The Wedding Banquet, The Resignation and The Orphanage

From title you can see that it's been a jam-packed month! I can't believe how many things transpire in the course of a very short time here. The photos were taken last weekend at the wedding banquet for my co-worker and friend Thomas, who was married recently to his Chinese sweetheart Lizzy. A good time was had by all at a Muslim-Chinese restaurant run by Canadian expats here in Shenzhen. The first photo is of me with my good friend Bonnie, we became friends through the school I work for. She is a wonderful lady, always happy to help the sometimes inept foreign friend and always cheerful and optomistic. Then you have a photo of me with the happy couple and another of me with the school office staff. I have actually resigned from my job and will leave at the end of a month. There were many factors involved in making this decision, and I believe it is for the best. I will update you on my progress in this area in a future entry. I want to travel in September for a few weeks, so the timing of this decision was made to coincide with these plans. My other news is that I've started volunteering at a local orphanage. I can only manage to go one morning a week, due to work commitments. I have been going for 3 weeks currently and am finding it very rewarding but also a little heart-breaking! There are so many children there and so little time to spend with them all. I play with the kids who are active and just nurse those who are either not yet walking or infirmed in some way. I can't post any photos as the orphanage does not allow us to take any pictures. We have to follow strict procedures, otherwise they will close the program down and at the end of the day it's the kids who will suffer. This particular orphanage is sponsored by a Canadian group, if you are intrested in their work go to www.halfthesky.org to see what they are all about. I've had another trip to Hong Kong since last I wrote, I did get to hit some tourist spots and events this time around. I went to The Peak, Quarry Bay and saw The Symphony of Lights show on the harbour. I have my ups and downs here but I am also having some amazing experiences and am making some wonderful friends. Till next time, take care and God bless! xo

Shenzhen Summer - Sticky and Sweaty!

I have been completely slack, looking at the date of my last blog, it's exactly one month ago since I last wrote. There have been a lot of dramas workwise, which I'm not at liberty to discuss here. I can tell you that I am still working for the same school and that my hours have reduced for the time being. This is a blessing as I was getting burnt out on all the hours I was doing. I have been back to Hong Kong and posted here are a couple of photos from my last trip. The financial district is very big and the bull sculpture stands outside the stock exchange. The first time I walked past the Hang Seng bank I found it a little thrilling, as I'd seen it so often mentioned on the news back home. As you can tell from the title I have been experiencing my first tropical summer. It is very uncomfortable and the air conditioners at my apartment have been working overtime. The men of Shenzhen like to walk around with their shirts hoiked up, exposing their midriffs! It's very unappealing to say the least, if only I had the words to tell them! I am acquiring a list of favourite haunts, mainly for eating and shopping. I am also acquiring some good friends, they are mostly the people I work with. I am fascinated by everyone I have met, they all come from such different backgrounds and walks of life. I am a little bit over the Chinese custom of staring at Westerners. I try to be patient and remember that we are in the minority but some days I just want to be anonymous. There are some Chinese who are most helpful and not at all bothered about staring, like the lady at the Bank of China who helped me to apply for Olympic tickets. I should find out in the next couple of months if I will be offered a seat at the Opening Ceremony, tennis or swimming, please pray I get at least one thing! I hope you're keeping well and I will try to be more diligent with my updates. Love, God bless and keep you until next we meet! xo

My Apartment!!

Well it has finally come to pass, I have an apartment of my own! My flat mates moved late last week and I couldn't be happier! As you can see from the photos it's quite spacious, the view from the balcony isn't half bad either. I have 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, living/dining area, kitchen, small laundry and a lovely big balcony. I had 3 friends over for dinner on Monday night and we christened the place properly. I am fairly tired at the moment, work is busy as ever and I am sorting out the apartment bit by bit. I hope to be on line to chat to you more often, as I finally have broadband internet. I pray things are going well for you and yours. Love and God bless! xo

HK Addict

After another trip across the water to Hong Kong it's official, I am addicted to the place! The shopping is superb (as a current acquisition above can attest), the drivers are more patient (and on the correct side of the road!) and the atmosphere is infinitely more energised than where I am currently living on the mainland. I toyed breifly with the idea of trying to find a job there, but I know if I did that, that I would go broke very quickly, way too many temptations there! This time last week I was returning from my little expeditition, can't quite believe how fast this year is ticking over. Work is busy with no signs of slowing down. I am learning a lot and even managed to conduct some placements tests, which is talking to potential students to find out what level they are. It's a quick and painless process that saw me earn around 150 RMB for doing 3 of them! I feel like my apprenticeship (it truly feels like that's what it is) is coming along well and am feeling more settled with all of my classes. The weather is warming up quickly and even though summer is weeks away, it feels as though it has arrived already. The ladies of Shenzhen can be seen hiding under a myriad of coloured umbrellas, shading themselves from the intense heat. I am on the brink of buying one myself! I'll leave off here, God bless you all, you're in my thoughts and prayers as always. xo

