Alas, Teachers no more. (Marcus)

So yesterday came and went and now we have signed our exit contracts and are effectively no longer teachers. This is a good thing really, as it means we will head home, but I do feel a little - I don't know, I guess sentimental about it as I did enjoy many elements of teaching.

The actual teaching part - standing there in front of the kids, interacting with them, laughing with them, it was very enjoyable. Walking around the school as the complete centre of attention was not so much. While it had it's novelty value, it did get old after a while.

For example if you look at the larger version of this image below, this is what I saw every day as I approached class from the lake. A sea of students. The photo below is actually a fraction of the number of students normally in this area. Now you think - that doesn't sound so bad, but just imagine that as you walked in amongst them, every single one of them - and I mean every single one of them reacts to you. The girls giggle, the boys go all goofy. Their body language changes, you get hello's left right and centre to the point where you feel like an idiot as you're just walking along going, "Hello! Hi! Hello! Hi! Hi! Hey! Hello! Hi! Hello!"

Courtney and I are not big fans of being the centre of attention - hell I don't even like being it on my birthday. For us this whole China experience has been well and truly stepping outside our comfort zones. It has taught us a lot, given us a lot of new perspectives on different things, but I guess most of all it has shown us just how valuable our home country is to us.

A lot of people - or perhaps all, go away then say, "You don't know how good home is until you leave..." which sounds kind of cliche as it's like, the 'in' thing to say - but in China - it couldn't be truer.

I think it takes a certain type of person to really live here and immerse yourself. I honestly believe those coming here looking for Chinese wifes - aka the majority of the expat community, are exactly that type. Having a day in day out translator breaks down a large portion of not only the language barrier, but the cultural barrier. Different people want different things. Myself? I wouldn't stay here any longer than a year tops, if even that.

If I was coming back to do it again, I would be armed with considerably more knowledge than when we first arrived. For one I would likely only live in one of the larger cities - Beijing or Shanghai - perhaps a handful of others, but I would have to see them first. I would make sure that where i worked/taught/whatever I did had other foreigners likewise working there. I would make sure that where I worked and where I lived were both in very close proximity(ie 5 minute walking distance) from the actual CBD.

Our district is only 7km's or so from the CBD; it really is very close. When we first looked at Wuxi as a location on google maps, Dongting/Xishan district is only really as far out from the centre of the CBD as say Richmond/Hawthorn is from Melbourne CBD. That's very workable. What we didn't know however, is this particular district is basically considered 'country,' by Chinese standards. It is in no way an inner suburb, it's effectively the boonies. This has played a very large part in our overall China experience - both good and bad.

On the good side we've been able to really experience true Chinese life. We can honestly say we have seen how they really live their day to day lives - and lived around them. On the bad however, it's also put us in a location where we're effectively stared at 24/7 and have never really felt welcome.

The Chinese as a culture are interesting, but they are sooo different to people back in Australia. So different! They can be both extremly generous, friendly and surprisingly approachable, but at the same time extremely infuriating. This is a country where basically anything goes. We still see things on a daily basis that just makes us crack up.

Through everything we have experienced we have kept our senses of humour and I think that is the key to survival here. If you cant look at the funny side of things, you're toast.

So today we're off to Shanghai to stay for three nights with Mum who is on the plane as I type this. It's a surreal thought to think we haven't seen her in something like 7 months as it only really feels like a few weeks at best. Back home we don't even regularly see each other month to month as we live in the city and she doesn't, but still.

We had to queue for around an hour yesterday for train tickets as every man and his dog was out there trying to buy them first thing in the morning. Wednesday is the national holiday, and yesterday was five days before it. In China, you can only buy your train tickets five days before the day you wish to use them - so yesterday was the day.

The Chinese don't seem to mind queuing one little bit - perhaps because they're used to it. I also suspect they just enjoy being around each other. I can't say for sure as it's never really obvious to us who is friends with who, or who knows who previously, but it seems from our point of view that every single Chinese person in China is happy to just go up to a complete stranger(Chinese) and start conversing. They also seem to incredibly enjoy giving and recieving directions or guiding each other into reverse carparks. They're an odd people - one I don't think I could every truly understand completely. Whenever I try and give them an overall description that really explains them - my head starts hurting.

So we're off to Shanghai for the next three nights, back to Wuxi to show Mum around for another 4, then off to Shanghai for yet another 4 or so nights, then we're flying back to Melbourne on the 8th October.

The weather as Courtney posted has become decidedly cooler and well it's going to be a trip of an experience returning to normality.

China has gone by in the blink of an eye, but man, this country is just crazy.

Brrrr! (Courtney)

Since May, it has been an average temperature of about...oooh, lets say 40 degrees every day. The temperature is normally mid thirties, but once the humidity is added in, it feels normally around 45 degrees.

