＊Hot Springs＊

I just returned from a weekend trip to the Jiangxi province, which is the next province over (to the east). After waking up at 4am (did I say "waking"?... I meant to say "we dragged ourselves out of bed") we headed to the train station on bicycles. I've never wanted to upchuck my breakfast so badly while pedalling in 1st gear up that huge bridge. Ohhhh the things we do to save money. haha.

Anyway, after 2 hours on the train we got off at YiChun (宜春), a small town in the northwest corner of the Jiangxi province. After conversing with some local shopkeepers, we figured out how to avoid the expensive 40-minute taxi ride to the hot springs... We hopped on a few local buses to get to Ming Yue Shan (明月山 - Moon Mountain) for a fraction of the cost. :) After walking through town we managed to get a hotel room (at a discount, thanks Josh for your powers of persuasion) -- all of this being in Chinese since the area is not a destination frequented by foreign tourists.

We spent the entire day at the Tian Mu Hot Springs resort, complete with an unlimited supply of watermelon, coffee, milk tea, and hot milk... not to mention lots of hot springs, saunas, pools, and areas to lounge around. We stayed til almost 9pm before walking back to our hotel. It was a great weekend!!!!

^ small town near YiChun, Jiangxi (江西宜春）

^ sign in our hotel

TIAN MU HOT SPRINGS 天沐温泉

^ Chinglish never fails to entertain...

 ^ we had to wear these ridiculous silk-like outfits for lounging around outside the pools

^ heading home :)

Fresh Fish. Literally.

About two weeks ago I went out for dinner with my Chinese friend and her husband. She knew about my fondness for eating fish, so we went to a right-beside-the-river restaurant heralded for its fresh fish. Little did I know just *how* fresh it would be!

Upon walking into the restaurant, one walks into a room with a deep fish pool...where you literally point and choose what you'd like on your dinner plate. The fisherman uses his net to grab the desired fish while a lady frantically writes down the order on a clipboard. In a matter of seconds the fish is tossed to the on-site butcher. Cue the chopping! Chop-chop-chop --- there's blood everywhere, and the fish is ready for cooking. At that point you're ushered into the dining room where you wait for your fish and the other dishes. It was quite an experience, to say the least.

Student Artwork

After a somewhat difficult class (meaning way too much student chatter, some kids throwing things, and overall just a bit chaotic), a student came to the front of the class as I was packing up my computer. I noticed a paper in her hand and a big smile on her face. She proudly presented the following drawing:

I had to pull up the contrast on the drawing to make it visible (sucky screen shot on my mac)... but it's still super cute. Don't know how I feel about students using my class time to draw, though...haha. Middle school children will be middle school children. :)

----- SICK :/

I've spent the last four days straight in bed trying to fight off strep throat and an ear infection. I can't remember the last time I had to take this much time off work or school. Josh is sick, too...  We did, however, make a kickin' homemade chicken-and-veggie broth-based soup yesterday, which will hopefully last us the entire weekend. The forecast for the next 2 weeks in Zhuzhou is RAIN, RAIN, and more RAIN. Translation: cold, damp, and perfect weather for getting or staying sick. Hopefully warm weather follows soon!!!!!

Biking Around Zhuzhou

Special Guest... Josh Garcia!

Since my boyfriend, Josh, is visiting China for a few months, he so graciously made a few special appearances at my school. Words cannot express how hilarious it was to see students' faces when Josh and I walked across campus. The "waijiao" (foreign teacher) has a boyfriend! was whispered as we crossed the basketball courts. "Teacher Cait... is this your (pause) BOYYY FRIENNNND?" When I answered "Yes, he is" girls screamed out of excitement and the HOARDS of questions ensued -- mostly too personal to feel comfortable answering. Chinese students are pretty curious and don't know that certain questions (say, er, about future children and marriage) are way too personal to ask westerners. Josh and I laughed it off, though, and had some fun playing games and conducting Q&A sessions with the students. Overall it was a really fun week. :)

(Josh signing autographs and accepting gifts)

(yeah... the kids go crazy sometimes)

Sun... What Sun?! ;)

We caught a glimpse of the sun for the first time since being back from our holiday travels. That's three weeks of sun-less, grey, dreary days. Yesterday was a gorgeous "blue-skies" kind of day... which we really enjoyed!! It also warmed up a bit, allowing Josh and I to enjoy a 3-hour bike ride around Zhuzhou's university and the lake paths. My stomach held up for all of it, thankfully... it's still a bit "off".

This week I'm hoping it will warm up permanently so I won't have to wear so many layers (inside and outside). Fingers crossed!

FP Article on China

An interesting Foreign Policy article about China's (potential) collapse - or at least the collapse of the communist party. I'm not saying it'll happen, but many of the points raised here are very interesting and worthy of reading about. Click here to read it. :)

 Excerpt: "The Chinese workforce will level off in about 2013, perhaps 2014, according to both Chinese and foreign demographers, but the effect is already being felt as wages rise, a trend that will eventually make the country's factories uncompetitive. China, strangely enough, is running out of people to move to cities, work in factories, and power its economy. Demography may not be destiny, but it will now create high barriers for growth."

 Since global demand for China's exports has been slowing, China has been trying to create more internal demand for domestic products. It'll be interesting to see what the country's economic growth rate will do over the next few years, especially considering the levelling-off of the workforce.