrY-FpLk/TyulyIDrfNI/AAAAAAAAAO0/2jneKzlHyM0/s1600/IMG_3501.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hHXzrY-FpLk/TyulyIDrfNI/AAAAAAAAAO0/2jneKzlHyM0/s320/IMG_3501.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704835633569823954" border="0" /></a><br /><br />said we could pay whatever, they were just glad to have us. When we finished and we needed to leave we gave them some money (more than what we thought it was worth, but we figured they were nice and hospitable). But then the old lady shook her head and said 5x what we just offered. It was about this time that I realized we been had. We finally awkwardly talked her down to 3x what we thought was fair and just decided to give up. Honestly we had a really fun time there and she only duped us out of a few dollars a piece, but that back-handed approach for some reason just really made me angry and kind of ruined the experience for me. The experience taught me 4 important rules. 1) Always make sure the price is understood before agreeing to anything. 2) Never trust anyone on a tourist path. 3) Never trust Chinese people 4)Never trust women.<br /><br />And yes, I am still bitter about the situation and this post was difficult for me to write.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-13421123574173034232012-02-06T02:02:00.000-08:002012-02-06T02:20:10.855-08:00warzoneSince the Chinese New Year celebration began about 2 weeks ago, the periodic boom of distant fireworks has never really ceased. Today, on the other hand, there has been a constant roar from every alley in the city. Shijiazhuang today really does remind me of a warzone. All day today they have been setting off those massive fireworks that don't really have any color or anything but just make a huge blast. Anyhow, from what I could find really quick online, apparently today is the 15th and final day of celebrations for the holiday so everyone is shooting off everything they have. Its just getting dark so I expect that it will just get crazier from here.<br /><br />Its also amazing just walking around the city because through the rows and rows of apartments buildings the echo of the bangs keep going.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-23707209505555527752012-02-06T00:35:00.000-08:002012-02-06T00:35:00.615-08:00Longji rice terracesOn the January 6th we got up early and took 3 hr bus ride to the Longji rice terraces. It was a crazy ride up a curvy hill, I joked that it would be fun to ride back down on a bike but it would be suicide. A few minutes later right around a turn we saw a broken helmet on the road and then a<br />body under a tarp. One of those China experiences that make you think.<br /><br />We got to the entrance of the rice terrace area and we were instantly surrounded by old women trying to sell us all sorts of products (even though we were at the less touristy part of the mountain). That's the one thing about China, any beautiful or interesting area is turned into a park which you have to buy a ticket for which then attracts people who want to sell to or swindle every visitor. Its always a victory for us if we find a place that is outside of the rush and off the beaten (like really beaten (a small village outside of Guilin has about 17 million tourists a year (if I heard correctly), it kind of causes stuff to lose its magic) path.<br /><br />Anyhow, the rice terraces were really amazing. It wasn't the best time of the year to visit the terraces because the was a mist that was pretty low and we climbed through it in not too long and missed a lot of the views. Also, as we climbed higher there was more and more snow on the ground and ice covering the bamboo leaves. You can see the difference between the top and bottom between these two pictures.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zdt6eYSIUAI/Tyui_EajhEI/AAAAAAAAAOc/xiDxS-rtRKE/s1600/IMG_3492.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zdt6eYSIUAI/Tyui_EajhEI/AAAAAAAAAOc/xiDxS-rtRKE/s320/IMG_3492.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704832557395444802" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fAj2UsNSMWw/Tyui-68w4JI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/d-SXd3Kg7_w/s1600/IMG_3478.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fAj2UsNSMWw/Tyui-68w4JI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/d-SXd3Kg7_w/s320/IMG_3478.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704832554854572178" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I would definitely like to come back here during a nicer part of the year but it was still a great time.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T_55-s36fyk/Tyui_vtSiGI/AAAAAAAAAOs/tWRI9d0Lo68/s1600/IMG_3520.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T_55-s36fyk/Tyui_vtSiGI/AAAAAAAAAOs/tWRI9d0Lo68/s320/IMG_3520.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704832569016748130" border="0" /></a>#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-74478538939419483722012-02-05T07:07:00.000-08:002012-02-05T07:07:00.165-08:00Guilin wine museumThe ticket for the Elephant Trunk Hill also included the admission to a "wine" museum in the park. Chinese sometimes refer to their traditional hard alcohol has wine, but don't be tricked. Chinese alcohol is called 白酒 (baijiu) and, as many a friend has told me, will "destroy your soul." (More because of the taste and aftertaste rather than Satan being involved) Somehow Chinese men love this drink and will sip it during lunch (which we affectionately refer to as baijiu lunches (after which the pink faced Chinese men stumble back to work)) and dinner. Anyhow, the museum showed how the production process developed and was a large part of the city's history.