A student I named rolo finally gets his namesake hand delivered from England!
Sunday 29 January 2012
A really awful picture!
Walking through school today I spotted an awful picture from sports day prominently on display in the school entrance! What a way to show off the foreigners!
See if you can spot me...
See if you can spot me...
Changing so fast!
Keen blog readers may remember us lamenting this shop opening with its many fireworks, well this week its gone after 4 months operation and a seemingly steady business, replaced with a car repairs place of all things!
The pen shop outside school having been open for 2 months has now been ripped out but only to move 5 shops down nearer the school gate, crazy!
The pen shop outside school having been open for 2 months has now been ripped out but only to move 5 shops down nearer the school gate, crazy!
Friday 27 January 2012
Sanya balcony panoramas
hangzhou waterproofing skills
This is a picture of a pack of toilet rolls, and the character after 160 that looks like a man with a hat, the first character of Chris's name, lovely place to find it!
home again home again
Really wanted a swim today again before we go back so we got the bus back to dadonghai as the beach is much nicer being the little bit away from town. Just as we headed in the sun came out so had a really lovely swim in the cool water with the warm sun, very relaxing, swam out to buoys and back and lazed around in the surf then towelled off and squeezed into the bus for the trip back to the hotel, much to the other bus passengers delight i'm sure, smelling of the sea!
The wierdest thing about sanya is that everyone and everything is so russian, all around the shops are in russian, its something we noticed all week but dadonghai is the worst, even people trying to sell you stuff on the street are speaking in russian, and in the restaurant its russian or chinese or nothing! not that we really care...chinese is spoken everywhere!
Showered and checked out and then went back to the foreign bar one last time for a goodbye cooked breakfast, bacon I miss you so!
then we picked up the bags and got the bus to the airport, 3 hours early! checked in and left the bags there before heading back out of the airport to the beach! luckily it was only a few stops away on the bus so we had something to eat looking over the beach one last time then went back and went through security with an hour to spare.
2 and a half hours later our flight finally left, landing in Hangzhou late in the evening, luckily I know hangzhou well so got the bus and then walked to the hostel in hangzhou that I know and love.
Crashed into the dorm and passed out in the bunk, £3 a night, not bad! and the next morning had a relaxed morning before my afternoon train back to cangnan! Home again safe and sound leaving chris in hangzhou to get his flight to beijing for two weeks to meet his mum, and me to relax for two weeks holiday with no Chris!!
last day in sanya
Since this was the last day in Hainan we still had some presents to buy so went out shopping and exploring sanya again, bought some cool gifts and went to a crazy place where all the ordering was done in chinese! Managed to order some things I new vaguely and a few beers, and when they turned up they were damn tasty!
We also went back to the market we visited on the first day and chatted to the woman in chinese until she gave us much lower prices than she started at, and I think we actually got a good deal, even for a chinese person! she really did seem to like us!
We also ate in a tiny little cafe as Chris was getting really moody not having eaten in a while, we ate there but alas not as tasty as the one we found before, and much more expensive! you win some you loose some... :)
Got a game plan for tomorrow now, as our flight isn't until the evening!
Also a few pictures from the foreign bar, with my lovely and long awaited steak!
Surfing China Bay (to the tune of surfing USA)
He drove in silence for most of the journey until I started speaking a little chinese as I woke up and then he was friendly.
He dropped us off on a deserted beach near an empty surf shop way before any self respecting surfer is out of bed, (9.30), and drove off.
I called out contact surfer guy and after a while he picked up, obviously still in bed, and said would another hour be ok! Haha, no problem.
We walked along the beach and found a very famous "husband and wife" rock in the sand, as we watched a few tour buses turned up and started looking at the rock before wandering to a few local shops done up to look like a traditional local culture (its a different traditional culture from the mainland) and have flower necklaces placed over their heads just like in Hawaii.
After there were a decent number of people there the locals at the shops all put on some velcro blue clothes over their normal clothes and started singing and dancing before picking up a traditional shape fishing boat and carrying it down to the beach together.
On the beach they performed a token ceremony I guess asking for safe fishing, take a pigs head and some well preserved fruit out of a nearby freezer just long enough to place it in front of the statue of the local god before quickly putting it back for use again tomorrow. They then headed down to the beach, lit a bonfire and danced around the fire still singing loudly in chinese with all the tour groups watching fascinated and Chris and I just watching a little confused. After the song was over they all headed back up, slipped off their over clothes and went back to business as usual, token fishing ritual done for the day!
