Guess what I bought today?

135mm
28mm from bedroom window
local street stall, plenty green veges
hand held shot with Image Stabiliser (IS)


Pay day, first since arriving.......Tempted by the best offer this side of the Great Wall, I decided to buy Luke's Canon EOS 400D camera body, an upgrade from the Pentax I sold before leaving for China, especially at the price. He was buying a new camera (bigger body) so we went off to make our purchases somewhere off the metro. He bought a camera, I bought a 28-135 zoom lens. Lei is great at bargaining (i am going to commission her for my apartment search in October!) so we got a great price. Photos above are the test shots. It's good to be working with someone who loves photography, hopefully i will get back into photography, not just taking photos.
Lei and her mum (visiting from the Philippines) came too, lunch at Macas ( a treat for all) and then clothes shopping. I bought a pair of shorts (my other pair is too tight around the middle!) and a black pair of Crocs (@25Y they are a steal...or stolen or a great fake).
I paid the rent, had dinner out, bought a couple of DVDs and that was my day off. Back to school tomorrow.

Luke is the boss, the Director of Studies (DOS) and Lei is the Senior Teacher (and she and Luke are married).

Business as usual

the traditional Chinese herbal "cure" for the cold, drink hot like herbal tea

Billy taking his turn in the "swimming" class
A youngster playing sax outside a musical instrument store- a rather beautiful rendition of "edelweiss " to an audience of parents and locals
traffic jam on Saturday night en route between school and home

Small Stars Life Club with David the TA, Robin, Sophie,Carmilla, Von, Monkey (Carol), Jacky, Billy, Leigh


Well, business as usual, not long to the Olympic kickoff and not much longer before I head home for a while pending release from TAFE and Chinese visa being granted. I'm already being considered as a full time staff member with some very pleasing feedback about my teaching. Maybe I should have stuck with my first decision to do early childhood teaching way back in 1977! You get there in the end it seems.

Looking forward to Wednesday, day off with a journey to a great place for shopping in Shenzhen. Luke and Lei are taking me so we can look at cameras and lenses. ( yeh, i know I just sold mine but I have a urge to get back into photography especially as Luke is an enthusiast and has a good contact). Not only do I get to see a bit more of the area, I can also see what I have to look forward to when I come back. ( I can bring less clothes and more books!)

Not much news or amazing events to report, just business as usual. Stay tuned.

A little bit of excitement

Small stars 3-4 yrs young learn about football (Sunday morning)
The elusive China Post, 2 minutes from my apartment!
A little bit of China without the high rise, 5 mins from home
5 minutes later, a fire engine was turning into our driveway (below)
Partway down from the 25th
residents watching the flashing lights and pouring water from 15th floor

Hi all,

Wednesday, my day off. This was to be a lazy day with a sleep in to try and outwit a brewing headcold. I tried some of that wonder honey to scare off the cold, hope it works. Finally went out for a short walk to the elusive post office which as it turns out was under my nose the whole time around the corner disguised as yet another large shop. A couple of souvenir Olympic Post cards and a short wait to post them (Armstrongs and cafe 23) in airconditioned comfort.

I decided to lengthen my walk and look in some shops I haven't seen before and located a camera I was asked to look out for. A fruitful expedition which also netted the local swimming pool (handy as I have to talk about swimming with them , now I know where some of them go)

a couple of papaya and the ATM to take out RMB pay my electricity bill.

I was half expecting a phone call to play badminton with our centre manager but she wasn't sure if she would get back from Guanghou in time ( I didn't get the call which is just as well-I would have missed the excitement.)

I'd been taking some photos of an almost cloudless sky out of my window then decided to check my emails. A few minutes later a roar of sirens and a fire engine turning down our road then into our driveway - no fire sirens in house so people stuck heads out of windows and balconies to see what was going on.

Then I heard an announcement which was not in English , I think it was in airport speaker language (almost undecipherable) and decided if it meant everything is OK, and I left I could get some supplies and if it meant please leave in an orderly fashion I would be best assuming to go down 25 flights. Others also seemed uncertain (and they looked like they should have understood the announcement!) and by the 20th floor plenty of activity could be heard, including pouring or gushing water, by the 15th floor the stairwell was wet and firemen were going and coming. The external exit door was locked, luckily there was an alternative safe exit and we stood in the foyer watching water pouring down from above. "Kwai dien" ( quickly) says a security man, ushering us past the wall to the outdoors.

