Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya
 
So, let's talk about this time of year then shall we!
This time of year can either make you or bloody well break you!
 
No one seems to know what the hell is going on and what dates you are supposed to begin teaching and what dates this and what dates that. Seriously, I have just wasted nearly a week or so of good travel time as I thought I had to be in Xian by around the twenty fifth to then head to my new school and begin teaching on the first of September.
 
So what did I do?
I spent what I thought was some quality rest time in Jigong Shan.
To then head back to Xian rested and well to begin my new term.
 
So, today what do I find out?
That I don't have to begin teaching until most probably the fourth of September!
 
I could have gone to those several other places in Henan Province that I wanted to visit or even a few others here in Shaanxi Province that I want to visit before the vicious cold of winter sets in.
 
Ok, I guess I better re-read the blog entry from many days ago where I wrote about time and that it was time to slow down and that I had seen enough for one summer.
 
Well, anyone who know knows me well enough will tell you that I can give advice, usually very well thought out, mature, sound and usually full of &*^%$!
Hahahaha!
 
But they will also tell you that though I can give some good advice can never follow that same advice that usually helps someone in need. So if a good friend or a fellow traveler was to ask what they should do given the fact that their holidays were nearing an end I would tell them to slow down, kick back and relax and cruise on in to the new term.
 
Me, well!
Bugger that mate!
I'm out of here tomorrow!
 
Hopefully I'll be off to Yuncheng City in Shanxi Province where they have a bloody big temple to visit. In fact it is the biggest temple in the country dedicated to Guan Yu. I'll post some information in my next blog, that is if I can get out of bed early enough to make it to the train station to catch the bus.
 
So!
Enough about this time of the year!
It happens every year and it is no ones fault.
Every school is different and usually they have to wait.
 
What do they have to wait for?
Usually the government to set dates and send them out!
Then there is the Lunar Calendar and having to wait for the right moon to begin teaching!
 
Not really, but I did have a great day today though.
I knew you were wondering thoughtfully about what I got up to.
I could tell by your crinkled brow and the fact that you are leaning on our fist!
 
Oh....really?
You're bored!
Oh.....sorry, I guess I better beef it up a bit then hey!
 
Well there is the story about when the maid came in to clean my room and I was in the shower and we decided to clean the shower together. Oh, I've told that story. .....um.....um.....
What about the one about the Chinese gymnastics team when we were staying in the same hotel and they wanted me to teach them....English! You don't believe me!
.....um.....um.....
Well then I guess its back to my boring day then isn't it!
 
I was out the door by mid morning and found myself wandering aimlessly no where and yet every where like usual. I soon found myself in a little park over near the Sofitel Hotel in which I had to dodge a million young children rollerblading all around me. I slowly walked in a circle around the waterless fountain as the kids came and went doing their best to ask me as many questions as they could each time they went around.
 
I stayed for about an hour during which I answered as many as I could.
I did my best to leave alive!
 
We all had a great time and I had to laugh as their parents all ran to help me stop them crossing the busy main road to follow me. Soon after waving my goodbyes I finally found a China Mobile store that could help me with my 'recharging' problems. This one, (instead of using a computer and telling me they couldn't help me because they couldn't access Shaowu City in Fujian Province) simply pulled out some recharge cards, called a number and input the code on the card.
 
Wallah, within one minute I was recharged!
Gee, what an awesome idea hey!
 
China, see what I mean by it being a confused mess of new and old! Seriously, some of the oldest things are so new here yet everything around it is a decade more advanced than it. Recharge cards, the simple technology must be about ten years old by now yet for the worlds largest mobile network it really is so far behind the rest of the world in many ways.
 
Wouldn't it be simpler to just link all of the Provinces?
This also goes with the banking system, why not just link them all?
I happily walked away and pressed send on all of the text mails sitting in my 'outbox'.
 
I then dropped into a small yet clean and fashionable hair salon which I very much chose by the very two cute girls whom worked there. Sitting beside me was a young guy who could speak English rather well. The girls hovered around like two beautiful birds and asked many questions and after they had finished asked me for forty Yuan. I then asked my new friend to re-explain to them how long I had been in China and that the very fact that I have very short hair should tell them that I get my hair cut regularly.
 
I gave them twenty Yuan which is between five and ten Yuan more than I should have.
This depends of course in where you get your hair cut, Xian or a small rural town.
 
As I was slowly walking down the main road the guy who was sitting next to me came to apologise for the girls behavior towards me being a foreign wallet. I thought this was very brave of him and we both decided to head outside the city walls to the world's largest music fountain which can be found right beneath the ancient Big Goose Pagoda.
 
I have visited the Big Goose Pagoda on two occasions.
One eight years ago and the second nearly two years ago when I was in Xian with Judy!
 
I must also wish Aussie Judy a huge Happy Birthday. Which mind you I never actually forgot! I just haven't checked my email enough lately to remember. She understands.
I know she does. Does she?
 
I'm sure she'll receive those warm and happy thoughts sometime in the future.
 
The music fountain was absolutely amazing. I have seen it before but only during the day and with only a few people around. Tonight though there were thousands of people which only added to the excitement. The light show was so beautiful and hundreds of children could be found running around soaking themselves beneath the fountains.
 
The difference between visiting the music square at night and day is the fact that during the day light hours you get to see it in its entirety and to fully understand how enormous it actually is. During the evening hours, you may get the amazing light show but you pretty much get to see the small section of the square you are in at the time.
 
The Big Goose Pagoda of course, is always in your sights.
 
The ancient structure sets the scene and allows those who take the time to ponder to actually consider what actually lays before them. It was completed in AD652 and was built to house the Buddhist sutras brought back from India by the monk Xuan Zang who spent the last nineteen years of his life translating the scriptures. Many of which are still used today. Then you have the actual music fountain square which was completed in modern times and has KFC and other chain eateries etc surrounding it. Entwining it all together is the beautiful music that the fountain is programmed to dance to and the beautiful light show.
 
To complete the blend are the families who come to view the show.
 
Some of which look old enough to have seen the beginning of the Pagoda and the others are the young children gleefully dancing around beneath the fountains. Who of course have no 'comprehension and are oblivious to the confusing world of their China they are being raised in.
 
So if you find yourself in Xian City, I guess this is one of the highlights.
Maybe try to see it in both the day light hours and the darkened hours after.
For both cast their own spell on the viewer and both shall be remembered long after.
 
Beers N Noodles toya.....shane
 
PS: The several 'building' photos you will see are of the new Xian Subway that is being built that in two years will link the north, south, east and west of the city, both within and beyond the city walls. Strangely it will cost three Yuan for each ride. This is strange as when you compare it to the new Beijing City subway the Xian subway has only four arms where each ride will cost three Yuan.
 
The Beijing subway has thirteen sections where you can ride as many as you wish for only two Yuan for the day. Yet as my new friend believes here in Xian you will have to pay three Yuan per ride.
 
Who the bloody hell knows mate!
If I'm still here in Xian I will let you know!
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The soundtrack to this entry was by one of the greatest bands ever, Living Colour
The albums were 'Times Up & Stain'
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