Every year Aston holds an Annual Managers’ Conference (AMC) and, after taking the reigns of manager at Weinan, this year it was my turn to head to the meeting. This year it was hosted in the city of Dalian (大连) in China’s Liaoning province (in the North-East, see this map: click.) There’s not much time to explore the city, as most of the time is spent in meetings, but I managed to grab some snaps of the city…
Continue reading / 继续阅读: ‘Trip to Dalian – Aston AMC 2010′

So, should I just write this post as if nothing happened? Or should I acknowledge that it’s been over a month since my last post. Oops! Ahem! Well, Sorry! I was busy with this that and the other. A few trips to various parts of China; all of which will make for good blog posts, but – first I need to catch up. So, long story short I placed 3rd in an Aston photo competition (woo hoo) and they wanted a photo of me “looking excited” to go on the website, so…I grabbed my equipment and my assistant in training (Beryl) and we headed to the garages outside my apartment for a little shoot…
Continue reading / 继续阅读: ‘Goofing around>> Garage Shoot’

It’s (or, it was) that time of year again. When we introduce our students to the strange and weird customs of Halloween. As always, the kids really embraced it. I guess it’s a pretty cool holiday – you get to dress up as whatever you want, and then people give you candy. What more could you want? As usual this proved a goldmine for photos, so… enjoy!
Continue reading / 继续阅读: ‘Halloween 2010′

Here’s the video of my trip to Chongqing. It’s 18minutes so grab yourself a cuppa. Maybe rated PG-13. A little colourful language, but nothing too bad. Also, the video got a little ‘squashed’ at some point during the upload, so the aspect ratio is slightly off. Weird.

    

Following on from Part One, here’s Part Two! Day two included trips to “Fairy mountain” and “Wulong Karst” – The latter being a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The day started with a four-five hour minibus ride out to fairy mountain, on the way we stopped off at a rest stop and I saw this…
Continue reading / 继续阅读: ‘ChongQing Holiday (重庆) – Day 2′

Every year for National Day Holiday (October 1st) the folks at Weinan Aston English all go on a trip together. Last year I was in England at the time, but this year I was in China, so I decided to go along. We were heading to ChongQing (重庆) for a few days taking an overnight train, and there was around 20 of us in total. As usual, lots of pics, so go make a brew and come back for a gander…
Continue reading / 继续阅读: ‘ChongQing Holiday (重庆) – Day 1′

So, this actually happened when my parents were here, but I didn’t think it fit in very well with the other posts. While they were here I decided to show them the masses of people practising tai chi, kung fu, badminton, etc. in the square. I took along my camera (of course) here are the photos.
Continue reading / 继续阅读: ‘Tai Chi in the Square – Aug ’10′

If my blog allowed subtitles, this one’s would be “We’re engaged!” The final part of my parents’ stay in China featured me getting down on one knee and asking Beryl to marry me – she said yes! I am looking a bit too evil in this photo though… oops!
Continue reading / 继续阅读: ‘My Parents in China – Part 5′

Okay, we’re done with Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3… it’s time for Part 4! Highlight of this part is a visit to the Terracotta Warriors. Enjoy!
Continue reading / 继续阅读: ‘My Parents in China – Part 4′

So, carrying on from Part 1 and Part 2, here’s Part 3 of my parents in China! Highlights include a trip to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an…
Continue reading / 继续阅读: ‘My Parents in China – Part 3′