changlish (click image to enlarge)

My Front and Back Yard

2007-05-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-03T22:11:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

2007-04-23T05:11:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-04-23T03:50:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-02T02:13:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-02T01:43:00.000-07:00

3 days in Ting's new city, JiangYin

2007-03-13T05:06:00.000-07:00

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.

A friend I made on the bus.

Granny Gong fu

I found an amazing temple full of 15 foot golden statues and actual buddhist monk dorms. It was so cool listening to them pray.

Old people loaded this into that small white truck in the parking lot.

Halarious kid I sat with on the grueling 6 hour bus ride through the Chinese countryside.

Her classes are on the 4th floor of one of those buildings on the left.

Ting's roomates.
I bunked with them for 3 nights, good times.

Her apartment is super ghetto. She only makes 1/9th of what I do! When I walked into her place I couldn't believe 7 girls lived there.

Food

2007-02-26T04:39:00.000-08:00

My first dumpling lesson took placeduring the new year break.

I think I folded 3 or 4 of these.

Cooking in a wok with an actual flame is really easy. First heat up a small puddle of oil, then throw in the ingredients.

Ever wonder what Chinese people eat for breakfast. This is one of my favorite breakfasts; Fried onions with chillies and cabbage, rice porridge, strawberries and steamed buns. On the side you got a cup of garlic and vinegar, something spicy in a jar that I need to have on the table for every meal and some watery orange juice.

This is He Ting's brother He Hua Long and behind him is her house in a rural county outside XinYi city. This doesn't really have anything to do with food except for the fact that this is where Ting acquired her mad skillz which are slowly being passed on to me.

2007-02-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

My girlfriend woke me today at 7:30, figuring I could sleep in half an hour with it being Spring Festival and all. I zombie strolled to the local hole in the wall veggie shop, sent out for cabbage, steamed buns, potato noodles, eggs and a mystery item written on scrap paper which turned out to be garlic. I gave my 11 kuai to the lady in pyjamas, who's always a little nervous or excited, I can't tell, when I show up. Lately I've been getting chinese cooking lessons 3 times per day from Ting. Mainly cuz I'm becoming more and more interested in Chinese cuisine but also because our creepy alcoholic roomate decided to move out (" so she could have "friends" over more often") which means I have to dish out an extra 400rmb a month. Roommate wanted btw.

Early morning walks I actually enjoy. Dishing out friendly "wassup" nods to the construction crews in camo, neighbours that have real jobs and the gate man. My city has 2 types of citizens it seems, the day job straight laced type or the people that wake up at 2p.m. to work the nightshift at the club or brothel or both. The cab drivers just don't sleep.

After another simple yet satisfying breakfast I did the dishes, fed my fish, checked my Facebook page and played Neo Contra while my gf did whatever women do in the morning. We decided our goal for the day was to steal some badminton rackets from my elemantary school and eat fire chicken at La La La or "Spicy Spicy Spicy". I used to think I was hardcore when it came to eating hot food but now I bow my head in shame as He Ting picks the chillies out of my plate and dips my chicken in hot water to kick it down a notch.

The elementary school is a strange place. There's an apartment for foreign teachers which was occupied by my really good and badly missed friend, Steph. Now it's just Cathy. Cathy is a senile 55 year old from one of those hard to spell Toronto suburbs. She's also the coolest most down to earth foreigner I've known here. She ran out of meds a while ago because her bf, now ex-bf, wouldn't fork out 800$. I think she's lost 80 pounds since I first met her in september. You would be surprised what eating vegetables 3 time a day can do for a person. Anyway if you go to the school you got to stop by to say hi or else you feel like a prick afterwards. She was doing what I expected she was going to be doing, smoking and drinking a beer on her patio with my friend Gary. Gary is the 30 year old elementary gym teacher whose married and pretty damn handsome yet we are all positive is having an affair with Cathy. Props to Cathy but we are all confused and creeped out every time we intrude on these two. They were sitting too close in the midst of an english lesson with obvious sexual connotations. He Ting and I grab the rackets and said we had to be somewhere else.

After an intense game of badminton (she's better) I was givin my first dumpling lesson. It was lengthy but rewarding, especially because I'm going to take a break from this blog post and boil some more that I left in the freezer. It's just a cool feeling making something that people were making the same way, 1500 years ago. Did I ever mention my city is 2000 years old and used to be an important dynasty capital. It's been destroyed so many times that all the temples and such have been rebuilt so many times they're hardly worth seeing.