On the beach they performed a token ceremony I guess asking for safe fishing, take a pigs head and some well preserved fruit out of a nearby freezer just long enough to place it in front of the statue of the local god before quickly putting it back for use again tomorrow. They then headed down to the beach, lit a bonfire and danced around the fire still singing loudly in chinese with all the tour groups watching fascinated and Chris and I just watching a little confused. After the song was over they all headed back up, slipped off their over clothes and went back to business as usual, token fishing ritual done for the day!
Then we noticed on the sand 3 very thin looking horses and even 3 rather confused looking camels! but then I think camels always look pretty confused....
Chinese people would arrive in droves for the door, look at the shops, see the fishing good luck ritual, and then take some pictures with the famous rock in the sea before all jumping back onto the tour bus and heading off onto other more interesting places, perfect for us as 99% of the beach was completely deserted!
The camels and horses were there for chinese people to sit on, then the camels stood up, the had pictures taken, the camel sat down and they got off again, apparently very happy with their camel time, ready for the next person to get on! Crazy!
Around 10.30 we wandered back to the surf hut and met out surf instructor who gave us a rash vest and we chucked on some swim shorts and went surfing!
Chris has surfed a lot and I had surfed once or twice so we picked it up again pretty fast, we both stood up first time but then chris got onto turns and things whilst I concentrated on decent rides on the waves. We had a great few hours before the surf guy wandered off back to bed leaving us surfing for another hour or so. Just told to leave the boards somewhere obvious when we left! There were about 5 chinese surfers and 2 or 3 foreigners on a huge beach so we had plenty of space and had a great time. It wasn't cold in the water in swim shorts and a rash vest and it was a great place to learn, with clear water and perfect waves.
The surf instructor had just moved his shop from dadonghai to this beach as this is where the surf is (doh, thats why we couldn't find it!) and now was setting up for good here, he was Californian but came to china for high school and never left, amazing!
He was a nice guy and we both enjoyed the lesson, even got a few pictures when i can get them off chris's camera!
After surfing we threw some clothes on and sat on the steps to eat some prebrought lunch, avoiding the one overpriced restaurant that was there! We asked about getting back and found that we could try flagging down a bus, but the fast direct buses didn't stop, so we would have to get a bus to a local city, then change, or we could wait an hour for a japanese family that were leaving for sanya and hitch a lift!
We chose to hitch a lift and so wandered around the beach and walked along finding just more and more deserted island beach with palm trees and coconuts everywhere!
We went back at the appointed time but found that the car was too small for us! No ride there! still not worrying the surf guy called us a cab, a bit expensive at 200rmb but at least its easy and safe, and we were pretty tired. The driver kept talking to me in chinese and really tested my understanding! A lot went over my head but we managed to hold a basic conversation, with lots of frustration on his part I guess, but he was happy to chat to a foreigner!
We got back and walked in to be greeted by the reception desk guy asking what happened, looking in the mirror I saw why, Chris and I were both very sunburnt! Even though we used suncream (bought in sanya, £9 for a tiny bottle, most were over £20, they know foreigners need it and have money!) we still got burnt!
Nevermind, tired, happy and sunburnt we got a reasonably early night!
If I could I would come back to Sanya just to go surfing there again on riyuewan, sunmoonbeach, the problem is accommodation, once you get over the crazy difficulty in getting there the only hotel is 400rmb (40£) a night, pretty pricey for apparently pretty awful, but the location is amazing! I decided I want to open a hostel here, if I could get the backing I would, secluded location, partnered to a surf school, put on a daily minibus in and out to sanya, it would be amazing!
XiaBeizi (in my next life) maybe, or maybe just a few years time ;).This day made the whole trip worthwhile, very happy!
chaaaaange places
We carted our big bags to the new place and after walking past it a few times found that it was only the fifth floor of an apartment block, we had to go into the apartment block with the residents and then come out on the 5th floor into the Raintree Youth Hostel, a double room with an en-suite for £15 all in, sounds good!
We moved in and then went out to take a look around our new surroundings, but not before checking out the balcony down the whole side of the building! Very cool! Took a few nice pictures and a panorama or two before heading into town.
