Well, the end is almost nigh (Marcus)

The China adventure is well and truly over and we are slowly, very slowly returning to normality. The other day we watched the video mum took while she visited us in Shanghai and Wuxi and it already feels like our time in China was a distant memory.

I cannot immediately remember what it felt like to walk down broken tiled sidewalks, the light smell of smoke in the air or the constant noise, traffic and general feeling of being inside a beehive.

We have been slowly getting into job hunting(I say slowly as slowly refers to me, Courtney's been right in there and active!) and well, it kinda stinks. God only knows what I will end up doing next, and to tell you the truth it's a little scary.

Things are getting back on track, but our already dwindling savings are dwindling further until a steady source of income comes back in.

It's difficult living on the cheap here as even the smallest things feel expensive having come from a country where pretty much everything was cheap. My stomach has been having trouble adapting back to western food though - back to regular meat, breads and the like...

The weather has been up and down, yesterday actually humid. Having come from almost 5 straight months of humidity it was not overly wanted.

Regarding this blog, we'll likely be making a final post in the coming days to kind of wrap it all up. There is no point continuing it in this capacity as it was specifically for us to journal our way around China. It has been a fun experience and a great outlet to both vent and get in some writing practice, a past time that I in particular really enjoy.

What comes next? Who knows, but I am sure it will seem all the more duller now that we're back in a country where things are mostly predictable and the people on the whole, far less colourful. Sure Australia has it's own mix of characters and unpredictability, but it seriously can't compare to some of the things found in China. I really miss the randomness we experienced over there, how each day would bring something completely new and unexpected. But all in all, it is nice to be home.

Next life...

..I'm coming back as a dog.

Since arriving in Mornington, we have become psuedo guardians of Wally the labradoodle. Wally is awesome, and very easy to care for as witnessed below...

Photos taken oven the last few days. If we coloured him purple we literally wouldn't know he was there!

An interesting blog (courtney)

I have numerous blogs that I follow, one being of a fellow by the name of Geoff who lives in Nanjing. This is the capital of Jiangsu province, where we lived until 5 days ago. Sadly it's a city we never got to see.

Anyhoo, I read Geoff's blog. He's an Aussie man doing various teaching/learning in Nanjing. I find his blog very interesting. Obviously I can relate to a lot of it but I also appreciate his views on a lot of things or can at least see where he is coming from.

I just read his last 12 posts in a row - this being due to me being away from the computer and also he seems to have had a run on with posts throughout October.

I think if you read these posts you will get a deeper understanding of our life in China and how it is a fascinating yet difficult place all at once, particularly the relationships you develop with the students.

Home Sweet Home (Courtney)

Somehow we have already been home for 5 days...when did that happen? It's been a real hit the ground running experience, with barely a minute spare. So it's with great joy that I am sitting at home tonight, having a cider after having cooked lamb (Lamb!! First time since January!) with a bit of marginally interesting telly in the background.

I really haven't yet had a chance to think about our experience and the fact that we are back home. There are moments where it all feels a little surreal, and other moments where it feels like we never left. I'm still struggling with crossing the road (eg - looking the wrong way, thankfully the roads aren't too hectic around here!) and truly can't get over the clarity of everything. It's amazing how far we can see, the sun and blue skies have been so wonderful to see and the clean, fresh air is just so...well fresh!

Marcus..enjoying being able to breathe! Look at that sky!

As you know, Thursday we arrived to find that even though we had decided to come home, my suitcase had decided to remain on holidays. Whilst the airport reassured us they would find it, and we joked that my bag was off holidaying in Portugal or picking up a habit in Columbia, it really was a stressful couple of days. I did my best to not throw any tantrums but it was honestly the last thing I needed at that point. Watching those bags go round and round and realising mine wasn't coming was very distressing. It wouldn't have been so bad coming home from holiday, but having come home after 8 months with literally NOTHING other than what was in that bag was not ideal. Thankfully my wonderful parents quickly whipped me off to the local Target to get some essentials for the next few days which was so appreciated...you know, clean undies, a toothbrush! My suitcase did decide to arrive home on Saturday morning after an extended stint in China so I was very very pleased to see it on Sunday afternoon.

My bro, Spence, and I driving to Mornington. So good to see you!

So after the madness of Thursday and the overwhelming joy of seeing my parents, my brother and Sarah before we knew it we were off in the car to Coldstream to help celebrate the wedding of our good friends Simone and Adrian! We had such a brilliant day and we just so pleased that we could be there to see this special day. I've known Simone for about 8 or 9 years now, what with us living parrellel lives and all, and I was just rapt that we were able to attend.

