Mazu Temple

Supposedly this is a temple to the Goddess Mazu. These are all over the place in Zhangzhou, this one is in the area south of Nine Dragon River.

Homesickness

Last term I had a terrible spell of homesickness. That combined with general frustrations of being here caused me to start planning for an early return home. Luckily, I had a really good friend who helped me through that period. It was probably the worst homesickness I've ever had even when I was in Korea.

When you are an expat local friends are incredibly important. But, they can also be incredibly difficult to make and keep. Right now, I have about a dozen acquaintances and one actual friend. Sure, people call me once a month or once every other month to go out to dinner or play sports or go for a walk, but I really don't consider that actual friendship. It was worse in Korea. It was just an endless parade of people who I was friends with for a month or two at a time and then it was over like nothing ever happened.

Believe it or not I have actually discovered benefits to this seemingly lonely lifestyle. I pretty much have no choice but to seriously try to integrate into this society and see what it really feels like to be a local here. And, it has finally helped me to overcome the mental barrier I used to have about language study.

With this lifestyle nothing is permanent and everything is short lived. It can be unbelievably lonely, and incredibly liberating all at the same time. I feel another wave of homesickness coming on but thankfully I am taking a short vacation to 桂林 Guìlín with my friend in just a couple of days.

Wow...

You don't even know what New Year's is until you've been here during Chinese New Year. HOLY CRAP!!! I didn't know there was that many fireworks in the entire world let alone little ol' Zhangzhou!!!

Nine Dragon River

Some house boats on Nine Dragon River 九龙江 jiǔlóng jiāng.

Nine Dragon Park

In 九龙公园 jiǔlóng gōngyuán.

Went shopping

Went shopping today for a strap for my camera so it's easier to carry. Then my friend and I chatted in the park, went to a comic book store for some study material, and ate lunch at a Korean restaurant.

Boat

Small boat in the canal. Near 华侨新村 huáqiáo xīncūn.

Beach in Xiamen

Same area as my last post on the beach in Xiamen, but different time of day/year.

Old city

Two pictures from the old city in Zhangzhou. The pictures are of the same street but different times of the day. This is the area by 中山公园 zhōngshān gōngyuán.

Xiangqi

象棋 Xiàngqí is a Chinese board game that is related to Chess. It's obvious the first time you see the board that they are similar. Anyway, one of the Christmas presents I got was a xiàngqí set. I played my friend last week and lost 3 games out of 4.

Christmas in Zhangzhou...

...has been pretty amazing. My phone has been going off non-stop with Merry Christmas wishes from students and teachers. I've been getting messages on QQ and e-cards from students and teachers...and each class presented me with a small Christmas gift.

I'm about to head into town to have dinner with a friend...a good ending to a great day.

Speaking of immune systems...

My mind's immune system has been winning the battle against second languages, it's been fighting tooth and nail to prevent me from learning Chinese. I haven't seriously studied in what, 2 months now? I gotta find a way to get over this hurdle.

False alarm maybe?

Maybe it was just a false alarm, I feel ok today. The ol' immune system must be on high alert after that last cold. I guess I'll find out in a few days.

Not again!

Oh I'm so lucky! Cold number 2 has arrived. Either that or my immune system is overreacting to some minor irritant.

My students say the darndest things

I was giving my students the speaking exam and I asked one of them what she planned to do when she was finished with school. She told me, "I don't know because I haven't learned anything."

Well kiddo, at least you are honest!