I gave up and had dinner nearby, a noodle soup and lemon tea for the huge sum of 15 yuan (2 dollars), makes up for teh days I am indulgent.

When I got back the building was safe but the queue for teh lifts was huge so I decided to test my legs on the 25 flights of stairs. In 85% humidity I think I have sweated out the cold surely, dripping with sweat at the 25th floor, not to mention sounding like a puffing billy steam train I did it! I'd better set two alarms for the morning.

Oh, I also sent off an email to English First to accept their offer of a 12 month contract from late October ( have to fit in a 6 week holiday with friends in Chile, Peru and Bolivia before that).

Pending leave without pay from work and the granting of a working visa, Shenzhen 3 Kids school you have to put up with me for a while yet.

Nothing much happens and I can still take up so much of your time in reading this. Now to try and correct some of the typos but I will leave some of my trademarks in.

I don't think I have chased off my head cold, I'll have to keep my distance tomorrow.

Thursday's trivia

Hiya,
You can all stop looking for an affordable toaster costing less than a Chinese bicycle...found one, made in China (toaster not bike). I can now add variety to breakfasts with toast or quick cheese on toast snacks, to supplement Rice Bubbles or Cornflakes and yogurt. To go on my toast I have a berry style red jam "cupie jam" which Jen, Deb, Hoa, Catherine will know from Chinese breakfast options. I found some wholemeal bread ( unsweetened) and invested in the nicest honey I have tasted in ages. On a "gut feeling" I bought some Chinese Xin Zhi Yuan Bee Product with dichotomous factor (?!). The box indicates that it is "Produced under strict biological technological process." Its also good for the young, the middle aged (oh hello pick me) and the elderly-not quite yet thanks. It's an ideal choice for those who overeat spicy food, stay up late and an antidote to a whole gruesome description of digestive ailments. It's really runny so I think it will escape my toast but all the honey was runny (I think they use it for drink additive not food topping). Its 88% something...10% natural honey and 1% each from lotus seed and leaf. A bigger adventure than imported French runny honey for a similar price. It cost 1/3rd of the toaster so I hope I haven't blown my hard earned RMB. I could always follow the drinking instructions and add to tea or water. Stay tuned, I'll let you know.... on more strange food adventures.

Forgot to say two new Foreign teachers started this week, 2 guys from Canada adding a new dynamic to the teachers' office with 4 foreign teachers + DOS and 3 local teachers creating a traffic jam at times and some creative scheduling for similar resources. With all of us teaching at once the centre is fairly lively with good natured noise and cries of no Chinese, this is an English school!

Cheers.

A drinkable GreatWall Cab Sav? read on

Shenzhen is a seaside port
A huge thick Mango juice
dinner, all gone
domestic-hanging up washing on small balcony

teaching 4-5 y old small stars (Chinese TA to help with language)
1995 vintage
on yer bike, on my ride to the port area (about 3km)
yummy
Fishing fleet surrounded by building sites

Not a lots happened since the last posting.

Teaching, a bit of light (OK lazy) gym work, eating in and sampling wine from Argentine and lo and behold - a drinkable Great Wall Cab Sav (1995) for 75RMB, comparable with imported wine of same price bracket. The cheapest Aussie wine I have seen so far is around 105RMB (divide by 7 to convert to AUD) and decided I'd rather continue the adventure by tasting the unknown...

Teaching graduated from easy good fun with rewarding students through to having to work the room quite hard to get some input from students (the "whatever" and if its not a computer game, don't bother me ! age group).

Reward for that is a day off. A short sleep in, a reasonable bike ride to the see the HouHai Sea and look longingly at Hong Kong where my visa doesn't allow me to go! Oh forgot to add I visited the Decathlon sports store ( I knew it was a bad move, so many lovely things including some bikes that look much less China Domestic and way more comfortable for a westerner to ride. )Bought a pair of mountain bike shorts, making my ride a whole lot more comfortable. I just can not get the seat high enough for good leg extension so without gears I feel like i am pedalling a minibike. Definitely will be selling it off at the end of my contract to a person more suited to a Domestic model bike - No need to worry Friday, a six km ride on China bike is equivalent to 60km on Bike Friday for discomfort!

