Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

Don’t you just hate it when your computer dies…AGAIN!
 
As you can guess once again my wiz bang computer kicked the bucket and had to be returned to cyber hospital for a new set of transplants. I got it back when I returned from my summer adventure and all was going well until two Friday nights ago when the fan made a horrible grinding sound like a golfers arm got sucked into it and then the entire system shut down.
 
After that it just beeped several times each time I tried to turn it on.
And after the beeps the fan continued to grind the golfers arm into oblivion.
 
When we finally got the computer to the store the boss turned it on and the said 'It’s the fan’ and was quite proud of him self. I looked at him and thought ‘No Shit Sherlock, it has a freakin golfers arm in it’. I then nicely asked him why it doesn’t turn on and why don’t the lights work and once again he told me that it was the fan. Anyhow, what would I know, I just use my computer as a slave and don’t really know that much about the inner goings on and how they work but I have watched friends tinker with theirs and I have seen computers work without having a fan even connected to them.
 
So I got to thinking that maybe the golf club that was in the golfers hand when it got sucked into my computer fan then flew into the new motherboard or the second new (thank you warranty) hard drive and one or either of them have died. But in the end it doesn’t matter as I have ‘warranty’ 
 
Yes I know this is China BUT it has actually worked the first time!
 
Anyhow enough about computers as this blog was actually started well over a week ago and was supposed to be about Teachers Day but I lost what I was writing when my computer died so I figured I’d just write random nothings and use the photos anyhow as it really was a wonderful day that sadly ended with no big dinner to celebrate. We must be the only school in all of China that didn’t have a big dinner to celebrate the work and the totally insane amount of hours and marking they put in through out the year.  On top of that the extra huge effort they put into the Teachers Day dances. They were all told to return to school half way through their holidays and every day they had to come to school and practice dancing.
 
Once school began it was every night and weekend..
 
Finally on the mornings of the 8th and 9th of September (Thursday the 10th was actually Teachers Day) many of the schools gathered to have their communal Teachers Day dances which sadly I decided to miss….yes I know what you are thinking so allow me put it another way. When ever I leave the school grounds I feel like I’m Elle Macpherson walking around a mid 1980’s Australian building site in a bikini. But that’s cool as I’m always out walking so it doesn’t bother me that much as after four and a half years you get used to being Elle Macpherson in a bikini But I hate the fact that I change back into being me right before I get to the wall mirror and no matter how fast I race across the playground and up the stairs it’s always me looking back at me!
 
Now think about this, ten thousand students and teachers all together on a small city’s very tiny sports ground along with several TV cameras and to all that add one foreigner. It’s one of those ‘I don’t think so’ situations for me and no matter how long I’ve been in China teaching in tiny rural towns and cities that’s just too many eyes and lenses all in the one place.
 
In this blogs photos you will see a group photo of the schools Chinese English teachers and my self. Left to right: Ms Yu, Ms Wei, Ms Zhao and Ms Liu. Ms Yu is my full time assistant and believe me if I gave her a white sports suit and a whistle she’d umpire a game of Aussie Rules footy with the best of the umpires back home. In the photos you will also see our modern office that comes complete with nothing but a few old desks full of students note books to be corrected, chairs and a wall or two of filthy stinking mould.
 
When you open the door, and believe me no matter how many times or how long it was opened prior you almost fall to your knees and thank God above for the stench on board a Chinese farmers train during mid summer along with its blocked and over flowing toilet!
 
Since Teachers Day until now I’ve been happily be back in the classroom and have been overjoyed at having my feet upon peddles taking me far out into the mountains as often as I possible can, which due to huge and very long down pours hasn’t been often enough. Last weekend I had an awesome weekend in Xian and had a wonderful dinner with some other foreign teachers who were all real and not just a figment of my imagination. What made it all the more awesome was the fact that we all work for the same people and have all been here for around five years.
 
And strangely, like me their Chinese (Mandarin) is also very bad
Or so I gathered from some of them saying so!
 
So while I was hung over on the bus journey home I got to thinking that maybe I really am right about those who learn Chinese and leave after a year and that it does take a lot of the adventure out of your life here. Many of those who I’ve spoken to about why they left thought that life simply became kind of ‘normal’ again, but then others leave because they can’t speak Mandarin and its all too frustrating for them.
 
So I’m thinking that I have found a very wonderful and happy medium in life!
 
Oh I almost forgot, even though I just had two awesome months off, in a week we have another eight days off for National Day holiday. This one will be freakin huge as it is the Peoples Republic of China's 60th birthday and they will ‘Party Like Its 1999’. Sorry had to add that in as I’m listening to Prince at the moment. Sad to admit it though, I won't be travelling ANYWHERE during those eight days. Sit back and imagine 1.3 billion people all having the same holiday and all trying to get ‘there and back again’ all in eight days.
 
Ticket lines you can’t comprehend along with triple price hotels and food etc.
 
But I’m sure I’ll end up in Xian to visit some friends for a few days as my usual hotel has already cut me a deal for anytime I wish to spend there but when I think of all the extra people in the city and how crowded everything will be my stomach kind of lurches and then thoughts of riding through quiet hills begins to settle everything back to normal.
 
Sorry to my Facebook friends which includes most of my family, extended family and people from all over the world that I’ve met over the last ten years but Facebook is still banned here and no matter what sneaky software people send me it never seems to work for me but when I pass it on it works for most of those I give it to so I am thinking that my school has an extra secure firewall that blocks Port 9666 or what ever it is that most of these packages sneak through.
 
There were new protests in the western province of Xinjiang a few weeks ago so it won’t be back anytime soon. I’ve only just started sorting through my photos again and have started uploading them to my Windows LIVE (Hotmail/MSN) photo page but at the moment they are all the same photos as what I have on my Facebook account so don’t’ bother yourself by looking at them just yet.
 
