Feast your eyes upon my phototastic delights...

Woweee! I just found these old photos that I had saved in a draft blog post and abandoned for months! So here they are, bringing back many a memory!

What do we have?
1. Liam and Lin Xiao Feng on our expedition to the botanical garden, Shijiazhuang (or 'Plant Park' as the signs like to call it!)
2. My 26th birthday dinner.
3. Yours truly and Lin Xiao Feng.
4. Intoximacated yours truly and intoximacated Lin Xiao Feng.
5. Corinne and her self-made sandwich at the Korean BBQ. (Aww, I miss you China bud!)

The Final Countdown: da da daaaaa daaaaaa da da daa daa daaaa

Well guys and gals, believe it or not, this time next week I will be leaving Shijiazhuang! Argh! Am I excited to go home? Yes. Am I sad to leave here? Yes. Am I ready? Erm, next question please... There is sooo much still to do!

In the last two weeks we've had four birthdays, the last of which was yesterday. Ten of us went boating on the lake before dinner. Whilst we were in the boats a HUGE storm hit - it was amazing! We had to hide under the shelter of an overhanging pagoda and wait (about 45 minutes!) for it to pass! The sky grew so dark it could have been the middle of the night, and the wind was so strong we had to use the posts to stop ourselves being blown away - the lightning was just spectacular! I've never seen a storm like it before: wooooooeeeeeeeee! Whilst admiring the view we smoked, drank beer and composed an 'on the lake in the storm on Corinne's birthday' poem, which will certainly make interesting reading!

Later this week we have a hen night and a wedding. We're going to a funky Tibetan restaurant for the hen night where they sing Tibetan songs to you at your table, make you drink three glasses of tasty alcohol from a curious metal jug, and then drape a pretty Tibetan scarf around your neck. The first time I went there I tried to give the scarf back and they were horrified - oopsie!

My birthday was also excellent, although it didn't involve any wind, rain, thunder or lightning! The day was filled with cards, gifts, birthday wishes and around eight rousing renditions of Happy Birthday to Bec! We went to a street restaurant for dinner (I love them!), followed by a bar, followed by a nightclub! Lots of friends came out and, thanks to my pal Matt being the most fantastic host, I got to sit back, consume alcohol and generally make merry! Kegs of beer were 20 RMB a go, and they paid 13 RMB a head for food - including a little extra to pay for the birthday lady (that's less than a pound!).

This is, I suspect, my last post, so I will drone a little longer, and then delight you with a selection of my fine photomagraphs (the most recent not taken with my camera which I sadly lost on my birthday! Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!).

I will never regret coming to China - it has turned out to be a mind expanding, life shaking experience in ways I couldn't possibly have anticipated. I have met a group of excellent friends spanning many ages and nationalities, and the words 'cultural differences' have revealed a whole new dimension to their definition! I have also rediscovered how fantabulous my family and friends at home are - thank you for your thoughtfulness, encouragement and persistence (I am truly shoddy at keeping in touch, I admit), especially at Christmas when I was ill, cold and homesick! I look forward to catching up in the land where grass is green and the temperature isn't creeping towards 40 degrees...

Bless you, bless you, bless you all!

The Bec
x

Googleless!

As if not being able to view one's own blog for a whole nine months wasn't bad enough, they have now dealt an even harsher blow: THEY'VE TAKEN AWAY MY GOOGLE! ARGH! What am I without it? A knowledge-free zone, that's what! The only Google that we can now access is google.cn (Chinese Google) - I am pining for my beloved google.co.uk. Woe is Bec.

That aside, things are progressing swimmingly. My trip to Beijing was most enjoyable and I heartily recommend the Red Lantern House hostel to you all. Here are two snaps of the place:



I met a collection of interesting folk, most of whom were in the middle of venturing around as much of the world as they could. When it got dark we sat under the fairy lights in the courtyard and discussed life over a bottle of beer. They also served a steak breakfast, with orange juice and a pile of toast (and BUTTER!), for 20 RMB. Some may say that life gets considerably better than this, but I would beg to differ. Bliss!

China celebrates Children's Day on June 1st, so all week I have been caught up in our kindergarten's festival, which was fantastic. I even joined them on stage and sang a line in Chinese on my own - wooooo! Here they are (these are the 4 and 5 year olds - the babies had their festival in their classrooms):

















Tomorrow is my 26th birthday! Ooh ooh ooh! I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20 - maybe it's time to start thinking about growing up. Hmm...