So you can say it's been unbearably hot for five consecutive months without a break. In these five months, we have not worn pants, or socks, or shoes, or any other item of warm clothing. It can be 2am and it's still much warmer than balmy. For us Melbourne folk, there have been some pretty intense days. Days where your energy is sapped just walking up the stairs to class (and not in a I'm unfit way). Days where I've perspired more than I physically thought I could. Days where there is no incentive to leave our apartment. In short, it's been a loooooooong hot summer.

Well that all changed today. Today was about 20 degrees. Whilst this is not cold, to us it felt positively miserable. And you can see from above that it is currently 17 degrees outside. From yesterday's 40, this suddenly feels very very cold. We went out for dinner with Matt and Abby this evening and there was shoes, socks, pants and even jumpers! We have no doubt this is the beginning of the end and within a couple of weeks it will be utterly freezing again. The weather changes here are distinct and fast. And as much as summer has been exhausting, boy am I glad we are getting out before winter settles in!

The End is Nigh (Courtney)

So, we are down to our final days as teachers and Chinese residents. This time in two weeks we will have cleared customs in Melbourne and be..somewhere!

This week has been dubbed "Operation Avoidance", in an attempt to remain unseen by all leaders of the school. Why you ask? Well, there is this iddy bitty clause in our contract which has been causing us much stress over the last few weeks. It's the Breach of Contract Fee, which can range from $500 to $2000 USD, if either party breach the contract. In our initial talks with the school it was never mentioned, but then during drunken Teachers' Day celebrations it was mentioned...in a very underhanded type of way by a certain individual. This sent us into a spin, and we have been at a loss as to what to do ever since. Bring it up? Ignore it? Hope we get to the last day and there isn't security waiting for us?! It's been weighing on our minds greatly.

However, we figured if it was mentioned as a requirement to our leaving, we would play the card of "well, you agreed to release us and have only brought this up now", coupled with "actually, you don't have to reimburse our flights, you didn't pay for medical insurance...and actually here are all the things we were promised which never happened...so I think we are square". And if all of that failed, our last attempt would be to get mediation with the Education Department in Nanjing.

So we have tried our best to be scarce around the school and so far it had worked. We want to leave on good terms.

And then this morning the phone rang. Whilst we can run, we obviously can't hide. It was Mr Pan's office number and we stood over the phone as it rang, umming and aahing at to whether we should answer it. We figured he would just call again or come over so I picked up the phone.

"Courtney, I come to your home with termination contract."

Panic. We know by rights there has to be a termination contract but that didn't make us any more eager to see it. So Mr Pan comes over to show us the contract, which we will sign tomorrow with Mr Shen. He handed me the contract and I couldn't even read it, all I could do was frantically scan it for the fee. And then I see it, a sentence with the words "$500 - $2000 USD" included and my heart sank. Figured I had better read the whole thing properly and see what we were up for.

Well well my friends, the gods have shined, because the sentence read "Party B agrees to pay Party A a breaking fee of between $500 to $2000. However, Party A has forgiven Party B, so no penalty will apply."

OH YEAH!!!! Oh the weight that has been lifted from our shoulders. I can't tell you how many times we have spoken about this in the last few weeks, not once coming to a conclusion about what to do. So to read that was just the definition of relief and happiness. And it also proves to us yet again that Mr Shen, the principle, is a very decent man. We have great respect for him and have never felt like he would not do the right thing by us. Unfortunately a lot of people cannot say the same thing about the schools they work for.

So the end is nigh. Two more days of classes and we are done. It's an odd feeling, as so far this week it hasn't felt as though we are leaving - obviously Operation Avoidance had something to do with this. But now it feels real, we are actually leaving. We meet Marcus' mum on Saturday in Shanghai which is just going to be fantastic and before you know it we will be back in Melbourne. Next week is the National holiday however Mr Pan is still going to be here until Wednesday, so Jann can meet him and we can get to say a proper goodbye which is what we have wanted.

Tomorrow night we will have Matt and Abby over and enjoy a final supper together. And somewhere in between classes, dinner and Shanghai we have a heck of a lot of stuff to do! Nothing like moving country twice in one year to send you into organisational chaos. Speaking of which, I have things to do!

It's been a long time between drinks... (Marcus)

...or blog posts rather. I guess over the past few weeks as we start to slowly wind down and depart, my mind has been on other things. While previous I have been thinking about nothing other than China China China - now - well I guess it's more focused on 'real world' stuff like, resumes and finding a job and christ why are we going home again!!!