The gorgeous Simone and Adrian. Congrats guys! Such a beautiful wedding. Can't wait to hear all about the honeymoon..we are soo jealous!

Saturday it was off to Sarah's place. Sarah and her partner Ben are soon off to Africa for a year, so I hadn't expected to see her, them or their home! What a great home warming it has been. To sit in Sa's home just felt so normal and really made me feel settled. Not to mention she put on a great spread of all the things I was craving...mmmmhhhh. I am so happy we get to share another summer together before their big adventure begins. Sob!

Food!!! I missed doing this sooo much Sa =)

After trekking home yesterday (my first encounter, and sadly not my last, with Frankston train station) we headed out to see Sam and Jess' new home! Wow! What can I say, what a great place, so cosy already and such a great start. It was great to see them and sit around with a bit of Indian food, have a good talk and laugh. They aren't too far away from where we are now based which is very handy.


Finally we started settling in today. It has been such a blessing to be able to have our base in Mornington. We can't thank Marcus' mum enough, just to be able to return to Australia and have somewhere to call home has been fantastic. And also Nick is still here so we get to spend some time together before he returns to the UK. The suitcases are unpacked, we've put up a few Chinese knicknacks around our room and I feel a little bit more at home. It has been a crazy few days and I kind of felt like I moved country with a handbag! But today started to feel a bit more normal. I know it's going to be a while before we both truly feel like we are home and back in Australia. It's impossible not to compare things and marvel at how different the two countries are. The supermarket is sooo easy and there is so much good produce to buy. The sky is honestly so clear, I can't get over it. Thankfully it has been lovely weather so we aren't struggling too much with the cold. It smells different here, I can't put my finger on it, but China smells so different. Everything here is so open and spacious, I know it's home and we know it so well but even after that short amount of time away it really makes you think about how different Australia is to the rest of the world...and just how fortunate we all are.

Look who we are now guardians of...Wally!

The life of the Chinese is infinately more difficult than our lives here. I hope we retain that feeling and continue to appreciate the way of life here. China certainly hasn't diminished my love of travel, nor my desire to throw it all in again and move somewhere else...but it has certainly reinforced my love of home and just how great Australia is. Sure, it's been weird hearing the Aussie accent again (jesus we all sound like bogans don't we?!) and some random things we have seen have staggered us and made us cringe, but I'm sure it's only a short time before everything feels completely normal again. It's so strange suddenly being bombarded with all this noise - now, believe me China is NOISY, but here you can understand everything and that makes a big difference. Even when China is blaring in your ears you do tune out. It just becomes noise. But all of a sudden here, you have advertising, radio, tv, street conversations...just so much noise to take in.


I do miss China at the moment. Not hugely, and not in a homesick kind of way, although it really was our home in the end. But there are things that I miss, and I suppose you become so familiar with a place that suddenly a "new" place feels a little strange and foreign and like you have to settle back in again.


But it is good to be home =)

Lastly, a couple of final shots from China.

The packing begins. Thankfully the above case came home! Our cases weighed 52kg combined (yes, we were travelling economy) and that wasn't including backpacks, handbag and laptops!

Bye bye Tian Yi!

China has gotten to me.

We caught the fast train to Shanghai Airport. It does 431km per hour. I think you can tell by the below photo just how impressed I was by this...

...not very impressed at all. When it went around a curve it banked up on an angle...very unsettling.

Last night in China! And of course, it wouldn't be right if there wasn't big bottles of beer. I will miss being able to say "we are off to Shanghai for the weekend".

Team Wuxi is...Home! (Marcus)

That's right, as you would no doubt know if you have been reading the blog lately we are in fact safely home in Australia.

It has been a whirlwind couple of days and we are trying to settle back into normality down here in sunny Mornington - that's one hour south of Melbourne for those not familiar with Australia.

The weather has been absolutely stunning and already it feels like China was a decade away rather than a mere few days. As we expected we are both starting to feel a little...I don't know, sad that we are home, questioning our achievements and the like but there has been one huge thing over-shadowing everything and that is of course Courtney's suitcase not making it home with us.

We waited and waited and waited at the baggage carousel and nada. We filed a report and left the airport with Courtney's parents, brother and best friend Sarah feeling somewhat upset. Courtney hasn't felt settled since but thank god we recieved a call this morning that the bag was located and they mailed it to us today via courier and well i think NOW we can start the settling in process.

