February 13, 2006
Xi Tian
We have finally gone on camping hiking trip with the donkeys as part of my farewell. We went to a little village called Xi Tian and climbed a hill and walked for about 13kms. Once we arrived we set up...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 05:17 PM |
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February 04, 2006
Year of the Dog
We have been busy lately so not much to report on for the blog. We went to Wenzhou with Er Zheng for Chinese New Year celebrations. This was spent with the whole family gathering around the TV to watch a...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 05:23 PM |
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January 24, 2006
Winter Program
I managed to rent a classroom and hold a winter holiday program for English learning. This was a good experience of learning what to do and how to do it better. A few minor mishaps included no showing of kids...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 05:26 PM |
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December 31, 2005
Wang Dan's School
On New Year's Eve Wang Dan's school had a concert much like an Australian end of school year concert where each grade puts on a performance and families come along to watch. Qing Zhong does the same thing but there's...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 01:36 PM |
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December 29, 2005
Talent Contest
The donkeys had been preparing for a talent contest/concert to be held to celebrate "Yuan Dan" or what we commonly call New Years. I had been going along to the rehearsals with Jimmy for about two weeks and having a...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 01:22 PM |
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December 25, 2005
Christmas Day
Christmas Day we had a great time. We were blessed with a great day weatherwise which meant our traditional Aussie BBQ and hit of cricket could take place. People started arriving mid-afternoon and we kept going until the early hours...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 01:15 PM |
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Christmas Eve
Merry Christmas Everyone!! Last night we had dinner with old friends at Tian Tian Yu Gang, a really great restaurant. All the old crowd were there and we caught up for the first time in ages which is what...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 11:23 AM |
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December 23, 2005
Cold Cold Winter
While in Qingtian we have not had any snow yet, the locals are all talking about the colder than usual conditions. In the north of China it's much colder than here and the blizzardous conditions are causing havoc on...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 11:43 AM |
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Counterfeit Crackers
I was just searching for some pictures on the internet to show this horrible looking wine and came across a crazy article in the China Daily Newspaper. Police have confiscated counterfeit firecrackers and are destroying them in a bid to...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 11:17 AM |
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Winter Solstice
Yesterday afternoon I went to Cheng Dong Primary School and caught up with Qiao Ping and Xu Xiao Xing. It was the winter solstice which is an important festival here. Most people have a big meal with family and it's...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 10:57 AM |
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December 22, 2005
Hot Rice Wine
The weather is getting much colder and a favourite drink is becoming heated rice wine with egg in it. On Saturday at Fan Shan School the headmaster served me with this wine, which I politely drank and told a lie...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 11:05 AM |
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December 18, 2005
Funeral Procession
We haven't been walking in the hills close to Qingtian recently as we've been gallovanting here there and everywhere. We also haven't seen much of each other as we've been gallovanting here there and everywhere so today with the weather...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 10:00 PM |
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Fan Shan School
Yesterday I had what can only be described as a terrible terrible day. Last week whilst playing basketball I agreed to visit a school in Tian Yu Village. I thought sure no problems, they are middle school students and should...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 10:38 AM |
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December 15, 2005
Christmas comes early
Last night we had a pleasant surprise. Wang Dan, Qiao Ping and Er Zheng came to visit, only problem was - we were out teaching. Nevermind, our door was open and they managed to get me on my mobile to...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 08:56 PM |
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December 11, 2005
Drinking Games
Zhun Bei, Hao le mei you? Are you ready!!!! Last night we had dinner at Er Zheng's with some Olink Donkeys (a group of people who go camping together). The mood and food were great and language barriers with new...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 01:31 PM |
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December 05, 2005
Dumpling Party
Yesterday afternoon we had some mates around for a few beers and a feed. As we are terrible cooks we took the forethought of preparing the food then handing the job of cooking it over to our guests. Sly...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 03:39 PM |
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December 03, 2005
Opera You Zhu
Last night we had a pleasant surprise. We could hear opera coming from the little village right outside the school gate. What I had previously thought to be a communal toilet turned out to be a community hall in...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 09:47 AM |
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November 29, 2005
Er Zheng
Er Zheng has quickly became a good friend. Wang Dan introduced us a few weeks ago and we seem to spend most weekends with him. He can't speak English although this does not seem to matter. His nickname comes from...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 10:03 AM |
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November 27, 2005
Steering Wheel
What would you do if the steering wheel of the moving car you were travelling in was passed to you? Yep, that's right, on Sunday on the way home from Jin Ken the steering wheel fell off and Er Zhen...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 09:28 AM |
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Jin Ken
On Sunday we went to another little village, Jin Ken. Jin Ken is part way to Lishui and is also Jimmy's home town. His grandmother is not well so he has been making regular trips home. (Grandparents do a lot...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 09:20 AM |