We wandered around and found a tasty coffee shop for a caffine fix, (no starbucks in Hainan yet!) and did a bit more shopping before heading down to the beach and chilling out.
We also got the bus to our old hostel and from there tried to find the only surf shop in Hainan! after an hour or so of wandering around the beach we gave up and sat on the beach front and had a beer or two to settle our nerves!
After that headed back and mentioned in passing that we wanted to go surfing, the guy behind the desk promised to make some calls (at 9pm) he came back a few minutes later with a number to call. I called and spoke to a guy who knew a guy who ran a surf shop on a beach on the east side of the island, apparently this is where the surf is this time of year! One problem, no bus goes there, and no trains, so its a taxi job, a £25 taxi!
This guy instead offered to ask his friends friend who was going there on business early tomorrow to take us for £15, but probably not with a lift back... we decided to take it and so he told us to be downstairs at 8am for our lift!
We had a ride now wanted some surf lessons so called another friend of this guy who was at the closing ceremony of the Hainan International Surf Competetion, on the beach that we were going to! We missed it by a day! He sounds pretty drunk but promised it we arrived for around 10 he would give us a lesson and lend us some boards... so we took it!
Magical Mystery Bus
After checking it out and making sure it still looked clean we grabbed our swimming costumes and went for a swim in the sea, so beautiful, so clean, and so clear! I opened my eyes underwater and could see things without any goggles, a really good place to go diving or snorkelling!
After a swim I grabbed a shower and Chris and I went out exploring again. We had seen that there was a bus that went past our hotel with many stops to go, we suspected it would take us to another beach covered in really expensive hotels, yadong or something... anyway we got on, paid our 20p and sat down just waiting until the end of the line, the people thinned out and the conductor looked a bit confused why the foreigners are still here. Eventually the bus pulled up in a small village of 20 shops and a bus stop, ok, end of the line!
We got out and crossed the road to see what was around and found a bus pulling up, it didn't seem to be the end of the line so we jumped on, only this bus you need to tell them where you are going! The guy before mumbled something in chinese and paid 8rmb! 80p! that seemed 4 times as far as the local bus.
I said to the conductor "the same" and we paid our 80p and we were off! with no idea where we were going or how long it would take to get there! Excellent!
After an hour or so we started to get nearer the sea again and soon a massive resort complex came up, many many buildings all seemingly empty and awaiting people despite it being a relatively touristy time, built right on the beach and surrounded by palm trees, very cool! We carried on with our tour and got dropped off at a deserted carpark, the end of the line again!
Soon we found out what was here, the ferry to wuzhidao, wuzhi island. We had no interest in the island, and by this point it was too late anyway really but just around the corner was a beautifully clean deserted beach with palm trees right down to the sand and nobody in sight except a single fisherman!
I walked along the beach and looked at the coral and beautiful shells washed up on the beach along with the coconuts (hainan is famous for its coconuts!) and took some pictures of both, very nice and not too hot but not too cold. Lovely.
Soon we found out what was here, the ferry to wuzhidao, wuzhi island. We had no interest in the island, and by this point it was too late anyway really but just around the corner was a beautifully clean deserted beach with palm trees right down to the sand and nobody in sight except a single fisherman!
I walked along the beach and looked at the coral and beautiful shells washed up on the beach along with the coconuts (hainan is famous for its coconuts!) and took some pictures of both, very nice and not too hot but not too cold. Lovely.
After an hour on the beach we decided to head back and went up, I asked about the bus and a local told us if we were lucky there would be one more, and lucky we were as 10 minutes later the bus turned up, just as we started to worry a little as we were in a deserted carpark, the ferry was long closed and the taxis had all gone too. We got the bus back to town and went for dinner in a western restaurant we saw from the road, a steak, beers and a few games of pool later we called it a night! Good times!
Sunday 22 January 2012
Pictures of the beach!
Also a picture from the seafront, there was a big statue with a fountain below, some enterprising chinese had taken over the fountain and filled it with goldfish. With this achieved they brought many babies bottles on the end of long poles, the bottles they filled with fish food and for a fee you could use the bottle on a stick to feed the fish.... very strange! It took us quite a while to work out what the hell was going on! The fish knew what to expect and quickly gathered at the end of the stick.
While we were watching 3 different sets of chinese children demanded from their parents a go at feeding them, unfortunately none of them fell in as we both hoped!
