Konnichiwa and Nai ho!
I have about 2 minutes to update this thing before the hostel computer kicks me off. After Jingzhou I went back to Wuhan for a day. Saw some colleagues who were still at the school.
From there, I took the Wuhan-Guangzhou bullet train (the fastest train in the world as of now) to Guangzhou. Fun times were had down there.
From Guangzhou, it was only a hop, skp and a jump to Hong Kong, one of my fav places in all Asia. Met new friends and my friend Stephanie from Vancity.
Macau. Lost at tables, but in style.
Now I am in Nihon! Will write more later.
Paul
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Jingzhou
Jingzhou - the ancient capital of the Chu Kingdom during the Warring States Period. It was one of the most powerful factions until defeated by the Kingdom of Qin. More importantly, it's the hometown of my girlfriend Cathy.
The city is one big historical artifact. It's one of the few Chinese cities with well preserved city walls. The local museum houses some very impressive jade exhibits, well preserved weapons (that still have a blade's edge) and even a mummy!
I stayed at Cathy's mother's home, which is near a very pretty but run-down park. It was a really old abode that probably harked back to the Cultural Revolution. It housed 4 families in a sort of hutong style. On one side of the main open-air foyer were the bedrooms, and on the other side were the kitchens. Staying there made me feel like I was REALLY in China.
Cathy's cousin drove us around town and even out to an ancient Chu tomb about 70 km away. The whole area was still under excavation, and we were one of two groups who got to look around the tomb that day. The highlight of the tomb was a pit about 100 meters long displaying about 35 chariots and 100 horses. Another interesting part was the current excavation, which was of a princess or well-loved concubine. The bottom of the pit had a lot of jade pieces, and archaeologists figured that the "host" really liked this girl. It was really neat to see current excavation work.
Archaeologists don't know who this "host" is, although they know that the entire outlying area is part of his tomb. He could be a king or prince of Chu, or maybe wealthy royalty. They haven't started digging up his tomb yet, which is under a foothill, since there's still a lot of work to be done around the main tomb.
Another highlight of my trip to Jingzhou was the local cuisine. The Spring Festival is coming up, and Cathy's uncle hosted a dinner reunion (the first of many in the upcoming weeks leading up to Lunar New Year). I was invited, but I was wary to keep away from the baijiu, even though Cathy found out it was the expensive stuff. Seriously, I can't tell the difference between the 30 kwai stuff and the 600 kwai stuff. All baijiu tastes like nail polish or barf to me. I much prefer sugelan weishiji - Scotch whisky.
I also got a nice pair of aviators to combat the glare of the sun across the snow.
All in all, I really enjoyed myself in Jingzhou. I got to see Cathy's family and her very historical hometown. Unfortunately, she couldn't come with me on my big adventure, which starts early tomorrow.
Guangzhou and Hong Kong! I'm coming for you!!!
The city is one big historical artifact. It's one of the few Chinese cities with well preserved city walls. The local museum houses some very impressive jade exhibits, well preserved weapons (that still have a blade's edge) and even a mummy!
I stayed at Cathy's mother's home, which is near a very pretty but run-down park. It was a really old abode that probably harked back to the Cultural Revolution. It housed 4 families in a sort of hutong style. On one side of the main open-air foyer were the bedrooms, and on the other side were the kitchens. Staying there made me feel like I was REALLY in China.
Cathy's cousin drove us around town and even out to an ancient Chu tomb about 70 km away. The whole area was still under excavation, and we were one of two groups who got to look around the tomb that day. The highlight of the tomb was a pit about 100 meters long displaying about 35 chariots and 100 horses. Another interesting part was the current excavation, which was of a princess or well-loved concubine. The bottom of the pit had a lot of jade pieces, and archaeologists figured that the "host" really liked this girl. It was really neat to see current excavation work.
Archaeologists don't know who this "host" is, although they know that the entire outlying area is part of his tomb. He could be a king or prince of Chu, or maybe wealthy royalty. They haven't started digging up his tomb yet, which is under a foothill, since there's still a lot of work to be done around the main tomb.
Another highlight of my trip to Jingzhou was the local cuisine. The Spring Festival is coming up, and Cathy's uncle hosted a dinner reunion (the first of many in the upcoming weeks leading up to Lunar New Year). I was invited, but I was wary to keep away from the baijiu, even though Cathy found out it was the expensive stuff. Seriously, I can't tell the difference between the 30 kwai stuff and the 600 kwai stuff. All baijiu tastes like nail polish or barf to me. I much prefer sugelan weishiji - Scotch whisky.
