Hello everyone!

I'm in Chengdu, China, at the moment, teaching English for a year. It's going well, i'm enjoying it very much. I'm living in a town near to Chengdu actually, named Jintang. I'm teaching at a private college here. My classes have between 50 and 70 students, which is interesting and challenging. The food in Sichuan is very good. I am also working part time at a kid's language school, which is also an interesting challenge :) Otherwise, I'm spending my free time running or walking on the local hill, playing guitar, hanging out with friends and also playing football with my students, not to mention singing at KTV (karaoke). I am 2 months through a 10 month contract :) Here are some photos...

My college has a 737 on campus.

Star Island - Xin Dao neighbourhood

Chengdu city centre

Cosmopolitan Chengdu.

Mao zedong

Inside the KTV room.

 A friend's flat in Chengdu.

The Panda park in Chengdu city.

Baby pandas!!!

New born panda!!!!!

Sichuan Southwest College of Civil Aviation, 
AKA, Howarts!

An awesome Sichuanese lunch.

Hills near Jintang.

Music shop concert where I played.

Sichuan cuisine is known for being spicy.

Small town 25km from Jintang.

One of my classes.

My flat.

and kitchen.

On a trip to Mt. Qingcheng.

Temple on Qingcheng.

Temple atop Qingcheng.

The tried and tested means of supplying the temples.

My class on a walk around campus.

Kids' school halloween party.

Flatbread making at English corner.

Presenting a talent contest at college.

And my co-host.

With friends on Mt. Jintang.

Rubbish-less living, diary teaser ;)

Here's a teaser for the last post on my current non-mobile adventure, living without rubbish for three weeks......

Well, regarding my last few days.. it has to get harder before it gets easier, right?

First to report is that there has been some progress on the toilet paper front. It’s actually almost easier, more hygienic presumably, and definitely more pleasurable, to jump in the shower and wash your ass after, ahem, taking your daily number two, as it were.

Long story short, this is what I came home with last night.

Read the rest of the blog post here: http://rubbishisrubbish.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/diary-days-2-3-and-4-of-rubbishless-living/

AND TAKE PART IF YOU LIKE THE IDEA... IT'S NOT TOO LATE :)

RUBBISH-LESS LIVING: 9-29th November 2013

Hello all!

I'm taking part in an adventure from home at the moment, well actually I just moved into and am renovating a new house right now (an adventure in itself), but this other adventure from home is a challenge to live without rubbish/trash/garbage etc. for three weeks, that means to not throw ANYTHING away!

My bike loaded with market produce using
bags/bottles/boxes from my kitchen.

The thing is, plastic is not biodegradable, it's made to last many years (I've heard everything from 80 to 50'000), but we only use MANY plastic packaging items for minutes or even seconds. WHAT THE FUCK! This needs to change, and thus I'll be trying to re-use all those plastic bags, cake boxes, bottles, with ZERO RECYCLING ENERGY, because even if something is recycled it takes energy, and the massive majority of our plastic use is hugely innefficient.

EVERYTHING WE BUY IS A VOTE FOR THE KIND OF WORLD WE WANT.

So let's start voting with our feet, or habits rather.

See the DIARY of my efforts on this blog: http://rubbishisrubbish.wordpress.com/

Taking the world into my own legs...


One week's travel by bike and train: Ljubljana - Prague - České Budějovice (T) - Linz (B) - Vienna (T) - Graz (B) - Maribor (B) - Ljubljana (T)


Countries travelled: Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia

---

Well, I've just arrived back in Ljubljana, and before I see anyone I'd like to put the story of this little adventure on my blog, otherwise I'll do like I usually do and tell everyone about it before I write anything (or at least get around to 'publishing' any writing). Well, irony is sweet, for once I didn't actually write anything while on the way this time, I just took a lot of photos instead. So what I'll do now is recount the memories of the last eight days, using my photos as a guide..... kind of a photo diary if you like, or even if you don't ;-)

THURSDAY 20.6.2013

Helmet: €59 - Bike: €50 (from an Police auction of recovered bikes) - Bike bag: €130 - Freedom costs!
Time to go.... the 1.5km walk to Ljubljana železniška postaja (train station) required 3-4 rest stops, and a burek stop.

Adijo Slovenija (bye bye Slovenia)...

 Scotty (the bike's name) resting with some city bikes in Vienna when changing trains for Prague..


FRIDAY 21.6.2013

Ahoj Praha! (Hello Prague!) The sun was still shining the morning after I arrived, ideal to take in those gorgeous views of the Medieval old town from Petřín hill or the castle hill (I don't quite remember which) :)   

A lovers embrace on Petřín, through a beloved frame ;-)

The great old town view under Petřín I think...

After cycling around Petřín hill in the morning, not to mention to the old soviet stadium (the biggest stadium of its kind in Europe), I found Lennon's wall, with the help of a handwritten note on my map, from my hostess with the most-est kindness (in the face of a presently deadly work schedule). So, Lennon's wall, was apparently an ongoing battle between hippy artists and the secret police back in the Soviet days, the latter in constant pursuit of the former in deleting their scrawlings; these days the wall is still constantly changing. Oh, the above is just a little corner of the wall. 

Here's a larger view of the wall (Lennon's wall).

The afternoon saw a trip to Divoká Šárka, a very beautiful nature reserve on the edge of the city, a cycle/foot-path taking me through forest, a stunning canyon, by a hidden oasis of a swimming pool..

The return of the journey to Divoká brought me to Pražský hrad (Prague Castle) and a wander (no cycling permitted) through its cool courtyards..

Time to stop for a snack while mass was taking place in the church behind me...

SATURDAY 22.6.2013

Saturday lunchtime Michaela (my great host) brought me to the north of the city (by bike of course) to take part in an international development event, with workshops in Georgian jewellery making, music with ''junk'' instruments, pavement art, a football for fair play tournament, and of course food:)

My host and her flatmate, at the United Islands music festival, this year ironically held on a hill, due to the floods three weeks earlier..

SUNDAY 23.6.2013

Rising (relatively) early Sunday for more exploration on the bee-cee-kl.. en-route to the airport I stumbled upon Letohrádek Hvězda (rough English translation: star summer palace), awash with Sunday walkers and sunshine B-)

České dráhy - Czech Railways. Nearing the airport....

Apparently a rare event, a Boeing 747 jumbo cargo plane making final approach to Prague, in a second to be just a few metres above my head.. uff!

Kafkova ulica - Kafka's street, in an undescript Prague suburb. How many streets does he have I wonder?

One of the extensive features of Slovene architect, Jože Plečnik, on Pražský hrad, supposedly a 'lamp' of some kind, but it was a mystery to me.. his gardens and viewing platform were impressive nonetheless.

Sunset on Sunday brought me here, to the gargantuan walls of Vyšehrad, Prague's second castle, in ruinous glory minus the tourists. Suited me absolutely perfectly.

The walls of Vyšehrad. The subsequent dusk was enjoyed over friendly conversation with a German student living in Prague, whom I had just met.

To round off the Prague visit, what better way than with an unpronouncable draft Czech beer! ... And of the beer accompanyment comfort dishes: nakládaný hermelín - a Czech cheese not unlike Camembert (with white mould) soaked in oil with onions etc... mmm.