Delhi Love

My India adventure began….2 weeks ago…when my friend Marlo (and sidekick, Prasaad)  picked me up from a surprisingly  flashy Delhi airport (contrary to prior reports…thanks to the Commonwealth games) and whisked me back to the south of Delhi where he and his wife Sheril are stationed. In true HJ fashion, my stint with Marlo and his NGO Tejas Asia was organised a good 12 months ago so it was highly anticipated - something I have been especially looking forward to since deciding to include India in my adventures some time ago. I got connected with Marlo and learnt about the work he was doing through some friends some time ago…my brother and best mate made the trip over here but it wasn't until a few months before coming overseas that I got to meet him at a fundraiser dinner and got to hear his heart for what he is doing here in the streets and slums of Delhi, India. Marlo and Sheril are the founders of Tejas Asia..a grassroots NGO here in Delhi. Being a young organisation, I was immediately interested in coming over to take a peek at the work they were doing and get stuck in to help however I could. Seeing my interests and career aspirations lie in education and international development, it was the perfect opportunity to combine a visit to India, a friend and a chance to lend a hand, doing what I know how to do….loving kids…and teaching some ABC's.

My first chance to get into the projects was at Tughlakabad. Last year, Tejas had the opportunity to rent a small building in the slum that is Tughlakabad. They took their school from an outside, dirt area to a building which was an awesome step in their project. The small school was painted and done up to resemble something of a school with three small classrooms, an area for assembly and a small kitchen to cook daily meals for the children. Stepping into the slum area was confronting yet not as confronting as I had imagined it would be. I suppose I pictured this scenario for so long and had also been exposed to poverty (although no where as extreme) in China, somehow I had subconsciously prepared myself for it all. The children are amazing…living in such poor, wretched conditions, yet they laugh, play, are cheeky and best of all, love to learn. In the walls of the school building I was in my element with the laughter of the children….stepping outside to look around was when my heart lurched as I saw kids who weren't in school, naked, dirty, crying children walking around the slum alone, parents sitting in front of their homes (mere tents) and hungry children banging on the gate at lunch time. It's in this time you realise that you have taken for granted every single crumb you have ever eaten, every single lunch your mum made for you, every single pencil you got for school, the ugly uniforms you never wanted to wear, the school you didn't want to go to in the morning, and most of all the free healthcare you complain about when you have to wait a couple of hours.  It is in these moments you realise you live the most privileged, blessed life imaginable.

Over the last couple of weeks I have got to see all the projects that Tejas have started and are supporting. It is amazing to see the sacrifice that is made, the time that is given and the criticism overcome to pursue something they believe in. It's not about grand ideas about saving Delhi and bringing one and all out of poverty, it is about touching the lives of those they come into contact with, educating the children that would otherwise have no chance, providing the opportunity for medical treatment, nurturing those who feel sniffing a 'solution' is the solution, feeding the bellies of those who otherwise wouldn't eat that day. So many times Marlo has been asked my Delhi authorities, "Why? Why do you bother?". Well Mother Teresa said it all, "if you can't feed 100, feed 1". At least that is changing the life of at least one person. How many times have we seen those world vision adds growing up? You can make the difference in one life? We brush it off as not making a difference at all. But imagine if that was your life? Your one life that someone decided to feed, educate, nurture. Can you imagine the difference that would make in your life, your families, your communities?

I have been so touched and impacted to see for myself the hearts of Marlo and Sheril and the mission of Tejas Asia. I wish everyone had the opportunity to see the absolute commitment they have to doing everything they can and the fruit of their labour in the eyes and smiles of the kids…the support would be never ending. I encourage you to support their work! I know it's not your eyes that have seen it but mine….but I know you all know me, know my heart for this work. If I was home, I would have you all contributing to some sort of fundraiser haha, but instead I am here…so support this amazing work if you can and understand that every little bit really does help. On Tejas's website you can donate or sponsor a child. Check it out…. http://www.tejasasia.org/home.html

So this has been India for me so far….teaching ABC's, giving little kiddies whizzy dizz's, telling scary stories of the three little pigs, learning new songs in Hindi, dancing around like a fool, giving out food, giving out hi fives, giving out hugs, giving out love and getting a lot of the above back…prob except for the whizzy dizz's. :) haha!

It has been a great time of laughter with Sheril who gives me a hard time like any of my friends back home would….it's refreshing. :) Their home has been so welcoming. Oh, and I have had delicious Indian food cooked for me day in and day out whether from Sheril, a restaurant or the Indian boys who work with Tejas, it has all been amazing and delicious and I even made Roti! :)

My first night here, I was whisked off to an Indian music festival. The guy was apparently some big Indian superstar…KK…it was fun, the crowds went wild (as I had expected from the lively culture). Beforehand I was standing on the side of the road with a cup of ginger Chai just chatting away when the biggest cow I had ever seen in my life strutted on by! My jaw gaped and then I just laughed at what an Indian experience I was having right now…sipping Chai and hanging out with a cow! Too funny!

I also attended a Thailand Travel Expo and happened to win two return tickets from Delhi to Thailand. Too bad I have already booked and paid mine. So it made a good gift to my hosts. Hopefully they will get a chance to get away for a bit in the new year. The funny thing about the draw is it was the major prize yet 6 people had their name called and no one had hung around to claim their prize. So guess what….it was me! It was a bit suss that the announcer was friends with Marlo and Sheril, but all good…tickets were mine. I quickly became a household name with all the Thai people attending, including the Ambassador who wanted a pic with me. Rolling with the big wigs! Haha!

Ah, well the adventures are just starting here in Delhi….next week I will head out of Delhi to meet a friend and begin my travels…just have to get a medical done for my new China visa - which is never an easy process. I will miss this place and working with the kids….but I will be back…that is for certain.

Having an amazing journey!

Love to you all….

HJ xx

Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2642419579188.2147291.1216537728&type=1&l=68b8e0f013

The China Run-Around - Part 2

Fifth Stop on the China 1 month runaround….

CHENGDU

The last blog post I wrote we were planning for our trip to Chengdu….oh what a trip that ended up being! Chengdu is by far the best city I have been to in China in every aspect. However, it owes me a week of my life back as it sucked everything I had from me and left me to recover in Kunming, a much needed departure otherwise I would have been stuck forever in the Bermuda triangle that is Chengdu, specifically Sim's hostel (that's a shout out to you Simon and Sam)!!

Our last night in Chongqing consisted of Dinner at a revolving restaurant high above the city. Who knew that despite the pleasure I take in thrill rides, a snail paced revolving restaurant would leave me feeling queasy and uncomfortable. I managed to consume a little dinner and a few beers to put me at ease (although that didn't help the situation), however it wasn't until I had my feet planted firmly on solid ground did I again feel at ease. We spent the rest of the night at a an outside bar and a few cheesy Chinese clubs before losing each other and making our way home! Lucky for me Kasey had purchased some Chow Cow (Chinese BBQ) and I diligently devoured it to save myself from after club starvation! Thank God for China and Chow Cow and street food! Nights out would not be the same!

Upon arising at two o'clock the next day we realised we needed to scoot to make our train to Chengdu! It was national day and it was going to be bedlham with about 99% of the chinese population thinking this was the day to travel! We made it with some serious time to spare so we thought some chilling out in our home away from home (McDonalds) would be a good idea - so did half of Chongqing! After a sympathetic Chinese family made way for us to sit we placed our orders….What? No beef?? When has McDonalds EVER run out of beef! Oh dear! After a big night out, what is better than a good old Big Mac? We were devastated and it took a long time considering other options to finally bring ourselves to eat some crappy KFC nock off burger! Well at least they had coffee! The rest of the day went pretty much the same way! No food for the foreigners! 1 billion travelling Chinese had consumed China's entire supply in their National Day pilgrimage!

