Living the high life

Although things have kind of fallen into some sort of pattern, the random factor still comes into play with surprisingly regularity and no two weeks are ever the same...

On Friday I went with my friend, Patty, to Golden Temple Park in the north of Kunming. As it cost a whole 20 RMB, we spent 4 hours there to get our money's worth!! It was quite enjoyable, especially running into a camel. Fortunately it has not yet adopted the Chinese habit of spitting...
Then, yesterday (having had not quite enough sleep and a morning aerobics class) I went with a couple of my students to Dian Chi - the big lake to the south of the city. We went in one student's car which included a driver, and on the way we passed her father's factory. No shortage of money there, then. We fed the seagulls first and then went to a very fancy spa (which I was treated to!) All very nice.

It also seemed to be a good day for wedding photos (you can see it's very sunny) and I captured an interesting picture of one happy couple.

The random factor

One thing that I will miss in a weird kind of way and that will take some getting used to once I am back in Europe is the sheer randomness of life here sometimes.

Some random events this week:

Last night walking through the city [ok, I admit it, I got a little bit lost!] a Chinese woman struck up a conversation with me. In Chinese. Now, my Chinese is still distinctly lacking and her English wasn't much better (or at least as far as she was letting on!)

Today in the canteen on campus a Chinese man said to me 'Can you use chopsticks?' To which I replied, 'I am in China. Of course!' His response 'Very good!' [with a big grin and a surprised air!] It doesn't take much to achieve approval here.

A fun time in Carrefour this afternoon when I managed to jam the locker door (my bag strap got stuck in it!) I had to wait a while until someone came along with a key and a password to access the electronics etc. Unfortunately, neither of these were much use and he ended up levering open the locker with a screwdriver as I apologised, several times, a little red-faced. Fortunately, I didn't draw too much of a crowd.

And if things weren't bad enough, just then it started... SPITTING! [Thanks to Peter Kay].

No, not really. Still dry as a bone here. But an old guy on his bike treated me to a cheery 'halllloooo!' as he cycled past. A rare(?) treat.

Well, I'll finish this as I sit here enjoying my new Christmas lights. Obviously they work really well. It doesn't matter that only half of them flash and the rest stay on all the time. I'm sure they're supposed to do that...

What part of 'no' do you not understand?

My friend and fellow teacher, Lois, has had her friend, Karen, visiting from the USA this week. On Thursday we went to a restaurant for Peking (or Beijing) Duck. It was really tasty and the meal was only slightly marred by the fact that the staff stood round the table waiting for us to finish and leave and also made Jared pay for a plate he accidentally broke!

On Friday Lois, Karen and I headed to the Stone Forest - a local tourist spot. We set off early and soon encountered the first hurdle - finding the bus station!! A woman touting for business tried several time to get us to take an expensive private car instead of the bus we were looking for. She was very slow to catch on (or possibly accept) the fact that we wanted to go the cheap way!

Anyway we were finally on the bus. Lonely Planet had warned us to avoid tourist buses which apparently stop at every pillar and post between Kunming and Shilin. We thought we had more or less managed this - after all, we were told that there would only be 2 stops on the way there. The first ended abruptly when our minibus returned from getting more fuel, but the second dragged on interminably and I thought there was going to be a mutiny against the driver!

However, we finally arrived and though it was a bit like Disneyland the rock formations were impressive and we managed to find some genuinely quiet corners of the park. We even helped out a Chinese couple who admitted to being lost!! I would like to go again as we didn't really have enough time to explore the place fully. Here's a link to a website about it: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/yunnan/kunming/stone_forest.htm

Hope you enjoy the photos. I'm off to bed, having done a 3 hour dance class this afternoon...

Ganpodwer Splot

Thanks to one of my students, Jack, for the title of this post. It was his headline for a newspaper article on... yes, you've guessed it, Guy Fawkes!

Things of note that happened recently:

The buses in Kunming are mostly good, if a little crowded (especially the number 84). There are 2 versions of the number 9 bus. There is the regular bus, which looks like all the other buses in Kunming, and there is the little one. This one (as its name suggests) is smaller, dirtier and looks like it has come from the countryside, which it kind of has. Taking this bus always involves a lot more staring that taking the other buses. I learnt on Friday that it can also involve an impromptu aerobics session. There I was on my way back from Carrefour with, appropriately, a baguette in hand, contemplating an evening watching a dvd and drinking a well-earned glass of red wine. Suddenly, as we approached a junction, everyone on the bus who was standing, squatted down. When we got past the junction the conductor said 'Keyi le!' [It's OK!] and everyone stood up again. I was a little bemused, but the explanation was suggested to me by another foreign teacher - they cram the buses travel to over-capacity and so at junctions people crouch down to avoid detection by the police! Random...

Yesterday I went to a normal aerobics class and on the way home I cycled past a man on his bicycle towing a trailer piled high with pink stuff. Closer inspection (a little too close for comfort as it turned out) revealed that it was in fact a huge pile of pigs' heads. Yuck!

