Five Countries, Four Weeks Pt. 1 "Introduction"

February in North America is a week of student reading, and a couple short holidays. However, after moving to China, February got a whole lot more interesting. As an overseas teacher a lot of the time spent during the school year is simultaneous tasking and back-to-back late nights planning and changing curriculum. When holidays arrive though, a traveller really learns how to make the most even out of a week.
In the first year as a teacher I had realized that the end game is to return to Canada at some point for the white picket fence and tire swing dream. I also realized though, until I return home permanently, I should make the most of every holiday.
I flew to China with a few other teachers who had also never been to China. We became good friends for the most part as the year progressed. Three of us were a bit closer though and this friendship turned into an ability to balance each other when travelling around Southeast Asia together for the long holiday. Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam were the five destinations we had chosen to visit in the duration of the four week holiday. The plan was comprised of the “30 countries before year 30” mentality of Kyle, “One shot, make it count” mentality of Jesse and the “Sounds good!” mentality of Myself. Although three is a great number to travel with, we did end up meeting with another teacher about half way through the trip who certainly made things interesting at times.
Travelling in China is interesting, cheap and absolutely amazing but it can get crowded during the holidays, not to mention transportation needs to be booked well in advance. Having the opportunity to work and live in China is amazing because travel is cheap and it is a central a hub for Asia and other areas. But as much as there is to see in China alone, there are a couple smaller holidays and weekends that a person can take the time to trip over to different areas. Take full advantage of the places and things you won’t find anywhere else.

We were living in Dalian (Liaoning Province of North-eastern China) and needed to fly to Singapore the first morning of the holiday. We arrived after several hours in the dark of the night to the beautiful and very diversely cultured Changi Airport. I had no idea what to expect but I knew we had signed up for different things and different reasons, one of mine being jungle trekking. So with only my backpack, which was pretty well full, I wore some of my larger clothes. Kyle and I were quite out of place as he looked like he was heading to the Middle East for international espionage with his beige pants and earth tone outfit. I looked like Vince Vaughn’s character from The Lost World (Second Jurassic Park movie for those who forgot). Jesse fit right in with his casual blue jeans and regular sneakers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Income Tax for Foriegners

To begin this, I'll sum up that if you are not necessarily interested in my own personal outlooks and views on things this is what you would like to see and get assitance with if you are an Expat in China who has no idea of how taxation works. http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2015/01/28/paying-foreign-employees-individual-income-tax.html For those of you who appreciate and looked forward to my "Feihua", here it is. I have been in China for four years now, just when I think I understand how things work-I'm wrong (or it changed). Regardless of what it is when you read this, it is this for the time being. Realistically it is not as bad as one may think it to be when comparing the tax process from here to other places such as in the Middle East. Again, the view is from an outsider of that culture and expat community, however it still seems to be a relatively  conversed and ranging topic of positives and negatives. The tax system in China has its benefits as wel...
Read more

大黑山 Big Black Mountain Hike (2014)

Smoggy day :( could be better but I have been trying to do this for far to long and I currently have the opportunity to do so. Seizing the day. Origin point jinshitan, qinggui to kaifaqu. Stopped in kaifaqu, heading to tong shi tai, it is the first stop of the smaller line that stems from kaifaqu station. When getting off the train in kaifaqu, walk to the railway to your right that has the next station sign pointing in the direction your train came from. Get on train. Get off the train and head down stairs, exit off the same way you entered the train. Once you punch out of the station, exit the right side of the building onto dongbei road, a short distance to your left you will see a curve I to the next street which is______ road, go down that road _____ a short distance ahead you will see a hard to notice bus stop, jump onto bus 4, take it till they kick you off. After you get kicked off you will be confused and around what looks to be a street market. Lots of places to get food and w...
Read more

Five countries, Four Weeks Pt.6 "Koh Phi Phi-Bangkok"

Koh Phi Phi was indeed a beautiful island, right from the moment we stepped off  the boat  till the second we got back on to leave. Again, everyone seems to be asking for a dollar here, a dollar there. It becomes regular yet annoying. The island itself is very small but so incredibly easy to get lost on. Every back alley takes you to the same main bays but how far down the bays you are is the tricky part of figuring out your location. We stayed at a shady looking guesthouse called “Oasis Guesthouse” which was not too expensive but certainly didn’t seem all that secure considering the windows were just glass panes and there seemed to be a gecko or two which were always running around. Kyle and I roomed together while Jesse and Krista were sharing a room. I mostly remember from the time spent in that room, Kyle telling me again and again “rather have geckos than anything else…” I looked at him as if he was getting ill. He continued to explain that geckos are two things, faster ...
Read more