Wednesday 23 October 2013

60. The final post for now. About Beijing and a big great list.


So I’m coming to the end of my time here in China. It’s been fantastic. A great learning curve which in the most part came through teaching. I still though felt that no journey to China would be complete without visiting the Great Wall. On Monday I finally got to tick it off as I spent a few days in Beijing. Here are a few things I noticed that were different about Shanghai and the capital, Beijing.


How Beijing is different to Shanghai.


The clouds were denser and greyer. The air quality was much worse.

There are many more historical/cultural sights to go and appreciate.

You have to walk a lot more. The streets are huge. The space at the sights were huge- Temple of Heaven, The Summer Palace and of course the Great Wall, all took up a huge amount of area.

People actually use 5 Mao notes, the equivalent of 0.5p.

The tourists are a lot more noticeable. Maybe because I was one of them but you actually experienced scam artists trying their stuff with you.


Ok so not the most flattering list for Beijing, but I suppose my best experiences in China were had in Shanghai, so that is where the hear lies. Here then is a list of things done since being in China.



School


12 different schools taught at or helped cover. They were JQM, EYA1, EYA2, YAH, FDM, LDM, YYLK, Changning Shane, two Kindergarten covers, one Hongqiao cover with Tom and a Zhongshan Park cover in my second week.

46- the most amount of kids in one class (EYA1-third class. Also one of my favourites)

14- the least amount of kids in one class (FDM Wednesday last period, they did have a boy named Superman though)

4 private students:- Bobby, Yuk, Katie and Zheng Lai.

3- times the sticky ball has gone out the window

1 the amount of times a kid has cried in my lesson, the amount of times I’ve yanked some kids table right to the front in anger at them, the amount of times I’ve confiscated pot noodles, the amount of times a kid has pissed in class (it was Kindergarten though).


Social


5 the number of live shows I’ve enjoyed (Questlove, DJ Casper, a Danish Heavy metal band, Japandroids and a DJ set from a guy from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs).

3 Table Football Finals. Only one did we win.

10 RMB cheapest drink bought in a bar. (Tsingtao in Perry’s/Ellens’s)
90 RMB most expensive drink bought in a bar (Cocktails at the top of the Radisson Blu on the second night)

Out and About


19 massages had over the course of the year. The Chinese massage being the most effective.

146- Highest score in the three times I’ve gone bowling.

7 the number of Challenges I ended up completing in the Challenges blog post.

2 times I visited the Shanghai Circus. The best entertainment in Shnghai.

Living


43 seconds it took to reach our floor via the lift.

4 times I ran the whole way up the flight of stairs to the 31st floor for exercise.

3 guests I’ve hosted and have slept over in the flat.

6 new TV shows I’ve gotten into or finished ( Seinfeld, Game of Thrones, Curb your Enthusiam, The Wire, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead)

300 RMB we paid overall for the sofa. A wise investment.

Sport


8 different types of sports I’ve played competitively this year:- Rugby, Football, Badminton, Basketball, Table Tennis, Tennis, Golf and TRI.

3 days where golf has played a part. Watched Shanghai Golf Masters, courtesy round of golf at the Binghai and then practicing in the Hongkou stadium.

2- Rugby tours. Many beers drunk.

1- number of World Championships I’ve represented England in. Boom!
  

Dating


204 number of views the first Dating blog post got. The most by an absolute mile!

12 girls taken on dates this year. Productive!

58% Chinese. Naturally.

4 girls taken on second dates this year. 

25% Chinese. Naturally.

Date venues:- Shopping Centre, The Docks, 7 x Restaurant, KTV, Cinema, 2x Park, Art exhibition, Heavy Metal Gig, Bowling, 2 day trip to the Beach, 1984 coffee shop, Skating, Shanghai Botanical Gardens...

Travel


6 cities visited outside of Shanghai (Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shenjiamen, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Beijing).

1852 photo’s in the China album in iPhoto.


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Will upload some photo's and edit it further soon but now I must run! England tomorrow

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