Chengdu was such a pleasant surprise though! The hostel, bustling and huge became my home for the week and also the meeting place for many a foreigner who is now lucky enough to be called my friend! Haha! We saw pandas, temples, a Sichuan opera and spent some time cycling around Chengdu to hit a local tea-house (literally for the locals) complete with out door bamboo chairs on the street, rickety old tables, stained teacups and a plethora of old chinese chimneys surrounding us like the circus had just rolled into town. A few stopped to chat, take photos and blatantly stare….but it was peaceful! I have learnt to find peace and harmony within the chaos of China…although the more Chinese I learn, the more my ears prick up and the less harmonious the white noise becomes.

Seeing the pandas was educational…apart from taking snaps of the playful creatures in an eating frenzy, the rest of the outing consisted of an education of panda breeding habits, routines, interventions etc. I suppose we DID go to a panda breeding centre. What did I expect?

Sichuan food is amazing! If I wasn't eating the best hostel food I have come across in China in Sim's hostel then I was out indulging in Hot Pot, BBQ and yummy Sichuan snacks - usually at about 5 in the morning! Haha! I even mustered up the guts to take a new friend who was a newbie to China to hot pot and  test my limited Chinese. Success…..it was delicious and relatively easy! A few mumbled words, a lot of pointing and we got what we needed - a delicious meal.

The nightlife in Chengdu seemed to take up most of my time! Upon forming a crew with some foreigners  we frequented one club every night! One of the guys had connections so it was all you can drink each and every night! Unfortunately for me, upon asking Sam what to wear to this place…his reply was "as long as you are wearing white skin you can wear anything you like". I wish he had been more explicit. This place was the most pretentious place I had ever seen! The men were RICH and the women were BEAUTIFUL and the place was no where to be seen dressed as the daggy traveller that I am. Oh well, Sam was right…I was wearing white skin! The girls wanted to dance with me (bonus points for them), the men wanted to toast with me and generally just have me around and the foreigners couldn't care less! They were there for the local women! haha! So this was my place of choice for three nights in a row! The attraction certainly was not the club but a very cute Chinese floor manager that happened to be friends with Sam. So between him bossing his staff around and people toasting me we had some great conversations (well as far as club conversations go).  It wasn't until the third night when a foreigner was a little inappropriate with me and my friends took it extremely personal that an altercation transpired and I left CC's never to return. Fortunately I had a number and a date for the following night! :)

I made some great friends in Chengdu…one of which lives only 50 mins by train from my foreignless China hometown, Cangzhou! So I will have a friend on my return. Most left around the same time but for those who remained it was sad to say goodbye! The never ending emotional rollercoaster of saying goodbye to great people again and again!

I took yet another, but my last, sleeper train to Kunming! 18 hours! Not so bad! I had the very top bunk (3rd tier) and only just fit in it! So my only venture down from my tower of bedding was to slurp on some instant noodles and use the bathroom! It was still so busy at the tail end of the National holiday, so I was avoiding the chaos at all costs! I spent the time catching up on all my sleep deprivation - too much! My sleeping patterns have been wrecked up until now.

Sixth Stop on the China 1 month runaround….

KUNMING

As I got to Kunming a few days too late my two days there consisted of recovering and the Stone Forest. I met a lovely Israeli - Dikler and we took a day trip out to this amazing, overpriced forest! It is literally a forest of giant pointy stones and we managed to get ourselves lost in it's tranquillity and peacefulness!! It was a nice day out. We happened to meet a Chinese guy on the bus who spoke perfect English. He was by himself and keen for company so we walked through the forest, had an amazing lunch and ventured back to Kunming with him. All the time with him teasing me about my Mandarin pronunciation. My comeback was that I am sure he sounded like a fool when he was first learning English!

The adrenaline rush of that day was seeing my first snake since leaving Australia!  I freaked out seeing the slithery creature move right in front of me and dash into the bushes! No one could understand why I was so freaked out - to them it was worthy of dinner haha! I had to explain that in my country...you see a snake...you RUN for your pitiful little life…because in my country it is probably likely to kill you!  This was the first thing I noticed when I left Aussie borders…where are the bugs and spiders and creepy crawlies that haunt our everyday lives? Oh that's right! They are all in Aus!! AH!

So that was my one month China run around! Full of adventures and mayhem and amazing experiences! I love this country! Right now I am Dubai-bound. Boarded on a plane that doesn't even have MOVIES! What the heck do I do with 7 hours of my time?? Ah! Good time to write a blog I say! I am looking forward to coming back so much! I have fallen in love with China and it's craziness! I take the good with the bad these days and am beginning to stop cringing every time someone hawks and spits or nearly runs me down in a vehicle of some sort! The next step in learning the language to provide me with a much less frustrating, more pleasant experience. I will work on that when I get back!

Until then, it is Dubai, India, Thailand and Cambodia on the agenda. I land in Dubai tonight…enough time to give me some solid catch up time before starting prac! My studies became more and more neglected throughout my one month run around but it's not too late!

Miss you all

Love to you all,

HJ xx

Phase 3 Begins...

….well began! You know you have been slack on the blogging when you read the last one and it seems like a lifetime ago! So again, after much pestering from the loved ones and my extreme slackness in keeping every one up to date (well I blame china for it's unnecessary restrictions on facebook), here is the latest chapter of the HJ epic novel!

So yes, phase 3! Phase 3 sees me being officially unemployed, burdened down with a backpack, some text books and a few guide books to see my way around China for a month (only 2.5 weeks left), Dubai for a month (uni placement), India for 2 months, Thailand for 2 weeks and Cambodia for 6 = no employment, fancy free travelling, studying and volunteering!

Leaving Cangzhou was hard! Bloody hard! The last two weeks consisted on my 25th birthday and my departure which resulted in many laughs, many tears and many random Chinese trinkets and gifts..all of which will go nicely in my future internationally themed house when I decide to take root somewhere in the world! At first I was a little sad to spend my birthday alone in China, but then I realised I was turning 25 in China and life was good….so I counted up my blessings and made the day full of fun with lots of party games, complete with pass the parcel - a personal favourite, cake galore and big smiles on the kids faces! It was great! And with all the love I received from home it left me in a very happy place! So a shout out to all those who thought of me! It made my first birthday away from everyone all the more easy!

The week of my departure called for many many tears from me, the kids, my TA's and my boss! The kids were so sweet. I got lots of goodbye drawings and presents and the parents of my fav class (yes, I do have a fav) made homemade dumplings and gave me a big, wonderful send off! It even made the Cangzhou news can you believe!

The same week I welcomed the new teachers to the school and after a couple of 'get to know you's' - I was content to leave my kids in the hands of Eddy. She is a lovely girl from England and I know the kids will be happy! Since then I saw photos of my kids graduating a level and I wasn't there to be the proud teacher who brought them from speaking no English at all to be able to introduce themselves. It was a sad moment…boy I really am a giant marshmellow! But on to different and exciting things for now. Chelsea, my friend from California who I met in Prague, also arrived just after I left to add to the school staff so I think everyone is in good hands!

I had to leave China again for Visa reasons, so for the 3rd time in 3 months I made my way to HK! This time I layed low and pretty much set up shop in starbucks next door! I caught up on some uni and reading and drank copious amounts of coffee and English breakfast tea! My other indulgences, while out of the borders of China included CHEESE, SUSHI and SALT N VINEGAR CHIPS! Yummmmm!! The creature comforts you miss while in a foreign country!!

