Since I will not have consistent access to this site (blogspot is blocked in China), I have started a new blog on wordpress.
You can follow my new blog at:
http://markincanton.wordpress.com/
Also, you can view my constantly updated photo album of this year here:
http://photobucket.com/markschinaphotos
As for now, I guess this blog will be abandoned. This blog was for my first trip in China anyway, but now I am on a new, different experience here. A new trip, a new blog.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Backpack's Back
Well, some good news now. While I was out walking the other morning, Susan gave me a call to tell me that the airport now had my luggage ready to be picked up. I walked back to the school and met Susan and a driver at the front gate, and we took a van to drive to the airport.
I am so very relieved to have that back in my possession, as I had quite a few important and convenient things packed in there.
The day before I got my backpack, Susan took me down the street to help me buy a SIM card for a cell phone. Another English teacher Lilian has given me her spare cell phone to use now, and I just had to buy a new SIM card to put in it. It's a simple, basic phone but it works fine. Not sure if I will buy a new phone sometime, but if I do I can just swap the SIM card over to the new one.
Yesterday I finally ventured down into the city. I can take a bus right in front of my school that takes me several miles down to a subway station for only 2 RMB (or about 30 cents). When I got to the subway, I just picked a random place on the line to go that might take me somewhere to the denser city, and paid 5 rmb. I got out and walked around a bit and found a good view of the Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower, which is the 2nd tallest building in the world currently, so I took a couple photos.
I was getting pretty hungry and looked for a place to eat. I saw McDonalds and KFC upon exiting the subway but wanted to avoid them for a number of reasons. I ended up walking down a random off-street and found a little restaurant with a photo menu on the wall, I pointed to a dish that looked appetizing and sat to wait. I'm pretty sure it was some kind of Chinese Muslim restaurant, as there was a little bit of Arabic script on the walls and the Chinese woman working there had some kind of headdress. The food was delicious - a plate of homemade noodles topped with diced tomatoes and egg - very filling.
As for eating around my neighborhood, I discovered a little restaurant that sells dumplings, so I've been eating there quite often now. The dumplings are delicious and they sell 10 of them for 3 RMB, or about 50 cents.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Made it to Guangzhou
After 4 airports, 3 flights, and about 20 hours of flying, I finally made it to Guangzhou.
One bit of bad news: I lost my one big check-in luggage backpack! Somewhere along the way it must have been misplaced or something, because the last time I saw it was in St Louis, and I never saw it at baggage claim in Guangzhou. I filed a report at the airport and a teacher at my school, Susan, is talking to the people at the airport to find out the status of my luggage. I really hope I can get it back eventually, I have some important things in there.
The teacher Susan came to pick me up at the airport and take me to the school the night I arrived. She gave me my apartment key and led me to my 10th floor single apartment where I finally got some sleep after all the flying. Though it needs some moderate cleaning, my apartment is pretty nice. I can see Baiyun Mountain from my back patio.
Guangzhou is pretty hot and humid, but it's nothing I'm not use to after being in Missouri the past month or so. Besides the warm temperatures, I was expecting the air pollution to be pretty awful, with Guangzhou being China's third largest city. However, so far the air seems pretty good, at least in my region - I live in Baiyun District, up north aways from the city center. Instead of the pollution being all-present, it seems to come in bursts, like when a big truck passes by or you walk by a small factory.
Yesterday, Susan and Lilian (the English speaking teachers), the school headmaster, and a couple other school officials and I went down the street to eat lunch at a Hakka restaurant. Like many nice Chinese restaurants, we had our own private dining room and sat around a table with a big lazy-susan that the waitresses set different dishes on, including roast goose, chicken, bamboo chutes and other things along with Hakka wine, which is a stange drink that's like a sweet, moderately alcoholic cooking sauce.
I've been taking some photos, but since my camera cable is with my lost luggage, I can't upload any photos yet. I really hope they can find it and send it to Guangzhou soon.
One bit of bad news: I lost my one big check-in luggage backpack! Somewhere along the way it must have been misplaced or something, because the last time I saw it was in St Louis, and I never saw it at baggage claim in Guangzhou. I filed a report at the airport and a teacher at my school, Susan, is talking to the people at the airport to find out the status of my luggage. I really hope I can get it back eventually, I have some important things in there.
