Tina says....

The winter

2012-01-30T12:28:00.000+01:00

January and February are the coldest two months in Sardinia. Living near the sea also increases the humidity levels which makes it feel colder than what you expect it to be from the actual temperature. Having said that, on a sunny day during this period it can feel like spring and when I go running on those days it's more comfortable to be in shorts and T-shirt as the sun rays feel very warm. The house inside can often feel colder than outside. The country houses here don't often have central heating. Many people have a wood fire in the main room of their abode (the kitchen) and that's it. Some people also have air-conditioning units in one or two other rooms which can take the chill out of the air. Wooden pellet fires are becoming more and more popular now which can replace the traditional wooden fire. They're a fantastic invention, the pellets are compressed sawdust which feed automatically into the stove and burn away behind a sealed glass door.The heat is expelled through the vents and gives off a much more powerful heat then a traditional fire.


Our pellet fire

It's much cheaper to run too as a 15kg bag of pellets lasts about 3 days and costs about €5. We previously had a gas fire which costs triple that!

Many people think that Sardinia doesn't get cold in the winter but it does, it's just that the season isn't a long one. From March it starts to change, the days are much warmer but the evenings are still cool until usually the beginning of May.

I'm not mad about the winter, I prefer the warmer weather so I love it when spring arrives. Luckily I have enough teaching work during the winter to keep me busy. As I am freelance I have to get the work when I can. Businesses are still affected here by the financial crisis. I couldn't believe it the other day when I heard that 40% of Sardinian families are living below the poverty line. We are also seeing more and more protests. Our main road to Cagliari the SS195 was blocked by transport protesters the other day. Petrol is the highest I have ever seen it...I paid €1.73 a litre the other day and it looks like it's set to rise again!

People are not happy and I think we'll be seeing more and more demonstrations and protests. Obviously that is how many feel it's the only way they can be heard. I personally believe we are going through a massive global transformation. The political and economic systems we have in place have never been sustainable. When people think we have had it good we have often only had it good at someone else's expense. Over 2 billion people have been living off less than $2 a day for years, global poverty has always been rife. We can only have more harmony on this planet once the mass of the world's population recognises that greed and accumulation of masses amount of wealth and even the desire for it is completely insane! Does it really bring inner joy and happiness? Not at all....but each of us on an individual level need to come to realise this and live our lives from what I call a deeper dimension,which is our true selves, not the conditioned level of our mental rhetoric!

Villa San Pietro

2012-01-15T13:09:00.000+01:00

Beni Benius to Villa San Pietro! Meaning Welcome in the Sardinian language! Villa san Pietro is the small village where I live in Sardinia in the province of Cagliari. I thought today for my first blog entry of the year I'd share a few pictures of the quaint place. The centre of the village originally began to develop around the Romanesque-pisan church in the 13th century.

The old church

As the church is rather small a new one was built only a few years ago about half a kilometer from the centre. The spire is visible from a far.

The new church

The village itself lies at the foot of a mountain range so as you walk outside the centre you emerge straight into the countryside. This time of year the orange and mandarin trees are fully ripe with their fruit.

A local orchard

There is a river which runs by the edge of the village, standing on the bridge which crosses it you get a full view of the mountain range.

Looking east on the river

You can take some pleasant walks or even cycle up into the local mountains. As you wander up the views are pretty impressive. It's not a place bustling with activity as you can probably imagine it's more for people who want a more tranquil environment to live in. The advantage is that it is only 30km from Cagliari so if you crave for some city life in 20 minutes you can have it. At the same time it is located only a stones throw to some of the most beautiful beaches in Italy, they are literally on our doorstep.

Isola di San Pietro

2011-12-08T09:41:00.000+01:00

I had a lovely day trip out today with a good friend of mine to Carloforte on the Isola di San Pietro. I had never been there before so it was wonderful to explore the small Island. It is located South West of Sardinia and it is not physically connected to the mainland, the island next to it, Sant'Antioco is however and you can get a 20 minute ferry ride from there to Carloforte. So we drove first into San'Antioco, which is a another interesting island to explore, stopped off in the quaint town for a coffee and then caught the boat from Calasetta the town on the North of the Island.

Sant'Antioco looking from the mainland

Good cake and cappuccino!

The original inhabitants of Carloforte are from Liguria in North Italy. The local dialect therefore is very different from Campindanese which is the dialect spoken in Cagliari and its province. The story goes that the King of Sardinia in the 18th Century gave the Isola di San Pietro (St Peter's island) to a group of Ligurians who had been abandoned in North Africa by the Genoese hence the dialect in Carloforte often being referred to as Genovese.

Carloforte viewed from the ferry

The town is small but quite pretty with cobbled lanes. There are lots of local restaurants to choose from and we ate a traditional Carlofortino dish of fresh pasta with tuna....delicious.

Carloforte

After exploring the town we drove around the Island stopping off to appreciate some of the splendid and at times breathtaking views. Some of the geological formations seem quite unique and stand out to to other rock on the island and on mainland Sardinia. The island is also home to flamingoes which we passed on our circular route.


Interesting rock!

Flamingoes.

It is a beautiful island and because it is now low season the place was very quiet but alive with nature.

Santa Margherita

2011-11-24T18:31:00.001+01:00

Just a 10 minute drive South from my house you come across some beautiful coastline along Santa Margherita di Pula. This time of year there are no tourists so the shores are quiet and really peaceful especially during the week. There is a lovely walking route along a narrow tarmacked lane which runs along the seashore from the Flaming Hotel. As you stroll along the lane you have the beach at your side and the sea rolls in smoothly most of the time. However, over the last few weeks we have had some stormy weather and you can see where the ocean has churned up all the seaweed. As I walked along there today I was quite surprised by just how much of the stringy stuff has piled up.


Churned up seaweed.

Despite the stormy weather we are experiencing above average temperatures for November. It still feels quite warm and on a sunny day it's like the spring.

I love this walk along the coast, it takes me about an hour and half to do a 7km round trip. In the past I would often drive and park up here to jog the route in about 45 mins. These days I use a different jogging route direct from my front door!

As you walk along there are views of pine trees and mountains on the opposite side of the sea. Tucked away under the trees are several camp sites used mainly in the spring and summer.

The lush trees

Walking along today the sea didn't look very rough there were only a few high waves and yet it emanated an incessant rumbling noise which was so loud. It must have been very rough further out. The birds weren't bothered by that though as they were chirping away in the trees. It was an amazing contrast of sounds.


Facing North

I finished the walk at sunset and tried to capture the bright orange coloured sky which looked fantastic.

Sunset behind the trees

And then just as I was getting back into my car the sky changed again to a bright pink with orange...fabulous! Isn't nature just fascinating?


Sunset

Las Vegas

2011-10-20T17:13:00.000+02:00

We left the Grand Canyon this morning taking a six hour drive to Las Vegas. On the way we drove along the famous Historic Route 66.


Route 66

It was still daylight when we finally got to Las Vegas and Mex drove us along the strip pointing out all the hot spots. To be honest I wasn't overly impressed, I wasn't sure what to expect, however as night came in and it all became lit up it did have a more exciting feel. A few of us spent a few hours checking out a couple of the famous hotels and their outside displays. I quite liked the dancing water fountain outside The Bellagio where Oceans 11 was filmed. The famous Volcano outside The Mirage was not at all impressive. The Venetian Hotel which tries to resemble Venice has Gondola rides in what looks like a swimming Pool!!! After a few hours walking around I had had enough of all the noise and tackiness and way to many slot machines.

Vegas


Dancing fountain

Gondolas in Las Vegas!

One evening was enough for me but maybe it's the type of place that grows on you. We left for London the next day. I was really sad to end the trip though, I could have very easily continued on exploring more of the National Parks in the US....that'll have to be for another trip :-)

Sunrise

2011-10-19T09:53:00.000+02:00

We had a very early start this morning to catch sunrise at about 6.40am in the Grand Canyon. Mex took us down to a rock promontory overlooking the Canyon where there were no other spectators. As the sun starts to rise its rays hit the rocks and the colours become alive. I sat quietly just watching it all enjoying the moment.

Just before sunrise


The effects of sunrise

After a hearty breakfast we all decided which treks we were going to do. I and two others opted for a trek right into the Canyon from South Kaibab Trailhead. It's a 6mile trek, 3 down and 3 up.


On the way down

As we gradually descended along the sandy path I was amazed at how the colours in the canyon changed. When you look down into the canyon from the rim you can see a layer of light green rock but as you go further down the green becomes much darker and there seems so much of it.


Trying to capture the green colour

I asked Mex about this and he says one theory is that it is due to algae as the canyon was under ocean millions of years ago.
The slippery descent to Skeleton Point took about 1 hour 40mins. It was less slippery coming up but more strenuous and took just over 2 hours with the sun blaring down. It was well worth doing and a great way to experience the Canyon.

The Grand Canyon

2011-10-18T10:01:00.000+02:00

When I got my first view of the Grand Canyon today it truly did amaze me. One can really sense the vastness as soon as you see it. We first viewed it from Desert View Point on the South Rim.

Canyon from Desert View Point


View from Desert View Point

After spending sometime to take it all in we then drove further along the South Rim to Mather Point where the Grand Canyon Visitor Centre is.


One view from Mather Point

The Canyon's widest point is 18 miles and goes as deep as 1 mile down. After lunch a few from our group took a 45 minute helicopter flight over the canyon. I can honestly say it is one of the best things I have ever done. I had a perfect spot in the helicopter positioned at the front looking straight out the clear glass both to my front and the side. We first flew over forest for a few minutes before we hovered over the Canyon. As you fly into the Canyon you get the sensation that you're falling right into it for a split second. Our pilot warned us about the sensation so we were prepared. The views were absolutely fantastic.


One view from helicopter


and another

I definitely recommend anyone who visits the canyon to take a helicopter ride. We had no turbulence, a confident pilot and a truly awesome flight.

Monument Valley

2011-10-17T21:06:00.000+02:00

Today we visited Monument Valley in Navajo Nation which borders Arizona and Utah. Navajo Nation is governed by Native Americans and is in fact the largest land area assigned to native Americans in the US. Monument Valley is within the nation. When you arrive here the protruding rocks, called Buttes, look very familiar. Many of the American Westerns by John Ford were filmed in this area so it's quite amazing the familiarity of the place.


Monument Valley

We were given a four hour jeep tour of the valley by a lovely Navajo Indian. I think he thought Jo and I were a bit 'different' as we could not at all see the shapes and animals which he kept pointing out to us in the rocks. He spent ages explaining where this Buffalo shaped in the rock face was but we just didn't 'get it'.....until we eventually walked away and then saw it! But to be honest most of the other animals we didn't see at all, yet the other members of our group seemed to spot them. Very strange!


Taken by our arty guide

We covered a good few miles and then at dusk we stopped in the valley for dinner next to a wooden camp fire. After our gorgeous steak tacos served to us by our guide's friends, we were entertained with Navajo songs, music and dancing. It felt so serene in the valley as there was just our small group with the stars brightly lit in the sky.


Dusk


A Navajo Indian dance

It was a perfect evening and I personally loved the whole feeling in Monument Valley. It's a beautiful place where you can sense the peace and tranquility. I would really like to return.

Antelope Canyon

2011-10-16T09:51:00.000+02:00

This morning we past Lake Powell a reservoir created by the Glen Canyon Dam, it's the second biggest man-made reservoir in the US. When you're at the dam and look down you notice that the water is a different colour either side...blue and the other green.


Glen Canyon Dam


Route to Canyon

After lunch we toured Antelope Canyon. The tours are given by Navajo Indian guide. First you have to drive across sandy desert in a big wheeled off road truck for about 30 mins. At times it feels like you are going to end up just stuck in the sand! However, once at the Canyon our guide gave us an informative tour on where to take photos. What's fascinating about Antelope Canyon is that once inside the walls all look the same colours, yet once you start taking photos all the colours vibrantly emerge.


Antelope canyon


Antelope Canyon

The walls inside are so smooth, I just wanted to keep running my hand along the walls. I wasn't surprised therefore when our guide informed us that the rock is renowned for its healing powers. Another fascinating place.

Hiking in Bryce

2011-10-15T17:24:00.000+02:00

This morning we trekked into Bryce Canyon. The red rock is so vibrant it is just fantastic. We descended along part of the Peekaboo trail then headed up the canyon along the wall street part of the Navajo trail. This brought us out at the point where we watched sunset the previous evening. The last part of the trail was quite challenging but absolutely worth the climb.


In Bryce Canyon

Wall street part of Navajo trail

Whilst in Utah I noticed what I thought were quite strict laws. For example, a couple of members of our group ordered alcohol in a cafe'/bar place in Zion. They were told that it is the law to order food within an hour of consuming alcohol. I also was surprised to see notices in the restrooms saying 'It is state law to wash your hands after using the facilities' I obviously agree about the importance of hand washing but to make it law seemed a bit extreme to me! I'm sure it's all due to the fact that Utah is Mormon Country... Surely we should give people some credit for common sense!

After lunch we walked along Rainbow Point to see the oldest living tree on the planet...Bristlecone Pine. It is believed they can live up to 5000 years and can survive prolonged drought. The one I saw at Bryce is 1,600 years old.

Bristlecone Pine

Pools and sunset

2011-10-14T10:30:00.000+02:00

This morning I walked the Emerald Pool trail at Zion. It's just a short trek taking only 1hr 20 from Zion Lodge within the park. The views along the trail are beautiful and as I set off early there were very few people around, it felt really peaceful.


Near start of trail


Looking up

The sandy and rocky path leads up to three pools at different levels. It's only the last one which has an emerald feel to it. There were lots of squirrels at the top around the pool, they were probably after the peanut butter apples which a man perched by a rock was delightfully eating for breakfast.


The last emerald pool

We left Zion at midday and headed straight for Bryce Canyon arriving to get views of it from Sunset Point. For me Bryce was the most enchanting of all the parks I visited on the trip. As you view the red stone monoliths you can truly sense the earth energy that they come from. It's not surprising that they are called Hoodoos meaning to cast a spell, supposedly deriving from the word Voodoo. If they cast any spells then they're only positive as the feeling you have when looking into the canyon is only one of serenity.


Me with Bryce backdrop


Capturing sunset

We watched sunset and it was beautiful to see how the rocks captured the change in light within the canyon. To be honest there are no words to describe the view, you really need to be there to get the whole feel of the place, it's truly awesome.

Wading in Zion

2011-10-13T20:53:00.000+02:00

Well today I did something I had never done before.....hiked up river. Within Zion National Park you can literally wade The Narrows. The Virgin river flows within the canyon and luckily enough it hadn't rained for a few days previous so the water level wasn't too high, especially for a shorty like myself! We hired the wading gear from a store just outside the park which comprised of the correct shoes, socks, waders, waterproof rucksack and walking pole. The temperature of the water was only 10C so there was no way I was going just in shorts. Our guide Mex however waded comfortably in his shorts and sandals....he's done it time and time again! We hiked up river for two hours including a lunch stop with the highest level of water reaching my waist. It was absolutely amazing to be in the middle of a river looking up at the canyon walls.


Looking up from within Canyon

Altogether it took about 4 hours and by the end it became quite tiring on the legs. It is something I would definitely recommend to anyone visiting Zion as a must to do, only of course if you're steady on your legs. You have to constantly think and feel about where to put your feet. Unfortunately I didn't get many photos whilst wading as concentration and keeping my camera safe in its waterproof bag was my priority.


Taken at the lunch spot

The waders kept me bone dry even though I did slip into the river towards the end....lost concentration!


One view from the hot tub

The pool and hot tub back at our lodge was well deserved that evening.

Van appreciation day

2011-10-12T17:21:00.000+02:00

Mex rightly called today 'van appreciation day' as we spent 9 hours driving south through the rest of the Sierra Nevada, across the state of Nevada, passing Las Vegas riding into Utah and finally arriving at Springdale, Zion National Park. We had all be dreading the day but it wasn't so bad and I personally enjoyed the scenery... pretty much brown mountains and desert all the way. We left Yosemite about 8am and as we gradually drove away we left behind snow capped peaks behind bare rugged mountains....a fabulous contrast.


Views from the van


Lunch stop

In Sierra Nevada

2011-10-11T12:06:00.000+02:00

Today I chose to take it easy and do an easy walk due to the fact that I was sick during the morning drive and was feeling a little tired after yesterday's trek. I was fine after being sick....somehow I didn't digest the morning breakfast! We drove through Yosemite, stopping off for a quick look at crystal clear Tenaya lake.


Tenaya lake

Meditation spot Soda Springs

We then drove on to Tuolumne meadows where we had a choice to do 3 hikes. I opted for a nice easy stroll along to Soda Springs. The views by the river were completely soothing and a few of us just sat and did our own thing contemplating the beauty of the place. I found a perfect spot by the river and meditated...I got myself a burnt red nose in the process!

After lunch we drove over Tioga Pass (3000M) and descended down to Mono Lake apparently the saltiest lake in the world....it's saltier than the dead sea. It's a fascinating lake with limestone formations sticking up which are called Tufa towers. As you come to the lake shore you notice what look like layers of black dirt but is in fact just thousands of flies nestling by the edge. As you get near them they rise up and fly around.