First stop on the China 1 month runaround……

SANYA, HAINAN ISLAND

The cute and tropical little island  tucked under the protective wing of China, or really just the ass end of it is Hainan. The beautiful beaches (yes, actually beautiful) and the vacation vibe make for the holiday destination of choice for most Chinese with a few spare RMB and unfortunately for the Russians also! Yep, the Island is overrun with Russians…everything is written in Russian (usually before Chinese) and none of the Chinese really speak English, only Russian! And unfortunately for me, to the uneducated eye - I apparently look Russian - even to the Russians! Get my drift? So not only was my four days there spent deciphering between Russian and Chinese babble but I was hit on repeatedly by Russian men! Fun! They're a bunch of charmers alright! NOT!

Sanya was great - nice and relaxing…just what I needed as the start to Phase 3. I could pretty much sum it up as sand, surf, sun and seafood. And I made sure I got it all in vast quantities…as proof from my extreme tan line that I am now sporting! It was low season so it was definitely quiet on the foreigner front but I did manage to meet one great Aussie couple and we spent some time hanging, I also managed to score the attention of a Chinese guy staying in my dorm…his English was limited but his enthusiasm abundant. Every chance he got to make conversation with me he did and every chance he got to tell me I was beautiful he did! It was very entertaining.  But apart from that I pretty much flew solo and had a great time navigating Sanya and the beaches!!

Second stop on the China 1 month runaround……

HANGZHOU

Hangzhou for the second time was a necessity as my gorgeous and very good friend Marth from the States was leaving China that week and I had to have a chance to hang one last time and say goodbye! I have no doubt in my mind we will find another country and another continent to hang out in! But for now I had to say goodbye! We had a fantastic few days spending nights out with her friends and the days recovering on James' couch, in coffee shops, shopping malls and day spas - hitting up restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner! It's what we do best! It was so great! There is never a break in our banter, we always have something to talk about, laugh about, reminisce about! It has been a very quick forming friendship that I am sure will continue for a long time yet! Saying goodbye was tough but we decided to make it more a "see you later" - unbeknownst to us, we would run into each other in Shanghai a couple of days later! 

Most memorable moment?? Walking down the street at six in the morning on my way home rapping Gangster's paradise to myself and the Chinese street cleaners who were emerging for the day - thinking I was following Marth and James. Turns out they were no where to be seen and I had no clue where I was! Survival instincts led me to the safety of James' house…thank goodness for my limited taxi chinese directions.

Third stop on the China 1 month runaround…..

SHANGHAI

Well my intention was to see Shanghai in three days, however I ended up just seeing the inside of my hostel and the view from the rooftop bar! That was the extent of my time in Shanghai! Although from the cab ride in from the airport train station, my limited exposure to the city, the stories of others and the general vibe…I concluded it is a place I need to go back to explore properly and thoroughly! From the hostel we had a great view of the bund and this is where I set up camp for three days doing assignments for uni. Oh, except for one day when I helped my dorm mate, this rad Danish girl, cart 25 kgs of shoes and clothes to the post office so she could post it home….I then proceeded to accompany her to buy MORE shoes! Oh Lord!! Haha! We spent the rest of the day navigating the Shanghai train station to try and find her a train ticket to HK. This was not an easy feat, but never is in China.  She was great fun though and together we planned a United States roadtrip. Haha! She also introduced me to Lars, a middle aged German, American/English sounding gay man who was a barrel of laughs and good entertainment for when I felt the need to take a break from my study! So not much to say about Shanghai!

Although in the weirdest coincidence of events I was sitting on the last afternoon in Shanghai when Martha came into my thoughts for some reason. Possibly cause I got a huge waft of her perfume, I could feel someone staring at me and sure enough I turn my head and there she is! Again! So despite our myriad of goodbyes, text msg's, letters! We got another opportunity to hang - if only for a little while.

Unfortunately it was a sad time also as on arrival in Shanghai I heard the sad news via email that my friend's 26 yr old husband of 6 months passed away from a football collision. He had been on life support for 3 weeks and finally let go. It was a real smack in the face of the reality of how precious and precarious life is. My thoughts and prayers are with Jess (Ando), and Mr and Mrs Anderson and Cara! She has been so strong and her faith never wavering! But my mum reminded my of how robust life can be too and to keep embracing life and loving people and you can't go too far wrong!

Fourth Stop on the China 1 month runaround….

CHONGQING

Off to see Kasey…my first roommate when I lived in Cangzhou..

Another must do stop on the agenda. Chongqing is a huge city of 10 million people in the centre of China and home of the spiciest hot pot on the planet! Oh my! My body hates me right now.  Hot pot is pretty much a giant bowl of chilli oil that you cook meat and vegetables in - however when your sweating, crying, your lips are burning, tingling and quivering I am not sure if it's a meal of form of self-mutilation. Anyhow, delicious it is and I will keep going back for more. Chongqing is yet another GIANT chinese city and by this point I was kinda getting over the mega cities that remind me so much of their attempts at civilisation but no quite so. So Kase took us out to the Ancient Village here in Chongqing…a small bus ride away and you feel like you are in another world. Once you walk far enough away from the markets and hustle and bustle and up a few stair cases, you find yourself in a kind of village with small stone houses, small community rooms serving as the local checkers and cards room. It was quaint and tranquil and far enough removed that you could hear one horn being blown from a passing car. Respite from China. There was a good view of the river from one of the lookouts and a guy who was optimistically attempting to swim with floaties and flippers across it somehow. Keeping in mind the Chinese generally don't know how to swim, I was tempted to watch the news that night and listen for a tragedy or success story. The village was definitely a highlight, complete with chickens clucking away and later ones that had just been clucking and were no longer! Whoops! There were many a culinary delight but unfortunately we had eaten some Chinese deliciousness a little while before our trip so couldn't sample the offerings entirely.

The rest of the time has been spent at massages, drinks at various places, an attempt at poker night which I piked on very quickly, starbucks (my retreat from China) eating amazing Chongqing food (mainly fiery hot pot), meeting Kasey's friends, uni (which I am surprisingly managing - thank goodness) and planning our trip to Chengdu which we leave for tomorrow! It really is a hard life! Haha!  It is national day in China on Monday so the craziness will be quadrupled while travelling this time!  So stay tuned for part 2 of the China one month runaround…Chengdu and Kunming!

Love to you all!

Miss you all so much!

HJ xx

Yep, this is F'ing China!

Ahhh!! It's always the simple things that are a complete nightmare her e in China . Like applying for a simple tourist visa for India! A quick and seamless process if I was in Aus but No….not in China! You have to jump over a mountain of red-tape, hurdle over ridiculous mistakes the chinese have made in their translations that mean you have to fill out an online form not once…but 3 times. Since when does your university count as your employer?? How many times do I need to reiterate I don't have a job, I'm not employed, yes , even though I can still afford to travel around your cheap ass country!! So no, I am not going to fill out your form that is WRONG again!! Ahhhhh!!! Ok, no problem, I will stand passively as 50 thousand other chinese push in front of me to use the computer and as I can't speak your language just have to stand their looking flustered and pissed and wait for you all to finish taking advantage of this fact!! Oh, look, it's 5 hrs later and we are finally making progress! Ok, time to get to the train station…maybe I can change my ticket to get the early train home and have some chill time after the stress of the India visa office! Oh wait, that means lining up with half of the country four times for some lady to just yell at me in chinese…"No". Great! You would think the main train station in the whole country would have English speaking operators….or at least ONE! Ok, so I will hang out in McDonalds, use the free wi-fi and get back to sanity on facebook! Oh wait! Wi-fi doesn't work either! Great! When will this country work???? To top my day off I dropped my sunnies in the automatic squat toilet - YEP, that's right - I had to fish them out of a squat toilet, out of my own pee, while theautomatic flush did it's thing! Awesome! Oh! And then to top THAT off, haggling with the taxi drivers who want to rip off the white girl who can't speak Chinese!! Gah! I know how much it costs to cab it back to my own freakin house buddy! Don't be foolin with me! My usual tactic - just start walking! Works every time! Great freakin day! Haha! 