Then yesterday evening I went to a Christmas fair and concert at Nordica.

Pretty much a normal Friday & Saturday then.

Hasta luego!

East meets west

I can't remember the start of the week - it's too long ago, but Wednesday saw me judging a speaking competition for the journalism and accounting departments. Luckily for me it was a Chinese and English speaking competition, so I only had to give a mark to half the students (not being able to judge the students speaking in Chinese, of course!) All the judges were introduced at the start and the others, being Chinese, gave a small bow of the head while I found myself standing up and giving a cheery PM-style wave! Oh well.

During the competition, the teacher next to me and I kept having sneaky peeks at each other's marks for comparison, then pretending we weren't!! All good fun, even getting up and giving a short speech at the end for everyone's benefit.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, so I celebrated in style with the other foreign teachers here. It was really good - turkey and pumpkin pie. Carlota and I went to a restaurant called the 'Wicker Basket' to collect the cooked turkey and other food. Unfortunately, I managed to show the taxi driver a business card for the other branch of the Wicker Basket in a completely different part of the city. Fortunately, I realised the mistake and managed to phone a handy Chinese friend to explain matters to the taxi driver. He of course thought it was hysterical and has probably been dining out on the story ever since.

Yesterday I went to my first aerobics class here in Kunming. The directions I had been given were very good right up until the last part, when I wasn't sure if I was in the right place. Fortunately I was able to 'ask' a nearby security guard. [For 'ask' read: me saying "wo yao..." ('I want') accompanied by a vague mime of someone doing aerobics. But it worked!!!]

Last night we went to a jazz concert at Nordica, which was very good, though I am still off the alcohol (4 weeks now) and so I ended up drinking too much coffee and getting a little bit hyperactive...! Never mind.

Dance class this afternoon and more marking of newspaper articles... joy!

Photos to follow.

Kunming in the sunshine

This morning I went with Patty, a Chinese friend of mine, to Black Dragon Pool Park. It was really beautiful and not at all crowded. The autumn colours are just coming out and it was great to walk, get some fresh air and experience a bit of nature.

The highlights were a school teacher asking his class of small children to say hello to the 'foreign auntie' and a man in one of the temples saying hello to me and telling me I was 'beautiful'!!

The weather is glorious at the moment and perfect for take photos, so here are a few.

Are these your own words? Part II: the sequel

Unfortunately, my students seem still not to have grasped the concept that I can't actually give them a mark for copying verbatim. The brick wall has a large dent in it and my head hurts. A lot.


YUFE (Yunnan University of Finance & Economics) is currently in a minor state of turmoil thanks to the looming visit from university inspectors. This place was given university status last year, so I guess they are checking that the university is adhering to the necessary standards. However, as well as giving us advice on dressing correctly, being on time and having a lesson plan and materials with us in class, rumours are going round of students being made to sit in classrooms late at night to look as though they are working hard! It remains to be seen whether or not I will have the pleasure of a visit to any of my classes.

I have started playing tennis and there is a possibility of an aerobics class not too far from here. So as well as climbing the local 'mountain' sometimes on a Saturday, I am kind of doing OK for exercise. Oh, and teaching of course - nervous energy, pacing round the classroom, doing elaborate mime...

Highlight of the week: a student asking me if I had 'put off weight'.

Adventure of the week: getting my hair cut. Though I cheated and took a Chinese friend of mine with me for translation assistance.

Low point of the week: talking to a student who had wanted to study psychology, but whose parents were not in favour, so she's studying business now and hating it. It's a common story. Hardly any of the students here seem to have actually chosen to do their course. It really breaks my heart, me who gave up being a solicitor in London simply because I didn't like it.

On that note, I will leave you for now.

The good, the bad and the just plain ugly!

What I like about living in China:

1. The weather - in this part of China it's particulary good. We're nearly half-way through November and most days it is sunny and the temperature is in the late teens or early twenties.

2. No Christmas hype. Correct me if I am wrong, but I reckon the adverts and general nightmare that is the run-up to Christmas must be well under way by now. I like the family spirit of Christmas and also catching up with old friends, but I can do without the rest of it.

3. Being able to act the fool. I often get smiles from random people (particularly men of a certain age - not sure why...), and any Chinese I manage to utter is met with great excitement (particularly from my students). However, it is a delicate balance and it is easy to drift into 'performing monkey' territory. But don't they say that teaching is all about acting?

4. The food. Here I can eat really good food in a restaurant for very little money. So what if I don't always know what I'm eating or whether or not the food that arrives will bear any resemblance to what I think I ordered?

Things I don't like:

1. Shopping. Apart from people regularly peering into my basket to see what the laowai [foreigner] is buying, shop assistants, particularly in clothes shops, have a tendency to follow me round, often without speaking. Unfortunately, this leads me to play a slightly childish game which involves me walking quickly then suddenly stopping to see if they will also stop in time or will crash into me...

