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So, you’re a bus driver and the bus you are driving breaks down. Do you (a) call the bus depot for assistance (b) inform the passengers politely and ask them to wait for the next bus (c) perform both (a) and (b) or (d) ask the passengers to get out and push? It might not be the correct answer, but I experienced (d). Here’s the photo to prove it.  pushing a bus The National Stadium (The Bird’s Nest)
It was my second visit. It’s still impressive and this time it was a clearer day. Last time I couldn’t go in because it was too late, this time there was a car show being held there so visiting inside wasn’t allowed. But I can’t imagine what could be so great inside. A drawback with the stadium visit it that it’s quite far out of the way and once you get there there isn’t very much to do. The Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven It was my first visit to the Temple of Heaven. I was impressed. I’ve seen it on posters, in school books and every China guide book I’ve ever seen. The park surrounding it was great too. There was still snow an the ground the day we went so it made it that bit more beautiful. It definitely worth a return visit but more time (and on a warmer day, once the sun went down the temperature dripped drastically). Beijing Hutongs Hutong Rickshaw The Hutong tour is interesting, the rickshaw ride is enjoyable but was a little short. The old city is like any old city. It’s smaller, more beautiful and a nice place to spend time. There’s a huge contrast between old and modern Beijing. Much of the Hutongs have been sacrificed for large modern buildings, it’s a shame that for a country that takes great pride in its long history it demolished much of its past. Perhaps that’s the secret to achieving a long history. Wang Fu Jing Food Street
 Wang Fu Jing food street I’ve been to food street a number of times now. I still like it. What’s great about it is that you can never eat everything there is on offer. So no matter how many time you go it can always be different. It’s very colourful and offer’s both bizarre and reassuring foods. Tiananmen Square Forbidden City gate at Tiananmen square It’s big, very big and famous. That’s about it. But everyone needs to get a photo with the gate to the Forbidden City. The Lama Temple
My first visit and not my last. After a while all the temples start to look the same. As a result I never rushed to see the Lama Temple. I had been to a temple fair at that gave me my fill of temples. But my mind has been changed, a little. They are not all the same, the Lama Temple is far more interesting. If I were a tourist I’d fill up on temples here and then skip the rest. Also there’s a giant statue of Buddha screaming out to be in Ghostbusters 3. The Summer Palace
This was my fourth time at the Summer Palace. I haven’t been disappointed once. Every time I go I see something I didn’t see the last time. It’s so big and there’re so many different gates, each visit is different. Given a choice between the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City I’d choose the Summer Palace. I know the Forbidden city is more famous and everyone needs a photo at Tiananmen but I’d recommend going to Tiananmen taken a photo outside the Forbidden city and then spending time in the Summer Palace instead. During this visit the lake was very low so there were no boats, that was a shame but it was different!
It’s that time of year again. New teachers start to arrive and old teachers leave. While we are still awaiting the arrival of the new, we have just said goodbye to two of the old. Mark had been here for two years and Muriel for two and a half. The school will be a different place without them, I wish them well. To wish them well, we had the customary goodbye dinner, eating outside, called Da Pai Dang in Chinese. Last year Da Pai Dang was banned due to the Olympics so it’s great to have it back. As the sun sets in Beijing the temperature drops, the heat is more bearable and it’s a great time to eat and relax. To see all the photos from the night click here: http://www.raymurphy.eu/?page_id=5&file=2009-07-09+Mark+and+Muriels+Leaving+Dinner/
This little thing, I don’t know what it is, was in the hall near our apartment door. He ran along the ground and then stopped dead. Kind of creepy, I’m glad he was on the outside.
On a clear day you can see the mountains that surround Beijing. One benefit of the new 19th floor apartment is the view of the sun setting behind these mountains. When we left the 10th floor facing east I thought I’d miss seeing the big wheel from the amusement park. But it doesn’t compare to well to watching the sun set.
While I was disappointed that many of the flowers beds were looking a little past their best. The flowers there were fit and healthy were very pretty.
I think this was the first time I ever took a picture of a bee. having just watched Planet Earth on DVD I was inspired to wait a whole three minutes until a bee turned up to be snapped. It was very pleasing to be that that close to a bee without being stung.
 Greenery at the Beijing Botanical Gardens The absense of flowers was made up for by the greenery. There were so many photos that could be used as desktops. If anything I like the greenery more than the flowers, they are more dependable and not so fleeting.
At the end of every term we take a class photo and give one to the students with their end of term report. The photos are usually taken outside the school. So in winter everyone looks cold and unhappy and in summer everyone looks hot and unhappy. This term, with the help of Google Picassa I made a different kind of class photo. The students enjoyed this too. For the older students I told them they could pose in whatever way they felt represented themselves best. That turn out some interesting results. The photos above is a class of 13 students in 1st class, grade one here. So they are all about 7. I’ve only taught them for one term but am already very proud of them. When we did our once a term parents class they were excellent in all ways. They were not nervous in the slightest and were full of energy and enthusiasm to show what they could do. They endeared themselves on me that day. I was happy for them too as they got to show what great strides they had made. On the day the took the pre taught phrases “This is my mother. She is beautiful” and shortened it to “this is my beautiful mother”. Not a huge advance I admit but since we had never taught them this to witness them use the language intuitively was hugely satisfying.
These students are close to 11 or so. I taught some of them on my first term in China so I have know a lot of these children for three years now. It’s a new experience for me seeing children grow. I’m amazed. I’ve seen them grow physically and mature as young people. We have now come to the end of a series of books, they have now finish the Young Learner series. As a result next term will be a big change for me and for them. When I started with them we learned fruit, I remember weeks of I like apples. What do you like? (painful) Now they can change tenses and uses conditional sentences, they can also laugh at me when I make mistakes, for example incorrectly writing the emergency number for the fire brigade in China as 110 instead of 119.
While not the only other class that I had this term these this is that only other class that I made this type of picture for. They too have reached the end of a cycle of books, a much more challenging series call Super Goal. This is the highest level of children that I have taught in China. There’s a very different vibe in these class. Different, though just as enjoyable. It’s hard work preparing these classes, every week I learn something new about the world and how to teach.
I’ve been a member now for 2 and a half years, I finally took a couple of photos. It’s a nice, friendly place. There aren’t any foreigners but I don’t get any strange looks. I’m there twice a week and know lots of faces, though only one name! There’s a good mixture of people there, from hard core (we seemingly have to work to do) body builders, to house wives. Only this year did the add ear phone jacks to the TVs. Before that you had to endure the sounds of what your neighbour was watching, for me the lowest point was being surrounded by people watching the Chinese equivilant of Eurovision, with sing along as you run antics included.
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Copyright © 2012 Ray Murphy - All Rights Reserved |
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The Beijing Botanical Gardens are not very far from where I live. In fact, I live on the bus route. So there were now excuse for not going, except of course that it was sweltering hot and many of the flowers were dead. All the same you could still appreciate the beauty of nature from what flowers remained. The gardens open onto a small waterfall. The sound of water is very soothing, so it a nice way to start the walk around the flower beds.
