12 days left in Beijing :(

I feel such a deep appreciation that I got to have this experience

I love China so much

I am finding leaving heartbreaking and wondering "what am I doing?"

anyway I guess I can always come back

street food

Korean restaurant

they use these metal chopsticks in Korea

in China usually wood

In Thailand a spoon and a fork

I might be extending my visa until 2010
My work is offering me more pay
I have some job interviews lined up

孔子 Confucious (Kongzi)

京剧 Beijing Opera

I love everything about Beijing opera 我爱京剧

首都博物馆 Capital Museum Beijing

Beer is very popular in China

It is usually bought in these tall bottles and served cold

This is Tsingtao Beer (from Qingdao in Shandong)

There is also Yanjing beer (I think)

Beer in Chinse is Pi jiu (peer joe)

Every student of Chinse seems to remember this word

This is typical Beijing

many people live in an apartment

nearly every apartment has an air conditioner

one ugly part of modern Beijing is seeing hundreds of these air conditioners
stuck on the outside of buidlings

many people also have a window sil, verandah thing
that they store things in

This is stuff I bought in Tibet
I bought the Buddha for my mum 120 yuan ($20)
Buddha knot thing 30 yuan ($5)
hanging thing colourful 60 yuan ($10)

Beijing Zoo 动物园

China

I came to Beijing China in February, 2006 for a holiday.
I also went to Tokyo.

Before my holiday I told my travel companion to study Chinese and I would study Japanese.
(I picked the easier language to study :)

I got a computer program and studied Japanese. She had a book "Chinese in 10 minutes per day".
A few weeks before we went I noticed she had only read about 3 pagess. I said
"it is Chinese in 10 min a day not 10 minutes a year" She then crammed on the plane
and I swear was speaking long involved sentences with taxi drivers.

People are really encouraging so that helps. If you say "Ni hao" they are delighted
and say "your Chinese is really good".

When I arrived I instantly felt like I had returned home. I felt it even as the plane was hovering over the tarmac.
This is not what I had expected to feel in a place like China.

Amongst Westerners China has always had this "far far away' mystique. So I was surprised by my feelings.
Maybe it was because the western idea of China being so dramatically different is exaggerated.

I really had a sense of direction just always knew where to go. Maybe it is the organised road systems?
I don't believe in past lives but it was strange how I just could sense where to go.

After my holiday I went back to Australia and spent the next year planning
to return and live in Beijing.

I did lots of research and I enrolled in Chinese class. I did my TESOL certificate.
I read lots of web pages about people being stuffed around in China. I took measures to prevent the
same stuff happening to me. eg had a list of questions for potential employers.

One year later in February, 2007 I made Beijing my home.

I have been living here for about 2 years now and this is my blog.

The Ancient Observatory

颐和园 The Summer Palace

Yi He Yuan The Summer Palace is where the Emperor would go in summer.

The Forbidden City (in the centre of the city) was too hot during summer in Beijing.

The Summer Palace has a huge lake Kunming Hu which you can boat on. The grounds are massive.
There is a long traditional style walkway with a roof. On the awnings there are traditional style paintings
of different scenes (a man doing caligraphy etc).

2006 Feb China holiday