2. Crossing the road. After nearly three months of being here, I still feel as though I am taking my life in my hands every time I cross the road. Even if there is a green light for pedestrians, there is still often traffic coming from some direction, hell-bent on ploughing down a pedestrian or two. Of course it is the pedestrians who have to give way. On Thursday I watched a woman and son knocked off their scooter by a car which didn't even stop.

3. The buses. Often crowded, no such thing as a queue and the word 'deodorant' distinctly lack from some people's vocabulary. Joy!

Oh well, so far I am enjoying more than I'm getting annoyed by, which must be a good sign!

Normal service resumed... I think!

I finally got some more photos from my trip to Wugong Mountain - from when I visited my friends in Pingxiang in the October holiday, so here they are.

So, what's been going on? I'm still busy, but I seem to have got on top of things a little more. In addition I only have two more weeks of my extra evening class and also my crazy experiential classes, so things will be a little easier once those classes end.

Last weekend I got most of the way up to the top of a local hill / mountain, which was really good. It felt like I wasn't in the city any more - quiet and lots of trees etc. We're probably going back this weekend and hoping to make it all the way to the top this time. Apart from that, I'm still not doing as much exercise as I would like, but my weekly dance class is helping a little on that score. I'm also hoping to go away in the January / February holiday and get to some mountains in Sichuan maybe.

The surreal moment of the week... Tuesday afternoon I went to pick up some photocopies which someone had forgotten to do. While I was waiting for them I was chatting to our contact in the International Business School. [I had previously disturbed her lunchtime rest - she was there in the office on a sofa curled up in a blanket!] We got onto what I do in my free time and I told her about my dance class. I somehow found myself demonstrating some of my dance moves... A little strange.

This afternoon I have to teach a class about Western food. Yippee!

Blog is back!

Yippee. I haven't posted for a while, mostly because I haven't been able to - website blocked seemingly. Anyway, I have found a way round it and I am now back in all my technicolour glory. Or something...

Anyway, for those that don't know already, I am now a proud auntie to Isabel Emily Arkell, who arrived a little early on 3rd November.

Here's a pic and I'll write more soon.

Monday, bl**dy Monday

So, in response to my friend and former CELTA classmate, Paul, (see the link to his blog), this is what today was like:

8.30am - quick trip to the photocopying shop followed by a paper-cutting session in preparation for my classes.

First class at 9.50am. A relatively late start, but this is a speaking class for 145 mins! One of my smaller classes (averaging around 35 students). They're mostly keen and lots of fun but I know at least one student sneaked out during the break, so I must take the register at the end of class next week...

Lunch with the students in one of the many gourmet canteens on campus.

2.30pm my first year (freshman) speaking class for 90 minutes. They participate well (all 49 of them!), but I still trying to teach them the concept of 'volunteering'. One student invited me to visit his home town and one of the Vietnamese students has invited me round for dinner this weekend.

4.30pm - Chinese class. This time I am the student for a change. Try to look interested and participate, knowing how it feels to be the teacher. Can't help laughing (for the second week running) at the word 'qiche' [car] for its resemblance to the word 'quiche'. I know... I know...

Quick fast food dinner with Russ at the Western restaurant on campus. Two Chinese teachers arrive while we are there and one tells us about her recent trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, promoting the university.

7.30pm - last class of the day. This is an extra speaking class to prepare some students for the forthcoming university inspection. Only 20 students in this class, which soooooo good. We finish the lesson by miming various things, including 'I'm getting married', 'You've lost weight' and 'I'm hungry'. Much over-acting on my part and much giggling on the students' part.

Probably my busiest day, but I enjoyed all of it.

I've worked out how to add links...

If you could kindly direct your eyes to the right of this page... Yes, I know, everyone else has been doing it for ages!

Today:

1. Breakfast / early lunch of cheeseburger & chips at French Café.
2. Death-defying trip back on my Chinese bicycle.
3. Lesson planning.
4. Piano playing in a Chinese English teacher's apartment.
5. Trip downtown with aforementioned teacher to purchase piano music.
6. Across-the-bridge-noodles in strange Chinese chain noodle restaurant.
7. Slightly random, though vaguely successful clothes shopping venture.
8. Dodgy dance film at groovy arts venue.
9. Discussion about western dance class for tomorrow.
10. Numerous fights with blood-hungry mosquitoes.
11. Bed.

Adios!

Chinese roads

I just found this on a website about riding round China on a bike: http://www.draginrun.com/4-13%20thru%2023_Beijing_to_Changchun.htm

Acknowledgement and thanks to Gary Morgan for his extremely accurate description of China's roads:

"China's Rules of the Road (submitted by Gary Morgan)

Traveling on Chinese roads is an hallucinatory experience of movement, color, sound and emotions. It is frequently heart-rending, sometimes hilarious, mostly exhilarating, always unforgettable -- and, when you are on the roads, extremely dangerous. Most Chinese drivers observe a version of the Rules of the Road based on an Jiaguwen, or Oracle Bone Script.

ARTICLE I

· The assumption of immortality is required of all road users.