Ahhhhh! It's just one of those days where you have to just say…this is F'ing China!!! Haha! Anyone who has been here for any period of time will tell you it's a love hate relationship! Today I hated it!! But that's just one day in many great ones - where I love it! It's all about the language barrier! If I made the effort to learn more of the language maybe I would make my living situation a little easier! Oh well!!

So my India visa is in the process! Exciting times. In two weeks I do yet another trip to Hong Kong to leave the country and re-enter to do 30 days of travelling! Wooooo!! That will really test my love for China! All by myself! No help from my school or the TA's. Eeek! Haha!  Then it's off to Dubai…prac is all in place and ready for some serious uni and studying! Eeek! Then India - 2 months in a country that will test my patience even more so than china. Man, I am going to be a very patient person on return to Australia! Nothing will phase me ever again! Haha! Then plans with my girl Anna have been made for Thailand in January and then six weeks volunteering in Cambodia. The next six months are going to be hectic but amazing. I will be super challenged in terms of studying and travelling. But hey, I would rather be doing it this way than the way I was before. So much more interesting, fun and exciting!

After that I am thinking about coming back to China! Actually, pretty much decided if they let me back in. I really feel I will miss this place! It's amazing how much you can love something despite it's imperfections. It's like how they love me and think I am so beautiful despite my many physical imperfections. Haha! You look past them! Just to reiterate. Every other day I love this place. This was probably a bad day to write a blog! But waiting for the train for an extra 3 hours gave me some time to reflect and write!

I took another trip to Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago. I had to go for a uni assessment coz all of China was on summer holidays so I couldn't access any of the international schools in Beijing. So I made the 13 hour total trip from Cangzhou, stayed four days, and flew back (another 13 hr trip) all for one hour in an Aussie school in Hong Kong! Haha! But it was worth another trip to Hong Kong! I love that place! I am so in love with it! It is the epitome of East meets West! For a city that has a land mass less than metro melbourne, it has so much to offer! I spent the four days making up for what I couldn't do the last time I went when the was a full blown typhoon looming! Shopping, sightseeing etc…once again I packed in so much! I stayed at the same hostel but the crowd was completely different. Somewhat boring and everyone just seemed to be doing their own thing or just hanging out at the hostel. But it was cool! If there is one thing I am good at it is doing stuff by myself! :)

There is still a couple of things I didn't get to do so I will check them out when I go back in two weeks! HK keeps pulling me back! :) The principle at the school I went to even suggested I give her a call when I graduate! Wooo! And I have set up my last placement with one of the teachers I met for next year! Pretty sweet! It's a little more expensive than the average Asian city so if the funds are still available I will spend the three weeks of placement there!

I had my first "freaked out as hell" moment in HK though! A relatively safe place as far as I am concerned, but sometimes I forget that not everyone is a normal friendly person just keen for some small talk and goodbyes, some people stalk you half way home! OMG! I got to the Chinese visa office an hour too late to pick up my passport due to my inability to read my watch and found myself alone with a random giant of man (indian, pakistani, something! Have no idea) who could see my confusion. After a brief hello and a crack about my stupidity I quickly said goodbye and headed home. You know that feeling you get when something just isn't right?? Well, after a quick glance back I saw him following me intently. Ok, so whatever…maybe he was headed in the same direction and checking me out at the same time. After a few more glance, fake changes of directions, he ran into me…..bombarding me with question to which I replied "are you following me?" , to which he replied "Yes"!! Holy Hell!! Bolt woman! I skedaddled . My heart was racing full speed. This guy was not someone I wanted finding out where I was staying! Giant as goliath, add a sleazy grin and a rather quick pace of walking….it was my first heart racing moment overseas so far! But I ended up shaking him! Thank goodness!

I have found myself with a slight identity crisis in terms of my accent! I don't know how many times I have been told I don't sound Australian in my travels! Ah! I know it is due to the ridiculous amount of time spent with Americans! When your own country men ask you which country you are from, a kiwi thinks you are a kiwi, another kiwi doesn't find your accent annoying, a whole room of people at a hostel don't know where you are from, your best friends mum comments on your yank accent and you are held up at immigration bombarded with questions because you sound American yet have an Australian passport, you know you have an accent identity crisis. It doesn't help that I teach the kids words with very pronounced r's. It just helps them! :)

Speaking of teaching the kids! I have been working with them to pronounce 'th' and 's'. Very cute! The TA's don't think they can learn it but guess what? I have my 3, 4, 5 and 6 year olds saying their s's and th's. It's so adorable! I am really going to miss those kids! Especially as I started most of the classes when I first got here so I have seen them go from not speaking English at all to knowing a tonne of words, answers to questions and introducing themselves….Hello...my name is Leo... I am a boy….I am six years old...I live in Cangzhou…I come from China! Woooooooooo! Love it! This makes me very very happy! It's what I came to do and I am doing it!

Speaking of what I came to do! Facebook has these daily "on this day last year" reminders about what we posted a year ago! The latest ones have all been about the countdown to moving overseas and travelling! I smile every time I see one cause I am here, doing it and it is better than I ever could have imagined 'on this day last year'. I turn 25 this week! A milestone birthday I suppose and I am just so happy and fulfilled in what I am doing and what I have planned to do! I feel very blessed also that I have this opportunity. Life circumstances could have called for a different path…but my dreams came true!! I remember telling a friend in 2009 that I will be living in China teaching in 2011! Had no idea how the hell it was going to come to pass but it did!

Anyway, enough sentiment!

Sorry I haven't posted in some time! I have been smashing out uni like no one's business! And I have definitely been rewarded for doing so! YAY! Love that I get to invest so much more into it!

I will keep you all posted on my month on the road in China! It is going to be an adventure to blog about! I can feel it! Be prepared for more highs and more lows! Haha! It's a love-hate relationship! And a healthy one at that!

Love to you all,

HJ xx

Qingdao....pickpocketing, peeps and plenty of pijiu

I am currently on the train on my way back from Qingdao, a sea side city close enough to Cangzhou that I thought a short trip to the coast would be the best idea after some intense uni and considering it's summer holidays! What started out as a brilliant idea  was a near disaster. The rain and misty weather I could handle, the disappointing beaches I could handle, the initial lack of any humans seeming remotely cool I could handle, the lack of fun activities in the city I could handle, it was the violation of being pick-pocketed - losing all my money, train tickets and credit cards that was the biggest disappointment and could have ruined my brilliant idea altogether. But alas,  Qingdao came through with me and this is my tale of a seaside city in China!

The beauty of summer holidays where I am in China is the ability to consolidate my classes and get away for a bit! Teaching is easy, uni is great due to the abundance of time I have to concentrate on it and I love my city! Downside - NO FOREIGNERS! So my little trips away act as my little bursts of social interaction and so far it has been a successful adventure each and every time meeting great people and having crazy adventures. So I packed up my gear and toddled off to the beach for four days!