Exploring Sanya
Woke up late the first day in sanya after our... Interesting arrival late last night and were determined to see the sea! We walked about 5 minutes out of our hostel and found it! It was warm outside so shorts time and walking along the beach barefoot in tshirt and shorts in the middle of winter was very lovely, and the beach was so clean! The water a lovely blue green and the sand almost completely rubbish free!
We walked around the bay before heading into a restaurant for breakfast / lunch.
After lunch we went to the shop and bought some mosquito repellent as hot places get them year round and then jumped on a bus into town to do some shopping and have a look around. We investigated the markets and walked along the second and much larger beach before heading down some backstreets and exploring the city a bit. Chris made a start on gift buying with some Chinese arguing by me as he really is awful at bargaining. One woman really took a shine to us for our hard bargaining and not bad Chinese which was fun!
After the sunset we got the bus back to our hotel and chilled out in the room for a bit before bed, determined to go swimming in the sea tomorrow! I've wanted to since I arrived in china so long ago!
We walked around the bay before heading into a restaurant for breakfast / lunch.
After lunch we went to the shop and bought some mosquito repellent as hot places get them year round and then jumped on a bus into town to do some shopping and have a look around. We investigated the markets and walked along the second and much larger beach before heading down some backstreets and exploring the city a bit. Chris made a start on gift buying with some Chinese arguing by me as he really is awful at bargaining. One woman really took a shine to us for our hard bargaining and not bad Chinese which was fun!
After the sunset we got the bus back to our hotel and chilled out in the room for a bit before bed, determined to go swimming in the sea tomorrow! I've wanted to since I arrived in china so long ago!
First Day in Hainan (Sanya)
Thursday 12 January 2012
Lingxi to Sanya!
Woke up early but happy to be travelling again! unfortunately had some painful stomach cramps through the morning which was less than fun! Got the train at 9 going north to hangzhou and my stomach started to feel better.
Had a good chat in Chinese with a friendly guy on the train which was good practise.
We arrived in hangzhou at 1pm and our flight left at 3pm so we had two hours to get to the airport, we gave up on a bus and ended up just getting a taxi.
Made it to the airport and checked in ok but unfortunately the plane was delayed! And then we found that our flight had a stoppover at xiamen, where it was again delayed! Damnit! At least in xiamen there were some friendly girls selling bacon, so I chatted with them and bought some tasty spicy bacon....
At this point we realised we got a train north for a few hundred km only to fly all the way south to xiamen, a town a few hundred km south of where we started! Then we caught the 2.5 hour flight down to Sanya. A city on the island of hainan, the most southern part of china, intact on an island sticking down past the china-Vietnam border, we are actually on the same latititude as hochimin city, and the northern parts of Thailand! Very cool! Well actually pretty damn warm, even in winter!
We arrived eventually 1.5 hours late and got our bags before the eventual swap of taxi drivers, we knew it should be around 50rmb but they started at 90! I argued them down to 60rmb + 5rmb for a car parking fee and left it at that, I was too tired really!
The taxi drove us past lots of massive hotels and palm tree lined roads and it really feels like Thailand. Eventually they arrived at a little gated district and he dropped us off and waved goodbye... And left us a little lost.
We couldn't see the hotel so wandered about a bit before giving them a call, they didn't answer though so we wandered some more before asking a builder, who didn't know, and a security guard (luckily we had it in Chinese) who also didn't know!
Next we walked into a Russian hotel where we had to speak Chinese again and then a lovely old lady took us around to another hostel, we asked them and found out that was wrong too!
We stopped outside and looked at what we knew and kept looking at a plain white unassuming house with no signs or markings, I went over to ask the people who lived there if they knew and it turned out that was the place!
A very Chinese place but very very clean, a shared bathroom for a floor and again they spoke no English but very interesting all the same!
Checked in and found our room and then collapsed for some well earned sleep!
Had a good chat in Chinese with a friendly guy on the train which was good practise.
We arrived in hangzhou at 1pm and our flight left at 3pm so we had two hours to get to the airport, we gave up on a bus and ended up just getting a taxi.
Made it to the airport and checked in ok but unfortunately the plane was delayed! And then we found that our flight had a stoppover at xiamen, where it was again delayed! Damnit! At least in xiamen there were some friendly girls selling bacon, so I chatted with them and bought some tasty spicy bacon....