Mono Lake

Trekking Yosemite

2011-10-10T09:47:00.000+02:00

We set off early this morning taking a drive up to Glacier Point to start our trek for the day. Yosemite is absolutely beautiful and being in awe at the scenery is something I felt for the whole two week journey of the entire trip. Glacier point is at 3000m, it felt quite chilly and we were lucky to find snow on the ground in places. It had snowed a few days previously.

One view from Glacier Point


and another

We descended the Panama Trail which took us down to Illiloutte Fall at which point the trail started to ascend. We didn't meet many other trekkers so you could really sense the peace in the valley.

Illilouette Fall

We trekked up to Nevada Fall at which point it started to rain lightly. This made the trekking a bit more dangerous as the rocks became very slippery on the descents. The descent from now on was rather steep and I felt a little anxious about falling, a walking pole would have been useful! This part of the trail seemed to be more popular as from now on we would encounter other walkers.


Nevada Fall

The next part of the trek took us along the Mist Trail to Vernal Fall. It is so called as the trail is misty due to the water cascades with the possibility of seeing rainbows. We didn't see any though as it was cloudy and raining. The weather conditions did not affect the beauty of the place, the cloud gave it a more mystical feel. Once at Vernal Fall I was horrified to see a notice with the photos of a young couple who had gone missing presumably falling over the fall. Our guide had warned us not to take a dip in the water.....I'm not sure why anyone would want to as it was obviously dangerous to do so.


Looking down Vernal Fall

We finally finished the trek after 7 hours, all of us feeling a little weary. Our legs were stiff and sore for the following two days. Getting in and out of the van after that wasn't easy!

San Francisco and Sequoias

2011-10-09T20:22:00.000+02:00

I arrived in San Francisco on the 8th October to start a two week trip visiting and trekking through some of the National Parks in South West USA.

Today, after an early breakfast, I and 11 others set off with our guide 'Mex' beginning our adventure across 4 States. In the morning we took a ride through San Francisco in our small van which we would kind of grow accustomed to despite us all feeling a little cramped in together. It was a misty morning as we slowly rode through the town and stopped at the famous Golden Gate Bridge. I had hoped for clear blue skies in order to get the red contrast of this impressive structure. However this wasn't to be and instead I got to see the bridge for the very first time slightly immersed in cloud. It didn't however affect my delight and I was much impressed with this modern wonder of the world.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

I walked halfway across the bridge and was able to view Alcatraz Island. We didn't have time to visit the famous now unoccupied prison yet from a distance one could get a sense of its uninvitedness! I had recently read a book which mentioned the number of suicides, well over a 1000 off the bridge and I couldn't help thinking of this whilst on the bridge. There is a notice by a telephone halfway across saying 'There is hope make the call'. I wonder how many have been saved by making the call? Thankfully I wasn't feeling suicidal and was so happy just be on this trip :-)


Alcatraz Island

In the afternoon we drove up to Yosemite National Park. During part of the drive I was amazed at how similar the mountain climb up was to the mountains here in Sardinia. The alpine trees reminded me of the many lush pine trees we have here. Once we arrived at Yosemite the terrain began to change and we headed straight to see the Sequoia Trees which are by volume the largest living things on earth. The trees we saw were about 1500 years old...impressive!

A huge sequoia


Part of a Sequoia!

I had always wanted to see one of these trees so I was thrilled when I found out that day we would be passing by to take a look.

On the boat

2011-09-11T11:45:00.000+02:00

It was so nice yesterday to sail over to Nora in my friend's motor cruiser and anchor up in the sea over looking the archaeological ruins there. It's the first time I have actually seen the perspective of Nora looking across to the coast from the sea. It only takes about 15 mins to arrive from the marina at Perde'sali.


Cavatina the motor cruiser

The sea temperature is perfect this time of year, about 26C. I was surprised though at just how much green grass there is under the sea around the Roman ruins and apparently it's growing and spreading.


Taking a dip off the boat

It is a perfect way to enjoy the sea, take in the natural beauty of this area and just chill! Thanks Tony for taking us all out

Nora archaeological site

When you sit on the beach at Nora you will always find the odd boat anchored up enjoying the views. There's no charge either to this and you should keep 300 metres from the shore.


Views of Santa Margherita from Nora

La Giara

2011-09-10T18:35:00.000+02:00

Mini-horses in Giara

Here in Sardinia on the Giara plateau at Gesturi you will find beautiful Cavallini (mini-horses) roaming free among the cork trees which cover the mountain top.The plateau lies 60km north of Cagliari and is easy to get to by road. The horses are particular as they are slightly smaller than the average horse but they do not have the traits of ponies. It's a scenic ride up to Giara as the road ascends gradually and each bend you pass gives a stunning view of the surrounding countryside and villages. Over the last 50 years the population of these horses has increased as they dwindled down to about 100 prior to this.

The high plain is vegetated with cork trees which can be found all over the Island. Cork production in Sardinia makes an important contribution to the economy. A lot of cork is exported as it's used in insulation materials in buildings, in Sardinia it is used in many hand made products. If you go in any souvenir shop here you will always find cork products from handbags to jewellery boxes!

Cork trees

I love visiting Giara it's a tranquil place where you can take a easy walk. There are several paths and the shortest circular route is about 5km. The horses seem to be used to people although each time I have been, usually to take friends and family, there haven't been many visitors around. It's another natural beauty spot on the Island.

Birds and Pizza

2011-09-03T19:49:00.000+02:00

Whilst on Chia beach the other day we noticed a group of people had gathered together by the bushes and they appeared to be watching something going on. It turned out to be a flamingo in distress and the observers were not quite sure what to do. One man who was sitting near us decided to take it in his arms and tried to sooth it somehow. However, he eventually handed it over to the local forest rangers who had driven up to our beach bay, Cala Cipolla, and they drove off with it. I'm not sure what happened to it after that....Chia is another part of the island which is home to many flamingos. As you drive along the road overlooking the beach at Chia you can glimpse them wading in the lagoon which nestles between the sandy beach and grassy area.


Flamingo in distress

My sister attempted to try baking her homemade Pizzas in our outside wood oven. We usually use it for roasting meat on a spit, last night however after cooking chunks of beef we put the pizzas on trays over the hot ashes and they cooked in a few minutes....not bad for a first attempt. Well done Angela.

Beef roasting

Pizza christening

September has started off VERY humid, I'm hoping it clears over the next few days. Re the tourist industry August does not seem to have been as busy as usual in this area.

Flamingos

2011-07-29T22:15:00.001+02:00

As you leave Cagliari from the West taking the 195 road South towards Pula you will, after approximately fifteen minutes, drive past the Stagno di Santo Gilla just before Capoterra. It is a large saline pool and home to a large population of Flamingos. As I go past there I am always in awe as I watch this beautiful birds either standing in the shallow water or taking off serenely in gentle flight. Luckily you can see them all year round and it is even possible to take a walk beside the Stagno. However, it is quite difficult to observe them close up as they nest in the middle of the large pool. I haven't got a good optical zoom on my camera so the photos only catch them from a distance. If you click on the photos and zoom in you might get a slightly better view. It's best to go along with your binoculars of course to watch them close up but just watching them from a distance with the naked eye is inspiring.


Flamingos Santa Gilla

Standing alone

The path takes you through the pool and with a strong mistral wind, as there was today, it feels like you could be blown into the water!


Facing Capoterra

It is so nice to have these wetlands in the midst of an industrialized part of the Island. For me it helps to reconnect to our true essence. When you are surrounded by material man made things or even thinking excessively about all the things you have in your head, a glimpse of an elegant creature such as a flamingo can bring you back to observe the essence of nature and appreciate just how miraculous life truly is, it all just happens on its own without a thought.....

A quiet July

2011-07-20T11:22:00.001+02:00

July seems relatively quiet compared to previous years. Many B&B owners and people offering holiday lets are saying that bookings are down. Sardinia has a big dependency on the tourist industry during the summer months especially from Italian tourists visiting from the mainland. This year, probably not helped by the massive increase in ferry prices to and fro from the continent, there has been a decrease in visitors. I recently heard on the news that only one in six Italian families are taking a vacation this year. Pula is usually thriving with tourists but I have particularly noticed that the small town isn't as busy as usual. Having said that August is the busiest month so we still have to wait and see what that month brings. In many ways it is nice to go to beaches that aren't too busy, find parking easily in the town and encounter less traffic on the roads.

A relatively quiet Nora facing North

The weekends in this area are still busy though, the beaches are packed as many Cagliari residents and locals love to swim in the crystal clear waters and get tanned. Italians love to get brown! I avoid beaches at the weekend and am lucky enough to have time during the week to get to the beach. My local one, only 3km from my house, is fairly tranquil so it's easy to find a nice peaceful spot and chill in bliss for a couple of hours.


Nora facing south

We are having a typical Sardinian summer. Beautiful clear blue skies with temperatures ranging from 30-37C. We usually get a good four months of guaranteed hot sunshine sometimes longer so it really is one of the best places to spend the summer......if you like the sunny hot weather of course!

Happy Birthday in Florence

2011-06-26T17:01:00.000+02:00

Last week I celebrated my 40th birthday in Florence. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. I had been there before when I was 8 years of age, but all I can remember about that visit was complaining to my mum that I didn't want to do any more walking and she ended up carrying me on her shoulders....bless her what a patient mum I had. This latest visit however was entirely different and apart from a couple of painful blisters I thoroughly enjoyed touring the city. It really has to be experienced on foot as most of the centre is closed off to traffic. There are so many awesome sights and views but the famous Duomo literally took my breath away as we walked into the Piazza. The 400 step climb to the top of the Campanile has fantastic views of the entire city. Standing on the top looking down upon the city on my actual birthday was one of the best gifts ever.

The Duomo


One view from the Campanile

I had great company with friends who made the trip extra special. I enjoyed being translator and found the Fiorentini (people from Florence) very warm and welcoming. Every restaurant we ate in the staff accommodated to our needs and the food was fantastic. I highly recommend Bistecca alla Fiorentina a huge charcoal-grilled T bone steak.

Cheers

Ponte Vecchio must be one of the most unique bridges in the world lined with gold jewellery shops overhanging the river. It is delightful to view it from a distance.


Ponte Vecchio at dusk

We also visited Pisa to see the famous leaning tower. Another awesome sight that left me breathless as the white marble appears illuminated against the blue sky. I climbed it in the evening to experience sunset over the city.


Leaning tower of Pisa

I really can say it was a wonderful way to celebrate my birthday with lovely friends and look forward to returning.

Good luck

2011-06-09T19:38:00.000+02:00

Now the summer's here it's always a good excuse for a barbecue. However, it was a bit sad to say bye the other night to a couple of friends who are leaving Sardinia and returning to the UK to run a B&B in Devon. We treated them to some fantastic steaks from our namesake Butcher's in Pula. We'll miss them but as they are keeping their house here which they rent for the summer season they'll be back for regular visits. Bon Voyage and good luck!

I also wish all my students at the Wise Word good luck for tomorrow as they are sitting the Trinity oral exams. Fingers crossed I hope everyone does really well :-)

The start of the summer season

2011-05-26T22:53:00.000+02:00

Our summer season is beginning now and our first guests arrive this weekend. My father has spent the last 8 months working non stop renovating the house, flats and garden. Not bad for a man of 72 with vision in only one eye. The place is looking good and I'm sure he's looking forward to resting over the summer months!

Jasmine in bloom in the garden

The flowers are beautiful this time of year and the perfume from the jasmine flowers radiates across the whole garden. This time of year the delicious Nespola fruit is ripe on our Nespolo tree and should stay ripe for a few more weeks yet.


Albero di Nespolo

I'm looking forward to the apricots which should be ready in the next couple of weeks, probably sooner now the temperatures are in the low 30Cs. The weather has been changeable this past month but now it really feels like summer has arrived.
The school term ends in a couple of weeks and many of my courses at the school have already finished. Over the next two weeks I will continue to focus on making sure the remaining students are ready to sit the Trinity exams, from level 1 to 8. To be honest they have been concentrating on the syllabus for the last few months so they are all as ready as they'll ever be. The state schools close for about 3 months so the kids get a long summer holiday.

St. Efisio

2011-05-02T18:55:00.000+02:00

La festa di Sant' Efisio is one of the biggest festivals celebrated in Sardinia. It runs from the 1st to the 4th May every year. On the 1st there are celebrations in Cagliari with a procession of people from towns all over the island wearing their local traditional Sardinan costumes. The Saint then leaves the city and heads south west driven by two great Buoi (oxen) and stays the night in Sarroch. On the 2nd it leaves the village and heads to Nora. Around lunchtime today he arrived into Pula escorted by a procession of horses and locals in the traditional Sardinian clothing. Many local residents were there to greet him despite the rain!

Saint Efisio is the patron saint of Cagliari and the festival dates back nearly 400 years as he was believed to have saved the city from the Plague in 1652.

This evening he'll make his way to the small church in Nora, accompanied by a display of fireworks. Tomorrow evening he'll be paraded back to the church in Pula and the following morning (the 4th) head back to Caglairi where more celebrations will greet his arrival.

Below in the short video, I recorded the last part of the procession into Pula: the arrival of the Statue of St Efisio escorted by young men playing the Launeddas; a traditional Sardinian woodwind instrument.

Over these four days Pula comes to life every evening with entertainment and shows in the main Piazza plus stalls selling artisan products and the famous Torrone (Sardinian Nougat).

We have had rain here though on and off for the past two weeks and there doesn't seem to be much change in the forecast over the next couple of days....hopefully this won't put people off enjoying the celebrations. Tomorrow evening Marco Carta will be singing in the piazza, a famous Italian singer who actually comes from Cagliari!

During these types of festivals I notice even more how tight the community is in this local area. Because so many people come out to see the parade you start to realise just how many people you actually know, some very well and some not so well. In some ways it can give you a secure feeling that you 'belong' to a community and yet in other ways you can at times feel that too many people know what you're doing. However, on the whole I have personally found that people don't try and interfere with my life. For some locals who have grown up here though, they have more difficulty and feel at times that they need to confirm to the idea of what others think they should be doing. I think that's a real pity, but there is hope because I have also noticed over the years that I have lived on and off here, that people are becoming more tolerant and accepting of 'difference'.

Yellow Mimosa

2011-04-12T15:48:00.000+02:00

Heading back home

What a fantastic April we're experiencing. It feels like June with temperatures in the mid 20s...perfect! I love the Spring, I feel refreshed and revitalised just like the flowers, trees and vegetation, every thing's blooming. It so good to feel the sun on the skin, to relax listening to the sounds of the birds...our garden is alive with them.One of my favourite Spring flowers is the yellow Mimosa. At the moment the trees are in full blossom along my running route; the road to Perde' sali from Villa San Pietro.

Heading to Perde' Sali

Being surrounded by these trees makes running a real pleasure, however they don't last long in full flower and in a couple of weeks they'll lose this yellow colour until next spring. The route has other views to offer including ripe olive trees in October, other types of pretty shrubs and great views of the mountains.

Heading back to VSP

Spring's here

2011-03-27T21:31:00.000+02:00

This weekend we really do know that Spring has arrived. We've experienced gorgeous weather with clear blue skies and temperatures around 18/20C, yet sitting in the sun it feels much warmer. When the weather's like this you have to make the most of it. After a lovely bike ride yesterday it was nice to stretch the legs today walking in Is Molas. Its only a few kilometres from where I live and you find a beautiful landscape of pine forests spreading across the mountains. There is a delightful river which runs down through the vegetation and this time of year flows in abundance, however during the summer months the river bed is completely dry. I breathed in the fresh oxygen today from these healthy vibrant trees enjoying a relaxed walk with a friend and dog.


By the river in Is Molas

I love walking up here, in previous years I would often cycle up on my own during the week as there are very few people around then just to spend sometime in nature and de-stress. I don't seem to have as much time during the week now but hopefully once the courses at the school come to an end I'll be a bit freer. I love the peacefulness and quiet. It's blissful to have a place like this on your doorstep. After the walk we finished off with beer on the terrace overlooking the sea at Nora.


Nora, just before sunset

Carnevale

2011-03-06T19:30:00.000+01:00

It's carnival season and today we had a fabulous parade in my village of Villa San Pietro. So, after a delicious BBQ in glorious sunshine, which by the way was finished off with my delicious home-made limoncello (see previous entry), we headed off to watch the parade.


Savouring the limoncello

I wanted to see some of my teenage students who I knew would be part of the floats as they eagerly reminded me last week. There were some colourful creative costumes but one of my favourite floats was the Sardinian aircraft translated from the Sardinian language as Wingless airlines

I also loved the one which seemed to be having a dig at Berlusconi 'The law is not the same for everyone' written across this one..how true that is!

The Puffi were so cute, I was a dedicated fan of the Smurfs when I was a kid and my very first LP was a Smurf record when I was about 5..I think I've still got it somewhere.


I Puffi

It wasn't exactly Rio however it was entertaining, lively and good fun for the kiddies. I noticed that the men dressed as women seemed to really enjoy themselves....perhaps a secret desire to dress in women's clothes..who knows!

Lemons!

