tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142489772008-07-04T21:27:17.322+08:00Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comBlogger218125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-42488051177289083432008-07-04T21:16:00.004+08:002008-07-04T21:27:17.358+08:00

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.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-74427497614349179612008-06-23T16:32:00.000+08:002008-06-23T16:33:04.250+08:00

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.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-14947637739222676992008-06-06T18:25:00.001+08:002008-06-06T18:36:26.141+08:00

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.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-45239572725769369302008-05-23T23:27:00.003+08:002008-05-23T23:49:19.791+08:00

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.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-10378377212241489172008-05-17T23:53:00.000+08:002008-05-17T23:54:44.300+08:00

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.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-77735999499984729102008-05-13T17:33:00.002+08:002008-05-13T18:04:06.758+08:00

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

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-80721076206621089562008-05-13T08:58:00.000+08:002008-05-13T09:05:44.253+08:00

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.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-27087685201454552372008-05-11T16:53:00.003+08:002008-05-11T16:59:26.676+08:00

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 somewhere The issues in Tibet and the resultant fallout have thrown up a lot of dust and brought a lot of sentiments to the forefront,

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-45697644611347554842008-05-05T00:25:00.002+08:002008-05-05T00:35:03.767+08:00

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.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-80730029346113254372008-04-08T23:44:00.002+08:002008-04-09T00:09:08.757+08:00

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

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-91320965662849856002008-03-31T14:26:00.003+08:002008-03-31T14:47:19.710+08:00

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.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-11788744885261391932008-03-04T23:48:00.001+08:002008-03-05T00:08:19.529+08:00

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

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-23691038815407234912008-03-02T01:28:00.003+08:002008-03-02T02:15:22.611+08:00

While reading this article in Chengdoo Magazine, I came across http://www.sexybeijing.tv It 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

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-47355484934013407672008-02-29T18:14:00.001+08:002008-02-29T18:15:59.114+08:00

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

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-81258862172942904112008-02-20T10:48:00.003+08:002008-02-20T11:48:14.248+08:00

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.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-44758061496771027822008-02-19T13:06:00.003+08:002008-02-20T12:02:01.252+08:00

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

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-88908729978322618522008-02-16T13:34:00.004+08:002008-02-20T12:15:51.982+08:00

I came across a series of documentaries on China on the website of Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTE. Granted, I have only watched one of them, but I found them quite informative, touching on various aspects of modern China and modern Chinese culture. A lot of people may have ideas of China as a giant monolithic grey communist state – with folks drearily going about their affairs clad in

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-89229750711389084852008-02-15T19:16:00.002+08:002008-02-27T15:25:27.742+08:00

Well, seems like the holiday never happened. Here I am, back in Chengdu again, except this time it’s a bit colder. Philippines was great. There, I was moaning about it being too hot! Now, it’s too cold! Last time I blogged, I was in the “province” (the bog, the sticks, the boomdocks). Saw volcanoes, beaches, paddy fields and other tropical stuff. Went swimming in the sea. It was nice and

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-50951998359962280722008-01-30T16:01:00.000+08:002008-01-30T16:09:21.846+08:00

I am finally outside of the concrete traffic jungle that is Metro Manila. I am now "in the province" as the locals say, i.e. in the countryside. Clean air, palm trees, pineapples, coconuts - and - some peace!!! It's great! I have some pics from my travels so far at http://www.flickr.com/photos/derekindalian/sets/72157603743419339/ Enjoy!

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-62901217966324501082008-01-23T12:35:00.000+08:002008-01-23T12:37:16.181+08:00

Arrived in Manila, Phillipines in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Hot hot hot. 25 degrees at night. Haven't been to a tropical country since Malaysia in 2005. Sorta forgot what they are like! So, first impressions of the Philippines besides the weather? Well, I have seen something that I haven't been used to seeing in Chengdu – the sun! The second thing is the traffic! Went to a huge mall

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-90053626540985555222008-01-13T00:35:00.000+08:002008-01-13T00:47:09.384+08:00

There it goes! One semester of Chinese done. Sometimes it feels like I haven’t learned much, but when I look at the stuff we did at the start of the semester, it seems way easier to me now! So, I guess I have progressed. Probably should have studied more. It actually works. As Bart Simpson pointed out, “So when I took the test, the answers were stuck in my brain. It was like a whole different

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-60115713995146433312007-12-25T12:46:00.000+08:002007-12-25T12:50:59.551+08:00

Happy Christmas to all, from Chengdu! No whit Christmas here – just a foggy one! Yesterday was interesting and surreal. I went to the Catholic Church in Chengdu for Christmas Mass. The church reminded me of one of those Portuguese ones, cos of the semi-circular arches. I’m no church expert, but it didn’t look like the ones back home. Here's a pic I took with my phone: I’d never been to a

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-54585060583575550922007-12-18T22:09:00.000+08:002007-12-18T22:38:02.295+08:00

Gig over. Went pretty well. The sound in the hall wasn’t fantastic: whoever was in charge of the mixing desk didn’t know his arse from his elbow. So, the sound wasn’t really mixed properly and sounded a bit crap, but aside from that, the gig was good craic and we did fine. I don’t have any video, but here are some pics We were the first people to perform. The others consisted of bands and

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-6398345527158810682007-12-14T00:05:00.000+08:002007-12-14T00:06:26.885+08:00

OK, what’s been happening? Chengdu has got colder. As the Chinese say, sometimes it feels warmer outside than inside in the central-heating-less south. Nonetheless, we are all soldiering on. I have been doing a good impersonation of a diligent student for the last 2 months. Hard to get into the studying lark after being away from it for so long. Gotta hang in there. Our “band” is playing a gig

Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928462288405469171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14248977.post-74143478675064427642007-10-28T12:14:00.000+08:002007-10-28T12:42:55.158+08:00

Was gonna post this last week but I didn’t get time... In case people didn’t know, the Communist Party is holding its 17th National Congress, a meeting to decide the direction China will take in the next five years. So, as you may imagine, it’s all over the telly. In Ireland, we don’t have patriotic propaganda shoved down our throats, but since we are in China, it is commonplace. Here is one

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