China - Day 96

Lunch with Steve and Tim today

China - Day 95

The traditional methods of teaching are started at an early age

I suppose it all depends what angle you take on education

China - Day 94

Wednesday night down the Jinzhou night market

lots of pretty lights

lots of nice things to eat if you know what you're ordering

lots of nice things to eat if you don't look at them too closely before they're cooked

China - Day 93

Lazy day in and around the University campus

A couple of beggars today and a busker on the streets of Jinzhou

China - Day 92

Lazy start to the day. Went to the train station to pick up tickets for Beijing next month and there was a bit of bovver on the bus

Then I got a bit lost on the buses coming back home

China - Day 91

A dry and dusty morning

I enjoyed some hilarious packaging in breaktime afternoon

China - Day 90

Full day teaching today at the LingHe branch

China - Day 89

Overnight trip from Beijing back to Jinzhou

From the tropical to the arid

Left Angeles City 1400
Arrived Manila airport 1700
Flight departure 2000
Flight arrival in Beijing 0100
Train from Beijing 0400
Worked today from 1130 - 1600

China - Day 88 - Philippines

Last game of pool

Taxi to Manila *see footnote

Through lots of different and colourful streets

*footnote

China - Day 87 - Philippines

Another hot and cloudy day. Went to the mall to experience some aircon

Before some serious relaxation at the pool

Which turned into a wings and pizza buffet evening

China - Day 86 - Philippines

Went downtown for brunch

Then went to help Jennifer with flat-hunting

Lots of transport opportunities in Angeles City

Didn't find a flat but found a dinner venue

China - Day 85 - Philippines

Long trip to Angeles City to meet up with my penpal Jennifer

Met in McDo at SM Mall

China - Day 84

Last day teaching before flying out to the Philippines

China - Day 83

Early start to teach Saturday morning classes. Stopped in the Wonderful Popland for a coffee first thing (vid).

Admired the company logo (vid)

then went to Wallmart to buy some things in preparation for my trip to the Philippines tomorrow. Witnessed a shopping frenzy (vid)

China - Day 82

Spring and sprung

China - Day 81

Promotional event today - lots of balloons to give away to the children - but when we got to the school it had closed for the day because there was no water supply - so we just gave the balloons away to Jo Public

Everyone on the street got a balloon - as did people passing in their cars and bicycyles and people selling on the pavement

China - Day 80

Had our Wednesday morning meeting as usual with the local teachers and Phil received his new summer uniform there so later he was able to proudly model in the mirror for himself

China - Day 79

Unusually, it was raining today and so I stayed in until it was time for the office party!

Most of the ShiYan posse was there and good fun was had by all when we sat down to eat.

The silkworm were OK - just like crisps - and the silver foil dish of baked chestnuts that had been marinated in a meaty broth was OK until I knew they were chicken's stomachs and then I didn't want any more

So we got to the end of the meal and had to play 'spin the spoon' before going off to the KTV (karaoke)

China - Day 78

Recording sessions for the Reach Out project at Steve's apartment. Took the bus

In the evening we rewarded ourselves with a trip to the bath house

China - Day 77

A day full of classes

including a maths lesson

China - Day 76

Selling fruit the old-fashioned way

China - Day 75

China - Day 74

China - Day 73

One-to-one tuition in English grammar

The traditional grammar translation method

China - Day 72

Worked on the Reach Out project in the morning and then took the bus into town to buy a train ticket
On the way back the sun was shining and it was a warm day so I stopped off at a park festival to watch some disco dancing

and to watch some serious dominoes

and to watch a folk story set to music and singing

China - Day 71

Day 71 - Worked with Steve a very full half day on the Reach Out audio project singing songs and reciting chants and dialogues after we had spent the early morning with a Chinese plumber under the sink (vid).

China - Day 70

Problems cooking the breakfast pancake in the morning (vid)

. Went back to Shark Park in the afternoon to teach some experiments in English with a Chinese translation and the other way round including the power of compressed air using a low tech compressor (vid)

and including a dodgy analogy for how detergent allows oil and water to mix (vid)

China - Day 69

Just found a clip from the local school trip the other day - one of the things I had to do with the children was to cluster round the stove (vid) and recite the story of Goldilocks in English with all the actions. They understood the actions!

Today I had a day off teaching and spent the day on the Reach Out project then had a meal with Steve in the Sichuan restaurant across the street from the compound (vid)

China - Day 68