2011-02-19T17:46:00.000+01:00


Our biggest lemon tree

Our three lemon trees in the garden are lush with their fruit at the moment. I have been pondering for some time how to put some of them to good use.....what could be better than Limoncello a marvellous Italian liquor which is drunk at the end of a meal as a perfect digestivo. This will be my first attempt, but it is quite simple to make. After leaving the lemon peel in 90% alcohol to infuse for 2 weeks, strain the peels and add a syrup made from water and sugar, it can then be drunk straight away. I love the stuff.

There is such a lovely fresh smell from the trees as you walk by and it's a real treat to be able to pick a lemon fresh from its source just before you use it. I'm sure there are so many more nutrients in any fruit if it's eaten as soon as its picked. It's a joy being able to pick the ingredients as I'm cooking; basil, parsley, rosemary, and laurel are all our friends in the garden.

Somewhere over the rainbow.......

2011-02-01T22:10:00.000+01:00


First half of the complete rainbow

Today we experienced some heavy rainfall, however just after 5pm there was a pause to allow this beautiful rainbow to emerge right over our house. I pulled up into the yard, looked up and was greeted by these vibrant colours set in a perfect arch. I think it is the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen and it somehow radiated a warmth and positivity of its own, which left me feeling quite uplifted! I had to run inside quick to get my camera to capture the moment!


and the other half!

Loving the morning run

2011-01-30T15:53:00.001+01:00

Post run stretching!

After a few days of persistent rain it was nice to get out for a run this morning. The sun made its appearance, brightening and warming up the place. On the whole January has been a sunny month with little rain, however we did have a spell of cold weather with temperatures dropping down to 0C at night and not rising above 10C for a few days last week. I'm sure this helped contribute to many of my students getting bad colds! We are now back to temperatures of around 15C...much better! The weather hasn't been the only thing stopping me from my three times a week running ritual. I have been having physiotherapy on my right shoulder due to a slight tear in one of my tendons in the rotary cuff, so this takes up my mornings! It's not really painful to be honest but my orthopaedic doctor has advised physio. I have to undergo another 10 sessions over the next two weeks! I'm lucky in that the Italian health service is providing this for free with no waiting list and so I got seen to straight away. In my experience the health service has been pretty efficient here especially when it comes to preventative treatment. I am saying this despite the fact that my father has lost vision in his right eye due to a cataract operation carried out 4 years ago that didn't turn out as it should have. The eye surgeon is supposedly one of the best on the island!! Luckily my father does seem to manage quite well with his one eye, but feels reluctant to have his good eye operated on in the future if required!

Later today I have to prepare a test for my beginners class next week to monitor their progress as most of them will be doing the Trinity English Language Exams at the beginning of June. I think they'll do fine. I like the fact that they'll have a certificate for this years course to show what advances they have made. It's also rewarding for me to share in the process. Hopefully, many of the younger students will probably have more luck getting a job with an English qualification in the future. Work in Sardinia is quite hard to find, Unfortunately, it has been hit quite harshly by the economic crisis...everyone is talking about it 'Qui c'è crisi' (Here there's a crisis) people say. A lot of small businesses are struggling right now and we have noticed it locally. Small companies that a year or so ago were thriving, are now finding it hard to continue. Even the private school where I work has less than half of the students it had two years ago. You can sense the frustration in people and it doesn't help that Italy seems to be in a political mess! You kind of have to switch off from the problems that you can not solve personally and enjoy the things that are going well in your life. Meditation, doing the things you enjoy and accepting life for what it is, reconnects you to your soul and stops the bombardment of 'mind stuff'!

Another New Year

2011-01-09T19:32:00.000+01:00

It was great to get back on the bike today and out for a run yesterday in warm weather after spending two cold weeks in England. I really enjoyed going back to see family and friends over the Christmas period, it was lovely to see the snow too but the dreary skies started to feel a bit oppressive after a while, I am pleased therefore we're currently having a sunny winter here in Sardinia, lets hope it lasts all the season.

I feel as though 2011 as crept upon us so quickly, I know it's a cliché but time really does fly as you get older making me even more conscious of the wise adage carpe diem! Yesterday whilst I was running facing the beautiful mountains that overlook the village where I live, I was thinking of how we are all just passing through this life, perhaps only the equivalent of the blink of an eye in perspective of the mountains' lifetime. So many of us make life into such a big deal, we can forget how to really live and enjoy it just by the way we think about it. Getting wrapped up in our thoughts can take us away from life and the moments we should have enjoyed and made the most of have gone and passed....carpe diem 2011.

Spring in December!

2010-12-08T18:06:00.000+01:00

Nora from the terrace

One man and his boat

We are currently experiencing spring temperatures, in the low 20Cs with glorious sunshine and clear blue skies. With this superb weather and today being a national holiday (festa dell'immaculata) it was an ideal opportunity to go on a bike ride with a couple of friends. We clocked up 23K along the coast up to Nora. Once there we enjoyed a drink on the terrace overlooking our favourite views and waited patiently for our friend to come sailing by in his motor boat...instead we were entertained by one lone sailor!

Today really did feel like spring with the birds singing and people out cutting their lawns. The warm weather isn't forecast to last and after tomorrow it's set to get cool again.

The Wise school!

2010-12-04T18:41:00.000+01:00

This is the private language school where I work in Pula. I teach students from ages 7 to adults. The 7 year olds are the most challenging! They are the cutest kids but I am always thinking of new ways to keep them focused and interested in the lesson. This week they all took it in turns to ‘play’ teacher in the classroom which worked well, they didn’t want to finish the lesson and I think their parents were quite relieved when they finally emerged from the classroom. It doesn’t always go that smoothly though and after an hour with the little ‘uns I actually feel like I have worked 20!!

The school is run by a lady called Monica who set up the school several years ago. I worked for her a couple of years back which was convenient for me as it’s only a 5 minute drive from my house. I was quite pleased therefore when she realised I had returned from China and asked if I’d like to work back there. This year I am the only teacher as the enrolments have been down compared to previous years but there’s enough work to keep me going! It’s nice to have a variety of students from beginners to advanced.The adults classes are great fun, I have some really nice students who are enthusiastic and we have lots of laughs in the classroom. They all want to learn English for various reasons: for work, travel, dealing with the tourists in the summer or just general interest. English isn't widely spoken here in Sardinia or in Italy generally. When tourists come here they don't find it easy to communicate with locals. English only became compulsory in schools a few years ago. As English is the Global language of communication the education system is having to play catch up in this area. There has been a recent initiative by the Sardinian regional government to encourage adults to learn English by offering free courses as part of the 'Sardinia Speaks English' programme. It seems to be successful as places are filled quickly.

The local Enoteca

2010-11-21T09:56:00.000+01:00

My favourite wine can be bought from a local Enoteca in Pula. Enoteca is the name for wine shops where you can often buy wine 'off the tap' from barrels as well as bottled. The local one I buy, for just €1.60 a litre, is a red called Cannonau and goes down very well with most meals, especially with meat, cheese and pasta dishes. In my opinion though it goes well with anything! It's a smooth full bodied wine and has no bitter taste at all. It's very popular with the locals and even visitors I have introduced to it say it's one of the best wines they have ever had.

Inside the local enoteca

Made from the Cannonau grape, it is the most popular wine in Sardinia, and mostly produced in the centre of the island. Most people turn up with their containers of all sizes to get their supply. I usually fill up a two litre container which lasts the two of us about a week. A glass of red wine each day with our meal goes down very well indeed!

Birthday celebrations in Barcelona

2010-11-11T11:55:00.000+01:00


Ready to take on the city!

I'm just back from a great couple of days celebrating my dear friend Marie's 50th Birthday in Barcelona. It's fantastic to catch up with friends I used to work with at Luton Airport many of whom I haven't seen for about 3 years. It felt like no time had passed between us, and still having the same fun together.
We took a bus tour around the city which is a great way to take in the sights and sounds, but to really appreciate Barcelona you need a bit more time than I had. The city of Gaudi is beautiful and I intend to go back there in the not too distant future. Connections from Cagliari are excellent at the moment, cheap flights direct to the city.

Casa Batllo'

The first building I specifically noticed as I arrived in the city is Casa Batllo which is just around the corner from where we were staying. It's magnificent and for me resembled something from one of the fairy tales I read as a child.
It's truly a wonderful city and look forward to returning :-)

Cortes Apertas

2010-10-28T19:01:00.000+02:00

I thought I'd share some pictures of Dorgali and Cala Gonone. Last weekend I went there with friends as the town of Dorgali held an art festival called 'Cortes Apertas'. Some towns in Sardinia hold these festivals in order to share the local art and culture. Dorgali is in central Sardinia in an area also known as 'Barbagia' which has a unique culture and mentality of its own. During these festivals some people open up their courtyards and share some of the traditions of the local area: Local artisans exhibit their crafts, you can savour some of the local foods and wines and even see the locals dressed in the Sardinian traditional costumes.

The mountains in this area are very rugged and wild, the scenery is stunning as drive through central Sardinia. Just 10km east of Dorgali lies Cala Gonone an extremely popular place in the peak of the summer as it's right on the coast. Going there this time of year is much quieter but just a bit too chilly to sit on the beach although I did see some tourists sunbathing. The drive into Cala Gonone from Dorgali is breathtaking as it's a drop down to the beach from the mountains, so the views are stupendous on a glorious sunny day.

I enjoyed the trip despite the three hour car journey from Cagliari. I think it's better to stay the night rather than do the drive there and back in a day.

Man's traditional clothing

Cala Gonone


Stalls where you can try the local food, Dorgali

Visitors

2010-10-07T19:52:00.000+02:00

Looking south east from Castello

Last week I had friends over from the UK who I haven't seen in five years. When friends visit it's always a good excuse for me to have a break myself and show them around. As it was their first time in Sardinia one of the first places I thought they should see is Il Castello area of Cagliari. As well as the historical interest you get amazing views of the city and the coastline. I also think it's one of the best places to get a romantic feel of the narrow, cobbly streets overhung with laundry from the balconies. Apartments here are in high demand and quite pricey. It's considered one of the most fashionable places to live. It is a very quaint area but I personally would not enjoy the inconvenience of driving along the narrow streets looking for parking!


Castello

Time for a beer

My friend Laura came along and acted as our tour guide. The only problem was her reluctance to practice English so I ended up translating for Bev and Terry. I did appreciate her presence though as she walked us around Villanova, an area east of Castello, and unbeknown to me.

I love showing friends around and seeing their reaction to a place that really feels like home to me. Sardinia has so much to offer in terms of natural beauty. There's less of the historical buildings, Cagliari does give you something so it's nice when the bit it does have is appreciated by visitors.

On the days I was free I enjoyed showing them some of the local area, along Santa Margherita and Chia. They fell in love with Chia and the south coast along to Teulada. You would have to be blind not to love this! I personally think it is one of the best coast roads in Sardinia. Driving along here is therapy for the soul.

Views of Turreda, South Coast

And Chia beach, specfically the parts known as Capo Spartivento and Cala Cipolla is paradise. Chia was recently voted one of the top ten beaches in the world and the best beach in Italy. This time of year there are few people on the beaches which makes it feel more like paradise. We are still experiencing temperatures in the mid 20Cs, in the water too.

Chia, Cala Cipolla

I introduced my friends to my favourite wine distributor in Pula from the local Enoteca where it's bought 'off the tap' The Cannonau is fabulous and a great accompaniment to any meal...every lunch time for me!

I really enjoyed my time with friends, reminiscing about our past trips to Peru and Borneo together.

The summer season is just about at an end. Our last guests in our rented accommodation leave on Saturday and that's it until next summer. As well as helping run the summer B&B business, I've been doing a few hours teaching through the summer, mainly private stuff, but from the end of the month I'll be working full-time in a private language school in addition to my private tuition. My summer job's ending and my winter job's starting.

No rest for the wicked !!!

Arborea

2010-09-13T21:35:00.000+02:00

The Church in the centre of Arborea

Yesterday I visited Arborea for the first time. It lies just a few kilometres to the South of Oristano on the West coast. I was quite impressed with the quaint little town as it's architecture is completely different to anything else I have seen in Sardinia. The buildings are Neo-gothic in style built in the fascist area under Mussolini. In fact when the town was actually first built it was named Mussolinia but later changed to Arborea after Eleonora D'arborea (Eleanor of Arborea). She was the 'Giudicessa' (Judge) of Arborea in the late 1300s. She is an icon in Sardinia perceived by some as 'Sardinia's Joan of Arc' as she fought off the Aragonese for several years. The crown of Aragon had claimed the island of Sardinia!

Salvatore 'doing the shoppin'!!

With some good friends of mine I cycled from the town out towards the marina where we passed fields and fields of corn plants. Really beautiful countryside. We got back to the town mid afternoon and I was so impressed with Noemie, who got saddle sore but just kept going!!


Me and Noemie

After leaving Arborea we took the coast road, not on our bikes but back in the car!! We passed through a picturesque fishing village called Marceddi and then drove down the Costa Verde to the famous Piscinas beach, supposedly one of the best beaches in Sardinia. Not in my opinion though, it doesn't beat Chia, which is only 20 mins from my house on the south coast.


Me, Noemie and Maria overlooking Torre dei Corsari beach


Piscinas

It was a gorgeous day out, fantastic weather as we have really comfortable temperatures at the moment about 27/28C. September is always a perfect month to be here it's one of my favourite times of year.

Evening cycle

2010-08-20T10:29:00.000+02:00

Views at Nora

Cycling at this time of year is best either early in the morning or early evening just before dusk. The average temperature is 31/32C, so it's just too hot to enjoy a bike ride in the middle of the day. Peddling to Nora in the early evening you create for yourself a lovely breeze which cools you down after the heat of the day. I love Nora at that time of the day as the sun sets across the mountains behind the beach, you find the odd boat bobbing gently up and down on the water.

My cycling companion Laura

Me taking a breather at Nora

It's vital to put on the mosquito repellent, this year I am getting bitten all times of the day as here in Italy we now have the tiger mosquitoes which are active during the daytime.

It's great to have a cycling companion who loves to do what you do. Laura is a friend who also loves cycling and we occasionally run together too. However, I love to go out on my own as well, as I love the contact with nature. When I'm alone I feel a stronger connection with the natural environment and feel at one with the mountains, the sea and the trees. It's a great way to reconnect with yourself, a form of mediation which I need away from the distractions of mind stuff.

One thing I must get are lights fitted on my bike. Cycling back home just before nightfall without lights is not a clever way to travel!!

Ferragosto in Pula

2010-08-16T21:31:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was Ferragosto, one of the biggest national holidays in Italy. It's celebrated on the 15th August and falls on the same day as the 'Assumption of Mary' a catholic religious festival which represents the Madonna rising up to heaven. Italians flock to the beaches, stay together with friends/family over a big meal for either lunch or dinner. As it falls on a religious day many towns and villages will celebrate the Assunzione. I caught the end of the procession of the Madonna into Pula from Nora last night. I was surprised at how serious most of the onlookers were, people didn't seem as jovial as usual. Even one of the musicians on stage in the main Piazza was trying to get the audience roused, not with much success. Perhaps it was due to the sheer amount of people that had headed into the town, slightly more than normal..who knows! Pula by night in the summer is usually swarming with locals and tourists sitting in the bars/restaurants in the main square or who wander around looking at the handicraft stalls. There's always a lovely relaxed friendly atmosphere, kids that play together happily. I have never seen any aggressive behaviour.

It was nice last night to catch up with my friend Dani, have a girly chat, listen to the music and have a drink after a delicious artisan ice-cream!!

The local marina

2010-08-10T09:45:00.000+02:00

The above photos show the small marina in Perd'e Sali exactly 3.3Km from my house. It takes me about 40mins to run there and back, a nice easy running route from my house. As it's the middle of summer here at the moment it's best to run there about 7am while it's cool and fresh before the heat starts to build up. The average temperature at the moment is 31C. I've had a preference to staying in bed at 7am these last 2 weeks so my 3 runs a week have been 'put on hold'. By the time I get up, at 8am, it's already too hot to go. I have every intention of getting back on track though in the next few days!!

Very tasty

2010-08-01T21:19:00.001+02:00

One of the nice things about this time of year is that it's perfect weather in the evening to sit outside for a meal and hence barbecue. We have some great people staying with us at the moment, some of them returned guests from last year, and we thought we'd treat them to a real Sardinian steak BBQ. Our namesake butcher in Pula has mostly Sardinian meat. I don't know too much about animal husbandry over here but his meat is very tasty and certainly seems to come from healthy bred cows. Or it might be something to do with the fact that he's the friendliest butcher who always has a fixed genuine smile on his face and a happy disposition! Guests were very happy...especially with the accompaniment of the Cannonau!

As well as big meat eaters Sardinians are also big fish eaters. One of the most popular being Spigola (Sea bass). It's delicious but a rare treat for us. In Pula you pay about €24 a kilo, probably €8 less in Cagliari. I believe that retailers in Pula tend to take advantage with it being a tourist area and put the price up on most things unfortunately. Today was our special treat. After gutting the inside and stuffing in a couple of dried tomatoes, smothered the skin with extra virgin olive oil with a bit of salt, and 30mins in the oven it tasted delicious!