Nah just kidding -while finding a new job and returning to normality is going to be hard after this surreal little adventure, it's going to be good to advancing forward again. While in China we've had the opportunity to experience an absolute myriad of things we honestly never thought we would, we're not actually going anywhere. We're making very average money(by Australian standards) which means our bank balances are slowly dwindling, we're not moving any closer towards things such as house deposits, car's, more cats(!) and essentials such as...large high definition TV's....yes damnit! I don't care what you say Courtney!

So we're about to start our final week of teaching and I really have to say this time round? It really has been a LOT better. The students are much much better. Their english is better, they're more willing to talk and participate - oh and we only have 10 classes a week - that helps too. I don't know what it is but I suspect a big part of it is the fact we have started teaching them from the start of their school year - not mid-way through. I am sure I have spoken about this before.

Anyhow the last few weeks have been brimming with the usual random things. I really shouldn't let the blog slip for so long in between posts as I really forget a lot of the things that go on.

First random item on today's agenda is our german bread. Yes, we have been eating german bread from Germany with our breakfast and I have to say it's pretty damned awesome.

I recieved this random email a few days ago from a friend of ours named Josh:

Hi Marcus,

How are you doing?

Just now I called you, it seems that you are at there.

I just get back from my trip to USA and Germanny and I bought some bread for you from Frankfurt this morning around 1:00AM Beijing time, and the bread is already in my home.

I would like to send the bread to you at once, as I do not know how long the bread can be kept. I know nothing about bread.

Please give me a call, I will call you again.

So uh...yeah, German bread coming our way! We met Josh the following day, he has a huge bag full of bread and well now our freezer is stuffed to the point of overflowing with the stuff. But man, it's normal bread! Something of a luxury item here in sunny China. I guess I really made an impression on him with my complaints about the sweet Chinese bread on offer around here. That's one thing I cant wait to get my teeth into when we get home.

Speaking of sunny - at the change of season to Autumn the weather started to really cool down and I thought hey, it's going straight towards being cold - this country being somewhat clearcut with it's seasonal conditions, but no, it's heating right back up again. Along with the return of the heat comes an increase in mosquitoes, yay!

I think I can actually sum up China's yearly weather conditions now perfectly. You have a few months of absolutely bitingly cold, and then it's hot with mosquitoes for the rest of the year. I think the thing I have enjoyed the least about living here is without doubt - mosquitoes. I absolutely cannot stand them. I seriously do not know how people can live in areas where they are rampant. They are the single most annoying thing I have ever experienced ever. I cant remember what it's like to walk around NOT itching myself all over - or better yet, waking up in the wee hours of the morning with hands so itchy it almost hurts.

So because we're almost leaving, we decided to catch up for a final time with our New Zealand pals Matt and Abby and head out and have a bit of fun. We were going to go check this movie set place down on the lake(Tai Hu). There's supposedly three movie sets which from what I gather are also a bit theme-park like. They actually make movies there to this day. There's three sets and they range in theme, one of them being like, Tang Dynasty, another Three Kingdoms etc etc. All in all it sounded like a bit of fun, and also in the 7 months we've been here we have spent a grand total of 30 minutes by the lake...the lake being the 3rd biggest in China and one of the reasons Wuxi is in the top 10 destinations for chinese tourists. Don't worry mum, we'll take you there at least, then we can like both experience it for the first time!

So it gets to yesterday and the weather could not possibly have been more foul. It was boiling hot and absolutely smoggy as hell. Blech. The heat I don't mind so much now, but the smog really gets to me. I do not feel like going anywhere when it's that polluted. Wow - look at the lake..it's so beautiful...under it's ABSOLUTE BLANKET OF SMOG!! Matt reckons it's only really partially smog, while the humidity brings a lot of the vapour out of the water and into the air. Because this area is absolutely packed with water - canals/lakes etc, that's possibly the reason why in hotter weather the air conditions can worsen. I don't know...it sounds like a legit explanation, but the black crap it leaves on everything and the fact it's light blue in colour(like smoke) kind of stinks of smog to me.

So we headed off to Matt and Abby's and then walked from their place to a bus stop. We needed bus 72 and of course it got there just ahead of us and wouldn't wait for us as all four of us started running to make it. Then to my complete lack of surprise, along came bus 27 x 4. That's right, 4 of the same bus in a row. Go figure. It was a 20-40 minute wait for the next 72, so rather than waiting we ended up grabbing a cab. As we got into the cab I looked back along the highway and noticed the sky had darkened somewhat - the light grey smog was not a darker grey which usually meant incomming rain. I told the others and Abby agreed with the wind really picking up and moving the trees. We decided to ditch the movie set and turn around and go into the city - and man it was the best decision we made as it started bucketing down.

One thing about China is when it rains getting a cab can be a nightmare. Being stuck out at the lake and not being able to get home in the rain? Oh joyous day.

