The Adventure Continues

Hello all!

It has been a while since I have written, i know, but that is because I didn't feel there was anything important to write about. But I am sure this entry will prove other wise. I know I usually go on and on and on about one thing and forget others. But that is OK I think I still have plenty of time to write about stuff that pops back into my head.
Well, last weekend I had got to go to my favorite place again, good o'l Hong Kong.(香港) By the way, I am going to start adding more and more Chinese into the Blog, I hope that that is alright! Well, I guess you all don't have much choice! BWA Ha HA HA HA HA!!!
I realize the last time I wrote was over a month ago. For that I am sorry. I know I am a lazy guy but I have been working pretty hard and I am really enjoying it. The students here are good and they are all about the same ages as American College kids. And yes, for the most part they act the same! Being a former college kid I have sympathy for them all and offer my help to them. They are starting to get ready for a big English Exam called the CET4 it is the Chinese English Test 4. It is huge exam that millions of students will take in June. And yes, they all hate tests just as much as we do! But unlike the US, the students are required to be in class. Every once and a while a person from the English dept. comes through and counts the students. They have asked me to take roll to. It is more like a high school in that scenes. But the students all can speak a little if not a lot of English. Their English is defiantly better than my Chinese.
Hmmm, my Chinese, well it is coming along and I am really enjoying the language. 刘英 (Liu Ying) and I are having good long conversations. We are really enjoying 长沙. (chang Sha) Well, I think I am enjoying it more. She has lived close to here for most of her life, her home town is just about three hours away by train. Her parents came a few weeks ago and stayed for the day. It was nice to finally meet her father. 刘英 is a little taller that her parents. I thought that was funny because I am taller than mine. I love that, tehe tehe. Love ya Dad, Love ya Ma!
Well, upon my trip to 香港 I was able to get my work visa. Now I can stay in China for a whole YEAR!!! Wa HOOOOO I don't have to go back leave and come back any more.... Well for a while that is!
My train trip was very tiring though. There weren't any beds available for the the trip so I had to take a seat. The trip there was about 12 hours and I got a little krink in my back from it! But it is always a refreshing thing, to hop on a train and travel to a different country. 香港 is really a different country. There are some similarities there but it is really different. They drive on the left side of the road, you can see a lot of Mercedes, BMW's and many many different types of cultures. I almost get culture shock when I go there! No one looks at me, and there is a ton of Whitey!!! I stayed in 九龙(Kowloon) again and took the train over on Monday morning to the Island. I walked around the Island for a while and then went to the Visa center. I was beginning to miss speaking Chinese at this point. I had only been out of China for about 20 hours. After I put my passport and letter from the 长沙 local govt saying I am a foreign expert. he he he
The return trip was the same, no beds only seats. For some reason, no one could tell me why, but there were a lot of people traveling this last weekend.
Trains, that is something interesting to talk about. On my way down, I was sitting next to a guy and he was talking to an older lady and younger girl across from us. He was asking them if they could speak English. They couldn't. I love being able to speak Chinese. They were talking and I understood them and I knew they were talking about me. They were just so interested in me that they wanted to find out things. So, he continued to ask people if they could speak English, no one could. Then he stood up and asked every one on the train, at once, "谁会说英文?" (Who can speak English?" No one did. So he sat back down and looked directly at me, "你会说中文吗？"(Can you speak Chinese?) I said yes, and he was SOOO happy! then every one crowded around and started to ask me questions about where I am from and if I like China and every time they ask me if I like Chinese food. Of which I reply, "我爱吃中国菜,我的女朋有做非常好的中国菜!" (I love to eat Chinese food! My girl friend cooks the best Chinese food!) Then they all ask if she is Chinese and of course I say yes, then they ask if she can speak English, of course no. Then they look at me astonished, how do you communicate with her? The same way I am talking to you! In Chinese! OHhhh! So clever! Then they all try to find out if I can read and write in Chinese. I say a little and they love to give me the most obvious characters, 中国: that is China.... Applause and they say I am so smart. But we all know that I have them all fooled!
So traveling here is fun, but tiring because every where I go, people are always trying to talk to me and always looking. I am getting used to it. But Liu doesn't understand that. Sometimes, I just don't want to go out because I would like some alone time and not have every one staring at me. She just thinks I am silly. Sooner or later she will. She forgets sometimes that I am not Chinese and that our cultures are very different. Some times I forget that I am in China and that she is Chinese. I have to work really hard sometimes to figure out why she does something the way she does. But in the end it is a great way to learn about yourself. What can I really do, how far can I stretch my limits! How can I really understand what this culture is all about! Every day I am in Awe! I wake up in the morning hop in the shower and smile... Sam, you are in China man!