It's good. Life is good here in Xiamen. We are making a fraction of what we were making in Shanghai, but we feel like it is worth it. We've got a beautiful view of tree-covered mountains from our window (which we have yet to hike, but we probably should before it gets too hot), as well as a view of the local neighbourhood in all its ramshackle, noisy glory.
Life here is a bit more relaxed. We have a lot more time to study Chinese and (for Chris) to pursue his photography hobby. I've gotten a Chinese tutor (a student at the university) to meet with me once a week to keep me on track, and I'm doing pretty well with my goal of a lesson a week from my textbook.
We've been trying to cook at home most of the time, primarily to avoid the mounds of MSG dumped in every meal we eat out =p, and I've been challenged to make a lot of baked goods I never would have if necessity didn't prompt me. We have a little Midea toaster oven which is sufficient for making small portions of muffins, banana bread, cornbread, brownies, and cakes. With our limited resources, I'm forced to make them all from scratch, and I get such a feeling of achievement when something turns out right, and it's made from nothing more than some flour, oil, milk and eggs...and a few other things. It's like a miracle! Whoever invented baking was a genius! There are a few imported items we have at our disposal - pasta, tortilla shells, olive oil, a few varieties of cheese...but that is pretty much the extent of our western ingredients! We are growing herbs in some planter boxes for when we run out of the dried ones I brought from home. It's kind of a simpler life without all the pre-packaged processed foods we buy at home.
I DO miss all the good restaurants in Toronto though. I didn't realize before what a food mecca Toronto is, with so many authentic, reasonably priced restaurants! It really makes you miss things like real bread, bagels, beef, fresh pasta and authentic ethnic foods =p.
Anyway, Mr and Mrs Waffles are doing well. Mrs Waffles had a bald spot under her eye which has since filled in...yay! Today they took a bath in their water dish and they were flinging water everywhere as they dried their sodden, feathery little bodies. Now they are playing with a toilet paper roll. They are so cute!
Oh yes, one other thing. Yesterday Chris bought a little 50 RMB barbeque from Carrefour, and we put a bunch of things on skewers and tried to barbeque them on our balcony. Unfortunately, the Chinese charcoal smoked like a chimney, and our neighbours called security! Nothing much came of it - Chris pretended (well not really) not to understand anything, said sorry a bunch of times, and everybody laughed it off. I guess it wasn't the best footing for our first meeting with our neighbours, but oh well. Just another little adventure in the Middle Kingdom =).
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Our New Apartment
We moved into our new apartment! If you click on the slideshow below, you can see the pictures individually, or you can just watch the slideshow.
We also got some Love Birds...Mr. and Mrs. Waffles.
We also got some Love Birds...Mr. and Mrs. Waffles.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Back in China
We arrived in Xiamen, China on February 9th and I started work on February 16th. That gave us less than a week to get to settled and used to things here in Xiamen. Luckily the transition went very smoothly, and we are having a great time. Since we have lived in China before, transitioning to a new city was not a big deal. The usual "This is China" difficulties apply, but they aren't so bad after a few months or years!
Xiamen is truly one of the nicer Chinese cities I have visited. There is a beach which is supposedly clean enough to swim at (in certain places). There are mountains with hiking trails. And there is a no honking rule in the city which makes a phenomenal impact on how enjoyable it is to stroll around downtown.
We were greeted at the bus station by a 3rd year student who was assigned to help us. She has been a pleasant and invaluable help to us especially during the first few days. She patiently and graciously gave up her time to take us to get a bank account, fill out paperwork, get a health examination, find places to eat, and find an apartment. We are very much indebted to her.
Now we have our own little apartment on the 20th floor of one of the newest buildings overlooking Xiamen. Our apartment came furnished, but we have been buying little things like kitchen appliances and pillows for the last few days. Tonight Camilla cooked our first dinner in our little kitchen.
Now that I have completed the first week of my job, I have a much better idea about what the next six months will look like. My students are great so far, although class sizes and class time are a down side. I have 14 different classes that range from five to 43 students (so far). The classes only meet for two 45 minute periods every other week. Basically, I am a facilitator of English. Lesson planning should be quite simple, but engaging 40 students in oral English with such a short amount of time is a major challenge. My students are luckily at a pretty high level and they are quite enthusiastic so far. I'm hoping to do some interesting discussions and really get them thinking and speaking.
