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Life in Nanjing continues to be full of surprises.....after judging the lead up local competition I was asked to judge the Provincial final for the CCTV Outlook English Talent competition...a rather important event for students across China apparently. Anyway it seems that I have been seen on national TV!!!! Little did I know as I don't watch that channel (as its all in Chinese) but many of my students saw it and they are now calling me "mei jiao shou" (beautiful professor!) Wonder where I might end up next??!!?
It is getting hotter and hotter here and the humidity is awful.....of course we now have the rain pelting down as well....I thought I was going to miss the worst of it over the semester break but I'm told that September will be the worst month!!! So I will be going from 30+ degrees down to a chilly 8-9 degrees (from the look of the Tassie weather) and then back into the 30+ again. Guess whose not going to be very happy????
Sightseeing has been limited due to the humidity (around 90%) and the rain (tropical downpours) so I am learning some of the bus routes around the city. Cant read any of the signs so I've been jumping on buses and see where they take me then I write down which buses go where for future reference. Pretty nifty I thought for my future sightseeing!!! There are no bus timetables in China...you simply wait at the bus stop until the number you want comes along...it felt really strange to start with but as the buses come along fairly regularly I can now see why they don't really need a timetable. The Metro runs much the same way although they do have signs in Chinese AND English telling you the time between trains....not as interesting because most of it is underground.
My students all sit the exam I've set them tomorrow and then I have the mammoth task of marking them all and providing their final gradings for the semester!!!! We can tell its getting towards the end of the semester.....one of the foreign teachers left on Sunday....and the rest of us are slowly finishing off our work in preparation for departure.
Only a couple of weeks to go and I'll be on that bloody awful airplane again!!! But of course the good side is I'll be back and able to catch up with everyone and even be able to access certain websites that I have been missing!!! Flights are booked and I'm about to be busy going to the bank each day to exchange currency.......you can only change $500 a day maximum...so we are all having to do it in increments.....fortunately I've found a girl who speaks English at one of the branches which will make it all so much easier. It is still not a simple transaction like Aus though...you have to go to several different desks with various bits of paper and your passport in hand before you can change any RMB....for some reason they seem to think its strange we want foreign currency....duh!!!!
Well not the most interesting of posts this week but figured I'd let you all know that I am alive and well. Look forward to seeing you all soon.
Bye for now. xxx
It is getting hotter and hotter here and the humidity is awful.....of course we now have the rain pelting down as well....I thought I was going to miss the worst of it over the semester break but I'm told that September will be the worst month!!! So I will be going from 30+ degrees down to a chilly 8-9 degrees (from the look of the Tassie weather) and then back into the 30+ again. Guess whose not going to be very happy????
Sightseeing has been limited due to the humidity (around 90%) and the rain (tropical downpours) so I am learning some of the bus routes around the city. Cant read any of the signs so I've been jumping on buses and see where they take me then I write down which buses go where for future reference. Pretty nifty I thought for my future sightseeing!!! There are no bus timetables in China...you simply wait at the bus stop until the number you want comes along...it felt really strange to start with but as the buses come along fairly regularly I can now see why they don't really need a timetable. The Metro runs much the same way although they do have signs in Chinese AND English telling you the time between trains....not as interesting because most of it is underground.
My students all sit the exam I've set them tomorrow and then I have the mammoth task of marking them all and providing their final gradings for the semester!!!! We can tell its getting towards the end of the semester.....one of the foreign teachers left on Sunday....and the rest of us are slowly finishing off our work in preparation for departure.
Only a couple of weeks to go and I'll be on that bloody awful airplane again!!! But of course the good side is I'll be back and able to catch up with everyone and even be able to access certain websites that I have been missing!!! Flights are booked and I'm about to be busy going to the bank each day to exchange currency.......you can only change $500 a day maximum...so we are all having to do it in increments.....fortunately I've found a girl who speaks English at one of the branches which will make it all so much easier. It is still not a simple transaction like Aus though...you have to go to several different desks with various bits of paper and your passport in hand before you can change any RMB....for some reason they seem to think its strange we want foreign currency....duh!!!!
Well not the most interesting of posts this week but figured I'd let you all know that I am alive and well. Look forward to seeing you all soon.
Bye for now. xxx
- comments
Diane caney Tv!!! Well done :) I am in London with Elsie xxWill email soon xx
Mary M that makes you a international TV star here groove - MILK IT!
wayne Well hello are we common people still allowed to speak to the Beautiful Professor or are appointments required......always destined for stardom hey!Are you getting floods there?............get rugged up if you are heading here!
Ray H Hi Katie. Glad to see you are a TV celebrity. I got the same treatment just before the Beijing Olympics. A TV crew spotted me in a tea-room and wanted my thoughts on PR China hosting the Olympcs. Of course I said "the right things"! Looks like you have become used to the "English" words when shown in China?...... All Americanisms. We usually say "aeroplane" NOT "airplane". Please ensure your students are aware of the USA influences.