I also got a nice pair of aviators to combat the glare of the sun across the snow.
All in all, I really enjoyed myself in Jingzhou. I got to see Cathy's family and her very historical hometown. Unfortunately, she couldn't come with me on my big adventure, which starts early tomorrow.
Guangzhou and Hong Kong! I'm coming for you!!!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Xi'an Photos
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| Xi'an is a pretty city...much prettier than Wuhan that's for sure. Here's a view from the Bell Tower. |
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| Big Goose Pagoda. A journey the monk took to India influenced the writing of "Journey to the West." Came to see a light show but ended up disappointed. |
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| The Great Mosque in the Muslim Quarter. Chinese and Arabic writing on tablets. |
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| Strange looking Starbucks in the middle of the city attracts many expats. |
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| Typical street in the Muslim Quarter. I scored my new North Face frame pack near here. |
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| My colleagues in the middle of a very narrow 4 way intersection filled with cars, pedestrians, bikes, scooters, and hustle-n'-bustle. |
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| A high ranking officer at the Terracotta Warrior Site |
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| Some of my students do a face-plant like this...but on their keyboards |
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| Pit #1. They are legion!!! |
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| Me with the person who found the Terracotta Warriors back in the 1970s. He sits and signs books all day. Apparently, the government pays him to sit there. |
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| Pit #1 |
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| Pit #1 |
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| My colleagues on the City Wall. |
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| City Wall shot |
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| This was messed up. I think there was a celebration earlier in the week. |
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| From the city wall looking at inside city |
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| Winner! |
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| People warming up by burning things |
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| The East Gate by night |
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| Revolutionary Park and Memorial to the 8th Route Army. |
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| Crazy Cup of coffee...but it wasn't coffee...it was tea, |
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Xi'an
Happy New Year!!!
Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted on here. Christmas has come and gone, I had a trip to Xianning hot springs...so many other things have happened since my last post!
Just got back to Wuhan from Xi'an - the ancient capital of China. Went with 3 other teachers from the school...2 PE teachers and an English/Drama teacher. Some highlights were the Muslim Quarter, New Years Celebrations, and of course, the Terracotta Warrior Army. I scored in the Muslim Quarter by haggling a North Face factory defect down from 280 to 210 kwai. I'll post some nifty pictures of Xi'an on my blog as the week progresses.
We have 1 more week of instruction, then a week of invigilating exams. After that, my backpacking adventure begins. Jingzhou is next on the piste. On deck, Guangzhou and HK.
Paul
Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted on here. Christmas has come and gone, I had a trip to Xianning hot springs...so many other things have happened since my last post!
Just got back to Wuhan from Xi'an - the ancient capital of China. Went with 3 other teachers from the school...2 PE teachers and an English/Drama teacher. Some highlights were the Muslim Quarter, New Years Celebrations, and of course, the Terracotta Warrior Army. I scored in the Muslim Quarter by haggling a North Face factory defect down from 280 to 210 kwai. I'll post some nifty pictures of Xi'an on my blog as the week progresses.
We have 1 more week of instruction, then a week of invigilating exams. After that, my backpacking adventure begins. Jingzhou is next on the piste. On deck, Guangzhou and HK.
Paul
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| In Xianning waiting for the train |
Sunday, November 28, 2010
A Massage with some Chinese Staff/ The IRP Police
So I got a massage at the mall near the school yesterday. I went out to eat with some of the Chinese staff. We had ramen noodles. They were okay. Nothing special.
After that, we headed to a massage parlor (no, not a brothel), and had a 100 minute massage. Initially the massage was for my feet, but I guess the masseuse got bored (or fed up) with massaging my feet. She gave me a whole body massage instead. Good deal...especially since I only paid the foot massage price.
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I remember at UBC, my old FAs used to tell my cohort and I that there are no IRP police (Instructional Resource Packages or IRPs, are the curriculum standards of BC schools). Well, looks like that wasn't true. Tomorrow, the BC teacher's accreditation team come in to take a look at everyone's lessons. I think I'm ready. Let's hope so.
After that, we headed to a massage parlor (no, not a brothel), and had a 100 minute massage. Initially the massage was for my feet, but I guess the masseuse got bored (or fed up) with massaging my feet. She gave me a whole body massage instead. Good deal...especially since I only paid the foot massage price.
..........................................