The teacher Susan came to pick me up at the airport and take me to the school the night I arrived. She gave me my apartment key and led me to my 10th floor single apartment where I finally got some sleep after all the flying. Though it needs some moderate cleaning, my apartment is pretty nice. I can see Baiyun Mountain from my back patio.
Guangzhou is pretty hot and humid, but it's nothing I'm not use to after being in Missouri the past month or so. Besides the warm temperatures, I was expecting the air pollution to be pretty awful, with Guangzhou being China's third largest city. However, so far the air seems pretty good, at least in my region - I live in Baiyun District, up north aways from the city center. Instead of the pollution being all-present, it seems to come in bursts, like when a big truck passes by or you walk by a small factory.
Yesterday, Susan and Lilian (the English speaking teachers), the school headmaster, and a couple other school officials and I went down the street to eat lunch at a Hakka restaurant. Like many nice Chinese restaurants, we had our own private dining room and sat around a table with a big lazy-susan that the waitresses set different dishes on, including roast goose, chicken, bamboo chutes and other things along with Hakka wine, which is a stange drink that's like a sweet, moderately alcoholic cooking sauce.
I've been taking some photos, but since my camera cable is with my lost luggage, I can't upload any photos yet. I really hope they can find it and send it to Guangzhou soon.
Monday, August 16, 2010
So I've decided to go back...
好久不见 - Long time no see. I stopped writing in this blog last year when my semester living and teaching in China ended (and also when China decided to block access to blogspot during the last few weeks of my stay...ugh)
So why am I writing here again? Well, I've decided to go back to China! I had such an interesting experience last year that I wanted to come back and spend a little more time in the area.
So why China? Again? Well, why not? I graduated from college and need something to do next. I don't want to go to grad school yet, as I'm a bit burnt out on school at the moment and need a good break (plus I don't know what I want to do yet）. And with this economy, there's not much right now for English majors fresh out of school, so I might as well go teach abroad. I'll be experiencing an interesting part of the world, continuing my education in a sense, and getting paid for it.
So what exactly will I be doing and where will I be? I accepted a job in Guangzhou to teach English to 12-14 year-olds. Like the last time I taught in China, the kids already have some understanding of English and have been learning it from their Chinese teachers for years, but my job is to give them experience listening and speaking with a native English speaker. The school I'm working for is providing me with a single apartment on campus to live in.
Guangzhou (known in the West as Canton) is the capital of Guangdong province. Last year I was in the small town of 五华 (Wuhua) in the east part of Guangdong province, and now I will be in the big city, closer to Hong Kong.
My departure date is just about here, Tuesday, August 17th. I have three separate flights: St Louis to New York, NYC to Shanghai, and Shanghai to Guangzhou. It's about 20 hours or so of flying, plus the time zone change. I leave STL at around 11 am on Tuesday, and I arrive in Guangzhou at 11 pm on Wednesday.
I'm looking forward to this crazy adventure. And like last time, there will be lots of photos...
So why am I writing here again? Well, I've decided to go back to China! I had such an interesting experience last year that I wanted to come back and spend a little more time in the area.
So why China? Again? Well, why not? I graduated from college and need something to do next. I don't want to go to grad school yet, as I'm a bit burnt out on school at the moment and need a good break (plus I don't know what I want to do yet）. And with this economy, there's not much right now for English majors fresh out of school, so I might as well go teach abroad. I'll be experiencing an interesting part of the world, continuing my education in a sense, and getting paid for it.
So what exactly will I be doing and where will I be? I accepted a job in Guangzhou to teach English to 12-14 year-olds. Like the last time I taught in China, the kids already have some understanding of English and have been learning it from their Chinese teachers for years, but my job is to give them experience listening and speaking with a native English speaker. The school I'm working for is providing me with a single apartment on campus to live in.
Guangzhou (known in the West as Canton) is the capital of Guangdong province. Last year I was in the small town of 五华 (Wuhua) in the east part of Guangdong province, and now I will be in the big city, closer to Hong Kong.