Local beach at Perd'e Sali and Porto Columbu

2010-07-29T10:28:00.000+02:00

I thought I'd share some photos of my local beach. Only 3kms from my home in Villa San Pietro, just a short bike ride away. The beach is pebbly, quite comfortable to lie on with a beach towel, yet as you enter the water your feet touch lovely soft sand. It's the best place to be when the mistral wind is blowing as you don't get covered in grains of sand!! It's not my favourite beach of course, you have so many beautiful ones to choose from in this part of the world but it's convenient for my location if you want to spend an hour or two chilling, swimming and meditating in the crystal clear waters. Facing the water and running along the back of the beach you find stylish villas. Most of them are used only during the summer months but some people reside there all year round. One of the things I love to do is walk hip height in the water the distance of the beach. As well as relaxing it's also great exercise for the legs.

6 months later!

2010-07-17T19:24:00.001+02:00

Wow six months since my last blog entry. The old cliché 'time flies' gets truer as you get older, not that I feel old! In fact I was recently asked "How can you feel younger as you get older"? as I made this remark on my last birthday. It's a good question but quite simple to answer. Age is a state of mind, if you think you're young and still believe there's loads of life to live, appreciate and explore, then you'll feel young. In essence I still feel the same person I was when I was 5, 15, 25 and 35. The only difference, apart from obvious physical changes, is that over time my awareness of life has expanded and my mind continues to develop, but I'm still the same person inside. Today when I reflect on my time in China I feel a sense of pleasure that I was fortunate to have the experiences I had. Firstly, I realized one of my aspirations which was to work for VSO. China was not one of the places I thought I would end up, however when I was offered the Simao placement it somehow felt it was the right place to go. I had admired for a long time VSO's work in international development and I felt I wanted to somehow contribute to their mission. I feel a sense of achievement in finally getting to work with them yet this sense of achievement is greater than any sense of achievement I may feel about the work I did whilst I was there. Undoubtedly, we have an impact on people's lives wherever we go, but quite often we are not aware just how much we can affect someone's life both positively and negatively. On a more personal level, I can honestly say that the whole experience in China for me was extremely rewarding. I feel I have a much greater understanding of Chinese culture and through this understanding I have become much more aware of my own cultural background. I am now living in Sardinia, Italy but until I was 16 I lived in the UK. At that age I moved to Sardinia for two years with my parents and then returned to England for a few years, came back to Sardinia and then went back to the UK for 10 years and here I am back again. For the last 20 years I have lived mainly between these two countries so have quite an appreciation of both Italian and British culture and recognise that I am a mixture of the two. I often get asked if I feel more English or Italian. Honestly speaking I feel both a strong attachment to England and Sardinia so I often define myself as both English/Italian.
So, I have been back here for 6 months. I live in the family home with my father and we let apartments that are part of our villa for the summer months. I work in a small private language school in Pula where I teach English to students of all ages; small children to adults. I occasionally teach Italian too to some of our English friends. I am also studying a linguistics course through the Open University. Will I do another placement with VSO or any voluntary organisation? I think there is every possibility that I will. I am happy to be here for now but I live my life open to many possibilities and who knows where life will continue to take me?
I have attached some photos recently taken in Sardinia. Wild horses in Giara, a village in Central Sardina and a picture of our local beach at Nora. Sardinia has a lot to offer in natural beauty: visit our website for further info on our apartments www.villaprimavera.biz
I'll be coming back to update my blog on life in Sardinia or life in general!!

The Great Wall at Badaling

2010-01-05T12:15:00.000+01:00

On Sunday I woke up to heavy snow and freezing temperatures in Beijing. Yanhui, who works in the VSO office, picked me up from the hotel and we set off with her friend Nancy to Badaling to see the Great Wall. We took the train because of the heavy snow as we were worried about the conditions on the road. It took just over an hour to get there, but it was lovely to observe from the train the lovely white freshness of untouched snow, much better to look at than experience. Once we arrived in Badaling it's about a kilometere's walk from the station to get on the wall itself. It was bitterly cold and we were walking straight into the direction of the blowing snow. I think the temperature was about -16C. We walked along the wall for about 40 minutes. I was impressed with the engineering of this incredible fortress which stretches nearly 9000Km from east to west. It is definitely worth visiting and it was amazing to see in the snow, but I believe it would have been much more spectacular to see on a clear day. I was ready to leave after about an hour as it was bitterly cold so we headed back to the small station to take the train back only to find that there were serious delays with the trains. As the buses had stopped running the only way back was by train which meant they were filling up pretty quickly. After an hour of waiting we were told to go and stand on the platform and wait for the next train. After standing out for 30 minutes, I thought my toes were going to fall off my feet because of possible frost bite! The train eventually turned up and we were told to just try and get on. Well, I couldn't believe how packed it was, people were squashed right up to the windows so there was no-way we were going to attempt to get on. I was having palpitations just at the thought. We then went back into the station to find even more people had arrived and no-one had any idea when the next one would come. I was starting to panic because it was sounding pretty bad and I needed to get back to Beijing that day to catch my flight home the next day. Anyway, after panicking and trying to keep warm for 4 hours we finally got on a safe train that was full but enough space to breath! We made it back to Beijing North Station and we decided to treat ourselves to some spicy Sichuan food which was delicious. I got back to my hotel about 10pm and just fell into bed, relieved and happy to make it back! It was wonderful to see, but not worth all the stress in those awful conditions, I am not good in very cold weather!

Happy New Year and Goodbye Simao

2010-01-02T12:31:00.001+01:00

It has been a strange week. I could feel it was the ending of something and I think there is always a sadness that goes with that even if you are excited about the new beginning. I spent the week packing, clearing up my desk and saying goodbye to friends. I was taken out for a 'Goodbye dinner' on New Year's Eve arranged by Hou Wan Xia. It was a lovely way to say bye and get thanks for the bit of work I have done in the time I have been in China. I received some lovely gifts off friends and students who had really thought about what to get me and lovely kind words about how I have touched their lives. I left Simao yesterday evening after a lovely send off at the airport. As the plane took off and left Simao I looked down with tears and felt sad to leave some people behind. The world is getting smaller but it is still a big place, I can't just pop over to see friends in Simao for the weekend if I take the fancy. However, the good thing with technology means I can still keep in touch with e-mail and Skype and I truly hope to go back in the not too distant future. One thing I have felt in Simao is accepted and special. Students are always happy to see you, chat and want to learn what they can from you. In my personal experience most other teachers seem to respect you professionally even if they don't totally agree with you. It was heart warming to be told by the college leaders you are welcome back anytime, please come back!
I am now in Beijing. I stayed last night in Kunming. It is freezing here, when I landed it was -5C degrees so now it's probably colder and I do not feel like venturing outside the hotel. I am spending the evening in my room but tomorrow I am going to see the Great Wall with a friend from the VSO office so really excited about that!

Week 44 All I want for Christmas is....

2009-12-27T12:37:00.001+01:00

The best Christmas present I got this year was an e-mail from my sister Luisa telling me that my 17 year old niece, Sofie, was coming out of hospital for Christmas and not having to endure any surgery as we were expecting. Sof has been very poorly and in very bad pain suffering from Crohns disease. For the moment, she will not have to undergo the intrusive operation and we all hope that the new drug therapy she is on will help her, we truly hope and pray she recovers completely. This illness has been affecting her life in a terrible way, but she is an amazing girl who has the strength to face life's woes and knowing she has the love of everyone in the family will make her even stronger. I believe too that sharing her birthday with her late Nana Dot, my mum, also means she has some of her very special qualities which will stand her in good stead all her life. Here's to Sof :-)
Of course, knowing that Sof was feeling much better meant that I could enjoy the Christmas festivities more. On Christmas Eve, I gave a Christmas lesson to a class of PE students. Their teacher, Betty, asked me to give the lesson as it was their last one for the end of term. The students were very enthusiastic and now have a better understanding of what Christmas is about. It went well, apart from the part where I was teaching them that Santa goes down the chimney to deliver the pressies, but, occasionally gets stuck when he's eaten too many pies. I think the joke was wasted on them!!! In the evening, the students from the English Department arranged a party, although a party here usually means a show. I told them when I arrived that I hadn't prepared anything so don't ask me to sing or perform anything! Well, that was a waste of time. After Jayne sang White Christmas one of the presenters announced "And now Tina will sing a song" All eyes were on me and I was handed the mike. What does one do in such a situation, only embarrass oneself. I apologised for not having anything ready and I could not for the life of me remember any words to any Christmas songs apart from 'We wish you a Merry Christmas', so that's what they were entertained with! Actually, it wasn't too bad as I managed to keep myself in tune. I don't know, all in the spirit of Christmas cheer I suppose.
For Christmas day we opened presents round at Jayne's and then a few of us had lunch at our regular dumpling restaurant. We made it Christmassy with tinsel and crackers which was nice for our Chinese friends to learn how we celebrate Christmas. Everything was going well until the end when we were leaving. For some reason I mentioned something about the Dalai Lama. Edith, a good friend who teaches Chinese History and Geography, and is also a Buddhist said "That man is evil and kills people". My initial reaction, probably due to the excess wine I had drunk, was to blurt out "What the f-----g hell you talking about?" She was obviously taken aback by my expletive but I couldn't help it as I was so shocked by the convinced way she expressed herself. I believe the others were also taken aback by what she had said but didn't want to pursue the topic. Edith and I walked back to the college together and I told her that the rest of the world didn't necessarily agree with this opinion and asked her why she thought he was evil. Of course, I got the usual explanation, that the Chinese government say so! I just went on to say that there is one news agency in China controlled by the government, whereas in the 'West' we have freedom of the press, therefore we get to hear different opinions and many sides of the same story. What surprised me, was that a few days previously we had an open discussion about living peacefully and freedom to be who we want, yet, she feels so strongly about the Dalai Lama. In fact, most people I have had conversations about Tibet with, have been very much of the opinion, that is, Tibet truly belongs to China, and very little sympathy towards those who feel differently. It just goes to show that when you only hear one side of the story, and probably based mainly on lies, how destructive it can be. I'm not sure of her opinion of me now as I told her I respected the Dalai Lama and made a special visit to Glasgow with my sister a few years ago just to hear him speak!
Well, this is now my last week in China before I leave on the 4th January back to Sardinia. I'm sure I'll have an emotional week saying the goodbyes. I haven't started packing, I'll start tomorrow all being well as I have come down with a cold, sore throat and chesty cough. I bought some cough medicine which made me heave when I took it as one of the ingredients in it is snake bile and that's all I could think of when I was swallowing it, lets hope it does the trick!!

Countdown to Christmas

2009-12-23T15:25:00.001+01:00

The students who manage 'English Corner' organised a Christmas Party this evening. English Corner is place where students go to do English speaking activities. It's a resource room within the college campus and students go there every Tuesday to chat in English. I have been an occasional visitor over the past year. Tonight we sang Christmas songs and were given various performances ranging from magic tricks to musical chairs. Tomorrow evening I'll go through the same thing with students from the English department. To be honest it is really nice that they are getting into the festive spirit and learning the traditional Christmas songs.
I ran another workshop today for all the teachers in the English department. I am not really sure how useful they found it but I hope they got something from it. I find it very different doing any training courses with the teachers in the college compared to the teachers I meet in the middle schools. There is definitely a sense of superiority amongst them, perhaps because their level of English is much higher than the teachers in the countryside and they are more qualified. However, this does not necessarily mean that they know how to teach in a student-centred way. Some of the teachers still lecture the students and teach in that traditional Chinese way, which only gets results for the very best students. Even if they start working together more and sharing ideas it will be a step in the right direction.

Hotpot

2009-12-21T14:05:00.002+01:00

The 'foreign' teachers were taken out for dinner by the foreign affairs department in the college this evening, I think because it's Christmas week. Christmas is not really celebrated in China and Christmas day is a normal working day. Although, many of the shops around Simao have put up Christmas trees and the staff in the local supermarkets have been wearing their Santa hats and playing Christmas songs. We were taken to a fish hotpot restaurant. On each table there is a large bowl where the broth is cooked and then the raw fish added where it cooks very quickly and the heat is controlled by a gas burner under the table. Lots of vegetables are added and everyone then dips into it and takes their bit. It was really delicious and the first time I have had hotpot in Simao. I have eaten it in other cities and the style always seems to be slightly different. I was impressed with the Simaoan version!

Shoe shining and reflecting

2009-12-17T13:19:00.000+01:00

One of the great things here is the informal manner in which so many things are done. For example, whilst sitting in the restaurant waiting for your food to be served, you can get your shoes shined by one of the local shoe shiners from the street. He or she will pop in and offer their services. Last night whilst we were sitting in our favourite local Muslim restaurant, Jayne got her boots cleaned and paid the equivalent of about 40cents. I love the fact that the restaurant owners have no qualms about someone coming in off the street to try and earn a bit of cash. Simao has so many local conveniences too, which I'll definitely miss. Repairers of all kinds who sit along the street or the local squares will fix what they can, be it a broken shoe or zip on your handbag. Shops and banks open all day, everyday. And the food stalls, where you can get freshly made snacks anytime of the day. The college is in the heart of the town, so just walking out of the front gate you can find all the stalls and shops you need.
I am wondering whether I will ever be back here again. I would like to think so, the place and many people here have been a big part of my life for most of the past year. I feel like so much has happened and I have been here much longer than I actually have. I am a different person too, of course I am still Tina, but I feel I have a much deeper understanding about a life and culture I only had ideas about before and yet I have only touched the tip of the iceberg, there is still so much to experience and learn. For me, the biggest difference in culture to my own, is the way authority has to be respected and not questioned here. It is such a deep rooted belief, that I am not sure if it would ever change. If a boss asks her employee to do something, then he will do it. If a student gets told to do something he will do it, no questions asked even if he or she thinks it's unreasonable. However, being here as a foreigner, if we 'foreigners' don't like something or don't want to do it there seems to be more flexibility, we can get away with it! As I have got closer to friends here, I realise that people are not so happy with the way things are, but do not believe life could be another way. But one thing is for sure, we all have the common desire to be happy in life and we all just try and find the best way to do it. We may not agree with the different ways people try to be happy, but I believe that is most people's motivator. Even if you sacrifice things in your own life to make someone else's life better, you are being altruistic to please yourself. So, even if we may feel very different to others we meet, deep down we are all the same, just trying to live our lives as best as we can no matter where we are in the world. I know for sure the things I do are about what pleases me. I try to follow my heart in all that I do, I try not to be influenced by what others think I should be doing or not doing. Of course, I listen to people's suggestions, ideas and advice but ultimately it is I that decides. Unfortunately, some people do not know how to listen to what their heart is telling them, they are controlled by what their thoughts are telling them or influenced by others expectations of them. In fact, they are so used to listening to their fears, that they can't hear what their heart is telling them. Many people I have come across here are perhaps more influenced by others expectations so have lost touch with what's in their heart. Perhaps, by not listening to their heart they then feel they are coping with life much better. As I said before, we are all just trying to live our lives as best we can. I am pleased that I grew up in a place where I am respected for expressing my views and following my dreams. Although, so many people I know generally in life don't really know how to follow what's truly right for them. I just hope I never forget how to live and always keep doing what my true self is telling me to do.

Cross the Bridge Noodles

2009-12-14T13:05:00.001+01:00

One of the things I'll miss about being in China is eating Cross the Bridge Noodles. It is such a substantial dish that gives you a taste of everything! You are served a hot bowl of stock, either meat or vegetable, given a plate of mixed raw vegetables with raw meats thinly sliced, and a raw egg. You add the food into the broth with a bowl of rice noodles. It cooks very quickly in the bowl and you just eat it all, from the same bowl. It's a typical Yunnan dish that is so called because many years ago, as the tale goes, a man was studying to be a government official of some kind and needed peace and solitude to study. He therefore left his family home to find a quiet place to work. His wife would take food out to him walking across a bridge to his place of study. One day, whilst she was carrying a bowl of hot broth to eat with noodles, her son threw a piece of raw meat into the broth. She scolded her son, but discovered that the meat cooked and added flavour to the stock. Thus the name guo qiao mi xien (cross the bridge noodles).

Bailey's and Britain

2009-12-11T05:05:00.001+01:00

Walking around one of the local supermarkets this week I came across a bottle of Baileys. What with it being the festive season, I just had to buy it no matter what the price. Jianq Yun Qin doesn't drink alcohol that often but she did quite take to the good ole' Irish stuff which we shared round at Jayne's. I have never come across any Chinese liqueur, so there isn't anything you can compare it too here, therefore for Jiang Yun Qin, it was a real novelty.

I went up to the new campus yesterday, which is still under construction, but the grade three students moved in about three weeks ago. Unfortunately, they do not have any hot water for washing and I heard from a few students that the canteen often runs out of food when there are still hungry mouths to feed. Apart from these problems and the fact it's still like a building site, they are happier in some ways. The dormitories are more spacious with only six to a dorm with it's own bathroom. The dorms over here, on the older campus, are much more cramped. I went to have a bit of a nosey and help out in Jayne's culture class. It was a fun lesson as the class was divided into groups where some participants acted as travel agents and had to sell holidays in the UK. I felt really nostalgic looking at all the materials and brochures, and it was nice to tell the students about Beautiful Britain. Most of the students have never been outside of Yunnan province, and to be honest, will probably never have the opportunity to in their lives. It makes me feel sad to realise that the students do not have the same opportunities in life that I have had. Many of them would love to have the chance to travel and even be able to see more of China. When they're at school, the education they receive is very Chinacentric and do not learn much about the rest of the world. They know very little about world geography, and history. That's one of the things I love when I go to the middle schools and introduce myself. I take photos of my family and a world map and teach them a little about Sardinia and England. It's amazing now that so many kids in these remote schools will know where Sardinia is on the map!

