myChineselife

A year in the Nanjing University of Information and Technology

The spirit of The Nanjing School of Information and Technology I believe can only be summed up by the atmosphere and strong emotions experienced by those of us leaving the University.

Feelings of deep sadness for leaving our wonderfully close friends and colleagues balanced with the feeling of relief as the students (and I) were about to return home. I'm not sure I have ever witnessed such a mixture of emotions and such a dense atmosphere. 

Saying goodbye to my Student Juicy (Left hand side) and her friend Pansy (Right)

When I Kissed The Teacher

Life is fragile - when I arrived at the University I knew it was at least 45 minutes from the town. But due to a falling out with my two best friends in the world; I had to start from scratch. Let me tell you, shock is something that seems to hit gradually harder as we get older. It was the last thing I was expecting.

  Change is essential to every living thing, adapting and moving on. It is these changes that help us learn about the world and ourselves. Changes that seem to break us, but also give us new perspectives in life. A life that forces us to choose compromises, but also choose things that remain the same - that we can identify with.

Below I will do my best to introduce to you as many of the wonderful people I met at NUIST as I am able.

Head of English Corner - Serena                

English corner was one of the many many activities that I enjoyed at NUIST.

Other activites included keep fit, open air swimming, ping pong, weightlifting and rollerblading.  

Serena was one of the wonderful people I met while at English corner. Happiest when busy, Serena's willpower to overcome any obstacles impressed me so much. A typical Chinese girl (on the outside) Serena is made of metal - and that metal is gold.

My co-teacher Robert became one of my good friends and confidants, with whom I enjoyed many a game of golf, DVD and even shared rent on an outside room - which we rented to get round many of the intrusive rules enforced by the University.

Pictured left is my neat little hiding hole. The themed colour of my place was most definitely orange. I would like to thank Robert for his contribution to the place, and Zhu Dandan (Kathleen) for helping me buy the fridge, TV and mattress, and Yan Lin for taking me to the perfect place to buy the sofa and cupboard!

Yolanda and Robert enjoying Yolanda's birthday

 

Robert and Yolanda met at English corner. At Yolanda's birthday party, Robert so lovingly bought her flowers and a wonderful cake. We had a small party at mine - one of many parties I was priveledged to invite my friends to. 

Kathleen, Juicy, Robert, Pan Zhou (Pansy) Serena Yolanda, Vilho and Janet; thank you for making my parties so enjoyable and so much fun. 

2009 Christmas decorations at my apartment at NUIST

Christmas Songs -Wham - Last Chrismas

The Christmas party was accompanied by some decorations I bought locally, all my music and my Nintendo Wii - which we played bowling on during the party. Yolanda just kept beating all of us!

Return to the UK via Hong Kong

Since I last wrote, I have returned to England, via Hong Kong and delivered safely to Heathrow terminal three courtesy of Cathay Pacific, and China Eastern (for the Nanjing - Hong Kong route)

Here is a similar big bird - The 747 - 400

  After a short trip to Hong Kong I had relaxing stay in a superbly modern "new town" - Ma On Shan, in the New Territories, Hong Kong.

For those of you unaware of the geography, Hong Kong takes about three hours from Nanjing airport.

This is built around Chek Lap Kok island, which has been substantially developed from reclaimed land. Passengers might be surprised that their plane glides only a few meters over the South China sea for a while before coming in to land.

Typical Hong Kong airport transfer bus

Being a completely new airport, the links to the town are fantastic. You get a choice of Taxi, Bus or Train. In my case I take the A41P to Ma On Shan (price 26.1 HKD) courtesy of the Long Win bus company. For full pricing see below;

http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/transport/to-from-airport/bus.html

Hong Kong although belonging to China, is known as an SAR (special administrative region) which means that it retains much of the unique features it did before 1997. To you and me that means that it resembles the UK very much in organization and general standards. Locals are relaxed and punctual, and have good relations with their international visitors. Luckily for the visiting Brit, generally Hong Kong people are proud of their country and recognize the UK's hand in the making of Hong Kong. So for those travelling to the Far East for the first time, it is an ideal introduction to the orient.

For those of you wishing to travel into the Chinese mainland, visas are available at the airport, or in central Hong Kong (Kowloon side) Nathan road.

http://www.ctshk.com/english/aboutus/local.htm

The visa process itself is not difficult, and requires about 3 days to complete. You will be issued your single entry Chinese visa, and voila you are free to travel the vast expanse that is China! Don't forget you guide book - and enjoy!

