Wu Xi and big fat statues

So I got a new camera! Its awesome, and the following pictures were taken with it. It's snazzy and jazzy, and it looks like thisThis weekend I took the new camera with me to Wu Xi (pr. 'woo - she') for a nice little trip. Wu Xi is about 2 hours away on Tai Hu Lake. It's a small city with A LOT of people. I went with Jim and Claudia (from Austria). The first thing we did when we got there was GET SOME FOOD! I was starving, and hadn't eaten all morning. We caught the bus at 7, so I was up around 5:30 getting ready.... getting ready did not include breakfast on that particular morning. So we met up with Claudia because she was already there, and then we got some food at a crappy little Italian place. We chose Italian because in Changxing, all you get is Chinese food... not to complain!! I mean I love the food here, but I've eaten more noodles and veggies, and dumplings, and mystery meat in the past 3 weeks than I have my entire life maybe....again, not complaining! We just wanted some variation for the trip.

After we ate we found boat rides to nearby the Fairey Islands. There are some Taoist temples there and other tourist traps. However, the landscape was beautiful, and there was a nice little walking path that went around the whole island. The temple is still in use, and you could pay money to pray to a huge deity (maybe Lao-Tse, the founder), and around 15Yuan to ring a huge bell. I didn't do either... but I still think I got the most for my money. OK, so the pictures...

On the road to Wu Xi in the bus. Nothing too exciting... just a lot of hills in these parts.

On the bus.

Map of the Fairey Islands....I'm actually blocking the spot where we spent most of our time. You'll Notice that I'm lookin a bit sleepy in these pictures....I apologize but I was on about 4 hours of sleep for the day. I CRASHED at my hotel room..... to say the least...

A very large temple on a very large hill. You see a lot of these around; kind of randomly placed atop some big hills.

This is the three of us on the boat ride to the islands. It was kinda windy and hazy out that morning. It kinda cleared up... but it wasn't the most beautiful and sunny day .

People on the boat.

This guy was hammin' it up for the cameras.

A cool looking boat that was docked at the island.

Cool view of a lighthouse and some hills. The views were great.

These people were very excited to be standing next to some foreigners. Super nice people... and a pretty adorable little lady I must say.

More scenes of the hills as we approached the Island.

A bridge that we crossed from the boats... pretty nice looking.On the bridge.

A traditional looking building as we were walking to the temple.

Some folks lighting candles. This is a very common ritual that you'll see at most temples.Insense burning for the same reason.Some statues inside the temple. The lower one is the size of the tall temple itself... about 5 stories high. Pretty cool.

Nice view of the temple.

And then we walked down to this park area.

Most of this stuff is not actual stone, but sculpted concrete instead. None-the-less it was still pretty to look at... and very big.

I know this picture is sideways.... but this was a huge statue in the park area. Lao Tse, I think after doing some research on Taoism. He is an old man here.... oh and big too.


Some postcard shots! I should be makin' some money for this!
This was about the 5th group of people this day that wanted their picture taken with the foreigners. I'm a good sport!! Plus I got them to give the popular Sheridan Thumbs Way Up shot... can't beat that!

Cool little shot of the water mill... not an original mill, but still nice looking.

I just walked this whole hill..... on 4 hours of sleep.... I was beat. So...
Time to get back on the boat to hit the old dusty trail....

Or just the hazy trail... Goodbye Fairey Islands!

View of Wu Xi from my hotel room. Most of what you see in the distance is appartments...

Walking around the markets the next day.

A back alley where they were selling knock off art.... this was the older part of town tho. I liked it here.

They were selling a lof of plants and veggies in this part of town. If I were closer to home I'd probably buy some stuff...
Headin' back to Changxing!

So the blog is back in business now that I have a new camera. I will update soon. I want to do some hiking in the hills soon. The weather is begining to warm up, and the winds are no longer freezing cold....so I plan to do some more outside stuff. Not that I haven't already... but you know what I mean.

Until next time... everyone be good. Miss you guys back home!

History repeats itself....in China

So yesterday I went to an awesome school about 20 minutes away on Lake Taihu. Lake Taihu is pretty polluted, but the views at this spot are of the best I've seen yet. It was a school that also trains its students in Kung Fu; and we got to see a lot of the students practicing their technique. One student who was 17, weilding a sword, was outstanding to watch. Another student, who may have been 7 or 8, was doing things with his body that would possibly put me in a bed for a few days. The school was nestled into some big green hills, facing east with a perfect view of Lake Taihu.... so I got a ton of good pictures.

HOWEVER....

My camera seemed to have slipped out of my pocket on the taxi ride home....thus i lost not only my camera, but also some pretty awesome pictures of the landscape, some students that we were able to watch and speak to, and 3 movies of kids doing pretty amazing stuff...with no strings attached. I am bummed to say the least. Today I will buy a new camera, and then I will go back for more pictures in the future...maybe a month or so. I need to show people this place. Everything was very traditional, the view was great, the people were friendly, the students were eager to meet us..... all in all it was a pretty cool trip. I hope to show you all soon enough!