So we ended up just wandering around the city, realizing that yeah there's really not much to do entertainment wise. We chilled in Starbucks for a while, walked around the shops, then finally ended up in the German beer garden for a cold beer and air-conditioning. We then headed off to TGI Fridays - our western food destination of choice, had a few cocktails then off to Blue Bar for some more again. By the end of the night I am happy to say Courty was fair sloshed and man I wish i could have video'ed her drunked stompy walk effort on the way back home, it was so damned cute. I put her to bed and she went out like a light, and well, that was our day!

Here's Courtney enjoying our lovely day out with Matt and Abby. Worst weather ever.

The rest of us opted to sit under shelter and wait the rain out.

Matt & Abby - we'll miss you guys! We got to experience Mars together..litterally!

Next stop Drunktown!

And in completely unrelated news - the other day in the local super-supermarket, E-Mart that opened around the corner, we stumbled upon REAL ACTUAL MINCE MEAT! Now this is a win for the little people. Our cooking to date has been hampered by the fact that other than frozen chicken fillets from Metro, it is really really hard to find decent beef - or tender meat period. This mince is fantastic, and we tag-team went to town and made hamburgers and goddamn I have to say that while the photo doesn't really show it, these were some of the best burgers I have tasted in my life. I breathed them in so fast they were gone and I am still sad :(

We have seen this little character on so many products around the place - including the above drink that we decided finally to buy one of the damned things and see what it was. The brand is apparently called 'Want Want', and it has it's own website, www.wantwant.com. We looked up the above drink and this turned out to be a Strawberry flavour of their 'Bubbalicious' line. Well the end product is like a not-milk drink - think a milk drink crossed with a standard softdrink but really being neither - and mega strawberry flavoured - kind of tasted like Strawberry Quik. Neither of us could drink it, it was kinda...crap. I did buy the standard flavoured one today and it was sort of like weird Creamy Soda. So yeah, experimentation right up until the end, hoorah.

And last but not least, one of my new gifted students, a little girl with the name..Iris, drew this for me. Make sure you click on this photo for the full-sized - best picture yet! Cracked me up, I thanked her profusely. It makes you feel good when a student draws something for you - or gives you a gift. I will miss the teacher/student bonds that form, I really will. Who knows, maybe one day I'll look into Primary teaching or something. The teaching i didn't mind so much, it was just the lesson planning that stunk.

Oh and in final final news - my poor brother Nick broke his arm recently - an arm he's broken multiple times in the past due to skate-boarding. Get well soon buddy! And Mum is looking to still come over in around a weeks time - now that will be fun! Can't wait! And that's all folks, catch!

Next stop home (Courtney)

Well, Shanghai-Wuxi-Shanghai-HongKong-Melbourne...but you get my drift.

We've booked our flights and will be home 9th October. I can't wait. I miss Melbourne, everyone and everything there. Sure, I'll miss China too, but I think the above speaks volume for just how great home is going to be!

1. Melbourne: Twilight & Melbourne's tallest building, 2. Hosier Lane, Melbourne, VIC, 3. Arrivals, 4. coffee cave, 5. Melbourne Botanical Gardens, 6. Colorful Beach House, 7. 'Polyester'" shop on Brunswick Street, Melbourne, Australia, 8. Caffe Latte - The Maling Room, 9. Yering Frog, 10. thin men 1, 11. Melbourne Moomba Fireworks, 12. Melbourne tram, 13. Queen Victoria Market, 14. high in the sky CBD wheel melbourne, 15. compulsive reading , 16. 5 November 2007

Teachers' Day (Courtney)

Last Wednesday was Teachers' Day, which we assume is an international thing. I found out about Teachers' Day on the Tuesday afternoon when my class presented me with a card and very kindly, some "Golden Throat" lozengers. The week before in class I was still getting over my virus and the kids wanted to know why I was drinking so much water...hence the throat lozengers which I thought was very cute.

My appearance is like a gentle breeze to my students...

So Wednesday morning rolls around and we don't really think much of what the day might hold. Mr Pan calls to tell us there is an assembly at 3:30 and Mr Shen, the principle, would like us to attend. No probs. Then James, one of Marcus' previous students came over with a bunch of flowers and a box of moon cakes. Flowers for Teachers' Day, moon cakes for Mid-Autumn Festival (yes, I know it appears there is a holiday for everything here!)

Our classes rolled around and there were more presents and cards and well wishes to be had. I have to say, it felt really good and Ithought the kids were very sweet in their wishes.

Some of Marcus' haul, including handmade cards.

One class gave me two fish money boxes. I then had to take them to gifted class where a bunch of kids ran off with them and made them "kiss".

