I have been feeling restless lately because I’ve
felt a little too idle for my liking. I like a fast pace and I like to keep myself
busy with different kinds of projects on the go. I have been reading a lot more
lately (I’m finally reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy), but I’m feeling
this is not enough. Alethea and I went to Shenzhen and Macau last weekend and
it was fantastic! I will tell you more about it below, but I really am feeling
like I need to get out and do more or at least try to explore Chenzhou more
while I am here too. Today marks our 5 month anniversary of being here, which
means we have about 2 ½ - 3 months left of teaching. This is crazy to me and
even though I have done so much I am feeling more pressure to get out and do
more things before my time here is over. In many ways I have challenged myself
in moving to China, and in other ways I feel I could have challenged myself a
lot more. I have a checklist of things I want to complete and I’m feeling the
time ticking away before I come back to Canada.
As I said, Alethea and I went to Shenzhen and Macau
for a few days. The students had exams and since we don’t have to teach for
those days we ended up having almost 5 days off. There is not a whole lot of
sightseeing to do in Shenzhen, but we did indulge in some of the foods we have
been missing from home – cheese, pasta, salt and vinegar chips, and sushi to
name a few... yum! The sushi bar we went to for our last dinner was amazing and
was the conveyor belt style where you can choose what you want and tally it up
at the end. Very cool! We did a bit of shopping around at the markets and I got
a bit more of my souvenirs/gifts for family while I was there. I can’t get over
how awesome the markets are around China and I’m definitely going to miss that
when I go home. It’s such a rush with a million people yelling at you to buy
their products and then finally scoring a good deal that you would never find
in a shopping mall.
Macau was a really cool place and one of my
favourites that I’ve visited here in China. Like Hong Kong, it is technically
part of China, but you still need to go through customs and show your passport
to get in. It’s basically like the Vegas of China and there are tons of casinos
and things to see. Apparently the casinos here actually bring in more revenue
than in Vegas (although maybe not surprising having such a large population in
China). We also visited some older churches, gardens, Macau Tower, and just
walked around soaking in the atmosphere. It was colonized by Portugal a while
ago and became a part of China again pretty recently so there is a great deal
of Portuguese influence – you can see this all around you in the buildings,
sidewalks, and people that are there.
The Venetian - hotel and casino with many shops made to look and feel just like Venice.
Up in Macau Tower.. with my new boots bought at the market!
Walking around Macau. (Left: Senado Square; and right: Ruins of St Paul's)
Hanging out under a giant banyan tree
In going to these places I really can see that I
don’t want to just sit on my butt waiting out the time until I go home. It’s
expensive to get around sometimes, but I don’t have to go far to do something
new. Maybe I will see if I can go dancing more with the teachers. Maybe I will
finally get out to Suxian Mountain that everyone around here keeps talking
about. Maybe I will actually pick up my running shoes and get out there regardless
of how long it has been and how low my motivation is. Either way, I’m not going
to continue being idle; I’m going to get out there and diligently try to do
something new every day!
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