I’ll send around links once I begin putting new albums on.
 
Due to all the rain we’ve been having I’ve been having a huge DVD fest lately and have finished all of They Call Me Earl and have just about finished Hero’s Season III (which includes Volume 3 & 4). Whether that means I’ve also nearly finished Season 4 I have no idea as I don’t’ know how many seasons there are. At the moment I’m having a huge Audrey Hepburn fest as well. Those who know me well enough will know that she’s been my obsession for most of my life and what most people don’t actually know is that EDDAKTH is actually Audrey Hepburn.
 
Her real name being Edda Kathleen Van Hemstra Ruston.
Audrey Hepburn came later in life once she hit Hollywood.
 
On the H1N1 topic word has it that many schools haven’t been taking foreign teachers for the past few months and won’t be for the near future due to their worries of the teachers catching the flu and dying just like many of the students have been. I have only just been told this and how true it is I don’t actually know BUT I do know that my boss has had to send several new teachers home due to not being able to find a school for them and over the past few months several other people/teachers who I’ve been communicating with over the past half a year have had to purchase tickets home as they couldn’t find work either.
 
People have told me I should go home but how strange that the same strain is in Australia, Canada, England etc too. Life is what you make it and you can either run the other way and get hit by a bus leaving the airport to ‘safety’ or simply see what happens where ever you are and I choose the latter. But you really do have to sit back, put your hands behind your head and stare at the ceiling and with a sigh say to your self out loud;
 
What The Fark Have We Done To Ourselves and The World!
Everything prior to Bird flu, then Pig flu and now extra Piggy Pig flu…Sheeeez!
 
Speaking of Travelpod, I’m actually getting very excited about the new Travelpod that will be rolled out over the next few weeks (from memory). One day soon you will log in to read your favourite blog and it will look completely different, all modern and shiny and new. I’ve been emailed a few of the new Faces/Things and they not only look great but will work wonderfully for both you the reader and me the scatterbrained blogger. I have never had a problem with the current (old) Travelpod but its not until you begin to use the new one that you actually realise that things can be different and better and that they do need to be changed because that’s how life works.
 
If you stay the same or allow things to stay the same then you or it gets left behind.
 
Kind of like when Hotmail and Yahoo upgraded to LIVE. At the time I didn’t understand why as my hotmail was working just fine but once I began using the new LIVE it was so much faster and better. Let’s hope it’s not like when Facebook changed to a more updated and Windows based appearance and half the FB people created stupid new pages demanding to have the changes stopped and to keep the old. The new FB is much better than the old one and so neat and tidy your grandma would even be proud of them.
 
But I can say all of this because I used to hate change.
Hate, hate, hate, hated change and I mean really hated change.
But now I love it so much and can’t live without it, so I better go change this beer!
 
Oh My Gawd! I just read that my favourite band of all time are re-forming to play Australia’s ‘Homebake Festival’ in December this year with the original line up. No KISS are not playing Homebake nor are Pink Floyd nor are Slayer or are SOD. The band I am talking about is Melbourne’s own
The Underground Lovers.
 
Guess I had better go change my underwear!
Beers N Noodles toya…..shane
 
PS: for those who want some information on Teachers Day, scroll beneath the photos.
PSS: I send a huge thank you to Ping from Buckland’s for putting together the dinner on Saturday night and for coming to Shaanxi Province which allowed us to finally meet in person…and I thought she was beautiful in a photo….WOW WOW WOW!
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The soundtrack to this entry was by the one and only Prince
The album was ‘Emancipation’
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Respect for Teachers and Learning
 
In the history of Chinese education, Confucius is a paragon of all teachers, symbolizing the philosophy of "Educate all without discrimination, and teach according to the abilities of ones students." Using the six arts of rites, music, archery, chariot driving, learning (including reading and writing), and mathematics, Confucius had more than three thousand disciples during his lifetime. In practice of his credo, the Sage never refused a student because of his class or character, requiring only that his pupils possess a sincere desire to learn.
 
During the crisis of the 'Spring and Autumn Period', Confucius sought to end the chaos of the times. Believing this disorder to be a reflection of declining morals in society, he exhaustively toured the various warring Chinese states to advise rulers and officials on the merits of ethical rule. In his later years, Confucius reorganized the ancient texts, thus laying a solid foundation for China's enduring civilization.
 
In 1939 the Ministry of Education pronounced that Confucius' birthday would be celebrated on August 28, and designated it as Teachers' Day as well as a national holiday to remember Confucius' enormous contribution to Chinese culture and society. The date was changed to September 28 in 1952 in accordance with chronologists' new findings.
 
Today, Teachers' Day not only commemorates China's foremost teacher in history but also honors all teachers for their hard work during the year. The first Teachers' Day was in 1931, the date was June 6, organized by a group of famous teachers without being officially approved by the Kuomintang Government. In 1939, the Kuomintang Government decided to set the Teachers Day on August 28 (Confucius's birthday), due to the turmoil, it was never carried out throughout the whole country. In 1951, the New China government decided to set the Teachers' Day on May 1, the same day with Labour Day, this wasn’t ever popular. Finally, teachers found a day to celebrate their glorious career in 1985, since then, on September 10 every year, teachers all over the country get special attention and gifts for their services to this country.
 
Every year during Teachers' Day, the Confucius Memorial Service is solemnly held at the Confucius Temple to show respect and honour for the Sage. At the "Teachers Day Celebration" held by the Ministry of Education and the various local governments, teachers with the highest seniority and best qualities are recognized for their contribution to society.
 
Being a teacher in China is not simply a job, it is one of the most respected careers.
 
My day exploring the Qufu Sites