will stick a fork into your side, just to make sure you're alive
admin
(0 comments, 2 posts)
This user hasn't shared any profile information
Home page: http://www.geejayoh.com
Posts by admin
Run to the hills!
1Shaken, but not stirred.
So, a few days ago there was an Earthquake in China. The epicentre was around Yingxiu (pronounced ying-she-o), Xichuan (pronounced shi-tchewan) and whilst the death-toll keeps rising. By all accounts this is the worst earthquake to hit China for maybe 30 years. I take this opportunity to re-assure everyone that I am OK and at the worst only mildly affected by this most catastrophic of natural disasters.
I happened to be in my apartment when the ‘quake struck and only really knew about it because of some phone calls from my friends and students. People were being evacuated from buildings all over and so we thought it only right we do the same. Apparently buildings all over Huanghuai Campus were being shaken for a period of 3 minutes or more. The only thing that I seemed to feel was unquestionable feeling of nausea and dizziness. Something I put down to staring at a computer screen for too long. Little did I know it would turn out to be such a devastating event many hundreds of miles away.
6 Weeks In
0Missed Opportunity
Well, I probably missed my chance there. I mean, I promised myself I would chronicle my every adventure in the great land of China – not just for the benefit of my friends and family who might harbour a vague interest in knowing what I had been up to, but for prosperity. The idea that in the next few years I may be able to look back and say, “Oh, I remember when I did that”. I am well aware of the fact that my memory does not server me to the best of it’s ability and often I forget the things I have been doing and the places I have seen from one day to the next. The last 6 weeks have been hectic to say the least and so many new memories are creeping in to replace those that I thought I had already committed to the memory vault, that now I have managed to get my act together and try to make a go of this whole on-line, publicly scrutinised diary thing.
With a roster of over 400 students to my name, a whole host of authority figures at the university and in local government to meet and greet as well as all the new friends I have been making here, it’s a wonder I have anything left to document except bewilderment. In the next few days I will chronicle my trip to Bei’jing of last weekend (May Day holiday) and my activities in the week past. Unfortunately, much of the things that shocked and amazed us since we first arrived seemed to have past but I feel I shall still be able to find something that interests the readers of these posts.
