I slipped and fell on adventure

And just when I thought there were inefficiencies in China… I got my medical done… Yes, literally, the most efficient medical I’ve ever had done. There was no waiting in a waiting room. No waiting for one procedure, then heading to another building for the next, across the city for EKG and then back to where you started to collect your results. But shall we begin at the beginning? So, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned before but I’ve been offered, and accepted, a 12 month contract here in Tangshan. The salary is MUCH improved to the internship allowance, so I should be able to save, and also see much more of China, and hopefully Tibet (a different country depending on your interpretation) and Mongolia. As part of the rather extensive VISA process, you need to get a thorough medical done in house (aka in China… I don’t know if they don’t trust the one I got in Australia, but who am I to query) Having now had said ‘medical’ I concede its far more extensive than any I’ve had ...

So… an interesting night in my hotel, bed was relatively comfortable, but because all of the  rooms are ‘feel free to smoke’, there was a stale scent of cigarettes in the sheets and pillows, so no pillow snuggling for me! I got up early, pulled open the curtains and was delighted to see a clear blue sky shining back at me. “You lucky duck!” I said to myself and jumped in the shower with its giant shower head for a quick morning treat. I was so excited to get on the train and start my mountain adventure! I do, however, wish I’d have brought my warm and cosy hiking boots from home in Australia, instead I was wearing slip ons with no socks, to which many a person commented, pointed and guffawed given it was only 2 degrees. I decided to ignore the chill that was creeping into my bare ankles and carry on the journey with optimism. Give  n it had started out so terribly, I was certain all would go swimmingly from here on in.  A hop, skip and a jump on the trai...

Quick weekend escape to Beijing. No great adventure planned, just Sunlitan, some food, some wine and catch up with a new friend I met at orientation. Has been four months since we saw one another, but during that one week we seemed to click. I adopted her as my little sister and I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to be a long friendship indeed. Her name is Ashleigh. So, Friday post my 2pm class (which wasn’t overly taxing, I popped on the Disney version of A Christmas Carol for the kids and sat down the back enjoying their reactions) Robyn and I jumped on the bullet train heading into Beijing. 1 hour trip, I should come here more often once I start getting paid a normal salary. Stayed in the same hostel as last time, same issue as well… the room was uncomfortably hot, I’ll go so far as to say stinking hot… and its wasn’t that cold outside… there was no justsification for the temperature. We didn’t really want to open the window given there was a red alert for pollution ...