Once the sun went down we waited for the firework show which has been going on for 4 days now and will go on for another 9. In 2002 the government banned them because of the high rate of limb and vision loss. Luckily for me 2 years ago they said "hey, whats a few infant arms, it's f'en spring festival dude". It's insane. Amagine every hotel, club, restaurant, rich household and community hall in Edmonton buying enough fireworks to last 15 nights. I've never witnessed anything like this. The grandfather's help the toddlers light ear deafening firecrackers that make my calm retirement home feel like Iraq. The sky is lit up in every direction with colorful explosions. When my neighborhood did our part it literally rained ashes that tasted bad.

He Ting went to bed at 8:30 and I just finished 2 hours of Neo Contra. I'm on my way to filling a 100cd booklet of ps2 games, which are about 15 cents a piece at a hush hush place a student introduced me to.

This is a quick example of a normal day off for me in China. Currently I'm anticipating the arrival of my skateboard, reading an amazing book about Tokyo (frowned upon) called Number 9 Dream, and dreading the start of the new semester.

Thanks for all the comments!

Photos from Shanghai

2007-02-14T04:42:00.000-08:00

Cool back street.

Check out the kid taking a dump behind He Ting.

Ahh my first true love, Caffe Latte, mmm delicious Caffe Latte

Cool highway shot I got by sticking my camera out the window going 120.

It was plus 20 some days and it only rained once. It was a nice break from the cold, dark, dreary town of Xuzhou.

One of the insanely crowded lrt stations.

Luckily my stop was the end of the road so I was always guaranteed a seat.

This bridge was filled with old (and I'm guessing unemployed considering it was 2 in the afternoon) dudes flying kites.

10 days in Shanghai

2007-02-14T04:13:00.000-08:00

When I saw this football stadium from the outside I just had to get in, especially since it's the home of what's now my favorite football club. There was a gate for people who worked there and whatnot. As I walked past the gate man I gave him a cocky "what's up" nod. Luckily I was sporting my new blue Umbro soccer sneaks, I think he thought I was a member of Shanghai SVC or something.

My hostel was a block from here.

That there on the right is the tallest building in China.

I don't know how or why this Firebird got here.
Thank Marc for pointing out the halarious bumper sticker!

A floating theatre on a tugboat showing nature shots and occasionally a friendly "Welcome to Shanghai" or a Beijing 2008 promo.

Shanghai

2007-02-12T18:15:00.000-08:00

English newspapers!!!

My now favorite place to visit. I don't think I could live in Shanghai but it's a nice break from the less modern cities I usually find myself in.

This guy I meet at one of those hidden parks. He was hanging out with 2 sons and some old dudes that were practicing calligraphy on the sidewalk with an old wine bottle filled with water and a sponge taped around the top. He has being living in China for 4 years and his kids busted out about 25 different characters.

More random scenery.

A view from one of the LRT stations. The city has 5 rails going of which I mastered. I'm proud to say I can now act as tour guide for 4 cities in China.

Bus ride to Shangers.

Some jerk stuck his head in as I was about to take a great photo.

There's canals running throughout the city. They look cool and really help you find your way back to the hotel when wandering aimlessly. This is a pic of a cleanup crew, one thing my city needs more of.

The city is scattered with gardens that are hidden between skyscrapers and apartement buildings.

Some top notch graffiti.

My 10 days in ShangHai

2007-02-12T05:39:00.000-08:00

I saw what I presume are some kind of dairy fish treat at a kind of seven eleven. I regret not trying them.

Cool floating cinema screen.

Scenery.

This is some cool ghetto area where people probably dump bodies. I chilled here for about 2 hours and had a descent phone conversation with the moms. Why? Cuz in China it's real hard to avoid humanity unless you lock yourself in your room. I chilled here basking in the 22 degree february weather and didn't see a single soul .

Are the phones small or is that a really big banana peel?

2007-02-12T05:13:00.000-08:00

Here's what written chinese looks like without a calligraphy brush.

The most canadian night I've had since I landed. Chillin with the homeboy watchin the game and drinking some brewskies. It was the first hockey game we'd seen in 6 months and we thought what better tiime to crack open the 2 cans of Kokanee my bros brought over. Check out who's playing in the bottom right hand corner. Unfortunatly we lost 3-2.

My usually breakfast composed of street food and 2 bags of milk that tastes like it has had frosted flakes floating in it over night.

2007-01-29T01:13:00.000-08:00

Dinner with He Ting's roomates. It was their last week together. The first 30minutes was all fun and smiles until they dipped into the red wine. For the rest of the night there were atleast 2 girls sobbing at the table...akward.

Darren loving kareoke. Once we got some bijou in us it got crazy in there. The teenager running the place decided at one point that it was "dancing time" and we got a pretty good circle going. Darren and I finished the night off with a duet of "Band on the run"

Check it out. I got bombarded with gifts and cards by all of my 110 students during the holidays. It was a little much.

