tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142489772009-06-12T16:37:12.856+01:00I'm Derek McNamara, an Irish guy who was working in Dalian, China as an Oral English teacher in Dalian Maritime University.Now in Chengdu studying Chinese in Southwest University of Finance and EconomicsDerekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comBlogger227125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-81121413842963433092009-06-06T13:58:00.001+01:002009-06-06T14:12:26.678+01:00

I'd heard about a Chinese Meetup in Dublin from a friend of mine, so I went along last Thursday. Basically, it's like “English Corner” in China: people who are learning the language can go to a place and practise the language with learners and native speakers. Been to many of them in China (English corners that is), some interesting, most not (more because of the lack of interesting conversation

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-41509776244265715182009-06-04T13:36:00.001+01:002009-06-04T13:38:31.859+01:00

I don't know what's up with the images. I used blogger to put in 2 photos in the previous post. In the past, it showed a smaller version of the image in the blog. Now, I think it's showing full size...

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-49106718564104704562009-06-04T13:23:00.002+01:002009-06-04T13:33:48.432+01:00

The Local and European elections will be held in Ireland tomorrow. As you'd imagine, there are election posters everywhere and people canvasing all over the shop. I haven't been in Ireland during election time in years. What drew my attention was the multi-racial candidates on offer. In the past, all you could see were fat white fellas in crap suits with even dodgier heads on them. Now it's

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-58032628996903427842009-06-03T22:48:00.002+01:002009-06-03T23:05:58.842+01:00

I always seem to start blog posts with a clichéd "long time no blog" line. So no need to do that this time :PI thought I'd get my ass in gear and write something in my blog. The name of the blog is sort of inapt for where I am now. I came home in August 2008, tried to find some sort of job in Ireland connected with China and/or the Chinese language. It seemed that most of the few jobs available

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-30120941910045609722008-08-19T21:51:00.000+01:002008-09-01T22:09:26.406+01:00

The 3rd of the camps I taught finished on the 10th of August. There was another camp on the 13th, but they had enough teachers for that. I decided to spend my last few days in China in the place where it all started – Dalian.Although it was a shame to leave Beijing in the midst of Olympic fever, it was also nice to get away from it all! On arrival, Dalian seemed small and provincial. Well, in

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-64945886535448127002008-08-08T21:02:00.000+01:002008-09-01T21:45:51.423+01:00

All the waiting is over – ever since I came to China, it has been Olympics, Olympics, Olympics. TV, radio, newspapers, billboards, product labels, clothes, toys, tattoos ... Unless you were living under a really heavy rock, it would have been hard to escape it all! As you would expect, the locals are really hyped about the whole thing!I was never much of an Olympics fan. I never really watched it

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-61188547190957005462008-08-01T20:36:00.000+01:002008-09-01T21:01:24.234+01:00

On July 31st, the 12-day camp in Baotou Number 9 Middle School (its sports field pictured above) finally came to an end. The camp was tiring, due to the early starts and late finishes but the students’ enthusiastic attitude made it worthwhile. They were patient and approached every piece of work with enthusiasm. These students also showed a great deal of creativity, which surprised me greatly.

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-44205636875943713642008-07-25T16:06:00.003+01:002008-09-01T20:49:30.419+01:00

I am now in the city of Baotou, Inner Mongolia. Taught a summer camp in Beijing and they offered me one in Inner Mongolia. The money worked out better that way and I thought that going to Inner Mongolia might be interesting, so here I am.For those who are unaware, Inner Mongolia is a province of China. I expected there to be at least some remnants of Mongolian culture here, but alas no. It's a

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-54934219997890191732008-07-14T20:34:00.001+01:002008-09-01T20:36:04.805+01:00

Arrived in Beijing last Thursday morning. First impression on landing – wow, the visibility is crap! Must be the pollution. I used to think Chengdu was polluted, but it’s nothing like Beijing! Then again, Chengdu is in a basin, which is prone to fog, so sometimes I wasn’t sure if it was fog or smog in Chengdu. The Chinese media are also saying not to assume that the haze in Beijing is due to smog

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-42488051177289083432008-07-04T14:16:00.004+01:002008-07-04T14:27:17.358+01:00

It is with a great deal of sadness in my heart that I must say goodbye to Chengdu for the time being. Well, owing to the fact that my student visa runs out on August 24th, I would have had to leave the country anyway. Chengdu has grown on me so much. I don’t know why I like it so much. I love Dalian too, but I think Chengdu is close to my heart, probably because of all the peoples I have met,

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-74427497614349179612008-06-23T09:32:00.000+01:002008-06-23T09:33:04.250+01:00

I have been turning myself into a robot for the last 2 weeks or so in preparation for my HSK exam. The HSK is a Mandarin proficiency test run by the Chinese government. It consists of 154 multiple-choice questions covering listening, grammar, reading comprehension and fill-in-the-blanks, along with 16 questions which require you to fill in a Chinese character. In all, there are 170 questions,

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-14947637739222676992008-06-06T11:25:00.001+01:002008-06-06T11:36:26.141+01:00

I’m still in Chengdu, and earthquake fever has more or less subsided here. There are still allegedly a few aftershocks here and there, although I haven’t noticed them. Have had 2 weeks of lesons since resumption of classes here.Our fundraising efforts hit another record last weekend, following our exponential trend in kit production. First 100, then 300, then 600 and finally 1200 kits last