And the winner is...

2009-12-05T04:28:00.002+01:00

So, yesterday evening I was one of the judges in a competition for the students in the English Department. There were 21 contestants and each one had to talk for 3 minutes about something cultural either 'Western' or Chinese. They were randomly given topics and had 10 minutes to prepare their speech. When they finished their speech then were then asked a question from one of the teachers about etiquette. To be honest, the questions were terrible and based on etiquette read about in text books which I could not relate too. For example, one question was " When introducing people what order do you do this in?" or "How do you shake hands with a lady?" For the latter question they were looking for answers such as do not have a sweaty palm!! There was a question about table manners. This I thought was a relevant question because some of the experiences I have had here would go down very bad back home! I think one of the worst was last week when I was having dinner with the teachers, headmaster and Education Bureau in a school I was visiting. We were sitting around the table and one male teacher just kept clearing his throat and spitting straight down in front of himself at the table, he didn't turn away or anything and I was almost facing him. Every now and again I would look at him just at the wrong moment. It is common for people to spit their food out on the floor, bones of chicken and fish, which is bad enough, but this was just worse. Sorry to diverge away, but that just came back to me! Back to the competition... Once they had answered the question they then had to give a performance of some kind. I have attached a photo of one guy doing a Micheal Jackson dance which was great and one girl playing the flute. The winner is our friend King in the picture with the Dean of the English Department, Miss Fu. King is actually a student in the art department but has very good English. For his performance, he painted a quick picture in Rolf Harris style and unfortunately I didn't get a photo of it. The top six winners will now enter a regional competition in Kunming. Lets hope King wins. He speaks English so naturally and he's very open minded. He's not afraid to speak his mind and talks about any subject, which unfortunately is not the case for many other people you speak to here!

Week 41

2009-12-04T11:22:00.001+01:00

This week I have been writing up my report about last week's school visits. I still haven't finished it as working in the office it is easy to get distracted by a visitor or two or just having a chat with Lesley! The good news is, that Hou Wan Xia (in the photo in office) has been made the official Leader of the Training Development Centre (TDC) which takes it one more step to being a reputable department. Hou Wan Xia has been training for many years, but only starting learning more student-centred methods in recent years. Good luck to her. I wish I was going to be around a bit longer to be part of it all, but will leave in four weeks time..where has the time gone?

The other photo shows the lady in the local college shop which sells everything you need! Of course she knows everything about everyone, and judges you based on what you buy. She knows I have a sweet tooth as I go into to get my regular fix of biscuits, chocolate and the soft sponge cakes which I have for breakfast. The communication with her is based on body language and the odd word thrown in and I pretty much guess what she's saying to me most of the time.

Well, I have to cut this short as I have just been asked to judge a competition some students are doing talking about 'Western' culture. I am used to judging competitions now as I have already done a few. I'll have to ask a few questions once the student has finished his/her speech, make an evaluation and will more than likely get asked myself to say something at the end. If I was really bold and brazen I could say something about how proud we are in the 'West' to have free speech, democracy and blatantly criticize our politicians if we so like! But of course I won't, as I do not want to upset any of the lovely students and teachers. I do believe there is a time and place to discuss such issues :-)

Mojiang school visits

2009-11-29T06:21:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I got back to Simao after spending a week in Mojiang county. I visited five schools to give more training, observe teachers and the team leaders of the English department in their roles. I would arrive in the evening to each school, have dinner with the teachers and school leaders, and then after dinner go and chat to the students I would teach the following day and depending on how much time there is, visit some of the other classes too. The following morning, the arrangement is to observe a teacher teach who has already received a months training in the college, I then give a model lesson to another class, then observe the team leader facilitate a meeting with the teachers to discuss both the lessons they had just observed. After this, I would then have a meeting with teachers, leaders and Education Bureau to discuss issues associated with the 'new methods' and try and get some insight to how supportive the headmaster is and the other teachers about using student-centred methods. After lunch, I would then travel on to the next school which could take up to 2 hours travelling on rough roads but through some absolutely stunning scenery.

I felt this trip to be relatively successful. Every school had a headmaster who was very supportive about using more communicative methods. Some of the teaching I observed was pretty awful to be honest considering all of them have been trained. Many of them just revert back to the ways they have been taught in the past, repeating what the teacher says and not letting students practise.Having said that, some of them are trying and used English much more in the classroom rather than speaking all in Chinese! I think the biggest problem is that they don't believe the students can learn by pointing to pictures, using body language and speaking in English. However, after observing the model lessons many teachers would say to me. 'The children understood you, they got it!' So, you have to show that the students can think for themselves. There was only one school where the teachers were very negative though. The headmaster was supportive but the teachers said the 'New methods' don't work, the children are more naughty.Of course, they are not using new methods and most of them didn't like teaching. The model lesson I gave there was very successful and the students were really active. I said I would love to spend a term based in this school just to show what a difference you can make by changing the method. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to do this and will leave China next month. In fact, one headmaster from another school offered me a job to be based in his school and train the teachers on a more permanent basis. I will now pass on to the college that this is what he wants and see if the college would be interested in getting more volunteers. I think it would be very worthwhile. The school then could become a model for that county and other teachers could go there to get more training.

I was accompanied on this trip by Li Yun who works in the training school for Mojiang County. She was great and helped emphasise the importance of student-centred teaching. She also trains teachers and she said that she has learnt a great deal from the training she has received in our college and even from the visit this week.

On Friday evening after all the visits had been completed I had a chance to see a bit of Mojiang Town itself. I was surprised to find that the line of the Tropic of Cancer runs through the town and there is a beautiful park dedicated to it which shows exactly where the line is. On June 22nd, the sun lies directly overhead at noon. Of course, this is very special for me because that's my birthday! The town is lovely and I was lucky to arrive on the day I did because Mojiang is celebrating its 30th anniversary this weekend, so there were lots of festivities happening.

Photos: Me doing morning exercise with the kids in one school and a view of the mountains in Mojiang.

Cold weather and Earth tremors

2009-11-20T13:10:00.002+01:00

The temperature in Simao has dropped radically over the last few days. The persistent rain is not helping either. Up to last weekend during the day, we were experiencing temperatures in the high twenties. The last few days however, it has been closer to 15 degrees! The houses here are not centrally heated, so it's quite chilly sitting indoors lounging around. I fished out this blanket I had stored away, and didn't think it would actually come into much use. I really hope the rain clears. Having solar heating for the water supply means relying on sunny days. It wasn't so bad during the rainy season when we may have had a few days of cold water, it was still warm then. But, showering in cold water in cold weather isn't my idea of fun. Working in the office too, I have needed to wrap up in my warm fleece. I have been preparing for a work trip I have to do beginning Sunday. I leave for Mojang County and have to visit five schools as part of the follow-up visits required after the Team Leader Training we did last month. I'll be observing the TLTs in action. I will also have to give a model lesson in each school and facilitate meetings with the school leaders and Education Bureau. It will be quite similar to the follow-up visits I did last term. It means I'll be away all next week and I hope the road conditions are bearable in these weather conditions.

I had a strange experience whilst I was sitting up in bed, watching a DVD on my laptop yesterday evening. All of a sudden my bed moved and I immediately thought something had got under the bed, perhaps a large animal of some kind. After having this stupid flash thought, I realised it must have been a small earthquake. After quickly checking under the bed and trying to move it myself, I knew it to be true. The bed is a heavy metal one and couldn't be moved so easily. I immediately called Ali to see if he had felt anything and he said that Edie had experienced exactly the same thing as she was also in bed. I mentally prepared myself for a quick escape in case it led to something bigger. Being on the fifth floor of a building, isn't the safest place to experience an earthquake. Yunnan is prone to earthquakes, the last big one in this area was only two years ago measuring 6 on the Richter Scale and caused some considerable damage.

Pu'er No.2

2009-11-18T13:54:00.002+01:00

I was asked yesterday if I could go and give a talk to the students at Pu'er No.2 Middle School in Simao as part of their 'communication' lesson. I happily agreed as I have been there before and friends with the vice head. So, this evening I went along and was pleasantly surprised to meet the Team Leader of the English Teachers. His name is Mr Yang and has been teaching for 40 years. He is so outgoing and has a fantastic rapport with the students. As I walked into the small lecture hall, he sat down at the piano and all the students sang me a welcome song. It's a famous Chinese song which Mr Yang had translated into English, all about welcoming friends to Beijing. Of course, they changed Beijing to Pu'er, aka Simao! I didn't quite know what to aspect and how communicative the students would be. They are all senior students ages 16 to 17. After briefly introducing myself, I was asked various questions from 'What were my first impressions of China?' to 'Can you please talk about your home town?' The time flew by and I was disappointed to hear Mr Yang say 'Now the last question' as I was really enjoying the response from the students. Many of the students are not native to Simao and come from the surrounding countryside. Quite often this fact is used as an excuse by the teachers for their poor level of English. It has nothing to do with the fact that they come from the countryside, it is more about how they have been taught. Ones level of intelligence is not dependent on weather they live in a city or in the country, although, being in a city means they may have access to more resources which gives a student more chance to succeed. After the lesson, I had a nice little chat with Mr Yang on our way to dinner and I asked him about where he studied English and if he had had a native English Teacher. I was forgetting the fact that he had grown up in Mao's China, so there were fewer opportunities to be taught by foreign teachers. He told me that people who had an interest in the outside world during these terrible years (his words), were thought to be spies. Thank goodness China has moved on since then. Today, the headmaster compared my talk to that of Barack Obama who recently gave a talk to students at a Shanghai University. The head said we all live in this world together and we can learn from each other. Unfortunately, I wasn't in a position to talk about human rights issues and freedom of speech as Obama did. However, I have been invited back to the school so the opportunity may arise!!

Jinghong

2009-11-15T15:08:00.001+01:00

I spent the weekend in Jinghong, Xishuangbanna's capital. It's only a two hour bus ride from Simao and lies close to the border with Myanmar. I have been meaning to visit for some time and this weekend was a perfect time to go, so I set off with Jayne on Friday. I was pleasantly surprised by how pretty the town is. It is developing at a very fast rate and being done so quite tastefully. Along the Lancang river bank, new Dai style bars have been built and set in a fabulous location over looking the river. Sitting in one of the chic bars on Saturday evening felt very relaxing in an idyllic, perfect setting. The Lancang River winds downstream, runs through Laos and Thailand, and is more famously known as the Mekong River. A large percentage of Jinghong's population are Dai and the women wear beautiful long skirts with matching bodice and wear their hair tied up. It feels quite different to other parts of China, especially as the vegetation in the area is very lush, tropical and full of banana plantations. The streets of Jinghong are attractively lined with palm trees and hibiscus plants. I love it there! One of the highlights for me was Mei Mei's cafe, a bar catered for westerners. Getting good coffee, cheeseburgers, apple pie, muesli and toast was a real treat :-) You can't get anything like that in Simao! We were lucky to meet up with some of Jayne's friends there. Joe is from Xishuangbanna and is currently setting up a business with a Canadian guy called Bill. Bill is blind so Joe is sort of his assistant too. The interesting thing is that Bill, who is 63, has recently moved here and decided to spend the rest of his life in China. He feels he can have a good life in this part of the world even with his disability, especially because the cost of an assistant is much cheaper than back home. I wish him all the best, life is challenging enough and much more so in a country where you don't speak the language. I admire him, he's doing the things he wants to do and being blind isn't stopping him.

Jayne and I took a bus out from Jinghong, to Galanba where we explored the surrounding Dai villages. Whilst there we met a Norwegian lady travelling on her own who had just come up from Thailand. As soon as we see any 'foreigners' we have to say hi because we don't meet other 'westerners' very often and it's great to share experiences.

It was glorious weather in Jinghong, hot and sunny. Despite the short distance from Simao, there is a noticeable difference in temperature, Jinghong always being slightly warmer. Wandering around the town in the hot sunshine, we stumbled across the farmers' market. I was very impressed with the quality of fresh vegetables but not so impressed to see people buying live fish which may possibly be cooked whilst still alive. Apparently, there are some Dai recipes where this is done. I'd rather not experience that.

On our bikes

2009-11-10T13:49:00.002+01:00

I thought it would be nice this afternoon to go for a cycle as I hadn't been out on the bike for a while. Andy was eager to get out too, so we set off to enjoy the local countryside. We slogged it up tea mountain and then cycled around and down to Xin Fan lake. It was a glorious, sunny day as seems to be the norm these days! On arriving at the lake we had a stroll around and watched some young teenagers hurl themselves into the bushes on sledges they couldn't control! They seemed to be having fun. The lake is just on the outskirts of Simao and a popular location for a family trip out. One of the joys about cycling up and around tea mountain, is the peace and quiet and the stunning scenery over the tea hills. Getting away from the noise of the town and campus is bliss.

I went to visit Pu'er number two school on Sunday, a special invite from the headmaster. I know him and his daughter, he wants her to practice her English with me. I had a tour around, met some students and teachers and said I would go and give a lesson there sometime soon. I then had dinner with a group of his friends, teachers from Kunming, and had to rely on the daughter to translate. It is at these times, when there are no English speakers, I find it very hard to socialize and completely feel like a fish out of water! Because I am leaving China in two months, I feel less motivated to study the language, which I know is a lazy attitude. As I am writing this, I am thinking to make more of an effort.....

The last couple of days I have been writing up a brief report for VSO about the TLT training and I also observed a teacher form the college English department who wanted help with how to self reflect after teaching a lesson. I have tried to encourage her to do some co-teaching with Jayne as she seems very keen to try out new methods. It is always encouraging when teachers from the college ask for help/guidance/advice etc...

Week 37

2009-11-07T14:46:00.001+01:00

Today a group of us headed off to Xishuangbanna to visit the Elephant park just over an hour's bus journey south of Simao. Despite being an elephant park, you have to be lucky to actually see any wild elephants. We did actually get to see some tame elephants, which strangely enough, were being used in some wedding photo shots. At one stage the bride was straddled on one of them in a sexy pose! Chinese wedding photos usually take place either before or after the wedding but not on the same day. Last weekend when I was walking up tea mountain there were two lots of couples having their photos taken there. I find it odd because the settings are unnatural and do not represent the actual wedding itself.

Anyway, the park is very beautiful and part of the tropical forest. We took a cable car up into the hills and walked back down through the forest. I got a little afraid at one point as we came across some monkeys which moved like lightening through the trees, the next thing I noticed there was one was right next to us. It didn't hang around for long. We also saw some huge snakes kept in glass cages, some very colourful birds in a giant aviary, and some weird colourful insects I hadn't seen before. We also saw some boar which were being chased by their keeper who kept throwing a broom at them!! Far too often I have noticed the lack of respect for animals here. During the journey to the park, the scenery started to change and became much more tropical. It seemed hotter than than in Simao and we were much closer to the border with Myanmar, only a few kilometers. On the way back we had to flag the bus down from the main road in the hope we could get on. There are no direct buses from the park back to Simao, you need to walk up to the main Jinghong-Simao road and hope for the best. The great thing about China is that they'll get you on the bus if there is an inch of space left. Anyway, we got on a bus after waiting nearly an hour and getting bitten up by a vicious mosquito, that was only me I might add! No seats left but we were allowed to stand, all 7 of us!!

The past week as been realtively easy. Jayne and I were honoured guests at Gao lin's house as her mother wanted to make us home made dumplings! A very popular dish in China. The dumplings were great but to be honest Jayne and I were more interested in checking out Gao lin's wardrobe as we have never seen her in the same clothes twice. She proudly showed off to us her large wardrobe crammed with clothes, her en suite bathroom has been converted and has about 200 or more pairs of shoes, plus there are boxes in her room filled with clothes and handbags. Her husband has a tiny piece of the wardrobe in their daughter's room for himself! It is just like you would imagine a famous Hollywood star's wardrobe to be. Gao lin is considered a real beauty in China because of her pale skin. Dark skin is frowned upon. Many women walk around with their umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. If you are slightly tanned people will comment on the change in skin tone. So many beauty products you see in the shops have whitening agent in it, basically to bleach the skin, how sad is that!! Gao lin is a dear friend and knows that we are amazed by her love of clothes, she would be happy to know that I am telling you all about it! She is a teacher in the college and is liked by all her students because she gives them her time, listens to their problems and gets to know her students very well.

Photos: A glimpse of one of the monkeys in the forest, a typical Chinglish signpost and me rather relieved to get on the bus back home!