Sooooo sexy ;-)

Then of course assembly time came, in true China style it was an "extravaganza". We met Mr Pan at his office after class and he took us to the assembly, thankfully seating us somewhere up the back and not our normal front row, centre seats. Upon entering the building though, we were all greeting by a double line of gifted students, all waving and cheering. This was funny enough to see them all doing their awkward kiddie waves, but the classic part was that they were all dressed up in uniforms and makeup...boys included...

Here's a selection of the gifted students reading a poem. A touch hard to see the makeup but you can make out some coloured lips and cheeks.

The assembly started with the vice-principle speaking. Funnily enough he had memorised a short sentence in English to welcome Marcus and I which we thought was very amusing and nice. Mr Shen then spoke for a while, welcoming the teachers and then of course "Marc-a-si" and "Court-a-ney". We are obviously the guests as always. Numerous teachers names were read out, these were the people receiving teaching awards for their efforts. Each row was then brought up and presented with bunches of flowers by the gifted students.

Students presenting flowers to the teachers. They then had to salute the teachers which was hysterical to watch - a whole bunch of 11 year olds just throwing their hands around.

But! Inbetween all the flower presentations was of course.....singing. Seriously, there are times when you feel that either a)all of China sings, or b) you have stumbled into a taping of China Idol. It's NEVER ENDING!!! I got a message from Abby halfway through saying she was at a never ending Teachers' Day concert...I sent my sympathies and returned to massaging my temples.

There was singing...

..and singing..

...and more singing!

Here is a selection of gifted teachers singing, note "random camera man" at the left of the frame.

And finally, someone who could sing, the music teacher. This was an epic song about...the national flag.

Of course the best was left till last. That being us of course. And no, I don't mean singing, although of course we were asked! Raymen invariably asks us at each function if we will sing, to which we invaribly say "no" and smile through gritted teeth. He then persists and asks instead "How about Courtney performs a traditional Australian dance then?" At this I laugh maniacally everytime and do not bother answering. But the best till last bit was of course Mr Shen presenting us with our own bunches of flowers and posing for photos. Sadly I have no photos of that, although Marcus did do his best to ruin the other photos "random photographer man" (you've heard of him before) was taking of us. We have yet to find any photos of us on the intranet, which is a real shame for all our readers ;-)

MORE flowers!

Teachers' Day was then followed up by a banquet dinner...which well, let's just leave it there shall we.

Hey there fatty! (Courtney)

Is it just my experience, or do the Chinese think of foreigners as being fat? I really think there is the perception that foreigners on the whole are fast food eating, lazy fatties...regardless of what you actually look like.

The first night we were here, everyone was amazed at how "big and strong" we were, yet we seemed to not eat as much as they expected. This was mentioned the next day again at lunch as the teachers hoed into their lunches whilst we picked away. Marcus and I don't feel particularly huge. Marcus is generally considerably taller than any Chinese man, but not like a giant. For those who don't know me, I am average height and average build, and generally feel like I am of average size in China too. I came here expecting to feel gianormous (as we have the opposite stereotype that all Chinese are tiny) but most of the time I feel pretty normal. Yes, occassionally I see my reflection in the mirror as I stand in line in a bathroom or something and realise I am a good head taller than everyone there, but for the most part I feel normal. There are many girls of the same size as me and there are just as many who are smaller and larger.

But for some reason, I seem to find myself being percieved as this big westerner. The kids in class all think I am tall, and are surprised when I tell them that in Australia I am just normal height. Mostly though, I get this feeling when I am shopping. For some reason, even when I am standing with the shop assistant and she can size me up for herself, I am invariably given clothes that are a good two sizes bigger than me.

I don't understand Chinese clothing sizes and I'm not going to try to explain them. After a number of shopping outings I have pretty much figured out which sizes I need to look out for. Not that anything ever fits anyway, but I live in hope. In a lot of Chinese shops though, you are given overly attentive service - this means you are followed around the shop and as soon as you touch something your size is procurred for you etc etc. What amazes me is the sizes I am given. Without doubt they will be too big, and when I ask for smaller I am given quizzical looks as if to say "surely not?" When I bought a pair of black cropped pants I literally had to beg the assistant to let me try on the smaller size as she just couldn't believe that they would fit me and wouldn't give them to me.

Recently I went to Suzhou with Abby and her sister for a day of shopping. I wanted to try on a pair of shoes but the size on the shelf was one too big for me. So in my vast Chinese I ask the assistant for my size. She looks at my feet, again with that quizzical look. Now, granted I was wearing my birkenstocks, which aren't the daintiest of shoes and make my feet look like those of a gladiator. But I'm pretty sure I know what shoe size I am. She sends the other guy out to find my size. He returns and I put the shoes on. My feet fall out of them. I look at the tag and they are size 40. I asked for 37. I call the girl over again pointing out the 40 and how I wanted a 37. It doesn't matter what you tell them, they will decide whether this is the correct size or not. Needless to say the guy went looking again and never returned. Still don't know where he went.