ARTICLE II

· Chinese traffic, like Chinese society, is structured on a strict caste system. The following precedence must be accorded at all times. In descending order, give way to: ducks, chickens, official cars, heavy trucks, buses, camels, light trucks, sheep, jeeps, ox-carts, horses, private cars, motorcycles, scooters, auto-rickshaws, pigs, pedal rickshaws, goats, bicycles (goods-carrying), fowl, handcarts, bicycles (passenger-carrying), dogs and, last of all, pedestrians.

ARTICLE III

· All wheeled vehicles shall be driven in accordance with the maxim: to slow is to falter, to brake is to fail, to stop is defeat. This is the Chinese driver’s mantra.

ARTICLE IV: Use of horn (also known as the sonic fender or aural amulet):

· Cars (IV,1,a-c): Short blasts (urgent) indicate supremacy, that is, in clearing dogs, auto-rickshaws and pedestrians from the intended path.

· Long blasts (desperate) denote supplication, that is, to an oncoming truck: "I am going too fast to stop, so unless you slow down we shall both die!" In extreme cases this may be accompanied by flashing of headlights (frantic).

· Single blast (casual) means: "I have seen someone out of China's 1.3 billion people whom I recognize" or "There is a bird in the road (which at this speed could go through my windscreen)" or "I have not blown my horn for several minutes.

· "Trucks and buses (IV,2,a): All horn signals have the same meaning, viz: "I have an all-up weight of approximately 12.5 tones and have no intention of stopping, even if I could." This signal may be emphasized by the use of flashing headlights.

· Article IV remains subject to the provision of Order of Precedence in Article II above.

ARTICLE V

· For all maneuvers, use of the horn and evasive action shall be left until the last possible moment.

ARTICLE VI

· In the absence of seat belts (which there is), car occupants shall wear Buddhist Mala bracelets (commonly referred to as 'power' beads). These bracelets should be kept securely fastened at all times. (See Articles I and X). Optional are wedding license plate covers.

ARTICLE VII:

· Rights of way (VII,1): Traffic entering a road from the right has priority. So has traffic from the left, and also traffic in the middle.

· Lane discipline (VII,2): All Chinese traffic at all times and irrespective of direction of travel shall occupy the centre of the road.

ARTICLE VIII

· Roundabouts: China has no roundabouts. Apparent traffic islands in the middle of crossroads have no traffic management function. Any other impression should be ignored.

ARTICLE IX

· Overtaking is mandatory. Every moving vehicle is required to overtake every other moving vehicle, irrespective of whether it has just overtaken you. Overtaking should only be undertaken in suitable conditions, such as in the face of oncoming traffic, on blind bends, at junctions and in the middle of villages/city centers. No more than five centimeters should be allowed between your vehicle and the one you are passing -- and no more than two point five centimeters clearance in the case of bicycles or pedestrians. To make eye contact with an 'opposing' driver is to concede the road.

ARTICLE X

· Nirvana may be obtained through the head-on crash.

ARTICLE XI

· Reversing: no longer applicable since no vehicle in China seems to have a reverse gear."

Dog is not just for Christmas...

So, over 1,600km there and back, a 25hr train journey, a bus, a taxi, a plane and another taxi and I am back from Pingxiang! Yippee!!!

As I explained, I had been invited back by a friend of Rick's (and now also mine), to spend National Holiday with him and his family. National Holiday is very much a family occasion and very important in the Chinese year. Steven and Rose and their respective families included me very warmly in all their celebrations and it was a crazy and fascinating (if a little tiring) week.

I took the train there to save money and also to see the countryside. The journey went very smoothly and I read for most of it, but it was a little frustrating not to be able to communicate with the others in my compartment (6 beds, known as a 'hard sleeper'), as they all seemed very friendly. As usual they shared their food with me.

We passed through some amazing countryside (and some slightly less amazing countryside!) Rounded, tree-covered hills, tumbling rivers, rice stalks stacked up in the fields, corn on the cob threaded together to dry out, water buffalo working in the fields...

So, what did I do? I went for many, many meals at the houses of various relatives, including Steven's parents in Shanli and Steven's grandparents somewhere deep in the countryside. We took a car most of the way and walked the last bit up a dirt path. It was there that I had my first taste or what is normally thought of as a pet. [If you're not following, look at the title of this post]. Climbed Wugong Mountain for the second time with Joseph (works in the library at Pingxiang College) and two Chinese boys, Tony & David, both of whom speak very good English. We climbed the mountain in 2 hours, which is quite quick, and I spend the rest of the week nursing very stiff legs as a result. [Not the best in any circumstances, but when the only toilets available as those of the 'squat' variety, it makes going for a pee a painful experience!] One of the pictures is of the 'hotel' we stayed in. For 'hotel' read 'wooden hut with beds in it'.

