Fabulous 40's Furlough In Pictures

Sharing and Bearing

Seems like this time in my life is all about sharing, sometimes it's not so easy as you can summize from this month's title. But I won't bore you with the details, like to try and stay upbeat and focus on the good stuff! Plenty of that around too, am off to Vietnam on Sunday 01 June for 2 weeks with some lovely friends. I thought I should write a short note before I go and let you know I was not anywhere near the earthquake zone and did not know it had occurred until my family got in touch to check I was ok. I have felt connected to the people of China through this tragedy and am trying my best to be supportive of the efforts others are making here. I keep praying for the survivors and the rescue workers, the country has really become united through this and it is gratifying to see. On a lighter note I went to a pretty place about a week ago, Fairylake Park. My good friend and ex-student Geminy took me there to show me around and I have posted some photos of the day. We took a paddle boat out on the lake, had a big picnic lunch and I followed Geminy around the temple as he offered his prayers. I offered my own prayers, but to my God, Father of Jesus and my Father in Heaven. Have finished up with my university students and will complete work at the kids school and kindergarten when back from holidays. Am hoping to be on the move to Northern China by August, will let you know more when I know where I'm going. In the meantime, bless you and ciao till next time! xo

New Friends and Old Rockers

Again the time here in China seems to be flitting by very quickly indeed, and I find myself playing catch up. Things seem to have settled down for the moment but there is lots of stuff coming up that requires planning and co-ordination. For now I can advise that I am well, over a bout of cold and flu and got my head above water in terms of sorting out a new passport and visa. I lost my wallet around the same time as I was renewing my passport and visa, which added to my stress levels. I can happily report though that I was able to replace most of the contents apart from some cash and personal papers. But on to more pleasant news, as you can see from the photos I have been out and about of late. I visited Macau, Hong Kong and Guangzhou all in the space of a week! No photos of Macau here, as it was a rainy day and I have posted some pics in an earlier post. The Guangzhou trip was to meet up with an American family who have adopted one of the kids from Boa'an orphanage here in Shenzhen. The group I am standing with is of the orphanage volunteers who met the family, as we visted Dr Sun Yat Sen's Memorial Hall. There is also a pic of the family with their new addition, after only a few days they seemed to have bonded and were very much enamored with one another! My last trip to HK was extended due to changes to visa processing laws with the lead up to the Olympics. The photo of the buddha was taken in Stanley, Hong Kong, which I visited with my new friend Danny (there's another pic of him here in his baseball cap). We met at the hostel I stay in when in HK and became fast friends, after discovering we were both Aussies with time on our hands! We spent Sunday traipsing around Stanley market and had a lovely time. On the Saturday night I had gone to see Duran Duran at Pop TV Arena, an outdoor venue in Kowloon. I wish I could share some pics with you but stupidly I didn't take my camera, not realising it would be easy to snap some shots, or that I would be standing about seven people back from the stage! It was a wonderful stroll down memory lane, the boys are still in fine form and played lots of their hits, encoring with one of my faves, Rio! It did rain a little but that just added to the fun!! The photo you can see of me at night was taken in Lan Kwai Fong in Central HK. I met up with a friend of a friend for dinner and it was fab! The bridge photo is of the Shenzhen Bay bridge that I travel across to get to Hong Kong by bus. It's a new bridge and was unveiled around the same time as the 10 year anniversary of the Hong Kong hand back to China last year. That brings me up to date for the minute, as I said lots of stuff coming up and will be kept busy for the next couple of months. Ciao until next we meet! x

Fabulous 40

I can now finally say that my life has started, well according to the old saying that is, life begins at 40! I celebrated my big day on February 27 here in Shenzhen surrounded by friends who made the occasion extra special. There were 3 celebrations in total, the kindy I work for took me to lunch and gave me a cake. The ladies from the orphanage visits came to my lunch, and I went to dinner with some new and old friends. The photos have been posted here, so you can share in the festivities. My friend Bonnie was in town for a couple of days so she was able to spend some time celebrating. The pearl necklace I am sporting was a generous gift from her! I also welcomed a new housemate Eve into my apartment. She is the Western lady sitting next to me at my dinner. Everything is going well, work is keeping me busy and the weather is warming up. Until next time God bless, ciao! xo

About Town

Here's a collection of images from around Shenzhen. Some photos of street vendors selling everything from roasted sweet potatoes (which are incredibly yummy) to fresh fruit on a stick or traditional Chinese remedies using snake! There is also some architecture from around these parts and things I generally found intriguing. I hope you enjoy them!

Tai O And Other Tales

It has been such a jam packed month, I am a little uncertain as to where to begin. I guess everything kind of kicked off with Christmas. I went to a lovely Christmas Eve party with colleagues from the kids school I work for. Then on Christmas Day I went to the orphanage and played with the kids. The week prior our group had an afternoon of packing goody bags for the kids and then handing them out. We are only allowed to take things to them on a few special occasions, so it was a wonderful opportunity to get them some much needed fruit and veg and sweet treats! Christmas night I was invited to a dinner party by my friend Sandie (an American ex-pat), we had turkey with all the trimmings! I thoroughly enjoyed the food and company! On the down side my laptop died on Christmas Eve. After a thorough investigation it was decided that a new computer was the best option. I made a hurried trip to Hong Kong on New Year's Eve with William, to purchase a new one. It had been a hectic week over Christmas/New Year as I was still working, even on Christmas morning! I went to a party for NYE with some colleagues from my old school. Too much champagne was consumed but it was fun never-the-less! I had two short trips back to Hong Kong and decided to go have a look around one of the sleepy fishing villages dotted around Hong Kong. I made for Tai O, which was a short metro and bus ride away. It was lovely and peaceful after the craziness of my life recently. You can see from the photos that the people there adhere to a more traditional way of life. Some of the houses are built on stilts over the water, the main income for the inhabitants is fishing and tourism. They make a shrimp paste which they sun-dry in large flat baskets. The smell was overpowering but it was intriguing to look at. As you would imagine in a fishing village there were many resident cats, all very well fed! I returned to Shenzhen with a visa to stay another 3 months, will go back to Hong Kong in April to extend my stay further. The school term has ended but my work continues with winter classes for the next week and half. After that it will be Chinese New Year, I'll have a few weeks to relax and possibly travel. Will update you again soon!