My departure date is just about here, Tuesday, August 17th. I have three separate flights: St Louis to New York, NYC to Shanghai, and Shanghai to Guangzhou. It's about 20 hours or so of flying, plus the time zone change. I leave STL at around 11 am on Tuesday, and I arrive in Guangzhou at 11 pm on Wednesday.
I'm looking forward to this crazy adventure. And like last time, there will be lots of photos...
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Video
Not sure if anyone out there is still checking and reading this blog, but for you brave few here is a video compilation of some of the short video clips I took while I was in China.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4bCZtKGysc
And also I made a short song not too long ago using some photos I took
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IDgA3HCWjg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4bCZtKGysc
And also I made a short song not too long ago using some photos I took
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IDgA3HCWjg
Monday, June 1, 2009
Sorry for the hiatus...
Sorry for the long, unexpected hiatus from posting on here. Soon after I returned from my previous 4 day visit to Hong Kong, I came back to China and noticed that I could not access my blog. Everytime I tried to go to the address, that infamous "Page Not Found" error appeared as it does for Youtube, The Huffington Post, The New York Times site, or any other site the Chinese government deems unsuitable.
It wasn't just my site that was blocked, but the entirety of blogspot, so I could not access my friends' or my little brother's site either. Speaking of which, check out David's blog - he's staying in Mexico for several weeks this summer.
www.couchinmexico.blogspot.com
Anyway, theres a lot of stuff I can probably catch up on later, but today I fly out in a few hours for home. I am a bit excited, although kind of sad to leave so soon. I hope I can return to visit or possibly work here again for a short time.
I'm currently in Hong Kong now, which is why I can access this site now. We got in on the bus in the afternoon yesterday. Someone on our bus was carrying some Hakka wine in their bag in the storage below that broke, so when we unloaded at the stop we noticed that parts of our bags were wet and smelled funny. I recognized it as that Hakka wine stuff I've tried a couple times. I never really liked it to begin with, as it's a weird tasting wine that's a bit similar to barbeque sauce in taste, so now I really hate it as it got into my new sleeping bag that was strapped on the outside of my backpack...ugh. I washed it at the hotel last night, so I think I got most of the stain/smell out, but I guess I'll clean it when I get back.
The highlight of last night was getting to see the Hong Kong light show, something they do here every night at 8pm. I hadn't had a chance to see it on my other trips here, so I figured I better get down on my last night to see it. It was very cool, and I recommend you look up some videos of it or something to get an idea of what it involves, although I'm sure it won't do it justice.
Anyway, I'll try to do some catching up later - I posted a new link to another Facebook photo album on the right, so check that out.
Alright, I have to catch a flight in a bit...
It wasn't just my site that was blocked, but the entirety of blogspot, so I could not access my friends' or my little brother's site either. Speaking of which, check out David's blog - he's staying in Mexico for several weeks this summer.
www.couchinmexico.blogspot.com
Anyway, theres a lot of stuff I can probably catch up on later, but today I fly out in a few hours for home. I am a bit excited, although kind of sad to leave so soon. I hope I can return to visit or possibly work here again for a short time.
I'm currently in Hong Kong now, which is why I can access this site now. We got in on the bus in the afternoon yesterday. Someone on our bus was carrying some Hakka wine in their bag in the storage below that broke, so when we unloaded at the stop we noticed that parts of our bags were wet and smelled funny. I recognized it as that Hakka wine stuff I've tried a couple times. I never really liked it to begin with, as it's a weird tasting wine that's a bit similar to barbeque sauce in taste, so now I really hate it as it got into my new sleeping bag that was strapped on the outside of my backpack...ugh. I washed it at the hotel last night, so I think I got most of the stain/smell out, but I guess I'll clean it when I get back.
The highlight of last night was getting to see the Hong Kong light show, something they do here every night at 8pm. I hadn't had a chance to see it on my other trips here, so I figured I better get down on my last night to see it. It was very cool, and I recommend you look up some videos of it or something to get an idea of what it involves, although I'm sure it won't do it justice.
Anyway, I'll try to do some catching up later - I posted a new link to another Facebook photo album on the right, so check that out.
