First week back at work since Golden week

Well the first week back at work after the Golden week holiday went quickly,forgot to say in my previous post during the Golden week I had a foot massage which was a first for me.
Never before having had a foot massage it was incredible my feet felt renewed after the experience lasted 1 1/2 hours and including having my nails clipped cost 60 rmb which is approx £5.00 superb value for money and I cant recommend it highly enough.

Also before returning to work went with my work colleague for a hair cut which cost 8rmb and included having my hair washed and a head massage so all that for approx 70 pence unbelievable I used to pay £7.50 minimum for a hair cut. So one tenth of the cost and a more than reasonable haircut.

During the week the IT Manager wanted to visit his old university in Wuhu so on Wednesday we jumped in a taxi and heading to the university.
The university has a corner called English corner where students go to practice speaking English to people who have English as there first language which in theory means me complete with slight Geordie accent and an ability to talk very fast not a good combination.

In previous weeks I had met 2 English teachers from the UK called Rick & Steven who teach in Wuhu. So at 8.00 pm I am deposited at English corner by my colleague,However it soon becomes apparent I am the only English speaker there and am soon mobbed by lots of people who want to talk.
One young freshman girl asked questions for about 45 minutes as no one else seemed to want to ask me anything.
Thankfully Rick and Stephen appeared and my group of people became more manageable and easier to talk to which was then more enjoyable. We stayed till approx 10.15 and I repeated the process on Friday evening with my boss his wife and their baby this time we were the only English speakers so we had a fairly large crowd some of whom I had met on Wednesday.
I will definitely go again but perhaps only once per week possibly Wednesday as we normally have a meal and activity on Friday after work and I feel that i am also learning to speak more slowly which is good for me to practice.

On the subject of Friday meal and activity this week it was decided to move that to Saturday so we could visit a Mongolian Restaurant for a meal and then we could fish in the lakes.
Saturday we all met up at the Mongolian restaurant which comprises of small tent type areas to sit inside and eat the pictures show it better than I can describe apparently they are authentic and from Mongolia Have to say i cant comment on the authenticity but the food was good and it was an enjoyable experience.
We then move on to the fishing and armed with 3 rods and some live worms we start fishing after a while I come to the conclusion that I do not have the patience required for fishing and I pass my rod on to someone else.
Nett result of all our combined fishing activity one small fish and one shrimp caught not sure that counts but any way it was a good day and an opportunity to try some new experiences, which is one of the reasons I came to China so all in all a successful day.
All the pictures mentioned in my post can be found by following the link on my Blog.

Pictures

Finally managed to add some photos.
Will add some more over the next few weeks

Office view

Golden week holiday

For the uneducated IE me and all non residents China has an autumn break called Golden week and nearly all the country has a holiday for 7 days.
Nett result big queues for train tickets and the streets are very busy did try to take a photo of walking street in Wuhu to try and capture how busy it was but not sure i quite captured the overall crowded chaos of lots and lots of people in one place all trying to shop for the bargains in the stores who offer discounts up to 80%.

My week was fairly uneventful wandered down to new park on the side of the Yangtze river which is nearly complete now and looks great and is very nice and if I ever manage to get the photos linked to this blog then you can see what I mean. There is an old tower and in the back ground a new building in the shape of a sail (shades of dubai just not so large).

Also earlier in the week went to Zhe Shan Park which has small amusement park a zoo and is next to the Guangji buddhist temple, spent a pleasant afternoon walking around the park and did go up on the Ferris Wheel for the bargain price of 10 rmb again did take some photos and next time plan to properly explore the buuddhist temple.

Towards the end of the week went to Nanjing by bus on Friday with my boss and his wife without who's help I don't think I would have managed the trip by myself they really took good care of me.
Had a good day in Nanjing did some shopping managed to buy 3 new shirts in my size ( don't think many shops stock larger sizes) which isn't surprising because how many 6ft English people are going to wander in through the doors of your shop in Wuhu or anywhere else for that matter.
We came back by train which was also an experience don't think I've ever seen such a large facade as the train station in Nanjing very impressive very busy but easy to navigate.