Halloween

2009-11-01T09:46:00.001+01:00

We celebrated the end of the training yesterday with a Halloween party, the course ended on the right day! All the trainees had to come in fancy dress which they all found very strange. I think the idea of fancy dress parties isn't very well known in China. If people dress up in costume it's usually to give a show. However, they seemed to be getting the idea as they came along with crepe paper, coloured card and tinsel to make costumes out of. They all enjoyed themselves as we had a mixture of dancing, Karoke and party games to keep them all entertained. I am sure they were all relieved to finish the course as they all worked hard for a full seven days. I found this course more tiring than the last, partly because my 'practical group' didn't seem to be as open minded as the group I had on the previous course and trying to get them to 'think in a more student-centred' way was quite hard going. Having said that, I did see progress as the week went on and was surprised by how much they were actually taking in. I admire their commitment as many of these teachers have been teaching for many years and so changing at this stage in life is not so easy. Some people might be thinking, 'Why should you get them to change?' In simple words their teaching methods do not get results. If you use a basic measure like exam results many of the students do not pass exams. Pass rates are on average 10-15%. This is not acceptable. In addition, the children get no help with basic life skills. The teachers this week were here to develop their leadership skills so that they can guide other teachers to be more student-centered in their methods. I believe it is a massive challenge for them to go back and do things differently to the 'norm'. Many of them will come up against resitance. But, things take time and even something small that they might do, can have an impact.

On Friday morning, I gave a model lesson at one of the local middle schools. There are 79 students in the class and I wanted to show how you can get them all involved as much as possible. I felt the lesson the be a real success as the students really participated. The photo shows the classroom layout with the observers sitting at the back. I do not like giving model lessons. I feel the pressure to get everything 'right'. I am not a perfect teacher but try to keep the students interested and participate. I think this is the most important thing that the teachers need to learn. I really love the children in this class and I will try and teach them again before I leave China.

We also have two visitors from the VSO Office who are here to see what we are doing. They have observed some of the training and have now gone with Lesley to visit a school in Jingu where one of the teachers recently attended the other TLT course we ran. He will now be observed doing his job as a Team Leader Trainer. I decided not to go because I feel it is more relevant to let the other trainers from the TLT course go along as they will be continuing the work once the VSO vols have left. However, I will get to visit some of the trainees in their new role over the next couple of months.

Communication

2009-10-28T15:31:00.001+01:00

One of the things that the teachers have to practice doing on this course is facilitating meetings. Each afternoon they take it in turns to facilitate a feedback meeting. For 30 mins four teachers 'teach' the other trainees as though they were students in junior middle school. The trainees then go off into groups to 'discuss' the lesson. I have my own group which I am responsible for and I observe two trainees per session facilitate the discussion. The facilitators started today's session with a fun game where they all had to do something a bit 'silly' when it was their turn. They had fun as the photo shows! When they have finished the meeting, I have to then facilitate another feedback meeting where they have a chance to comment on how well they led the meeting. The first challenge for both them and me is the communication barrier. Despite being english teachers, their level of english is in some cases only at an elementary level. I have to rely on the more advanced english speakers to translate into chinese when necessary. It means I have to communicate in simple terms and use a lot of body language. I am trying to get them to reflect on their own teaching methods and guide them to find their own answers to problems so that they can go back to their schools and do the same thing with their co-teachers. They are so used to just being told something and given answers that they struggle to 'think' for themselves. Of course they can do it, it takes time and perseverance. Despite the hard work, I really enjoy working with them and am learning too that it is not just about what you communicate but how you communicate.

Registration

2009-10-25T11:18:00.001+01:00

The second TLT course is underway. 31 teachers from two different counties, this time Zhenyuan and Jingdong, arrived yesterday to register for the week long course. The content is the same as the previous course, although this time there is more translation into Chinese. Some of the ideas and concepts will be new to them, so it is essential that these ideas are explained in Chinese. Some of the participants I have met previously on some of the school visits I made last term to the two counties. It is nice to see some of them again. We have a new trainer on the course, Miss Liao, who I have done some co-teaching with before. It is really nice to know that she is interested in the training. The only other teacher in the college involved in the TDC (Teacher Development Centre) is Hou Wan Xia who will soon be made leader of the department. Hou Wan Xia and Lesley have developed the training in the college over the past 5 years. However, once the VSO volunteers leave, it will be totally in the hands of the college. Therefore, to know that other teachers are getting involved, gives some reassurance that the training will be sustained in the future. I would like to be in a position to stay here and help continue the development of the TDC. However, this is not to be and my life is going into a different direction.

On another note, I met an interesting couple this week who were passing through Simao on their travels around the world. I was walking across on the campus last Thursday and noticed two 'Westerners' looking a bit lost. I approached and asked if they were OK or needed any help. Fabrice and Margot, a French couple, left Paris last June to set off on their travels. They amazingly hitchhiked all the way from Paris to Istanbul. They decided they didn't want to hitchhike through Asia. They arrived in Simao by bus from Laos. They only spent two nights here and they were looked after by 'us foreigners'! I was a bit envious to hear what they were doing. Their plans are to travel for the next few years and they just live their life going with the flow, living in the moment with very few possessions. Sounds like they know what living is all about to me :-)

H1N1 and a decision

2009-10-22T12:52:00.003+02:00

I was asked by the college if I wanted the H1N1 vaccine. It has been available in China for a few weeks. After some deliberation with my colleagues and friends I decided to accept the offer. Today on the college campus the people from the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) turned up giving vaccinations to some teachers and those students who where entitled to it, basically the class monitors who have more contact with the most students! So, this morning I received the vaccination and was told I could possibly have some side effects over the next three days. Touch wood I feel OK so far! I have been told many people now have H1N1 in Simao. Of course, if I do get it I will be put into isolation and not be allowed out. Last week, I was told to move from my room on the 5th floor of my building as they wanted to use this floor for H1N1 cases. I obediently moved 'my home' to another floor only to be told the next day that I didn't have to move after all as the CDC had decided to use another building! I was VERY annoyed. The next day I moved 'home' again, back to the 5th floor. I do prefer it here as it is slightly quieter a feels more private than the other floors. Two young volunteers who are working in Simao No1 Middle school went to Shanghai for a few days during the mid autumn festival. On their return they were told they could not go out for 10 days, despite not having any symptoms of any kind. I personally felt this to be discrimination as every person from Simao who has been away and returned is not expected to stay in. Unfortunately, I believe they were treated like this only because they are 'foreigners'!!

Other news this week is that I made a decision to only do a one year placement in China, which means I will leave at the beginning of January. I am enjoying the work and feel there is still so much I could do next year, however, because of many different personal reasons, one of which is finances, I am going back to live in Sardinia. I feel quite excited at going back home and look forward to help run the family business, teach, possibly do more studying and pursue other hobbies. I felt guilty when I informed the Director of Foreign Affairs, the Vice-President of the college and VSO Programme Office. It means they will need to find another volunteer as they were expecting me to stay at least two years. I feel sad at leaving some friends behind too, especially Gao Lin and Jiang Yun Qin in the photo. My non Chinese friends I feel I will see again but I am not sure when I will see my other friends again. It is not easy for them to get visas to visit Europe, I do hope to come back to visit China again. So, I only have two and half months left now and there's still work to do before then!

Week 34 Training

2009-10-18T16:18:00.003+02:00

The first Team Leader Trainer course ended yesterday after a week of intense study and practice. I think the trainees were rather relieved to finish and most of them happily let their hair down at last night's goodbye party. I certainly felt a little sad to say goodbye as I do not know when I'll see most of them again. So how successful was the course? Well, the trainees had to deal with new concepts and ideas the whole week through and learn in a way many of them aren't used to. Firstly, the main aim was to learn ways of facilitating and guiding other teachers in their professional development. Very often discussions in school meetings will involve just listening to a leader, and teachers will not have the opportunity to state their ideas and opinions. In this course, we gave the teachers techniques to be able to bring teachers together to discuss and share teaching related issues. Each teacher on the course is the team leader of the English department in their school which gives them the authority to lead meetings and bring teachers together. Of course, some of them will come up against resistance by some leaders in their school and it will be difficult to get people to open up to new ways of doing things. However, I noticed this week an improvement in the way the team leaders started to grasp ideas. In the practice sessions where I observed some of them facilitating their own meetings, I could see that they were getting the 'idea' and getting to grips with a more communicative way of doing things. As well as the practice sessions they had workshops to attend exploring concepts from inclusion to teaching life skills. For some of the teachers it was very hard going as they didn't just struggle with the fact that have an elementary level of English but also many of the concepts are new to them. A lot of the ideas were explained in Chinese and they discussed in Chinese between themselves. I am not sure how much of a difference doing this course will make in their schools, but I do believe some of the teachers will definitely use the methods they have learnt. I think that, in itself, is a positive thing because just by being analytical and critical you can open up other people's minds more. I enjoyed being part of the course and facilitating some of the sessions and just getting to know the teachers. At the closing session the teachers presented us with two banners one of which I am holding in the photo. It recognises and appreciates the 'expert knowledge' from Simao Teacher's college. It says something like we have trained and guided them to be excellent teachers, warmly and with devotion. During the course I gave a model lesson at Simao No4 Middle School. I enjoyed meeting and teaching the kids there. I would like to go and do the occasional lesson with them totally natural and unobserved, as they really enjoyed being taught by a native english speaker. I also want to keep up the teaching practice. Being based here as a trainer means I don't get much of a chance to do any teaching on a regular basis. It was quite a tiring week. Concepts that are basic to the society which I grew up in, are not 'basic' here in this part of China. Therefore, something that I might feel is a 'simple' point or idea is not necessarily 'simple' here. I and my feet really appreciated my Chinese reflexology session today :-)

TLT begins!

2009-10-10T15:26:00.001+02:00

Today 31 teachers arrived to register for a week long training course which will be facilitated by Lesley, Hou Wanxia, (a methodology teacher from the English Department) and me. The teachers come from two different counties, Mojiang and Jinggu. Each teacher is the team leader of the English Department in their school and will receive training so that they can give more support and guide teachers in their professional development. One of the most important issues they need to develop is how to observe their colleagues and facilitate feedback. Therefore, as well as looking at teaching concepts and methods, the course will give them the opportunity to do practical sessions where they will develop their role as Team Leader Trainers. They come from the schools where either they themselves or some of their colleagues have undergone training through PIE (Pre-service, in-service teaching exchange). The follow-up visits which I made last term with Lesley are part of the PIE follow-up and TLT Training is the last part of the PIE training programme. The trainers will hopefully help to sustain the development of student-centred methodology in these schools.

Today the teachers registered and picked up their packs with all the materials they will need for the coming week. The first training session begins tomorrow morning at 0800 and will run for 7 days finishing next Saturday. A week later we will run another course for teachers from two other counties. I don't think many of the teachers really know what is install for them over the coming week. It is an intense course where they will be expected to participate, prepare micro-teaching lessons and then give constructive feedback. I'll keep you posted!

JiangCheng

2009-10-04T16:32:00.001+02:00

I spent Mid Autumn Festival in JiangCheng. It lies 140KM South East of Simao and borders Laos and Vietnam. After using a bit of Guanxi, I managed to get some accommodation booked in a hotel in the town centre. I was also really lucky to hitch a ride from a couple of teachers in the college who were going there to be part of a stage show to promote tourism in the area. Once there, I met up with Jayne and Andy. We were invited to a friend's house, Zhang Hao, who had returned to his home town to take part in a Buffalo painting competition, the first ever to be held in JiangCheng. His family were so welcoming and we spent either lunch or dinner with them most days. The town itself is not very large but there were many people there from the surrounding countryside and the two neighbouring countries for the festivities. All the sign posts are written in three languages, Laos, Vietnamese and Chinese. The town was also hosting the very first Sachet Throwing Competition. These are small triangular shaped cushions attached to dangling string. On Friday Evening Jayne and I were fortunate enough to get tickets to a ethnic dance performance promoting the competition. The show was part presented by our friend Miss Gao, she was translating the speeches and introducing each act into English. It was a colourful, elaborate performance. As always the Chinese know how to put on a show! The following day was Mid Autumn festival and the day of the Buffalo painting. There were 53 buffaloes. Zhang Hao is an art teacher and had four students to assist him paint his buffalo in a time limit of 2 hours. It was amazing to see the finished buffaloes. Unfortunately, Zhang Hao did not get first prize, but they did win something. I have attached a photo of the winning buffalo. Top prize was 100,000RMB. The other photo shows us having dinner at Zhang Hao's house. It was the first time I had eaten both frog and dog!

Mooncakes

2009-09-29T14:35:00.001+02:00

We are coming up to the mid autumn festival which falls on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. It is also known as Mooncake Festival because this is what is traditionally eaten on this day. For the last month Mooncakes have been on sale in abundance. They are usually given as gifts to friends and family. The above photo shows a box that I was given by some friends. The cakes are quite heavy with a dense filling surrounded by a thin crust pastry. You can find sweet cakes, for example with a bean paste filling, or savoury types, for example with with ham or egg yolk filling. To be honest when I have eaten them I have struggled to define what the filling is made from, I think there are so many different varieties. This festival is one of the biggest in China. I am discovering that everyone wants to travel this time of year. I have had to change my travel plans because I cannot book any accommodation where I wanted to go, or when I can, it is triple the price! So I will not be heading to Shangri-la, that will have to be for another time. I am in the process of making other plans....

Shy or not shy?..this is the question

2009-09-28T07:45:00.001+02:00

The Grade two students from the English Department gave a welcome 'party' to the new Grade one students yesterday evening. I was invited to attend along with all the teachers. It was more a stage show than a party as 10 different acts were performed on a makeshift stage in front of a seated audience. Everything had been arranged by a few grade two students and they took their task very seriously. Even the hostesses had to go through a recruitment process to do the unpaid job! All of the performances were displays of singing and dancing, although one act was obviously some sort of comedy sketch judging by the laughter coming from the audience that is...it was all in Chinese so I didn't get the jokes.! At the end of the show I was asked, along with other teachers from the department, to dance on the stage. I did of course, with Jayne, but only two other teachers would join in. The others were 'too shy'. The reserve and shyness which you see too much of here does get a bit tiresome at times!! I felt really embarrassed for one boy who went on stage to hand over a beautiful bunch of flowers to some dancing girls. Not one of the girls would take the flowers off him, so he stormed off in huff, probably feeling completely humiliated. I asked one of the teachers why the girls refused and she said "They're too shy" as if this was an acceptable answer. These girls were forward enough to perform beautifully on stage, yet couldn't accept a bunch of flowers from some poor guy who was appreciating their talents. Doesn't make any sense to me!

Week 31

2009-09-26T08:06:00.002+02:00

Late in the evening in Simao, especially in the old town, you can find stalls selling Barbecue food, kebab style. Most of the stalls have small tables and chairs set up, so you can enjoy the food in the smoke filled air. Last night was my first experience of eating out this way. There was a range of meats, vegetables and fish to choose from. I was with a few friends and we crouched around a low wooden table with small benches and tucked in to the very tasty food. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and there were several tables occupied by men, loudly knocking back the Bai Jiu (white spirit). This is not an unusual scene, as any restaurant you go to you will always find the men drinking Bai Jiu,often playing cards too, at the end of the meal. Barbecue meals are not the cheapest way to eat out, many local restaurants give you much better value for money.

The last week I have been doing some preparation for the upcoming training courses which we are running for two weeks next month. I am quite excited about the training as I have not run these types of training courses before, so I think I will learn a lot from them. I also did an interesting Chinese lesson with Andy, as we did some study of Chinese Characters and how to find them in the dictionary. Writing the characters is a skill in itself! I personally feel disappointed with my level of Chinese, I thought after 7 months in China I would be able to speak much more than I do, however, I am not giving up just yet. I know I should dedicate more time to learning.

Next Thursday (1st October) is National Holiday here in China. This year it is even more special because it is 60 years since the founding of The People's Republic of China (PRC). There will be official celebrations in Beijing. Lesley will take part in an official dinner there as part of receiving her National Friendship Award. The holiday means we get a full week off from the 1st to the 9th. I am hoping to do some travelling, and again head up to Northern Yunnan this time to visit Zhongdian, also known as Shangri-La, a Tibetan town on the border with Tibet. That's the plan at the moment! :-)

Back to Xi'an

2009-09-22T14:51:00.001+02:00

I have just returned from a visit to Xi'an, however, I didn't actually get to see much of the city! I was there attending a three day VSO workshop for the Education volunteers. When I arrived there on Friday morning, after a night stop in Kunming, I wasn't surprised by the smog which umbrellas the city. On my last visit there in March, I remember experiencing seven days of unhealthy polluted air. On Monday morning though, when I left, the skies cleared and the city brightened up. We stayed in an hotel located just outside the ancient city wall just opposite the main railway station. A perfect location for the new arriving volunteers who took the overnight sleeper train from Beijing. I remember seven months ago doing the same thing, arriving in Xi'an to finish my in-country training, before heading off to my new placement not knowing what to expect. It was good to meet both new vols and some serving vols I hadn't met before. Sharing our experiences is so useful and most people have found China to be a real culture shock, including me! However, my experience has been mostly positive, but I know that some volunteers have had some bad experiences including a sense of loneliness. I think this is partly due to communication problems, as learning Chinese can be difficult, it is easy to give up trying. I realise I have been lucky so far because I have been able to make friends quite easily, although I do have English speakers around me. I think we all have different types of challenges in all of our placements.