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--Yb7_fFsgCY/TyuZrxO_VrI/AAAAAAAAANs/su53NSU6W7s/s1600/IMG_3449.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--Yb7_fFsgCY/TyuZrxO_VrI/AAAAAAAAANs/su53NSU6W7s/s320/IMG_3449.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704822330224498354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The picture above shows the development of the character for alcohol (酒)and different ways it has been written. The evolution of Chinese characters is pretty interesting. The following picture shows a giant vat of traditional Chinese medicinal alcohol. This particular one contains a snake, fetal lamb, along with some other animals and spices.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kaHes4wD4Pw/TyuZsVyUqFI/AAAAAAAAAOI/7y9RNyAlF2w/s1600/IMG_3451.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kaHes4wD4Pw/TyuZsVyUqFI/AAAAAAAAAOI/7y9RNyAlF2w/s320/IMG_3451.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704822340036372562" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The final food I tried at the park is a traditional food called zongzi (粽子) (I think). It is glutinous rice mixed with chestnuts (or something like that) and spices, wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed. I have tried it before, but this one was pretty bad (and a mess).<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8LbsMAKlFSo/TyuZsEaocNI/AAAAAAAAAN4/91DjXdvaCvA/s1600/IMG_3455.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8LbsMAKlFSo/TyuZsEaocNI/AAAAAAAAAN4/91DjXdvaCvA/s320/IMG_3455.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704822335373603026" border="0" /></a>#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-89765377230932003122012-02-04T19:43:00.000-08:002012-02-04T19:43:00.055-08:00GuilinWe were really surprised how cold it ended up being when we arrived in Guilin. I figured after a 24 hr ride due south, it should warm up a little bit. Even though it was so cold, Guilin was still pretty beautiful, it had a lot more green in the city, something I miss in the ShiJZ. There were trees lining most of the streets and lots of parks were you could get away from the rush. At the first restaurant we stopped at for lunch we tried a local staple that consisted of rice (of course) with spices, veggies, and meat all cooked together in a clay pot. <br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yI3fnVVwNYs/TyuVPyLBveI/AAAAAAAAAM8/bKKSTX_fKfc/s1600/IMG_3459.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yI3fnVVwNYs/TyuVPyLBveI/AAAAAAAAAM8/bKKSTX_fKfc/s320/IMG_3459.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704817451393465826" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It was really tasty and that was one of our favorites in Guilin. Traveling in China is neat because every area will have similar kinds of foods but they will also have local foods that will differ a little bit. For example, every city I have been in has its own type of breakfast and lunch street food. In Xi'an it was spicy shredded meat in a steamed bread sandwich, in Guilin it was pickled cabbage stuff and fried dough wrapped in an egg and batter mixture. Obviously there were other things, but you couldn't walk a minute or two without seeing a vendor selling these favorites. The first two days we were in Guilin, we took it pretty easy and rested a lot. The second day we took a little trip to see a famous landmark called Elephant Trunk Hill. ( you can see why from the picture)<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vwQPd7R8qvM/TyuULkfDtnI/AAAAAAAAAMk/Vd1LGVcJaMs/s1600/IMG_3428.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vwQPd7R8qvM/TyuULkfDtnI/AAAAAAAAAMk/Vd1LGVcJaMs/s320/IMG_3428.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704816279488280178" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We climbed around the top for a while and got a great view looking over the city. What was really neat about the city (and I tried to show with the picture) was how the city was just kind of<br />built around the mountains.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_N0DueWtYzo/TyuUMC_khGI/AAAAAAAAAMw/tcEJUvHdLq4/s1600/IMG_3440.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_N0DueWtYzo/TyuUMC_khGI/AAAAAAAAAMw/tcEJUvHdLq4/s320/IMG_3440.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704816287677711458" border="0" /></a>#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-25478529304452026712012-02-03T19:25:00.000-08:002012-02-03T19:25:00.726-08:00Sleeper trainsWe (me and two fellow teachers) started out our trip on a 24 hr hard sleeper train to Guilin. The bunks were much more spacious and comfortable than I had imagined, there was plenty of room to sit up in the bottom bunk and read or whatever. In each cabin area there are three bunks on each side, I had the bottom bunk and my friends had the top two. In the three bunks across from us there was a family of five, a grandmother, husband and wife, and two young children. This turned out to be a blessing and a curse. The kids were really cute and entertaining at first,<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YhGqXyMW90g/TyuPv_HO00I/AAAAAAAAAMY/OKHRrXYyzi0/s1600/IMG_3408.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YhGqXyMW90g/TyuPv_HO00I/AAAAAAAAAMY/OKHRrXYyzi0/s400/IMG_3408.