I remember at UBC, my old FAs used to tell my cohort and I that there are no IRP police (Instructional Resource Packages or IRPs, are the curriculum standards of BC schools). Well, looks like that wasn't true. Tomorrow, the BC teacher's accreditation team come in to take a look at everyone's lessons. I think I'm ready. Let's hope so.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Many Things Happening/ Trip Plan
Well, I haven't updated this thing for a long while. There are many reasons for this.
I've been slowly planning for my 5 week trip around East Asia. South Korea and North Korea just had an exchange of artillery fire. I'm not sure if this will make me change my plans or not. Probably not, but it's too early to tell.
Because I worked an extra day last month, we get two 3 day weekends in December! Nice trade off! For Christmas, I'm going to a hot spring with some of the Chinese staff. For New Years, I'm going to visit the Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an with some Canadian colleagues. Hen hao!!!
I think I temporarily got sick last weekend. I haven't exercised recently because I've been busy at work. And I missed the school bus to go to free Kung Fu lessons.
Here's my preliminary trip plan:
January 15 - Bus from Wuhan to Jingzhou (ancient capital of the Kingdom of Chu, a powerful state during the Warring States Period).
Jan 16-21 Jingzhou
Jan 22 Wuhan to Seoul, South Korea
Jan 22-27 Seoul
Jan 27 - Feb 1 Travel through South Korea to Busan
Feb 1-3 Busan
Feb 3 - Busan, SK to Fukuoka, Japan (via hydrofoil)
Feb 5- To Osaka
Feb 5-8 Osaka
Feb 7 Day trip to Nara
Feb 8-9 Kyoto
Feb 10-14 Tokyo
Feb 14-16 Sendai
Feb 17 Sendai to Tokyo
Feb 18 Tokyo to Wuhan
I've been slowly planning for my 5 week trip around East Asia. South Korea and North Korea just had an exchange of artillery fire. I'm not sure if this will make me change my plans or not. Probably not, but it's too early to tell.
Because I worked an extra day last month, we get two 3 day weekends in December! Nice trade off! For Christmas, I'm going to a hot spring with some of the Chinese staff. For New Years, I'm going to visit the Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an with some Canadian colleagues. Hen hao!!!
I think I temporarily got sick last weekend. I haven't exercised recently because I've been busy at work. And I missed the school bus to go to free Kung Fu lessons.
Here's my preliminary trip plan:
January 15 - Bus from Wuhan to Jingzhou (ancient capital of the Kingdom of Chu, a powerful state during the Warring States Period).
Jan 16-21 Jingzhou
Jan 22 Wuhan to Seoul, South Korea
Jan 22-27 Seoul
Jan 27 - Feb 1 Travel through South Korea to Busan
Feb 1-3 Busan
Feb 3 - Busan, SK to Fukuoka, Japan (via hydrofoil)
Feb 5- To Osaka
Feb 5-8 Osaka
Feb 7 Day trip to Nara
Feb 8-9 Kyoto
Feb 10-14 Tokyo
Feb 14-16 Sendai
Feb 17 Sendai to Tokyo
Feb 18 Tokyo to Wuhan
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Trip Planning: South Korea and Japan
Well, it's time. I have to start planning for my trips to Japan and South Korea. Trying to find cheap tickets in my spare time. I might spend 1 week somewhere else in China before heading off to the Land of the Rising Sun. I figure I should go to Japan, then to Korea.
Today I did my first high school invigilation. I was so excited, I told one of the veteran teachers that I look forward to "bagging and tagging" a cheater. The 3 hour exam went smoothly, and no one cheated (or perhaps I didn't catch anyone cheating).
Anyways, aside from supervising exams, marking and finalizing report cards, I'm running more often, and trying to score some cheap plane tickets to Osaka. From there, I'm going to bullet train to Kyoto, Tokyo, then Sendai to see my friend.
If I'm staying in China for a week before heading off to the easternmost countries in East Asia, where do you think I should go? I'm thinking Hong Kong, but I'm open to suggestions.
Today I did my first high school invigilation. I was so excited, I told one of the veteran teachers that I look forward to "bagging and tagging" a cheater. The 3 hour exam went smoothly, and no one cheated (or perhaps I didn't catch anyone cheating).
Anyways, aside from supervising exams, marking and finalizing report cards, I'm running more often, and trying to score some cheap plane tickets to Osaka. From there, I'm going to bullet train to Kyoto, Tokyo, then Sendai to see my friend.
If I'm staying in China for a week before heading off to the easternmost countries in East Asia, where do you think I should go? I'm thinking Hong Kong, but I'm open to suggestions.
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