I visited the Muslim quarter in Xi'an which I didn't get a chance to see last time. It is located down town within the ancient city walls. The walls run around the centre and great to cycle along, which you can do in about 90 mins. We didn't get a chance to do this but I really hope to on one of my next visits. I only had a chance to do an evening visit, so I didn't get to appreciate the area as I would have liked. There was a warm, sociable atmosphere and lots of market stalls. I bought myself a copy of 'Quotations from Chairman Mao' translated into English. Here are some examples: "People of the world, unite and defeat the US aggressors and all their running dogs!" "Every communist working in the mass movements should be a friend of the masses and not a boss over them, an indefaticable teacher and not a bureaucratic politician" "As for people who are politically backward, communists should not slight them or despise them, but should befriend them, unite with them, convince them and encourage them to go forward" These quotes date back to about 1949. A bureaucratic, hierarchical, politically closed system, which China was and still is in some ways, is contrary to these ideals.

I was quite lucky to arrive back yesterday evening. There are two flight connections from Xi'an to Simao and the first flight was running slightly late into Kunming Airport, where we had our connecting flight. I had to collect my case and check in again before I took the next flight. I picked up my case off the baggage carousel 20 mins before the next flight was due to leave (check-in closes 30 mins before departure). Lesley had gone on ahead to check me in. So, I was checked in for the flight but not my case. When I finally got to the check-in desk to check in my bag they wouldn't take it as it was closed. I therefore had to try and get it through security and take it as hand luggage. I found some of the nicest people in the search area who screened my case 3 times, opened it up, screened other things inside it and then let me through. We then got an escort out to the aircraft, where everyone was fully boarded waiting for us. The lovely hostesses found a place for my case and we sat down in our seats and pushed back feeling rather relieved! What amazed me was how friendly, patient and helpful all the staff were that we encountered.

Photos: Some of the other vols and me in Xi'an.

Cycling the Old Pu'er road

2009-09-13T14:07:00.000+02:00

Saturday Morning I rose early at 0530 to get the early bus to Ning'er, in order to cycle the old road back to Simao. Ning'er is formally known as Pu'er, but due to name changes Simao today is actually known as Pu'er, and old Pu'er is now called Ning'er! Lesley and I have been talking about cycling this road for the last few months but we have been waiting for the 'right time' to do it, partly due to the rain. However, we decided Saturday would be a good day. Our bikes were easily stowed onto the bus roof rack, and off we went. Ning'er lies to the North of Simao and takes a hour by bus to get there on the main road. We left Ning'er bus station on our bikes at 0845 and headed back to Simao on China National Highway 213, the old road. This highway runs from Gansu province, right down to the south of Yunnan province, nearly 3000km. We were obviously only cycling a stretch of it! After about half an hour out of Ning'er, the rain came down and we were thankful for our rain capes. We stopped for noodles in Tongxin for an early lunch (it was only 1015),but knew there wouldn't be anywhere else to grab lunch from there onwards. The rain had stopped at this point. After our break the next few hours we climbed up, first gear all the way, through lush forest and verdant hills, on a mostly tarmacked road. There were a few rocky, muddy, parts but most of the time it was pretty smooth. We wound up to the ascent and the effort was worth it. We then had the luxury of a downhill descent, rode back into Simao and back to the college at 1530. It was lovely cycling as there was little traffic and we had the road to ourselves. All in all, we cycled about 60km. We also had use of a map drawn by Ali (he cycled the route last weekend) with all the ascents and descents on it. Cleverly, Lesley decided not to show it to me until we were well into out big ascent. I am glad she didn't, as looking at it on paper was worse than the real thing. I think we had luck on our sides too, as an hour after getting home there was an almighty thunder storm with torrential rain which lasted at least 3 hours. We were so happy to miss that! We intend to cycle both ways next time!

That evening I was treated to home made stew with mash potatoes, made by Jayne and Andy. The cooking process was interrupted during the storm though as the electricity went off for an hour.

Becoming more inclusive!

2009-09-11T10:39:00.000+02:00

It has been a productive week. Firstly, we moved office midweek to a much more central location. Despite being smaller, it has a much warmer feel to it and we feel like we are in the hub of activities. We now have internet connection too. In fact, we have been asked to stock up with whatever we need and just keep the receipts. This is all very encouraging. This, combined with a workshop I ran today with the collaboration of Miss Liao who did a superb job of translating into Chinese, makes us feel like we really are getting more recognition to do our work. I personally feel the workshop was a success. I had invited teachers from different departments, college leaders and students. Although some of the invites could not make it, there were enough participants to carry out the work I wanted to do. Most people actively participated and I received some positive feedback about wanting to do more workshops on improving teaching methodology. We explored the concept of inclusive teaching and came up with a vision to improve teaching methodology in the college over the next three years. Lets see!

Other great news received this week, is that Lesley has won the China National Friendship Award! The college put her forward for the award as she won the Yunnan Friendship Award which is given to foreign experts, a couple of years ago. The National Award is prestigious and it is wonderful recognition of the work she has done here over the last four years. She has to go to Beijing at the end of the month for a four day presentation and will meet the President of China. How exciting is that? Congratulations Lesley, well done!

The photos show our new office and the workshop session.

The weekend

2009-09-06T15:21:00.001+02:00

As part of our cycle today we thought we would pass by the new college campus and check out the progress. Considering the grade 3 students will be moving there in 6 weeks time, there is still much work to be done. However, according to the two supervisors who showed us around, six weeks is ample time to finish off the dormitories. Some of the classroom buildings are already finished. The whole campus covers quite a vast area and seems huge compared to the current one. The full relocation should be completed by next March, it seems an ambitious task, yet, having noticed how quickly Simao is developing, I am sure it is achievable. There are currently 1000 workers doing a 7 day week, all working flat out. I suppose one of the main barriers to completing the work has been the rain, but the rainy season is coming to an end now.

It has been a leisurely weekend, swimming, cycling and socialising. On Friday evening, a group of us went to one of the local night clubs and I was surprised to find that as the evening progressed the young hostesses got very drunk. They are not only expected to serve drinks but also socialise with customers if requested. One waitress was completely intoxicated and incapable of working. I don't think the poor girl knew where she was or what she was doing! I personally think it is far too much to expect these young girls to drink alcohol whilst working. I know that they go into the toilets to vomit and then carry on working!

Photos: A view of the new campus and the clock tower inside with 2 nice men who showed us around.

The new term begins!

2009-09-04T11:38:00.001+02:00

The new term began on Monday. The college campus has been quiet for two months so I am getting used to having students around the place again. This week I have been making arrangements for a VSO workshop which I shall be running next week. The participants are college leaders, teachers and students so that they can assess how 'inclusive' the college is. It is part of research which VSO has to do to see which segments of society they are reaching in the countries they work in. I have also been finishing off my report from the school visits I made last term. Lesley and I also feel like we may have made a break through with the college this week in a meeting with the Leader of Foreign Affairs and the College Vice President. We have been emphasising for some time now that if our work does not involve working with teachers from other departments in the college, then there may no longer be a possibility for VSO Volunteers to be based in the college. Basically, we have to expand the training into other departments so we are not only working with the English Department. We have felt there to be some resistance against this. However, this week we have been told that we are to move office to a more central location, and also be given a few things we asked for. This might sound like small steps but we called it 'One small step for us but one giant leap for our Education Programme''. We felt it to be a positive start to the new term! We also discovered in the last few minutes that the College President announced to teachers that the TDC (Teacher Development Centre) is officially set up and we will be working with all departments. Interestingly, we had to hear this from a teacher rather than being told directly by the President that we have the authority to proceed in the direction we have been asking! Oh well, communication may be a problem but it sounds encouraging so far!

We have also decided to dedicate one afternoon a week to our own recreation. One of the local hotels has a nice Swimming Pool and we have paid a subscription to use it. It was so nice to go swimming again this week. If you go at the right time, you'll find that the pool is empty so it is great to get the whole pool to yourself. An afternoon dedicated to swimming followed by an hour of reflexology is now part of our working week :-)

Other news is that friends are back in Simao after spending time in Europe for the holidays. It is good to have Jayne and Andy back. Andy was a volunteer for a British organisation and worked as an English Teacher for two years in Number 1 Middle School here in Simao. He has now joined our college as a student to study Chinese. The good thing about that is that he has offered to help me with my Chinese as I am determined to improve over the next few months.

The photo shows Lesley and I at work in our current office. We should be moving next week to our new one.

Week 27

2009-08-27T07:45:00.001+02:00

The campus is coming back to life. Students arriving for the new term which begins Monday. The last few days the gardens have been revitalised by the hardworking gardeners and looking very pretty. I am looking forward to the college canteen reopening. Having to eat out most nights for the last few weeks has been nice, but it's much more expensive than the canteen . I can get a decent meal there for about 4RMB (40p) and it's convenient. The grade 3 students will be living on the new campus on the outskirts of town, they'll be moving there at the beginning of November once they have completed their teaching practice in schools throughout the prefecture. We should all be moving there next March after the spring festival. The college applied for university status last year and was rejected, however, once the college is relocated onto a much larger campus it is hoped that it will be upgraded to a university. I am also personally looking forward to moving because I will be given better accommodation. I am still living in a basic room within the college guest house block. It's comfortable and I have made it quite cosy, but it will be nice to get an upgrade!! I have attached a photo of the building, plus the view from my bedroom window on the 5th floor, the very last window on the block to the left.

All things wooden

2009-08-19T08:27:00.002+02:00

I visited a wood factory yesterday just on the outskirts of Simao. They make products to order, usually for businesses rather than private purchase. They make wooden boxes of all shapes and sizes for decorative purposes, vases, stools and I suppose any thing that you particularly require. I was lucky to pick up a beautiful round box which can be used as a jewellery box and a round container to store tea in. As they were on the rejects pile due to very slight imperfections, I was given them for free. Everything is made by hand, there are lathes used for shaping and cutting the wood, but the smoothing and painting is all hand crafted. It was interesting to observe the process from the cut down tree to the finished product. Most of the material is hard wood cut down from the local forests. As it is constantly humid in this part of the world the drying out process is fundamental to the finished product.

The factory is located in a village on the periphery of Simao. I just thought it was an extension to the town. However, Ali and Lesley informed me that when they first arrived in Simao four years ago the village was completely detached form the town and one would pass through rice fields before getting there. This amazed me to fully understand how much the town has grown in the last four years. Towns like Simao are growing rapidly in China and when social science analysts talk about the phenomenal growth in China, it really makes sense to me when you see the visual impacts and proof of this growth. Despite the world economic downturn, China has continued to grow and forecasts for 2009 are currently showing a 7.2% increase on last year. However, as some people become much wealthier and others get left behind this tidal wave of growth, there will be an added problem associated with the wide social divide in China. Of course, this could then become compounded with issues such as 'payments for favours' which is rife here. Even something as simple as wanting to see a doctor in the hospital will be easier depending on how much one can pay, otherwise you end up on a long waiting list. There is a term called 'Guanxi' which is all about prevailing on another for a service or favour. If you know the right person, or have the money, you will get things done much more quickly. If you have no 'Guanxi' you'll find life much harder than for those who do! This may sound all to familiar, as I think which ever country you are in, in this world, there is always an element of this type of behaviour. In China however, it is a basic way of living.

Playing the Guzheng

2009-08-16T08:19:00.001+02:00

Last night was my first experience of playing the Guzheng. It is a traditional Chinese stringed instrument and is played by plucking the strings creating an enchanting melodic sound, which I personally associate with the traditional romantic image of China. I can't really play the instrument but I was entertained by a seven year old who played the instrument with real confidence.

The young girl is the daughter of one of the friends I was having dinner with and he wanted to introduce his daughter to me to practice her English, she is obviously full of other talents too. I was surprised by my venue yesterday evening as we entered a gateway just off the main road not far from the college to find a luxurious setting, lovely gardens in the grounds of an hotel. I never knew it was there and walk by there everyday! We met the owner of the complex, who chatted away to me (through a friend translating!). He is an ex-soldier who fought the Vietnamese in 1979, an ardent communist and the owner of an hydroplant which is being developed in Southern Yunnan. He calls himself a revolutionary and is apparently one of the richest men in this area and obviously feels that Capitalism and Communism can run side by side in China. I was very interested in his political views especially as I discovered he has some influence in this part of Yunnan. However, conversing through a friend translating is not the best way to communicate and it is at times like this that I become very frustrated at my lack of communication skills in Chinese Mandarin!!! At the end of the evening we played a game of Ping-Pong and I managed to keep the ball in play maybe 25% of the time!!

Good luck Marrisa

2009-08-14T15:21:00.001+02:00

Lunch today was a goodbye meal for Marrisa who is leaving the college after three years of hard work. She will be attending Kunming University at the end of this month to continue her studies but firstly will spend a couple of weeks with her family in Northern Yunnan. Her parents are farmers and not in a position to give her much support. Her studies at the college finished in June and she proudly received an award for outstanding achievement at the year end graduation ceremony. She has spent the last two months working seven days a week privately tutoring some young junior students in order to help finance her way through university. I have only known her for a few months but in that time I began to consider her a friend. She is a very dedicated, bright, hard working young lady and I am sure she will have much success in all that she does.

Cycling and shopping

2009-08-10T06:41:00.001+02:00

The weather in Simao these days is rather hot and sticky. Current temperatures are 30-35C with at least one downpour of rain a day which may only last 10 minutes! Whilst it seemed relatively cool yesterday Lesley and I decided to go for a cycle. We headed off at midday but it wasn't as cool as we thought and the sun decided to appear in beautiful clear skies at one of the hottest times of the day. Climbing tea mountain thus became a bit more of a challenge but once at the top there was a fantastic breeze and cycling down was a welcome reward. We were only out for an hour but it was great to be back on the bikes again. Luckily just as we got back the clouds appeared, the heavens opened and down came the rain!

Later, we had a girly shopping spree and bought some clothes at bargain price. On a VSO allowance everything has to be a bargain! Actually finding clothes that fit can sometimes be a challenge in itself. Chinese women on average are very tiny, I am a size 10 and I just fit into a pair of trousers which are sized here at XXL. Anyone above a size 10 will struggle to find clothes. Having small feet helps though, I have no problem finding shoes to fit. Just to give you an idea of the cost of living I bought: 1 pair cropped trousers, 2 tops, a skirt, a pair of slip on sandals, a iron and ironing board, some toiletries and a CD all for 280RMB (£28). I get my hair cut and coloured for 40RMB (£4) and he's a good hairdresser!

This morning I went for a run and I have to sneak under the fence onto the college running track as the gates are locked during the hols. Running around the track is a bit boring but to run along the streets here would definitely be a no no. For one people wouldn't move out the way in time and I would be stared at and feel more like an alien than usual.

Week 24

2009-08-07T16:53:00.001+02:00

I am now into my 6th Month in China. Where has the time gone? I have learnt and am still learning so much about the Chinese way of life and truly do feel quite privileged to have the opportunity to experience life here. Despite the challenges (there are many on a day to day basis) on a personal level I feel it is all worth it. There are aspects of some people's behaviour here which I find at times annoying. The blatant way 'foreigners' are stared at, or laughed at when trying to communicate can seem very rude. Today for example walking down the street I was called laowai (foreigner in a derogatory manner) by a young man which was meant to be offensive as my friend Jiang Yun Qin confirmed. To be honest when some people behave like this it has nothing to do with Chinese attitudes generally only some people's attitudes which we might find anywhere in the world. However, for me personally in China it is the first time I have experienced a form of racism directed at me for being 'different' to the norm. Generally, most people here have made me feel very welcome and especially the people I have come into contact with through work really will try their best to help. I think sometimes when we have bad experiences in a country that is not our own, we can mistakingly taint the whole nation the same way. We meet nice people and not so nice people wherever we may be in the world. The most frustrating issue for me in China is the lack of free expression. Continual blocking of social networking websites and any website the government feels it should stop because it does not like what it hears or sees is so disheartening. I am still updating this blog through my e-mail account as I cannot access it directly, only through a proxy which is not always reliable. But it runs deeper than this as many people do not express their opinions, especially about anything political, in everyday conversation. From my observations in the state schools teachers do not know how to guide children in free expression. I feel thankful for the education I received as a child and to know I have my own mind with my own ideas which can be expressed. Something so basic and simple I have taken for granted all my life I now appreciate and cherish much more than I ever did before. I just wish that people here were nurtured more to believe in themselves and recognize how important and significant they can be in their own lives.

One of the things I love about China is the way groups of people get together in the Squares in the cities to dance or exercise. Walking through the park in Beijing you'll see people doing Tai Qi, or in the park in Kunming a group of ladies dancing elegantly with umbrellas (photo), Century Square in Simao in the evening groups of middle-aged women doing 'keep-fit'. I think it's a fun way for people to get together and socialise and puts a bit of 'life' into the city. I also love the care freeness you find in people such as the bus driver who decides to stop at the side of the road and buy himself some mushrooms with the passengers on board and the fact that he lets you take all your excess luggage and find a space for it! I love the way you order food in a restaurant and it's cooked from fresh there and then. Or the many stalls selling and cooking delicious food on the side of the street.

