Sorry about the absence of entries, my computer has been driving me nuts. It's still not working properly and is extremely slow.

I've added some more photos onto Flickr with comments.

It's been a busy 2 weeks with Halloween, school exams, excursions and some big nights on the town (and recovery time!)

Not much else to say! I have to still do a lesson plan for tomorrow and think about what I'm having for dinner...v. exciting.

Love you all.

Katrina

written by  KatrinaB on November 12, 2006 from Dongguan, China
from the travel blog: China Dreaming
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FYI - My computer is in need of some TLC and is being taken this morning for repair. It's been running really slowly and might have a virus, so the school IT teacher is going to have a look at it.

So, no blogging or emails for ....... I have no idea! It could be a day or a week.

I now have to move everything i want to keep onto my usb stick (thanks again to Lisa!).

Bye!

Love
Katrina

written by  KatrinaB on October 31, 2006 from Dongguan, China
from the travel blog: China Dreaming
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Well it’s been a busy week and we’re all looking forward to this weekend because Halloween is HUGE in China! There are lots of parties on, I’ve purchased some devil horns and that’s the extent my dressing up is going to be.

I had a great weekend with a day trip to Shenzhen (90 mins away) and shopping heaven! We left Dongguan at 8am (on time!) and were let loose on Shenzhen for 3 hours of shopping!

In the first two hours I did 90% of my Christmas shopping; I’ve never ever been this organised before! Obviously I won’t be putting pictures of those up on Flickr :) There wasn’t a lot for babies or toddlers so I couldn’t buy anything for Will, I’ll have to hit the shops in Dongguan.

After lunch (yummy Dim Sum) we had another hour to shop, this time for me! LOL. I need to buy a pair of shoes for school and another for casual… tick. Need to buy a watch so I don’t have to keep using my Palm Pilot to check what time it is in class….tick. Need to buy something frivolous for me…tick :) I love my jade (I think) bangle. Pictures of my purchases are on Flickr.

Now for all those who have never been shopping where being ‘a foreigner’ means you have loads of money (which we know is not quite true) there is an interesting…annoying habit by the shopkeepers. They see you coming and all you hear is ‘missy missy missy you buy watch, clothes, handbags, jade, crystal, wigs, shoes shoes shoes!!!!!!’. Some actually try to physically drag you into their shops! It’s constant and they’ll even follow you on the escalators and down other corridors! We had one of the lovely Chinese staffers from school, Zoe, come with us and she’d never seen anything like it! She found it annoying and they weren’t even talking to her. LOL.

The sad thing is though; I find this less annoying than the staring back in Dongguan. We got back to the bus station in Dongguan and as soon as we got off the bus, it started AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! People actually stop talking and stare as you walk past…I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.

Messages for people at home:

Happy birthday to my brother Ben and friend Michelle! I hope you both have a fantastic day and I’ll be thinking of you.

Gill, hope you feel better soon and I’d love to catch up with you and Gary in Honkers if you fly through!

written by  KatrinaB on October 24, 2006 from Shenzhen, China
from the travel blog: China Dreaming
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Sorry about the absence of new blog entries, it’s been the week from HELL!!!!!!!!!! (maybe it’s just worse because I don’t have access to good coffee!)

But, I shall tell you about Macau. Macau is a gorgeous place full of other foreigners and fantastic shopping and food. It was the first time we got to do the ‘tourist’ thing and take photos and visit ‘touristy’ places. For anyone out there that has ever been to Dongguan, it’s not exactly a tourist paradise. Dongguan is more geared towards business development.

So….after booking our bus tickets the week before, we head to the pick up point at 7am to catch the 7.40 bus. We’re all supposed to meet at 7am in front of the local gym and catch a taxi. At 7.10, we are still waiting for someone! We call and their alarm didn’t go off…SHIT! Nervously we catch a taxi (4 of us) and head to the pick up point feeling very anxious about the 5th person not making it in time! We get out of the taxi and we do an ‘items’ check: i.e. camera, money, undies, PASSPORT! Oops, someone forgot their passport DOUBLE SHIT! While the 4th person takes off in a taxi to go back home, the rest of us head into the hotel (pick up point) and hand over our tickets so that we’re registered and that there’s seats on the bus for us.