Travelling solo has it's absolute ups and absolute downs if you don't meet great people! I arrived at Qingdao full of expectancy for a full hostel and an abundance of adventure-seeking travellers. On first sight, a Brit in my dorm who turned out to never leave his room and few stragglers in the downstairs bar that weren't interested in any small talk. So I parked myself down with my laptop and guide book and figured out what I was going to do in this town. I hadn't done much research as I had been super busy with study. That kept me occupied until I got talking to the old eccentric German, Chinese speaking man who had many tales to tell about his adventures in China over the last couple of years!

After a while I was done talking all things German man and decided to re-locate myself and finalise some assessments that needed to be handed in. And enjoy my free Tsingtao beer. (Oh, I forgot to mention Qingdao is the home of the famous  Chinese beer - Tsingtao which is the other attraction and reason for visiting Qingdao)  Enter Brian, and American, a  new dorm buddy and fellow solo traveller. Brian planted himself down across from me with a beer and we proceeded to fill each other in on our lives, travels and plans - the usual! Enter Peter , a young Chinese (actually a local from my town) and keen to practice his English. We all decided we should venture out for some dinner and sightseeing around Qingdao!

Dinner! After a gigantic circle around the neighbouring streets we finally made it pretty much back to our hostel to a nearby seafood restaurant (Qingdao is also famed for it's seafood). Ordering dinner consisted of finding the yummiest looking fish swimming around and watching as the waitress smashed it on the ground several times (in the entrance way) weighed it and asked for our preparation preferences. Needless to say, it tasted very fresh! Haha! Oh, the shocks of China continue…four months in!

Dinner was great and complete with a beer in a bag! Yep, that's right. On the street at every second step there is kegs with beer and plastic bags. Beer in a bag! Less than classy but so cheap! 2¥ which equates to about $0.30 for 1/2 a litre. AWESOME! It was great having Peter tag along, it is always handy to have a little Chinese guide when you are new to a place.

After a BIG sleep in the next day and some breakfast (less than impressive), and coffee (less than impressive). Brian and I had think about what we wanted to do for the day and decided on a trip to the beach on the east side of town where it is supposed to be that much nicer. Good intentions, but it didn't quite work out that way. We ventured down to the Pier to check it out….amongst the throngs of people were small time food  vendors and  illegal jewellery hawkers (who freaked out once they saw the police turn up. It is amazing how quick they can get rid of the evidence). We made our way down to where we though the bus would be passing a few monkeys! Yes! Monkeys, on leashes with a guy forcing them to do tricks or risk punishment. It was quite sad but I couldn't help watching. It was just awful! The beach was horrible! The algae was too much! The entire surf of the beach was filled with algae about 5 metres back from the shoreline and people were actually swimming in it! Aghh! The rubbish of course was monumental and I was so sad to see nature being treated in such a way! It made me want to get out my protest banner.

We finally found the bus and jumped on - very cramped and very hot. I fished out my 2¥ for my bus ticket and popped my money purse back in the front pocket of my bag! The kind old lady next to me motioned to me to make sure my bag was zipped shut which I did and left it at that. 10 minutes later…my bag is unzipped and it's gone. I just couldn't believe it! Considering how close I was standing next to Brian and that we were near the exit where people would be looking, I couldn' t believe someone had managed to open my bag and take my money, tickets and c/c! Devastating! I think I have been too lucky and taken it for granted hey.

I frantically started looking for it in people's hands, on the floor to no avail. Trying to talk to someone was a disaster - I could only motion something was taken. A young girl who spoke English came to my rescue and helped explain to the ticket inspection girl and the bus driver what had happened! It all happened so fast but the bus came to a stand still and we all sat there sweating up a storm unti l the police came which the driver had kindly called!

The police: I didn't really see the point in wasting my time with the police - I was never going to get my cash back. But I suppose the more awareness that is raised about tourists  being targets helps the next one. And a police report wouldn't go astray for insurance. It is actually a very unusual situation. The chinese aren't known for this type of behaviour. They are generally an honest people. But we are tourists and we were in a very tourist area so whoever was seeking an opportune moment found it. The police were lovely. We had to wait for an interpreter but it was all good. We spent a couple of hours going through the details, translations etc. In the meantime I set my mum onto cancelling my cards, I set my boss onto finding someone that she knows to help me out. The whole time I was fine. These things happen and I was so lucky that I had Brian with me - at least to get a bus ticket home. It would have been a nightmare!

The cops gave us a free ride home which was awesome and in the meantime my boss had organised for a friend of a friend to bring me money. We ducked out for some lunch - so hungry by this stage and made it back in time for Shi Shi's contact to rock up with 2000¥ and a whole bag of food! Man, talk about my faith being restored. This lady didn't speak a word of English, didn't know me or my boss but I was in need and she was there so fast! The Chinese can be so amazingly generous. It was a quick turn around - going from feeling so violated to so blessed. It took all the stress away and meant I could enjoy the rest of my time in Qingdao. And that I did.

Brian had his own dilemmas. He had bought a bus ticket from a private company on the side of the road and was supposed to take the bus to Shanghai. Lucky for him he had called prior to going to find them. They weren't going any more! Ah! He spent a good two hours running around trying to find them and get his money back before eventually doing so. So turns out he was staying longer! While he was off doing that I was talking to another world traveller (literally had been everywhere - TWICE) getting some tips about India. He was 40, living in China, learning Chinese and doing business on line! Good deal! But after an hour or so of all about me world traveller I had had enough again and luckily he was off to meet someone for dinner.

Enter, Hannah, my new roomie. A German travelling with her brother and sister. Germans that I usually come across are very stand offish . But Hannah was keen for a chat and some tips about Qingdao. Brian and I were heading off for dinner and they happened to come to the same spot…here the formation of our crew began!

Enter Danny (UK), Cecilia (Sweden), Andreas (Sweden), Peter (US) and the crew just kept getting bigger! Banding together to avoid crazy drunk chinese men who were up for a good old chin wag in Chinglish, we bonded over a few beers and tales of China oh and politics…of course! I am finding that politics seems to be the conversation of choice when your with a crew repping the western world!!

The night began to wind down after we were kicked out of the roadside establishment and enter Peter 2 (US). He and a mate had just turned up and made the final members of the Qingdao expat crew!

The next couple of days consisted of beer (pijiu)! Touring the brewery with beer tasting, hanging out on Beer St drinking beer (There was torrential rain so I had we had to pass the time productively right?) and having more beers on our arrival back home! Not to mention amazing food!! Ah! I cannot even tell you how amazing the food in China is! I am loving it!!

Once again! Sad to say goodbye! I really hate saying goodbye to all these awesome people I meet! But a few email addresses and facebook adds later it was time for me to return home while the others continued on with their journey. An early morning rise and a 4 hr train ride and I was back in Cangzhou to face the reality of work and study again! Haha! Ah, I really have it hard hey! Hehe!

The whole time I was away I was completely unaware of my apparent visa problems that have me making plan B,C and D in case I can't come back! I can't get the visa I need to come and go as I please so I will just have to play it by ear and hope I get a happy visa processing officer happy to determine my fate in my favour and let me back into China after India! But if not, there is always the rest of this big wide world! So I am excited about the unknown yet, hoping and praying my very well laid out plans can still be achieved!

So after a crazy week with sightings of a naked man with one shoe, a day time prostitute with a full blown mullet, a baby peeing on the floor of KFC,  a fish being killed on the floor in front of me, watching trained monkeys be threatened with whipping, losing my voice (unable to teach) and  being robbed - I am happy to report that I am safely back in Cangzhou and anticipating my next adventure….which is….Hong Kong….again…..in 1 weeks time….I will report back then! Over and out!