Went to a random person's wedding party (friend of Rose's). Got stared at. A LOT. Pingxiang is much worse than Kunming for that. Although I did amuse myself by saying 'Ni hao' [hello] to anyone who stared for too long. The first night there I did this to someone and he was deeply shocked, much to Rose's amusement. Haha. Drank lots of beer and some baijuo (strong rice wine) - thanks Rick! Met up with some of Rick's former students at Pingxiang College. The college has grown quite a lot since I was there last year and looks quite different. I even bumped into Bob [recruits foreign teachers], who asked me as usual if I knew anyone who wanted to come and teach at the college!

So much happened, I don't really know where to start or to finish. I am really glad I went. Kunming is great in lots of ways, and I'm glad to be living here. It's somewhat 'easier' to live here than in Pingxiang. However, I know that if I go to Pingxiang and see Steven etc., I get to experience the 'real' China.

Maybe one day Rose & Steven will visit Britain and I can repay the favour. They're very keen to and I hope they do!

Coming back, I took the aeroplane. Partly because it was difficult to get a train ticket coming back and partly to save time. I took a bus from Pingxiang to Changsha and ended up sitting next to a Chinese girl who teaches English in Pingixiang - someone else to put in my e-mail address book. She helped me sort out a taxi from the bus station to the airport (easier than another bus as I was short of time!) Flying back took just 1 hour 40 mins. Much easier, but you miss out on the whole train experience and seeing the change in scenery etc.

Well, I am currently sitting in my pyjamas writing this, even though it is only 5.15pm. I am nursing a cold, a sore throat and and aching wisdom tooth - sympathy please! However, it has stopped raining, Wikipedia works again here and my last class of the week is tomorrow morning.

Mustn't grumble...

Must learn Chinese... must learn Chinese...

I have just this morning finalised my travel arrangements for next week's holiday. As I think I wrote before, I'm returning to Pingxiang (scene of last year's visit to China) to see Steven, Rose, Jasmine etc. I had booked the train ticket there (all 28 hours of it!) in plenty of time, knowing how busy the trains will be at this time of the year. I was trying to avoid taking a plane because it's quite expensive in relation to my salary here. However, there were only 4 tickets available on the train I wanted to take coming back and, of course, they were quickly snapped up by those with friends in high places... So, a quick bit of internet surfing last night found me a plane ticket from Changsha to Kunming (I'll take a bus to Changsha early doors in order to catch my flight). A 'conversation' this morning in Chinese (!?!?!) with the delivery man, me pedalling madly round campus trying to find him and a dodgy handover of hard cash found me the proud owner of a plane ticket. Cinderella will get back to Kunming in time for classes on Monday! (Fingers crossed).

Yippee! Anyway, I have to finish planning my class for tomorrow morning (Saturday!) As we are only allowed 3 days for the holiday, Wednesday and Friday's classes have to be 'made up' this weekend... Luckily, I only have one class on Wednesday and none on Friday.

Oh, I had a request for more pictures. I'm afraid I haven't taken any for ages, but here are a couple from when I was in Chengdu. One is in the grounds of a temple and the other is a Chinese tourist shop at DuFu's House (he was a famous Chinese poet).

'Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.' Ernest Shackleton

Are these your own words?

Morning all. Today sees me marking assignments for the second day in a row - yippee! I have to set assignments for my 3 writing classes. I'm supposed to set 10 over the semester, but I'm not sure that that's going to happen as I have about 150 students in the 3 classes - that's a lot of work to mark! I made the mistake of not reminding students that their writing must be their own work - the first few I read were so obviously lifted (either in part or entirely) from books or the internet. Next lesson will start with a short presentation on the word 'plagiarism'...

Last weekend I made my first trip to the swimming pool in Kunming. It's called 'Tudong' swimming pool and is in the East of the city, close to the Camelia Hotel. I went with one of my students and her boyfriend. It seemed fine, apart from the greenish tinge at both the shallow and deep ends. Hmmm.

Monday saw me reading the commentary for the promotional video that is being made for the university. If you remember, last week I got roped into appearing in the video. Someone liked my accent and so they asked me to read the commentary as well. Lucky me. I'll have my 15 minutes of fame yet.

Oh well, back to those assignments. Wish me luck!

It is China, after all...

Well, yesterday was my last Wednesday-masquerading-as-a-Friday as the first years are back next week and so I'll have a class on Thursday as well.

Anyway, it was quite an interesting Wednesday, as it happens. I managed finally to get hold of a library card for the campus library and found that they actually have quite a lot of novels written in English and also various textbooks in English. I decided (foolishly!) to try and borrow a book. All was fine, I even managed to find the man to scan the barcode in the book so I could borrow and was able to ask him when it was due back. However, as I tried to exit the library I set off the alarms on the doors and had to return to the main desk (yet another 'stupid-foreigner-who-has-no-idea-what-she's-doing' moment). As a crowd began to gather, they finally realised that all that was needed was to swipe the book along the magnetic thingy so that it wouldn't set off the alarm! Yippee. It's often less than straightforward here...

