My cash that I exchanged and brought with me was getting a little low and I was worried I’d have to eat like a local for a week or so. I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable because of the unfeasibility of that situation.
Thankfully I was able to draw some money out of a machine near Carrefour and now I am managing OK.
In line with my readers’ high expectations I’ve managed to get photo - computer - internet friendliness happening. Hopefully more photos to come soon (and more handsome).
This is one of me luxuriating in business class between Melbourne and Singapore.
The internet has now been hooked up in my room. It’s by no means perfect and my laptop is pretty old, but it’s far better than the no connection I had before.
It rained here this evening. I’m out of options for what to eat already (unless I have Taiwanese hotpot every single night, which I’m happy to do, but for any variety one needs to spend big bucks) so I went to KFC and got a chicken breast, some chips and the closest I could get to some fruit juice. Quite yummy.
Anyhow, I’ve got to think about a full day of classes tomorrow, so I’d better stop procrastinating and prepare.
Last night I missed a late bus travelling from our remote campus to my apartment. Some friendly students took me up to the main road where they told a taxi driver where I wanted to go.
The cab driver needed to stop for gas (i.e. really gas, not petrol) and it all gave me a chance to learn a few new words.
Afterwards I went for another walk around Carrefour and had Taiwanese hotpot.
Well, this morning I had my first class in Jinan. The students were all very friendly but the building is a bit cold.
I have a long lunch between morning classes and morning classes. It will give me a chance to write posts here and prepare my lessons.
The commute this morning was not as long as we thought, as the traffic isn’t so bad at around 7am when our bus takes off. At that time the commuters appear to be mostly teachers, going from one campus to the other.
I’ll probably be having 粽子 for breakfast most days. It’s sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaf (?).
I just had lunch too. That was quite nice. 土豆丝 with some tofu, chicken and a deepfried unidentified food object. All tasty. But there’s no guarantee it’s going to be the same every day. If I find a food I like I’m quite happy to have it every day because I prefer to stick with familiarity. In Melbourne I hardly eat anything other than Flora Indian, Sichuan food and Sweet & Sour at this particular Swanston Street place (the latter admittedly I have tired of a bit).
There’s a Carrefour (家乐福) near us. I was there just yesterday. But I might drop in there again tonight for some bits and pieces.
I’ve at last found a 网吧 (internet cafe) where I can write to the family and put a post here.
I don’t plan to write long, because I’m on a mission to find something decent to eat (Jinan is very different to Wuhan in that way) and get out of this smoky room.
So, I’ve arrived safely and tomorrow I’ll be starting classes. I teach for four days a week, which gives me some preparation time, and hopefully plenty of time to goof off as well.
I’ve done my first load of washing. Not that there was that much to do, but I’m trying to cultivate some good habits early, otherwise my room will end up looking like a pig-sty.
Perhaps the best thing about coming to China is that I realise how much I miss Melbourne, coffee and most of all my family (all 3 generations).
If you are a student reading this, don’t imitate my style of paragraphing. This style of paragraphing is suitable for blogs, but not for essays. I can’t actually press tab here to demonstrate, as it takes me to the next button on my browser, but you begin a paragraph with no space between it and the previous one and you need to begin your paragraph by pressing the TAB button.
Well, right now it’s 6:00am Singapore time, 9:00am Melbourne time, if I haven’t miscalculated. I’ve just arrived here at Changi airport and I’m using one of the free internet computers. I had a long walk from another terminal (terminus?) and even stopped during that walk at another computer and answered an email.
Where I am right now overlooks the immigration desks where we usually enter when we enter here. So the terminal (terminus?) I arrived on is definitely different to our usual one.
The Singaporean national anthem is playing at the “Toast Box” (tusi gongfang(?) - i can’t get access to Chinese characters on this machine). I haven’t seen Toast Box in Singapore before. It may be a new chain.
It’s early morning here and many of the shops are just opening. I’ve got a bit of a wait.
A strange thing happened - I was upgraded to business class. Evidence in the form of a photo of me lounging around in my wide seat working on my vocab and swilling apple juice is pending. Singapore Air(lines?) business class is quite amazing. I still couldn’t sleep, though. Probably because Peter and I went to Hudson’s at Tullamarine. A big thanks to Peter for taking me to the airport.
Check out Singapore’s national anthem here.
Hi all,
Well, I leave for Jinan this evening. I’m mostly packed and am trying to think of things I shouldn’t forget.
On the way home, God willing, I’ll be meeting up with my friend Peter and going to a few cities in China, as well as Singapore.
Don’t forget you can still contact me on Skype while I’m away. My login is jamesrlforsyth. If you’re a friend from Australia or around the world, you’re welcome to contact me for a chat. If you are from China and are reading this, remember that my default Skype language is actually Chinese. So if you’re from China, and I don’t know you and you contact me in English then it will be a very short conversation (or language lesson!)
Yes. I’m already homesick, and I haven’t even left yet.
If only I could read this well to Asher!
As you may be aware I’m heading off to Jinan (济南) in about 5 days. I’ll be there about 12 weeks. Afterwards I’ll be having a short holiday in Wuhan, Beijing and Singapore, visiting friends and buying a few books.
For a pessimistic look at what’s in store for me, see here.
For a map of where it is, which is really to show the Grand Canal of China route, see here.
I had no idea that baidu.com, China’s biggest search-engine (and most popular website) is listed on the U.S. stockmarket. It’s listed right now as $246.15 a share.
jamesforsyth.net© 2008
