So here a group picture of us outside M2 club on Wednesday night for my birthday. Most of us are in it...


So on Saturday night I went to see Battles at the Dream Factory in Shanghai. Battles were mega ace, but the support bands I'm not so sure about. The first one I saw (We ended up missing one) was like a Chinese math rock band, a bit Ed Fitzy actually so I enjoyed them (as long as they didn't sing in English...). The band before Battles were uber lame though I thought, but I guess I'm not too into techno/classic rock/screamo thing. They were wearing leather jackets and smoking on stage too. I mean how cool!

...but yes, Battles were super awesome. They started with Race out (10 cool points there) and they played all the tunes, Tonto (was AMAZING), Atlas and Tras etcc. They did such a aweful encore though. You know that bad song off the album. Yep. That one.



After Battles we ended up walking to Peoples Square, which was actually a very long way! It took so long that by the times we got back to the volunteer flat it was like 6am haha. It was fun!

This morning was really aweful, probably as a result of the point mentioned before, but I woke up at 9.10 when my class started at 9.15. I didn't even have the lesson planned so I stumbled into the classroom with absolutly no idea what to do which was very fun... Go go gadget improvisation.
After school Betty and I met in Peoples Sqaure and went to the Bund, then through this really cool park (which we found by total accident) and made our way by ABSOLUTE fluke to Yu Gardens. I've actually posted some pictures of it before when I went with Albin, Eva and her friends. It was really nice though and we went to this ace dumpling place - where I made a total mess.

It'ss been a good week.




Ben

I feel ashamed. 6 days without blogging, I'm like the scurge of the bloggers, the lowest of the low.

Cut me some slack though, it's been a busy busy week. My birthday, Alex leaving, finding out Alex was leaving, and this evening I'm seeing Battles/saying goodbye to Anna. So good and bad things are both happening.

On Wednesday we had a joint Ben's birthday/Alex's leaving party and it was so good! I couldn't have possibly asked for a better celebration, I was a bit upset by noone knowing it was my birthday at the school. I thought perhaps they would say happy birthday or something but nope haha, but it was really made up by the amazing evening.

Props to Betty for these pictures that I stole without asking...

Ok well I went to Shaolin si and I got back so now I guess the last part of the adventure is to write about it.
It was a really amazing trip and I'm very glad I went despite having a few last minute reservations about the cost/fun ratio. It cost me about 1000Rmb but I think it was worth it just to get a taste of life outside of Shanghai. I mean why bother coming to China if you don't venture out into the actual country. I really don't see the point, but anyway.

So we started on friday after work. We booked the train for 5.40pm and it was easy to sort out because the Shanghai terminal has an english speaking booth. The 13 hour train journey loomed over us like a dagger, but moral was suprisingly high! 6 volunteers went on the trip. It actually ended up being the perfect amount because there are 6 beds to a compartment.






Ok lets keep going, well the trip there was quite uneventful to be honest. Chocolate sandwiches were probably the most funny thing as seen in picture 4, and a small toddler I made friends with...

The next day at around 8am we arrived in Zhengzhou. I actually slept quite well, the rocking motion of the train acted sort of like some sort of cradle and was relaxing in a strange way. The city is much less developed than Shanghai and was of little real intrest. When we arrived we needed to buy train tickets to return to Shanghai. As there was no English speaking booth I had to try and use my mandarin to get us our tickets. I was fine at saying we wanted to go to Shanghai etc but as soon as they tryed to tell us that we couldn't all sleep in the same compartment I got very confused. Luckly it was fairly easy to sort out as we phoned Jessie to translate for us!
We also needed to buy bus tickets to get from the city to the temples, and I am still quite uncertain of whether we got ripped off or not, but somehow we ended up paying twice for the bus. then again for the temple. hmmm. Well either way I really enjoyed the tour. The bus took us to 3 different temples. The first one was very small and obviously wasn't used by monks anymore but only for money making by tour guides. I felt slighly cheated when we arrived there because I felt like the 15 hours(including bus) of travelling didn't seem to quite deserve this but it got better...