Then mid-afternoon I got a phone call from our contact in the Foreign Affairs Office asking me if I could come straightaway and appear in a promotional film for the university. Obviously, I had had no prior warning. I had no good reason to refuse, so I off I went, with Jared in tow. Turns out that they are trying to get some funding or some involvement from the European Commission for some programme, and the deadline for submissions is looming. As it was a nice day (yep, the sun has reappeared in Kunming) the pressure was on to shoot some footage of the university, which included the new foreign teachers. Oh well, we managed to get it done fairly painlessly and provided some entertainment for the nearby gardeners! Don't know what the European Commission will think of it, though.

I went to an English speaking competition last night (second night in a row), as one of my students was speaking. I'm glad I wasn't judging, as these things do seem to go on for a while. On the first night the students have to do a prepared speech on a common topic. The second night they have to do an improvised speech (they get the topic 10 minutes beforehand) and they each have a different topic. They then have to answer a question on their prepared speech from the night before. Not easy - hats off to the students who get up there and have a go.

I've been invited back to Pingxiang (where I spent a couple of months last year) for the October week holiday. So I cycled into town today to attempt to purchase a ticket for the train. Even on a fast train it takes 25 hours, but it's all I can really afford. You can only buy tickets 10 days in advance and I had no luck today for 30th September (except for train which takes an epic 38 hours! No thanks.) I'll keep trying - it would be really nice to see the people I met there last year.

I know I have talked about cycling in China before, but I have a couple of things to add. One is that apart from the big junctions, cycling is actually not too dangerous. Most roads have a separate lane for bikes, scooters and sometimes people. It's normally ok if you can cope with people on mopeds beeping their horns to tell you they are behind you. It's only when you get to junctions that it's a bit of a free-for-all and basically, if it's bigger than you, you give way! There are many bicycle parks in town. You leave your bike and, for a small fee, someone keeps an eye on it for you. They even have one at Carrefour.

Well, that's all for now. Don't forget to add your comments, even if it's just a cheery 'hello!'

'The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life.' Arthur Miller

Consequences

So, the meal last Thursday was really good. We went a long way in a mini-van, but it was worth it! The food was delicious and there were free massages, singing and dancing. It was a minorities-themed restaurant - very colourful and lots of rice wine flowing! Some of the university leaders were there. The Vice-President of the university came over to talk to me and share a toast - he had been told that I was English and he is very fond of England, having studied at Hull University of all places!! The head (or maybe it was the second-in-commande - not sure!) of the Foreign Affairs Office told me I looked like someone out of Braveheart (I think he meant William Wallace's wife rather than one of the dirty hilltribe people!!)

Russ's friend, Nelson, is visiting, so last night we went out to a couple of bars including one of our favourites, Speakeasy. Unfortunately, I managed to slip on the stairs and now have an ankle the size of a football (or near enough!). Good job my class tomorrow morning is on the 8th floor.

The glorious age of the ... horse?!?!

Afternoon campers.

Well, yesterday afternoon I decided that I was in need of exercise, so I once more risked life and limb (and probably my lungs!) on the roads of Kunming. I went in search of an alternative route to Wicker Basket. I managed to find one, having ended up at a dead end once, then following lots of other people along the side of a small river, which proved to be an interesting short cut. In a second I went from high-rise modern apartment buildings to old country-side type houses built on a hill-side. It was like going from one decade to the next. What completed the picture was that alonside the cars, bicycles, scooters and buses were lots and lots of horse-drawn carts. Now I've seen a lot of these on the roads here already and the horses all seem to be tiny scrawny things. Usually the carts have all sorts of things on them - one time we saw one piled high with grass (the stuff that your lawn's made of). This time the carts they were pulling were actually for people to ride in - up to 6 at a time plus driver. Those horses must be stronger than they look! One man shouted something at me and two other men then turned round and grinned, but fortunately ignorance is bliss and I haven't got a clue what he was saying!

I completed my circuit - almost an hour which is enough with that much adrenaline going round your system. Tee hee. Then Jared and I road-tested his bottom of the range badminton racquets. We were wondering before we started why exactly they were so cheap as they seemed ok. However, the tape round the handle quickly slid down to one end and the plastic end of my racquet came off. Several times. I abandoned it completely in the end. But our game gave the Chinese students some entertainment. A lot of people walking by were curious to see whether or not the foreigners could play tennis, while a few just blatantly laughed (neither of us had played for a while, it was windy and the sun was in my eyes, ok?) Maybe 5pm is not the best time to play (almost everyone on campus goes to eat at 5pm and it's even more like Piccadilly Circus than normal).

My writing class as usual got progressively better as the week went on. It's also because the class size reduces as the week progresses (I have 3 classes - 59, 47 and then 39 students). Luckily, my visitor chose the Wednesday class to visit. Some random Chinese man just came and sat down in my class and made some notes. Turns out he was a leader or someone and was checking my teaching! Glad I didn't know at the time... Fortunately, the class went well with good contributions from the students and his report was favourable.

