I arrived in Shanghai this morning after an overnight train from Zhengzhou. Actually, I was a little sad to leave the dusty, god-forsaken hell hole and I was especially sorry to say goodbye to Wojciech, Xiao Fu and all the other people who have not simply wanted to practice their English with me. I had my last lesson with my summer course class on Saturday morning (I say lesson, we actually just watched Spiderman [although I made them do a dictation from one of the scenes where the number of explosions did not exceed the quantity of dialogue]) and a number of students gave me some gifts, which was very nice but as I received each present my luggage conundrum increased in difficulty.
As I said, I took the overnight train. Unfortunately the combination of all the vodka that Wojciech and I shared in the Korean restaurant in (what I imagine to be) a typical Polish farewell (....or hello, or congratulations, or consolations etc.), and the large quantity of tea I then drank made it particularly hard to sleep. But it wasn't so bad.
Shanghai is bloody hot: it may be so hot that even the mosquitoes have given up which is why I haven't been pestered by any so far. From what I have seen of the city in the hours I have been here, it is, for a Chinese city, extremely developed. However, this has not stopped them, in typical Chinese fashion attempting as much building work as possible. I don't really have any plans here apart from spend a few days wandering the city, not spending too much money and eating as much Chinese food as I can before I go.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Long Time, No Blog
As my father has reminded me on numerous occasions (his ability to nag spans continents) I have not written a blog for quite a while. There is not much to say to be honest but to satiate his (and other's) desire for knowledge here is a brief update.
I have been teaching a class of high-school students who have signed up for Wojciech's summer class. It is pretty much the same as the teaching I have done before except that my students English is at a reasonably advanced level so thinking of stuff to teach them is a little more difficult. Apart from that I have been trying enjoy my last few weeks in China. I have been to the tailors for my cashmere suit (for it's completion, I anxiously await!) and have been trying to pick up all the stuff that I either cannot buy in England or that is particularly cheap out here.
Yesterday I went walking/scrambling/climbing in Songshan, the mountainous region close to Zhengzhou. The Shaolin temple is in this area although we did not visit it. In fact my student, his family, friends and I spent about 7 hours trekking a fantastic (although, on occasion, worryingly hazardous) route round the mountains. It ranks among some of the best experiences I have had since I left England and my legs are feeling the burn today.
I am off to Shanghai on Saturday to fit in one last city before I return home, my time is coming to an end.
I have been teaching a class of high-school students who have signed up for Wojciech's summer class. It is pretty much the same as the teaching I have done before except that my students English is at a reasonably advanced level so thinking of stuff to teach them is a little more difficult. Apart from that I have been trying enjoy my last few weeks in China. I have been to the tailors for my cashmere suit (for it's completion, I anxiously await!) and have been trying to pick up all the stuff that I either cannot buy in England or that is particularly cheap out here.
Yesterday I went walking/scrambling/climbing in Songshan, the mountainous region close to Zhengzhou. The Shaolin temple is in this area although we did not visit it. In fact my student, his family, friends and I spent about 7 hours trekking a fantastic (although, on occasion, worryingly hazardous) route round the mountains. It ranks among some of the best experiences I have had since I left England and my legs are feeling the burn today.
I am off to Shanghai on Saturday to fit in one last city before I return home, my time is coming to an end.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
23 hours on a train being harrassed by a small boy
Sorry, I couldn't think of a catchy title.
I have made my triumphal return to Zhengzhou, which is as dusty and crap as when I left (something that I find strangely comforting). I have returned for a brief trip to help Wojciech, my friend and saviour, with a few of his crackpot teaching schemes. These mainly involve chatting with Chinese students and attempting to steer them away from the ever occurring questions such as; 'How can I get into Harvard?', 'How can I get into Cambridge?' and 'How can I get into MIT?' to which one can only really answer 'Be really good at stuff'.
Not much has changed since I have been away apart from the weather and the progress of construction around the city. Two days ago, fortunately before I arrived, it hit 37 degrees centigrade, which as far as I'm concerned is close to the temperature of the surface of the sun. The pace of construction is clear once you take a short break. Like a teenager's growth during puberty, seeing the buildings after one month shows incredible work. It seems that the solution for lazy inefficient builders is simply to hire hordes of them to work their lazy, inefficient shifts 24/7.
