A time to be remembered
By daeckardt
@daeckardt (6237)
United States
February 11, 2011 1:08pm CST
My second year teaching in China, I had moved to a different city than I was at my first year. I got to know the other foreign teachers there a lot better. I guess it had to do with the fact that I wasn't around anyone I knew. The first year, my brother and nephew were there so I didn't feel comfortable being myself.
There was an older couple who were Canadian-American and they were very much into traveling. We planned a trip for the national day holiday (a week in October) and we went to Guilin. I stayed at a different hotel than they did, but we met up every morning and did things together. Unfortunately, I don't have any of my old pictures any more as the computer they were saved on crashed some time ago and I don't have them anywhere else 
. There were a lot of interesting things to see and places to go. There was one place in the hills where we hiked for quite a while (they were walking away from me even though they were 15 years older than me). Seeing how the people lived up there was pretty incredible. And the growing technique for the tea was so different from what I had seen before. If anyone can better describe this are for people, please do so. I know I have not done justice to it.
. There were a lot of interesting things to see and places to go. There was one place in the hills where we hiked for quite a while (they were walking away from me even though they were 15 years older than me). Seeing how the people lived up there was pretty incredible. And the growing technique for the tea was so different from what I had seen before. If anyone can better describe this are for people, please do so. I know I have not done justice to it.3 people like this
7 responses
@margeryann (1845)
• United States
12 Feb 11
Pretty cool! It sounds like you had lots of good times in China and met some real nice people. To bad that you lost your pictures. I know how that feels. The tea situation sounds pretty neat. I've never been out of the United States.
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
12 Feb 11
Actually, I was never outside of the United States prior to 2006. It took my brother 8 years to talk me into making "the big leap" after I started getting fed up with my life at the time. The biggest problems I had that led me to looking for the job was not being able to keep up on my bills even though I was working two jobs. When I was over there, I was able to work 20 hours a week or less and get the Chinese equivalent of about $700/month plus a place to stay. Now I try to get people interested in making the trip themselves if they qualify.
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
25 Jul 11
I really liked being able to work short hours. Most Chinese get by on less than 1000RMB/month or 1/5 of what I was making. It is cheap to live there as long as you don't go looking for western foods.
@margeryann (1845)
• United States
13 Feb 11
Sounds pretty cool. The cost of living is probably cheaper there too to make $700 go further. That is cool that you didn't have to pay for a place to stay out of that $700.20 hours isn't much hours to have to work. I bet you have lots of good stories to tell your friends that has never been there.
1 person likes this
@captinjack (788)
• China
12 Feb 11
Guilin ,huh ? It is really a beautiful place .Even though i was born in China ,i have never been there so far .As a man living in the north of China ,i am jealous of people inhabiting warm and clean places ,which mostly exist in the south of China .When i start off to work and live on myself ,i am definitely gonna go to Guilin and scenary cities .
1 person likes this
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
25 Jul 11
I wound up leaving China in January and I probably won't be back. I had to return to the states for medical treatment and although I am done with the chemo, the original problem is still there because they couldn't fix it because of the cancer. My doctor said that she didn't want to do any kind of surgery for at least 6 months. Maybe next fall I can try again. I don't know that I could handle being outside if it is below freezing, but at least you have heat inside so I could deal with that better than being cold all the time whether inside or out.
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
12 Feb 11
I agree it is beautiful. In some ways, I wish I had been living in the north of China. In the winter I am jealous of people who lived in the north because (at least I have heard) they have central heating. In the south, there is no heating in most cases. In my apartment, there was an air conditioner that doubled as a heater, but because of poor insulation the apartment was always cold. I hated going to the classrooms because there was no heating and students also didn't have heating in their dorms. People lived in their winter coats from the time it started getting cool until it warmed up. Hopefully you will be able to see some of the scenic cities of your country!
@captinjack (788)
• China
19 Jul 11
Yeah,it is really not very comfortable to live in the south of China in summer and winter .My elder sister and her husband are now working in JiaXing ,ZheJiang province .Since both of them are born in the north of China ,it takes them a pretty long period to get accustomed to the climate there .As you said ,compared to the north of China ,the south is not very cold in winter .However ,people in the north fire their stoves when it is chilling ,which is not available in south .It is even worse when it comes to summer .The north is cool and dry but the south is adverse ,becoming scorching and moist ,which can make people from the north sick .Hope you can get used to it !
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36445)
• United States
25 Jul 11
Being able to travel abroad like this would be quite interesting and Fun. I know that unless a miracle happens, this is not something I can see happening, but it would be nice. There are so many different sites and such that are interesting to check out when you travel that the common person gets accustomed too, but are worth it in your memory for many many yrs. to come.
1 person likes this
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
25 Jul 11
I may not be able to afford to go to China again, but I might go to Mexico of somewhere else that is not too far. I would like to still see new things and if I heard right, you can fly to parts of Mexico for about $400 rt. I don't know how accurate that is, but that would be more in my range since it was about $1500 for the rt that I came home on. I just hope that I can use the ticket to go somewhere. Thanks for the response.
@GardenGerty (162836)
• United States
12 Feb 11
It is sad to have lost the pictures, but you have not lost the memories. I hope others from China or who have traveled there will visit your discussion. I have a friend whose daughter is teaching English somewhere in China this year. She was unable to get a teaching position in her field in the state. I guess she is enjoying it but I have not seen any pictures.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (162836)
• United States
12 Feb 11
I believe it is a language school, but I am not sure. How did you come to be teaching in China, and your brother and nephew as well?
1 person likes this
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
12 Feb 11
When my brother was in Law school, he did a class (international law perhaps?) somewhere in China (perhaps Shenzhen). After that, he looked into Taiwan and taught there for years. He eventually married a woman from there. He had worked in a variety of settings, but has always said that the university level was the best and that kindergartens are worst (at least if you are older).
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
12 Feb 11
You are right. The memories are more important than the pictures. I just wish I could express the beauty that I saw in some of the places that I visited. What age of students does she teach? Is it a public school or a language school? How does she like it? I am always curious about other people's experience in that area. Have a great day!
1 person likes this
@ladym33 (10979)
• United States
14 Feb 11
Sounds like an amazing experience. It is wonderful that you got to go their and learn about their culture. That is something I will likely not experience in my life time. I do hope to go there some day but it will be a visit and I am sure I will not get to experience being immurssed in the culture. So you have had a very unique and amazing experience.
1 person likes this
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
14 Feb 11
Believe me, I thought I never would have done that either before I went there the first time. I was always afraid to try new things. I had the advantage of being single with no responsibilities except for myself so it was easy to make the jump when things went sour with my job. I hope to be in good enough shape to travel again within the year. Have a great day!
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
11 Feb 11
Do you have any pictures from there? I wish I had some of mine, but they all got lost over time. I remember going on the boat down the river to Yangshou (I don't know how it is spelled but it is a backpacker paradise I am told). That river ride was memorable and I remember them pointing out the mountain that is on the picture on the back of one of the denominations of money (20 RMB I think). Have a great day!
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
12 Feb 11
Lucifa,
Thanks for the response! It would be nice to be able to recover at least some of the pictures (I think I might have a few in facebook or something, but I had over 600 on the computer). I really hope that more people would be able to share similar experiences. Have a great day!
