Gray skies (literally).

To escape the smog of China, you must leave the country.


I got lazy and thought I would just post some pictures from the World Expo, not an option as I am in China and pictures have been disabled. So, I'll write about it soon enough.



On a positive note, we toured the new campus today. It's separated from the old campus (where we are living) by corn fields, construction and shanty shacks, equating to a 40 minute bus commute, in good traffic. The new campus is soon to become the only campus, however, as of now they are still in construction of many buildings, including the large, central library. Once complete, the complex will shine with a blue lake enclosing it. Traditional Chinese manner, it must be built to be better and bigger than everything else. Across the road, a building 2 km is being erected, called the Longest Asian Building, it just seems absurd. This, we saw overlooking our rooftop to our second apartment, yes, that's right. Along with our personal chef, who serves us upwards of 10 different dishes each meal, we have a full apartment (with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room), we have another newer apartment on the new campus with the same, plus a dishwasher and flat screen t.v. Thanksgiving has already been planned to be there. It's our home away from home, I suppose. The classrooms, however, are pretty basic. They include a chalkboard, multi-purpose computer station and an exalted stand. I still can't believe I'll soon be standing behind the podium teaching freshmen English Listening and Speaking 101. However, I got lucky. Unlike the rest of the foreign teachers, I don't start tomorrow. Freshmen, before moving into school, must complete a stint of military training. So, as a teacher of only freshmen, my start date is in two weeks. This leaves me plenty of time to relax, create a syllabus, check out the nearby ostrich amusement park (that's real, if I desire, I could ride an angry ostrich) and what I really want to do, travel to southern China and float down the Yu River while looking at the Karst limestone. I think that sounds wonderful and relaxing.