So apart from some typical English weather on Saturday ie it rained very hard and lasted most of the afternoon and evening that was my week off which seemed to fly by (doesn't it always) Also through the week had a meal and met one American teacher and his wife and two Chinese teachers for lunch so extended the people i know beyond work.

Next week back to work and during the week I have my first lesson in learning Chinese wish me luck.

Random pictures of view from office window

Hello from China

Well I made to China in one piece must say the economy class on swiss air was top class can highly recommend it
However the taxi journey from Shanghai airport to was an eye opener the only rule seems to be not to hit each other
and sound your horn at every chance you get.
So following a 14hr journey by plane and just over an hour by taxi I am then deposited at the bus station for my 6 hour journey
to Wuhu me and 36 curious chinese passengers. The bus stopped only once for 15 minutes at a roadside cafe (have to admit I didnt feel
brave enough to try anything)
Then on to Wuhu and to be met by 2 of my colleagues for the taxi journey into Wuhu which I was told
was a small city in Anhui province its a massive busy city to me but full of live and very crowded.

So on to my appartment 6th floor no lift so start of my healthier life deposit my bags and then attempt to get some
sleep but after 1 hour give up get showered changed and head out to get taxi to office armed with the address in chinese
and no idea where i am going.
Am introduced to all the staff and attend the friday staff meeting then we all go out for meal and activity which we apparently they do
every friday night which the company pays for activities include ten pin bowling /pool/ ping pong/ and wait for it KTV or karokee to
the likes of me.

My first weeekend was spend just finding my feet a little and getting settled in the Monday was a public holiday called Moon Festival
so on Sunday I was invited to go for a meal at some of the staff appt which was very nice.

My first week at work was mostly induction and training but on Staurday morning I was at a Job Fair attended by recent graduates very very busy
and noisy. Then on to meeting with my chinese language teacher (does she have any idea the task facing her) I currently know one chinese word
so a lot to learn.

Observations of my first 10 days in China

1/ Western people are rare so attract a lot of attention

2/ Crossing the road is a challenge

3/ Food is very very cheap and mostly very good and varied you can eat out twice a day for under £5.00

4/ Taxis if you need them cost 5rmb (apprx 45 pence ) for up to 2.5 klm and no tip required or expected

5/ dVDS CDS are about £1.00 each

6/ Random people will say hello but sometimes thats all they can say in english

7/ Weather is hot 35 during day drops to a chilly 25 at night

8/ Mcdonalds KFC and Pizza hut are expensive by local standards havent tried them yet so cant comment on quality.

9/ People are very friendly and welcoming and keen to talk to you.

Have to say I am absolutely loving it here

48 Hours to go

Cannot believe how much last minute stuff i need to do but given the finite time scale well it all needs to be completed.

Fly from Manchester on Thursday morning to Zurich then Zurich to Shanghai so not too bad only one change
the other option suggested was Manchester to Heathrow to Bejing to Shanghai obviously some one with a sense of humour, Glad the more direct option was booked.

Will be in Shanghai at 06.35 Friday morning then need to get to Wuhu, Not sure yet if it is by train or bus but by then i will be sleep deficient so cant say i am that bothered which option just get me there!!

Also my baggage allowance is an unbelievable 20kgs so i have had to pack some of my stuff to be sent by sea freight at least its cheaper than the 50 euro per kg charge for excess baggage it only cost £50.00 to send 30kg by sea freight so if they don't make off into the sunset with my case its a bargain.

So bar any last minute things everything seems organised hope to post more when i am in Wuhu but not sure what the Internet connection is like, although i do know my apartment is on the
6th floor with no lift start of me exercise regime. Will have to get more organised not making that trip too many times unnecessarily.