中国 - 140 天

That'd be "China - Day 140". ....Just thought I'd show off my 1337 Chinese skills there haha.

So anyways, I was sitting in the teachers' room at work the other day on one of my breaks between classes when I suddenly clued in to the fact that it's already the end of August! What the? Where does the time go? Seriously. I've already been here for over four months! Some days it feels like a lot longer but usually I have the general sensation that I've only just arrived and things are so fresh, new, and unexplained. (However, to be fair I'm pretty sure I could live here for the rest of my life and still have that impression).

I've also had the unfortunate experience of being under the weather here the past couple of days and when I called in sick to work I was amazed by how the students actually noticed and how much they seemed to care. I had a number of them message me asking if I was okay and if I needed any help. I really appreciate their concern and I'm so happy to have made such good friends here. Oh and for the record I am getting better, although my pesky little cough is still hanging around - I should be as good as new by the end of my "weekend."

Speaking of (pseudo) weekends, last week on my days off (Monday and Tuesday, in case you were unaware) I went to Hong Kong with one of my aforementioned friends, Tony. The first day was spent walking around and doing some window shopping, eating, walking, seeing the new Batman movie which hasn't hit the Mainland yet - The Dark Knight (Hells yeah!) and walking some more. Did I mention we may have done a little bit of walking? Needless to say by nightfall my feet were pretty sore and I was ready to hit the hay. I slept pretty damn well, despite the concrete-like mattress in the small, concrete-walled, windowless room. (I'm not so sure they have the same fire safety laws here...) Whatever, it was cheap haha.

Anyways, the next day brought more, you guessed it, walking! This time our venue was Ocean Park as opposed to the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) and Mong Kok. I had a lot of fun at the amusement park going on the rides and seeing the dolphin show. My only beef with Ocean Park is that someone had the ingenious idea of building it into the side of a mountain! So not only was there walking, but there were hills and stairs! Nonetheless it was still a good time. Plus, I have to admit the view from the top was amazing! Looking out over the bay... It was a picture that brought back memories of Northern Ontario and Cottage Country. I could see the boats out on the water and had the sudden urge to go tubing or seadooing... Oh summertime fun in Ontario can't be topped, not even by China, or Japan for that matter. I guess we'll see how Australia fares next year...

The next travel destination in the works is a weeklong venture at the end of September to Vietnam with Amy and our fellow Canadian and ex-Novaite, Jane. We don't have all the details hashed out yet, but it promises to be a good time. It'll start with a nice long train ride to Hanoi and at some point there'll be a night or two spent out under the stars on a boat in Halong Bay. Maybe I'll actually manage to get a tan! ...Which I've been trying, unsuccessfully mind you, all summer to achieve. Fingers crossed haha.