Return to Yinchuan

The end of the Hong Kong trip was great! We wanted to go up the mountain and see the Big Buddha statue. We were able to go up the mountain on a cable car. It was the most amazing view. The cable car went over the harbor and up the mountain. The buddha statue was impressive, and the weather was great. In the evening, we went to an outdoor electronics market. Each stall had different types of electronics, and were all reasonably priced.

When we got back to Yinchuan, it was back to work. Since the term is over, we have been passing out flyers in major parts of town. Many of the old foreign teachers have left as their contracts have ended. Now, there are new foreign teachers arriving in Yinchuan for the new term. It starts this weekend, and I'll have a full schedule again. I am looking forward to being on the weekend shift. That means I will work full days on the weekend, and then a few hours during the week doing either adult classes or classes called PCs. The PC class is for kids around 6 or 7 years old. The parents also sit in the class while we teach. I'm looking forward to having more than a few classes.

The day that we got back from Hong Kong, the parents of one of my students invited me out for my student's birthday dinner. As our class was ending, we had a parents meeting. Brant's mom told me that she thought her daughter's English had improved considerably and invited me and the Chinese teacher in class, Liza, out to dinner. She also invited Kenny. We showed up at the restaurant, and it was magnificent. We had hotpot, and the food was amazing. Brant had a lot of fun at the dinner, and she liked showing me the different types of food. After the dinner, Brant's parents and their friends kept offering us drinks, which we refused. However, when the father found out that Kenny was a cop in the US, he demanded we drink with his a little. His friends were also police officers, so we had a great time drinking.

On Tuesday, we moved out of our old apartment. The apartment we were in was comparatively terrible compared to the other ones the school provides. So as the other teachers were leaving Yinchuan, we asked to be moved. Our new apartment is much nicer. It is newer, bigger, and there is a lot more natural light. All in all, we are quite pleased with the new apartment.

I uploaded a few photos from the trip to Hong Kong. It is much easier to upload pictures onto the site than videos.

Kenny drinking at the birthday party with Brant's family.

Sorry, I don't know how to rotate the photos on this site. But I'm sure you can still see the pictures.

More drinking at the birthday party.

Our delicious hotpot dinner.

Brant cutting her birthday cake.

My student, Brant. She turned 13.

The Chinese teacher in class, Liza.

We found the AICPA meeting in Hong Kong! I couldn't believe it!

Great picture of the "Modern Monk" at the Big Buddha statue.

Kenny and me at the Big Buddha statue.

The statue.

Kenny on top of the mountain, when we were seeing the statue.

Me on top of the mountain.

Smaller statue outside of the Big Buddha.

Another statue.

Picture of the statue from below.

And from further below.

Me with the sign pointing to NYC. We are quite far from home!

Kenny next to the sign.

We found crazy Mountain Dew on top of the mountain. The first time we've had Mountain Dew!

And Kenny.

The town next to the statue. A nice little shopping area. I wish we had more time to look around.

The statue in the distance from the cable car.

A great view from the cable car.

Me in the cable car. Not too afraid of heights...

Kenny in the car.

A great view from the cable car.

The cable car behind us. Pretty cool.

Nice view of the harbor.

View from the outside hotel bar on the 28th floor. They made a great gin and tonic.

The bar again.

Our boat tour of the harbor. What a great skyline. I think Kenny believes we're on Titanic.

Kenny in front of the Hong Kong skyline.

Me in front of the skyline.

Great view again.

If you look at Kenny's shirt you can tell its pretty windy out there.

A Guinness for Kenny and Pirate Beer for me, on the cruise.


The skyline from the dock.

My class on the last day. They were a great group of kids.

My student, Charlie, wearing the "dunce cap" wig.

Charlie without the dunce cap.

Peter and Linda looking attentive.

Cathy and Brant before class is starting.