2007-01-29T00:58:00.000-08:00

I can't even remember where we were going, it seems like I'm on a train every second weekend.

Some delicious home cooking. I get lessons once in a while. Nobody in China has an oven so it's all wok work.

J&D's visit

2007-01-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

My apologies for taking forever to post something new. A month ago there was a devastating earthquake in Taiwan that really screwed up the internet here in China. They just got everything back to normal a few days ago. It was pretty bad, I ended up bringing a book to the internet cafe and reading a couple pages every time I tried to get onto a new website.

Jon and Darren must have just arrived in E-town a couple hours ago, I'm sure it feels good to be back. I think they had a pretty good time here, filled with drunken follishness and bad hang-overs. I think we only had a couple nights out of the two weeks that they were here that we didn't intoxicate ourselfs. It was strange for me because it's become a real occasion for me to get tipsy nowadays. Probably the strangest thing that happened was one night at a club this dude was so coked up and drunk that he bottled Jon in the back of the head and then started crying. It was real strange. We did a little travelling. We went to one of my favorite cities and a real party town, Nanjing. Thats where Darren gave Jon a clean open ice hip check causing Jon to land on his face and break his 2 front teeth in half. I vaguely remember him yelling " Darren get the f over here now, I'm gonna fight you" as Darren and I hid around the corner in some plants. I'm just glad I managed to get the whole thing on video.

Anyways I'm off to meet my girlfriends mom for the first time. I'm sure it's bad enough meeting somebody's parents who speak the same language as you, but this is going to be brutal. Especially considering I have no plans for the next couple years and I haven't asked He Ting to marry me yet.

2006-12-19T06:46:00.000-08:00

A lazy ass

Pics pics and more pictures

2006-12-19T06:17:00.000-08:00

It's 2 am and I got class tommorow morning. My arm is covered in chinese computer characters, i'm tired and I don't have a lesson plan, but I don't care cuz I just figured out how to post pics at the internet cafe!!!

2006-12-19T06:10:00.000-08:00

Two more market pics from Lian Yun Gang (i'm in love with this city) and Steph lookin to get some work done.

2006-12-19T06:02:00.000-08:00

I must have counted about a dozen brides getting their pictures done at this beach in Lian Yun Gang.

Crazy bridge that leads to who knows where. We were too lazy find out.

2006-12-19T05:48:00.000-08:00

A couple pics from He Ting and I's trip to Nan Jing.

2006-12-19T05:38:00.000-08:00

Ever seen a snow covered palm tree?

A seafood market in Lian Yun Gang, I wish it turned out better. The city is really amazing. Chinese speaking russians!!!

Birthday Shout Outs

2006-12-10T18:49:00.000-08:00

Happy 20th Birthday K.D. I can't believe you are in your twenties now. Makes me feel real old. I learned to love crab too. I just got back from a beautiful Coastal city called LianYunGang where all I did was eat crab and drink with old foreigners. It's really beautiful there. Pics soon to come. I'm happy to hear about your plans to become a teacher. I think it's in our blood. Have a great birthday. I want to send more things but you guys still haven't got my christmas package. As soon as you get that let me know and i'll send over a real late birthday gift for ya.

an overdue update

2006-12-03T22:09:00.000-08:00

I was flipping through a snowboarding magazine that my moms sent over today and realised what I wanted to do with my life. Ride the globe and teach english. RIGHTEOUS!! Honestly this teaching english gig I somehow fell into is great. Today i was telling my students about getting a package in the mail. They asked me if I miss my home and family. I said the obvious and my best student got up and said this class is your home and we are your family. I don't remember any coke head italians getting up in the dressing room at the crap factory and belting out a heart warmer like that.

And as for the riding, I can't wait for darren and jon to bring my gear. The hills here probably aren't that great but atleast i'll have it with me. Japan is only a quick (and cheap) flight away.

My chinese is slowly but surely improving. My girlfriend's a pretty good teacher but I learn the most from the cabbies. I've mastered the name's of my schools in chinese so when I get into a cab and tell em where I want to go they think i'm fluent. At first i just told them I didn't understand but now i try to pick out words. Usual questions are where ya from? Do you understand what I'm saying?how long have you been in China and how much do you make?

Last night My landlord invited my roomates and I to dinner. Her house was beautiful but it must have been maybe +5*celcius in there (oh yeah by the way it suddenly got cold here). Defenetly the richest chinese person i've met in China. HALFWAY into the meal we were all stuffed. That's when our 50+ year old landlord pulled out the bottles of bijou. This is the only strong booze they drink here. It ranges from fifty to sixty five percent and tastes not bad. The old lady went shot for shot with Dylan and I until we polished off both bottles.

