Hey Hey and a Big G'Day to you
Just returned from a fantastic weekend in Guigang. Last time we were in Nanning we met up with some teachers that Leeanne knew and they invited us to their fair city for beer and bbq. Being the good Aussies that we are we accepted. After school Friday I caught a bus to Pingguo...did anybody notice something in what I just wrote...no, I said 'I caught A bus', meaning ONE bus the entire way. Not as much fun as the usual three or four but when you're in a hurry it's pretty good! I was met my Leeanne and Wong and we headed to the highway to wave down a Nanning bus. Done well, got one straight away.

Once in Nanning we spent the next hour or so going from train station to bus station trying to get the entire way to Guigang that night. No luck so it was to BBQ Street for a meat and beer fix. Whilst sitting and filling our faces Leeanne and I realised what the fashion in Nanning is....or maybe for a better word, not what but WHEN. It's the fully fledged 80's! Honest, the hair, the clothes everything. We discussed it for a short time and Leeanne made the statement 'the 80's are back'. No No No I said, your wrong, 'THE 80'S HAVE JUST ARRIVED IN CHINA!' Twenty years late, but hey, better late than never. No in fact, I didn't like the fashion or 'non-metal' music of the 80's so for me it would be 'better never!' Anyhow, sometime in the morning we found a hotel and got eaten by mozzies all night.

Made it to Guigang by mid day and were met by Karen a beautiful and very caring Adelaide gal whom has been teaching overseas for the past few years. She gives up a lot of her time and money to help children in need in countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam. We met up with Kevin, another Aussie and headed out for a noodle lunch and a city introduction. Not a very modern city at all so I liked it pretty much straight away. When we got back to Karens we began setting up the BBQ area. No wheelie four burner bbq here mate, put a coupla bricks together, throw in some little sticks and off ya go! Then it was time to introduce the game 'hopscotch' to the Chinese kids and teachers. Over a period of hopscotch games and bottles of beer many teachers arrived, both foreign and Chinese. I was happy to meet up with Cathy again and finally got to meet her man Chris. Both Canadian, they are like 'freelance' teachers over here. Not happy being with only one school, they have several schools a week they teach in, or in fact, several schools a day!

Some time after putting the meat on, the Chinese brought out their own little bbq's and took over the cooking. I guess they weren't used to our typical Aussie ways. That of only one person takes care of the bbq (between beers) and everyone else drinks and chats. So what we had was two Chinese per bbq tray and the beautiful Chinese Lisa going from bbq to bbq making sure everything was ok. She didn't stop cooking all night. Oh, the story of the meat sticks or kebabs. Karen had a bright idea, why not do a lesson on cooking. So the day before she gathered all the goods, grabbed a couple of extra knives and whamo, the perfect lesson. The kids made them. They ALL fought to participate and speak English.

Sometime later in the evening we thought it best to rip Lisa away from the bbq's to relax so off to KTV we went. Must say, much more high tech than our little ones in Tianyang. In one corner you actually have a singing area with a stool and a mic and your own computer screen to read and sing the words from. The main computer has little gadget buttons that make sounds like a crowd cheering etc. A bit corny, no in fact a lot corny but they love it so that's all that matters.

After leaving KTV (named Oh Lar Lar) we met up with everyone else at a huge bar called 'Heaven Bird'. I missed the pole dancers due to being at KTV. BUGGER, but Lisa being a singing teacher sang a Wong Faye song for me. Not the same as pole dancers, but I love Wong Faye so it made up for it. There we stayed for the next few hours. It was a funny place, a coupla DJ's, a heap of tall little round tables to stand around but no dance floor. So everyone wiggles around their table area. Whatever blows ya hair back. I'm not a dancer, but I'd rather a dance floor so you can mingle and hide.

God knows what time we left the place but the early hours of the morning found us at the BBQ Square thingy place. In Tianyang we have a BBQ Street, here, being a city, they have a big square. Soon after, I won't mention names, but a certain foreign girl fell asleep on one of the African English Teachers laps and soon after falling asleep actually threw up all over his lower half. Didn't seem to bother him too much, in fact they both stayed that way until everyone was ready to go. Needless to say, the girl had to be carried home by Kevin and myself.

Sunday was a slow day. Yes, everything had to be done S L O W L Y. If too fast your head would go all fuzzy and the world into a spin. Whilst Karen and I headed out for noodles and a massage (including a most awesome foot massage) a certain girl lay motionless on the floor in the exact position she passed out in until the early afternoon. Karen is into Reflexology etc so she explained where all the little points lead to from your foot to the top of your head etc. Whilst walking home I felt so light, I actually felt a little like I was gliding and not walking at all.

Leeanne and I said our sad good byes and caught a late afternoon bus back to Nanning. She stayed in the city looking for a new camera and I jumped onboard the next train bound for Kunming that stopped in Baise. Midnight found me flagging down sleeper buses on the Baise road side. Finally one was going through Tianyang. For the next hour I sat drinking shots of that 'Evil Drink' Biajio with two guys. We where sitting on the first bunk bed and right beside us was the usual No Smoking sign, in Chinese and English along with the picture of the circle and smoke with a slash through it. I think between the three of us we nearly finished a packet in that hour. God knows how many the rest of the bus were smoking but when I got off I could actually see smoke coming out of the windows. Unbelievable! Unsure of what time it was, once back in Tianyang I joined my friends at the Market Place for noodles, beer and many photos. (see photos in the 6th November entry)

PS: somewhere between beers and the walk home I lost her phone number! BUGGER!