Next to temple number 2. Don't ask me the names, Appart from the actual Shaolin temple I didn't really understand where we were going...






and just to prove they still exist...




Next stop (after lunch) was the Shaolin Scenic Spot. Sadly we didn't see it all. I'd have loved to spend more time there but when we got there it was about 1.30 and we had to leave at 4.00 to get back in time for our train. But it was still amazing. Monks are really money grabbing though. I mean Jesus Christ! I guess it's just the chinese culture but there was little you could do without paying. The first thing you see as you get to the first temple type thing is a large bell and someone next to it who asks you if you want to ring it. My friend rang the bell and as soon as he did he was asked for money because he rang the bell! Nice start.
The first thing we did really was watch the kung fu show. It was amazing! It made me want to go and do some Karate even more. Urghhh. But before the show 5 monks stood on stage to pose for a picture you could be in (which cost 20rmb). I did get one, but I don't like it too much. I wasn't really too sure what was going on so I didn't pose very well haha...
I don't have it on my camera so that is one you'll have to see when I get home.


Then they allowed three volunteers from the audience to join the stage to perform kata (forms) with the monks and two of my friends were chosen!









Next we looked around one of the temples. There were so many monks around you could almost believe it was 500 years ago or whatevrr/




I think that pretty much sums it all up as much as one can in a blog post. The train journey back was quite entertaining I though. I had a interesting conversation using just the mandarin I knew with some people who couldn't speak any english. I was actually really fun! Later two younger chinese guys came along who could kind of string together some semi understandable english so me, two other volunteers and 5 or 6 chinese guys had a good conversation. It was really fun, and actually helped my mandarin. I was able to see if they understood what I was saying etc.

Good night for now,
Wan shang hao way sian zai ( maybe/maybe not right...)

Ben

Today is friday and I have 2 more lessons before I have to leg it to the metro station to catch a 13 hour train to Zhengzhou near the shaolin temple. It's hard sleeper so we leave today, sleep then arrive at about 7am. I'm really excited! It should be amazing.
There are 7 volunteers going so it should be good.

In other news, yesterday I went to the jing'an Temple. Which apparently was built around 1200 but it looks much newer than that. Either Monks are amazing at handy work or someone is lying. But it was good. One day you'll see pictures I'm sure.
The main adventure of yesterday... Actually scrap that, the two memorys of yesterday that linger on are 1. I had the first sandwich I've had in Shanghai. It was so good, even if it was from subway. They were proper rude though, they kept on talking about my choice of sandwich in front of me and then laughing. nice.
2. I arranged to meet with Albin in nanjing road, and as usual we were surrounded with people trying to speak english to one. This time however we gave in and allowed one of them to talk to us. After talking to him for a while, mostly about how rubbish the american accent is and how good the english accent is we found out that apparently he was a art student from beijing (I say apparently because you really really have to take everything with a pinch of salt here) and he was here because he had work at an art gallery. He then tried to get us to go to his gallery (which conveniantly was both the last day AND free of charge) and we followed him mostly because we had nothing better to do and it was free. As he was leading us into a bank, up a lift and to a room which looked like someone was living there I couldn't help feeling a bit nervous about this so called gallery but we had gone to far - we had to stick with it. As he open the door however I was quite pleasently suprised to actually see artwork! He even explained all the pieces and showed us the ones he had painted. Basically cut a long story short I ended up buying one of his paintings and so did Albin. The ones we bought were basically a pair so it seems good we bought them together even if they are going to go to different countrys. Someone at home is going to get a very nice hand painted gift so be nice to me and it might be you!

Anyway must go, got a train to catch!
Ben

Been a while seen any pictures were released so here are some more!