I got to the sea, saw some of the fishing fleet, the origins of Shenzhen until 25 years ago and then evaded a circling thunder storm, escaping with damp but not soggy clothing.

I have eaten my way around Shenzhen Nanshan and Shekou district today. lunch was at Tropicana, a Italian Coffee and Swiss bakery ( Iced espresso and a rare beef and salad croissant) and the paper SCMP =South China morning post?

A huge mango juice at a swanky shopping centre and then while i was in Wal-Mart I was invited to a customer afternoon tea (Coke and watermelon). Dinner was Japanese Seafood fried rice at Ajisen Ramen after a swim at the gym. Home to test the Great Wall Red ( cheers for the Swiss Army knife with bottle opener- I didn't have a tree handy - Jen & Tina will know the story as you had to be there!

In all my travels, I did not see a China Post outlet, but then again, I haven't seen any postcards either.... Domestic duties of washing and sweeping the floor also took up five minutes of my day.

I was looking at getting a toaster (now I can find unsweetened bread) thinking they are not expensive at home but here they are comparatively expensive - half the cost of my bike and in fact on special, you can by a sit up Chinese style clunky bike for less than a toaster. Now I am beginning to think in RMB or CNY (Chinese Yuan) rather than AUD. At 210 RMB that's about $30AUD, far too expensive an outlay for just 5 more weeks. The iron was only 28RMB about $4 AUD - get my point?

On the weekend I have a program called life club which is an hour of one topic. This week's is Football (round ball code for Aussies) so imagine me teaching 3-4 year olds and 5-6 's about goal, ball, football, boots, crowd, penalty all at the top of our voices. Cheers Dad for the research on a computer based download as we have online real time access in the classrooms so I'll be able to use it with any age.

See not much has happened since I last wrote but if you are still with me you must have rotten TV programs on or its too cold or too wet to go outside!

Enough for now.

Cheers.

Slow news

Told you it was a slow news time! Teddies have been involved in teaching on Sunday VIP class so they desrve a drink!
Daddy will this fit ? Crocs come in way too big a size at Croc shop in Coastal City
High healed crocs - now I have seen everything!
I narrowly avoided being accosted by Kiwi Fruit in Jusco Store but it fancied the photo opportunity with cut Chinese kid more than middle=agedAussie. Kiwi fruit in Shenzhen- NOW i have seen everything till next time.

XXX Vonny

Discovery day off

Teacher grabbing dumplings between class and preparation for next class!
Day off Travels to the
Futian District of Shenzhen from the Lianhuashan Park
Void in real estate is Feng Shui I think
Lianhuashan Park looks over the Futian District of Shenzhen
One of many facinating statues in Lianhuashan Park




My English First School
I accidentally discovered a book shop (it was huge!!!) and has an imported books section, more than just classics and yes I am inside it
Lianhuashan Park , top of the hill at Peak Square
statue of Deng Xiaoping, "The Father of Shenzhen"
home again!


Wow, a day off after a week of gearing up for Summer School and then teaching two days of summer school. Torn between sleeping all day and getting out and about in impending rain I split the day in half, a lazy morning and an adventurous afternoon armed with a mud map and an umbrella and half baked idea.

Walk to bus (near school), jump on number 72 to the start of the subway, subway to the interchange to change to line 4, two stations to terminus, (just enough signage in English to make it easy, plus our orientation on day 2 included how to catch the subway and use the transport card)exit to an amazing cultural zone of performing arts, library, huge book store en route to Lianhuashan Park which proved quite easy to find as it's on a hill with lots of greenery amongst the brand new buildings of this area.

Lunch time by now, drawn by the Starbucks sign I headed for a coffee and an Aussie sausage roll. I asked for ketchup and got strawberry jam! ( or KFC). Adventure to continue I got very sidetracked by the whiff of a novel in English. This huge book store was the basis of a shopping mall which even has an EF school (adult) AND an imported bookstore which has 5-6 shelves of current novels. Lucky I'd left the credit card at home but I did max out my cash on hand almost to bring home three novels and a Chinese phrase book. A ten minute walk, 20 minute (2yuan) bus ride and a two line subway ride about 5yuan each way and then a five minute walk ...hum its easily done if i get desperate in a few weeks and have nothing better to do on my day off- far cry from a fifteen minute walk from Imprints in Hindley St to Dymocks in the mall with two major chains in between!