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704811407553254210" border="0" /></a> but of course that was bound to change. Aside from sporadic crying and fighting, the little girl was wearing split pants and twice during the trip decided that the main aisle of the train would make a nice toilet. Though the parents attempted to quickly clean it up, several passengers trekked through the puddle on the way to there seats. Thankfully once the kids fell asleep, they pretty much slept until we arrived in Guilin. On the ride there was little to see out the windows, just hours and hours of dead rice paddies and fields. Occasionally there would be a groups of about a half dozen massive apartment buildings under construction with nothing around them.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-39136394891168814462012-02-02T23:07:00.000-08:002012-02-02T23:25:31.716-08:00My travelsI got back to Shijiazhuang after 25 days of travel around China and southern Asia on the 28th. Aside from some small mishaps and frustrations, it was an amazing trip. The places I visited varied in temperature from the mid-nineties (in Bangkok) to the mid-twenties (at night in Xi'an). I was stumped for a while on how to pack for these climates and any souvenirs I would pick up along the way in one backpack. I made it work, however, and aside from some missing toes and sunburn, I'm no worse for wear. Anyhow, I have some cool pictures and stories from the trip and I will try to share them over the next few days. Its hard for me to start writing about this trip because it brings back the sickening feeling I used to get right before I would start writing a research paper.<br />(and so the volume of posts are not overwhelming, I am going to schedule them to be published daily (I think I can do that))#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-32318512505942495372012-01-02T18:21:00.000-08:002012-01-02T18:23:15.720-08:00Asian Vacation 2012Leaving Shijiazhuang for Guilin in about 2 hours. Starting it off with a 24 hour train ride (at least we have a sleeper this time).#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-16556248371559826712011-12-30T20:45:00.000-08:002011-12-30T21:10:49.437-08:00cheatingWhile giving finals this year I encountered a surprising amount of cheating. A lot of it was discussing the questions with their classmates after taking the test (which I kind of expected). This led to some entertaining answers. When I gave the test, I would say "OK" whether the student got the correct answer or not. Sometimes I would notice a trend where a few minutes after a student got a question wrong, several students in a row would get the same question wrong with the exact same answer. For example, when defining the word "siblings" a group of students answered "brothers and sisters (at this point I thought they were doing well, but then they continued) whose mother dies" (I think they kind of confused it with step-siblings or something). <br />I made two versions of the final to try and eliminate some of the cheating. One test had a picture of the pilgrims and indians having the first thanksgiving and the other test had a picture of three little children trick or treating in costumes. I would ask the students to tell me some things about the picture. I had a few students, when given the second version (with the trick or treaters), instantly begin to tell me about Thanksgiving and that the people were eating turkey, etc. Then the students would walk away from the test looking confident and ready to whisper that answer to the next student. <br /> My favorite catch was when one student was waiting in line and I saw him looking at a small piece of paper and quietly repeating the four words that I had on my test. I took the paper from him and saw that he had the words written phonetically in Chinese Characters so he could pronounce them. Sometimes the English teachers would stay in the classroom to help keep the kids quiet which helped a lot.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-64250931355233508252011-12-30T20:23:00.000-08:002011-12-30T20:44:46.902-08:00Korean BBQLast night a Chinese English teacher and her friend treated another teacher and I to a Korean BBQ. I wasn't expecting a whole lot because Korean BBQs are often kind of expensive and you have to wait a while for a little food (and I'm really impatient when it comes to food). This particular restaurant that we went to, however, was all you can eat and drink and it included all kinds of meat, fish, shrimp, sushi, and even french fries (pretty much a personalized heaven). So that was a pleasant surprise and a nice way to celebrate finishing finals.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-13267528570870143872011-12-19T08:50:00.000-08:002011-12-19T09:06:09.011-08:00the inconsistency of blog postingsI'm sorry about the inconsistency of my blog postings over the last month. I'm trying to get back on track but I probably overdid it tonight. If anyone has any questions or comments, please comment on this post. I love to hear from friends. Thanks for reading my ramblings. <br /><br />[The following is only meant for my family to read] <br />For some reason when I read over my sentence that mentioned "the inconsistency of blog postings" I kept thinking about the consistency of squirrel droppings. What else do trees have to talk about? <br /><br />Also, classic movie I watched last night: That Thing You Do.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-9815499562619028182011-12-19T08:06:00.000-08:002011-12-19T08:50:43.827-08:00my ten lamb barbeque sticksSo in light of my previous post, this post may be hypocritical but I haven't been able to get this thought out of my mind lately. Every time I read world news or even look outside my window, I realize how blessed I am to live in America, but with that thought has also started to come a nagging sense of responsibility. It also kept bringing to my mind a verse from the Bible (Mark 10:17,19-20)<br /> "As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."