The leaves are falling... Last week the sun was shining and temperatures didnt drop below twenty, now its starting to get cold. Overnight seemingly most of the leaves have fallen from the trees, and im finding I have to wear a jumper in the evenings. There was rain last night which seemed strange because in the 4 weeks we have been here it has only rained once.

1 month in Kuitun, the weeks have passed incredibly quickly, between teaching and everything else thats going on I have hardly had time to breathe. However I have loved it so far, the children are amazing! Everywhere I go there is a chorus of "Hello" or "Hello teacher" or "hello Harrison" the last being a bit more rare as they find my name quite difficult. I find my arm barely rests because every few seconds a student waves, and thats not even the worst... the handshakes, signatures, and hugs are relentless. The week before last I taught animals and last week I taught them hobbies, and they're just extremely happy to learn. Today is my last day of lessons because tomorrow we will be travelling to urumqi to meet with the other 8 volunteers in Xinjiang for National week.

Since writing last I have been taught how to make jiao zi and bao zi from scratch (boiled and steamed dumplings) and they taste amazing! I have also learnt to cook one of the most popular dishes in china, and a rather tasty tofu dish. We have also managed to find a crepe shop and the biggest fresh food market I have ever seen! I'm also rather proud of the fact that yesterday we managed to book bus tickets to Urumqi entirely in Mandarin.

Thanks for reading

Harrison