changlish (click image to enlarge)

My Front and Back Yard

Hey mom and dad this post's for you. I just got my camera back from Ting's brother. A week earlier and I would have had some amazing flower pics for you guys. These are just some shots from in and around my yard I thought you guys would enjoy. Check out the apricot tree! I'm not sure who has the rights to it but I usually pick one or two off on my way to work.

Suzhou

He Ting and I decided to go to Suzhou for the spring break holiday. It is known as one of the two most beautiful cities in China, the other being Hangzhou. It's also in Jiangsu province and I'm hoping on teaching here next year. When we arrived we couldn't beleive the amount of people who had come to check out the sites. The expensive hotels were too expensive and the cheap hotels aren't allowed to have foreigners because of theft. I think the real reason is the governement wants them to spend more money. I tried to explain that I wasn't a rich tourist but a poor english teacher but it didn't seem to matter. Finally some dude saw us having trouble and insisted we get into his rusted 80's minivan. He offered a hotel room and a full day bus tour. I'm so happy we caved because he was a decent guy and the tour took us to 6 popular touristy sites that we could have never seen on our own.

Sorry but the pictures aren't in order. This was where we sat waiting for our bus to leave Suzhou. The city was packed with tourists but the only un-asian ones we saw were at the silk factory.

Suzhou is the silk capital of the world. We took a quick tour through one of the factories. The cocoons look disgusting and I'm still a little confused about the whole process.

I bought some sweet kung fu pj's and a couple small things for the rents. I was on a pretty strict budget as usual. If you have foreign currency here you're laughin

A picture of some nice wooden furniture I thought dad would enjoy.

Getting crushed. It was like trying to get front row at System.

Suzhou bus station.

This is what a bus stop looks like in Suzhou. I don't really know how many people are here during the rest of the year but that week it was nuts.

Climbing up these are always fun. The stairs are so steep and once you make it to the top you're all dizy from doing circles that it makes going down even more dangerous.

Lenin's huge in China. From lighters to school hallways you can spot his shiny forehead and devilish goat tee

The meat on a stick here makes Xuzhou's meat on a stick seem like snot on a stick

Real foreigners!!!!

Last sunday Mickey and I found a new crew to play soccer with. There's a huge pakistani population at the medical university and they're all fairly decent at football

Another shot from the uni. In those aluminum tables are dead bodies, creeeepy

Sunday night we all went for dinner with some gangster and his family. Dylan met this guy outside a ktv and he offered to take us out for some eats. His job description was " I take things, like cars and houses, from people who need money". He was all tatted up and his two lackies had what looked like knife fighting scars on their forearms. Good people though.

Beijing Pijiu Hao He!

This morning Mickey and I helped out some uni friends who are in a China wide advertising competition. We showed up at some hidden studio where there was a whole crew and a two-four of Beijing beer waiting for us. The first hour was all about the beer, but the last two hours we had our chests painted and the artist/photographer snaped shots at random. Defenetely a good time. I'll post up the finished product when he's done fooling around in Photoshop.

Yunlong Mountain

The dean at my school took Mel and I to the local mountain for a pilgrimage/festival that goes on at the top. I did four t.v. interviews and felt uncomfortable for most of the morning. I only had two 50's in my walet and the steps were lined with beggars, most of whom were missing limbs or eyes. One one eyed dude followed me around but I couldn't understand anything he said. I was informed later that he thought he could tell me my fate. Creepy.

awkward

I was in ChangZhou this weekend, a cool modern city in Jiangsu province, when I decide to indulge in some ramen at a swanky downtown Japanese restaurant. I'm pretty sure japfood is out-lawed in my conservative current address of XuZhou. I was seated near the window to draw in customers which I hate because you feel like a gorilla at the zoo, "I'm not an animal!!!"

A couple minutes after my waitress brought my strange steaming bowl of unrecognizables a teenager caught a glimpse of the gorrilla feeding. This guy's face was smeared with dirt and he had an onion bag of probably garbage. Being from Xuzhou and after doing alot of travelling via bus, this man was nothing shocking. I gave him my friendly foreigner 'wasssup' nod and began chopstick fishing. 2 or 3 minutes went by when I couldn't help but notice the dude was still staring, standing 2 feet fromt the window and 3 feet myself. This was when everyone else in the place started to notice the awkward situation, and I mean awkward. I looked around for an open table but they were all occupied by on-lookers. There was no way in hell I was going to act like a gorrilla and start pounding on the glass until he got scared and took off. After nearly finishing my meal I decided it was only fair that I take a picture of the guy (see "ChangZhou" photo album).

As I walked outside I couldn't help but smerk a little as I dropped 1 kuai into his hand.

ChangZhou

3 days in Ting's new city, JiangYin

This city has a beautiful downtown area but walk an hour in any direction and poverty is everywhere, still beautiful though.

I always find myself at the docks when travelling. Maybe it's because I was secluded from water back home. It doesn't smell like exhaust and it always makes for great photos.