I just got a membership card at a super chillin underground internet cafe so expect this thing to be updated. There's still the "everything is in chinese" problem so posting pictures here might be a little difficult. Thanks so much mom for the parcel. I can't believe I am gonna go home tonight and watch a snowboarding DVD!! It's defenetly going to make me homesick.

Random pics

2006-11-28T07:02:00.000-08:00

Getting a shave for 15 cents canadian.
My first thing i've ever written in chinese. A letter to my girlfriend.

Chinese snacks, check out the can of orange flavored beer.

Street food is the bomb.

2006-11-28T06:40:00.000-08:00

2006-11-28T06:26:00.000-08:00

Dog meat on a scooter.

2006-11-21T21:24:00.000-08:00

Somehow i managed to view my blog today. It's been a couple of weeks since I could see any comments so sorry if you were waiting on a reply. Right now i'm typing on a teacher's laptop at my primary school. There's 2 kids looking over my shouder and it's kind of creepy because I know they can't understand anything I type. let me try something.. How old are you? .. no response. These obviously aren't my students.

Please stop telling me about the huge dumps of snow you guys are getting back home. I miss it. It's raining today because they shot some rockets into the clouds to stop this dry spell we've been having. Why don't they do this in Canada?

My life lately has been pretty uneventful. I teach and plan lessons during the week, dipping into my mandarin books and gt4 whenever I have some free time. The weekends my girlfriend stays over, we'll go wonder for ingredients before I get a chinese cooking lesson. I quit spending money. I 've decided to become a tightass with my yuan instead of blowing it on drinking or clothes, butI'll still buy a soccer jersey once in a while(11$ canadian). I force He Ting to go shopping but she hates it when I buy her things.

This week I'll try to remember to bring my usb cable so I can post up some more pics.

Ain't nothin but a teacher party

2006-11-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

2006-11-02T06:24:00.000-08:00

Has anyone out there been able to view my blog in the past couple weeks cuz I freakin have not!!! Could it be that i'm being censored from myself?

I'll post up some pics too but I have been trying to check my blog for comments lately and I just get sent to some weird chinese news site. I hope this worked!

Happy Anniversary

2006-10-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

Happy 25th Anniversary Mom and Dad!
I really wish I could've said that in person. I've started my hole. I'm thinking if I time it perfectly with the earth's rotation I'll fall through and not have to climb the second half.

Go Oil

2006-10-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

Top 5 things I miss
1. Family
2. Getting lifted with friends
3. Biking, soon to be snowboarding
4. Fresh air, don't take a single breath for granted, some of us aren't so lucky
5. Fries supreme (possibly related to #2)

Top 5 things I love about China
1. He Ting
2. The food
3. My students (lame but true)
4. The people.
5. No Fat Chicks (literally, i've seen maybe 3 obese people in Xuzhou, one of which was american)

Top 5 personal kareoke favorites (selection is limited)
1. As long as you love me-Backstreet Boys
2. Hey Jude- Beatles
3. When a man loves a woman-Michael Bolton(that's right, Bolton Baby)
4. No Scrubs-TLC
5. Backstreets Back-Backstreet Boys (mastered)

Top 5 dishes
1. Egg and tomato stir fry (I actually o.d.'d on this one night and vomited all over Steph's flower bed)
2. Spicy chicken and peanuts
3. Spicy eggplant
4. Deep fried lamb burritos
5. cold salted duck

Top 5 things I can say i've tried
1. Dog
2. Donkey
3. What looked like deep fried cockroaches (absolutly disgusting but good for your vision)
4. Lamb spine (delicious)
5. Frog (also delicious)

Some very rare blEU sky

2006-10-07T06:21:00.000-07:00

Here's what I breathe 98% of the time

My Obedient Army Of Brainwashed Youth

2006-10-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

Party Pics

2006-09-30T07:18:00.000-07:00

He Ting

2006-09-30T06:36:00.000-07:00

These 2 outdoor shots are spy-cam pics I took during a chinese lesson.

Too much drama in the LBC

2006-09-30T05:42:00.000-07:00

I had to come half way across the world to find my first girlfriend. Sad I know but He Ting was worth all 21 valentines day I spent alone hating the world. Even though our schedules hardly coincide (she has a 7:30 nightly curfew at her dorm and I teach ti'll 5) the time I do spend with her is always the highlight of my week.

I'm off to Nanjing tommorow to spend the national week long holiday visiting bosses, teachers and friends. I can't wait to show up unexpected at my homestay families door. I can't praise these people enough for the way I was treated for those 2 weeks, considering all I did was eat and sleep for free and hang out with Harry for a couple hours a night.