Russ has returned from his trip to Shangri-la (Zhongdian) with lots of good tales. I think I will take a trip there with Lois and possibly also Russ in the October holiday. So, of course, we went out last night. We found a new bar called 'Le Cafe de Camel'. We weren't overly impressed - it was a bit dead. Even a power cut didn't really liven things up. But it was Wednesday night after all. Plus they did some mean cocktails and they have live music at the weekend. We bumped into a Belgian guy who has being living in Kunming for 3 years but doesn't work!!! What does he do all day? I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions...

Thanks to last night, today has been something of a write-off. Tonight we have the meal for all the foreign teachers, organised by the Foreign Affairs Office. Should be good. Tomorrow I'll mostly be painting flags and lesson planning.

'If at first you don't succeed, failure might be your style.' Quentin Crisp (haha!)

Still learning to teach!

Well, the teaching seems to be going ok so far, though I am of course back on a very steep learning-curve. Some students like to try and sleep in class, while others want to read their newspapers in Chinese. But apart from a reluctance to learn from some quarters, the students are generally nice and friendly. Getting them to listen when someone is talking seems to be an uphill struggle. No mean feat when you have getting on for 60 students! Ah well...

The meal with Foreign Affairs Department has been moved to tomorrow night.

Yesterday I had a random phone call from a Chinese student (Zack) who was friends (last year) with the person who lived in my apartment before me. He seems keen to make friends with me as well, so I guess I'll meet up with him at some point for a beer or two. Why not? Might help me with my Chinese as well.

Well, here are some more photos of Kunming.

Chinese chalk

Monday is the day of the monster speaking class - all two hours twenty-five minutes of it! Yippee. And the chalk here is soooo dusty and regularly breaks when you're writing with it. Which is nice.

Apart from that, I went for an hour's bike ride yesterday with Jared. The further we got away from the centre of the city, the dirtier the kids got! We never did make it properly out of the city, but we got to the outskirts and some nice leafy parts. I'd really like a better bike to be able to make it up the hills a little bit more easily, and I definitely need some new break blocks...!

Last night we met up with a PhD student from the University of Western Australia. Russ is here working on his thesis for a few months in China. He is based in Kunming, but he is studying the effects of modernisation the growing economy on rural areas of Yunnan. It all sounds really interesting, plus he showed us a place where you can get good pizza!

On Wednesday the Foreign Affairs Office is taking all the foreign teachers out for a meal - should be fun! I'll let you know how it is...

'If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.' Maya Angelou

It's all about the little things.

Sorry to talk about the weather, but today for the first time in a while we have rain - yippee! Being British, it makes me feel kind of at home. What makes me feel even more at home is that Jared and I went for lunch today at a restaurant called 'Wicker Basket'. It serves Western food - I had falafel (!) and fries followed by Oreo cheesecake and Jared had a bacon & cheese burger. Yum! A trip to Metro supermarket (a big bulk-buying type place) followed for more Western treats, such as French wine. Normal you get a card to use this supermarket through your business, but it seems that foreigners get cards just for being foreign. And why not?!?!

So, I actually managed to drag myself out of bed not long after dawn this morning and did a few laps of the campus running track. Some people were running , some were walking (both forwards and backwards) and some were doing exercises round the edge. Some were students and some were older folk. I struggled - don't know whether it's the altitude or a month with not much exercise... I'll go with altitude, I reckon!

Right, am going to see if I can work out how to add links to this now...

Have a good weekend!

'An idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.' Anton Chekov

It's life, Jim, but not as we know it!

Hello people

Well, now I know that at least one person is reading my blog (thanks Jess!) I will write some more...

Teaching started this week at Yunnan University of Finance and Economics. As far as I knew, my classes started on Tuesday. The timetabled class I had for Monday was not due to start as they were first years (or so I thought!) and they have military training at the start of term. However, at about 10am, I got a call telling me I was supposed to be teaching. Yippee! So I had to teach a speaking class for nearly two and a half hours with no materials and no preparation. And it was on the 9th floor! Can't even remember now what I did with them - haha! Oh well, as Nietzche said 'That which does not kill us...' So, I've decided that the two most important qualities for living and working in China are patience and a sense of humour. The phrase to keep in mind (as one of the other foreign teachers said to me) is 'water off a duck's back'.

Anyway, the rest of my classes this week have passed off without problems, largely due to their being slightly more expected! I asked the students to write about what they wanted to learn in English class. A couple of classics: 'I hate English. We had to learn English in Middle School. If I had a choice I would learn Japanese or Korean.' Ok... Then one student came up to me and explained that they had already done what we were doing in class (introductions) and that maybe it was a bit boring! Thanks for that... (that was the class I had no chance to prepare for!)

The other teachers here are: Russ (ex-lawyer from New York), Jared (American, just out of University), Scott (Canadian, experienced teacher), Craig (American and here with his Chinese wife, Vicki), Lois (American, retired psychologist and very gutsy), Carlotta (American and has been in Kunming a while), Rouhe (says she's Canadian) and Tim (American, married with kids).