We attended a wedding last night for Simone and Adrian which really was a great occasion. At the wedding was a whole bunch of our friends so seeing them was a welcome home of sorts.

We will put up some thoughts about what it feels like being home as it's not something you can just drop into a post without a bit of thought involved but i will say one thing.

The single most outstanding thing - or rather, the thing that has stood out the most, is the clarity of everything. Life literally looks sharp. It's like someone has just focused a camera and bam, everything just looks wonderful. The sky is blue, the trees are crisp green, buildings and hills can be seen absolutely miles away in the distance. It is not until you get back home to Australia until you realize how truly bad China's air quality is.

If someone says the air visibility in China is at say 100 metres - sure, you will see the silhouette/detail of a building 100 metres away, but a mere 5 metres away, between you and that wall, or you and that tree, you WILL see fog. It's never clear - ever. You get days that are much clearer than others - even those that will show you blue sky, but the air in China really is attrocious. I seriously can't believe how good everything back home looks with the smog factor completely removed.

More soon, byebye!

(ps. editors note - i cant get out of the habit of saying byebye - a term all chinese know. When you say, "Seeya!" or "Catch ya later" or just "Later" - no-one comprehends. But if you pay for your goods in China's version of 7-11 known as Kedi, and say Xiexie, byebye! they will say it back and know 100% what you mean. I feel kind of gimpy using it at home but I can't NOT at this point.)

Countdown (Courtney)

Well as marcus has written about in his last couple of posts, we have been living it up in Shanghai for a few days. All that ends in 90 minutes! It's time to head to the airport and begin our journey home. I'm excited and nervous all at once. I'm actually not that nervous about what awaits us at home. It's going to be a difficult couple of months, looking for work and reorganising our lives again. But for me, the main thing today is flying...I am not all that fond of flying!! However, Jann has supplied me with some sleeping pills so with any luck I will be oblivious to the whole journey!

We have a big couple of weeks coming up when we return, which will certainly make being at home a lot easier, yet at the same time we wont really have all that much time to understand and reflect upon exactly what we have finished and what is ahead of us. We have Simone and Adrian's wedding on Friday, friends birthdays, Marcus birthday next weekend and of course catching up with family and friends and hopefully seeing our little cat Jimmy as well! It's going to be an interesting readjustment phase.

I'm still happy that we are going home and know that we have made the right decision. But of course there will be many aspects of life here in China that I will miss and probably long for whilst we get used to being back home again. China is this bustling place with so much to see and do. Granted, not that much to see and do where we were living (!) but there are so many people that everything is open late. There is always food to be had, places to walk and people to watch. We have seen some absolutely crazy things since we have been here, and I will definately miss the randomness of actions and how slowly but surely these things become normal. I think Melbourne is going to seem very calm in comparison for a while. China has been a huge adventure and we are so glad we got to travel around and see a big chunk of the country. Hopefully one day we can come back and see just how much things have changed.

Almost time to go! See you all back in Melbourne =)

Shanghai wonderful Shanghai (Marcus)

We love this city, we really do.

Tonight is our last night in China and we are both feeling somewhat apprehensive about what the future might hold for us.

I know that when you go to live in another country that you experience a degree of culture shock - both different stages of initial and then reverse culture shock upon return. I also know that when we get home it will feel like we have never left and we'll both feel various degrees of depression questioning things such as - just what exactly have we achieved with this whole venture?

We are returning home without jobs, without a house, no car(well we can borrow one), barely any savings - nothing, nada, zip! But we also know that through what has turned into a sizeable adventure for us, as a couple we have achieved so much.

China will always have a near and dear place in our hearts and I feel there is no more fitting place to see it out than here in Shanghai. It is such a big, wonderful city. I feel truly sad that we will not have easy access to this place once we return home.

Shanghai is truly the embodiment of East meets West. Here you have the very pinnacle of the Chinese forays into the rest of the world. It is here - much moreso than Beijing(in my opinion) that you truly experience the real China for behind the skyscrapers, around the corners and down the alleys, here you have the local lifeblood of China and man does it beat with a vibrant pulse.


I know for a fact that if i came to live in China again it would be in Shanghai. While Wuxi has it's lovable elements and definitely positives, and while we really liked Beijing, it has been Shanghai that has consistently enthralled us. The place feels great. Everywhere you go are interesting variations of Chinese daily life. The city is so diverse, so sprawling! In Lonely Planet is says that Beijing has a predictable navagational design - seeing the city was specifically built from the middle out, whilst Shanghai is all over the place making it difficult and that I feel is what makes it so wonderful.