Time to set off for my target, the only GC (secret code if you don't know, you don't need to) in Shenzhen is located here somewhere..... too cloudy for GPS to operate.
Lots of local tourists ( they say this is the most visited so I should at least see what it's all about) and if i was grading the humidity level it rates at distinction level so even a small scale activity felt rewarding. This will add physical tiredness to the mental so I will sleep well, better set two alarms.

Up hill to the peak to see if i could pick the site of the GC (which I did not) and tried to keep up with a tiny Chinese woman who was powering ahead, mind you I left a lot of people in my wake too. The impressive statue of Deng Xiaoping, "The Father of Shenzhen" was worth seeing. Very slippery underfoot and in the last few parts of the down journey I lost my footing on the paving and slid not at all graciously onto the backside and I am sure I must have cleaned the paving of all moss judging by the bum of my 3/4 pants ( navy luckily).

Didn't find what I was looking for but really enjoyed the ramble and adventure. Homeward in reverse with the crowds and it was a really easy journey home and it still didn't rain so the umbrella was an unnecessary accessory today. Two local women stood on the subway and bus to offer me a seat so I felt it would have been rude to refuse so i had a comfy ride.

Home to log the GC as a DNF, the bookshop as a good find, the ATM as a necessity and a G'n'T to cap off the day. Damn, a whole week till next Wednesday.
Back to work with Small Stars (3-5 yo) and Trail Blazers (10-15) tomorrow.

Enjoy the read.

wan an (goodnight)

I just have to let you know that I wish you were here. Not because I am lonely or anything but I am really getting a buzz out of the everyday ordinary here which is so unlike Oz.
I finished a days work, came home for a while and decided I needed some supplies and that i would eat out. I followed down the cross street behind the apartments and was amazed at the array of food stalls and restaurants and wonder why anyone would bother cooking at home.

I stopped when I found a BBQ that I understood as Luke and Lei showed me at a restaurant near school earlier in the week. I decided to go inside and find a person to take my order which involves going outside, pointing at the various meats or veges or tofu on skewers to be smoke/BBQ'd over coal, and indicating by fingers how many of each. I went inside and to my excitement I was invited to look at an English menu, expanding my arena greatly. I only know it as the Muslim restaurant which is what the delivery bike basket was labelled. I had a special lamb chop dish which was essentially crumbed in spices, served on the bone to satisfy a whole army! Side dish of julienned potatoes sauteed in butter. More expensive than my planned meal but it was delicious. Plates and bowls come hermetically sealed, and the green tea is never ending. An Alcohol free day today but I've stocked the beer in the fridge ready to celebrate if I survive to my rest day.

I was walking back and all the shops are open late, it seems you can buy anything from apples and lychees to wheelchairs and the hairdresser was gearing up for later night trade. If you have visited China you will know what I am pointing to but will not commit to the keyboard.

Two taxis were having a standoff at the corner, both refusing to budge, both trying to dislodge the other by honking the horn which eventually turned into a long mingled noise. Even as I reached my apartment- neither had budged!

Walking down the footpath the unwary are at risk of tripping over raised pavings, being run over by silent electric bikes, discovering unfinished footpaths, slipping on wet paved areas and tripping over small dogs or children but it really makes a wander a wonder! everything is so close, numerous supermarkets (local) are 5 mins away , one directly across theroad for heavy items like drinks and water.

A day trip to the supermarket would leave many "open mouthed" at what they sell. The fish section, unlike home sells live fish, turtles, frogs, eels and much more if it lives in the water and fits in the shop I think they sell it! Chicken includes everypart of the bird available cooked or uncooked (live is still banned due to hygiene required for safe handling to prevent bird flu). I would love to take Chester, Louise and Oscar around for the day but I would not be able to answer all the questions....

Anyway, get my drift - the usual here is facinating for the moment...stay tuned.

On the eve of summer programme

Time has come to iron the business clothes, observing and part time teaching is over - Monday 7th July starts Summer school.
Von messing around with the camera after a hard workout at the gym, a good time filler in the preparation weeks.
Damn those Chinese scales, they weigh same same as Australian ones, maybe the beer is heavier? Lets see what happens after a 6-7 day full teaching load, maybe the teaching energy will burn some calories??? Live the dream!