I was involved in my first minor car accident last night coming home from Pizza Hut with He Ting. A black audi backed into our cab a few blocks away from the crib. Both parties were livid even though the damage was nothing but a couple minor scratches. I forgot to mention that I live in what's somewhat of a red light district and if you see someone driving a new audi, getting out of your cab and going nose to nose with the driver is not the smartest move (he's a pimp). After getting smacked around a little our cab driver retreated towards the driver door, and thats when he received a Paul Pheonix cannon kick to the spine. He Ting and I felt really bad for the guy and tried to give him a tip when we were dropped off but he was too proud to take it.

scenic chinese ghetto chairlift ride anyone?

2006-09-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

2006-09-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

My crib's the last one you see on the right. I regret getting a first floor pad after murdering my second rat this week. After you corner them behind the frigde it's just a matter of carefully dropping the heaviest thing lying around at the time.

Pass the Pooch

2006-09-17T03:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone for the comments. I also posted up my new cell phone number so feel free to give me a call whenever.

I finaly met some more local foreigners here in Xuzhou. I spent 2 days at the local police station trying to get my working visa and residence permit arranged and there was a friendly australian lady there who was in the same boat as myself. I guess there's 2 americans and a couple british teaching at a middle school across town. I went for dinner with a few of them last night and thats when I tried dog for the first time. The sauce was delicious but it was really stringy and disgusting.

I'm really getting used to the city lately. I've met a really awesome girl by the name of He Ting. We've spent the last couple days together and she's pretty insistant on atleast 3 hours of daily mandarin tutoring. I don't want to write too much right now as we just met a couple days ago, but I've got a good feeling about her.

The club scene in Xuzhou is simply a gong show. By 10 p.m. there's atleast one shemale on the pole, a dozen or so dudes trying to stand up, and a chick that loves to flaunt her see through dress (and she's going commando). Instead of bouncers there's a couple army dudes that just hang out and make sure no one does anything violent. The atmosphere is much more positive than the clubs in north america. Dudes will grab your hands on the dance floor and throw you into thier circle of dudes, most of whom are shirtless, still keeping it hetero somehow. I usually stumble home through the back alleys which I now feel completely safe in. It's poor in Xuzhou but the worst thing that would happen is you'd become the victim of a pickpocketer.

My classes are getting rowdier by the day. I'm going to have to get some order in my class soon but for now I just kind of turn a blind eye to the throwing of text books and occasional kung fu kidney punches as I try to get something down on the board.

Other than that I don't have much to say. I hope everyone back home is doing well. I now have e-mail access so if you don't want to publish a huge comment feel free to send me an e-mail. More pictures are coming soon.

My home town

2006-09-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

Eating at our favorite local restaurant. It's in the ghetto muslim district but they are the nicest people in Xuzhou and the best cooks in town.

First week in Xuzhou

2006-09-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

That's my roomate Angela.

Shanghai pics

2006-09-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

Rolex anyone?

Last of my Nanjing pics

2006-09-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

Here's the last of my pics from Nanjing. There's what chinese breakfast looks like. That was also the classiest seafood restaurant i've ever been too. Out back I witnessed a python get decapitated and also ate donkey donkey for the first time (really delicious)

First week in Xuzhou

2006-09-04T23:26:00.001-07:00

The 4 hour drive north to Xuzhou was my first chance to see rural China. East China's environment is in real bad shape due to a billion people just being introduced to the idea of environmentalism and recycling. You don't really notice it until you roll down a window. The countryside was beautiful, lots of rivers and greenery, and gigantic ox (oxen.. i don't know) that no one else in the van seemed to be very intrigued by. Unfortunately our driver never stopped so I didn't get a chance to take any pictures.

Xuzhou is drastically different from any other city i've visited in the south. I've been here a week now and have yet to spot any bluesky or sunlight for that matter. If people don't like the smog in Toronto they wouldn't last a day here. Other than that I like what i've seen so far. The people here are always shocked when they see me but usually turn away after a few seconds or say hello. It's defenetly ghetto here though, the centre of the city has been cleaned up but turn off any main street and you find yourself in a chinese ghetto. It took 5 apartements before the police agreed it was safe enough for a foreigner. I moved into a 1 floor house in a very nice neighbourhood with Dylan and another canadian by the name of Angela.

My first week of classes went great, the students are awesome and the chinese english teachers are super friendly. My curriculum on the other hand is just embarrassing. Whoever wrote this should never be allowed to teach anyone anything. I haven't opened the book yet and i'm gonna try to avoid teacher out of that disgrace to the english language for as long as possible.