Love to you all!

HJ xx

Ode to the Great One...The Great Wall!

A little overdue but I had to tell you all about the Great Wall!

Mao Zedong said...."He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man."
Looks like I'm now officially a true man! Alright!

It's a very surreal experience to think I am in a country bigger than my own and on the weekends I can just hop to other side if I so wish! I have been doing a lot of travel this way…2 days here…3 days there etc. I have a couple of little adventures coming up as it is summer holidays and it is a chance to consolidate my classes to a couple of days and get away for some more china experiences! I feel really lucky this way! Not many foreign teachers in China would be able to do what I am doing!

My last little stint away was just to do check out this little thing called the Great Wall! Haha! Let me tell you it was great! I dig anything to do with history and old history at that, so the Great Wall was a special experience.

My friend Martha and I coordinated schedules so we could do it together! Luckily the take off point was Beijing so we both met there in an awesome little hangout! Beijing have a heap of these old ally ways called 'hutongs' - they are banned from all things commercial so there is a lot of cute little boutiques and eateries without being OVERLY tourist orientated…although still so. We stayed at Beijing Downtown Backpackers. Great hostel. I really loved it - great amenities and friendly staff.  They also ran this tour to the great wall. The part we were going to was 3 hours outside of Beijing so void of the mass tourist crowds. However, a very bumpy ride indeed with some less than pleasant toilet stops! :)

So after arriving very late on Monday night to meet Marth who had been there all day, we grabbed some dinner and a few drinks and talked our way to 1:30am when we finally made it home to the hostel. Our wake up time was 6:30 so so much for getting rested up for our big walk!

We woke up early - not much to do as it certainly wasn't going to be any beauty pageant (unfortunate for the photos haha). Took a little walk, got some free brekky, complete with COFFEE!!!, and waited for our bus. Quite an odd bunch we were but ready to see the wall in all it's glory!

We ended up picking up a couple of young guys who were also travelling and checking out China and the three hour drive passed super fast as we shared humorous antics about our experiences in China. And then there we were! At the foothill of the Great Wall and what???? Oh no, I forgot my sunnies! Boo! Lucky for the myriad of vendors that were there to rip me off for a cheap pair! I bargained well for sure but I didn't choose to well cause they really didn't end up even fitting my head and would slide off. So I didn't end up wearing them anyway!

The hike was 6km! Up and down…up and down…up and down! A friend of mine kindly pointed out (from Australia, over text)  that that would be just a stroll and my efforts weren't impressive! Well I have the pics to prove it! Some parts I felt like spider man scaling the wall vertically, however not as fast and certainly not as agile! It was definitely tough at some parts but at the very end I decided it really wasn't as hard as what I thought. It certainly gave my granny knees some more wear and tear! I think I will need knee replacements upon my return to Aus! Getting worse and worse!

What made me feel worse about my pathetic efforts were the old ladies who climbed with us! I had one who attached herself to me…of course they wanted to sell you something towards the end, but they didn't mention it for most of the way! My lady was great and very entertaining, telling me how beautiful I was every time we took a pic. She taught me some Chinese as her English wasn't so bad as a result of being with tourists everyday and she was 65! Yep, 65 and climbing faster and more graceful than I was. Trying to help me up every second step. I am just getting used to this kind of thing these days. Anyway, in the end I didn't want any of her cheap souvenirs…so a 20 RMB tip and off she went.

We got back to Beijing eager for some cold beverages and something hearty to eat after our big efforts of the day! It was truly a spectacular sight! Through the panting and puffing and vertical scaling the views were amazing! One side, Inner Mongolia, the other China. And apart from one ugly highway, it was unspoiled views of country side!

We spent the evening in the hutong that we were staying in and chilled on the rooftop with a few cold beers and a nice spot of hookah!

The Great Wall was truly Great!

Love to you all!

Wish you could be here!

And a special shout out to my very special, dear, wonderful and supportive friend Ramona who I know is reading this blog as the devout follower that she is! I miss you so much girl! Can't wait to see you in just over twelve months!! Xx

HJ xx

Big City...Bright Lights...Hong Kong

You know just another week overseas, just another trip away….this time HONG KONG! It was coming up to three months until my intial visa  date was up so it was time to jump a plane and take off to Hong Kong to get a new one and get myself legal! :)


Thoughts of Hong Kong didn't incite much excitement from this little chicken but WOW!! I eat my words! Hong Kong is amazing and I am already planning to go back for my second helping this time next year.


The culmination of a bunch of islands, beaches, city skyscrapers, lights  like Vegas, beautiful untouched nature in the mountains, foreigners galore, majority of English speakers, no hawking,  spitting, peeing, pushing, western toilets, a good currency exchange from the RMB, tonnes  of tourist attractions, an awesome metro and a clean clean city left me wanting more. The downside - a pending typhoon that meant rain rain rain and more rain and most key attractions shut down. However, it didn't stop me from having an amazing week!


I was there to do official visa business which meant long lines, lots of forms, angry Chinese  consulate workers, blah blah blah and I wasn't really looking forward to the time it would eat out of my trip. But amazingly enough, everyone's horror stories previously foretold turned out to not be mine and it was a successful and pleasant experience. Apart from the sweltering heat and humidity - the line to enter the consulate turned out to be most productive. As soon as I arrived (nice and early to avoid the giant queues) I met an American - a guy from Texas who struck up a conversation with me and didn't stop until the following day!  Both English teachers who have been in China only a  couple of months, we spent the time comparing stories and situations and became fast friends.   Whilst filling out the forms AGAIN that I had previously filled out (just cause they feel like making you do it again), the line zoomed through and I found myself within the air-conditioned consulate building submitting my application and out all within the hour (including line time)!  I was so surprised and over the moon I had a whole extra day to explore!


Mike and I set out for some real coffee!!!  Even in the sweltering heat I couldn't resist and some food! We opted for some sandwhiches! Something I haven't had in so long! I can't wait to get home and get a chicken and salad sandwich with avocado on whole wheat/grain bread - preferably Helgas! Haha! It's amazing the things you crave - so simple!


I really wanted to go check out the beach in Stanley (at the bottom of Hong Kong island) so I figured out the best route and hopped the bus down their. To my disappointment the second we got off the bus it started pouring! No beach for me! But it was a beautiful, scenic ride and ended up being a  great day!


Whilst trying to find a decent beer, a place to sit to avoid the rain, I heard through the crow an almighty "Oi" - Had to be an aussie! It turns out he heard MY booming aussie accent and thought it appropriate to get me over! Their names were Burt and Joyce, late fifties couple and the epitome of everything Australian! We ended up joining them for an afternoon of beers, stories, jokes about America  to the detriment of Mike and a difficult job of translating most of what Burt had to say to Mike! Very humerous! Burt was a laugh a minute! We ended up spending the arvo, the night and the next day with these guys making it quite a  hilarious couple of days!


The hostel was a bunch of fun! There was a neat little crew staying there and each night we had fun playing cards, singing along to the many random songs played on guitar and comparing notes on China (as everyone was in the same boat getting their visas). I met a couple more people and decided I wanted some company up to the big Buddha on one of the Islands so invited along a guy from the Netherlands and a chick from London who was on this mega travelling adventure! It's amazing how much time you can take up just talking about the travelling journeys you have been on and all the crazy experiences!!


I also got to catch up with a lady I met on the plane on my way over from Europe! She is a Hong Kong native and we became fast friends on the plane so we had a little dinner catch up which was so lovely! It's amazing how if you make the effort, you really can make friends all over the world! I have started quite the collection. My friend Martha puts it quite well on a caption to a photo:


"This is my friend Helen, she is from Australia, I am from America, we met in Prague and hang out in China!!


