wushuzilla

Archive for July 19th, 2010

As I mentioned before, Ruhi and I decided to move to the XISU (Wai Yuan) campus since she is going to school there and I will be teaching there.  They set us up with a great Teacher apartment right on campus and so, since Ruhi was in Beijing for the month of July, it was on me to make sure we were able to have a smooth transition from our old apartment in Gao Xin to our new apartment on the Wai Yuan campus.

And for the most part everything went quite smoothly.  We were able to locate a new renter for our apartment in Gao Xin and thanks to Ruhi via telephone from Beijing and a Chinese friend or two in Xi’an, we arranged for movers to come and take care of everything and get it in to our new apartment in just a matter of a few hours.

I wanted to share a couple pictures of our moving process.  First here is a picture of most of our boxes all ready for the movers.  This was taken on July 5, but I’m proud to say that by the time the movers showed up on July 13, I was all packed up and ready for them well in advance of their arrival.  No last minute scrambling for me!

And here are some pictures from our new apartment at XISU.  Obviously there is some serious unpacking to be done when we return from our trip to the U.S. at the end of summer!

 

 

During the last few days in Gao Xin I also took it upon myself to frequent some of our favorite hang-outs and say goodbye to the folks in the area.  First up are some photos I took at the Shanxi Dumpling and Noodle restaurant that we would frequently visit.  I actually have some really great video footage from this place that I will hopefully be able to put up in the future, but for now here are just a few photos so you can get the idea.  The first two were taken in May and the rest were taken on July 13.

   

And finally here are some photos from our favorite Kao Ro place, run by Lao Sun from Shandong – a real stand-up guy who always treated us very nicely.  I tried to be a bit more artistic with these so I hope you enjoy them.

 

 

 

 

I’m actually writing this blog from Beijing, where I’ve been for the last few days and will be until the 26th of July.  I’ll post up some of the photos I’ve taken here once I head off the U.S., but first here is a teaser image:

As I might have mentioned before, Ruhi and I had been hanging out with some friends who run an English school in Gaoxin called 4Dream Education.  They’re super nice people and have a nice school with free wi-fi, so naturally I spent a decent amount of time there, hanging out and getting to know some of their students and employees.

Recently we’ve been saying our goodbyes to them, since we’re moving to the other side of town and will not be able to spend as much time there as we have been.  I wanted to share some photos of the fine folks at 4Dream – sort of a 4Dream retrospective, if you will.

First are a group of photos I’ve posted before, but they give you a good idea of the environment at their school.  These were taken in early May:

  

Next are some photos from one of their social activities.  They had a small theater room in which they would play a movie, and then there would be a related activity in English after the film in the main room.  It was lots of fun and I got to meet some nice folks.  (the first picture has some wushu folks in it!)

 

Next up are some photos from the last day hanging out at 4Dream before Ruhi left for Beijing for the month of July.  In fact, the picture of Ruhi here with one of the 4Dream students, was taken as she was on her way to the airport.

 

  

And next up are pictures from a dinner welcoming a new teacher to 4Dream, Michael or Mike who hails from Chicago (if I remember correctly).  Or maybe the east coast?  Hmm … I need to keep better track of these things. 

Anyway, Mr. Kim asked for suggestions about places to eat and naturally when you are hanging out with someone from Korea you ask them to take you to a Korean restaurant because they they undoubtedly know a good place to go. And he certainly did.  Here are a few pictures from dinner with the 4Dream staff and Mike.

  

  

Finally, this Saturday I was invited to play some badminton with them after they finished their work.  It turned out that the badminton would be played in the courts located at the sports center for Mr. Kim’s apartment, which also just happened to be located across the street from Ruhi’s friend Susan’s apartment.  Small world. 

Those years of playing badminton with Jet finally paid off because I was able to be on the winning teach for each game I played.  But after 3 or 4 matches I was drenched in sweat, so after a change of clothes we all went to a delicious Kao Ro BBQ place and partook of some delicious food.  Here are a few photos from dinner.

 

 

 

 

And thus ends my Spring and Summer hanging out with the fine folks at 4Dream Education.  If you know anyone who wants to study English in Xi’an, I heartily recommend their school!  You can get more information at 4dreameducation.com.