Yvonne Larmour

Unfortunately I am unable to maintain this blog page from my location in China. There is some firewall in place which prevents access to this site. I am sad to say goodbye to My.Opera as it has been like my mother for blogging. It gently nursed me through my first tentative steps of starting a blog.
Current entries and any future entries are and will be posted at http://www.vonniesspace13.spaces.live.com

Thank you to all my visitors who have dropped into this site for a visit, I hope see you on my other site. Cheers - Yvonne

May 1st is a 3 day public holiday here in China. By making up 2 days working time before or after the holiday it gets extended to a 5-7 days holiday period. The Foreign Affairs Department of our university generously took all of the expatriates on a tour to Vietnam.
We all set out early from a central meeting point early hours on Tuesday as a group of 18 people, including a local tour guide. This tour guide is a local man who speaks pretty good English. This was a real bonus for a lot of us that are not au fait with the Chinese language.
After 11 and ½ hours of bussing and boating we arrived in Halong City on the coast of Vietnam. This wonderful bay is described as ‘Guilin on the ocean.’ After checking in to our accommodation everyone split up and went exploring. We poked around shops and restaurants before ending up at the evening markets, a heaven for shoppers looking for unusual trinkets.
The next morning after a good nights rest we headed for the harbour where we boarded a boat for a leisurely 4 hour boat cruise around Halong Bay’s limestone pinnacles and grottos. We visited the limestone cave where nature’s stalactites and stalagmites have formed interesting sculptures that aroused our imaginations.
After our tranquil boat ride we headed of to the countries capital city, Hanoi. Once again after being checked into our lodgings we all separated to investigate the city at our own pace. On our 3rd day we toured the city as a group before heading back to Halong City, and embarking on our return journey.
This wonderful 4 day trip was a very welcomed break in the middle of our 18 week term and helped rejuvenate our minds and souls.

With two of us living in the one apartment we are quite amazed that our gas tank lasts for approximately 1 year before we need to get it refilled. This is not an easy task if you are not confident with your Chinese language skills. Usually we ask one of our neighbours to make the telephone call for us.
We did this just last week and our gas bottle was collected and returned promptly, however we have just discovered that we must have a leak as we have used half a tank during this past week.
Last time we had a leak we organised a technician. He came and told us that we had too many electrical appliances plugged in, but did nothing to fix the leaking gas, which we had to eventually tackle ourselves.
This time instead of risking getting the same technician we thought we would try and source a new valve ourselves. We dismantled the hoses and took the valve over to our local convenience store at the campus commercial centre.
The lovely young couple Tong & Ping are very friendly and we manage to have our conversations in a mixture of Mandarin and English. Ping explained that we can’t buy a valve anywhere close by, but can only get them in Xia Shan a 45 minute bus ride away, let alone finding a supplier and the 45 minute return bus trip. ‘But don’t worry’ she said ‘Tong my husband will pick one up before he comes to work this afternoon’.
Their friendly smiles and warm welcomes already had made us loyal customers, but service like this really cements a relationship.
As the saying goes “Sugar attracts more bees than vinegar.”

When Rob and I stroll along a beach front we always revisit our dream of being stranded on a deserted island, of course the one obstacle we would have to overcome is our dislike of seafood.
As we stroll along we fossick for flotsam and jetsam that could be adapted into useful utensils to assist our everyday life on the island. A very creative and humorous past time.
Of course a dream is just that – a dream. But whenever we travel we also look for the one place that we could spend the rest of our lives in, unfortunately we haven’t found it yet but we have come very close with Koh Tao Thailand.
Mountainous Koh Tao perches on a ledge of coral reefs like a sunbathing turtle. The island is famous as a diving and snorkelling mecca thanks to the water’s high visibility, abundant coral and diverse marine life. The island culture is split between dive enthusiasts and beach bums looking for picture-postcard coves. (Excerpt from lonely planet guide – Southeast Asia on a shoestring.) We have been to Koh Tao several times now and find the routine of eating, swimming, reading and sleeping wonderful for slowing down the pace and recharging our batteries.
We stay at the Tropicana resort which has comfortable, economical bungalows near the beach. It also boasts a tranquil restaurant which serves a selection of delicious Thai and Western foods.
The island has numerous shops where everyday items can be purchased, much more convenient than our dreamed of deserted island. So until we find that one special place on our travels we will continue to visit Koh Tao whenever we get the opportunity.
This wonderful island has an entire album of photos dedicated to it on my blog.

This term began 19 weeks ago, another 210 students in 6 different classes. The beginning of any term is a little daunting when you are meeting new students for the first time. But after approximately 4 lessons a teacher begins to become attached to their students.

This term I started off with a class of 34 young men (marine engineers) from far and wide across China. ‘Don’t be late to class’ my superior instructed me. I turned up to a new class room pumped up to front my first class of the semester. I found an empty class room. Panic overtook me, I searched 5 floors of class rooms, and each room already had a teacher and a room full of pupils. Sweaty and distraught I returned to my scheduled room to find 34 pairs of eyes eagerly awaiting their new teacher. Taking a deep breath to calm myself I introduced myself to my new students, they were very courteous and followed as best as possible what was expected of them. Most of these students had never had a foreign teacher before nor had they been exposed to the English language in full. After teaching these young men 3 times a week for 15 weeks I was very sad having to say goodbye to them as students, but hopefully I won’t ever have to say goodbye to them as friends. These guys have such promising futures ahead of them. I envy the surprises that life will unfold for them.

My second new class for the semester was a class of secretarial students, 30 beautiful young women and 4 young men. I walked into to my new class with false bravado and was welcomed by applause and smiles. I taught these young creative adults twice a week for 18 weeks, and every lesson I hurried to class with a bounce in my step. This class was such a pleasure to be with. Every challenge I set them was met head on and they exceeded all of my expectations. Again I was sad to say good bye as their teacher. But satisfied, I know that I touched so many of their lives, just as they have touched mine.

My next 4 classes were Freshmen English Majors. My heart always goes out to the freshmen because I remember the feeling of being the newbie, the feeling of finding a slot among everyone else where you feel comfortable. The environment away from everything they are accustomed to is so alien to them and at the same time they have so much to absorb in their new lifestyle and surroundings. The freshmen students are always respectful and enthusiastic. Most of them have been learning English for approximately 6-9 years but have rarely, if ever had the chance to use the language in situ. In only a few short lessons their confidence has increased and their individual personalities have shone through. I am blessed to be teaching these freshmen students again next term, in which I am eagerly looking forward to seeing them blossom as individuals and as English majors.

I would like to thank all of my students for this enjoyable term, and look forward to seeing you all again in the new semester. I hope all of my past and present students have a safe and happy Spring Festival.