Xiamen is truly one of the nicer Chinese cities I have visited. There is a beach which is supposedly clean enough to swim at (in certain places). There are mountains with hiking trails. And there is a no honking rule in the city which makes a phenomenal impact on how enjoyable it is to stroll around downtown.
We were greeted at the bus station by a 3rd year student who was assigned to help us. She has been a pleasant and invaluable help to us especially during the first few days. She patiently and graciously gave up her time to take us to get a bank account, fill out paperwork, get a health examination, find places to eat, and find an apartment. We are very much indebted to her.
Now we have our own little apartment on the 20th floor of one of the newest buildings overlooking Xiamen. Our apartment came furnished, but we have been buying little things like kitchen appliances and pillows for the last few days. Tonight Camilla cooked our first dinner in our little kitchen.
Now that I have completed the first week of my job, I have a much better idea about what the next six months will look like. My students are great so far, although class sizes and class time are a down side. I have 14 different classes that range from five to 43 students (so far). The classes only meet for two 45 minute periods every other week. Basically, I am a facilitator of English. Lesson planning should be quite simple, but engaging 40 students in oral English with such a short amount of time is a major challenge. My students are luckily at a pretty high level and they are quite enthusiastic so far. I'm hoping to do some interesting discussions and really get them thinking and speaking.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Down Under
We spent a wonderful two weeks in New Zealand. It is a beautiful country, and all the beautiful spots and all close together, so we were able to see quite a lot. There are lovely scenic drives all along the coast and through the pastoral countryside, where you could see fluffy white sheep grazing peacefully in the fields. We climbed Mt Doom, aka the mountain used in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy to represent the evil volcano of Mordor. At least, we climbed partway up before the weather got bad. Among other highlights, we bathed in a natural thermal river! The temperature was perfect...about 40 degrees, and it was just like a jacuzzi except it was a flowing river surrounded by lush natural vegetation!
We enjoyed wine tasting in the wine region of Marlborough, and then drove down to Dunedin where we visited my aunt and her husband. They were very gracious hosts and they were sorry we could only stay one night! Our schedule was tight. We drove through the Fjordlands and camped by a lakeside with a beautiful mountain view. Then we did a hike through the valley near Mount Cook and had a marvellous view of that famous peak. All in all, it was mainly just beautiful scenery. Kiwis are really fond of the outdoors and they have a lot of infrastructure and tourist information set up to help you enjoy it.
We enjoyed the busker festival in Christchurch before flying to Sydney, where we spent the morning walking around the harbourfront. The Sydney opera house was kind of cool, but not amazingly impressive in real life. Then we drove into the Blue Mountains for more beautiful views (and some bright coloured parrots!), and camped a night near some noisy drunk tourists (grr)! In the coolness of the morning we went to a few lookouts on the mountains, and then decided to drive back to the Australian coast. It's too HOT to not be near the beach!
We enjoyed wine tasting in the wine region of Marlborough, and then drove down to Dunedin where we visited my aunt and her husband. They were very gracious hosts and they were sorry we could only stay one night! Our schedule was tight. We drove through the Fjordlands and camped by a lakeside with a beautiful mountain view. Then we did a hike through the valley near Mount Cook and had a marvellous view of that famous peak. All in all, it was mainly just beautiful scenery. Kiwis are really fond of the outdoors and they have a lot of infrastructure and tourist information set up to help you enjoy it.
We enjoyed the busker festival in Christchurch before flying to Sydney, where we spent the morning walking around the harbourfront. The Sydney opera house was kind of cool, but not amazingly impressive in real life. Then we drove into the Blue Mountains for more beautiful views (and some bright coloured parrots!), and camped a night near some noisy drunk tourists (grr)! In the coolness of the morning we went to a few lookouts on the mountains, and then decided to drive back to the Australian coast. It's too HOT to not be near the beach!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Fun times in Singapore
It was a relief to enter the sterile shiny world that is Singapore. Not sterile as in character-less. Sterile as in.......clean, germ-free, modern, GLEAMING! Singapore is truly a first world city, with first world prices to boot! We had to spend $40 a night to sleep in a concrete box with a mattress on the floor at the hostel we booked. Nevertheless, it was CLEAN and homey.
We stayed for 6 nights, explored the city and visited a friend of mine (Camilla) from college. Singapore is a really interesting city, with a variety of different ethnic groups. We had fun exploring Little India, the Arab Quarter, and Chinatown (which is alight with glowing red lanterns and loud chinese music and hordes of shoppers for Chinese New Year). The subway is efficient and modern (it reminded us of the subway in Shanghai), and reasonably priced.
