Farewell China...
on Kirsten VSO (China), 22/Oct/2010 08:36, 34 days ago
This will be my last blog post because I made the decision a couple of weeks ago to finish my work here and leave China. VSO is ending its Basic Education Programme across the whole of China as it really hasn't been a success - something I have been thinking myself for a while now.Anyway, my last few days in Danfeng were incredibly busy. I went to lots of dinners, a final karaoke (where I did my party piece of singing a song in Chinese) and had loads of photos taken.This is me at my favourite roadside barbecue restaurant. They're only open for the summer months and do a delicious spicy prawns dish.While we were eating, the owner came up and told me that because I was a regular, he'd like to give me a free plate of food. My interpreter told him that I was leaving in a few days, so after he'd brought us a plate of deep fried sesame tofu, he came back 10 minutes later with a gift of fried fish as a leaving present. Aaawww! (the owner is the one in the background.)This is me at one of the teacher's houses. She invited me for lunch - pork and leek dumplings! The dumplings are below - this is before they were cooked.After I left Danfeng, I spent a few days in Xi'an and all my old interpreters came to visit. I took them out for various dinners - the most successful being to an Indian restaurant as most Chinese have never tried Indian food and have no idea what it looks or tastes like.My year in China has been a fantastic experience - the culture, the history, the food and the landscape - and especially getting to know and understand the Chinese people. I have promised my friends there a return visit in the future - see you in Danfeng in ten years time guys!