It's such a small world!


So I packed quite a fair bit into my Hong Kong jaunt! There was still so much to do and so much I missed out on because of the typhoon! But all good I will be back to conquer!


The trip back was quite eventful! In true Helen fashion, I made my check in and plane with only minutes to spare! But the plane ended up being delayed so all was ok! Got to make the most of starbucks right next to my check in lounge and enjoy my last indulgence of real coffee for a while!!
After a very turbulent plane ride back into to the capital of my province and because of delays - I missed the  LAST 3 hour shuttle bus back to Cangzhou and was stuck in a city where barely a soul speaks  English and had to figure out how to get to the city centre (an hour away), get a hotel (at midnight) and get back to Cangzhou the next morning! It was a bit of a disaster but all ended up working out as I am here to tell the story - always the way!


Anyway, just another little adventure to add to the novel that my journeys are becoming!


I have been away for 5 months. On one hand it feels like 5 seconds and the other it feels like 5 years!


Only three months left in China would you believe and I will be on my way to Dubai and India after a bit more China travel! Very excited for the next adventure! This time with a backpack and a bit more sense of adventure!


Love to you all! Sorry for not posting for a while! Haha!




HJ xx

A tale about a western girl and a gym in China!

My gym….mmm…so much to be said!

Knowing how much I loved the gym (and how desperately I needed to get back) my boss signed me up at the newest, latest and greatest gym in Cangzhou…a comfortable 15 minute bike ride down the road!

It's decent…comparable to any of the good ones back home for sure. All new equipment and most of what I would have used back home so it keeps me happy! But they gym is a daily experience in itself.

On arrival I am greeted with the usual over enthusiastic attempts at 'hello'. I oblige and quickly scoot on before I get stuck in yet another conversation I can't understand! Heading in, I am greeted with multiple pairs of eyes very surprised to see me there and I watch as their eyes widen as I head to the WEIGHTS section. What? Chinese Rule #1 - girls don't lift weights!

I get stuck straight in as I have had my warm up with my 15 min bike ride! I set up my iPod to override the ghastly chinese pop music, set up my towel to avoid catching some disease from the sweat the men leave behind - there isn't a 'no towel, no workout' policy like home - eww, I stretch my muscles and start pumping some iron!

The gym used to be my domain, my safe place. I felt alive in the gym just pumping iron with the rest of my gym family in bris! This is a whole different story. Every now and then I will look up from a set to find not one but about four of the gym staff sitting on the bench beside me just staring at me push out another chest press. Or if not the staff, a random stranger and his mate. This happens for the first 10 mins or so! Then it will appear they have left me alone but alas, I look up again from another set and there they are!

It doesn't help that the weights area has a glass wall the is adjacent to the inside of a mall…so all passer byers who are catching the escalators can see inside. So every now and then I will look up and find a group of seven teenage boys staring in wonder, giggling and waving! Man, I sometimes feel like a genuine freakshow. I really need to start selling tickets.

Chinese Rule #2 - girls don't sweat. Working out for me has never been a glamorous or classy affair! I sweat, and sweat a lot! Between the lycra, pumping iron and cardio I have a nice amount of sweat build up and it's not pretty! So the strange looks also re-appear as I am constantly towling myself down and puffing and panting.

Chinese Rule #3  - wear more clothes - the less skin the better. As far as the girls go, gym attire is conservative….lots of clothes and long pants! Even in this scorching summer. Well as I have already stated the sweating dilemma, my motto has always been the less clothes the better - this also brings about the stares!

Although the boys are more than happy to strip of their t-shirts and singlets and work out half naked! Ewww! Sweating straight onto the bench! Disgusting!

Chinese Rule #4 - Heavy weight is unnecessary! This one is for the boys. As stated, girls don't lift weights! They are happy to bicep curl their 5kg dumbbells! Really? Ridiculous! There has been one time where I have seen two guys lifting serious weights. The rest is token lifting and I usually exceed them. Even now, not being in any weight lifting shape compared to what I was!

Chinese Rule #5 - the gym is primarily for hanging out - working out optional. Yep, the gym is more for a social hang out than actually exercising. People just standing around and maybe just maybe throwing in an occasional set! There is a pool room (with bar), ping pong room, basketball room etc so it's more like a pub than a gym!

Not to mention the girlfriends that accompany their men just to stand beside them and hold their belongings! I want to shake them! And shake them hard! Haha!

So the gym experience is something very different to what I am used to! That comfortable 1.5 hours a day I used to love and cherish has become the most self-conscious experience of my life! All good! The upside is I stepped on the scales this morning and it has been paying off!

Oh, to add to my experience - every time I rock up to the bicycle parking lot and pay my 7cents parking fee the old Chinese ladies 'tsk' 'tsk' me about my freckles! Well ladies, welcome to western skin! Haha! I can't very well explain to them that I am a natural red-head and that's my natural skin! No! so I get disapproving looks that my skin is being marked by the sun! haha!

I am also not wearing the appropriate attire: hat, sunglasses, long sleeve shirt on backwards to make sure all exposure to the sun is completely avoided. God forbid I get a tan! They would be mortified to learn I lay out on my balcony sunbaking each day with the exact intention of exposing my body to the sun! haha!

I learnt yesterday that the love of white skin is because it looks cleaner! Mmm…I just use soap! Haha!

Oh China, you never cease to amaze me, bring a smile to my face and a roll to my eye!

Hangzhou....China's heaven on earth

 

This weekend I got to take another little holiday off too Hangzhou to meet Martha, my friend from Prague. The train ride down wasn't so bad…although I promised I would never to a seat train again I decided to bite the bullet and took the fast train down with a fairly comfy seat. Comparable to planes - actually a tad better!

It was easy peasy! I took the 1.5 hour train to Beijing, ate some AMAZING McDonalds (not sure why the heck it tasted so amazing) and jumped aboard my 11 hr train to Hangzhou! Pretty sweet…I got seated next to a guy who could speak a little English and was more than stoked to have me next to him. I tried to study a little bit but slumber found me on route to Hangzhou and I pretty much slept until I arrived the next morning!! Alright!

I managed to make the giant taxi trek to Martha's alright. Very impressed with her chinese directions. It was a typical reunion…running at the sight of each other! Haha! Makes me laugh to think about it! The whole time we were hanging out we were just thinking how surreal it is that she is from the states, me from Aus, we met in Prague and now teaching and living in China! It really is amazing how you meet and make friends along the way! I definitely count myself lucky to have her as a friend here! We had such a great two days!

Our two days literally consisted of breakfast (western style), walking around the lake, a boat ride on the lake, real coffee, a foot massage, drinking and hanging with her expat friends on rooftop terraces and clubs that played western music, another massage, more food and drinks, a head and shoulder massage,  more walking, tea @ a tea house on the lake and a sad goodbye! Man, it was the best two days and I definitely was grateful for the western injection, the night of chatting with the Brits and COFFEE!!....oh and FACEBOOK! I'm back baby!! Back!

Hangzhou is absolutely gorgeous….I really was amazed at it's beauty! And the fresh, breathable air that smells of trees and flowers. Oh, and the highlight for me was sitting down to some fantastic Indian food! So good! I had been craving it so bad. Martha and I started the tradition in Prague so we had to continue. It got me excited about eating the real deal as if I couldn't be any more excited!