Ok, after working two full weekend days since we got most of our computer access back I am sort of ready for day 1 of week 1 of the Summer Fun program. There are 5 of us this week teaching across all age groups and I expect the prep room will be chaos on Monday morning as we all gear up to go out there and teach 3-16 year olds from age relevant syllabus and the specially designed Olympic projects. Time now to remember anything I ever knew about arts and craft for kids. I'll work out Tuesday after finishing teaching Monday - the others are really helpful but we are all working in the unknown so it's time to fly by the seat of the pants (told you that was really important "between teh lines" in my CV).

I managed to arrange for the apartment manager to have my bedding and sheets changed over and it seems to have worked, crisp sheets on the rock hard bed, should have waited till Tuesday and been able to have the luxury of a sleep in on Wednesday my day off.

After a home cooked dinner of steak and veges, with a TsingTao beer I am about ready for bed.
I'll save up my dining out stories for a separate chapter to be written later.

Rain is back, pelting the windows here as well as Wimbledon which is being shown on the Hong Kong channel so its broadcasting for us to watch the rain pour in UK in English. The Chinese player in women's comp making the semis did not cause much of a stir at the school, I might be the minority of being interested in sport? I found that Starbucks gets more than 1 daily newspaper in English so I still fit in an occasional flat white (latte) to read the papers, as I keep forgetting to read the one at school.

It is interesting thinking that you would struggle to get Aussie kids to spend 6 weeks holiday at a school Mon - Friday (Wed is sports or outings and our day off) and for some to still turn up for "normal" English classes on weekends (1.5 hrs a day). I think the little ones just like having fun .

Get ready for teacher, teacher and try teaching Chinese kids to say T shirt (sounds like teacher).

Must go to bed....bye (enjoy the read if you bothered) more everyday photos on facebook.

What to do when not at work

When not a work, explore on foot, view massive footbridge at a rather large intersection near my apartment (centre to right of the circular one)
Or cycle a bit further afield, note the shared footpath
Browse throught any of the huge new shopping centres- the book section in Wal-Mart - you can tell by all the kids reading the stock! Adults lined up on the other side doing the same at lunchtime.
Look really closely and its pouring with rain in the buildings but not yet where I am - a sort of flash rain. The gym is in those buildings which are set around a garden common of the newer and upmarket apartment properties.


Ok, apart from TV. internet and browsing the many shopping centres (all new and very upmarket where I am) , I decided to find a gym to occupy any spare time when its pouring with rain or just too darned hot to be outside! Kinkings Gym is a five minute wander from where I live. Not cheap but certainly better than home (given its only for two months). Bonus is there is a pool (6Yuan extra per use) so I might be able to get some of its value for my money. The manager speaks a smidgin of English so its a bit of a help.
I dont anticipated getting superfit though - reasons being work will step up next week to a full teaching load, especially the weekends. Oh and its too humid to work too hard, the fluid needs to be replaced and you all know just how much I love drinking water!
Cycling is safer than walking as everyone uses the footpath in any direction including the silent electric bikes (no motor bikes in SZ allowed) and at least when I'm on the bike I concentrate more than wandering along absent mindedly.
If I knew how easy it was to receive parcels I would ask for English novels-trash or literature but not classics thanks...no Eng language bookshop but then again, we are the minority here. Hong Kong people keep telling me - yeh great I cant get there on my visa! Already planning if I come back bring books not clothes, I can buy one not the other.
While wandering , I keep my eyes open for ideas to use in class, especially with the under 6's.
Disney is everwhere (as well as an English school opened up locally), try to avoid that if I can. Bought myself a plastic Olympic torch (it flashes the flame) for 20Y today at a stall - useful for the summer program on Olympics. In other words, not much doing - oh, apart from a super dinner lastnight with the staff from the school at a very snazzy local cusine location, my social diary is not that full (but everyone wants to practice english with me-escape to apartment is good!).
Dishes to do [pork chop on a bed of mash with apple sauce and veges home cooked]. Work tomorrow 3-6 year olds and aquatic animals theme - thanks Nemo!
Excuse me a moment - Bolivia is on the TV, the bowler hatted women.