<br /><br />A lot of us today do pretty good at keeping the 10 commandments but I think sometimes we forget ( or prehaps conveniently ignore) this scripture. It seems like today many of us get caught up battling against minor issues and we frequently overlook major ones. What a world this would be if we all practiced the principals in this verse. This just seems like one of those responsibilities that as humans and as Christians we can not ignore. All my life I was raised to be super frugal with my money and it has been a huge struggle to give anything (always with thoughts like "I could buy ten sticks of lamb barbeque with this", etc.). Well I wasn't able to write that as clearly as it sounded in my head, but I hope I got my point across. If anyone has any comments please let me know.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-91379450453677693572011-12-19T07:54:00.000-08:002011-12-19T08:06:35.210-08:00VacationMy final day of this term will be the 30th of December and classes don't resume again until the 6th of February. I am getting super excited for the break, this week I have been booking flights and hostels for my trip. On the 3rd I will be taking a train to Guilin, a beautiful area famous for its mountains (if you google image it you will probably have seen before). We will spend about a week there hiking, biking, and rafting down the river. From Guilin I will fly to Hong Kong to spend about 3 days there. I am not sure yet what I will be doing there but a friend from college is teaching there so I will be staying with him. From Hong Kong I will fly to Bangkok, Thailand for about two days and from there go to Ko Samet. Ko Samet is an island about two hours from Bangkok. This is the spot I am most excited to go. We will stay there for 5 days (which seems far too short for me) and hike, kayak, and just bum around. From Ko Samet we will return to Bangkok and fly from there to Xi'an, China where we will spend the Spring Festival. Xi'an has a long history and is the home of the Terracotta Warriors. After a few days there we will return to the ShiJZ. January can't come fast enough.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-89051243343335087402011-12-19T07:46:00.000-08:002011-12-19T07:54:15.734-08:00the gymI bought a 6 month membership to a gym that's about a ten minute walk from the school. This has been really nice and gives me a chance to get out of my room and use some energy. It is a bit frustrating when half the people in the gym are sitting on a machine texting on their phones but you learn to work around them. The people at the gym are pretty nice on the whole, several have come over and chatted with me in English. One kid today invited me to dinner and to play pool afterward, opportunities like that are a great way to learn more about the culture and language.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-33526314541257501242011-12-19T07:34:00.000-08:002011-12-19T07:46:05.862-08:00FinalsI am finally on the giving end of a final exam (quote taken from my FB page). I have the last two weeks of the term to test my 720 students. And because it is an oral English class I test the students one by one. This gives me just under two minutes per student for the exam. As an added distraction we have to test out in the hallway which is open to the outside so after testing five classes in a row, my fingers begin to refuse to bend. The only really enjoyable part of the process is giving good students good grades (and the bad ones bad grades).#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-6862454187469676392011-12-02T00:16:00.000-08:002011-12-02T00:45:24.751-08:00fridaysOn Fridays here I have two classes after lunch before I am free for the weekend. The classes are as different as a warm sunny day and the deepest dungeons of hell where demons chew on your toes. The first class I spent half the time talking over the kids and the other half asking/demanding that the kids be quiet. It is a shame because 2 or 3 girls are genuinely interested in learning English but the rest of the class kills that opportunity for them. I am considering next semester simply kicking out large portions of the class so that the students who want to learn actually can. It is one of the more frustrating things in the world when you spend 2 minutes asking a single kid to stop talking then the second you look away he begins again. Or when I write a term up on the board and immediately the kids start yelling at each other in Chinese. Then I ask them to stop and they reply that they didn't understand what the term means and they were just asking their friends. The concept that I can and will explain the term to them just does not seem to stick. Today I only managed to get through one third of my slides. <br /><br />Then when I am giving up any hope for Chinese students, my final class of the week swoops down and pulls me from the brink. It is not that the students in the class have much better English (though they do), it is simply that they are really interested in learning English (which obviously contributes to them having better English). Both classes have a super high amount of energy, but the final class manages to use their energy to learn, laugh, volunteer, ask question, and make my day. I got through all the slides, played 10 minutes of games, and still had time to show them some hockey fights at the end. I don't know how the classes manage to be so entirely different, if it is because of their head teacher or some other reason. It's just quite a relief finishing the week up on a high note.