Illegal Blogging

Hello one and all!

So I noticed it's been a while since the China group has posted in this blog! It has been quite difficult to use any form of online social networking because it is banned/illegal here. We have indeed found a way around it (obviously), but our internet connection is not the greatest and often cuts in and out.

We are certainly enjoying ourselves and reading the English translations of slogans and sayings on various forms of clothing and signs. Here are some examples:

- It takes two to stupid
- Love is kiss. If you have a dream...duff.
- Nobody gives a love.
- Clot. I love you.
- My home steak

We're not quite sure what those expressions mean to say, but they're pretty funny!

The food here is quite good and we're getting accustomed to ordering with the intention of sharing all the food, rather than having individual dishes. We made that mistake once and our table was literally filled with large dishes; the people working there thought it was pretty funny.

The language barrier here is phenomenal. Very very very very few people speak English so we are gesturing and pointing constantly; that would have to be the biggest culture shock for us. In a city of 6 million people, there are only a handful of foreigners kicking around so when we spot one we eagerly wave and ask where they're from. We take the bus wherever we want to go; the bus system is pretty good and it costs 1 Juan ( ~$0.15 Canadian) one-way. Depending on the time of day we are either literally squished in the bus like sardines or we all have a seat.

There are countless vendors along the streets and we have found the most glorious food/snack ever: Pineapple on a Stick. It is exactly that: a large chunk of pineapple on a stick for 2 Juan. It's a great snack or dessert after a meal!


We went to a zoo this past weekend and they actually had a poodle and a chihuahua in cages. The living conditions for these animals were...different than at home to say the least. We watched a sea lion show and we were more of an attraction than the sea lions themselves. That seems to be the norm when we go anywhere; people stare us down and little children tug on their parent's sleeve and point at us. We just smile and say one of the 5 words we know how to say in Chinese: Ni hao (hello)!

The teaching portion of our trip is going very well. The 2 classes that Sheileagh and I have are very nice students (2nd & 3rd year university) and very eager to learn. Those who are teaching the English classes are enjoying themselves and getting their pictures taken with the students. The boys are quite popular with the Chinese female students who all think they're very handsome and are not shy to tell them either. We've realized that very few students, even at the university age, have left the country. They may have traveled to various provinces within China, but not anywhere else.


We are not too sure what today will bring for us. We're looking forward to the weekend!



Glad to hear that all is well with everyone! Have a great day!