I have made my triumphal return to Zhengzhou, which is as dusty and crap as when I left (something that I find strangely comforting). I have returned for a brief trip to help Wojciech, my friend and saviour, with a few of his crackpot teaching schemes. These mainly involve chatting with Chinese students and attempting to steer them away from the ever occurring questions such as; 'How can I get into Harvard?', 'How can I get into Cambridge?' and 'How can I get into MIT?' to which one can only really answer 'Be really good at stuff'.
Not much has changed since I have been away apart from the weather and the progress of construction around the city. Two days ago, fortunately before I arrived, it hit 37 degrees centigrade, which as far as I'm concerned is close to the temperature of the surface of the sun. The pace of construction is clear once you take a short break. Like a teenager's growth during puberty, seeing the buildings after one month shows incredible work. It seems that the solution for lazy inefficient builders is simply to hire hordes of them to work their lazy, inefficient shifts 24/7.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Typhoons and Sunburn
I arrived in Hong Kong on the 23rd and I already I love the place. It does help that I have yet again been put up by a mate (Seb, a friend of a friend) and he has been showing me the ropes.
On the first day he took me with him on a boat trip on one of his friends' junk. This is were I obtained the rather impressive sunburn mentioned in the title (fortunately/unfortunately the weather since has been a bit poo, see the typhoon mentioned in the title). From the boat I got a little look at the way the city is distributed over the islands which I think is actually quite interesting. I also met a girl, also visiting a friend, who lives in Welwyn Garden City opposite Matt Ferdenzi (a friend of mine from school) and used to run for Herts Phoenix Athletic Club.
That night they hoisted a Typhoon 8 warning that materialised in the form of a heavy storm (in fact the edge of the one that ravaged the Philippines) that raged throughout the night. The next day most things were shut but Seb and I made a trip to his football club to have a look around.
Hong Kong Football Club is quite simply, amazing. It is basically a massive social club that also has sports teams (football, rugby, hockey, tennis etc). The facilities are incredible: a beautiful artificial surface pitch, gym, swimming pool, two restaurants, bar, tennis courts on the roof and much more. Added to this it is in an awesome setting (we played a game of six-a-side surrounded on all sides by skyscrapers and wooded hills). Seb has told me that he spends most of his time in Hong Kong at the club and I wouldn't blame him.
The rest of the city is also fantastic, it is truly a world city. There is so much to do, awesome bars, restaurants etc. as well as a very cool internet café where eight of us wiled away a few hours playing Call of Duty 4. I have only been on one night out so far, although they are a few in the pipeline for the future. The cool thing about Hong Kong bars and clubs are the open bars where you pay about 13 pounds for unlimited drinks. Do not worry mother, I have shown restraint.
On the first day he took me with him on a boat trip on one of his friends' junk. This is were I obtained the rather impressive sunburn mentioned in the title (fortunately/unfortunately the weather since has been a bit poo, see the typhoon mentioned in the title). From the boat I got a little look at the way the city is distributed over the islands which I think is actually quite interesting. I also met a girl, also visiting a friend, who lives in Welwyn Garden City opposite Matt Ferdenzi (a friend of mine from school) and used to run for Herts Phoenix Athletic Club.
That night they hoisted a Typhoon 8 warning that materialised in the form of a heavy storm (in fact the edge of the one that ravaged the Philippines) that raged throughout the night. The next day most things were shut but Seb and I made a trip to his football club to have a look around.
Hong Kong Football Club is quite simply, amazing. It is basically a massive social club that also has sports teams (football, rugby, hockey, tennis etc). The facilities are incredible: a beautiful artificial surface pitch, gym, swimming pool, two restaurants, bar, tennis courts on the roof and much more. Added to this it is in an awesome setting (we played a game of six-a-side surrounded on all sides by skyscrapers and wooded hills). Seb has told me that he spends most of his time in Hong Kong at the club and I wouldn't blame him.
