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.

From humble beginnings-my first four days as an English teacher

crowded foyer
waiting for lift
rain on the way?

Sunday night report from in front of the English channel on the TV ,sipping on a G&T, watching it absolutely pelt down outside. It's 7.30pm, two hours after I finished my first real class (VIP Class) which is a private class , in this case a sister (10) and brother (11). Since finishing the class, I've learnt to input to the online reporting system, jumped on the bike and beat the very ominous weather home by about 0.5 metres riding up the ramp as it started to rain, the waited almost 20 minutes in the foyer with half of Shenzhen waiting for a lift. I don't think I can walk up 25 flights of stairs, let alone carrying the bike.

Bike Friday has a Chinese cousin. A Dahon 18" wheeler, folding in a camouflage green and labelled China Domestic Model. Not the most comfortable of riding position, no gears (no hills), no lights, no bell and was on special with a 120Y reduction to 448Y (divide by 6.7). Friday, I can assure you this is not competition, just convenience cutting my work travel time by more than half. Riding on footpaths and any side of the road seems to be legal and the traffic in the Nanshan district is not too hard to negotiate, the seat is not exactly the most comfortable but the journeys are only short and I might even have a buyer for it when I leave.

Anyway, the real reason I am here is to see if I like teaching English and get some valuable experience. The last three days were all about observing experienced teachers with the variety of age groups and levels and then today I had my VIP class - my first official #1 students in China. The two students and the rookie teacher all seemed to survive with enthusiasm intact.

The summer program starts in the second week of July so I am fitting into regular term classes before then. Not sure why we got here so early with restricted Visa conditiones, but its the way it is. The team supporting the teachers are great, local consultants and teachers aides make sure that I order lunch (either using pictures in menus or translate the Chinese for me)and arranging $delivery. So far this week I have spent 2 x 4Y for dumplings so food is quite yummy and affordable.

Next I need to collect menus from around my apartment and get someone to translate and mark some meals for me, not sure why I would cook for myself on my late night finishes when the local food is great-I just do not know what to order! Right now I am about to prepare a stirfry veges and noodles as I am NOT going out in that weather, I already ahve too many shoes not drying! Till next time.

My first day as an English teacher in China

Thursday was a wet day, very overcast not prompting an early start, espeially when I didn't need to report to work until 14:00. Chased up the internet man who said he'd take care of it in the afternoon (and he did). Went out for a walk to find some butter or marg, forgotten on my earlier shopping. Also ended up buying a pair of canvas shoes as they had more grip than the teva thongs I had on (slippery footpaths and ornate entry halls are dangerous in the wet-extended just about every muscle at times to save from falling flat on my back). My sandshoes were (and are) still drying from the day before.

Finally, it was time to set off to work to see what the world of teaching was about ( not without browsing the shops on the way and grabbing a bowl of noodles from a facinating and delicious restaurant.

School was very welcoming, the Director of Studies (DOS) is called Luke and took me through orientations, showed me the summer program for all of the age groups (based on the Olympics) and explained how to read the teaching shedule. I later sat in on a class of Life Skills for 3-5 year olds. (SS) The rooms are bright, with hi density foam on the floor and no-one wears shoes in the SS classes. I can see why ! They do not sit still, jumping, tumbling, and certainly all at a decibel level requiring testing for a 45 minute timeslot! The only expectation here is possibly don't strangle one of teh students and hope the local teacher aid (TA) can exert some words of wisdom to get something across - above it all, it looks fun which it is meant to be. Not for introverts this job...

I left the school at 8pm with an invitation to return on Friday at 5pm for observations of evening sessions. Things gear up slowly next week then bang full on, especially Sat and Sun with one day off during the week. I already have some VIP (1-1) sessions booked for next Sunday so i guess I'm on my way. Only time will tell!