Months ago I went to the medical clinic around the corner for the first time. This was about 6 weeks after we had arrived, and with all the changes and illnesses I had during those weeks, I had lost about 7kgs. When the nurse asked for my weight she would not write it down. Just plain and simple didn't believe me. Tried to write down that I was 10kgs heavier than I am. Kept asking me to confirm that this was the correct number. Infuriating! She kept looking at me and saying "But the number is too small for you."

I've often wondered whether it's just me that this happens to, or whether all expats experience this. The sizings in China are all over the place so I don't take offence anymore when I have to try on large or x-large pants, but it does intrigue me that I am considered to be this large person. I have plans on going shopping today...wish me luck!

Bureaucracy Gone Made (Courtney)

Stumbled upon this blog the other day and got a big belly laugh out of the below...

"In one of history’s more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is “an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."

Oh how I would love to see the paperwork and red stamps required for that!

CCTV9

We've probably mentioned CCTV9 before. It's the English language television channel. It's horrendous. I really mean that, it's horrible.

Here's an example...

This is from a show called Dialogue. They get random whities on to talk about deep issues, mostly so they can say grand things about China.

What makes a champion? Not you buddy.

Honestly, what was he thinking??

The Post Office (Courtney)

Yesterday we headed into the city to do two things - one being have some dinner with Abby, and the other to go to the post office. We've bundled up a whole lot of stuff that we have bought whilst here and decided it was time to send it home.

The post office, I think is without doubt, one of the most frustrating experiences you can have in China. There are daily frustrations, but the post office really gets to me. It is an exhausting process and we knew yesterday when we headed off with two bags full of stuff that we were in for a long haul.

First you head to one counter to buy boxes. I swear the guy just makes up the price as he goes along, as I've never paid the same amount for a box. You then make your way over to the actual service counter. This is can be a primal free for all, and you need to hold your ground with elbows out to actually get to the counter and then stay at the front of the counter. People basically just push and shove and the counter staff end up serving about 5 people at once, I have no idea how they keep track of what they are doing.

We got to the counter and held our ground and somehow managed to get the undivided attention of one of the guys. The guys who work here generally look about the age of our students. We've had varying levels of success. The first time I went to the post office, the girl looked at my stuff, I told her where I wanted to send it, she looked at me, said no and then walked away. No explanation, just wouldn't serve me. So I had to find someone else to help, which means going through the whole push and shove process again.

Next time, we had one of the guys, who had about as much personality as a dead fish. He was so ridiculously thorough with the items we wanted to send we started to assume he thought we were drug dealers or something. Then last time when we went to the post office, we got a young girl who didn't really look at very much. Which was a god send as we had a million little things all wrapped up and I didn't fancy unwrapping them etc.

There's a point to note - don't bother wrapping anything before going to a Chinese post office because they are just going to rip through everything anyway! We saw this happen to a girl yesterday who arrived with a very carefully wrapped present. It certainly looked worse for wear by the time it got into the postage box.

So yesterday, we got Mr Personality. Seriously, can't crack a smile from this guy. We had two full bags of things (Don't worry mum, the boxes are going to take 2 months so we'll be home to collect them by the time they arrive!) and I had wrapped up most stuff in bubble wrap so it has some chance of survival. Of course, everything was pulled to pieces. What's great about this though, is he just kind of then makes a pitiful attempt at putting the bubble wrap back around the item then tosses it into the box. I'm like, here, you do the looking, I'll do the packing!! We had a number of fragile items and as he looks at them he's like "this is not good, broken." And we are saying, no they wont break, because we will wrap them up properly. He keeps going on about them being broken, we continue with they will be fine, let's just wrap them properly.

We had one thing that we weren't allowed to send...yup, as you can see below, it was a Hello Kitty cutlery set that I had bought for May because I thought it was cute. The reason for not being able to send this is that she is "famous" and therefore some sort of Chinese brand. We still aren't exactly sure why she couldn't be sent, but we needed some special ticket (like it was a bloody antique to certify where it had come from) and as we didn't have the ticket, Hello Kitty had to return home with us.

We finally get everything inspected and packed into the two boxes. The boxes get sealed up, THEN you have to fill out the customs declaration and mailing info. We have so many things in those boxes I can't remember what's even in them, so fill out the customs thing and hope for the best. The forms are 6 sheets in total, all one behind the other, so you have to write so hard that you almost rip the top sheet of paper so that the impression will be left behind on the last page. We fill out our address, my parents address, all the items, how much they cost, an alternative address incase our parcel can't be delivered etc etc. It's a long time, and that's before we even start writing on the boxes.

