So, H1N1 is still a big buzz-word in China. As such, the government and it’s agencies are constantly implementing new, illogical counter-measures. For example, B’s schools quarantine; it’s now in effect during the week, but lifted at the weekend. They’re not really quite getting the idea. Anyhow, the latest such counter-measure for me to witness was this “extra” exercise at Beitang…

Ethnican Flavor. An example of the crazy English (dubbed, Chinglish) you find on things in China. The funny thing is, they actually taste really good.

“Random Snap” is a new category/feature on the blog for when I just have one thing I want to share, and doesn’t quite merit it’s own blog post. The quality of the photography may also be lacking and even from *gasp* a camera-phone!

So, I’ve been living in this apartment for about 4-5 months now, but never even stepped foot in the kitchen. It was a bomb site, and I never had the energy to tackle it. Well, the other day I decided enough was enough, and finally got in there and cleaned it out. Some of the things I found were crazy…

The Wei River, the largest tributary of the Yellow river. This was our goal for this bike ride. My partner in peddling was fellow foreign teacher Michelle. It was COLD AS HELL (assuming hell is -3’c) as we met at 10:45 to set out and head north…

268 days. Wow. Two hundred and sixty-eight days in China. And that’s corrected for the 18 days I went home in October. Is 268 days enough time to start calling this place home? I don’t know. I’ll save that for another post. So what’s with the picture of the shoes? Well, the other day I went round Rob’s apartment to watch some movies…

So last week myself and B went on a bike ride to the west of Weinan. The west of town (known as the ‘Weinan High-Tech Zone’ is a mainly new development of the city. At the moment it’s posed for future growth, but not particular well populated. At times you feel like you’re in a disaster movie, with large buildings, huge roads, but no people. Anyway, thought I’d share the pictures…

A ringflash is a type of camera flash that is…well, A) a flash, and B) ring-shaped. The lens sits inside the ring and is therefore surrounded by light, the result being aesthetically pleasing flash lighting without sharp, nasty shadows. However, ringflashes are expensive. You can get ringflash adapters, pieces of plastic and metal that go over your flash, and convert it to a ringflash. But at £100-£200; they’re pretty damn expensive too. The solution; build my own…

Still cold? Yup.

“Random Snap” is a new category/feature on the blog for when I just have one thing I want to share, and doesn’t quite merit it’s own blog post. The quality of the photography may also be lacking and even from *gasp* a camera-phone!

“Yay!” Okay, so a few things, 1) China is flippin’ cold in winter. 2) When it snows, it SNOWS, and 3) …

So, Halloween isn’t really celebrated isnt celebrated at all in China, but at Aston we like to teach culture as much as language; so a few weeks back we set plans into motion to celebrate Halloween, including getting all the kids to dress up. It made for some excellent photographs…