March 29

. Taking a taxi is a real trip! Every time I take a ride I put my life at risk. I wish I had a video camera. I should video tape a ride and sell it on the black market.
. The weather has been nice and sunny, one day was very hot, but the people here still wear their winter clothes. Last week the weather changed. The clouds moved in and later that day as I was teaching a class a gust of wind blew the door open, The rest of the day and night the wind blew like crazy like I've never seen it blow before. Since then the weather's been cloudy but not cold. It also can get very foggy here in the mornings in Hefei.
. Last weekend James, Darren and I were invited to do a talk at an English club at a local bar (we were bribed with free food). About 30 people showed up. We had to sit on a stage with a mike and talk about ourselves. Darren made the mistake of saying he liked the discos here in China and the next thing I know we were being invited out to go dancing, and they wouldn't take no for an answer.
. The only western music here in China is all seventies love songs but if I look hard enough I can find some of my taste in music. I've been able to find Nirvana, Guns and Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Lenny Kravitz. Back Street Boys and Brittany Spears are popular with the teenagers but the quality of the CDs sometimes are not that good.

April 3

. I feel like I'm pushing myself to the limits. I'm trying to remember over 130 kids names and at the same time learn Chinese. Plus learning to teach English to kids who have no idea of what I'm saying, in a country with very different customs. I'm also trying to keep myself physically balanced by eating lots of tofu, chicken and greens. I'm running around the lake by my home every morning and going to the gym at my lunch breaks. I'm also trying to keep up with my drawing.
. I now know my limitations on my vocal cords. My voice is so hoarse sometimes I can barely talk. The other teachers have been very nice to me. They've been helping me with the roll call and when the kids get noisy they quiet them down so I don't have to strain my sore throat.
. This weekend it all caught up with me. Saturday afternoon I felt fatigued, later on that evening I had a bad fever that kept me up all night. Tuesday I started to feel better. I drank three bottles of water, a can of Coke and three mango drinks without going to the washroom once. I must have lost a lot of body fluids even though I was trying to drink as much as possible. I've also lost lots of weight in the last few weeks which is a plus. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.
. On the up side the weather is nice and hot, as hot as any Vancouver summer. Summer in Hefei the temperature can get as high as 40c. Monday morning we had a big thunder and lightning storm that lasted for hours, at one point the thunder was so loud I thought a lightning bolt hit my pants that were drying outside on the clothes line.

MONEY
. The best way to think of the Yinhang is the same as a Canadian dollar. That way you know if you are paying too much without figuring out the exchange. A pop costs 2.50. I can buy a good meal for 16.00 or less. Pizza at Pizza Hut is 120.00 (way too much). A good bike with full suspension is 565.00 Yin (a real steal). We can buy a movie for 8.00. But the the Canadian dollar is 5 to 1 stronger than the Yin. That means I am paying $.50 for a Coke, less than a hundred and twenty for a great bike and less than $2.00 for a movie. For $300.00 Canadian in Yinhang I can live like a king.

April 8

. At the end of the block there is a building with a clock tower that has just finished being built and soon will be the city's library. In the morning I'm now awakened by the chimes of the new clock, which sounds like a music box chime.
. Last weekend a friend took me out to the country. The 6th of April is a special day where family honours their past relatives. We walked into the field where there were two graves, paper was laid around the burial site and burned, fake money was thrown into the fire so the dead would have money in the after life. Then the firecrackers were lit. some as big as TNT sticks.
. Last Sunday was a beautiful day so a friend and I went to the zoo outside of the city, which is close to the only mountain in Hefei (just a big hill). After the zoo I went up the the "big hill". The wind started to blow and the fog and clouds moved in. Too bad it would have been a great view of the city and lake. A cold front will some times come in from the East and sucks out all the warm air and can cause a big wind storm.
. Monday I did a talk at a high school for 300 students (I think it went well). They all had a lot of questions, mostly about Vancouver and how I cope with daily life in China with such a language barrier. After I had a big meal with all the trimmings with the faculty. I think I made many friends today.