Alright, I have to catch a flight in a bit...
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Hong Kong day 2
Yesterday, Day 2, was the day we set out to take care of our visa requirements to be able to reenter and live in China for the last few weeks. We woke up early around 5:30 am and set out for Hong Kong Island from the express train that runs near our hotel near the airport. We got into town in the right neighborhood and found the building and eventually the office, but it was closed. We were kind of worried so we went up to this other immigration office with a huge line but I asked and it turned out to be just for Hong Kong, and they told us to go back to the Chinese one. We walked back thinking we had just got there too early and to our luck we got back and were about 3rd in line. After running through hoops and waiting around an hour, filling out some paperwork, ect, we found out that we did not need to renew our visas after all, since they are multiple entry visas to begin with. Ah well, at least we didn't waste our whole day doing this, and it's good to know or else we'd have to have waited until Monday to pick up our new visas, when we're supposed to be back Sunday to the school. But all is well and we are good to go. The trip to Hong Kong was still necessary because we have to exit and reenter China to reset our visa's 90-day-stay limit.
We ended up walking and taking the train around the city for the whole day, first going through another street market area that wasn't as good as the one yesterday. We just started walking and then found one of the cool parks in the city that contained a free plant conservatory and a free birdhouse to walk through, and a Greek style Olympic theatre/arena where people were taking some wedding photos. We found a Subway so I ordered a meatball sub and ate at a small park across the street.
EDIT:
I can't believe I forgot to mention this when I typed this post earlier today, but the coolest part of yesterday was probably when we both went to a beach and swam in the ocean - well, actually the South China Sea, but it still counts. It was really awesome and the scenery was great, and the water was obviously very salty.
Later on we went to the Walled City Park, which is a Walled-City Park, not just a Walled City-Park - sort of an historic park about an old part of the area that was a walled city.
For dinner we wanted to try some Japanese food so we went downtown and found a decent Sushi place. I only had sushi one time before so I didn't know what to get and nothing seemed too appetizing, but I got a couple of things and it was actually pretty good, and much cheaper than an equivalent sushi place in the US. Afterwards we decided to go see a movie at this huge shopping center place. We saw the new X-Men Origins Wolverine movie, and it was pretty good for a pulp action film. Afterwards walking back we found a street DVD dealer selling movies outside of the subway entrance, so I bought 3 movies for 50 HK Dollars - the X-Men movie I just watched, W. , and Slumdog Millionaire. I haven't seen Slumdog yet but I've heard it's pretty good, so I picked it up.
Today we are going to Macau and getting there from a ferry in the city.
We ended up walking and taking the train around the city for the whole day, first going through another street market area that wasn't as good as the one yesterday. We just started walking and then found one of the cool parks in the city that contained a free plant conservatory and a free birdhouse to walk through, and a Greek style Olympic theatre/arena where people were taking some wedding photos. We found a Subway so I ordered a meatball sub and ate at a small park across the street.
EDIT:
I can't believe I forgot to mention this when I typed this post earlier today, but the coolest part of yesterday was probably when we both went to a beach and swam in the ocean - well, actually the South China Sea, but it still counts. It was really awesome and the scenery was great, and the water was obviously very salty.
Later on we went to the Walled City Park, which is a Walled-City Park, not just a Walled City-Park - sort of an historic park about an old part of the area that was a walled city.
For dinner we wanted to try some Japanese food so we went downtown and found a decent Sushi place. I only had sushi one time before so I didn't know what to get and nothing seemed too appetizing, but I got a couple of things and it was actually pretty good, and much cheaper than an equivalent sushi place in the US. Afterwards we decided to go see a movie at this huge shopping center place. We saw the new X-Men Origins Wolverine movie, and it was pretty good for a pulp action film. Afterwards walking back we found a street DVD dealer selling movies outside of the subway entrance, so I bought 3 movies for 50 HK Dollars - the X-Men movie I just watched, W. , and Slumdog Millionaire. I haven't seen Slumdog yet but I've heard it's pretty good, so I picked it up.
Today we are going to Macau and getting there from a ferry in the city.
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