Then the young guy has to type all of this information into the computer, of course he can't make out all my writing, so I have to spell everything out to him then give him detailed descriptions as to what each thing was. Even though he saw everything before it was boxed up. He then can't understand why we are sending both boxes to the same address, but soon gets over this. We finally seem to be done, we've paid, the boxes have been stamped. This had taken a solid hour to get to this point. He walks the first box over to the wall where the other boxes are.....and just tosses it onto the ground. We look at him and say "THAT is how things get broken."

To illustrate the lack of care for parcels here, check out the photo below which is a care package my mum sent us. What the heck happened to this thing?? It took only 2 weeks to arrive, so obviously came by air, and it looks as though people have played football with it!!! It will be very interesting to see what state our packages are in by the time they get to Australia.

Food and stuff (Courtney)

First, a big Happy Birthday and Happy Father's Day (and Easter and Christmas!) to my dad for Monday! We hope you have a great day and will be home soon to celebrate xxxxx

Now below, we have some random images of food and stuff from the glorious land of red.

China has a great new scheme of paying for plastic bags (why has this been so difficult to put into place in Australia?) As of the start of July, there was seemingly no more free plastic bags. Sadly, there is no incentive to not buy a plastic bag, as they cost about 2 cents generally. The "green" bag does seem to be catching on though, which I think is great. I actually saw an elderly man with a safeway bag recently?? Where did he get that? What I don't get though, is the prolification of plastic bags on odd items. For example, you go to the supermarket or a clothing store and you have to pay for a bag. Yet, if you go to a bakery or a fast food outlet, it seems they are doing their bit to make up for the other places. Everything comes in a plastic bag, as you can see above, even take away drinks come in plastic bags! We went to the movies ages ago, and they put our cardboard box of popcorn in a bag! We recently bought 4 donuts from a bakery. There were 5 bags in total! Where is the logic in this?

Above is some sort of bakery item. China is literally infested with bakeries, there are, without even thinking about actual numbers, at least 8 within a 10 minute walk the school. What amazes us though, is that for all of the products in the bakery, about 95% of them taste the same. We do however have these "green" cakes that we particularly like. The above is not one of them. We saw this green monstrosity in a new bakery and thought we would give it a go. Well, mass disappointment ensued once we had cut it in half only to discover the outer layer was pretty much rubber and it was full of beans. Beans have no place in a cake.

Above is some throat medicine we have used whilst in China. This stuff rocks, it's this thick syrup for your throat. What I love is the list of ingredients, it could not have a more unique list of ingredients.

And lastly, a giant grasshopper we found on the stairs outside our apartment. This guy was the size of a hand. Tell me he wouldn't look good on a stick being bbq-ed!

Ah, kiddies...(Courtney)

So, almost week one down, three more to go. As Marcus has been saying, we have been back to teaching this week and lordie do you forget how tiring it can be!

This time round we are just teaching Senior 1 and Gifted 1, so about 4 classes less a week, yet still our rosters are spread across all days and at all times! But alas, this is not a problem. So far the Senior kids have been very manageable, I think in part to their English abilities being higher and also we as teachers have improved and know how to run a class from the very beginning this time. The kids seem happier to interact (there has been no mass giggle outbursts so far, which is a miracle in itself) and are a lot more confident in speaking. I've asked lots of them questions and there has been no major dramas in getting answers. They speak clearer and louder, which makes for a much easier class.

Of course, the gifted kiddies are just adorable as always, and it is when I think about them that I feel guilty for leaving in a few weeks time. I know the Seniors enjoy interacting with us but the gifted kids are just rapt to have us there, and it's hard to know we will be leaving them so soon in. We really will miss teaching their classes as they are just such a highlight of the week! Seriously, I think I could do any crappy job if I had 40 minutes of playtime with all these kids once a week. They have all been given English names by their teacher, so next week I am going to have them make some name plates so I can learn all their names. I expect there to be some interesting ones as always, especially when one of the little girls introduced herself as "Jason". We may have to have a bit of a chat about that.

We've been playing this True/False "game" with the classes this week (preface something as a game and it gets instant attention) which involves them learning things about us by guessing whether what we say is true or false. Then they do it in groups about themselves, then I ask them to tell me something about them so I can learn about them too. The gifted kids were hysterical at this because they are sooo competitive. And some are also very matter of fact. I had one boy stand up and say very succinctly "I like to read, build model aeroplanes and play chess." This was false, I guessed true. Then another little tacker said "I am 13 years old". Again I said true. Well, he was stoked as it was false, and he made quite the point of rubbing it in my face!! They make me laugh so much.