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November 26, 2005
Wang Dan's Uncle
On Saturday night we were invited to Wang Dan's home. She lives with her uncle in downtown Qingtian. They had prepared a large dinner and everyone was having a great time. The most distressing thing for me when we go...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 09:35 AM |
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November 15, 2005
Peter and Xue Fen
Peter is an old friend from 2003. We met him in a hot pot restaurant in 2003 with a gathering of his police friends. Over time language barriers were overcome with beer and we catch up normally once a month....Read this update
Posted by Jo at 09:54 AM |
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November 14, 2005
Ze Ya
Yesterday we went to the countryside with Wang Dan and her friends Er Zhen and Bu Ping. Ze Ya is Er Zhen's hometown in Wenzhou county, about an hour and a half from here. It's 'famous' for making the...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 05:41 PM |
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November 13, 2005
Long Dan Shan
Recently we've been catching up with some primary school English teachers. These guys generally go camping on the weekends, but as I have most of my classes on the weekends, I've been unable to go along. Wang Dan and I...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 05:45 PM |
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November 03, 2005
You Zhu
Now uni is over, I've thrown myself into visiting friends and schools. Wang Dan invited me to her class to have a lesson, which was a lot different to the 'come to my school and play' invitation we got a...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 05:52 PM |
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September 21, 2005
Tian Yu Village
My Dad came for a visit and made it perfectly clear he did not want to travel everywhere, just to see the way we live and catch up with us. So we didn't visit any large cities, we stayed entirely...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 10:19 AM |
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September 18, 2005
Mid Autumn Day
Mid Autumn Day is my favourite festival here. This year Mr Fish invited us to his home to join his family for a feast....Read this update
Posted by Jo at 10:11 AM |
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September 09, 2005
Calligraphy Lesson
I had my first shufa lesson today with Wang Wei Hong. It was great. I learnt some more Chinese culture and some abstract words. I can now say the four principles of Chinese handwriting are brush, ink, paper and stone....Read this update
Posted by Jo at 03:54 PM |
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September 07, 2005
Father's Day
My best friend here is Wang Wei Hong, she is an art teacher at school and can't speak much English yet we get along well and have a good laugh at each others expense. Her husband is one of 'the...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 10:19 PM |
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The Men
To be honest, the weather in Qingtian has been a bit rough lately either stinking hot or blowing a gale or raining or flooding. An amazing attribute of the Chinese is they rarely let these things get them down. The...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 10:10 PM |
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September 02, 2005
Under the Bridge
It's just occurred to me that we often talk about going under the bridge for beers and some people must think this sounds a little strange. In Summer they have an open air restaurant under the bridge which opens daily...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 11:10 PM |
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Another typhoon
School has been cancelled for 6 days whilst we brace for another typhoon (well two really). The first one crossed the land in the province south of us in the wee hours this morning, we lost power for about 12...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 10:54 PM |
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Freckles
I'm not quite sure what is going on around here. Either I am more comfortable than I used to be with people staring and gawking at me or people are less frightened of dealing with foreigners. I was at the...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 10:43 PM |
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August 19, 2005
Ghost Festival
The Ghost Festival is a traditional Chinese festival held on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. People celebrate this festival by commemorating their ancestors. Fake money is burned and paper lanterns are sailed down rivers. The idea behind...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 06:36 AM |
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August 08, 2005
Super Gran
Since the typhoon we have had constant rain and been remaining pretty much indoors. The Ou Jiang River has swollen and our favourite place for drinking beers is currently underwater. So alas Trev has been taking some time out and...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 08:09 PM |
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August 06, 2005
Typhoon Matsa
It seems the weather everywhere is turning pear shaped. Only a month ago the same coastline was devastated by Typhoon Haiting, we are now awaiting the arrival of Typhoon Matsa. Matsa is due to cross the coastline between Wenling and...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 11:08 AM |
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International Beer Festival
Whilst searching for information about Typhoon Matsa I came across this story. It seems as a prelude and promotion of the upcoming beer festival in the northern city of Harbin they are replacing the water in a fountain with...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 11:03 AM |
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July 30, 2005
Sleeping on tables amongst other things
The rude shock of being back in China came this morning after a night of sleeping on a bed as hard as a table. Crooked neck, light beaming through the window and not being able to drink straight from the...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 06:27 PM |
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Finally Arrived
I finally arrived in Qingtian after short stops in Brunei, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Let's just say Chinese road conditions have not improved nor have the calibre of vehicles. The 3 hour trip from Kowloon to Guangzhou took six. A...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 06:20 PM |
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July 12, 2005
Return to Qingtian
After 5 months apart I'm returning to China to be with Trev for 6 months and he is returning to Qingtian to work. It couldn't of worked out any better. The 5 months in Australia at uni have been alright,...Read this update
Posted by Jo at 08:44 AM |
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