Phew, 4th person makes it back in time but we’re still waiting for person number 5! We decided if they didn’t make it in time they could catch the next bus to Macau at 8.40. It’s now time to get on the bus….except someone (another hotel) has double booked seats and there’s not enough room for us…FUCKING TRIPLE SHIT! (Mum, you’ll have to edit this for Grandma!)

5th person arrives very stressed to hear the news that we don’t think we’ll be able to get on the 7.40am bus. Now we’re really pissed off. We make a big stink, person number 4 is very scary when pissed off and there’s yelling between the hotel staff, the bus driver and ticket company rep. After half-an-hour, we generously decide that we’ll catch the next bus. Actually, it’s already 30 minutes late and we don’t want to get on the bus to boos and hisses! 

Ah, finally we’re on the 8.40 bus and it leaves on time (a near miracle in China) and we’re all happy again….until customs.

I have realized (after Macau and Hong Kong) that getting out of China takes a hell of a lot longer than getting in. There was 1 queue for foreigners and it was moving at a snails pace. I head on the news after I got home that visitors from mainland China to Macau was up for 30%. We all finally get through (I think it was an hour) and we’re finally through to Macau! YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

After making our way to our lovely and clean hotel, we head for a walk around Taipa, which is the island in Macau on which we’re staying. It’s pretty, quaint and we’re not being stared at…brilliant!

We spent the rest of the 1st day of Taipa, testing the local sangria and coffee. YUM! I spent more money on the food than anything else! It was heaven.

Day 2 was spent on Macau. Macau is where all the main hotels and casinos are, lots of historic tourist sites, and where the best shopping is. We spent the day looking around the shops, smelling wonderful cheap perfume (which I later bought) and checked out different historical ruins and beautiful gardens (photos on Flickr) in the middle of the urban jungle. Though the one bad thing about Macau was the lack of taxis! It took us an hour to get off Macau, walking around looking for an empty taxi. It was very frustrating, very hot and we all just wanted to go back to the hotel and have a shower!

Day 3 we went on the 3rd island, Coloane. Coloane is very quiet compared to Macau and Taipa but was a welcome break from the noise and crowds. It was also were the first egg tart was made. Egg tarts are huge in Melbourne and it was amazing to stumble across such a find. I tried the tarts too, delicious!

It was now time to head back to China and planning school lessons. We were not enthusiastic about leaving Taipa at all! LOL.

The trip home was uneventful and surprisingly I was quite happy to get back home to Jingfeng Gardens.

This coming weekend; xmas shopping in Shenzhen, where the shopping mall is 6 levels of retail therapy bliss!

Love you all!
Katrina

written by  KatrinaB on October 15, 2006 from Macau, Macau
from the travel blog: China Dreaming
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I'm definitely having a drink tonight and it's not going to be pineapple beer...something much stronger is required.

Gotta go back to school.

Love
Katrina

written by  KatrinaB on October 9, 2006 from Dongguan, China
from the travel blog: China Dreaming
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I've put a stack of photos up on Flikr and I'll post an entry tomorrow...lots to tell.

Love
Katrina

written by  KatrinaB on October 6, 2006 from Macau, Macau
from the travel blog: China Dreaming
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I had today off due to the poor students have their monthly exams (I have to make up for in Saturday!) so I have time to add an extra blog entry this week and the topic is Mooncake.

Mooncake is given to people as gifts for certain celebrations in China. At the moment everyone is celebrating 'The Mid-Autumn Festival' even though it's still hot! Though, at least I'm not leaving pools of it where I stand anymore :) (er..I'm not kidding).