It might take a while to post up some pictures, i have to wait for one of my roomates to get their laptop.

Mom I forgot how to do laundry again. Dad how is the car selling coming along? I heard the focus is having troubles... I know it's a standard but you get used(sp) to it. I'll try calling this weekend.

I can't check my hotmail at this internet cafe for some reason. I'm missing everyone and thanks for the comments, keep them coming please.

First week in Xuzhou

2006-09-04T23:26:00.000-07:00

The 4 hour drive north to Xuzhou was my first chance to see rural China. East China's environment is in real bad shape due to a billion people just being introduced to the idea of environmentalism and recycling. You don't really notice it until you roll down a window. The countryside was beautiful, lots of rivers and greenery, and gigantic ox (oxen.. i don't know) that no one else in the van seemed to be very intrigued by. Unfortunately our driver never stopped so I didn't get a chance to take any pictures.

Xuzhou is drastically different from any other city i've visited in the south. I've been here a week now and have yet to spot any bluesky or sunlight for that matter. If people don't like the smog in Toronto they wouldn't last a day here. Other than that I like what i've seen so far. The people here are always shocked when they see me but usually turn away after a few seconds or say hello. It's defenetly ghetto here though, the centre of the city has been cleaned up but turn off any main street and you find yourself in a chinese ghetto. I took 5 apartements before the police agreed it was safe enough for a foreigner. I moved into a 1 floor house in a very nice neighbourhood with Dylan and another canadian by the name of Angela.

My first week of classes went great, the students are awesome and the chinese english teachers are super friendly. My curriculum on the other hand is just embarrassing. Whoever wrote this should never be allowed to teach anyone anything. I haven't opened the book yet and i'm gonna try to avoid teacher out of that disgrace to the english language for as long as possible.

It might take a while to post up some pictures, i have to wait for one of my roomates to get their laptop.

Mom I forgot how to do laundry again. Dad how is the car selling coming along? I heard the focus is having troubles... I know it's a standard but you get used(sp) to it. I'll try calling this weekend.

I can't check my hotmail at this internet cafe for some reason. I'm missing everyone and thanks for the comments, keep them coming please.

2006-08-24T20:39:00.001-07:00

I'm nearing the end of my first week of trial classes in Nanjing. I'll make an alright teacher; i think being around kids my whole life at the day home has givin me a real advantage over the other teachers here. It's not uncommon to see some of these people in tears after trying to get there lesson plan across to kids who had no clue what was going in the lesson. People are starting to use the " I drank the tap water" excuse to get out of teaching on their first week after they've signed a contract for a year. I've found you have to be as simple as possible with the language you use and do as much listening as preaching with your students.

Why couldn't we pick our names when we were growing up. Most students get to pick thier english names in China. The top three i've heard so far have been ARCH ANGEL, MR.GHOST and GRASS.

I'm moving to a new city in the north of Jiangsu province called Xuhou on the 31st with 5 others from this program. I found out yesterday that i'm going to be teaching junior high instead of elementary. I think this is due to my above average performance in the trial classes. Once I get to Xuhou my roomate Dylan (saskatchewanese) and I are gonna go apartement hunting. We're hoping to find one fairly close to the school, either way it's gonna be a pimpin pad.

I'll have nothing but good memories of Nanjing. It's the most beautiful city i've ever been to and it was my introduction to China and the chinese way of life. On tuesday morning Steph and I are heading off to Shanghai for 2 nights by train. No we are not an "item", she's got a boyfriend back in australia, but she's defenetly the best friend i've got in China and hearing that we're both being placed in the same city was a huge relief. It's been a goal of mine to see Shanghai for a long time now and I can't believe it's happening next week.

Last thing, hello again to everyone back home and I miss everybody.

2006-08-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

More random pics

2006-08-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

2006-08-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

Random Pics

2006-08-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

Steph at the local wal-mart.

confucious temple

2006-08-17T06:14:00.000-07:00

The restaurant we ate at has been there for 116 years.

Here's a picture of my host family (left to right) Cathy Tang, Harry Zhou, Dilin

Confucious Temple

2006-08-17T06:03:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pictures of my host family and I at the confucious temple.

2006-08-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone back home , thanks for the commments, please keep them coming. Sorry for the shortage of photos as all the computers here are in chinese. My homestay family was kind enough to show me how to upload pictures onto my my blog but it took a good hour or so for a couple of pictures. My first full week has been somewhat interesting, the office where in is on the 29 floor of the provincial education building situated in the heart of downtown. The best view from a urinal i've ever witnessed, but I don't think anyone would appreciate me taken my camera in there.