Top - Children doing exercises at school
2nd from top - Me in a street just outside my school
Middle - Friends in the Yu Gardens
2nd from bottom - Yu Gardens
Bottom - Shanghai as seen from a bridge

Ok well I thought it was better to write this while I still felt a bit worked up.

It was a warm and sunny day... and teaching for Ben Holding had been going well. UNTIL the last lesson anyway.
Basically I just had my grade 3 class and as usual they wern't doing anything. I just about mustered 2 people to read along with me. I thought that tempting them with some stamps would be the correct thing to do so I said that the person to answer the question would get a stamp. So far so good they are working. The first girl got the question correct and recieved a stamp in return. BAM it suddenly hit the rest of the children (the ones that don't pay attention) that I was giving out stamps. This is when the chaos started.
I had to call in the teacher 4 times. The first time was because one kid was really bullying another boy (who obviously has unrecognised aspergers syndrome...) quite badly. Anarchy had obviously been called in that classroom. Children started screaming at me "GIVEEE ME A STAMP. I WANT ONE" etc. Little fights were also beginning to erupt between whose with stamps and whose without stamps. The worst part was the last question. I said that the first one to finish all the work would get a stamp. Once the person who came second starting throwing over desks, crying and screaming I realised he wasn't too happy. Then he went straight for the guy who came first. I had to actually break up a fist fight between two 3rd graders It was rediculous. The teacher came back in and when I bell went I slowly crept out, not to stop myself from being noticed but because I was inundated with hordes of kids screaming for stamps.

Just another day,

Ben

Blogging makes you feel bad. I mean when you don't blog for 2 days you actual feel very bad about yourself! It's a much more useful exercise than Facebook though.

So what have I been up to? Lets start with how my teaching is going while I try and recall what's actually been going on...

As the weeks have passed things, teaching wise, have got both better and worse. I actually think I am becoming a better teacher! I'm much more confident with the children and I only feel slight anxiety now which is better than the extreme panic I was feeling before. Lesson planning, structuring and delivery have also got better. The school has told me what I need to teach the children ("just follow the textbook" ...) but I feel like i'm getting better at making the lessons exciting and valuable. At the moment I'd say my favourite grade is grade 2, because they seem easier to entertain etc. Grade 5 seem a bit "ohh but we want to do homework"ish but still anything is better than the chaos of grade 3.
Last Friday was definatly the best day so far. Before I left England I bought a big bag of used stamps from all around the world from WHSmiths, and I used them as rewards for pupils who got the answer correct in the fastest time. They absolutly LOVED IT. Some people actually got upset about not getting stamps, and at the end of the lesson I was swamped by people wanting more!
Grade 2 was also good that day. The lesson was going to be about the different types of fruits so first I asked them what kind of fruits they knew. They actually knew alot already (which seems the common thing in this school and it makes you sometimes wonder if you're actually needed at all) so we played a game. This game included the children having to guess what fruits I had in my bag. Before I lesson I had been to one of the street stalls and bought a pineapple! I already had a apple and an orange as well as some pictures of other fruits, drawn by me or otherwise...
The children found it hillarious when I pulled out this big pineapple out of my bag! It was a good moment.

Outside of teaching I didn't get a chance to do much cultural things on Thursday as it rained the whole day and I really couldn't face it. On friday Night we went to Bar Hulu for the 4th time. They must know my name by now. The cool thing about that time was that I didn't pay! I had a wrist band left over from the last time, well actually I have 2 ristbands, so I just walked straight in. ACE.
Saturday was fun. Me, Betty (A swedish friend who's studying mandarin here) and two of her friends went looking for music shops! It was brilliant because it's the first musical thing I've done since I left. Of course we bought three guitars between the four of us as you do. I went for the cheapest one in the shop ( a cool 260RMB - 26pounds). It's a sweet AXE...
Also Jessie said she'd find out about having lessons in the Erhu which would be so amazing! I've also been trying to find a good Karate/martial arts club but with little success so far. They are here but I don't know if they are OK for English people to go to.