I have been told that six months into a placement is the difficult time where you might feel you want to pack it all in, the novelty of being somewhere different is wearing off and you're basically fed up. Well, I can say that yes, some things do annoy me here and perhaps more than when I first arrived BUT I am not ready to leave and look forward to the new term and the challenges that will unfold :-)

Emei Shan

2009-07-31T13:00:00.002+02:00

On Monday morning Sarah and I went to Emei Shan a 2 hour bus ride South of Chengdu. Emei Shan is considered to be one of China's most 'spiritual' mountains as you will find many temples from the base up to the summit. We decided to start the walk up the mountain the following day as the 150RMB ticket to enter the mountain covers you only for two days. We had time therefore to go to the 'Hot springs' in Baoguo on Monday afternoon. It was a great opportunity for Sarah and I to behave like kids and play on all the water slides. We had met a Dutch girl on the bus to Emei called Sylvia who we invited to join us on the two day climb and I think she thought we were a bit crazy ;-) But then some people just don't know how to have fun! We started walking up the mountain at 8am on Tuesday and the first 1000m was filled with stunning scenery, lush vegetation and waterfalls We also encountered monkeys which tended to be exactly where the maps said they would be. The walk up I found quite exhausting especially after the first 1000m as it is literally just flights of stairs all the way up. The higher we went the more humid it became and we eventually were just walking in the cloud. This meant that our clothes were sopping wet and having to put back on wet clothes after changing into dry ones for lunch wasn't fun! We stayed the night at 'Elephant Bathing Pool', a monastery at 2070m. I don't think I could have climbed much further that evening since we had been climbing for 8 hours. The next morning we set off at 7am and we were just immersed in cloud so couldn't really see much. We decided therefore to give up the climb to the summit as we wouldn't be able to see anything. This meant we only walked for about an hour and half which entailed a 500m climb up to Leidongping and took the bus down to the bottom (there is a road which runs up the east side of the mountain). The climb was worth doing for the fantastic scenery and I can understand why it was used as a Taoist retreat because of its beauty. The water pools are crystal clear and very inviting but bathing is prohibited. We got back to Chengdu on Wednesday afternoon and I came back to Simao yesterday evening. I was sad to say bye to Sarah and Tim who are now in Tibet and continuing their travels. We have plans though to meet up again soon so looking forward to that.

The college campus is very quiet and I still have another couple of weeks before work begins again.

Panda bears

2009-07-26T08:41:00.001+02:00

I was so lucky to see the Panda bears on Friday. We visited the Panda Research base here in Chengdu where there are both black and white and red bears. There are only about 1000 bears left living in their natural habitats in China. It is difficult to tell if the bears are happy or not kept at the centre, however if they weren't there they would certainly have little chance of survival as their natural habitats are in rapid decline. I was surprised to discover that new born baby bears only weigh 100grams when they're born which naturally gives them a low survival rate. We saw a new born baby bear, 5 days old, kept in a cot and it looking at it one could easily mistake it for a baby rodent of some sort. After several days it starts to develop the black and white markings and finally becomes independent from its mother at one and half years old. I saw about 10 Panda bears all together and about 6 red bears. I felt quite privaliged to have this opportunity and hope to get to see them one day in the wild.
I am still in Chengdu, today its raining and hope it clears before tackling Emei Shan Mountain, 150km south of Chengdu, where Sarah and I are heading tomorrow for a 3 day climb.

Solar Eclipse, Giant Buddha and Chengdu

2009-07-23T11:47:00.001+02:00

I flew into Chengdu on Tuesday evening. Luckily I manged to get a reasonably priced flight from Lijiang. The first thing I noticed was how stifling hot it was probably because I had previously been at a higher altitude and Chengdu is at about 500m. I met up with some guys I had met previously, Sarah, Tim and Paul at Sim Cozy's, a nice hostel but really busy and I haven't seen so many western travellers gathered in one spot for ages. Five of us set off at 05:30 the next morning for Leshan to see the solar eclipse outside of Chengdu city because we thought it would be less smoggy and also combine a trip in to see the Giant Buddha carved out of the cliff there. It's a two and half hour journey and all the way we could see the sky wasn't clearing and at one point it started to rain. We got there about 8am ready for the total eclipse at 09:09. The sky didn't clear so we never actually got to see the sun eclipsed, however it was absolutely amazing to experience the gradual arrival of night darkness and full 'night' lasted over 4 minutes. I felt completely disorientated but I was also awestruck and emotional as it felt like something very special was happening. 'Dawn' to full daybreak happened so quickly it felt somehow like a new day beginning! It was wonderful to have the opportunity to experience such an amazing phenomena.
Following this we then visited the Buddha which was pretty impressive. It is a gargantuan structure at 71m high cut out of the cliffs overlooking the river. The river itself is quite murky and surprisingly quite rough. I was quite glad that we didn't take the option of a boat trip to view the Buddha, I think it would have been a bit unpleasant.
Today I have explored a the centre of Chengdu visiting Tianfu Square where there is a massive stature of Mao. The city itself is pretty much the same as any other Chinese city, rather smoggy and congested. I spent a few hours walking around drawing the attention of a couple of young students who wanted to practice their English. Despite being quite popular with Western Tourists you don't actually glimpse that many in the city. I cannot upload any photos having problems either with my SD chip or the computer sorry :-( Once I get back I will but them together in a picassa album and e-mail.

Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge

2009-07-20T17:44:00.000+02:00

Friday Morning we spent walking around Dali and just took in the sights and sounds. It was interesting to discover that some Westerners have opened up either bars or restaurants in the town. It was so nice to chat to a guy in Italian who comes from Foggia in Italy who has only been in Dali a month and runs an Italian restaurant and then we met the owner of the Pheonix Bar who is Canadian and has been in China fourteen years, he is also a Professor at the local university and I had an interesting discussion about Teaching Methodology and the work I am doing with VSO. It was refreshing to hear him talk about the same issues and problems I have experienced in the schools here and particularly his reference to the fact that students don't think!

We left Dali in the afternoon and made our way to Lijiang by bus a three hour journey north. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in China especially for the Chinese. The local people are called the Naxi who descend from the Tibetans, however despite being very pretty in the old town it is basically made up of shops selling souvenirs. I love it though because the buildings are rustic in style and unlike anything else I have seen so far in China.

The following morning we set off from Lijiang on a two hour car ride to begin a two day walk through Tiger Leaping Gorge. The canyon is at 2500m altitude and is the tail end of the Himalaya Mountains. We began the walk at noon with Sarah and Tim a couple we met in Dali and soon felt like they were becoming friends. The trek was not too tough, the hardest part being a one and half hour uphill climb in the afternoon sun. The first day walk took about five hours and we stayed the night at the Tea Horse Hostel directly overlooking the Mountains. The views all the way were stupendous and it felt at times like you could just reach out and touch the mountains as though they were alive and emitting a unique energy all of their own. The second day took about six hours mostly downhill, again fantastic scenery and blissful surroundings. I think all in all it was a 37km walk. We took the bus back to Lijiang and got back early evening. Today we have just strolled around the town but it's quite easy to get lost here as all the roads look the same and merge into each other. Tomorrow I am sorry to lose Jiang Yun Qin's company as she will head back to Simao and I am going on to Chengdu where I will met up with Sarah and Tim and get to visit the places I had originally planned to go :-)

In Dali

2009-07-16T12:14:00.001+02:00

I am in Dali Northern Yunnan which isn't where I was expecting to be this week but definitely not complaining. Jiang Yun Qin and I left Simao on Sunday and spent the evening in Kunming. This is the capital of Yunnan province. On Monday we had lunch with Paul and got our train tickets which he had previously bought for us. We also met Nita a lovely girl who graduated from Simao college a couple of years back and is now working as a teacher. Thanks Nita for being our guide. It was great to spend the day in Kunming and walk around a couple of Buddhist Temples and the park. Later in the evening we got to the train station to take an overnight sleeper train to Chengdu only to find it had been cancelled due to a landslide! The next train option was a 22 hour hard seat the next day which we were reluctant to take. After a quick discussion we decided to change plans and instead explore Northern Yunnan so decided to head to Dali. We took a train the next day which turned out to be a VERY slow one taking 10 hours cramped into a hard sleeper cabin with 6 other people...not so pleasant. However we got here on Tuesday evening and we have explored the town and last night we stayed in a hostel in the Cang Shan Mountains. We did a 26km walk today at 2600m which was amazing and the views are stupendous. Dali is a tourist town but it does still hold an indigenous Bai population. We have met some really nice British Tourists here who are travelling around the world and it was interesting to hear about the things they have found challenging since being in China.

Our plan is to go to Lijiang tomorrow spend a few days there and then do Tiger Leaping Gorge. I am not sure yet if I will head to Xi'an it will depend on finances as I will probably have to take a flight now.

Travel plans

2009-07-09T08:52:00.001+02:00

I leave Sunday for about 3 weeks of travelling. The plan at the moment is to go to Kunming on Sunday by bus, about 7 hours. An overnight stay there where the following day we'll take the train (18 hours) to Emei Shan which is a mountain about 150km south west of Chengdu. Not sure how much of this mountain we'll manage to climb but there are dozens of temples linked by stone steps all the way up. Probably stay a couple of nights there and then travel 50km east to Leshan where we can view the Great Buddha carved into the cliffs at the riverside. We'll then head north to Chengdu where we'll spend a couple of nights including a morning visit to see the Pandas. After Chengdu we'll head west to the Tibetan township of Tagong to enjoy the grasslands. Not sure how many days but hope to be back in Chengdu for the Solar eclipse on the 22nd July, it should be the longest eclipse of the 21st Century. A couple of days after this I will head north to Xi'an by train (12 hours) and meet up with a VSO colleague who is based there. We will go to Pingyao again by train (not sure how many hours) as it is one of the few towns in China where all the buildings date back to the 18th and 19th Century. We''ll spend a few days in the area, go back to Xi'an where I hope to do a bit of sightseeing as didn't see much on my last visit there apart from the Terracotta Warriors, and then I'll take a 36 hour train journey back to Kunming and then bus to Simao. Lots of trains and buses as can't afford to fly on my VSO allowance! This is a brief plan but I hope to give regular updates as I go along with regular visits to internet cafes, that assuming I'll be able to access the websites I need. Facebook is now one of the many sites recently blocked due to the civil unrest in recent days in Xinjiang Province. Many social networking sites are being targeted in case of any unlawful activity. Oh well! Looking forward to the travels though ;-)

Rain, rain, rain!

2009-07-04T08:51:00.001+02:00

We finally have a reprieve from the rain after six days of ceaseless downpours. I am getting used to sodden foot ware and the bottom end of my trousers. I am so pleased for us to get some sunshine in the last two days as the water on campus is heated with solar power so I have been showering in cool water. However, I am pleased to say that even from the little bit of sun we have had over the last day, it has been enough to heat the water!

The week has been quiet, the rain has put me off doing much so I have been planning what to do during the summer hols. The plan at the moment is to go to Chengdu in Sichuan Province, see the Pandas there and head out to the West where Tibet begins despite being in Sichuan Province, this is what my guide book informs me and speaking to other seasoned travellers the Western part of Sichuan is similar to Tibet. I have been told though, by some locals here, to be careful of the water as it will be polluted from all the dead bodies from last year's earthquake in that area..make what you will of that comment! Trying to get hold of train tickets though isn't such an easy thing to do. We can't book them on line so a friend in Kunming (thanks Paul) is going to try and purchase them there in advance as it will be too risky to try and buy them on the day. I'm pleased to have a travel companion, Jiang Yun Qin who teaches here at Simao College and she is eager to do some travelling too.

I happily gave a couple of lessons this week to the grade 2 students who will be doing their teaching practice next term for two months in rural Middle Schools. These students haven't done any teaching before so it is a good opportunity to get some experience and but into practice what they have been learning especially from their Teaching Methodology course. The course is run by Hou Wan Xia and was set up by Lesley so it is focused on student-centred teaching. Some of the concerns raised to me by the students during the lessons were things such as: What do I do if the students don't understand me/my methods? What about the reactions from other Teachers who use traditional methods of teaching? How do I deal with naughty children? It was an ideal opportunity therefore to give them advice, help and encouragement before they set off for the summer hols.

We had a sort of 'Goodbye' celebration last night for Jayne who's heading off to the UK and Spain for the summer holidays (she'll be back here for the new term), so a few of us went to KTV. When I wasn't giggling at the videos which didn't match up with any of the songs at all, I managed to screech out a few songs..I think my singing is getting worse!!

The photo is the view from the top floor of my building looking down to the east of the campus.

Week 18

2009-06-28T11:47:00.001+02:00

I returned to Simao and met with torrential rain. Rainy season is here! I was pleased to feel the difference in temperature from Beijing, a good 10C degrees less here in Simao, however, I was soon feeling the humidity and felt hot and sticker than I did in Beijing, despite the 40C degrees I encountered there. It is nice to be back and I felt like I was sort of coming home. The week was really interesting in Beijing and it was nice to get to know the people in the VSO office a little better including the Programme Manager for Education who I report to. I also got an insight into VSO work in both Cambodia and Mongolia as two Programme Mangers from those countries were part of this week's training course. I also got a chance to speak to a member of VSO International who is in China for 3 months to review how VSO may work differently in countries like China: middle-income countries that are developing fast and who want to be a development actor on the global stage. It was a good opportunity to express my feelings about why I feel volunteers are still needed in China, despite the increase in wealth there is still a large part of China that needs guidance, especially from what I have seen in the Education System in the area of free thinking and free will. I know that I am an idealist and would like to focus on these aspects and will continue to do so whilst I am here. However, I know that money determines most things in life including how long and in what capacity VSO will continue to work in China. I was pleased to hear though that VSO is looking at possibly recruiting Chinese Nationals as International Volunteers which ultimately will help in China's development process because of the experience and knowledge these people will bring back into China. They already do this in countries like The Philippines, Kenya, India and others. It was interesting to feel like I was part of VSO again because even though I represent the organisation here in Simao I sometimes 'forget' because I am working directly with the college and Education Bureaus. But my reasons for volunteering with VSO are based on their principles of development and their vision of A world without poverty in which people work together to fulfil their potential.

The college campus is feeling a little quieter. The grade 3 students all left last weekend which I hear was very emotional. I'm glad I missed the goodbyes. Lessons have completely dwindled as exams are now in progress and the term officially ends in 2 weeks. I have work to do but I'll have a few weeks of holiday so I am in the process of planning what I am going to do. There's definitely lots to see in China.

The photos: Working in the VSO office, Beijing and South Gate exit of Ritan park, Beijing.

Back in Beijing

2009-06-23T15:20:00.000+02:00

I arrived in Beijing on Saturday in preparation for a training course beginning Monday. It really does feel as though I am a million miles away from Simao. This part of China is so different to where I am based in Yunnan Province, even the people look different. When I was out doing some sight seeing on Sunday I noticed that people weren't staring at me as is usually the case and it was interesting to note how many foreigners there were. In fact, it was nice to be able to walk around and sort of be invisible again. When I was here in February there weren't so many tourists wondering around.

The last two days I have been busy at the VSO Programme Office working with some other volunteers on a training programme which involves how we can get our partners, basically the people we work with, which for me would be Simao Teacher's College, to think about and measure how inclusive they are. People are excluded because of unequal power relations and VSO recognises that inclusion is an aim that can never be achieved fully but we need to work towards it. My task after this training course is to run a workshop at the college with teachers and college leaders so that they may assess how inclusive their organisation is and how they could become more inclusive. I won't be able to do this until the new term starts in September and look forward to it. This week's course runs until Friday and I fly back on Saturday.

On Saturday night I received a text from Lesley who is back in Simao, telling me that they had had a small earthquake. I was pleased I missed that. Luckily there was no damage, but I think that as I am now living on the 5th floor I would have felt it.

Yesterday was my birthday and a few of us volunteers had a little celebration in Ritan Park. It was nice to see Tessa again, a volunteer working on the HIV/AIDS programme who arrived on the same intake as me in February. She's also come to Beijing to participate in the training.

I never said I could sing!

2009-06-17T17:33:00.001+02:00

As the school year is coming to an end it means lots of different departments having their own personal celebrations and parties. In the building where I reside there is a large room used for parties set up with KTV and stereo equipment. This room is located on the same floor as my small abode. Having endured two evenings of listening to loud screeching voices and deep base music I decided to move. Limited in my choice of relocation I have now moved two floors up, to the top floor. Parties still continue but the noise now is much more tolerable and my room is slightly bigger and nicer. As I am higher up the views are slightly better as I can see the sky and the distant hills through the town. The celebrations will stop in the next day or two but I felt for the longer term I am better up here as occasionally at weekends throughout the year people like to use the KTV. I am also the only resident on this floor and so during the day it's quieter too.

I have also attended leaving dos this week including a meal for all the grade three students. I haven't had much of a chance to get to know many of them because of commitments outside of the college and the fact that I have only been here about three months, but I was really pleased when some of the students from the class I did some teaching with told me they really enjoyed my lessons and they were sorry that I wasn't able to do more teaching with them. Another leaving party was held at 'English Corner', an English resource room used every Tuesday evening for students to get together to practice their English. I was forced into singing a duet with Jayne. I have attached a photo so you can see how completely disinterested the students look around us!! How bad was our singing.....

I also ended up this week volunteering myself to attend a VSO training course in Beijing which will be focused on ways to measure the number of people VSO is reaching, and the level of inclusion. Lets hope it's worth it.