My friend Nadine took us to Sentosa island, where they have created several beaches out of sand imported from Indonesia. The beaches are very nice and clean, but feel kind of artificial...like Disneyland or something. We went to the Aquarium on the island and walked through the shark tunnel, as well as saw all sorts of other strange and wondrous creatures.
After our week in Singapore, we crossed the border to Malaysia (which was a easy and pain-free experience) and are staying in the border town of Johor Bharu. Today we went to Carrefour and bought lots of cheap camping equipment for our trip to New Zealand and Australia.
We fly tomorrow to the Gold Coast in Australia and will spend a day there before catching another flight to Auckland, New Zealand. We have a car rented there and will have about 12 days to drive from Auckland to Christchurch. We also look forward to visiting my aunt in Dunedin, a mysterious character whom I have never met, though she has always been thoughtful and generous with birthdays and special occasions. Exciting!
We then will fly from Christchurch to Sydney and have a little less than a week to get back to the Gold Coast, from whence we will fly back to Malaysia, Hong Kong, and...our final destination, CHINA. WHOO HOO.
We stayed for 6 nights, explored the city and visited a friend of mine (Camilla) from college. Singapore is a really interesting city, with a variety of different ethnic groups. We had fun exploring Little India, the Arab Quarter, and Chinatown (which is alight with glowing red lanterns and loud chinese music and hordes of shoppers for Chinese New Year). The subway is efficient and modern (it reminded us of the subway in Shanghai), and reasonably priced.
My friend Nadine took us to Sentosa island, where they have created several beaches out of sand imported from Indonesia. The beaches are very nice and clean, but feel kind of artificial...like Disneyland or something. We went to the Aquarium on the island and walked through the shark tunnel, as well as saw all sorts of other strange and wondrous creatures.
After our week in Singapore, we crossed the border to Malaysia (which was a easy and pain-free experience) and are staying in the border town of Johor Bharu. Today we went to Carrefour and bought lots of cheap camping equipment for our trip to New Zealand and Australia.
We fly tomorrow to the Gold Coast in Australia and will spend a day there before catching another flight to Auckland, New Zealand. We have a car rented there and will have about 12 days to drive from Auckland to Christchurch. We also look forward to visiting my aunt in Dunedin, a mysterious character whom I have never met, though she has always been thoughtful and generous with birthdays and special occasions. Exciting!
We then will fly from Christchurch to Sydney and have a little less than a week to get back to the Gold Coast, from whence we will fly back to Malaysia, Hong Kong, and...our final destination, CHINA. WHOO HOO.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Uncle Ho's Kingdom
We are just finishing off our time in Saigon, flying for Singapore tomorrow. We were going to go to Cambodia, but because my (Camilla's) passport is running majorly low on pages, we'll have to skip it since it requires a full page visa. The Canadian consulate is singularly unhelpful when it comes to running out of pages in your passport. You can't add pages, and it takes 3 weeks to get a new passport. ALSO, you need to have your original birth certificate, as well as someone living in the jurisdiction of that consulate who has known you for 2 years and who is a magistrate, lawyer, doctor, dentist, mayor (?!), judge, or public notary. It's ridonkulous. So I may have to apply for a new passport when we arrive in Hong Kong in early February, and Chris and I may have to be separated for 2 or 3 weeks while I wait for it (since he has to arrive in China to start work)!!! So sad!!!
Vietnam has been interesting. There is lots here to capture your interest. They've got an interesting history, cool handicrafts, Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body, museums, good food... The only problem is, it's really frustrating getting ripped off at every turn. Even trying to buy a Coke on the street is an exercise in getting ridiculously cheated! There are 2 prices for everything, and the "tourist" price is completely unreasonable. And unlike in China, they don't sheepishly tell you a more reasonable price when you call their bluff and walk away. No, they are completely shameless here.
Nevertheless, we've had some good experiences. In Hanoi we went on a shopping spree and bought lots of neat local handicrafts and shipped them home. We went to a water-puppet show with traditional music, which was really fun. We also got the chance to see Ho Chi Minh's (aka "Uncle Ho") mummified body lying in a glass case. It was pretty creepy. They did a really good job embalming him, and he seriously looked like he was just dozing. Maybe it was the ripples in the glass surrounding him that distorted his image as we walked past, but I could almost swear I saw him move!!! Every time I snuck a glance at him, I kept expecting him to sit up and start giving orders. Thankfully, Uncle Ho stayed dead.