Shaoguan School Trip

I returned yesterday from a 3 day trip to Shaoguan, a town near the border of Guangdong Province and Hunan Province. It was a very tiring experience but fun none-the-less. The school I work for paid for just about everything and took around 27 staff away. I was one of only a handful of foreign teachers on the trip and the only female foreigner!! On day one we travelled five hours by bus to our first stop, Yue Bei Valley (known as Guangdong's Grand Canyon). The first photo you can see is of the afternoon's entertainment that we enjoyed, a troupe of highwire artists who were amazing! The second photo shows the funicular which we took down to the hydro-electric scheme that is being developed in this place. We stayed in a beautiful 5 star hotel this night, but were not able to fully enjoy it as we had a 6am start the following morning! We were booked to do a tour on the Pearl River on inflatable boats. I don't have any photos as it was raining and we also encountered some small rapids, so were advised to leave our cameras on the bus. The scenery was lovely, green mountains, small riverside settlements and a disused railway track that was is such bad repair in places that it looked like a Salvador Dali painting. The tracks had succumbed to landsides and were twisted into some incredible positions! In the afternoon we travelled to our hotel which offered an array of different hot springs to soak in. I indulged in a few and also had a sauna which was hotter than any other I've ever experienced! We set off again early on the final day to see Dan Xia mountain. The last two photos are of this place and show me standing in a beautifully crafted pagoda, and also a scenic spot we encountered. I arrived back in Shenzhen at 8pm a little worse for wear but very satisfied. I made some new friends and got to know others better. I now have week off for May Day celebrations, during which time I hope to rest, shop and possibly get away to Hong Kong. Till next time love and peace to you and yours!

Shenzhen Daze

I am at the end of my two days off and I am shattered. I have so much to pack into my days off that I end trying to do too much. That being said I did actually accomplish quite a bit. I finally got my internet access organised so I hope to be online a lot more often with more updates and photos. I also have been on a bit of a shopping frenzy. I went to Lohu, which is the sea port most tourists coming from Hong Kong go to. There is a huge shopping complex there with hundreds of items, clothes, jewellery, handbags, shoes, electronics and tailors (including a massive fabric market). I found some large size shoes at long last and got a couple of designer knock-off handbags at an outrageously low price! My working week starts tomorrow, I am currently averaging 28 hours teaching over 5 days with many hours in between doing lesson plans. I am still sharing my apartment but hope to have to it to myself soon. That's all for now, it's late and I must get some beauty rest. Love and God Bless! x

Hong Kong Spree

I finally made it to Hong Kong, this time last week I was pounding the pavement in search of some bargains. I certainly was not disappointed with Hong Kong, it lives up to it's title of shopping Mecca! I bought some wonderful clothes, cosmetics and other essentials. I spent most of the first day with a work colleague who knew HK well and showed me around. The second day I explored on my own after spending the night in a low rent hostel (cheap but clean!). The photos show the weather was a little dreary but my mood was very up and I enjoyed being able to converse with shop assistants in English and find clothes in my size at an unbeatable price. I hope to get away to HK again soon. On the homefront it looks like my flatmates are moving out so I will take on the apartment lease where I am currently living. It's 2 bedrooms, views of the park on the 10th floor, and very close to school. Will update my progress again soon. Love and peace to all! xo

Travels and Trials

So sorry for my delay in getting a new posting out. I have had my fair share of dramas recently as some of you will be aware. I am currently feeling a little more at ease with things but China is not an easy culture to get your head around. Remembering that they have 5000 years of history and stick closely to the old ways in a lot of situations is hard to comprehend at times. I've had issues at work, namely getting my visa sorted and also my accommodation has changed. Myself and the other teacher at the school apartment were asked to vacate immediately due to renovations the landlord needed to do. Unfortunately the alternate accommodation was very basic and we were forced to find something else. After the dust settled we were able to find a nice brand new 2 bedroom apartment to share. I will stay here for a while and then get my own place. I travelled to Guangzhou (new name for Canton) for my birthday after my New Year travel plans fell through. I spent 3 nights in a place called Shamain, which was lovely. It is an island in the centre of the city and has lots of park lands, old trees and old consulate buildings, I've included a couple of photos from the trip. I met a lovely Chinese Christian lady called Sarah and was pleased to find another believer in an otherwise seemlingly Godless society. I am hoping to get to Hong Kong next, as at long last I have my visa fixed up.
I have done a little shopping here in Shenzhen and with the help of a local found size 10 shoes and export quality and sized clothing. I also treated myself to some jade, which is easy to come by here and cheapish. Work is very busy, I have kids, teenagers and adults and am busiest on weekends. I still don't know much of the language but hope to get myself a phrasebook on my travels to Hong Kong. Thanks to everyone for my gifts, cards and emails of supports, it means so much to me to have all of your love and encouragement when I am so far from home. Till next time God bless. xo

My New Town

Thought you may like to see some photos my new town, Shenzhen. I haven't had the camera out too much as I've been working most days. As you can see the smog is fairly thick, this is due to Shenzhen being a Special Economic Zone. I'm told that up until about 20 years ago it was just a sleepy fishing village. The more traditional Chinese building is part of what is left of the Old City. The sunset photo was taken last night in Zhong Shan park. You can see the park in the overview photo, taken from the 32nd floor balcony of the apartment I've been house-sitting. I am hoping to travel over Chinese New Year,which is coming up on February 18, so will be back with more photos and an update then.

Students

The attached photos were taken on Friday 01 February 2007. I took one of my classes to the local park for our lesson. We played games and enjoyed afternoon tea together, along with some of their parents and grand-parents. We watched a man drawing Chinese calligraphy using a wet sponge, and counted the numerous kites that were flying over the park. I wish every class I have could be so enjoyable, but if that was the case I know that I wouldn't relish these opportunities half as much.