<br /><br />sorry if there are any problems with my spelling, grammar, etc. Too lazy right now to go back.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-52709564077401914602011-11-30T06:00:00.000-08:002011-11-30T07:00:43.513-08:00snow and stuffThis Tuesday I saw my first snowfall in China and a sharp drop to highs in the low-thirties. Tuesday also seemed to be the day when the students for every class forgot to bring the keys for the outside classrooms. I don't know if it was coincidence or just a convenient way for the kids to gain a little bit more snowball-making time. The snow didn't stay white or powdery for long, but it was a nice change of scenery for a few hours. Here is a picture I took out my window Tuesday morning.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-thJmrYd-ZwU/TtY4kxiIliI/AAAAAAAAAL0/GHP8wJpcZY8/s1600/IMG_3309.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-thJmrYd-ZwU/TtY4kxiIliI/AAAAAAAAAL0/GHP8wJpcZY8/s320/IMG_3309.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680790184397411874" border="0" /></a><br /><br />One night last weekend all the other teachers were busy with other stuff and I was was getting super bored (and hungry), so I decided to make somewhat of a legit dinner for myself. So I spent about an hour searching for groceries (its hard to find mayo and mustard here) and another two hours making random dishes that had popped into my head earlier that day. In the end I had a dinner of deviled eggs, carrots (split into quarters and soaked in water, of course), pickled garlic (no idea where that one came from), bread and honey, toast, and pan fried chicken breast. Despite my unorthodox methods of making a lot of the food, dinner didn't turn out too bad. Paprika for the eggs would have been big, but oh well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YmRKWAWeL7U/TtY4kNzHN3I/AAAAAAAAALo/nifqJRM8CPg/s1600/IMG_3305.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YmRKWAWeL7U/TtY4kNzHN3I/AAAAAAAAALo/nifqJRM8CPg/s320/IMG_3305.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680790174804948850" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />I also found some new stuff at the fruit stand the other day. The mini oranges are great. They are only about $1.50 for a bag and they last me a while. Also, it only takes about 15 seconds to skin them, so I can just eat them for breakfast or snack on my way to class. I'm not really sure about the black things, I just bought them because they looked pretty neat (kind of like a demon buffalo skull). Despite looking cool, they turned out to be too much work and not much reward. I had to use a flat head screwdriver to break it open and then to pry the inside out.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ttu6cFIny8/TtY4jydQA_I/AAAAAAAAALc/QSmRqKtd3o0/s1600/IMG_3304.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ttu6cFIny8/TtY4jydQA_I/AAAAAAAAALc/QSmRqKtd3o0/s320/IMG_3304.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680790167465493490" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Just today I finally managed to find a tutee (I had to verify several times on google that "tutee" is actually an appropriate word for someone that you tutor). She is already accepted to a university in Canada after she graduates and wants to learn some English to prepare for classes there. Her English is good and she is not too shy, so it makes the hour not feel like I am pulling teeth which is nice for a change. I think it will also be good for me because I will have to research news articles and videos (I have tended to neglect the news since I have been here) and give me a different teaching experience.<br /><br />Tomorrow I am going to try to get a gym membership, set up a bank account, buy a new phone, and meet some new tutees. Should be an interesting day.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7330548882077128540.post-69320947114417610032011-11-14T07:52:00.000-08:002011-11-14T08:11:25.473-08:00more class stuffI forgot about this story last post. On Friday when I was teaching about family, I had some of the kids tell me if they had aunts, uncles, cousins and which side of the family they were on. One girl was talking about her uncles and she was having a difficult time explaining about one uncle. She started flapping her arms like she was flying. The class and I started laughing and I asked her why her uncle was flying ( I really wasn't thinking), and (as we were still laughing) she managed to explain that "he was die." I felt pretty awful about that, but she seemed to take it pretty well.<br /><br />This morning in kindergarten, I was teaching the kids about clothing-- pants, shirts, hats, etc. I was trying to explain "put on your ____." and "Take off your _____." I was demonstrating this phrase to them by putting a hat and scarf that I brought on and then taking it off. Then I let them put it on and I would ask them to take it off. Most of the kids are 5 or 6 and just tiny. One little girl asked me if she could put on my coat (I was wearing my blue zip-up hoodie (which is even big on me)), so I let her try it on. The bottom of the jacket dragged on the ground as she tried to walk around ( I really wish I would have had a camera with me) and she could hardly lift her arms because the sleeves were so long. Explaining it doesn't do it any justice, but I thought it was just too funny. Of course I then lost the class for 5 minutes to laughter and giggles.<br /><br />Tomorrow, I am going to be teaching my students about careers.#1tomatoloverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15463035123357804256noreply@blogger.com0