As for me, plenty of time shopping and eating. True Hong Kong style is not complete without local speciality sea food, dim sum, or won ton. Surprisingly, I found a good friend of mine was staying in a nearby hotel near Sha Tin (a well known horse racing venue) so we met up for dinner just before I came back. 

Allowing plenty of time to travel, I boarded the bus, for a 50 min journey to the airport. Everything was on time, and I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 3 where my dad was waiting for me to arrive.....

Chinese new year trip to Funning

My Chinese new year in 2009 was spent in Funing, adjacent to Yancheng in the North East of Jiangsu province.

My friend Yan Lin and her son Zhu Yan made me welcome in their home town.

They have been my close friends for two years. Zhu Yan is in his last year of middle school and he has just completed his most challenging set of exams I believe he will ever face; his entry into the highly competitive middle school system.

Working all his waking hours he has made it to one of the best schools in Nanjing. More on him later!

His mum Yan Lin, is my best friend since I came to Nanjing, since I met her working with accomodation when I first arrived here.

Together in the holidays, we play some Ping Pong together, go swimming and eat delicious local dishes.

I hope they will one day visit me in Cambridge and we can make them feel at home as they make me feel here!!!

The bus departed later than expected which was ideal for us, because my friend overslept and we were late arriving at the bus station!

The bus was different from a long distance coach in Britain, it was tiny. In Britain long distance public travel is dominated by National Express, where the route is "leased" off the government and the buses have to run maximum capacity buses, even if it means a lot of the time they are empty!

The ride itself was comfortable enough. There was just about enough room for my legs, although sleeping (as in any coach) was not something that came easily. The ride over bumps was certainly not air-sprung, but the roads being very modern gave the suspension little room to grumble. I was pleasantly surprised at the suppression of noise. The engine was very smooth and kept the coach well up with other traffic.

When I arrived there, I got to meet the father. I bought him a nice little Short Wave radio, identical to the one I bought myself (not shown here). Some of my students may remember the lesson where we talked about buying presents.

With his radio I reasoned that he can take it anywhere and it can keep him company. I figured that with the power lead, some rechargeable batteries, he would never feel afraid to use it. I know that some senior citizens in the West are afraid of spending money, so I thought perhaps he might feel the same way.

The picture shows Zhu Yan's grandfather and me on our first meeting, with a collection of coins I bought for him.

Funning is a very modern city with much of the original buildings gone. There is only two small areas where I saw the original buildings still standing. The view of the river "Shen Yang" was quite beautiful at night, since they have decorated it with blue neon lights and other lighting features. It certainly adds to the peaceful relaxing feel you want, when you get away from the daily grind. 

Here is a very interesting view of what seems to be an old building ahead with red brick. However when you look at the gutter and camber of the old pathway here. You realize that the old dwellings still in use today (behind the building ahead, in line with this pathway) have been there the longest. Also the building on the left hand side has been a more recent addition too. I expect that even this not so old 19th century building will soon become a distant memory, as soon as they  get started on a plan for it's redevelopment.

Tech Over Your Life; The Begining.

Orange juice - rip it up

Tech Over Your Life; a strange name for a blog, I thought it quite catchy, let me explain....

You know how a computer seems to dominate your life? Or how technology seems to permeate into every part of our lives - even my computer phobic mum has recently bought a "computerized" sowing machine and washing machine - none of which are likely to last more than five minutes.

 My blog will skip in and out of the uses and misuses of technology as I play around with the various toys I manage get my hands on.

But not only that, a blog is often like a diary, or a personal reflection of the way you perceive things. So my chosen name is "tech" being written "over" the course of a lifetime.I hope you will see a method in my madness!

At the birth of tech-over-your-life, I am counting down the last days till I return home to Britain, possibly for good. My contract at the Nanjing Medical University has come to an end and I am at a cross roads in my life.

After spending two years in China, my "back in the cradle of knowledge" blog aims to follow my transition back to UK life (that is if I ever do) and reflect on my feelings about living in my home town. This will be made available for my Chinese and international students who constantly harangue me about what life is like back home in Cambridge.

This blog "my Chinese life" does what it says on the tin. It is designed to show articles I have written and viewpoints noted down while in Nanjing. The blogs are designed mainly for my friends back in England as well as my dear Chinese friends and international friends who (I sincerely hope) will enjoy to read them.

 I am confident there will be something interesting if you stick around! A big thank you for all my student's support in the last weeks of me being here. I learnt so much about you as well as myself through your efforts!

So welcome all, and 欢迎你们