Also funny, was today walking to my afternoon class. A number of Senior 2 kids were making their way across to the science building, so I was saying hello to a number of my old students. A group of about 6 boys walked past and they all yelled out hello and waved to me. I really liked these guys, they were so cheeky, but they actually participated. I could rely on them to answer questions, and a couple of them would even volunteer to read or come up the front. This is a miracle in the Senior classes because they are all so awkward and self-conscious, but these kids enjoyed being the centre of attention. So as I passed them, I hear one scream out to me "Teacher, you are soooo sexy!!!" Right across the courtyard!! I laughed so much, turned back and gave them a wave which made them all fall about with laughter.

I like that some of them have that confidence and know that we are easy going and they can have a laugh with us. There is no way they would ever say something like that to their Chinese teachers!!!

Well, so far so good. (Marcus)

Midway through the first week of our return to teaching and overall - so far so good.

I think we both forgot just how deceptively tiring teaching can be as we're both absolutely exhausted. Courtney's getting better - almost over her flu type virus and we're both in quite good moods. The anticipation of returning to Australia is slowly building in our minds and the students so far have turned out to be really quite pleasant.

Today I had my first class of the new 'gifted' kids and as usual they were adorable. The gifted kids if you cannot remember are the younger students - around 11-12 years old and they're smart(not simple!) As soon as I entered the classroom I was mobbed by them,

"Who are you?"
"What's your name?"
"Where are you from?"

Then at the end of class the usual...

"What's your telephone number?"
"Do you use a cellphone?"
"When will we see you again?"

They're just so damned cute! Cute and innocent and like kids before they descend into puberty, absolutely brimming with confidence.

I have three more classes for the week and then I think we'll hit TGI's for a western meal and some alcohol because you know, we still haven't celebrated coming home yet!

Oh by the way (Marcus)

And we thought we had it bad over summer with mosquitoes...

I was reading over on Wuxilife, the local expat forum around here, someone was looking for the contact details for some exterminators because they are having 'issues' with rats. 'Issues' being, they are living on the 27th floor and are having to put out rat-traps every single night, killing at least 1-2 rats per night.

Now rat's aren't just an annoyance, they're disgusting disease-carrying vermin. I could not think of anything worse than having a plague of them in our building - give me mass mosquitoes any day!

Then again, how the hell are they getting up to the 27th floor? They must have superb climbing skills....

Speaking of rats, when we were walking through Lijiang at night, I glanced into one store and all the women in it suddenly sprang to the back of the shop. I saw a rat scurry across - movie-style. A man then attempted and failed to slay it with a broom-handle. Ahh rats...

Thank god it's over!!!! (Marcus)

Well day 1 of teaching has come and gone and as the title of this post says..thank god! The anticipation of getting back in there in front of 55ish kids is just hardcore! We were both nervous as hell again - something we haven't really felt since we first arrived here and were truly dropped in the deep end of teaching.

It had been around 2 months since we have taught properly - long enough to almost completely forget how it was, long enough to take you back to square one. Walking into that classroom today took me right back to the start, BUT...this time round we had the leg up on the children.

Why?

Well today was their first day of school proper. Yeah they have been here prior, doing their cadet marching and various other classroom style things, but today was the start of the actual semester. These kids are new to this campus and their class make-ups are likewise, new. Of course there'll be new friends and so on in there, but not the clusters of 'cool kids' like we had when we first started here.

When we first started teaching, we were the newcomers. Not just to the school - it being the middle of their school year, but to the teaching role period. With absolutely no training we had to step in front of these classes of kids who had already had half a year to get to know each other and somehow still appear confident!

So while today was nerve-wracking, it only took around 2-3 minutes tops to settle down and get into things. The kids were all bright-eyed and attentive and their english was surprisingly better than we expected. These are possibly from a younger age-group than the ones previous(well they would be) and possibly started learning english a good year or two earlier.

There have been changes in Chinese schooling over the past few years in that students are by and large starting to learn english from a younger age. It is possible these new students are from that line - or it's possible these classes today were just flukey good! Either way, it is so good to get the first day over and done with. It's like day one of any job - the worst day.

I only had one class today to Courtney's two. Tomorrow we both have three, yay! At least the weather has cooled quite considerably.

And on that note - yes, it came the end of August/start of September and there's been literally an almost 10-15 degree change in the weather. It's now actually very pleasant. There is still a degree of humidity but it is much much much better. Our summer of hellish weather is thankfully over.

In China, today is day 1 of Autumn, whilst in Australia it's day 1 of Spring. We are happy that when we return home in early October, it will be just starting to warm up for us...ah sometimes you can win em all.