Back to Mooncakes; well I've heard about them from the other teachers and was advised to throw them straight into the bin. I, of course, wanted to try one of them and was really excited when one of my students gave me some....I'm not sure if it was a respect thing, she was sucking up or her family had too many:)

Kathryn (another teacher) told me she liked them and that they had seeds in the middle so I was prepared and knew what to expect..well, mostly.

I've put all the photos of my adventure (LOL) on Flickr because I'm having problems uploading them onto the blog.

Needless to say, the majority of the teachers were right...never ever eat Mooncake...blah!! phewy....blah! I couldn't spit it out fast enough. The texture is revolting, the flavour foul and the smell nauseating. Sorry if I offend anyone that actually likes Mooncake...you can make fun of me..I love Vegemite :)

So Michelle...I hope this gives you another insight into the weird and wonderful (no... scratch the wonderful)...just the weird food here. Oh, and yes...I'm still drinking my pineapple beer but only once or twice a week now it's not so hooootttttt!

Also...to Lisa, Al and Jack...thanks for the USB stick for my farewell pressie...I use it every day in class and my students are very impressed because it's 1GB!

There are only 2 days of school to go to school holidays and on the 3rd, Aine, Ville, Kathryn, Olivia and myself head to Macau for 3 days (2 nights) for a well earned break. We purchased our bus tickets last night and we can't wait to do some more travelling. We were actually kinda dancing in the street..LOL...it doesn't matter what we do, we're going to be stared at anyway!

I now have to print off my lesson plan, so have a great Friday everyone!

Love
Katrina

written by  KatrinaB on September 28, 2006 from Dongguan, China
from the travel blog: China Dreaming
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I miss you all but I know this is something I have to do for myself. Thank you for all your support and well wishes that you've sent by email and comments on this blog.

On a happier note, this is the last week of terms (!?!) We're all looking forward to time off from school and a mini-break from Dongguan. 5 of us (Ville, Aine, Kathryn & Olivia) are heading to Macau for 2 nights mid next week. We still have to work out the details but we're all really looking forward to the trip.

Well, now I have to do lesson plans for the week, so have a great week and chat soon.

Love
Katrina

written by  KatrinaB on September 24, 2006 from Dongguan, China
from the travel blog: China Dreaming
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Firstly, the bus trip to Hong Kong was a NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!!! instead of taking 3 hours it took 5 because of bad weather, lots of traffic and stacks of accidents. We didn't get to our 'digs' until 11pm so dinner was at 11.30pm! We had the best Indian I have ever had, delicious! We stayed in Kowloon in a guest house call 'New Lucky Hotel',(picture of the room is on Flikr) mmmm....not! at least it was clean :)

Olivia shared a room with me that you could barely turn around in!

After an early start in the morning we headed to hand our passports over to get a new visa (business) and spend the day shopping. We went to Hong Kong Island were all the main shopping chains are. I bought some books and a beautiful pashmina from one of the side alleys.

After dragging my aching feet everywhere we had Japanese for lunch then rushed to pick up our visas then catch the 3pm bus back to China.

As much as China can piss me off (being stared at constantly and the chaos) it was good to get home and have an early night!

What I loved most about Hong Kong was that I didn't get stared at...wonderful! It's amazing what a difference it makes...next holiday..Macau!

Love
Katrina

written by  KatrinaB on September 16, 2006 from Hong Kong (historical), Hong Kong
from the travel blog: China Dreaming
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Wow, this week has flown by!

Only one more lesson after lunch and then we're off to Hong Kong for tonight and most of tomorrow.

It's been an okay week, still finding my feet and learning the children's names...which is hard because I have 12 classes of 35-40 children!

I have had two Chinese lessons with a lovely teacher named Wendy who is very patient with our terrible pronunciations and horrible use of the different tones.

I'm taking my camera tonight so there will be lots of photos on Sunday!

Love
Katrina

written by  KatrinaB on September 15, 2006 from Dongguan, China
from the travel blog: China Dreaming
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