At this point we realised we got a train north for a few hundred km only to fly all the way south to xiamen, a town a few hundred km south of where we started! Then we caught the 2.5 hour flight down to Sanya. A city on the island of hainan, the most southern part of china, intact on an island sticking down past the china-Vietnam border, we are actually on the same latititude as hochimin city, and the northern parts of Thailand! Very cool! Well actually pretty damn warm, even in winter!
We arrived eventually 1.5 hours late and got our bags before the eventual swap of taxi drivers, we knew it should be around 50rmb but they started at 90! I argued them down to 60rmb + 5rmb for a car parking fee and left it at that, I was too tired really!
The taxi drove us past lots of massive hotels and palm tree lined roads and it really feels like Thailand. Eventually they arrived at a little gated district and he dropped us off and waved goodbye... And left us a little lost.
We couldn't see the hotel so wandered about a bit before giving them a call, they didn't answer though so we wandered some more before asking a builder, who didn't know, and a security guard (luckily we had it in Chinese) who also didn't know!
Next we walked into a Russian hotel where we had to speak Chinese again and then a lovely old lady took us around to another hostel, we asked them and found out that was wrong too!
We stopped outside and looked at what we knew and kept looking at a plain white unassuming house with no signs or markings, I went over to ask the people who lived there if they knew and it turned out that was the place!
A very Chinese place but very very clean, a shared bathroom for a floor and again they spoke no English but very interesting all the same!
Checked in and found our room and then collapsed for some well earned sleep!
New years!
New years eve the school had a big meal for all the teachers which was fun and tasty, chris even won a 30pound voucher in the raffle! (Chinese really love raffles!)
After the raffle we went to ktv where chris and I took advantage of a well stocked beer table and the preparation of a rather tasty red wine at the meal to get rather drunk and bash out a few songs, all good fun, before retiring back in the early hours, good fun!
After the raffle we went to ktv where chris and I took advantage of a well stocked beer table and the preparation of a rather tasty red wine at the meal to get rather drunk and bash out a few songs, all good fun, before retiring back in the early hours, good fun!
Wenzhou again!
Its that time of year.... Well the end of the contract time, and since we have been out here a year our medical was out of date!
Since we want to get some travelling done we decided to go today and so packed up a bag and made our way out to meet the school driver.
We had been told that we would have to make our own way to wenzhou as the car was busy. Apparantly the headteacher mr yang need the car to go to an important school meeting, meaning we were stuck with the old taxi - 1.5 hour bus - taxi with an added really early start! Also since it was the last day of term all the teachers would also have to work and so also couldnt help us!
At the last minute, the day before, Elaine met the driver in a small eatery near her house and managed to persuade him somehow to help us and let the headmaster make his own way there! I'm not quite sure how but it was very lucky!
Elaine also managed to get the day off to come with us and help us out, and see just how bad getting a medical with chris really is.
After our later start, helped by the car, we got to the wenzhou foreign travel hospital for around 10 and went through the familiar ultrasound, eyetest, chest xray, ecg, etc etc as well as the dreaded blood test!
We let chris go first and with me holding his wrist and his shoulder, Elaine holding his hand and his head away the rather confused nurse managed to remove the needed vial of blood with, for chris, little fuss. He really is scared of needles! After him was my turn but i was no problem, interesting and no fear!
The tests are all in various little rooms and outside each some flipflops to change into for each room and as it was pretty quiet when we were there all the doctors and nurses milling around in the coridoor and occasionally grabbing a quick smoke.
This time we had a bit of a laugh with them and i asked the ultrasound woman if she could see my baby (in Chinese) and she was very surprised, then had the doctor in the stretching room teaching me the Chinese for arms up, arms back, jump etc, haha.
After the madness finished around 10.30 we had to wait until 4pm to pick up our results, we went for a lovely meal in a restaurant Elaine knows, chris found snails, i had a frogs legs and we also had lots of other tasty things.
Walking back we saw a wenzhou wedding which i tried to take a picture of, (attached) but if you can't see there was a black brand new Ferrari for the bride and groom, then 6 new Porsche cayenne, and a few black BMW 4x4s for the remaining special guests, crazy!
Picked it up ok but the driver didn't wait for us so had to wait over an hour for a taxi just to get to the bus station to take us back, unfortunately this means that we missed the end of term teacher meal which is a shame! Next time maybe!
