Archive for December, 2009
The New Year…2010 approaches, it’s an odyssey all right!
Did I ever think that I would be living in China in 2010? NO. Did I ever think I would be a teacher in 2010? NO. Did I ever think I would be sitting in my place of work wearing long johns, full winter gear, my winter coat and hat and gloves in 2010? NO. (No, I do not teach at an Arctic substation. But I do work in an uninsulated, [...]
Beijing #4 at #4 Banqiao. Christmas Edition.
Don't be fooled by the cute courtyard and drapery over the bed at 4 Banqiao Guesthouse. This was the title of the Trip Advisor review www.tripadvisor.com I just had to write for our latest stay in Beijing...and the following was the review: I thoroughly researched our options for a cute upper scale (i.e. not a hostel or cheap [...]
Climate change, Copenhagen, and coughing
I think I may have mentioned how my time here in China has been dominated by a fearsome fog of composed of sea haze (i.e. actual fog) construction debris and downwind factory pollutants. This seems to have resulted in a nagging, sometimes hacking cough that just does not go away, is most prevalent in the mornings...and well, troublesome to say the [...]
Beijing 1, 2, 3, 4…yes, I do, I want some more.
Beijing visit number 1 was all about connecting with friends new and old, shopping for fakes at Yangshaw market and western-style breakfasts at Grandma's Kitchen and Element Fresh....yummm!. Solo Beijing visit number 2 was all about being the tourist during the day at Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City and the night in the dark corners [...]
Getaways far and farther…
So we finally booked our tickets to Thailand last Wednesday! Pretty soon my daily view will be something like this: and less like this: Needless to say it's 5 weeks to our 5 week vacation and these 5 weeks can't go fast enough....whereas I want the impending holiday 5 weeks to last forever! Closer to home, we went on [...]
TEDA = Vegas?
As I walked home from our hump night dinner at the Dublin Irish Pub a few weeks ago - yep, you heard that right. Irish Pub - they are everywhere in the world and they are really homogeneous. As Roland said, Ireland should really have franchised the concept - that would have kept the country in the black forever! Anyhow, that is not what this [...]