Way back in January, I have made the habit of trying to make a few predictions for the year. In the past three years of blogging I have finished 9-2-2, 9-4-1, and 7-4-1, giving me a guide respectable 25-10-4 record. Did I build on it this year or has my Nostroglenus effect worn off?
Posts Tagged ‘china’
Six and a Half Events at the Guangzhou Asian Games – Part II
Monday, December 6th, 2010After the blast that was sepatakraw and field hockey, I knew that I needed more. The games were only around for two weeks, and when else would I get the chance? I mean, I don’t exactly have plans to move to London for 2012, or Rio for 2016. So I set out for more tickets, unavailability be damned!
November 20 – Football (aka Soccer)
After trips all over the metropolis, I decided to settle close to home. I knew that there was a football match at the Tianhe Sports Centre, a short walk away from my house. I had heard that most soccer tickets were pretty easy to get, unless China was playing of course. Just to prepare myself for the game, and to decide on a teach to cheer for, I checked out who was playing.
It was the Women’s Semi-final. Korea vs. Korea.
Six and a Half Events at the Guangzhou Asian Games: Part I
Friday, November 26th, 2010
Asian Games: Coming to a Super Nova Near You!
Note: I know things have been quiet/boring on this front…my apologies as usual. Here is a post from Lost Laowai that I just made about my trip to the Guangzhou Asian Games…enjoy!!!!
The 16th Asiad is winding down here in Guangzhou. I’ll be honest, first I was excited about the event, then angry at all the construction, then angrier that I couldn’t get tickets, then excited again, then confused, then hungry, and finally back to excited. Now I find myself sad that they will be ending soon, and plotting my trip to Korea for the 2014 version of the event! I was lucky enough to take in six and a half events over the past two weeks,.
For all the issues they had planning, and running this event. I can say from my own experiences as a spectator, it was fantastic, and the city and country should be pretty darned proud.
What experiences you ask? Well just read on to find out!
Live from GZ…
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010Just to let anyone out there who may be worried know, I’m alive and well on this side of the earth. It’s been a busy few days since my last post, but ultimately very rewarding and has me excited for the coming year(s).
It all started shortly after my last post, when I was at the Toronto Airport and I hear the ominous words come over the loudspeaker “Attention everyone, American Airlines Flight 4112 to Chicago has been canceled”. Needless to say, I wasn’t too thrilled about that.
I ran to the counter to see what they could do for me. I NEEDED to make that connection in order to catch the flight to Seoul and then to Guangzhou.
What’s Next
Saturday, July 24th, 2010In a few hours I hop on yet another plane. It never seems to end with me, does it? I’ll be on a 36 or so hour journey to my next new home in Guangzhou.
Yet again, I didn’t do all that I wanted to this summer, and yet again I missed seeing a lot of very important people to me. If you’re one of them, then I’m sorry, really I am. I missed seeing most of my friends and many of my family members this time. As usual I crammed too much stuff into not enough time and things kept popping up left, right, and centre.
But I am very excited to head to a new school and start a new life in a new place. Guangzhou is by all accounts a very happening city that I think will suit me well. In the two times that I have been there it seems like an exciting place full of energy and enthusiasm. If that isn’t enough, Hong Kong, the coolest city on the planet, is a short train ride away.
As for what I’ll be doing: I will continue to teach High School Math at an International School. In addition though, I will be taking on a new class for me, Theory of Knowledge. This is the course that is designed to bring all of the subjects together a bit, and runs like a Philosophy class. I am pretty exciting for that. Also, I do plan on setting up a class blog for that, so I’ll be sure to post some links to that around here somewhere.
As always, should any of you happen to be in the area, please drop me a line (preferably not on Facebook as it tends to be blocked). I’d love to meet up and/or hang out.
Hope to see you soon,
Until next time,
G
I Never Win Anything…
Thursday, February 4th, 2010Pardon me for buzzing a bit but I’m a wee bit excited. See I never win anything and tonight I did.
Tonight was my school’s Chinese New Year banquet and there were a series of door prizes. They early roudns ranged from hand towels to cooking wear even to travel vouchers. But I won the grand prize…and I’ve named it Phil.
At the grand finale of the evening they drew one last name for a prize, and I won. I never win anything, except for tonight. I won a Philips 32 Inch LCD TV.
I was so excited that I ran up and gave my head of school a hug, then I lifted her up a good 3 feet into the air. Then I picked up Phil and gave him a kiss (he’s in a box, so there’s protection). I was so excited that my hand slipped, and I felt him start to tumble from my grasp.
Thankfully I was able to reach my hand back and nab him just before he hit the ground. That would have been embarassing.
I have nothing else to add right now, I’m more excited that anything. Here’s a Google image result of Phil.
Tropical Paradise Not Included
To make things even funnier, I was a few hours late to the dinner, as I was coaching Middle School Floor Hockey, so I had to give my ticket to Elvina to put it into the raffle. To make it even funnier, last year she won plane tickets to Qingdao. Luckily she took me with her. I figure it’s fair now, I’ll let her watch my TV. To make things even funnier still, I found out that my head of school (remember the one that I lifted into the air) has a hurt ankle..oops. If she’s hurt, she can always come over and watch my TV.
Until next time,
G
Predicting 2010
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010In a growing tradition of my cyber life, I am going to take the time to make some guaranteed predictions for 2010…
Totally a Level 7 Divination Spell
China in a Rice Shell
Saturday, October 31st, 2009Hi all, for my first official post in my new home I thought I would share some thoughts I have on my actual new home, China. This is a post I made earlier in the month for my one-time travel buddy Celine in an attempt to give an overview of this strange country that I now call home.
t’s hard to turn on the TV or open a paper without reading something about China. The questionable human rights record, the Beijing Olympics or Shanghai Expo, and of course the fastest economic growth in the history of civilization. There is so much information on this country floating out there its hard to tell what the truth is.
The fact is, I don’t know either. This is not a country with easy answers. It is modernizing rapidly but has perhaps the longest history in the world. It has some of the world’s largest cities, but still has a small town feel. It can feel crowded or incredibly empty. There really is only one way to describe China, the world’s largest contradiction. At moments the country makes you want to bang your head against the wall, but at sometimes it gives you a sense of calming and fulfillment that you can only truly get being far away from home. The real joy of China is finding your own ways to see the contradictions.
If you aren’t sure where to start to look, here are the nice places and experiences that should help grant a bit of clarity into what China is all about.