My first picture!

So today I officially started teaching. In my 2nd class I recieved the following little picture from one of my students. Her name is Alice, and she is in 4th grade. On the back it reads:
"Holle, Eric, My name is Alice, My chinese name is (I dont know the characters, sorry!), I like you!" This is easily one of the top 5 cutest things I've ever seen...

Hangzhou (pr. 'hung-joe') and stuff

So I'm in China! I live in Changxing located in the Zhejiang Province. It is one of the cleanest and most beautiful provinces in China. Changxing (pr. 'Chung-shing) is no exception. I will be writing in my blog from time to time to upload photos so that all of my friends and family can see how I'm doing, and I can update them on any going-on's from across the pond. In my first post I will briefly touch on some photos I took after initially arriving to China, and then I have many pictures from my trip to Hangzhou yesterday (3/10), which is a great place!

So here are some pictures!

This is a picture from my 14.5 hour flight! At this point we were directly over the North Pole. It was a cool view from the plane. I could see ice bergs and whatnot.

This is Edward (Mr. Qien (pr: chi-en)). Don't let him fool you.... he's quite the jokster! Full of piss and vinegar... Edward has been THE biggest help for me. He is my assistant, and has made me feel right at home in this whole new city, in this whole new land, and with this whole new culture. My first night he took me to the Sauna to spend some time in the steam room and get a foot massage afterwards (which was like a pedicure and a foot massage.... oh yea for FREE). There will be more about this rascal to come... I promise.


The following pictures are from my trip yesterday to Hangzhou. As I mentioned, Hangzhou is an absolutely beautiful city. It kinda reminded me of Toronto (aside from the ducks and eels hanging in some of the windows). It was very clean, and had many people talking in an odd language (ohhhh Canada!). The people in Hangzhou were very friendly, and very curious about the foreigners. The first picture is a quick picture of West Lake. West Lake is considered to be one of the most beautiful lakes in all of China. It is nestled into some mountains and hills that are not very developed. There are a few temples that sit on top of the mountains whose silouettes you can barely make out (due to the fog yesterday), but they are very large, and very old.
These boats were something like a dinner boat. There were only a few oot and aboot, but they seemed like a nice time for the end of May, when a special someone comes out to visit!
This was a pagoda whose floor was very near to the water level.... this would be cool looking if the water level was just about even...
More from the boats... i liked the looks of these guys.... I promise I will stop talking about the boats...
This is not a real woman, but simply a bronze statue of a woman floating in a little boat.....which, again, I thought was pretty cool looking. They have a lot of figures like this in the water... even in Changxing where I live.
TONS of people EVERYWHERE!! If you count all of the people in this picture I will send you a Chinese Snickers! or an eel!
Springtime willow trees.... they were everywhere. Willow trees are of my favorite trees... wait til early summer when these puppies are in full bloom.... can't wait to come back to see that...

These are stone tablets that are carved out to tell a story of the village. I think they are old, but the plaque was in Chinese characters.... and I know 0 (zero) of the characters. At the end of the story there was an emphasis on tea. So I think the story has a happy ending....lets hope so!
BTW.... Hangzhou has THE best green tea leaves in all of China. It's a fact. It is called Dragon Well Tea.... I didn't have any because I ruined my appetite with ice cream (sorry mom!)....and because it is very expensive. Maybe next time!
Pretty trees.... I have a feeling that these were some sort of Magnolia tree or something.... very nice looking.

This was the entrance to an old village that stood here on the water in Hangzhou. It was a very prosperous village during the Song Dynasty (a long time ago). The village is behind me of course...
A goldfish pond at the entrance of the village...
Tilt your head to the left!!!.......The pond on the oppisite side.
Same pond...This is the door to the gates. There would have been guards here protecting the village. Kinda like Buffalo's toll boothes!
Inside the gates. This is the year of the Pig, so there are very animated Pig statues all over China. These pigs are made of fruits and nuts and corn cobs (other things I'm sure).
More inside the village walls...
Another building with gorgeous flowers....inside the walls.


A garden in the back of the village. There was a well located here I believe...
Cool looking picture.... I'm assuming of a leader of some sort. This was in the Emperor's bulding. Also the worship house...
Old painting of the village. I love this art syle...
Pagoda with traditional architeture.
The stage in the village. I'm assuming where their entertainment and political gatherings would have been held.
Train ride home with the crew. The guy on the right is a friend of Jenny (yellow shirt), he knew a lot about European Geography. He was a cool dude.
Girl and mother sitting across from me...
I was very tired, and was feeling grizzly after walking all day.

Goodbye Hangzhou!This is my new ride (for the time being anyways) Jim (new American friend) is letting me use it for a little while, as he just bought a new one..... I may buy it so I can get around easier (my girl's bike is just not seeing the street with me on it....sorry bike)... Not sure if I wanna spend the money tho.... We'll see.

More to come. Thanks for reading!

Mr. Eric