I slipped and fell on adventure

I’ve mentioned feeling a bit disillusioned with many of the ‘historical’ places I’ve seen so far  in China, primarily because those I’ve been fortunate enough to see were ‘restored’ in the 80’s during the Cultural Revolution and much of the sense of history swept away with the dust of new concrete. My new contract means that I’ll be back to a semi nine to five resulting in a more restricted travel time line, so I figured why not make the most of Beijing, being only an hour away. So, I spent some time putting together a wee spreadsheet of everything off the beaten track in and around Beijing. I want to see something that other travellers might miss, something that the government may not have gotten to, something authentic. I n amongst all of this included the World Park and 798 Art District. My friend, Mark, was heading back to Ireland so I thought it a good way to say farewell by taking him to some unusual spots, and a nice way for me to start 2017. Unfortunately, Ma...

Its been difficult, after how many years (lets not get into specifics) of working 7.30 – 5/6pm,  Monday to Friday, to get used to Friday afternoon being advised you may be doing 8am, or 2pm… or nothing one day, then a plethora of different classes the next day. Saturday is now Friday and Saturday, Sunday – who knows where Wednesday has gone. China… in my experience… sometimes lacks the level of communication between departments that I’ve become accustomed to, so I have needed to also get used to not knowing which class and what level I’ll be teaching from week to week. Well, I was after a bit of diversity in my career, and I’ve certainly gotten more than I bargained for. When I first considered doing TEFL I was so excited to teach wee ones, I envisaged myself surrounded by five years olds, creating dramatic stories about unicorns and panda’s and their journey to distant planets… I think its been clearly established that this is not where I landed. So… you can imagine m...

So it was Christmas, a time for giving… a time for sharing… unfortunately, I think I may have unwittingly given… shared… too much… As a treat I showed my high school students a movie for their 40 minute class, and yes, maybe a treat for me. One class watched Scrooge, another… Guardians of the Galaxy, another R.I.P.D…. and for my favourites, THE CONJURING (they like a horror film, and watching it with them was like a rollercoaster! At some point the screams and ooo’s and aaaa’s resulted in other teachers running in to my class to make sure nothing was going awry). You’d think THE CONJURING was the most controversial moment of this years teaching experience (my favourite scene where a girl is swung across the room by an unseen ghost  while her father tries to grab and stop her!), and, if I were you, I’d think there was a line being crossed in allowing 15 year olds to watch an excellent, possibly one of the best, horror films… but I am not you, I am me, and I am the one who t...

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 ...