Since we want to get some travelling done we decided to go today and so packed up a bag and made our way out to meet the school driver.
We had been told that we would have to make our own way to wenzhou as the car was busy. Apparantly the headteacher mr yang need the car to go to an important school meeting, meaning we were stuck with the old taxi - 1.5 hour bus - taxi with an added really early start! Also since it was the last day of term all the teachers would also have to work and so also couldnt help us!
At the last minute, the day before, Elaine met the driver in a small eatery near her house and managed to persuade him somehow to help us and let the headmaster make his own way there! I'm not quite sure how but it was very lucky!
Elaine also managed to get the day off to come with us and help us out, and see just how bad getting a medical with chris really is.
After our later start, helped by the car, we got to the wenzhou foreign travel hospital for around 10 and went through the familiar ultrasound, eyetest, chest xray, ecg, etc etc as well as the dreaded blood test!
We let chris go first and with me holding his wrist and his shoulder, Elaine holding his hand and his head away the rather confused nurse managed to remove the needed vial of blood with, for chris, little fuss. He really is scared of needles! After him was my turn but i was no problem, interesting and no fear!
The tests are all in various little rooms and outside each some flipflops to change into for each room and as it was pretty quiet when we were there all the doctors and nurses milling around in the coridoor and occasionally grabbing a quick smoke.
This time we had a bit of a laugh with them and i asked the ultrasound woman if she could see my baby (in Chinese) and she was very surprised, then had the doctor in the stretching room teaching me the Chinese for arms up, arms back, jump etc, haha.
After the madness finished around 10.30 we had to wait until 4pm to pick up our results, we went for a lovely meal in a restaurant Elaine knows, chris found snails, i had a frogs legs and we also had lots of other tasty things.
Walking back we saw a wenzhou wedding which i tried to take a picture of, (attached) but if you can't see there was a black brand new Ferrari for the bride and groom, then 6 new Porsche cayenne, and a few black BMW 4x4s for the remaining special guests, crazy!
Picked it up ok but the driver didn't wait for us so had to wait over an hour for a taxi just to get to the bus station to take us back, unfortunately this means that we missed the end of term teacher meal which is a shame! Next time maybe!
Turtle house
Elaine and I were bored now that we have finished teaching and our turtle looked bored too so we decided to build him a summer house, complete with rooftop pool, adventure playground and his own maze! It turns out however that he prefers the rooftop pool to the playground, but still fun! Even if he does move around it very very slowly!
Beautiful Lanterns
Class 9 and 10 in grade 2 invited chris and I to come with them to let off some beautiful paper lanterns on the school field which we accepted, they set off 50 or more and with so many in the air it looked very pretty.
Along with two of the boys from my old class we wrote all our names, Chinese and english names, on the side and on the other side our dreams and ambitions.
I wrote happiness, another wrote money, another exams, another luck, and finishing with girls we decided it was finished and let it go, hopefully all our wishes will come true!
Along with two of the boys from my old class we wrote all our names, Chinese and english names, on the side and on the other side our dreams and ambitions.
I wrote happiness, another wrote money, another exams, another luck, and finishing with girls we decided it was finished and let it go, hopefully all our wishes will come true!
Chinese Christmas!
Finally it was christmas time in lingxi, we worked the friday and had to work the next monday but we had two days for the weekend and so are damn well going to celebrate it!
We had been organising for a few weeks a Christmas party in our flat, so we moved down our tree, Elaine and I headed out to buy food and chris put up some decorations and 20 or so of the English teachers from both schools with a few husbands and children all turned up on Christmas eve for a party! We tried to think of a way of doing Christmas food but thought that since nobody has an oven most english food was off the menu anyway and even if we managed to find a way to cook it Chinese people probably wouldn't even like it!
In the end we bought chinese food in from a restaurant near elaines house including all the bowls etc we would need and just had Chinese food instead, much easier, still tasty, and everyone liked it and knew how to eat it with chopsticks! Still didn't satisfy my roast turkey craving but Beijing roast duck will have to do until I get home next!
No office Christmas would be complete without a secret Santa and this was a true Christmas so a week before we all put our names into a hat and chose them out. I really luckily got Elaine, a close friend, so buying for her was very fun, and I knew I could buy something funny or silly and she would understand. Chris got another close friend so that worked out really well.