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-45239572725769369302008-05-23T16:27:00.003+01:002008-05-23T16:49:19.791+01:00

For the folks of Chengdu, life was beginning to get back to normal, when the media announced last Monday (19th) that there would be an aftershock of magnitude 6 or 7 in the next few days. This drove the hysteria levels way off the Richter scale! Most of the students in our building opted to sleep outside and the phone networks were jammed with anxious people trying to tell their friends about

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-10378377212241489172008-05-17T16:53:00.000+01:002008-05-17T16:54:44.300+01:00

It has now been 5 days since the earthquake. The death toll is mounting. A huge rescue effort continues in the affected areas.For people in Chengdu, life appears to be back to normal. However, one noticeable thing is the sheer hard word and goodwill local people are putting into the relief effort. Donation stalls have sprung up all over the city, allowing people to donate money, food, clothes,

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-77735999499984729102008-05-13T10:33:00.002+01:002008-05-13T11:04:06.758+01:00

Well, the aftershocks seem to have subsided. However, the problem of hysteria still prevails. It looks like not much damage has been sustained in Chengdu – a few cracks in some and tiles falling off the outside walls of a few buildings.We were lucky, unlike the unfortunate people in Wenchuan, Dujangyan and Beichuan, where a lot of lives have been lost.In Chengdu, people poured onto the streets

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-80721076206621089562008-05-13T01:58:00.000+01:002008-05-13T02:05:44.253+01:00

An earthquake occurred in Chengdu yesterday. I had never experienced anything like this before. I was talking to a friend on skype when the windows started rattling. I thought it may be a big truck or something, but the rumbling didn’t stop, instead it intensified. At that point I went outside. The ground was shaking like some sort of amusement ride. Crazy.There have been no injuries in our

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-27087685201454552372008-05-11T09:53:00.003+01:002008-05-11T09:59:26.676+01:00

I want to write something about the current political climate in China, from my experience and from talking to other foreigners and Chinese people. I am not much of a writer, and my paragraphs may ramble a bit, but bear with me - there is some logic in there somewhereThe issues in Tibet and the resultant fallout have thrown up a lot of dust and brought a lot of sentiments to the forefront, some

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-45697644611347554842008-05-04T17:25:00.003+01:002009-05-30T21:34:39.464+01:00

After 2 and a half years in China, I have finally found some cycling buddies. I never really thought of looking for people to cycle with, cos I have never seen people cycling for exercise before in China. In Ireland, it’s quite common to see people dressed in their cycling gear of a weekend morning, but it’s a rarity in China. About 4 weeks ago, I was cycling to town, when I noticed that the guy

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-80730029346113254372008-04-08T16:44:00.002+01:002008-04-08T17:09:08.757+01:00

What’s happening in the world of Chengdu? Well, my belly is getting bigger from eating way too much food. I blame it on Justin, a student from last semester who has come back for a few weeks. We usually order at least one extra dish for lunch and dinner. All that food has to go somewhere.I didn’t realise until last Friday that there is something either in the water or in the tea here. Before last

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-91320965662849856002008-03-31T07:26:00.003+01:002008-03-31T07:47:19.710+01:00

Bless me Father, for I have sinned...it’s been nearly a month since my last blog entry. What have I been doing?Well, spring arrived in Chengdu. The skies opened and we had nearly a full week of sunshine! Everyone thronged to the parks! I do like the way Chengdu people think. I should put forward a motion to have Dublin twinned with Chengdu.Saint Paddy’s day came and went. What started of as a

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-11788744885261391932008-03-04T15:48:00.001Z2008-03-04T16:08:19.529Z

I heard about this short film a long time ago, but I only found it now! I've been wanting to see it for ages (That's Irish English BTW)The film starts as follows: a Chinese shop worker, bored with his life in China, randomly picks a country and learns their language a he plans to go there to live. The country he randomly chose was Ireland and the language he learned was Irish. Little did the chap

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-23691038815407234912008-03-01T17:28:00.003Z2008-03-01T18:15:22.611Z

While reading this article in Chengdoo Magazine, I came across http://www.sexybeijing.tvIt ain't porn, as some of you may have thought by the name, but a site filled with short, funny, clever, interesting TV clips made by Su Fei, an American lady living in Beijing. She interviews Beijing people on a wide variety of topics ranging from traditional Chinese customs to the American presidential

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-47355484934013407672008-02-29T10:14:00.001Z2008-02-29T10:15:59.114Z

Seems like the big man upstairs has flicked the switch to turn on the heating in Chengdu! We have had a glorious day of sunshine here today! Blue (well, about as blue as you can get) sky and sunshine all day! I think the spring has finally arrived! About time too!I have decided to stay on in this university (SWUFE) for the coming semester. They have enough students (7 at the moment) to make up a

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-81258862172942904112008-02-20T02:48:00.003Z2008-02-20T03:48:14.248Z

Liverpool Football Club baffles me - How can a team which came from losing to a minnow like Barnsley in the FA Cup on Saturday come to beat a giant like Inter Milan in the Champions League last night. The mind boggles!

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-44758061496771027822008-02-19T05:06:00.003Z2008-02-20T04:02:01.252Z

I saw this article on the BBC News website yesterday. Apologies to the Chinese readers who can't access this article on the BBC – talk to the gov about it.Anyway, near where I live, we have the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding. Seemingly, pandas don’t have much of a sexual drive – the article says that pandas are only in the mood for love for 3 days per year. In order to try and get

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.com0