I'm having a brilliant time at the moment, I really feel like i'm settling into the Shanghai life. I'm also enjoying showing off my crazy mandarin skills as well, I'd really like to get better. Maybe I need to do some sort of mandarin course or somethingg.

Anyway I hope you are well!

Ben

PS. Thanks for the letter Charlie.

PPS. If you want to post me things the address is:

Ben Holding
Room 1
no. 261 Hunan road
200031
Shanghai
China

Special - ego-tastic - request from my parents for this one but it might be nice for other people too. Pictures, stolen or otherwise, of me in Shanghai!






And finally...

My internet in my room seems to be temporarily broken. Or permanently broken. We'll see. So I've had to climb into Albin's room through his window to use his computer.
The one class I've taught so far went really badly, they really really didn't seem to care about doing any work. Maybe I should adopt a no monkey business approach. Hmm...

Yesterday was actually a really fun day though! Firstly it was actually sunny. And kind of warm too, I mean I didn't have to wear my coat ALL day only part of it! Plus my classes went quite well I thought which is definatly something to put me in a good mood. I think part of the reason my class went badly is that I was still asleep until about 2 minutes before the lesson started. The bad thing about living in school is that you can be very lazy like that unless you're careful! I really really thought I had another hour to sleep! Anyway after that we met up with some guys and played a bit of football! We were meant to play in Century Park but when we got there we found that A: It was closing in 15 mintues B: it cost 10yuan and C: there were no ball games aloud! How rubbish is that!
So instead we opted for playing on the open area in front on the gate. I'm keeping the SOS dream alive in Shanghai.

Then we went out for a meal to a pizza place... Need I say anymore! Urgh. A new volunteer arrived that day from Holland though who seemed nice so that's cool!

Haha today was the first time I saw the children doing exercises outside and I took some good pictures and video! Ohhh speaking of videos! Yesterday I was walking around and I noticed everyone was watching the same TV programme. I peered through one of the windows to see what it was and it turns out that it is made in the school! The students essentially make their own TV show to broadcast to everyone at the school! It looks so brilliant fun! I wish we got to do stuff like that at Barley Hill. I might ask if me and Albin can be on the show one day.

Ohh and I keep on forgetting to mention, there has been a change of plan for me. On May 16th I'm moving from Shanghai to Sichuan province in a city called Mianyang. Shanghai is good fun but I can't help feeling that it's not a good example of the real china I wanted to see so perhaps Mingyang will provide it. Also it's a bit cheaper...

Exchange rate= 9.4. I want to die.

I feel quite settled in Shanghai now. I know where to get nice food, how to get around, what's overpriced etc which is an amazing feeling. I'm like a real Shanghai expat now!
The downside is I'm beginning to feel a bit outside the Thame loop now though which is quite sad but I guess I'm in the China loop so its OK :)

This weekend I've not done too much cultural stuff really. I went out into Shanghai on Friday night which was very fun. Then on Saturday we went out for lunch and looked for the HSBC tower for Alex. That was actually a very nice trip because we saw the Jin Mao and the other-one-which-looks-like-a-bottle-opener tower close up. You definatly don't get an idea of how big it is until you stand near it. Then another trip to the fake market. We seem to be getting better prices now because we know what's a good price and a bad price. It's rediculously good if you like Abercrombie...
I haven't bought anything from there yet Because I'm really boring/poor. Well not since my watch.
They do sell glasses there though... It is tempting! They even have a machine like optitions to see what lenses you need. It's so easy to buy things haha.

I'll tell you about my thursday adventure tommorow I think.

I just realised that I've actually not posted any pictures of the school, my room or any of my actual everyday surroundings so they are well over due. My school Shanghai Pudong Foreign Language Primary School is located down Boxing Lu in Pudong
My room is located on the top floor over looking the playing field/flag//
These are the pictures of Mine and Albins domain within the top floor of the school fortress//





And finally my room!