Mid Autumn Festival

So today is the second day and celebration day (of the moon) in the Mid Autumn Festival. The Chinese celebrate by eating "Moon Cakes" and fruit and I was told that the moon cakes should be eaten whilst drinking Green Tea (because they can be very sweet)This is link for those who wish to read more about it (Thanks Anna).. it's very interesting http://www1.chinaculture.org/library/2008-01/28/content_72879.htm Here is a present from my teacher friends at School, a big box of moon cakes...as you can see I've also got the green tea and the fruit at the ready..

Also, just for you mum....a yijin (1/2 kilo) of Local Yichang Freshly Roasted Chestnuts, still warm (they are roasted in hot coals in the city streets) I paid 10 yuan..$1.00 AUD is worth about 6 YUAN...so very cheap (and I was probably ripped off because I'm a waigou ren (foreigner) We pay a fortune for these in Australia (and we have to grill or roast them ourselves) so I wasn't complaining.

HAPPY TEACHERS DAY !

What a great concept, much celebration today for "Teachers Day" gifts from the school and big "Happy Teachers Day" from the the students (and many text messages from all the teachers I have met)
As you can see from the picture I received a beautiful bunch of flowers and a special limited edition Stamp, DVD and picture package about "The Three Gorges","Gezhouba Dam" and the surrounding towns such as Yichang. Very special and very kind of them! Thanks everyone "Happy Teachers Day".

Electrical Storm

So I've had no internet for a couple of days with thanks to an electrical storm we had here a couple of nights ago. There was thunder, lightening and a bit of rain. Two of the biggest thunder claps I think I have ever heard in my life made the place shake making me sit up in bed. "Why did my bed feel all gritty". I jumped up and put the en suit bathroom light on to see my light hanging precariously from the ceiling (plaster all over the bed), hence to say I have spent the last two nights on the couch..It is fixed now and whilst it doesn't look 100% attached, I'm assured it's safe to go back to my bed!

Some random pics!

In the city on Saturday...just took a couple of random pics, maybe your interested!
1)You thought I was kidding about the stairs in this place...just check out what you need to walk up to get to the Train station up the top ! Luckily we got driven to the station by car when we went to Wuhan.
2)I'm not sure exactly what the inflatable arch with the dragons is for...It just kinda appeared on Saturday in the square.
3)There's a man sells little packs of food for the children to feed the Pigeons...very cute. It's funny I've never seen these pigeons before and I walk past this area a lot..They obviously know the exact time and day to appear for a good feed.

Thankyou!

During this week I have been very lucky to meet with two other foreign teachers here in the city. Amy and Brad teach at the university and are back here for their third year. Thank you both for your warm welcome and all the handy bits of information. Not only can I now find some groceries that make life easier, but Amy has forwarded on a cook book that the foreign teachers have put together after a few years of experience of living here in Yichang...maybe this will also give me an opportunity to improve my culinary skills. Maybe some of you don't realise, but it is actually very difficult to come across many of the things we are so used to eating. We can only get plastic cheese slices,strange sweet tasting bread usually with bits of sultanas in it, boxes of (cow in the cupboard) milk and it's quite bizzare that many of the drinks here such as instant coffee (are literally instant) the milk powder, sweetener etc are all in the little packet and you just put it in the cup and add hot water. If you want the real stuff, first you have to track it down....then you usually have to pay a price ! I have found one thing I love (thanks again Amy and Brad) ...."Milky Pearl Tea" (see above picture)It's kind of odd drinking a drink with black jelly like balls in the bottom of the glass...but I like it !! I have to mention a special thanks to Amy's friend Salina (a Chinese English teacher here who speaks English very well)who was extremely kind and treated a whole bunch of us to a wonderful lunch today ( I had Mild Chicken Curry) It is so good to get reminders about how many kind, helpful people there are around.

Blog Neglection

I've neglected my blog a little of late.. These photo's are the students having a randomly called exercise time and the view from the 7th floor classroom
A quick update -
Classes have started pretty successfully, the kids are great. Most of them seem very respectful towards their teachers (the main difference from Australia)but really so far this week, I think they have enjoyed their conversational English classes. The other teachers have commented on the amount of fun and laughter coming from the classrooms...I have been playing ball games and fluffy dice games incorporated into introduction lessons..Throwing them around the classroom ( a tip I learnt at A.T.A training college)Very Successful ! One of the things the students had to tell me was what they liked to do in their spare time...most answers where as norm'.. watching T.V, playing computer games, reading, movies, listening to music,playing sport etc....but there was one rather disturbing answer from a very small normal looking kid...it was "Kill Pig" whilst making a cutting motion across his forearm...(lol)I queried this a few times before writing it on the board. I have to say most of the class laughed...so I don't think it's common practice for Junior 2's...It was funny though because afterwards I was thinking about our young farming kids in Western Australia and how that kind of thing is probably quite normal for them also !!
There has been a few mix ups with my timetable (classrooms in the wrong spot and wrong time etc)It's not too much problem but most of my classes are on the 6th and 7th floor ...I have never had such a thorough cardio workout (my apartment is also on the 6th floor of my block)The students run up and down past me as I struggle to floor 7 and then get told "oh no that's on floor 2"...OH Well !

Who's for Wuhan ?

So I spent much of this week in the capital city of Hubei Province "Wuhan". I had some final details to be arranged such as a health examination and paperwork so that my residence permit is given. Great time for a health examination whilst I'm still feeling the aftershock coughing frenzies from my cold. Anyway another chest x ray, blood tests and a thorough going over and all is ok.. My guides for the four days were gracious hosts, even though they had very limited English vocabulary. We saw sights such as the famous Wuhan Museum, Wuhan University, walked through Hubei University with umbrellas in the rain, ate at roadside stalls, restaurants and drove around a massive city with taxi drivers with fire in their eyes :-)Yes maybe you can get more in Wuhan than you can in Yichang, but I am very glad I am in the beautiful city of Yichang, maybe a bit like the comparison of Melbourne against Perth..just on a much bigger scale. Oh I've kind of almost stopped asking what I'm actually eating, everything is so different..the other night I was eating "Fern" and "Lotus"...was actually very nice ! The only things I've had some trouble with is the very bony fish and the extreme spiciness of some dishes. The Chinese people have this amazing compartmental thing with their mouths when they eat, they can eat a mouthful of fish a spit out the bones, chilli peppers etc onto a side plate...Quite amazing! Hope I can get that good :-)Better go and continue lesson planning, school starts tomorrow and I have 4 classes of 2nd year juniors (I think equivalent to our year 9's)