Since the youngsters (Russ & Jared) arrived, I've been able to explore some of the local nightspots a little. We're starting to meet Chinese people as well, which is especially good as we're all keen to improve our Chinese. We're thinking of engaging a teacher and are going to try the free classes here at the University. We've also been trying out the different types of food available in Kunming - including pizza!

I have finally been struck down by some lurgy and spent last night with bad stomach ache. It's better today, but not much. I will have to call on Laurent's famous remedy - Coca cola.

'Eighty percent of success is showing up.' Woody Allen

Test post

testing...

Back in China

Well, despite the best efforts of terrorists, airlines forcing me to buy a return ticket at the last minute, my credit card not working and then the plane getting struck by lightning, I finally made it back to China. I stopped off in Chengdu and picked up Laurent, then we both came to Kunming together. He stayed here a week and we did some sightseeing together, which was cool.

The city seems like a cool place - I am just starting to find my way around etc. I really like the university campus. It has lots of trees, flowers and shaded areas. We're about 15-20 mins by bus from the centre of town and the buses are really crowded. Yippee! That's only going to get worse with all the students returning, so I am trying to get hold of a bike so that I can be a bit more independent etc.

There are a few other foreign teachers here at the university, some older and some around my age. Everyone seems nice and quite a lot are new to the university this year, so there's a good feeling of all helping each other - any new information (which is kind of like gold dust in this place!) is quickly shared.

Anyway, here are some photos in and around Kunming. I'll write more soon about life here etc.

Getting things ready for China means dealing with two bureacracies - yippee! I am officially fit and well having recently undergone blood tests for everything under the sun, a chest x-ray and an ECG. Phew... Just have to try and get my money back from the French social security system now. All fun and games.

Apart from that, I have been running lots (and getting attacked by a small yappy dog who tore my shorts but fortunately not my leg), climbing a little, swimming in the sea a little and generally not working too hard. Can't be bad. I'll certainly miss it here. My plan is to find some French people in Kunming in order to keep up my French just in case I decide to come back here later.

It was my flatmate, Jess's birthday last week, so I made a cake to celebrate. We also went for a walk to the Ile Ste Lucie, which was nice apart from the biting insects!


Anyway, some more photos for your viewing pleasure.

Hello everyone! I'm doing a lot better on the posting front, though I think I need to tell more people about my blog cos I feel like I'm writing to myself at the moment.

I'm currently on 2 weeks holiday and up until today was enjoying the sunshine. Unfortunately, the clouds have reappeared, so today is catching up on jobs, reading and dvds...


Yesterday I went walking with Will, an English guy who started off as an English assistant here, and is now trying to get qualified as an English teacher (not easy!) We managed to get adopted by a lovely golden labrador, not long into our walk, and he followed us the whole day! He was very nice, but we gave him the name 'Stupid' for good reason. When we got back we tried to take him back to where we'd found him, but there was no-one in. We then took him to the police station in St Pons, where we were lucky enough to catch the duty policeman, just as he was leaving. The owner had called the police and left her number, so lucky we were able to reunite dog and owner! The poor dog fell asleep on the floor of the police station, exhausted...


Some photos to show you just how cute he is!

Ni hao! The weather continues to get better, although it's cloudy today. This week I have mostly been: 1. Clambering over rocks in the Montagne Noire and celebrating someone's b'day in true French style with red wine at lunchtime. 2. Running lots - 2 hours this morning. Nearly got chased by dogs. Twice. And called in at a contemporary art exhibition during the run. As you do. 3. Got stuck in Beziers behind a guy who ran out of petrol in the middle of the road, stopped, got out, ran round to the boot of his car and took out a jerry can and proceeding to fill up his tank!!! Haha. Another first. 4. Trying to get a six year old ready for school on time - he has NO sense of urgency! 5. Getting ready to say goodbye to the college / lycee assistants who have now finished their contracts. Will miss it here if and when I go to China, but I guess it will still be all here when I get back...

Just to let you know that I think that Spring is finally arriving in the South of France - 17 degrees or thereabouts today. I was able to enjoy two beers in the last of the afternoon sunshine with my friend, Sophie, who is visiting from England. Yay!

All good here - only working 12 hours a week and I have just been on 2 weeks holiday. Being a teacher rocks!! Back to the grindstone of endless songs and games, occasionally livened up by someone falling off their chair or getting stuck in their zip-up tracksuit top. It's a hard life...

Anyway, some pics from the first weekend of the holidays - note the vest top.

I know I have been a bit lame on the 'posting' front, but as there's probably only my mum reading this, tant pis...

Anyway, here in sunny South of France we've currently been enjoying snow, icy winds, torrential rain and floods - so, what am I doing here again?

Oh yes, teaching youngsters, or entertaining them and giving their teachers a well-earned break, perhaps! Apart from falling off the step which is conveniently (?) located in front of most of the blackboards and accidently turning an innocent 'w' into a pair of breasts, all is going well. Vive the French tradition of taking to the street, picket lines or just staying at home as I had a half day today due to 'la greve'!

Yay.

Comments still welcome...