Chris bought Eamon a miniture pool set as Eamon enjoys playing a bit of pool and a passport like 'luck in dating' card as the currently single Eamon constantly wants to meet a wife!
I bought Elaine a giant bubble maker sit and a minute bowling set, both good fun, and the kids really enjoyed making huge bubbles! Also a tiny smiling rabbit figure in a box with some Christmas tinsel, very lovely.
The day before Elaine was commenting that making the present opening a game would be a fun idea, perhaps with a puzzle to solve before you can get into the box.
I took this idea and ran with it eventually locking her presents in a box with a chain with a combination lock lock around it holding it closed. On the present was a card with a lot of letters which made a phrase Elaine liked. When the puzzle was solved she would use the relative position of the letters in a simple formula to calculate the answer to the combination lock and so open the present!
Overkill maybe but still very funny and Elaine solved in pretty quickly, the worst bit was that she helped me come up with the idea and even went to the shop with me to help me buy the chain and lock! All without knowing who this present was for! Hehe!
No Christmas would be complete without Santa and even in china this was no different, chris decided he wanted nothing to do with it and so the job of santa fell to me, who am I kidding it was great fun! I had the full suit and the kids thought it was amazing, lots of pictures later it was time to hand out the presents, each person got a present from Santa and the kids and then ended up playing with them straight away! just like normal Christmas kids, except most were over 30!
After this we played pass the parcel with me directing events and faking it so that children ended up with all the gifts, although the adults all joined in and seemed genuinely confused when I set it up so the children nearly always got the prizes! Haha!
After this the party started to wind down as people started to leave, there was just time for a few more pictures and then just Elaine chris and I were left.
We sat down and had a few beers in the big room we used with a projector tv and since it was pretty late ordered a few pizzas in. We then discovered Elaine had never seen father Christmas or The Snowman! Both classics so we put them on and ate our pizza and drank our beers whilst watching them, very relaxing.
In all a very merry Christmas was had by all!
We had been organising for a few weeks a Christmas party in our flat, so we moved down our tree, Elaine and I headed out to buy food and chris put up some decorations and 20 or so of the English teachers from both schools with a few husbands and children all turned up on Christmas eve for a party! We tried to think of a way of doing Christmas food but thought that since nobody has an oven most english food was off the menu anyway and even if we managed to find a way to cook it Chinese people probably wouldn't even like it!
In the end we bought chinese food in from a restaurant near elaines house including all the bowls etc we would need and just had Chinese food instead, much easier, still tasty, and everyone liked it and knew how to eat it with chopsticks! Still didn't satisfy my roast turkey craving but Beijing roast duck will have to do until I get home next!
No office Christmas would be complete without a secret Santa and this was a true Christmas so a week before we all put our names into a hat and chose them out. I really luckily got Elaine, a close friend, so buying for her was very fun, and I knew I could buy something funny or silly and she would understand. Chris got another close friend so that worked out really well.
Chris bought Eamon a miniture pool set as Eamon enjoys playing a bit of pool and a passport like 'luck in dating' card as the currently single Eamon constantly wants to meet a wife!
I bought Elaine a giant bubble maker sit and a minute bowling set, both good fun, and the kids really enjoyed making huge bubbles! Also a tiny smiling rabbit figure in a box with some Christmas tinsel, very lovely.
The day before Elaine was commenting that making the present opening a game would be a fun idea, perhaps with a puzzle to solve before you can get into the box.
I took this idea and ran with it eventually locking her presents in a box with a chain with a combination lock lock around it holding it closed. On the present was a card with a lot of letters which made a phrase Elaine liked. When the puzzle was solved she would use the relative position of the letters in a simple formula to calculate the answer to the combination lock and so open the present!
Overkill maybe but still very funny and Elaine solved in pretty quickly, the worst bit was that she helped me come up with the idea and even went to the shop with me to help me buy the chain and lock! All without knowing who this present was for! Hehe!
No Christmas would be complete without Santa and even in china this was no different, chris decided he wanted nothing to do with it and so the job of santa fell to me, who am I kidding it was great fun! I had the full suit and the kids thought it was amazing, lots of pictures later it was time to hand out the presents, each person got a present from Santa and the kids and then ended up playing with them straight away! just like normal Christmas kids, except most were over 30!