Then we flew down to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), where there is more of a backpacker scene and therefore prices were a little more reasonable. We visited the War Remnants Museum, which displayed the horrors of the Vietnam War (with an obvious bias towards the Vietcong side, not surprisingly) as well as various models of US airplanes, helicopters and tanks. We also took a day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, which are a network of tiny little tunnels used by the Vietcong during the war. I (Camilla) crawled into a little trapdoor in the ground (Chris wouldn't fit) that was used as a hidden entrance to the tunnels. There were also displays of all sorts of grisly traps used to injure and kill US soldiers...lots of spikes. On the same trip, we visited a Caodai Temple, a supposedly "indigenous" religion...which basically means it's a combination of Catholicism, Buddhism, Eastern Mysticism, Islam, Hinduism...anything you can imagine. The temple was a hideous, gaudy big building. It was just one of the interesting elements mentioned in the book "The Quiet American" which we've both been reading.
The weather was a lot nicer in Saigon, which is in the south of Vietnam. We took a couple days trip to the beach at Mui Ne, a fishing village-turned-resort town. The beach was nice, the weather was great, and we have a couple dozen mosquito bites as a souvenir of our sojourn there.
Today is our last day in Saigon and we plan to spend it eating good food, drinking the remarkably drinkable Vietnamese coffee (at least Camilla is), visiting the Fine Arts museum and maybe seeing our friend Sara (whom we taught with in Shanghai) if we manage to meet up. It's been quite a ride in Uncle Ho's kingdom, and while we'll miss some aspects of it, we're also looking forward to our next adventures.
Vietnam has been interesting. There is lots here to capture your interest. They've got an interesting history, cool handicrafts, Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body, museums, good food... The only problem is, it's really frustrating getting ripped off at every turn. Even trying to buy a Coke on the street is an exercise in getting ridiculously cheated! There are 2 prices for everything, and the "tourist" price is completely unreasonable. And unlike in China, they don't sheepishly tell you a more reasonable price when you call their bluff and walk away. No, they are completely shameless here.
Nevertheless, we've had some good experiences. In Hanoi we went on a shopping spree and bought lots of neat local handicrafts and shipped them home. We went to a water-puppet show with traditional music, which was really fun. We also got the chance to see Ho Chi Minh's (aka "Uncle Ho") mummified body lying in a glass case. It was pretty creepy. They did a really good job embalming him, and he seriously looked like he was just dozing. Maybe it was the ripples in the glass surrounding him that distorted his image as we walked past, but I could almost swear I saw him move!!! Every time I snuck a glance at him, I kept expecting him to sit up and start giving orders. Thankfully, Uncle Ho stayed dead.
Then we flew down to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), where there is more of a backpacker scene and therefore prices were a little more reasonable. We visited the War Remnants Museum, which displayed the horrors of the Vietnam War (with an obvious bias towards the Vietcong side, not surprisingly) as well as various models of US airplanes, helicopters and tanks. We also took a day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, which are a network of tiny little tunnels used by the Vietcong during the war. I (Camilla) crawled into a little trapdoor in the ground (Chris wouldn't fit) that was used as a hidden entrance to the tunnels. There were also displays of all sorts of grisly traps used to injure and kill US soldiers...lots of spikes. On the same trip, we visited a Caodai Temple, a supposedly "indigenous" religion...which basically means it's a combination of Catholicism, Buddhism, Eastern Mysticism, Islam, Hinduism...anything you can imagine. The temple was a hideous, gaudy big building. It was just one of the interesting elements mentioned in the book "The Quiet American" which we've both been reading.
The weather was a lot nicer in Saigon, which is in the south of Vietnam. We took a couple days trip to the beach at Mui Ne, a fishing village-turned-resort town. The beach was nice, the weather was great, and we have a couple dozen mosquito bites as a souvenir of our sojourn there.
Today is our last day in Saigon and we plan to spend it eating good food, drinking the remarkably drinkable Vietnamese coffee (at least Camilla is), visiting the Fine Arts museum and maybe seeing our friend Sara (whom we taught with in Shanghai) if we manage to meet up. It's been quite a ride in Uncle Ho's kingdom, and while we'll miss some aspects of it, we're also looking forward to our next adventures.
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