I went clubbing for the first time the other day , what an experience that was. There's a district called 1912 where it resembles vegas i guess, pretty much a street of bars that puts whyte ave to shame. The clubs are shoulder to shoulder but i can see over everyone. After my 2 weeks of training Steph and I will be heading up north to Xuhou. I guess it's a little more ghetto/ old school but the food and people I hear are great.

The homestay has been such an amazing experience. The only child (mandatory in China) is Harry, he's 11 years old and the top student in his class of about 200. This kid is unbelievably smart, he read half my bike mag to me the other day with hardly any mistakes, although I don't think he understood hardly any of it. Thier pronunciation at that level is much higher than their comprehension because of the messed up they teach english here. I'm also pretty sure the maid, Ms. tsao, saw me in the buff the other day through the bathroom window.

If anyone who is reading this is really bored and tired of the same bull #%^& every f*%$in day I would strogly suggest visiting China. The way people live here and view life really makes you look at your own life and you realise how lucky you are to be born with the resources to do something really great (like teach in China). Because there is only one child per family these kids have so much pressure on them, but they see everything in a positive light and are proud to be the one to carry on the family name and prove themselves to thier parents, country and the world. I could defenetly see myself living here for a couple of years after I get a degree back home.

2006-08-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

The tall black dude is my buddy Pierre from ATL, U.S. His Mandarin is excellent and he was kind enough to show Steph , Josh (other white guy, from toronto) and myself around Nanjing. He also takes most of the attention off of us round eyes.

2006-08-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

Half the city is under construction. The bamboo scaffolding seems to do the trick.

First week in Nanjing

2006-08-15T03:34:00.001-07:00

On the left is steph with another aussie, Helen. Steph is the best friend i've got here and we've been both placed in a norther city by the name of Xushou. On the right is another aussie Helen who's travelling with her boyfriend Ben, both awesome people. The streets come alive at night with street vendors but i've yet to learn how to bargain.

First week in Nanjing

2006-08-15T03:34:00.000-07:00

2006-08-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

last night was my first night on the town in Nanjing. About 8 of us where brought to a beautiful lake in the heart of the city by one of the program coordinators, Eko. I can't wait ti'll I get a chance to post up some pics, it's really hard to describe how beautiful this place really is. After the lake and a great meal at a local restaurant( why does everyone eat tofu here , it's nasty no matter how it's cooked), everyone else decided to call it a night so i took aff alone. Within a few blocks I was completly lost. The city is so different at night. Thesidewalks are packed with street vendors. Every couple of blocks a om or grandma will bring their kid up to me and tell them to introduce themselves in broken english. I can't stress enough how cool the people are here, they are interested in me, but are always very polite and respectful. Old men lying on the sidewalks will yell out HALLO! the girls, who are some of the most beautiful i've ever seen, will accidentally always make eye contact with me then quickly look away. When i look back over my shoulder i'll usually catch em twice.

2006-08-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

My first full day in Nanjing was amazing. I was up at 4a.m. due to jet lag but I don't regret it at all. It's the best time to be outside because of the heat that takes over the city aroud 7 a.m. I decided to go wandering without my camera(dumb). The city never sleeps. I stumbled upon the ccenter for physical education near the university and the basketball courts(about 10 of em) we're packed with teenagers playing old school hoops. Basketball has exploded in China thanks to Yao Ming. Oh yeah i forgot to mention i was seated with the French National team on my flight into nanjing. Dad you'll be proud that I striked up a conversation with what i think was the assistant coach.

After finding my landmark, One of the tallest skyscapers in the city which happens to be a block south of my hotel, i headed back to my room to find a couple of aussies and a guy from ATL. There in the same program as i'm in.

A super nice aussie girl, whose name I can't remember for some reason, (i hope she never reads this) asked me to show her around so we spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the underground shopping malls. It's the best place to stay cool unless you wanna pay 100 yen to sit in a 5 star pizza hut.

In the evening all of the teachers at the hotel were picked up at the hotel and brought to the main education office on the 26th floor. Thats where I had my first ,and hopefully last interview. As soon as he saw my pasport photo he asked me, in a very serious was if I have ever done drugs... Anyway I signed my contract fopr 3500 yen a month. On monday i start my training and at 5p.m. I will be sent to my homestay where i'll be living with a family in the city. In exchange for 2 hours of mandarin I will be teaching their child 2 hours of english, when i'll have any free time during the week i don't really know.

The evening was the best part of the day. A couple of us went to an aussie bar and a few beers, (30 cents for a huge bottle). After a couple drinks I had another early night and almost burnt down my room trying to plug in my razor(sparks flying smoke etc.)
No plans for the weekend , just walking down these streets is sufficient entertainment.

