3 months left...

First, I only have 3 months left...yay!!!  I will return on August 15th.

Second.  As many of you know I will be going to Thailand on September 23rd to get certified in Teaching English in a Foreign Language.  I will spend 3 weeks in Phuket (ironically, since the name of my blog, is Phuket).  After that, I am guaranteed a job in or around Bangkok for 4-5 months.  I'll be back home again in March.

There is a mountain in China with a Pagoda on it that you can see in Huzhou.  This is a picture of the mountain from a school I was working at.  The principal of the school, said I should walk up the mountain.  "it will be fun" she said.



ren huan ge

At the bottom.

 

 Confucius say "White Girl not make it to top of mountain"

Someone forgot to tell me that the 40 minute walk up to the top is actually, all stairs. 

This is halfway up.  I wanted to die.

 

I made it!!!!

5 Things I will not Miss in China:  I do like China, but there are a few things I will NOT miss when I leave.  I want to say the fact that they speak Chinese, but that is completely my fault.  Obviously, they speak Chinese here, and I don't speak it.  Although it sucks sometime, it's not China's problem.

1.  The Spitting.  It's gross.  I'm not a huge fan a spitting anyway, but here it's as common as breathing.  I constantly hear the sound of a China-person hawking something up.  I always have to look around to make sure I am not the target.

2.  Crossing the street.  Walking across the street is like an extreme sport.  I think I need a helmet.  The cars aren't that bad, since there are street lights, that they seem to abide to.  The electric bikes, on the other hand, have no rules and come in massive quantities.  I was told that the rules of the road is that the bigger one has the right of way.  Bus beats car, car beats motor bike, motor bike beats regular bike, and they all have the right of way over the person.

3.  Seafood.  Obviously food here will be different from home, but seafood is seafood, right??  Nope,  they keep the bones in the fish and the shells on the shrimp.  I should not have to work that hard to eat my food.  I have asked why they keep the bones in, and I was told it's fresher.  I just think it's lazy.  They also say that the kids can not eat it.  No kidding, it might kill them.

4. Stray Cats.  Everyone knows I'm an animal lover.  My apartment complex is filled with stray cats.  They make me sad.  I want to take them all in.  One day I pet a kitten and it started following me home.  I would probably have taken him home, except after I leave I would have to leave him back outside.

5.  Clothes/Shoe Shopping.  The clothes are cute and cheap, which normally I would love except I'm a big fatty in China.  I would look at certain things in the stores and see the store clerk basically tell the girl I'm with "That will not fit".  Yes, everyone in China is a size 0, and I'm a sasquatch :(  Can't wait to go to Marshalls.