You can wander all over it and see different things down different streets. Shanghai's history of Western occupation has created vast quadrants where you can litterally step from France into Britain and back into China again all within the same hour.

I imagine New York is very much like Shanghai but a lot more modern. I'd really like to see it one day to compare.

We have been talking about the things we are and are not going to miss about being here. It's quite lengthy and we'll save it for another post but for now, we have enjoyed our final days in China and know that Australia; particularly Mornington where we will be living for a few months is going to be soooooooo extremely quiet - so boringly quiet compared to this country of millions.

I know now how my best friend Sam would have felt when he returned home from living in Japan for a year; a country that he absolutely loved. I just wish that there was a different means of working here that didn't specifically involve teaching. It would be a fair blast living here and making western wages - it would mean we could actually save a large amount whilst doing all the things we have really enjoyed along the way. And besides, there's still a ton of places here we haven't seen. Maybe next time...

Team Wuxi is...well, in Shanghai (Marcus)

Well we have officially left Wuxi, possibly forever! We both left with somewhat heavy hearts - this oddball chunk of China having been our homes for the past 8 or so months. We did a final lap of the school; trying to soak up every little detail for one last time, but now that we are in Shanghai, it already feels like forever since we were there.

We had purchased train tickets to go to Shanghai but decided to pay one of the school drivers to bring us here instead. We're travelling heavy(you know, the moving country thing) with a really heavy suitcase each, laptops, carry bags etc. All in all the amount of luggage wasn't so much of a problem, with a little patience and multiple trips moving it is easy - it's the moving of said luggage through a train station absolutely filled to the brim with people.

The thought of taking our luggage through the wildebeast stampede that is the Chinese stations was just horrifying. On top of this, Chinese trains are super efficient. You have litterally a 10 or so minute window to get down to and onto the train. It arrives exactly on time, hangs around for 5-10 minutes and then it's on it's way. It would have just a stressful nightmare and well, the driver option whilst quite expensive was easily one of the best decisions of our time here.

The drive itself was somewhat uneventful. It only took around an hour and a half which was a bonus as when we were originally picked up from the Pudong Airport it took around 3 hours to get to the school. We passed the burning wreck of a coach bus which was pretty full-on. I have read in various travel novels of people seeing burning busses by the roadsides in China and to actually see one was a bit of an eye-opener. Hopefully no-one was injured, but with the way the busses drive in this country(actually make it the way anyone driving anything drives period) it wouldn't have surprised me.

We are staying in a nice hotel right near People's Park(The middle of Shanghai CBD) which has been terrific. We have tons of interesting things in every direction. Courtney and I stayed just up the road from here in a hostel once before so are somewhat familiar with the area. It has been fun having mum here and showing her all the sights on offer.

We have been trying to show mum as much of the 'local China' as possible, but it's not easy sometimes. It's hard to really convey to a visitor what China is really like. I don't think you can ever really come here for a few weeks and go home with a realistic Chinese experience. Whenever we talk to other people who live here we can all talk at length about the various nuances that is the chinese culture. Thankfully we have had a few different things that have randomly cropped up that mum has been able to experience. I think when she goes home she will have a much better she will have actally seen a lot more than the everyday traveller.

We are experts no more :( At least we have proof that we once were!

We had one final catch-up with Matt and Abby with Mum while in Wuxi. We'll miss you guys!

Right up until the final moments, Wuxi remained true to itself. A week before leaving, just down from the Blue Bar expat hangout, we were lucky enough to witness a dog run past wearing...dogshoes.

And on the last night in Wuxi...dog in a bag. This is exactly what I am going to miss about China. Where else in the world would you EVER find such consistently classic, completely randomly comedy. The country is just hilarious. We see so much of this stuff every single day that it will stay with us for a very long time. Check out the next photo...

Today in a large market at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum - we stopped in a Japanese fast-food place and it was just after lunch time. This of course means it's naptime...check the staff member behind me. I truly can't say how much I love seeing stuff like this. The country is just a crack-up.

In a large garden beside the Yu Yuan temple market area found this fantastic Chinese lion. Normally they're pretty similar with the same..well liony face, but this guy, this guy has personality! If this guy were real, he wouldn't eat you, he'd want a hug!