2006-08-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Nanjing yesterday to find a man holding up a sign with my name on it. I said hello and he flipped the sign over. "I don't speak english. Maggie says welcome. Follow me please". Traffic in Nanjing is INSANE. My driver continously laid on the horn, dogging mopeds and bicycles as I tried to play it cool. This city is amazing, every skyscraper is halfway under construction and the streets are packed with people. it's hot here, and I mean hot, a type of heat and humidity that i've never witnessed. I will be posting pictures tonight as there is a line-up forming behind me for the communal hotel computer. Send e-mails, I realize you must sign up for this site to add comments so please send e-mails, can't wait to hear from anyone.

2006-08-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

Last night i arrived in Nanjing at about 4 p.m. local time. It is hot, really hot. When i got through customs I was greeted by a man holding up my name on a piece of paper. I walked up to him and said hello. He calmly turned the other side of the paper over and it read " I don't speak english. Maggie says hi. Follow me please". My first taste of Chinese traffic was shocking. There literally are no rules. I saw an old van going about 30km/h in reverse on the highway because he mised the turnoff. People don't signal and you are constantly swerving around mopeds and bicycles. Nanjing actually looks alot like edmonton on the outskirts of the city. pretty flat and not much to see. The city itself is amazing. Did i mention it's hot. Stupid hot. Every Skyscraper seems to be half way under construction. I will post up pictures very soon once I figure out this hotel computer. Does anyone know how to clean a lens? ... I got sand in it. please send e-=mails, i realise you have to sign up for this blog site to add comments so it's kinida of a hassel. Can't wait to hear from anyone.

2006-07-30T02:14:00.000-07:00

FOR SALE!!
2000 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8turbo
Must Sell! Moving to China
Will be sold by august 6th
Asking 13 000$

2006-07-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

Random extreme bike pics.
Attacking the mean streets of Mill Hoods.
Still the best thing to do on a saturday night in Edmonton.

2006-07-24T00:31:00.000-07:00

Myself and a couple friends from my TESOL class got together today at a great vietnamese restaurant on the south side. John (blue shirt/halarious) was planning on teaching in Japan but found a job in central China instead. He's in the same boat as i'm in, still waiting for his chinese visa to come in the mail. Considering the embassy is only in Calgary it is kind of a hassle. Cindy (beige shirt/super cute) has China in her top 3 choices, but is still undecided. She's a real cool girl and was the one who planned the get together. The other two, Marianne and Joe, decided to drive down to Honduras for an ESL job. They plan on driving down in their unreliable van, with hitchhiking as a back-up plan. I hope to keep in contact with all of them. John and Cindy we gotta have a night on the town, or village.

2006-07-24T00:23:00.000-07:00

Here's my buddy Eric holding a bunny I almost crushed to death by accident. Good thing I heard it crying or else it woulda been pretty messy.

2006-07-20T03:31:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I got pickpocketed on our last night in vancouver. I had to file a police report so I could get on the plane, it really made the last day kind of stressful. Anyway this is a shot I got of two crackheads about to throw down on our way to the pigstation, which happened to be on east hastings (which defenetly lived up to it's reputation, and I thought the 118 was hardcore). I know he's smiling but trust me these guys were pissed off at each other. The dude in the grey hoody landed a swift kick to the ribs right as our cabbie drove off.

2006-07-20T03:10:00.000-07:00

Just another Van pic. We all got to enjoy Dan's delicious homemade dessert before the flight.

2006-07-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

I'm set to arrive in Nanjing august 10, it's there where i'll take a 2 week training course and then they'll send me off to 1 of 6 cities in the province of Jiangsu. I'm extremely nervous but I need a change, a big change, and whats bigger than moving to the other side of the world. I really hope I can pull off this whole teaching thing. I know these students have a lot of pressure put on them to succeed and I'll try not to let them down.

2006-07-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Another halarious pic from vancouver (Darren a couple hours after getting to our hotel). I think this is gonna be my last liver punishing trip of my life.

2006-07-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

The Nightshift crew. I've been working different laborer jobs since my 18 birthday. I've learned alot from different co-workers, the crazy newfies at Derrick Concrete, the crazy Italians at the crap plant, and these crazy s.o.b.'s. I am hoping to go back to school when I get back from China though. The biggest lesson i've learned is life's alot harder without an education.

2006-07-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the best pics I took from Vancouver. It was an awesome trip, my first plane ride was a breeze. Soon after I took this picture I backsteped into a puddle of sewage that was lingering around a plugged drain. Luckily there was a cool janitor power washing some windows who offered to clean my shoes off (suede no less).