Ah, the club experience was hilarious. We walk into a busy club, empty dance floor….take it by storm and get every chinese person up dancing with the novelty westerners! Haha! It was such an experience to watch people mimicking my lame dancing as if I was some celebrity. Too funny!! We also turned the shy guy at the bar into a god by making him show off his breakdancing moves and cheering him on! Good Night Indeed!

The trip back was pretty sweet also….I had a soft sleeper this time and was in a compartment with three other Chinese women who didn't snore thankfully! I pretty much slept the whole night…although your mind does play tricks on you when you are half asleep and the train seems to be derailing! Haha!

The rest of the morning I spent reading a teeny bit of study and messing about….I did however forget to eat for 24 hours so I was a little weary when I got home…..not to mention I was so flustered and frustrated as the taxi drivers at the station were just being pain in the ass hawkers who wouldn't let me just get in the taxi and show them the way…and put their dam meter on….so I started walking in the scorching heat until I found a lady who was willing to play the game properly! Ah, so annoying when you live in a place and get treated like a tourist!

I am loving these little trips away and glad I did them while I had the opportunity. I will be off to Beijing with Martha at the end of the month to see the Great Wall if all goes well! I have to also go to Hong Kong this month to sort out my visa to stay here so I will be still flitting around the place.  I also plan to do some of the south west of China when I finish up here to head over to Dubai. About 10 days so that will be sweet! I didn't really think about travelling in China when I was planning to come but now I am here I realise how much there is to see.

My friend Kasey is now in Chongqing which is one of China's furnace cities. 40 degrees celsius and super humid makes it one of China's furnace cities. She is from Colorado so I am a little concerned for her! Haha!

In other news. My friend Chelsea who I also met in Prague has said she wants to come over for the three months that I leave to replace me in my job. I am super stoked….she will be great with the kids and I reckon she will have an amazing time. I am sad that she will be here while I'm not but I am sure we can still spend some time together when I get back! So it is all working out nicely!

Uni started this week! I haven't even got a chance to touch it as I have been away! Whoops! But I will knuckle down next week and give it a good hard kickstart. I have also been a little distracted catching up on facebook - haha!

My backpack arrived today for my backpacking trips! Man, my life just keeps getting more and more condensed!! I will be a pro light traveller after this!

It is getting super hot here in Hangzhou….it is heating up quick smart. Between the dirt and sun, I think I will come back a different colour! Haha! Nice! I have quite the tan coming along as it is from riding my bike around! YAY!!

Gotta fly….got a big day of uni tomorrow! Haha!

Love to you all….

HJ xx

P.S. I uploaded a million pictures to FB - check them all out there! :)

Xian...and the mighty warriors made of clay!

It's amazing how much can happen in a matter of 10 days! :)

Last weekend I made my way down to Xian (famous for the Terracotta warriors). I had the opportunity to meet Angela, my childhood friend from Melbourne, and her family there and do some touristy stuff while I was at it!
So Sunday night after teaching during the day Kasey (my housemate) and I hopped on a train and departed for Xian. We booked tickets for a sleeper train and opted for a hard sleeper - a not so comfortable bunk standing THREE high and open to anyone who passed by which meant us being foreigners, we were the local attraction. But it turns out hard sleepers aren't so bad at all as long as you get the bottom bunk and have good neighbours…i.e. don't snore, don't sit on your bed, don't yell instead of talking, don't smoke and don't sit there and eat seeds out of their husks (the most annoying crunching sound in the world!! They could do it all day!). We at least got half of the above. We had great, nice neighbours and the noisy, smoking men kept down the hall!
The journey to Xian was 16 hours!!! But in that time you spend the night, so sleep takes up a good part and lights go out at ten so you really have no choice but to sleep!!
We also had a tonne of reading material and my trusty old brick breaker game on my phone! Passes away the hours! Haha!
In the morning we got served dumplings for brekky! The yummiest dumplings I have had so far in China and spent the few hours we had left being excited for Xian.

As soon as we arrived, Ang and her entourage were waiting with their private tour guide to take us to the Warriors and a few other nooks and crannys in Xian. Oh, also the remains of a 6000 year old village that is now a museum. It was amazing! All of it was drenched in history and to see the Terracotta Warriors up close was a very surreal experience. To think that an Emperor actually commissioned these things for his afterlife….and that they were discovered by a mere farmer digging a well!

That night we hit the town for dinner which consisted of a plate of broccoli (random) and amazing dumplings ….oh and some Baskin and Robbins ice-cream for a bit of home!! We then tried to find a bar and ended up at a backpackers where the bartenders were more than happy to serve us coronas, pronounced 'saronas' and practise their english, take photos of us and giggle at everything we said. Then came along Jimbeam….the hostel manager who has seriously named himself Jimbeam. He entertained us for the rest of the night until we had finished our Saronas and were ready to hit the hay. We spent the night crashed in Ang's hotel room with her and I sharing a single and Kasey on the floor. Just like good old days with Ang!! We still aren't too old to share a single bed!!

The next day Kasey and I let the others go on their tours while we did the two hour bike ride around the city walls! (one of the only cities to have their original walls still standing). And ride around the city getting lost in the Muslim quarter! With markets and street food for lunch, we were happy to be living it up in Xian. We took a risk and trialled some street food which consisted of some gloopy stew/soup that you tore chunks of bread into and ate. It was delicious. We were just praying it wouldn't disagree with us as we had a long ride home on the train that night. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the markets in the Muslim quarter. They were amazing. Anything you wanted you could buy. But boy we realised quick smart that in order to buy anything you had to spend more energy haggling than you did in Yuan. By the end we were exhausted but we got out alive and with some good bargains. We started paying more money towards the end because our energy was down! Haha! The starting price would always be so ridiculous and you would say your price and they would just laugh at you but in the end you would always get it! I even had one guy go lower than my original price. Amazing!!

The train ride back was HELL!! We were stupid enough not to purchase a sleeper bed and just ride in a seat! I will never do that again! Cramped up in little chinese seats with the lights on and everyone making noise all night was not the best train ride home..needless to say it left me tired and irritable and the next day wasn't so amazing. We made it to Beijing and the forbidden city. Which wasn't exactly what I expected. Just and expanse of temples and cobblestones in the middle of the city. But the history is amazing and I am glad I got to see it for sure! Stupid me misread the time on our return home tickets so we missed our train back and I had to reschedule my class….not good. Also Ang was going to come back and check out Cangzhou and meet my kiddies but that plan fell to pieces with the missing of the train. SAD!! But all is good! We learnt a lot of lessons about travelling in China and will make for a better journey next time. I am willing to bet that China is going to be one of the most frustrating countries to be a tourist in. Lucky I am part local and have some know how on the situation.

The rest of the week has been a whirlwind of craziness. Kasey attempted the same conversation with my boss that I did but it turned out a lot worse. I got given her classes to teach and right now she is packing her backs and off to the great unknown. She has had a lot of job offers so something will work out for her but I am sad to lose my one western friend in Cangzhou!! :( The up side is I will have somewhere to visit in China!! So now my teaching load has increased, which I am happy about and my boss can now afford to pay the two teachers she has instead of struggling to pay three!!

Uni starts this week coming. I am doing a full time and a half load which will keep me very busy indeed! But I will love the feeling of getting my brain working again and getting into uni. Give me two months, I will be complaining about it again! :)

I am off to Hangzhou this weekend coming to see my friend I made in Prague. It has been a long time coming and we are both super excited. Hangzhou is supposed to be the most beautiful city in China so I am very excited to see it.

Anyway, Love to you All!!!

HJ xx

Pics @ http://s1107.photobucket.com/albums/h397/hrjones86/?albumview=slideshow