The rest of the city is also fantastic, it is truly a world city. There is so much to do, awesome bars, restaurants etc. as well as a very cool internet café where eight of us wiled away a few hours playing Call of Duty 4. I have only been on one night out so far, although they are a few in the pipeline for the future. The cool thing about Hong Kong bars and clubs are the open bars where you pay about 13 pounds for unlimited drinks. Do not worry mother, I have shown restraint.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Like England with Parrots
I have almost reached the end of my stay in Australia, so I feel I ought to do a little summing up piece about the land of our convict cousins.
Firstly, the weather has not been all that I expected from Oz. The name 'Bullaburra' (the village in which I am staying with my cousins) means 'Blue Skies Village'. For the three weeks I have been here it could not have been more of a misnomer. Not only has the weather been bad but I arrived in New South Wales a few days after the driest May in recent history. Bah! However there are definitely positive points to Australia. I have really appreciated the abundance of exotic flora and fauna. It's difficult to imagine how strange it was for an Englishman who has spent three months in the land of brown birds and rats (Henan province) to see bright green and red parrots (Rosellas) in the garden. Then there are the marsupials which when you think about it, are just weird. They have pockets for Christ's sake!
Unfortunately the weather has somewhat hampered my ability to appreciate the Blue Mountains. For anyone who doesn't know what or where the Blue Mountains are, they are heavily gum-forested hills west of Sydney. The first crossing, to the plains inland was made in 1831 (I think) and before that many of the convicts believed that if they could cross the mountains they would reach China and freedom. Anyway, the scenery is awesome and the potential for adventure sport in the area is huge and therefore the main source of income is the tourist industry. Despite the weather I have managed to fit in a night camping, a day canyoning and plenty of walks. Tomorrow is (nearby town) Katoomba's Winter Magic Festival (http://www.wintermagic.com.au/) which promises to be a good laugh. I have been promised a heady mix of beer and hippies which can only result in fun.
My future abroad remains uncertain; the already unnecessarily stringent Chinese visa regulations have been made stricter for the Olympics so I am not sure whether I will be able to return as planned. I will fly to Hong Kong on Monday and will see what can be achieved there. But, as I am constantly reminding myself, it could be a lot worse. I have had an awesome time, with very few real troubles and I still have plenty of time before I really have to get my head down at university. Life is good (naa naa na naa naa!)
Firstly, the weather has not been all that I expected from Oz. The name 'Bullaburra' (the village in which I am staying with my cousins) means 'Blue Skies Village'. For the three weeks I have been here it could not have been more of a misnomer. Not only has the weather been bad but I arrived in New South Wales a few days after the driest May in recent history. Bah! However there are definitely positive points to Australia. I have really appreciated the abundance of exotic flora and fauna. It's difficult to imagine how strange it was for an Englishman who has spent three months in the land of brown birds and rats (Henan province) to see bright green and red parrots (Rosellas) in the garden. Then there are the marsupials which when you think about it, are just weird. They have pockets for Christ's sake!
Unfortunately the weather has somewhat hampered my ability to appreciate the Blue Mountains. For anyone who doesn't know what or where the Blue Mountains are, they are heavily gum-forested hills west of Sydney. The first crossing, to the plains inland was made in 1831 (I think) and before that many of the convicts believed that if they could cross the mountains they would reach China and freedom. Anyway, the scenery is awesome and the potential for adventure sport in the area is huge and therefore the main source of income is the tourist industry. Despite the weather I have managed to fit in a night camping, a day canyoning and plenty of walks. Tomorrow is (nearby town) Katoomba's Winter Magic Festival (http://www.wintermagic.com.au/) which promises to be a good laugh. I have been promised a heady mix of beer and hippies which can only result in fun.
My future abroad remains uncertain; the already unnecessarily stringent Chinese visa regulations have been made stricter for the Olympics so I am not sure whether I will be able to return as planned. I will fly to Hong Kong on Monday and will see what can be achieved there. But, as I am constantly reminding myself, it could be a lot worse. I have had an awesome time, with very few real troubles and I still have plenty of time before I really have to get my head down at university. Life is good (naa naa na naa naa!)
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