After this we played pass the parcel with me directing events and faking it so that children ended up with all the gifts, although the adults all joined in and seemed genuinely confused when I set it up so the children nearly always got the prizes! Haha!
After this the party started to wind down as people started to leave, there was just time for a few more pictures and then just Elaine chris and I were left.
We sat down and had a few beers in the big room we used with a projector tv and since it was pretty late ordered a few pizzas in. We then discovered Elaine had never seen father Christmas or The Snowman! Both classics so we put them on and ate our pizza and drank our beers whilst watching them, very relaxing.
In all a very merry Christmas was had by all!
New pet
Our new pet from the Christmas markets is settling in ok, a lovely turtle, smaller than my palm.
Turtle in Chinese is 'oo gway' and so we have named him earl grey! Haha!
He started with us in a tiny little bowl but we moved him into a casserole dish as a temporary house before moving him again into a big fish bowl Elaine had and buying him a water heater to keep our the winter blues!
He is very cute but refuses to eat so im not sure how long he will last im afraid... Will let you know!
Turtle in Chinese is 'oo gway' and so we have named him earl grey! Haha!
He started with us in a tiny little bowl but we moved him into a casserole dish as a temporary house before moving him again into a big fish bowl Elaine had and buying him a water heater to keep our the winter blues!
He is very cute but refuses to eat so im not sure how long he will last im afraid... Will let you know!
Christmas market
The students in our school put on a Christmas market shortly after Christmas and kindly invited chris and I to come, I soon found out why! Because we had money and they had lots to sell!
Endless amounts of pens, pillows, toys, games and even some people in cosplay (dressed as anime characters)! We resisted the best we could but soon gave in. The problem being that whatever we bought another student invariably liked so we gave away most of what we bought as Christmas presents to other students! Along with vast quantities of sweets also immediately given to other students.
Before long the inevitable happened, we ran out of cash, but this didn't stop them, since the market was winding up endless students started giving us things for free! Posters, pens, sweets, all sorts! Before long we had way too much to carry and made our escape, just as we headed for the exit I was caught and offered some fish for the apartment. My reputation with keeping fish alive is rather bad however and so I said no, but they did offer me an alternative, a baby turtle!
In the end I took the turtle, it is very cute.... I will show you all soon!
Endless amounts of pens, pillows, toys, games and even some people in cosplay (dressed as anime characters)! We resisted the best we could but soon gave in. The problem being that whatever we bought another student invariably liked so we gave away most of what we bought as Christmas presents to other students! Along with vast quantities of sweets also immediately given to other students.
Before long the inevitable happened, we ran out of cash, but this didn't stop them, since the market was winding up endless students started giving us things for free! Posters, pens, sweets, all sorts! Before long we had way too much to carry and made our escape, just as we headed for the exit I was caught and offered some fish for the apartment. My reputation with keeping fish alive is rather bad however and so I said no, but they did offer me an alternative, a baby turtle!
In the end I took the turtle, it is very cute.... I will show you all soon!
Sweet round day!
Yesterday was the winter festival here celebrating the winter solstice and so after teaching normal classes the students invited us over to their classrooms to eat some sweet rice balls! Tian yuan! (Sweet round)
I wasn't a huge fan but chris really like them promptly eating 20 of them! Then the students told us that each ball represented a year of life, so chris had aged 20 years in a few minutes! lucky I only ate one then!
They were made by some of my students which was really cool, but by the time the 4th class invited us over it really was too much!
I wasn't a huge fan but chris really like them promptly eating 20 of them! Then the students told us that each ball represented a year of life, so chris had aged 20 years in a few minutes! lucky I only ate one then!
They were made by some of my students which was really cool, but by the time the 4th class invited us over it really was too much!
Halloween!
Just looking through my blog and realised we never posted about Halloween! For Halloween we made pumpkins with Elaine and then took them too all our classes which was cool, we played some English games and even did apple bobbing and balloon games with them which was very fun!
the pumpkins were very effective and by the end of the week we had to give them all away as students were begging for them! We had a few trick or treating students come up too which was fun in their scary masks! I will try to upload some pictures soon!
the pumpkins were very effective and by the end of the week we had to give them all away as students were begging for them! We had a few trick or treating students come up too which was fun in their scary masks! I will try to upload some pictures soon!
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