The view from our final destination in China. This is overlooking People's Park and the surrounding buildings. There's a terrific combination of modern buildings, local streets and everything else in between. We are really going to miss the adventure that has been China. While returning to normality will be wonderful, China will always be a special memory for us. I have no doubt we will return in the future if only for a holiday and of course to visit our dear friend Mr Pan.

And last but not least (for now), the following few images were taken with Mum's friend Di's camera - which quickly showed us how crap our own one was at taking night photos - well not as good. Once more we went to the 26th floor to the open air bar overlooking the Bund from the North and watched day become night and the majesty of Shanghai unfold. We will really really miss this wonderful city.

We took Mum and Di to one of Shanghai's older original streets to eat at this brightly lit restaurant. We have been here previously and just like the first time it didn't disappoint.


Zài jiàn!

Farewell Mr Pan

So this afternoon we said our farewells to Mr Pan and family. Being the national day week long holiday, they are today off to Suzhou for a couple of days with Mr Pan's father and friends. We simply could not leave without saying goodbye to Mr Pan so we have spent the majority of a long, sleepy day hanging around the apartment awaiting his return to the school.

Jann brought 3 wonderful kangaroo toys with her from Australia so we could present them to Mr Pan, Mr Shen and Raymen. Secretly I wanted to keep one for myself!

Mr Pan, his wife Oolan and daughter Delia stopped by this afternoon. It was certainly a sad farewell as they have become a mini family to us and we know they think the same of us too. Mr Pan has just done more than we could ever have expected or asked for, nothing was ever a problem or unsolvable and we really will miss him. With any luck we will hopefully see him one day in Australia, and we made it clear that if Delia ever studies in Australia we will take her under our wing and try to repay some of our debt to Mr Pan. Our time in China would have been a very very different experience with out our beloved Mr Pan!

Of course, Mr Pan can't arrive without a present, and this one was really spectacular.

We have wanted a traditional Chinese tea set for a long time now but have yet to buy one. Mr Pan has a couple and he used a similar one to this the time we went to the teahouse for lunch, teaching us the proper method of pouring the tea. So it was with great pleasure that are now the owners of the above set and we will think of him whenever we see it.

Goodbye Mr Pan! We hope to see you again some day!

Jann's visit..so far.

Here is Jann and Marcus at the famous Yu Yuan Gardens in Shanghai. Check out the beautiful day - blue skies in Shanghai!

You couldn't come all this way and not have your photo taken in front of the Golden Apple!

Here we are showing Jann how us "locals" get around - by pedicab! For what can be a hair-raising experience Jann was very cool, calm and collected!

Wednesday was China's National Day - a huge holiday. We went into Wuxi at night to show Jann all the city lights and the city didn't disappoint. It had been dressed up for the holiday (or especially for Jann's visit) with lights and lanterns everywhere. We couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental wandering around our adopted home.

Yesterday we needed to go to the post office one last time and as we left the school we happened upon Mr Shen returning home with his wife. Well, he couldn't let the distinguished guest simply catch a cab, so he took it upon himself to drive us. We didn't get all that far as the lines of communication were having some difficulties - as you can see from the above with Marcus looking on the map and Mr Shen with our translation book, god only knows what he thought he would find to help him in there! He ended up relinquishing the task to one of the school drivers. It was a very kind gesture and was an interesting experience for Jann to see how things can get lost in translation!!

Once we finally managed to get the driver to go home and enjoy his holiday (he wanted to wait for us all day whilst we were in the city), we wandered up to the Grand Canal and then onto the Nanchang Temple Market to see some sites. Tonight - one final supper in the city with Matt and Abby and then it's bye bye Wuxi!

Special Guest Post - (Jann!)

Hi every addicted Marcus and Courtney blogger reader. I arrived late Saturday (plane delayed per usual) and it was just fantastic to see the kids at the hotel. They both look great. China has certainly not done them any harm instead here are two very confident, worldy adults now ready for their next challenge back in Oz.

Marcus walked me around their school yesterday and it was very surreal. Everything was so familiar and it all feels as if I have literally fallen into the blog! (I haven't missed a day of the past 7+ months checking the blog at least twice daily). I have been videoing it all so be prepared for many hours of Team Wuxi Chinese experience.

I have now had the fun of a chinese train, mad driving taxis', local bus and pedicab, the city celebrating an important holiday and the local area restaurants where all of the kitchen staff come out to stare and see us eat and that is only in the past 2 days!!

I could write so much more but basically it is all in their blog, I am just living it!!! I feel very lucky to be here.

Jann x